Discussion Thread - SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE March 2013

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the short-listings, Boneman, Chrispy and ratsy.

 

[TacticalLoco]

Thanks Phyrebrat for the mention. Vader's is really about redemption right? So I'd say you got it right.

And Wow! A stealth vote from jimness. Thank you. I don't know you but clearly a person of taste and refinement!

 

[Glitch]

in the end I chose Glitch's wonderful take on the theme.

Thanks for the vote Boneman

 

[stormcrow]

Woo-Hoo! A second vote! Thank You High Eight! I'm delighted you enjoyed it!

I wasn't familiar with the lyric you quoted - but was fascinated by it so googled and will have to investigate Horslips now!

Another fine crop of entries this month - here's my shortlist:

Hex - A lovely dark piece of storytelling...I love the shift in pace achieved through speech.
AMB - What a great idea - nicely executed! We're all in trouble if this is true...!
AlcubierreWarp - A hero indeed! So much in there for 75 words!
mosaix - Am I bad for laughing out loud?
johnnyjet - Great stuff - love the way the imagery unfolds!
barlennan - Your "fields..." image is brilliant and original - the piece itself, brooding: I like this a lot!
reiver33 - Original & interesting: I especially like the names!
Brev - Brilliant! Paints a vivid and entertaining cameo!
Phyrebrat - I really like the idea of merfolk as pirates off East Africa; as you know, I love a good tale of the sea!
hopewrites - Wonderful stuff - a truly creepy masterpiece! Beautiful rewrite!

But my vote goes to:

TDZ - Absolutely my favourite. Everything about this one works so well!

 

[paranoid marvin]

Thankyou so much to Boneman, Crystal, SB, Justin Grizz and Azzagorn for the shortlistings , and and of course special thanks to Perp for the vote.



Superman I - Ursa. Great idea, well executed, and just as funny as ever

Superman II - Tactical Loco. Brilliant, I love the fine lines you draw between good and evil

Superman III - TZD. Brilliant.



And the winner is TZD. Loved it.

 

[Brev]

Thanks to High Eight, Perp, chrispenycate and stormcrow for the mentions, and to Juliana for the Vote. You're all wonderful people.

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the Superman-ing, PM.


And as it happens, I am faster than a speeding pullet...






...but only when I'm in a fast vehicle on the move.

 

[Boneman]

Thanks for the vote Boneman

It was well-deserved, and I think probably because I recognised a former self in your story

Thankyou so much to Boneman, Crystal, SB, Justin Grizz and Azzagorn for the shortlistings , and and of course special thanks to Perp for the vote.

I'm not that often taken with poems in the challenges, but your swas right on the button, and the last line made me laugh.

 

[Bob Senior]

Howdy,
Ratsy--you made my day,week, month, thank you for the vote.
Brev----thank you for the shortlisting.
Jastius----thanks for the mention.

WOW! things are looking up, I was going to trash my story in favor of another, but never got it whittled down to 75 words.

TDZ--should I contact Bob and tell him to get a sharp stick ready?

 

[Starbeast]

Floating to the top of my list (hmm, is that the cream or the scum?) we find Brev, J Riff, jastius, Luiglin, mosaix, reiver33, Starbeast, TheDustyZebra and Ursa major. Nixie disqualified herself due to grammar and punctuation errors again (shakes finger towards Yorkshire). Boringly conventional this month; scarcely one that others haven't already chosen.

Thank you crystal haven, jastius, Perp and Starbeast for the mentions and a great big hug to Glen for the vote – what? You'd prefer to forgo the hug?…

I LOL when I read (earlier this morning) the cream or scum part, plus the thought of being a floater in your pool of choices. You'd make an exceptional reviewer of the stories, but that's up to you.

Your welcome for my mention, and thank you for your mention. Keep those zingers flying Chrispenycate!

Thanks to Starbeast & jastius for the short listings! Among such an illustrious group of tales, it's an honor to even get mentioned. I will humbly slip out the back now...

Hey, come back inside and take a bow.

Thankyou so much to Boneman, Crystal, SB, Justin Grizz and Azzagorn for the shortlistings , and and of course special thanks to Perp for the vote.

You're welcome Paranoid Marvin. Keep up the good work!



