DISCUSSION -- July 2015 75-word Writing Challenge

[Dan Jones]

Wowsers, thank you Glen and Littlestar for those votes. You've made a good morning even better!

 

[willwallace]

Tough to cut the mentions down to a reasonable length, but here goes.

Long list-
Chrispenycate's Invitation, I like the format as well as the content
Cascade's The Dating Game had the right amount of humor, made me smile
Tangled Web by Droflet was another tale with a comedic element, mixed with imminent destruction
Titanium Ti's entry, Echo's Story, cleverly retold an ancient tale in an unusual way
The Skin Game, from Victoria Silverwolf, had me looking more closely at people in a mall the other day

Short list-
Ratsy-Fated to the Throne, shows you may sometimes fool others about your true nature, but in the end we are who we are
Moonbat-A Confession, totally had me looking in one direction, then made a sharp left onto a unexpected avenue
Tim James-Freedom, gives a glimpse into the responsibilities that weigh down even a god

Finally, my vote went to Venusion Broon, for The last evil adventure of Askrad the black magician. In a mere 75 words he takes the reader from a scene of slaughter, to a surprising reveal, comically disclosing the deception, and then turns it into a happy ending.

Well done to all!!!

 

[Droflet]

Thank you so much for the mention. Will. You've dropped me in with some pretty good company.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Is the voting period shorter this challenge? It seems so, so I thought I'd better get in and vote.

My favourites:

Hex
Venusian Broon
DG Jones
Remedy
ratsy
Glen
Moonbat

I had a time deciding whether to give it to Glen or DG Jones. In the end DG Jones got it because it just wrung a more emotional response from me. Two other stories would have been on my shortlist, one of which would have got my vote but I felt that they weren't Sci-fi or Fantasy.

pH

 

[Dan Jones]

Amazing, thanks so much, Brat!

 

[Parson]

It seems strange to vote and know that I'm not a part of the equation. --- I'll repost me story after the voting is done.


Short list
Will Wallace -- "Why Stop Now"
Droflet --- "Tangled Web"
D. D. Jebb --- "The Enemy Vanquished"
Alchemist --- "Diversification"

Contenders:
Victoria Silverwolf: "The Skin Game" I really liked the way this picked up an historical thread.
Ratsy: "Fated to the Throne" The irony of this story was precious.
Hare Brain: "Biter Bit" I loved the way this story brought justice.

Voted for The Dusty Zebra: "The Sting of Death" This seems to me the perfect set up for a Fantasy Novel. Well done D.Z.


P.S. "Are you going to write me out of this novel too?"

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the short, Parson.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks, Parson! And apparently belated thanks also to Perpetual Tim for the stealth vote!

 

[Mr Orange]

Woohoo a stealth vote. Thanks heaps Moonbat.

Managed to get on and vote yesterday, went for Venusian Brown as I like the writing and Keith the Princess made me chortle. And I don't chortle enough.

 

[Remedy]

Getting my first list down to 12 was tough with so many fantastic entries. I cut some belters and disqualified others for... reasons . Great month everyone! I really enjoyed reading them today.

Shortlist and Vote

Cat's Cradle
Bowler1
BigJ
Hex
Venusian Broon
Victoria Silverwolf
DG Jones
Ratsy
HazelRah
Glen
Mosaix
Tim James

 

[alchemist]

Thanks for the shortlistings and huge thanks to Brian for the vote!

I shortlisted Luiglin, Venusian Broon, holland, cascade, DG Jones and mosaix. My vote was clear from my first reading -- DG

 

[johnnyjet]

Lots of interesting twists on the theme. After much whittling and pruning, I finally ended up with the following short list:

Lady's Choice - Mad Alice
Go Softly, My Dear, Go Softly - DG Jones
Excerpt from The Unexplained Evacuation of the SEU Heavenly Maria, by G. Hatfield - Krysa - Mr Orange
Mind Tricks - holland
Fated to the Throne - ratsy
iBelieve in a Better Future - HazelRah
Cuckoo - Phyrebrat
Untitled - Twistedlemon
Oranges and… - Glen
Dressed to Kill - Kerrybuchanan
Freedom - Tim James (AKA Perpetual Man)
The Sting of Death - TheDustyZebra

My vote ultimately went to HazelRah! Well done for a newbie! Welcome to the fold.

And thanks for the short listings, Cascade & TitaniumTi.

 

[ratsy]

I will try to vote today but may be a last day voter. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who short-listed, long-listed, mentioned, runner-up'd, finalisted, contenders'd or voted for my story. So thank you Droflet, Bowler1, Venusian Broon, Victoria Silverwold, Glen, Littlestar, Willwallace, Phyrebrat, Parson, Johhnyjet, and of course Remedy for the vote. It really means a lot to have this many listings, and any vote is an amazing feat.

 

[Juliana]

Yikes, this being on holiday business is seriously bad for the brain... I blame it on lack of wifi! Not only did I completely forget that the challenge had closed, I almost missed tomorrow's voting deadline. Will have a good read now and try and vote today (quick, while the wifi lasts!!).

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

It's a good thing you reminded me. I'd better get reading and voting too!

 

[HazelRah]

Wow, thankyou so much johnnyjet for the vote! What a lovely initiation into the group

And thankyou to remedy for the shortlist

This has really made my day!

 

[Dan Jones]

Alchemist, thanks very much for the vote, that means a great deal - and thanks to Johnny and Remedy for the mentions, I'm very flattered

 

[Grimward]

OK, let me first take my hat off to ALL who submitted a story this month; you fared better than I.

Luiglin and Venusian Broon, thank you each for a good snicker at the end.
Ihe, for what might have been...
Juliana, for a wicked double cross.
Droflet/Telford, for an even more wicked double cross.
Masterfully done, TitaniumTi and LittleStar.
Very nasty, Twistedlemon.
Well conceived, Moony.
Bravo, HB and Cul. Nicely turned.

Luiglin and Sir Broon, Cul and HB, even a photo finish wouldn't have granted me the ability to separate any one of your offerings from the other three in terms of voting. You're all runner's up for me this month, with TiTi and LittleStar nipping at your heels.

And there are very good reasons not to vote for Chrispy, just as an example - old established challengees will explain that to you - and how could we maintain that if nobody knew where I was?

Actually, I found a lot of very good reasons TO vote for yours, Chrispy, and did just that. Who'd have thunk that one could cram classical phrasing, dialect, social class, blackmail AND deception into 75 words? Bravo sir; well done!

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the mention, Grim. 'More wicked,' makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. And, ah, yeah, I killed the other guy so it's Droflet.

 

[chrispenycate]

After Much work eliminating perfectly good entries my list looked like:-
49:- alchemist Diversification
26:- Cascade Untitled
40:- David Evil Overlord Satan Said.
24:- DG Jones Go Softly, My Dear, Go Softly
42:- HareBrain Biter Bit
51:- TheDustyZebra The Sting of Death

Finally I went for DEO.


Many thanks to willwallace for mentioning my piece - and enormous and astonished thanks to Grimward for voting for it