Discussion 75 Word Challenge -- MARCH

[slindeman]

Hex, thanks for the vote!

And thanks to johnnyjet and TheDustyZebra for the shortlistings.

 

[Starbeast]

My third time voting and again a very difficult decision. The quality again was very high and it took me a while to narrow down my favorites. But here it goes:

MY SHORT LIST:

1. Like mother, like son * crystal haven
2. Mrs. Johnson * Teresa Edgerton
3. Crier's Lake * Karn Maeshalanadae
4. Wooden Hearts * Bob S. Sr.
5. Fluffy Bunny * David Evil Overlord
6. The House On The Edge Of The Forest * alchemist
7. And I Will Try To Fix You * HoopyFrood
8. Bob * MemoryTale
9. Clunko the World’s Greatest Clown * Starbeast
10. The Show! * TacticalLoco
11. Down There in the Dark * High Eight
12. The Weeping Wall * slindeman
13. Legoboy * Phyrebrat
14. The Dancers * Luiglin
15. Make-Believe Wings * Culhwch

my short list:
Hex
Warren
Teresa
Karn
Alchemist
Nixie
Stormcrow
R J Dando
Starbeast
Tactical Loco
Chris
Pyan
Moonbat
James Coote
and Cul

Thanks for the Short List mentions Johnnyjet & Perpetual Man

I need more time to think about who I'm going to vote for.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Wow, all sorts of mentions. I wish I could have painted a better picture of the area Crier's Lake was meant to be in.


Ah, well. I'm simply sitting back and waiting to see what Easter month will bring...

 

[crystal haven]

Thank you, Aaron stone, Johnnyjet, and TheDustyZebra, for including me on your shortlists.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Oh, a vote! Thank you R.J. Dando, I wasn't expecting that!

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the vote, AMB.

 

[Aaron Stone]

Thanks for the shortlisting, TDZ!

 

[Mad Haddar]

good writing everyone! really enjoyed reading them.

 

[AMB]

I couldn't figure out how to do both magical realism and uncanny, so I cheated. Obviously, no one loves a cheater.

 

[Olive Skye]

I voted for aaron, cuz I hate pigeons and it reminded me of twilight zone. Great story!

 

[Bob Senior]

Thanks for the shorter list mention Dusty, makes my day.
Bob

 

[TheCrusher]

Sorry to ask but where can I read these stories?

 

[Abernovo]

Right here, in the Writing Challenges section:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/535456-75-word-writing-challenge-march-2012-read-first.html

 

[Jo Zebedee]

75 word challenge thread for march inside writing challenges thread - there's often a link under the posting box

 

[Ursa major]

In this thread, TheCrusher.


(Anyone would think that some of us are keen for you to visit that thread....)

 

[nixie]

Looks like I was beating to it. Then once you've read them you can cast your vote here http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/535456-75-word-writing-challenge-march-2012-read-first.html.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Can I suggest you read first post, stop there, and vote. Too desperate, Ursa?

 

[Ursa major]

Not at all, Springs (if only because it isn't possible to vote for the first post as it doesn't contain a story, only the introduction from Teresa).

 

[Vertigo]

Been through them all and tough doesn't cover it. I keep looking at the ones that I'm leaving out of the short list and want to add them in but then it would be no kind of shortlist! So here's my shortlist of 15:

Alchemist - The House on the edge of the forest - brilliant closing line
Aun Doorback - The Summoners - I loved the conflict between the doctors and the necromancers/demons
Bob S. Sr - Wooden Hearts - Just beautiful
Culhwch - Make-Believe Wings - Bittersweet. And sending a chill down my spine really doesn't cover it
Hopewrites - What Food has to Say - Hilarious. You been looking in my fridge?
Karn - Crier's Lake - I loved this; dark and moody
Luiglin - The Dancer's - great twist; the last line completely caught me out! (And welcome!)
Moonbat - A Simple Spell - Pleeeeeese!
Nixie - The Soup Kitchen - I loved the story but also that is was a story with beginning, middle and end; so hard in 75 words.
Perpetual Man - Inverted - You captured the emotion so well (reminded me a little of the end of Legend)
Phoenixthewriter - Look Me in the Eyes - another one that sent a hill down my spine
Pyan - Plain Brown Wrapper - I kept thinking back on this a chuckling again!
Scott R Forshaw - Witch Tea - I loved this and think it possibly captured both theme and genre more accurately than any other this month
The Judge - Face Value - It starts so prosaically that I did a major double take when he starts shopping for another face. Excellent!
Ursa Major - Lifting One's Spirits - Another chill down the spine one. The closing line was great!

My final three (with almost nothing between them in my scoring) were:
Culhwch
Bob S. Sr
Phoenixthewriter

My vote went to Culhwch

And thankyou to Talysia for the vote and Warren Paul, Springs, Nixie and Luiglin for the mentions!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for the mention Vertigo.

I've been wondering when or where to put this down, even thought of resurrecting the Perpetual Man thread but thought that was a tad egotistical.

That being said I've decided to stop doing my comments or the time being. I started doing them just as a one off and everyone liked them so much that I just kept going, month after month, 75 word and 300 word challenges.

I have to say that I loved doing it - I haven't even kept count, I cannot tell when I started - how long I have been doing it, but I know I have not missed a month and I'm proud of that, but more importantly I really appreciated the way everyone else really appreciated it. (Even to the extent of getting my appreciation thread - I cannot say how much that meant to me!)

As many of you know, myself and Mrs Perp. are expecting our second child in a few weeks (yup time has gone that quickly we could be counting in days...) and the baby could come at any time. With that in mind and knowing how busy I'm going to be in the coming months, I've decided now is the right time to stop the comments for the time being.

I did play with the idea of starting April, but thought there was no guarantee I'd finish them, and that did seem right.

I will be continuing with the challenges just can't speak about the quality of them what with late nights and early mornings...

So thanks for all the thanks, and as far as the comments go, as Arnie once said:

I'll be back.