Exit, stage right............(click click click) Heaven's to Murgatroid, the theater door is locked.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks first to Boneman, Juliana and ratsy for the mentions, and doubly to stormcrow and paranoid marvin for the votes! I'm still chewing my nails, here.

With the threat of sharp sticks impending, I've managed to put an end to my agonizing and come up with a vote! Sadly, I did have to eliminate some from the short list after realizing they didn't quite seem to be either contemporary or a story, variously. In the end, it was a story most after my own heart that won the day.

And the list is:

ratsy -- Reclaimed Love
Alcubierre Warp -- Ordinary Hero, Deadly Game
DEO -- Believe? Uncertainly!
*mosaix -- When You're in a Hole...*
paranoid marvin -- Hero at Large
Glen -- Glittering Spell
reiver33 -- Once Out of the Pit
Brev -- 'What the F-'
Phyrebrat -- Pirate Radio
JRiff -- An Old Story
TJ -- Two Sides of the Same Coin
Bob Senior -- For a Few Bucks More

 

[Glen]

... a great big hug to Glen for the vote – what? You'd prefer to forgo the hug?…

Ahem, er, let's just take it as read shall we.

Thanks to Juliana and TheDustyZebra for the mentions.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Thanks for any more mentions, whether in response to my comments or for the story.

Apart from making the comments I've not really been able to join in with the discussion side of things as much as I would normally like, thanks to a unexpected workload and illness jumping from one member of the Perp family to the next and back again.

I'll have a few quiet days around Easter and then off we go again on Tuesday.

With that in mind, and knowing that I'm burning a little to fast at the moment (and have some little shindig to go to in April), and of course knowing that Starbeast and Victoria (and this month Alcubierre Warp) having been doing such a sterling job with their comments that I'm going to take a month off, relax and read the stories and enjoy them, without looking at them as something that has to be ripped apart and analysed.

But it's only for the month.

As Arnie once said,

"I'll be back."

 

[David Evil Overlord]

Look forward to that, Perp.

And thanks to TDZ for the mention.

 

[Boneman]

Thanks for any more mentions, whether in response to my comments or for the story.

Apart from making the comments I've not really been able to join in with the discussion side of things as much as I would normally like, thanks to a unexpected workload and illness jumping from one member of the Perp family to the next and back again.

I'll have a few quiet days around Easter and then off we go again on Tuesday.

With that in mind, and knowing that I'm burning a little to fast at the moment (and have some little shindig to go to in April), and of course knowing that Starbeast and Victoria (and this month Alcubierre Warp) having been doing such a sterling job with their comments that I'm going to take a month off, relax and read the stories and enjoy them, without looking at them as something that has to be ripped apart and analysed.

But it's only for the month.

As Arnie once said,

"I'll be back."

If anyone deserves a damn good rest from a self-imposed (but brilliant) job, then it's you Perp! Enjoy the break, and if you don't feel like rushing back, then extend it, and under no circumstances feel pressurised to take up the cudgel again. Didn't Arnie have a gap of a few years...?

 

[Abernovo]

Thanks for the listing, Juliana.

Perp, take some time, put your feet up, and relax. You deserve it.

 

[TacticalLoco]

Enjoy some well deserved down time Perp. Please accept wishes for a speedy recovery to you and yours.


Paranoid Marvin, thank you. An honor to be on your short list sir.

 

[chrispenycate]

I LOL when I read (earlier this morning) the cream or scum part, plus the thought of being a floater in your pool of choices. You'd make an exceptional reviewer of the stories, but that's up to you.

Your welcome for my mention, and thank you for your mention. Keep those zingers flying Chrispenycate!

I did attempt to generate some comments at one point, but it has been stated that only compliments are acceptable, and despite the high standard of the entries I seem to be constitutionally incapable of saying pleasant things for more than a paragraph or so.

I always want to be pointing out…

So, as Thumper's mother told us "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

And there is frequently one story I don't like, and reviewing them only works if you do all of them. Can you imagine reading a list of fulsome gushing over the quality of entries only to find yours:- "he got the formatting right"?

My natural curmudgeonity would prevent my doing as good a job at it as present incumbents; I am essentially not a very nice person. Not even a very nice pedant (and the species is not known for its tolerant pleasantness).

 

[ratsy]

Thanks for the shortlisting TDZ!!

 

[Bob Senior]

TDZ,
Thank you for the listing.

(the man with the stick will only act on my command)