For the next twenty-one weeks starting on April 21, 2006, authors will be presented with various writing tasks to complete in specified time frames. At the end of each task, a winner will be selected to receive a prize that will be announced at the start of each Challenge.

All challenge subjects will be determined by the site administrator. However, the readers may be asked to submit ideas for story challenges from time to time. Authors are encouraged to continue posting their other stories, and participation in any or all of the story challenges is absolutely voluntary.

A. The different types of challenges are as follows:

1. STORY CHALLENGES:

a.  Friday "Fantasy" Challenge: Every Friday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time from 4/21/06 to 9/1/06, our authors will be given a specific theme which is to be addressed in a single-post story. Authors may post an unlimited number of submissions to each challenge task, but each post for that theme must be a stand-alone post. The themes for the Friday challenges will usually be non-Canon, and may involve crossovers with other shows or characters. Authors will have one week to submit their stories. Click here for Friday Fantasy Challenge List

b.  Tuesday "Fix it or Finish It" Challenge: Every Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, our authors will be asked to "fix" a scene from a Season 3 episode of The L Word. Authors may actually re-write the scene, or write a subsequent scene to repair the damage. Again, authors may post an unlimited number of submissions, but each post must stand alone. Authors will have one week to submit their stories. Click here for Tuesday "Fix it or Finish It" Challenge List

2. SERIES CHALLENGE:

Throughout the next twenty weeks, we will also present five different series challenges. These challenges will last four weeks each, and will ask the authors to post an ongoing series of at least 10 chapters during that four-week time period. Each post must be at least 1500 words long to count towards the 10 posts required for consideration for the specified challenge prize. Authors may post more than 10 chapters on any particular Series Challenge, and may of course continue with a particular series even after a Challenge ends. These challenges will be issued on specified Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Click here for Series Challenge List

3. SERIES MEGA-CHALLENGE:

Approximately half-way through the contest, authors will also be given an eight week mega-challenge that will require at least 25 posts during that eight-week time period, with each post consisting of at least 1500 words. Authors may post more than 25 chapters, and may continue the series after conclusion of the challenge. The start date for the Mega-Challenge will be announced soon.

B. Prizes and Winners

1. Selection of Winners:

a. Winners of the Friday challenges and the four-week Series challenges will be determined by the web site, by a judge or panel of judges selected by the site administrator.

b. Winners of the Tuesday challenges will be determined by a vote of the readers at the conclusion of each challenge.

c. The winner of the Series Mega-Challenge will be determined by a two-tier process. First, at the conclusion of the Challenge, readers will be asked to vote for their choice for the best series submitted in response to the presented task. The top five vote-getters will be the nominees for the Series Mega-Challenge prize. A panel of judges selected by the site administrator will then determine the winner from the slate of nominees selected by the readers.

2. Prizes:

All prizes are in the sole discretion of the site administrator. The prize for each challenge will be announced at the time the challenge task is posted.