DISCUSSION -- October 2015 300-word Writing Challenge (#19)

[J D Foster]

ugh, I think I found voting harder than I did cutting 900 down to 300 words, its so horrible having choose one story over another I did not like.

It could just be that I'm a nerd and I love spreadsheets too much, but I had to put all the titles into a spreadsheet to try to keep track of it.

By the end of the process I had 14 people I wanted to vote for, ha!

So all these people below, I voted for you in my head because I really loved your stories too:

A rush of howling -- farntfar
No escape from reality -- Glen
Shocked into Sentience -- Tim James
Desolare -- HazelRah
The Stormchaser -- DG Jones
Obsessive, Compulsive Order -- mosaix
Constellations -- A. Fare Wells
Baseline -- Robert Mackay
Madiha -- Venusian Broon
Beneath The Stormgod's Eye -- alchemist
Afflavit Deus et Dissipantur: Algeron IV Flowers -- Ursa majo

 

[Venusian Broon]

Always great to see how inventive people are with these challenges - I enjoyed them all - but also it made it difficult to settle on giving votes...

So honourable honourable mentions to these stories:

Juliana
Mosaix
Bowler1
ratsy
Phyrebrat
Robert Mackay
Kerrybuchanan
Ursa Major

Those that I think deserved a vote, but unfortunately I only had three:

chrispenycate - ahh, fond memories of a couple of gigs I've been at...
The Judge - lovely, lovely story. Precise and complete

But the three I gave my votes to were -

Hazelrah - loved that monologue! Ominous faraway thunder
DG Jones - Sex sells, Baby! (At least to me). Crackling
StilLearning - The moon. Brilliant. So inventive. White hot flash of lightening

 

[Dan Jones]

Woohoo! Cheers VB - my first ever vote in a 300-worder. You'll do for me

 

[Zoe Mackay]

I voted Phyrebrat (for what I thought was one of the most astonishingly crafted pieces of writing I've seen in one of these challenges), Juliana, and The Judge. I was sad I just didn't get to vote for Holland as well.

 

[Bowler1]

My Short list is as follows.

Mosaix. Very well done and it’s very frustrating to post my 300 entry and to immediately see a better post only minutes before mine. Still, I’m not bitter or upset!

Mr Orange is next, good job.

The Bear for the very original idea and well executed.

Closely in the running were The Judge and Venusian Broon.
Lots of others too, the quality of the writing was excellent across the board.

Good luck everyone - and remember to vote, or I'll zap ya!

 

[johnnyjet]

Lots of great ideas and great writing this time. Kudos to all!

However, after painstaking deliberation:

My Long List, Short List and *** Favorites ***:

Promises Kept – droflet
**** A Shocking Tale of I: Scream - Ashleyne. B. Watts ****
In the Bowels of the Hillock of Sadness - Cat's Cradle
Heart of the Storm – Juliana
**** Rainmaker - Victoria Silverwolf ****
**** Desolare – HazelRah ****
Insulation - Denise Tanaka
The Stormchaser - DG Jones
Storm Eater – Vaz
Monument - Travis Woodward
Obsessive, Compulsive Order – mosaix
Rhymes – ratsy
The Maiden's Canticle – Phyrebrat
Mistaken Identity – Kerrybuchanan
Madiha - Venusian Broon
Catullus 101: Inverse, Not In Verse - The Judge
See How She Runs - Mad Alice
Afflavit Deus et Dissipantur:..Algeron IV Flowers - Ursa major

And thanks for the listings, Victoria & Starbeast! To even be mentioned among such a great group of stories is an honor.

 

[Ursa major]

Many thanks for the vote, Bowler1.

