2024 Reading Adventures🎉

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1		2024 Mystillery Reading Challenges - Rules Page	batkat
2		SKIP to Six Shooter
3		SKIP to Mystery Marathon
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5		MEDICAL EXAMINER 2024
6	1	This challenge is open January 1 to December 31 2024.
7	2	Fiction only: All submissions must be fiction. (New rule for 2024)
8	3	Genres: You get to decide what is a 'mystery'. Traditional murder mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals, romances, short stories are all welcome.
9	4	Formats: Print books, audio books, radio dramatizations, or e-books may be used.
10	5	You get one Toe Tag per victim. What counts? If the person is significant enough to be given a name (more about that below), then it counts.
11	6	Reviews: Writing reviews is optional. If you supply a link to your blog or Goodreads review, the title of your submission will link to it.
12	7	Bloggers are welcome to copy any image that catches your fancy for your blog.
13	8	Short Stories are welcome in all Mystillery challenges. Short Stories may be submitted individually, regardless of length; or in one submission if it is a collection (The toe tag total is the same either way).
14	9	Omnibus (multiple full length stories bound in one book): Stories may be submitted individually, regardless of length, or all in one submission if you prefer (The toe tag total is the same either way).
15	10	Honorary badges are conferred to autopsy leaders as follows. Fame is fleeting: an examiner holds a badge until someone else qualifies for it, with a minimum of ten days. The date of award is noted on the challenge page, e.g. "@2/10"
16		Gold Gurney - Most Toe Tags Tied
17		Silver Scalpel - Most Books Read
18		Bronze Body Bag - Most Authors Read
19		Garnet Gloves - Most recent 50th Toe Tag
20		Lavender Lab Coat - Most recent 100th Toe Tag
21		Fuchsia Forceps - Most recent 200th Toe Tag
22		Brass Bone Saw - Most recent 300th Toe Tag
23		Scarlet Sponge - Most recent 400th Toe Tag
24		Magenta Magnifier - Most recent 500th Toe Tag
25	11	Kilotag for doing your share of the heavy lifting is awarded when you reach 1000 toe tags. This award does not expire.
26	12	Poaching is allowed! Sometimes it is hard to keep track of deaths - particularly when listening to audiobooks. Feel free to poach - that is, put your title in the search box and see if another examiner has already submitted that title. Then just "poach" their death count for your own Death Certificate. We're all in this morgue together!
27	13	DNF (Did Not Finish): If you bail out midway through a book, you may count the deaths which occured up to that point.
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29		About those names:
30		Why do we need a name when you don't ask for it on the Death Certificate? This is just a rule-of-thumb to see if the character is significant to the story. We don't want someone to reference, say, an airplane crash and claim 200 deaths. Names are not reported on the Death Certificate, as it is a summary of the deaths in the story, and some stories have lots of deaths. The challenge should be fun and not a record-keeping burden.
31		Does it have to be their full name? Can just a first or last name work? Either a first name or a last name is sufficient. That is enough to identify them throughout the story.
32		Do only murders count? - No, that would lead to layoffs in the M.E. office. Anyone who winds up in the morgue gets a toe tag.
33		What about past deaths? Many times past deaths are mentioned in a story. As long as the person is named, you can count it.
34		Can we presume a death? If a person is mentioned in a story, and you can figure the person would now (at the time of the story) be more than 100 years old, you can safely assume the person is dead - even if that fact is not explicitly stated. This could happen, for example, if a character is referring to ancestors, historical figures, or reading names off some historical document. As long as the person is named, you can count it.
35		Can we count an animal who is named and dies? Yes, it gives the M.E.s something to do on slow days!
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37		SIX SHOOTER
38		Setting up targets:
39		Just submit your first book, and that will set up the target for that author.
40		To help plan your shooting, you can set up empty targets for authors. To do this, just submit the form and leave the title field blank. Or if you have a bunch, just email the list to me.
41		Empty targets have no effect on scoring, so feel free to hang a bunch up!
42		Rules:
43	1	The challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2024.
44	2	Genres: Fiction only. You get to decide what is a 'mystery'. Traditional murder mysteries, thrillers, police procedurals, young adult, short stories, romances, all are welcome.
45	3	Formats: Print books, audio books, radio dramatizations, or e-books may be used.
46	4	Each completed target earns you a notch on your gun.
47	5	Once you have completed a target, you can target the same author again for additional notches.
48	6	You can target different authors simultaneously or consecutively.
