DISCUSSION -- June 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Mr Orange]

Popping on in a brief window of WiFi (who knew the Rockies would have so few WiFi opportunities!). Will try and get back on to vote but may not be able to. So apologies in advance if I can't.

 

[Juliana]

Popping on in a brief window of WiFi (who knew the Rockies would have so few WiFi opportunities!).

I take it things have been a little rocky for you?

 

[Vaz]

Mmmmmmmm, did somebody say Rocky Road Ice Cream

DELICIOUS

 

[mosaix]

I don't think I've ever seen such a wide spread of votes in the 75 word challenge before.

 

[martin321]

Here is my shortlist and vote:

Luiglin - Destiny?
Venusian Broon - Welcome Song
alchemist - Bang
Juliana- Till Death do us Part
ratsy - Dawn to Dusk
Ihe - THE SOLDIER'S RETURN *VOTE*
Culhwch - Aftermath
HareBrain - Arriviste
Parson - Is this the Bard I See before Me?

 

[Starbeast]

Oh, by the way, as usual honourables to to everyone but especially to: CC, Will, Bowler, Kerry, Beasty, Hope, Per, ah, Tim James, Victoria, Jo, Karn, Juliana, Moonbat (oh, soo close), Holland, StillLearning, HB, Bob Snr and Dusty. I could not in all conscience cut any deeper. And the gold star goes to Jastius. You got me by the heart with that one. Nice.

Thank you Telford for the honorable mention.

Moonbat gets my vote.

My favourites were: luiglin, Cat’s Cradle, alchemist, Starbeast, Victoria Silverwolf, Cascade, farntfar, bedlamite, Moonbat, jastius, StilLearning.

Thank you Glen for placing me in your favorite list.

Awesome stories as usual.

VOTE:
Starbeast - Ballad of Starbeast: Galactic Gunslinger. (I laughed out loud with this one. The level of shameless egomania and obnoxious feel-good vibes are genius. I literally imagined Starbeast sitting while writing this story, singing the old theme song from batman: "nanaNAna nanaNAna nana Starbeeeeast!". My vote goes to your ridiculousness sir. Good job.

Thank you Ihe, for the vote and comment. You made my day.

Ok. I read them, I read them all. Too many to do a proper longlist from so many excellent pieces of work, so here are my finalists.

In 4th place... Starbeast - for possibly the best piece of Oompah-oompah-omphaloskepsis I've ever seen.

Thank you DG Jones, for the comment and placing me in your top 4.

Great stories this month. I think everyone is enjoying this genre.

...and the winner by the width of a dying sun is:
Starbeast - Ballad of Starbeast: Galactic Gunslinger
There is nothing like a big old Palamino sitting on the main character to carry a good story. Well done that man

Heh heh. Thank you Sancho for the comment and vote. You made my day.

Mentions as follows - THE MIGHTY CHRISPY, Luiglin, Will Wallace, Glen, Starbeast, Victoria, Parson, Bob Senior and Michael Coorlim (welcome to Chrons).

Thank you Bowler1 for placing me on your mentions list.

My Long List: telford, chrispenycate, Venusian Broon, willwallace, Kerrybuchanan, Glen, alchemist, Starbeast, Victoria Silverwolf, Jo Zebedee, Cascade, Michael Coorlim, Karn, Vaz, Juliana, ratsy, marmalade, StilLearning, Xenosia, Phyrebrat, Bob Senior, crystal haven, mosaix, Parson

Thank you Johnnyjet for adding me to your Long List.

Oy, so difficult! I came in with the firm decision to cut my typically excessively-long lists down to ten stories--no more! But that proved impossible, there were so many good tales. So here, a few more than ten listings:

Honorable Mentions: telford, Starbeast, johnnyjet, farntfar, Crystal Haven, Appello, Culhwch, TDZ

Thank you Cat's Cradle for the Honorable Mention.

 

[Ihe]

Ihe - THE SOLDIER'S RETURN *VOTE*

Thank you for the vote! This is my first vote in the 75 worder (my third one), so I might compose an ode in your honour somewhere along the line.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Hello, all! I do not mean to rock any boats, but Kerry, to my thinking, should have four votes; David DJ expressed his preference for her story in a post here in the discussion thread, but seems to have forgotten to vote, as his preference is not reflected in the poll. I sent David a PM earlier today to advise him of this; hopefully he will see my message before tomorrow, midnight. It's probably way too early to even worry about what would happen if the vote ends in a tie (with Kerry--sans David's vote--as one of the tie-ees). Just thought I'd mention it, so the mods can consider the topic before tomorrow. Personally, I'd hope David's vote could be counted for Kerry, even if he is unavailable to cast an actual vote. Just my 2 cents, CC

 

[Grimward]

Thank you for the mention, Ti!

 

[Ihe]

I agree with Cat. Count it only in case of tie if it doesn't go on the poll.

 

[crystal haven]

First of all, thank you Victoria and Tim James for the reviews.

Here are my favourite stories:

Robert Mackay - And See You Not That Bonny Bonny Road?
Willwallace - No Time Left for You
Kerrybuchanan – Bittersweet
Victoria Silverwolf - The Ambassadors
Michael Coorlim – Re-arrival
Juliana - Till Death do us Part
Moonbat - Delete Where Applicable
Holland - Here Comes the Sun
Ihe - The Soldier’s Return
Culhwch – Aftermath
Mosaix - We've Got Mail...
My vote goes to - TheDustyZebra – Kisses

And thank you for the shortlisting, Victoria, and the listing, Moonbat, johnnyjet and the honourable mention, cat’s cradle. I don’t think I’ve missed anyone. Your mentions are very much appreciated.

And a big thank you to Hex for the Vote! That was a lovely surprise.

