DISCUSSION THREAD -- December 2012 75-word Writing Challenge

[Jo Zebedee]

Thanks Bowler and Eric for the mentions! Oooh, it's close again.

 

[chrispenycate]

My "short list" is a jumbled scrawl on a scrap of crinkled paper, but as I was going to be all day in the coach (and am, but WiFi's working fine; just the computer's battery that's probably not going to hold out to Sheffield) I wanted to make sure the vote was in.

 

[Luiglin]

@Ratsy - Weird how stories can be read in different ways. I took Perp's to be one from an innocent everyday kid who just unfortunatley cannot spell very well.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Luiglin and Hope thanks for the mention, as always greatly appreciated.

And Ratsy thanks for the vote, puts a smile on my face.

It is funny how people interpret the stories (I know I've been well off the beaten track on one of them at least this month)

Obviously I'm not going to comment on my own story yet, but quite amusing to see two totally opposing interpretations...

And the voting really is close again. And spread right out... makes it all exciting. Again.

 

[ratsy]

Well I have been drinking a lot of egg nog so....either way Perps story was meant...it was great

 

[Perpetual Man]

Well I have been drinking a lot of egg nog so....either way Perps story was meant...it was great

How can I not say thank you again for that!

Egg Nog? Any lying around here?

 

[Abernovo]

Thanks for the mention, Hope.

 

[Ursa major]

Satan's little helpers - surely you knew Santa was an anagram - have, as usual, delivered these gift just in time.

The entries are listed in date-of-posting order within each category:

Honourable Mentions:

• Moscow-7 by reiver33
• The Vampires of the Messines Ridge by stormcrow
• When the Cold of Winter Comes by Teresa Edgerton
• Who's Been A Good Girl, Then? by mosaix

Runners Up:

• Twas the Day Before Christmas by ratsy
• One for the road by Juliana
• Truce by paranoid marvin

Winner:

• Beware Seasonal Food Poisoning by Abernovo

 

[Juliana]

Thanks, Ursa!!!

 

[mosaix]

Thanks for the short listings, Hope and UM.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Thanks Ursa and Hopewrites!

 

[Abernovo]

Thanks, Ursa. Three votes! Now having to sit down in shock.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Thanks for the mentions, ratsy, hopewrites, and Ursa.

This is exciting. With so many votes yet to be voted, there are still a lot of people who could tie or win this.

 

[The Judge]

Another difficult choice to winnow the entries, but I tended to like most those stories which came at the genre and theme from a different direction. My shortlist:

Culhwch -- The Christmas Tree -- a poignant last line
HareBrain -- The Small Hours -- I like this as much for what is unsaid as for what appears
Hex -- You girls and boys won't get any toys unless you let me in... -- clever and chilling
Karn -- A Discussion on Santa's New Tradition -- a different perspective!
Lucky Lola -- Red and Green is the Winter Solstice -- I like an imagination which can imprison a vampire in a fir tree
nixie -- Midnight Mass -- almost made me feel sorry for a vampire
stormcrow -- Vampires of the Messines Ridge -- the vampires aren't the worst thing there

Having got my shortlist, the decision came quite quickly for once -- the chatter of the Lewis guns won out and stormcrow got my vote.


Thanks for the short-listings and mentions springs, alchemist, TacticalLoco (Yay! An American shortlisting!!) and Juliana, and many thanks Lucky Lola and Luiglin for the votes -- I'm very grateful! (Oh, yes, she is...)

 

[stormcrow]

Wow! Thank You for your vote Your Honour!

Thanks as well to Hope & Ursa for the mentions!


Several brandyrooks have already flown out to aid the nerves; - think I'll join in a warming draft!

 

[The Spurring Platty]

Twelve seems an appropriate number for a list:

Hex - You girls and boys won't get any toys unless you let me in...
southron sword - Silent Night
johnnyjet - The Two Stables
Lucky_Lola - Red and Green is the Winter Solstice
Interversus
mosaix - Who’s Been A Good Girl Then?
HareBrain - The Small Hours
Aun Doorback - Father Vampire
Culhwch - The Christmas Tree

My top three:
reiver33 - Moscow-7
Parson - Life, Death, and Salvation
chrispenycate - Tree Ornaments

My vote went to reiver33 for the imagery it evoked for me and what could be a very plausible vampiric scene. But Parsons tale of hope and redemption was very very close.

 

[HareBrain]

Well, that makes it easier ...

My vote also goes to Reiver33's ridiculously assured vignette, but Teresa was so close behind that I felt uncomfortable with the idea that mine might be the deciding vote between them. (So I'd better hurry up and vote before someone else makes it a draw again.) Stormcrow was my third-place choice.

There were so many others that I liked -- I think I found something to like in all of them -- that any longer list would be stupidly long, or unfair. A particularly good month, I thought.

Thanks to Teresa and Nixie for voting for me, and to others for shortlistings.

 

[stormcrow]

Wow! Thanks for that HB!

 

[nixie]

Thank you for the mention Parson, Boneman and TJ

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I'd better get the lists in before the voting closes! I ended up with three levels this time, probably due to the fact that I needed three votes for Christmas. So it's the shortlist, the shorter list, the *list that would have been my votes had there been three*, and the **vote**, which I see is actually four levels. I can't count, either. Can I blame eggnog, too? Alas, no.

Scott R. Forshaw -- An Apocalyptmas Carol
Hex -- You Girls and Boys...
Abernovo -- Beware Seasonal Food Poisoning
stormcrow -- The Vampires of the Messines Ridge
TacticalLoco -- An Adolescent Literary Fantasy
Highlander -- Red
*johnnyjet -- The Two Stables*
Perpetual Man -- Be Careful What You Wish For...
*Lucky Lola -- Red and Green is the Winter Solstice
Parson -- Life, Death, and Salvation
TSP -- Vampire, Junior
DThenB -- Untitled
TE -- When the Cold of Winter Comes
**mosaix -- Who's Been a Good Girl Then?**
HB -- The Small Hours
Phyrebrat -- 999
Kylara -- Christmas Lunch
VALIS13 -- Untitled