Discussion -- 300 Word Challenge #9

[Juliana]

Thank you very much for the vote, Aber! And Glen, for the mention.

 

[chrispenycate]

A little less last minute than my seventy-five word vote – I go in to start filling in my chart and lo! I have three votes, no less.

Fervent thanks to BetaWolf, riever33 and Starbeast; for some reason this challenge never elicited an inspiration, so I wrote it cold; I couldn't be seen to fail to produce, could I?

I wasn't at all certain I'd succeeded (except in the number of words).

And I don't think tat during the lead up I ever thanked Victoria, or Starbeast again for your short commentaries.

As well as the three I voted for (Luiglin, Lenny and Perpetual Man, I'd like to add a couple of runners-up:- jastius with the R&R special (although if there's one thing you don't do on tour it's sleep), Tactical Loco with an image which, even if lacking in apostrophes burns itself into the brain, Teresa with her justice, EloiseA with cynicism…

And, as usual, I could go on, and on.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Thank you Betawolf for the vote, and Glen and chris for the mentions!

I haven't had time yet to really read the stories, but when I glanced through them just before I posted to see if mine was too close to somebody else's idea, I was struck by the variety and the originality of the ideas.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Another vote! Thanks very much Chris.

 

[Starbeast]

Glen: Lots and lots of stories for this 300wd comp. More than usual? Or perhaps my attention span is... Anyway, thanks to all.

Starbeast: Yes, I noticed as well that many people jumped into this challenge.

Glen: I needed at bit of a wordy map myself to remember what they were all about and to remind me of my favourites. Here it is. I had a couple of clear winners, and I picked the next one based on how positive it made me feel.

Starbeast: An interesting way to do it. Very much like mini-reviews.

Glen: Starbeast - ...criss-crossed with the scars from many battles...

Starbeast: Definately, but fortunately I'm a fast healer. The scars that remain are great for conversation openers. Like the large battle axe scar on my chest.

Glen: My view of common themes invoked by this months pic: pirates, scenes from "Life of Brian", killings, twists in the tale (sometimes involving killings), wizards, more killings, oceans, dragons, history.

Starbeast: Yep, the usual. I'm glad there was some comedy (like you entry) to add to the blend of violence, drama and fantastic creatures.

Glen: Thanks Starbeast, Victoria Silverwolf for the shortlisting and mentions, and also to Springs and EloiseA for the mentions.

Starbeast: You are very welcomed Glen.

Fervent thanks to BetaWolf, riever33 and Starbeast; for some reason this challenge never elicited an inspiration, so I wrote it cold; I couldn't be seen to fail to produce, could I?

And I don't think tat during the lead up I ever thanked Victoria, or Starbeast again for your short commentaries.

You're welcome Chris for the vote and your review. No worries about how long it takes to reply.

 

[BetaWolf]

A little less last minute than my seventy-five word vote – I go in to start filling in my chart and lo! I have three votes, no less.

Fervent thanks to BetaWolf, riever33 and Starbeast; for some reason this challenge never elicited an inspiration, so I wrote it cold; I couldn't be seen to fail to produce, could I?

I liked the ideas involved--a little reflective of Arthur C. Clarke on threats from other spacefaring civilizations IMHO--and sometimes doing something cold gets you unforeseen results. Keep at it.

 

[Luiglin]

As well as the three I voted for (Luiglin, Lenny and Perpetual Man, I'd like to add a couple of runners-up:- jastius with the R&R special (although if there's one thing you don't do on tour it's sleep), Tactical Loco with an image which, even if lacking in apostrophes burns itself into the brain, Teresa with her justice, EloiseA with cynicism…

And, as usual, I could go on, and on.

Thanks for the vote Chrispenycate.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thank you for the votes, TacticalLoco and BigJ, and for the shortlistings since last I looked, StarBeast, johnnyjet, and Brev!

Not a story among them all that I didn't like, and another humongous shortlist, but at least not more than half like I had for the last 75! Close to half, though, sigh. You all are just too good.

Luiglin -- Fun in the Sun
springs -- Liberation
reiver33 -- The Man Who Fell to Urth
ratsy -- Life Isn't Always Mapped Out
Hex -- The Mapmakers
*barlennan -- The Cage Seas*
*mosaix -- We Have Ways of Making Yer Talk...*
alchemist -- When the World Forgot
Anne Martin -- No Turning Back
TSP -- All We Really Have
johnnyjet -- The Woman With Maps in Her Brain
Perpetual Man -- The Day the Magic Died
Abernovo -- The Bridge Across the Sea
*Glisterspeck -- The Big Island*
Brev -- Broken
TJ -- The Blood of Mapmakers

 

[Abernovo]

Thanks for the mention, Brev, and the listing, TDZ.

