I think the limit sort of favors "tomato surprise".
That is, stories where there is a set up and a specific punchline (twist, joke, betrayal) that comes pretty much at the end.
Hmm. Of my stories for the contest, let's note "TS" as tomato surprise.
A full TS comes at the very end as a big twist/joke
> Beach House: TS
> Wardu's Wager: TS-light
> Fair Trade: TS
> Linnathiel & Meriden: no
> One Rogue, Four Ladies: no
> Good Dog: TS-light
> The Sun, the Moon and the Morning Star: no
> Parting Friends: TS! (which makes sense, since this was flash fiction with only 500 words allowed)
> Space Opera: TS, big time.
> Lord of the Rings: TS-lite
> Leviathan: no
> The Library of Alexander: no
> Skeleton Walks into a Bar: not applicable. Just not.
> Trojan Horse: TS
> (not yet submitted Nightmare story...): probably not TS
So...14 stories: 5 full-on Tomato Surprises, 3 TS-lite, and 6 no
Not sure what this tells us, but it was fun to walk down memory lane.
