Discussion -- May 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

A vote -- WOW -- and another vote. Thank you Germinad and Johnnyjet.

Thank you, folks, for the mentions and listings.

I've just looked at the poll. "...and, they're neck and neck coming 'round the last bend." It's Victoria and Jo on five votes each.
 
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I have no longlist or shortlist this challenge, just favourites and even more favourites. I’ve enjoyed reading all the stories and found it very hard to choose my lists. You are all brilliant; I couldn’t even come up with a story idea this month. But I loved one story especially, for how it touched my heart, even after repeated readings.

Favourites:
Remedy—From us all
Robert Mackay—Papers, please!
Telford—Training For Nirvana
Tenaciousb—TIME MACHINE TIME
Bowler1—Wind Blown Seeds
Chrispenycate—Elvensnob
Culhwch—No More Capes
Holland—Defrag
Grimward—Aparture
Teresa Edgerton—NOT EVERYONE GETS A HAPPY ENDING
Mosaix—What Could Possibly Go Wrong...

And favourite favourites:
Victoria—What a Difference a Day Makes
Glen—Life is Change
Jo Zebedee—STEPPING OUTSIDE
Johnnyjet—The Möbius Escalator
HareBrain—Voyage to the Far Side
Hex—All the blood that's shed on earth
LittleStar—Forever Leaving
Perpetual Man—Denial
DG Jones—Class: Schön
Ratsy—Always a Hero
Kerrybuchanan—A Fresh Start
The Judge—Like clockwork
TheDustyZebra—Acherontia Clotho

And my vote goes to: Alchemist—The day Daddy let me drive his spaceship
 
I thought today was the 27th! :) So, as I see time is running out, here are my lists, and vote:

honorables:
telford, Sancho, DG, johnnyjet, Germinad, mosaix, UM

shortlist:
Remedy, Teresa, Sancho, Juliana, telford, Karn, T. Hine

finalists:
farntfar, TDZ, Jo, Victoria, LittleStar

vote:
LittleStar
I loved your sweet, sad poem, LS. It stayed with me from the first reading.

Another great challenge everyone! Wonderful reviews, wonderful stories. Looks as though this'll come right down to the wire! :)

A big thank you to the folks who listed my story. :)
 
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I liked a lot of stories this month and think everyone did a great job. The new entrants did a great job with stories too!

My short-list took some thought but here it is

Victoria Silverwolf
TitaniumTi
Hex
Perpetual Man

I went with Victoria for a simple but awesomely effective tale. Congrats!
 
Another good month. As ever some stories I couldn't understand even on a second and third read, and some to my mind didn't really hit the genre, but what I found surprising -- and pleasing -- was the number of very poetic stories, ie not ones specifically written as poems but containing lines/expressions that were beautiful and lyrical, in which respect I have to mention in particular the entries by VB, LittleStar, marmalade and Grimward.

Anyhow, some long thinking has produced a not very short list:

alchemist -- The day Daddy let me drive his spaceship
chrispenycate -- Elvensnob
Hex -- All the blood that's shed on earth
jastius -- The Ashman
Juliana -- Light Speed Love
Karn -- One Way Out
Kerrybuchanan -- A Fresh Start
mosaix -- what could possibly go wrong...
Robert Mackay -- Papers, please! (this one really sticks in the mind...)
Victoria Silverwolf -- What a Difference a Day Makes

I had real difficulty trying to pick just one out of these, but in the end I voted for alchemist and the wonderful voice he created.


I feared my story might be simultansously unintelligible and a bit boring, so I'm delighted it appeared on some mentions/shortlistings and as a favourite-favourite! Some eagle-winged clockwork thanks to Victoria, telford, will, VB, johnnyjet, Sancho, crystal and Juliana. All greatly appreciated.
 
My Shortlist:

Light Speed Love by Juliana

BUILT-INby High eight

06:00 by Bob Senior


My vote goes to:

Alexander2
 
Usually, it's hard to determine which stories go on the short list instead of the long list, and often hard to decide between two or three excellent stories which one to vote for. But this month there were so many excellent stories, it was hard to eliminate anything and come up with a long list that didn't include more than half the stories. At last I had to become ruthless, and even so my list is still very long:

long list, short list, *vote*

Remedy
Cascade
telford
Harumsame
Titanium Ti (with a special mention for perhaps the best line in any of the stories, "roses, pink as new scars")
Parson
farntfar
void
holland
Ursa
Jo
Cat's Cradle
Tywin
hopewrites
jastius
Germinad

*Robert Mackay* (because the story lingered in my mind from the very beginning)
 
Howdy,

Thanks to Ashleyne for the short list and KerryBuchanan for listing, made my day for sure!
Thanks to Victoria and Perp Man for the reviews, Perp Man I really like it when you tell us whats on your mind.

Vote to Johnny Jet, good story.

Bob
 
Loads of thanks Teresa, Cats Juliana, Ihe and Willwallace for the listings.

My shortlist is
Jo Zebedee...............Stepping Outside
Juliana.......................Light speed love
Tenaciousb................Time machine time
Cat's..........................We crash soft, ware forever
Tony Hine..................Kick the bucket
Bowler1.....................Wind blown seeds
Harebrain...................Voyage to the farside
Culhwch.....................No more capes
Alchemist...................The day daddy let me drive his spaceship
Grimward...................Aparture
Teresa.......................Not everyone gets a happy ending
Mosaix.......................What could possibly go wrong.

And I voted for Springs.
 
I've voted. I thought it was better to make sure it was in than be certain I'd posted the explanation.
My 'short' list was cut down (by dint of brutal elimination) to:- Luiglin, Victoria Silverwolf, Jo Zebedee, Bowler1, Kerrybuchanan, Bob Senior, The Judge and TheDustyZebra. I could double it at the blink of an eye, and still have stories I regret leaving out.
From the antepenultimate post you know I voted for Kerry.
 
Wow, thanks so much for the vote, CC. I really wasn't expecting anything in this challenge, especially after I found out it wasn't a three vote system. So I'm very happy it made it to the top of someones list :)
 
Time almost ran out on me, so I haven't prepared a proper shortlist. It wouldn't have been very short, anyway.

In the end there were two I've had a really hard job deciding between. "Stepping Outside" by Jo Zebedee tells a moving story and suggests a world with remarkable economy and effectiveness, while "Acherontia Clotho" by TheDustyZebra not only tells a clever tale, but conjures one of the most powerful magical atmospheres I think I've ever found in a 75-word entry. And it was that atmosphere that won it for me.

Of the many other good stories, those by Victoria Silverwolf and Chrispenycate particularly stood out.
 
In a departure from my usual method.... Only joking. :) Anyway, here are my choices.


Honourable Mentions:
  • Papers, Please! by Robert Mackay
  • Voyage to the Far Side by HareBrain
  • Happily Ever After by TitaniumTi
  • NOT EVERYONE GETS A HAPPY ENDING by Teresa Edgerton
Runners Up:
  • STEPPING OUTSIDE by Jo Zebedee
  • The Interplanetary Excursion of Mr. William Douglas by Tywin
  • Defrag by holland
Winner:
  • A Fresh Start by Kerrybuchanan

(In the above, each category is ordered by time of posting.)
 
The poll is now closed and we have a winner:

Congratulations, Victoria Silverwolf!​

​
 
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