 

[David Doherty-Jebb]

Thank you, CC. And thank you @David Doherty-Jebb for the invisible vote lol! Only a true fantasy writer could manage that....

Haha! Sorry, Kerry All rectified

 

[Droflet]

Many thanks to CC for the honorable mention. Ta mate. Certainly beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

 

[Grimward]

Observations, lists and winner.

And in general, I once again wondered about my audacity in submitting an offering this month; mentioned or not, I like most the offerings far more than mine.

Telford - might not have been your intention at all, but I enjoy all fiction where monsters like
Charles Manson get what's coming to them. Neatly put!

Ashleyne - A picture painted wouldn't describe the setting and occasion more vividly, even with the
additonal 926 words at its disposal. Well done!

Luiglin - Thanks for the grin.

Dusty - Thanks for another grin.

Mosaix - Thanks for a rueful grin.

Remedy - I had my hands full with 1 arrival; kudos to you for pulling off 2 arrivals in 75 words.

TitaniumTi - "...conceived in harsh blue light but born by candle's flame" Nicely turned.

Kerry - Clever.

hope - Also clever.

bedlamite - Cleverer.

Moonbat - Clever Squared.

Bob Senior - Cleverest.

Tim James - Perpetual loop. Nicely done.

Cascade - It wasn't only Europe; thank you for an alternate reality of a memory.

johnny - "Cold equations flutter to the ground in the warm breeze." Nicely turned.

jastius - This month's nod for my "I can't put my finger on why I like it, I just do."

Stillearning - A clever quasi coda to the recent US-Europe misconceptions Chrons thread.

Xenosia - I've heard of people that like their coffee, but this is next level.

Crystal - You and Ursa have very different ideas about debt management. His is truly permanent, but I'm not sure I want to stick around to see what comes out of your garden, either.

Parson - The bard had to have some first-hand experience to write all those tragedies, didn't he?

Ursa - Can't help noticing (and apologies to anyone else who saw this already that I've overlooked!) that the very last word in the challenge (if one overlooks the boilerplate announcement that the challenge is closed) was, er, a pun. *Shocked gasps of disbelief"

Starbeast - Never lose your sidekick there, sir. He stands you in good steed-I-mean-stead.

LittleStar - Finalist

farntfar - Finalist. Well conceived, crafted and delivered.

Paul_S - Finalist (for making me laugh out loud).

Culhwch - Winner. Neat, tight, illustrative and captivating.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

telford -- God's Will
VB -- Welcome Song
*Kerry -- Bittersweet*
hope -- Traveling in the Wrong Circles
ratsy -- Dawn to Dusk
Moonbat -- Delete Where Applicable
Tim Kinder -- An Unsuspecting Prey
holland -- Here Comes the Sun
Paul_S -- The Wordsmith
jastius -- Second Star to the Right...
Phyrebrat -- Blessed Matricide
HB -- Arriviste
Bob Senior -- Guaranteed to Arrive on Time
mosaix -- We've Got Mail
Parson -- Is This the Bard I See Before Me?
Ursa -- Busman's Holiday

A huge thank you to everyone who mentioned me, which I think I've managed to "like" as they happened, and the biggest thanks of all to those who voted for me -- Kerry and crystal haven, and the stealth voters, farntfar and mosaix. I know I saw it along the way, but my memory is a sieve, so it came as a surprise to me just now, after voting for her, when I went back to find the voters to thank here and discovered that Kerry had voted for me.

And just as a point of interest arriving rather late, I wonder if mosaix had inspiration from "Mail Supremacy" by Hayford Peirce?

 

[Droflet]

Many thanks to Grim and Dusty for the mentions. Certainly beast a starving squirrel down my pants.

 

[chrispenycate]

According to my list (though I have got this wrong in the past), of those submitting we are short of votes from:- A. Fare Wells, AJB, Appello, Ashleyne. B. Watts, bedlamite, Bob Senior, Culhwch, HareBrain, hopewrites, jastius, Karn Maeshalanadae, Michael Coorlim, Mr Orange, Paul_S, Phyrebrat, Robert Mackay, Starbeast, Tim Kinder, Ursa major, Vaz, Void, willwallace and Xenosia. We have votes (without submissions) from:- Serendipidy, Hex, martin321 and David Doherty-Jebb, Thank you all very much.

And thank you Titanium Ti for the vote - despite the fact that I'm obviously not aiming for great popularity with poetical attempts (how many people read poetry by choice nowadays?) I find it gives a warm feeling to have one appreciated. Mentions I have duly 'like'd, to reduce clutter, but I feel a vote requires something extra.

 

[Hex]

I think martin321 had an entry... But I should check before I post, because he doesn't!

 

[jastius]

Thankyou for the mentions dusty, juliana, grimward, kerry and cats cradle.
grimward, i am glad you liked it. that really means a lot. I'm not a genius writer like some are here, so amazing, month after month. it came from a plainer part of my heart.

chrispy, be back in a jiff to vote once this storm passes.. have to reread the stories, and i'd rather do that lightning free.

 

[Droflet]

I was about to start a thread concerning the 26 very good, most accomplished writers in the challenge, who didn't get a single vote. Including me. I intended to relate this back to my earlier posts about the high caliber of writing in the challenges and how it's an honor even to be mentioned.

Then, low and behold, I get a stealth vote, from the Beast himself. Well, that changes everything. Because, I got a vote and you losers didn't. Nah nah nah nah, nah nah. Dances a jig whilst swilling a beer. I'm joking, of course. Not only because of everything I've said in the past, which I fervently believe, but also because I think I hear Jo putting on her gigantic slap glove. Really guys, well done to everyone this month. Another bumper crop. What do they say at the Oscars, 'It's an honor just to be nominated.' Cough.