I have dried fondant on a bed of cornstratch to help dry it faster. The cornstrach absorbs the liquid. You can use a soft paint brush to brush it off. 
I've also heard of people using food dehydrators to dry fondant, gumpaste, and royal icing.
Gumpaste dries pretty darn fast for me. How close to the deadline did you wait? *Eek*
I let my pieces dry under a ceiling fan or if I need it a little faster, I point a small table fan at them. I don't know if the increased air movement actually dries the pieces faster, but it makes me feel like they're drying faster. 
I have a fan that I turn on to mine if I need it really fast... I put it right in front of the fan, turn it on medium or high and it dries really fast for me
last week I put mine in the oven and turned the OVEN LIGHT ONLY on.
I got the idea from a cook book about drying royal icing fast. Anyways, it worked, the stuff was nice and hard.
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