49	7	Re-reads count for the same target, if in different years.
50	8	Pseudonyms and real names count toward the same target.
51		For those authors who write under multiple names, targets will be listed under the real name (if known); and a cross-reference line added for the pseudonym.
52		This convention would not apply for authors who write under only the pseudonym and not their real name (e.g., Ellery Queen is listed as Ellery Queen)
53		Pseudo's can be confusing, so I will try to organize it in the clearest manner.
54	9	Continuations of a series character by a subsequent author count as the same author.
55	10	Writing reviews is optional. If you supply a link to your blog or Goodreads review, the title of your submission will link to it.
56	11	Bloggers are welcome to copy any images from this challenge.
57	12	Short Stories are welcome in all Mystillery challenges. In this Six Shooter challenge, it is to your advantage to submit them separately, in order to earn more shots toward your targets.
58	13	Omnibus (multiple full length stories bound in one book): In this Six Shooter challenge, it is to your advantage to submit the stories separately, in order to earn more shots toward your targets.
59	14	Honorary Badges: The challege offers three honorary badges, based upon your score. You keep your badges even if your score subsequently drops below the threshold.
60		Sharpshooter: Your score has achieved 1.000, even if it subsequently falls below that level.
61		Booksniper: Your score has achieved 2.000, even if it subsequently falls below that level.
62		Ammonuensis: Your score has achieved 3.000, even if it subsequently falls below that level.
63		January 1 2025 Rollover:
64		Completed Targets: All completed targets will be removed.
65		Partially Completed Targets: Any empty or partially completed targets will be rolled over (carried forward) into 2025 as is, so you just pick up where you left off.
66		DNR's: At the hospital it means Do Not Resuscitate. Here it amounts to the same thing: Do Not Rollover. If you have any partially completed targets which you do not want to work on any more, send an email to me and let me know which ones. I will flag them with their DNR death sentence and they will not carry forward to 2025. Good riddance.
67		Empty Targets: Already planning your authors for next year? Feel free to set up empty targets for them as reminders. Just send an email to your host (rickmills9@gmail.com) and list the authors. Empty targets have no effect on scores, so feel free to load them up.
68		Rereads: Remember, rereads count if done in different years. So - for example - if you only have three books by an author, and you read them all this year, you can reread the same three next year to complete that target.
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70		MYSTERY MARATHON
71		The goal of the challenge is to complete the Mystery Marathon by reading 26.2 mystery books during the year. Sit back down, no actual running is required.
72		As there are 26.2 miles in a marathon, one book counts as one mile. The number of pages counts as the number of steps taken to complete that mile.
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74		Like a real marathon, this is an endurance event, not a sprint. Do not feel pressured to read fast! You can complete the marathon without visiting the Medical Tent if you just average leisurely reading one book every two weeks.
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76		About that last .2 mile: The last partial mile is the only one in which a short story may be used. You can use a full length book if you like, but a short story is all you need.
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78		Instructions:
79	◾	When you complete a mile (book), note the number of pages (steps).
80	◾	Page count is determined the same way Goodreads does: "Page numbers should match the page numbers as listed in the book. If a book begins on page 6, for example, do not subtract [six] from the final page count to determine the "actual" number of pages – simply list the number on the last page with countable content." In other words, on what page does the last word of the story appear? That's your count.
81		Exception: You may run into an omnibus where several books are bound together. In that case, the number should be the net number of pages - subtract first page number from last page number.
82	◾
83	◾	Audiobook and Kindle users can find the equivalent page count by looking up the Goodreads listing for a print edition of the book, as in the example of this highly-recommended bestseller:
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85	◾	Book author and title need not be submitted.
86	◾	If you use a tracking page or Goodreads shelf, you can put the URL in the form to link your entry to it.
87	◾	Mile 26.2 is the only mile in which a short story may be used.
88	◾	Step up to the starting line. Listen for the gun - and go!
89		(submit once for each mile/book completed).
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91		Rules:
92	1	This challenge is open to anyone with a pulse.
93	2	This challenge is open January 1 to December 31 2024.
94	3	Only fiction is allowed.
95	4	You can reread books from previous years.
96	5	Print books, audio books, and/or e-books may be used in any combination.
97	6	A short story is only allowed for the final 26.2 mile. You can use a full length book if you like, but a short story is all you need.
98	7	Bloggers are welcome to any images for your blog.
99		FAQ:
100		Once I complete the marathon can I run it again?