Guess the Author

by Anordir

Ever hear something that makes you go, "Hey, that sounds exactly like something So-and-So would write!"? Ever read something and think, "That was really good, but if I had been given the same outline to write I would have done it totally differently"?

"Guess The Authors" is all about noticing the differences between writing styles. Many styles can be similar, but every author has his or her own style.

Every month, a number of authors are given the same prompt or requirement, and they each write a fic or (fic excerpt) inspired by it. A list of the participating authors and a list of the fics written will be published in the zine each month.

If you think you can match up the authors to the fics, send your guesses to the editor. In the next month's issue, we'll publish the answers and the names of people who correctly figured it out.

This month, the requirement was that each fic be a 100 word drabble. Authors were also given the option of this prompt:

"Excuse me," I said. "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Only ask questions about three-letter words?"
"I don't know - I just happen to like three-letter words today. There are a lot of big topics with only three letters - God, for example, and Art, and bugs."
- from Borgel, by Daniel Pinkwater

Here are the authors in this months issue, so you can view samples of their work:

Anordir
Blue Yeti
Dim Aldebaran
Fairy Hunter
The White Lily

And the fics themselves:

[untitled]
Ascendant
Little Miss Goldilocks
Lunar Fallacy
Red Shift

The authors would all appreciate feedback on their fics, so please go ahead and review - even if you don't know who you're reviewing!

We always welcome volunteers to write, be it for every issue or just one. Applications for the September issue of The Observatory should be sent to FairyHunter (over Orion Awards forum PM) or to the editor, who will send you the rules. The prompt is:

"How can you see something that isn't there?"
- from The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster