Bloglander

DEBT.

Think about it. What comes to mind?

The financial crisis? Foreclosure? Sure. But what about obligation — to friends, to family. What about gratitude? Duty? Honor? Oxygen?!

Debt is a complex word that touches on areas of deep importance to America and the world. We'd like you to write about it.

As you may have guessed from the studious man with the pipe and quill, everyone's favorite exercise in literary pugilism, The Inlander Short-Fiction Contest, is back! And this year, the theme is Debt.

DETAILS: Submit original, unpublished short stories, under 2,000 words, dealing with the concept of debt, however you wish to define it.

DEADLINE: Stories must be emailed to [email protected] by Dec. 1. The subject line of the email should read "Fiction Contest Entry." The best stories will be published in our Dec. 22 Issue.

That's it. Pretty straightforward.

Do us a favor: Submit a story. Then do us another favor: Tell your friends to submit one. Your enemies, too. Anyone you can think of with a lick of fictive talent is welcome.

Last year was great and, in the spirit of the way America grows its markets in unsustainable ways, we don't just want this year to be better. We want this year to be a hyper-speculated, risk-hedged bubble of fiction awesomeness!

Too soon?