Discussion thread -- SEVENTY-FIVE WORD WRITING CHALLENGE May 2014

[Ashleyne]

I took a lot of internal deliberation, but I’ve cast my vote. I’ll give an honourable mention to ‘Mother’s denial’ by Remedy. I thought it was wonderfully dark. The idea of a single disturbed, mass-genocidal alien destroying the human race was, to me, spooky and genius. It played on my imagination.

My vote goes to ‘Not with a bang but with a wheeze’ by Parsons. The idea of a microscopic machines wiping out the human race with such speed was, in my opinion, frightening and well-thought-out. The cold-heartedness of the preening Scrogg was the spark of the firework: the icing on the cake.

 

[Serendipity]

Hm... there was definitely a superabundance of tentacles threading their way through these stories, as well as bugs. But in the end it came down to a choice between Ursa's and Marvin's stories for me. Both were cleverly constructed with a nice twist in their tails!

 

[A. Fare Wells]

Best wishes, Bob Senior. Sad to learn of your health problems.

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Thanks for the listing, Springs! Glad you liked it

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Had a good time reading everyone's stories. In an attempt to avoid favoritism, I covered everyone's name while reading at making my list. It was really tough choosing one.

Long list included:
Teresa Edgerton
The Storyteller
Ashleyne B. Watts
Mr. Orange
Parsons
David Evil Overlord
and Bowler 1

After whittling, short list was:
cornelius
Juliana
Victoria Silverwolf

Ended with a tough choice between Paranoid Marvin and Kylara. I'd vote for both if I could. Kylara gets my vote for a unique take on the theme.

 

[Juliana]

Thank you for the shortlisting, A. Fare Wells.

 

[The Storyteller]

Firstly, thanks to Starbeast for the review and A. Fare Wells for the long listing!

As for my own vote, that was very tricky! Here is my long listing:
Parson
Mr. Orange
Ursa Major
TDZ
Culhwch
Cat's Cradle


And then my 'short listing'
Ratsy- this one tickled my fancy; loved the ending.
Victoria Silverwolf- I liked the choice of perspective for this.
Kylara- A very unique and fun story, with the choice of invaders/defenders.
The Judge- I liked the idea, and the final line was perfect.


And here then is my third, second, and first place...
Bronze: Just Desserts by David Evil Overlord- I found it very amusing and interesting, and I enjoyed the play on words!
Silver: Lebensraum by Paranoid Marvin- I liked reading this in poetry form, and most of all I liked the story idea, learning only at the last line that the 'aliens' were humans. I liked this twist, and thought it made for a good story!
And finally, for gold and my vote, is Remedy with Mother's Denial- very interesting perspective. It gives the entire theme a very different feel... the 'invasion' coming at the hands of 'serial species killer' and seen through the eyes of a mother in denial. Excellent story!


Anyway, lots of great stories, it was very hard to choose!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

After rereading all the stories three or four times, I found myself with a very short shortlist of winners. Choosing among them was difficult.

In order of appearance:

"The Last Truth" by springs for the sincerity of its heartfelt emotions.

"Invasion of the Mind" by The Storyteller (appropriately) for the impact of its compelling storytelling.

"Lost in Translation, or The Man Who Doomed the Earth" by Juliana for the subtlety of its multilayered ironies.

"The Winnower" by martin321 for the effectiveness of its narrative voice.

"They Came By Night" by stormcrow for the appeal of its imaginative concepts.

"Mother's Denial" by Remedy for the power of its thoughtful characterization.

____________________________________________________________


Since there must be a vote, after much pondering I had to go with "They Came By Night" by stromcrow. The primary reason for my decision was the genuine sense of wonder created by the use of plausible details to tell a story of extraordinary events.

__________________________________________________________________

It seems as if this is going to be a very interesting contest, with no clear winner as yet.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thank you so much Anya and The Storyteller for the listings!!! That made my day!!

Oh, such a a hard month to judge! I hate leaving anyone off, the stories were so good. SO..

Long list: everyone not mentioned in the next few lines, well done all!

Shorter list:
BenSt
TDZ
Teresa
springs
Starbeast
jastius
hopewrites
chrispenycate

Finalists:
Parson
Victoria
Perpetual Man
Alchemist

My vote goes to, Alchemist!

