DISCUSSION -- February 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Glen]

GLEN - I was impacted by your remarkable poem.

I hope positively, not negatively.
:0)

I enjoyed reading all the stories. It was a doubleplusgood month, but my favourites were:

• Ashleyne. B. Watts - “Devils Don’t Dance” - great characters, and change, tightly packed
• Luiglin - “All the right moves” - lol
• Anne Martin - “Infinite Recursion” - This one had me at the title.
• Remedy “17:00” - Colour is integral to this story (as it is in life).
• Bowler1 - “The Pied Piper Plays Old School House” - ***Magical Realism Joker*** - Yes, I can’t say I’m very familiar with “God is a DJ” but watched the video for the first time yesterday in a pub, while having lunch, on the way back from a long weekend in the Blue Mountains. And here it is again.
• Fishbowl Helmet - “Meeting of the Courts” - Loved the language. The story is not clear to me - but I like that ambiguity - like being in another country.
• Culhwch - “Masquerade” - Heady atmosphere.

And the winner of my vote...is...Ashleyne. B. Watts with “Devils Don’t Dance” [crowd goes wild!]

I see I have a couple of mentions, and even a photo-finish! Thanks indeed!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Thank you, Mr Orange and DG Jones for your shortlisting. It looks like one of those months where "I'll be always the bridesmaid, never the bride."

 

[Droflet]

Many thanks to Moonbat, Springs and Mr Orange for the generous mentions. Telford seizes chest and hits the floor. Two more votes? Wow. Many, many thanks to Perp and Beasty.
Holy cow, my best month ever. I guess I really pulled that out of my ... ah, never mind.

 

[crystal haven]

Thank you very much, Springs, for the Vote.

 

[Bowler1]

Thank you Mr Orange for the vote, I suspected a Faithless fan like your good self would give me a chance at a vote. As Faithless are a UK band and about twenty years old now, I think it might just be you and me mate.

But not to worry - join me on the stage and have another glow stick.
Hang on, I need to edit. Shove over Mr Orange and make room for Glen, and have a glow stick too.

What the hell, glow sticks for all, just join us on the dance stage.

 

[willwallace]

Thanks for the kind mention, Mr Orange.

 

[holland]

Thanks for the listing Mr Orange

 

[Anne Martin]

Thanks for the shortlisting Glen!

 

[Luiglin]

Thank you Mr Orange for the vote, I suspected a Faithless fan like your good self would give me a chance at a vote. As Faithless are a UK band and about twenty years old now, I think it might just be you and me mate.

But not to worry - join me on the stage and have another glow stick.
Hang on, I need to edit. Shove over Mr Orange and make room for Glen, and have a glow stick too.

What the hell, glow sticks for all, just join us on the dance stage.

My fave band, fantastic live. Hopefully their mini reform and few live dates this year will escalate into more dates.

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for the mini-review, Starbeast.

 

[Dan Jones]

It looks like one of those months where "I'll be always the bridesmaid, never the bride."

You need to barge your way to the front to catch that bouquet. Punch your competitors in the back of head and pull their bridesmaids dresses if you have to. Although that might put any prospective husbands off. I don't know what this metaphor means any more.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Does that mean I have to send virtual cake laced with arsenic round to every other challenge competitior? *wails* But I like them all!

 

[Dan Jones]

Hopefully the arsenic is virtual as well...

 

[Remedy]

I got home from my first ski trip on Monday. Found I didn't have the time to write reviews while we were in Sweden - knackered every night and sore from crashing (we turned to drink). Great trip though I still hurt!

Firstly, thanks to Starbeast for those concise gems of reviews! Well done.

Thanks for the mentions: telford, Moonbat, Parson, Mr Orange & Glen + the kind words that accompanied them

In the sea of brilliant entries this month, this took a while. So, without further waffle... my list:

List and *** vote ***

Mr Orange - For painting the situation so clearly. Loved the "Foop!"

Ashleyne B. Watts - Subtle. I think you deftly nailed the genre.

*** Juliana - A full tale. Cleverly distilling the magical nature of the river dolphin with the myth. ***

Michael Colton - An imaginative concept well executed.

Anne Martin - Seriously intriguing from start to end. Great last line.

Victoria Silverwolf - Lovely twist in a well described world.

Tywin - For the seedy situation finding redemption in natural beauty (sort of )

ratsy - Poetic with strong imagery. Careful choice of words.

crystal haven - A humorous reveal lightens the atmosphere. Made me smile.

mosaix - Excellent little twist from a methodical delivery.

Phyrebrat - To join a clever poem with a neat little story in 75 words is genius.

Culhwch - Left me with questions to ponder over and imagine. Stayed with me.

Darkchrome - Carefully woven story. Acting young at heart? or secret magic? Great stuff.

BigJ - I really enjoyed the combination of light-heartedness and important legend.

 

[willwallace]

I was going to have a long & short list but couldn't really make a list that was truly short. So the following ten authors were all in the running for my vote-

Mr Orange
Cascade
Springs
Victoria Silverwolf
Tywin
telford
Winterlight
Crystal Haven
The DustyZebra
Moonbat

The stories are so varied in how the theme and genre were interpreted, it was difficult to compare some entries to others. In the end, I decided to cast my vote for Moonbat, after much rereading of all ten.

 

[crystal haven]

I’ve really enjoyed reading through all the stories. This is my longlist, *shortlist, and vote.

*Hex – Sponsorship
DG Jones – The Angel And The Devil
Springs - Fat Tuesday, it's flipping fab
*Michael Colton – All That Dust
Victoria Silverwolf - The Disguise
*Kerrybuchanan – The Flame of Love
*Telford – Two Dollar Special
*Phyrebrat – Penny’s Last Gleaming
*Culhwch – Masquerade
Perpetual Man – 2005
Parson – The Genesis of an Evil Idea
Teresa Edgerton – A Wicked Pack

 

[Tywin]

Thanks kindly for the review SB.

Also mucho merci to Remedy and WillWallace for the listings!

 

[ratsy]

Thank you Perp and Remedy for the listings.

And thanks Starbeast for the 3 word review! I dug that

 

[Bowler1]

My fave band, fantastic live. Hopefully their mini reform and few live dates this year will escalate into more dates.

Join me (cough) on the (hint) stage then (vote).

 

[Moonbat]

Harahldo!, thanks Willwallace for the vote