Yes I assume the stick a pin method was mostly tongue in-cheek since it defeats the purpose of the award.
Take out 'mostly' and insert 'entirely', Arawn, and you'd have it exactly right.
Yes, it's a long-standing joke and, no, it's not meant to be taken seriously. I pick my noms based on the stories I've been most impressed with over the year (or at least I did when I was reading fanfic. I haven't read much for so long now that I doubt I'll be sending in any noms at all. I just don't have the time to catch up en masse. Who the author is has never featured in my calculations at all. It's something that doesn't matter to me. Newbie, fan favourite, old timer, one shot wonder <G> - they write the story I thought was best in the category, they'll get my vote.)
The pin is such a long-standing joke that only recently I discovered to my vast amusement that it's mentioned in the Kerth FAQs
Q/ They're all so good, and it's so hard to choose. Can I vote for more than one story per category?
A/ Sadly, no. One way or another, you have to pick one. A popular method was suggested a few years ago by Doc Klein's LabRat. She takes a pin, closes her eyes, and sticks it into her computer screen. She spends a fortune on new monitors, though, so we suggest you print the list out first.
Q/ Really? She uses a pin?
A/ Well, no, not really. But she did suggest the idea, and you may hear references to people wanting to borrow LabRat's pin.
I don't know who added that in, but thanks for the chuckle.
it so happened that two authors came out on top multiple times. Which made me wonder if I was fair or simply a part of the herd.
There is another option, of course. Perhaps they simply wrote the best stories that year. I sometimes think that we can analyse our choices too far, worry about the reasons too much, and miss sight of the fact that maybe we chose a certain story because it was well-written. You know, now and then, it does happen.
LabRat