(This post may be longer than the stories!)

 

[Phyrebrat]

My shortlist

JonH - One Chicken - Two Chickens
Victoria Silverwolf - Bury My Heart
Perpetual Man - All’s Wells That Ends Wells
johnnyjet - And They Are Us
Stormcrow - They Came By Night
Teresa Edgerton - B.E.M. — The Extraterrestrials
TDZ - Clean Sweep at Area 51
The Judge - War of the Words

And clear winner
Victoria Silverwolf - Bury My Heart

pH

 

[Aun Doorback]

Thanks for the vote Telford

 

[Juliana]

Victoria, thank you very much for the shortlisting.

 

[stormcrow]

Wow: Thank You Victoria - for the vote & your comments! I'm delighted at both.

And thanks too Phyrebrat, for the shortlisting.

What a month - lot's of science in our fiction! Great stories all round, I thought.

My shortlist:

Serendipity - I enjoyed your unique time-travelling take on a common history!
Khayos - Great fun this: I'm in!
Victoria - A moving tribute to a brutally overthrown people and a lovely 'on-looking' perspective on an alien invasion across the sea.
Juliana - A clever, subtle tale - very nicely paced.
Perp Man - Superb; I love how enmeshed those familiar elements to make something entirely new! Great stuff.
Starbeast - A Double-Feature! Splendidly entertaining - I could never, ever have come up with something like this!
Kylara - I'm certain I've seen the aftermath in my garden; a wonderland of imagination opens up through these (only!) 75 words!
Remedy - A brooding piece this; nice dark edge to it. I loved your choice of perspective.
TDZ - I'd hoped there'd be an Area 51 themed tale; "stoopid dor" - lovely!
The Judge - Sadly, an all too believable possible future; convincingly told.

My vote goes to Perpetual Man - well done!

...and positive thoughts to Bob.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I hope your surgery goes well, Bob. I'm praying for you.

_____

Thank you Starbeast and Victoria for the reviews.

And thank you very much(!) telford, A. Fare Wells, Cat's Cradle, and Phyrebrat for the listings.

 

[Parson]

Parson, if you could move me up a few spots on your long list of special cases I would sure appreciate it.

Hope to talk to you all soon.

Bob

Bob, you've been on my prayer list for more than a year now. I will most certainly move you up in terms of passion. The Lord knows what you need.

.
My vote goes to ‘Not with a bang but with a wheeze’ by Parsons. The idea of a microscopic machines wiping out the human race with such speed was, in my opinion, frightening and well-thought-out. The cold-heartedness of the preening Scrogg was the spark of the firework: the icing on the cake.

Ashleyne: Thanks so much for the vote and the kinds words. I'm glad you liked it, not so glad it was "frightening" I'm so pleased with the vote I'm grinning!!

A. Fare Wells: Thanks for the long listing. It is so satisfying to see someone mention that they felt you did a good job.

Storyteller: Another long listing! Thank you

Cat's Cradle: A finalist! I'm so pleased. Thank you.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

You're welcome, Parson! It was a fine tale! And you're welcome too, Teresa!!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Victoria and Cat's Cradle, thanks for the mentions.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

You're welcome, springs! I find the voting MUCH harder than the story-writing, and lament that there is only vote to give each month. Your story was very fine.

 

[alchemist]

Best of luck with the upcoming ops, Bob!

Thanks so much for the votes springs and Cat's Cradle!

And for my own...

Mentions (and shortlisting):

Bowler1 (largely for "Their erratic and confusing battle plan was effective and deadly.")
A. Fare Wells
Tywin
Victoria Silverwolf
mosaix
Juliana
Teresa Edgerton
Remedy
Ursa Major

And the votegetter, by the diameter of the filaments of a planet-saving bacterium, Bowler1!

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the mention, The Storyteller, and the shortlistings, Serendipity and Alc.

 

[alchemist]

Thanks for the mention, The Storyteller, and the shortlistings, Serendipity and Alc.

Welcome! When this is over, can you tell me what the significance of Fisg is? Because I know it has to mean something...

 

[Ursa major]

Actually -- and I blame my subconscious (because I didn't realise it when I first typed the word) -- it does, sort of....