Abernovo - the loooove trade

I suddenly feel dirrrrty!

 

[johnnyjet]

Thanks, Starbeast & TDZ for the short listings, and Boneman & Glen for the votes! It always feels great to receive mentions & votes among such a talented group of writers.

 

[ratsy]

Thanks Starbeast, Glen and TDZ for the mentions!

 

[Lenny]

Shortlist, shorter list, votes:

Luiglin
springs
David Evil Overlord
EloiseA
mosaix
johnnyjet
Perpetual Man
Brev
BigJ
TacticalLoco
TheDustyZebra

---

Thank you for the comments, EloiseA, Starbeast, Victoria, and Glen. It's interesting that two of you read it as steampunk - I wrote it having come off a Star Trek binge, with a high-tech bridge in mind. Now I'm imagining it as polished brass and leather, and quite enjoying it!

Glen - I can only think of one gag (which also extends to the title). If you like, I can PM you the explanation, or post it when voting is over.

---

Thank you very much for the mentions and votes, SB and chrispy!

 

[johnnyjet]

Wow! Another vote! Thanks, Lenny.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks, Lenny!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ty for the mention, TDZ and ty, ty, Lenny and Brev for the vote. The euphoria carried me to end of drafting a new query, so that's a lot of smiles!

 

[TacticalLoco]

Thank you for short listing my story, Lenny.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I promised myself no whinging about how hard it was to come up with my short list. So...

These stories stood out for me

Springs – I liked the pace and reveal of this and the goat girl reminded me of The Tempest with shades of Caliban; mud tendrils are a horrible mental image - 'Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.' ermm... well, not quite, this is the antithesis of Prospero's island!

Lenny – The flood maker. For concept and lateral thinking.

David Evil Overloard – Slave ships and parasitic crabs. Poor Moya!

Hex – Another beautiful concept which brings to my mind the tradition of the power of names; I'm thinking of Rumplestiltskin, Pazuzu and goodness knows how many Wicca rituals

Alchemist – I always end up shortlisting a heartbreaking entry. This is the one for May's challenge.

Johnnyjet – For a beautiful, bittersweet, optimistisc hope for a failing future. Something Fringe-y about this, too.

Perpetual Man – A catastrophic paradigm shift with evocative descriptive sections; Perp's written John Mayer's Apocalypse

JoanDrake – The images are so striking even if I am not sure I entirely ‘got’ this one. It felt like I was eavesdropping on something I shouldn’t know (and we all like a bit of privileged info).

Glisterspeck – Giant’s island. The voice, pacing and dialogue are great, esp the flash-foreshadowing of ‘who could take it from them’…who, indeed?

Brev –ingenous use of the stimulus image - I felt a nice metaphysical element to the story, too.

TacticalLoco – I'm rather envious of your wonderfully original idea of dragon bridges. What a cynical world, though!

Stormcrow - for once again cramming a richly detailed milieu is such few words, and full of some wonderful turns of phrase, too. Besides, anyone who successfully uses the delightful ‘scolopendra’ in their entry deserves kudos.

The Judge – A killer last line following a torrent of rich images that really transported me into the story.

My votes went to:

The Judge
Stormcrow
David Evil Overlord

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who entered and made this such a varied and entertaining read.

Thanks to Johnnyjet for the vote! I am made up.

pH

 

[Brev]

Thank you to Phyrebrat, Lenny and TDZ for the mentions. All appreciated.

 

[stormcrow]

Phyrebrat - Thank You so much for your vote and splendid words - that's praise indeed! Made a good day even better!

 

[Starbeast]

Thanks, Starbeast & TDZ for the short listings, and Boneman & Glen for the votes! It always feels great to receive mentions & votes among such a talented group of writers.

You're welcome Johnnyjet.

Thanks Starbeast, Glen and TDZ for the mentions!

You're welcome Ratsy.

Thank you for the comments, EloiseA, Starbeast, Victoria, and Glen. It's interesting that two of you read it as steampunk - I wrote it having come off a Star Trek binge, with a high-tech bridge in mind. Now I'm imagining it as polished brass and leather, and quite enjoying it!

Thank you very much for the mentions and votes, SB and chrispy!

You are very welcomed Lenny for the review and the vote. Keep up the good work.