Lyttle Lytton Contest

Adam Cadre (born February 5, 1974, in Silver Spring, Maryland) is an American writer active in a number of forms—novels, screenplays, webcomics, essays—but best known for his work in interactive fiction.

Biography

Cadre's 1998 piece '' Photopia'' pioneered a new direction in interactive fiction, removing the puzzle and resource-management elements that had previously been dominant; it has been cited as "hugely influential to IF development" and "important to video games as a whole, to the advancement of our understanding of the interactive medium." His next IF work, 1999's '' Varicella'', won several XYZZY Awards and became the subject of academic study. His game '' 9:05'' is commonly seen as a solid entry point for people wanting to engage with interactive fiction.

Chief among his non-interactive work is a novel, ''Ready, Okay!'' (2000).

Lyttle Lytton Contest

The ''Lyttle Lytton Contest'', run by Adam Cadre, is a diminutive derivative of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, and was first awarded in the year 2001. Both are tongue-in-cheek contests that take place annually and in which entrants are invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." The Lyttle Lytton Contest varies from the Bulwer-Lytton in favoring shorter first sentences, initially limited to 25 words or fewer. For the 2008 competition, the maximum combined word count of an entrant's submission was increased to 30 words, and an individual entry could consist of multiple sentences. For 2011, the limit was raised to 33 words, and for 2012, a limit of 200 characters was established instead.

Winners

*2024 – ''He slammed the door in my face, loud and sharp, like an acoustic lemon.'' (Erin McCourt)
*2023 – ''The sorrowful sun sank into the tears that were the waves, and Sammy too began to cry a bit.'' (W. Oakley)
*2022 – ''Jason and Laura may have loved each other, but they were as sharply different as Pacific and Atlantic.'' (Elle Spohrer)
*2021 – ''“Clang! Clang!” protested the knights’ swords, as they were each stopped by the metal wall of the other.'' (Bianca M.)
*2020 – ''Marilyn Kingsley, whose nationality could only be described as “vaguely Armenian and about one-third Mesoamerican,” was unfairly rich, not only in Aztec gold but also in Caucasian beauty.'' (Jacob Franzmeier)
*2019 – ''“Are you okay?” asks my sister Tlaloc.  “You’re as green as the parrots that inhabit this part of the continent.”'' (Lachlan Redfern)
*2018 – ''As I felt the vampire sexily drinking the blood from my neck, the warmth between my legs grew both in wetness and in fear for my life.'' (Cole Borsch)
*2017 – ''1.  YOU, the Anagramancer, stare down the invading MANTICORE: Will you ROMANCE IT (turn to 123), give it CREMATION (turn to 213), or summon EROTIC MAN (turn to 312)?'' (Stephen Wort)
*2016 – ''It all started when my topaz eyes looked up into his soft emerald ones.'' (Will McGill)
*2015 – ''I drew my customized Kimber 1911 .45, with the Pachmayr grips and skeletonized trigger, and leveled it coolly at the African-Americans.'' (Brad Hanon)
*2014 – Together, we will beat them all,' she whispered, caressing the circlet-girt fontanelles of her #royalbaby.'' (Alex Thorpe)
*2013 – ''The men greeted each other, wearing various smiles on their faces.'' (Noah MacAulay)
*2012 – ''Agent Jeffrey's trained eyes rolled carefully around the room, taking in the sights and sounds.'' (Davian Aw)
*2011 – ''The red hot sun rose in the cold blue sky.'' (Judy Dean)
*2010 – ''“I shouldn't be saying this, but I think I'll love you always, baby, always,” Adam cried into the email.'' (Shexmus Amed)
*2009 – ''The mighty frigate ''Indestructible'' rounded the Horn of Africa and lurched east'ard.'' (Pete Wirtala)
*2008 – ''Because they had not repented, the angel stabbed the unrepentant couple thirteen times, with its sword.'' (Graham Swanson)
*2007 – ''It clawed its way out of Katie, bit through the cord and started clearing.'' (Gunther Schmidl)
*2006 – ''This is the cipher key for all that follows: , , , , , , , , , !''" (P. Scott Hamilton)
*2005 – ''John, surfing, said to his mother, surfing beside him, “How do you like surfing?”'' (Eric Davis)
*2004 – ''This is the story of your mom's life.'' (Rachel Lambert)
*2003 – ''For centuries, man had watched the clouds; now, they were watching him.'' (Stephen Sachs)
*2002 – ''The pain wouldn't stop, and Vern still had three cats left.'' (Andrew Davis)
*2001 – ''Turning, I mentally digested all of what you, the reader, are about to find out heartbreakingly.'' (Top Changwatchai)

Other winners

In addition to the main contest, others are offered from year to year. The winners of those are:

Awards

* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Game in 1997 for ''I-0'' and in 1999 for ''Varicella''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Individual Player Character in 1997 for Tracy Valencia in ''I-0'' and in 1999 for Primo Varicella in ''Varicella''
* Winner of the 1998 Interactive Fiction Competition with '' Photopia''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Writing in 1998 for ''Photopia'' and in 2003 for ''Narcolepsy''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Non-Player Characters in 1999 for ''Varicella'' and in 2002 for ''Lock & Key''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Individual Non-Player Character in 1999 for Miss Sierra in ''Varicella'' and in 2002 for Boldo in ''Lock & Key''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Use of Medium in 2000 for ''Shrapnel''
* Winner of the XYZZY Award for Best Individual Puzzle in 2002 for the traps in ''Lock & Key''

References

External links

Cadre's web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadre, Adam
1974 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
Interactive fiction writers
People from Anaheim, California
Writers from Silver Spring, Maryland
American webcomic creators
American male screenwriters
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
American male essayists
21st-century American essayists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Novelists from California
20th-century American essayists
Screenwriters from California