hi kathy.
thanks for posting!
i'm glad you caught up with the story, and that you enjoyed it so much.
always great to hear.
as for your question about the kerths... no, it won't be eligible this year. a january upload will make it eligible for next year. thanks for asking, though.
in case you're wondering why, it's because of archive upload rate.
there's usually a flood of submissions at the end of the year. for one thing, it seems like more stories are written in the late fall... weather getting colder, people staying inside, kids back at school, whatever other factors i'm not coming up with. there are also usually a bunch of xmas stories. add in the last-minute submissions of older stories (writers taking stock at the end of the year and realizing they haven't sent in a story or two as well as writers rushing for the kerth deadline). so, things are just busy. the GEs have to deal with the flood of stories, and the readers have to try to keep up with all the new stories on the boards plus the flood hitting the archives each week.
by january, however, things generally taper off. there's xmas/new year's break, so writing slows down, and all the xmas stories and last-minute submissions have been taken care of. january archive uploads can be kind of sparse, sometimes only 2 or 3 stories a week.
they tend to pick up again in feb, with valentine's day and whatever stories were finished in january after the break.
so, when i write a story late in the year, i usually hold it for january. it means a little less work for the busy GEs in dec, a little more on the page for the readers during the january lull, and a little more attention for the story itself since it has fewer stories being uploaded with it. as for the kerths, last year was the first time i was even nominated. besides, it'll be eligible for the following year. if it's good enough, hopefully it'll still stand out in your memory when you look through the eligibles list a year later (and hopefully you'll take the time to refresh your memory before you nominate).
so, there's my long-winded answer to a question you didn't really ask. oh well. :rolleyes:
anyway, i should get going. i have to leave early tomorrow morning, and i still haven't packed... <sigh>
thanks again for posting, kathy!
Paul