 

[Mr Orange]

thanks for the mentions @Droflet , @Cat's Cradle , @Starbeast and many many thanks for the vote @Bowler1! made my day

 

[Mr Orange]

okey dokey, found time to read through the entries:

shortlist:

No escape from reality -- Glen
Planetary Engineering -- JD Foster
Desolare -- HazelRah
The Stormchaser -- DG Jones
Redemption On Halloween -- TitaniumTi
Obsessive, Compulsive Order -- mosaix
Stormchaser -- Bowler1
The Maiden’s Canticle -- Phyrebrat
Disconcerted Action -- chrispenycate
One small step... -- Luiglin
THE TRUTH OF IT -- Jo Zebedee
Quantum Overflow -- johnnyjet
The Lunatic: -- StilLearning
Madiha -- Venusian Broon
Toe the Line -- Hex
Catullus 101: Inverse, not in Verse -- The Judge
See How She Runs -- Mad Alice

right that didn't work... it was meant to be a short list. even by cutting out so many good stories it's still too long! what a great month.

anyway, my votes. i better do this quickly because if i think too long i'll be here all night:

Luiglin: what Jo said - your stories are always great and it'd be a shame if you stopped entering. and this was classic luiglin
Mad Alice: wow. that is all. i will need to take a moment and re-read that story before i can comment coherently
mosaix: very hannibal lecter. so calm, so chilling, sent a shiver down my spine

that was hard!

 

[Bowler1]

Your very welcome Mr Orange. The Bear has got it's claws into me recently and is getting lots of votes off me.

 

[HazelRah]

Wow I have votes?!
Thanks so much to Drof, VB and johnnyjet. And the others for the mentions. It's made my day

 

[A. Fare Wells]

Such interesting stories. Well done, all.

Votes for:
Cat's Cradle, "In the Bowels of the Hill of Sadness" - for it's Lovecraftian homage.
Tim James, "Shocked into Sentience" - Because it was reminiscent of the first Star Trek flick.
Vax, "Storm Eater" - Because dragons.

Mentions to (and could easily have voted also for):
Holland- "The Amazing Adventures of Nick and Betty"
The Judge- "Catullus 101:..."
Kerrybuchanan- "Mistaken Identity"
StillLearning- "The Lunatic:"
Droflet- "Promises Kept"
Juliana- "Heart of the Storm"
Ms Silverwolf- "Rainmaker"
Hazelrah- "Desolare"
Starbeast- "Horor of the Zombies"
willwallace- "Survive"
mosaix- "Obsessive, Compulsive Order"

 

[Droflet]

Many thanks for the mentions to Beasty, JJ and A fare wells.

 

[Starbeast]

@A. Fare Wells Thank you for the mention. Quite a powerful list I'm on. Wow.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Oooh, things are mighty tight...

Mega, mega thanks for the votes DEO, Victoria, Luighlin and Juliana. Much surprised and pleased.

 

[HazelRah]

After much consideration... My honourable mentions go to:

J D Foster
CC
Littlestar
Robert Mackay
DG Jones
VB
Mad Alice

And close contenders to:

Mosaix
Holland
Vaz

And in the end, my votes went to Ratsy, Luiglin and Phyrabat

 

[TitaniumTi]

With so many great stories, I found it impossible to whittle my short list down to a reasonable size. So, this month, I will just list my votes:

Promises Kept - Droflet -- The combination of character and drama caught my interest, and the final poignancy won my vote.

Disconcerted Action - Chrispenycate -- I was caught up in the tension which was so cleverly built by the alternative lyrics and prose paragraphs.

Catalus 101: Inverse, Not In Verse - The Judge -- The development of this story intrigued me, and the final revelation caught me by surprise.


Thanks for the mention, Mr Orange.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for the vote TiTi. Whoopppppeee!!

 

[LittleStar]

I think this is my biggest short list in a challenge yet, so here goes.

Great stories that deserve a mention:
DG,
Luiglin
Ratsy
Mad Alice
Juliana
Vaz

My selection of near misses/could have taken a spot:
Jo
CC
Alchemist
Mosaix
Victoria

And finally my votes go to:
HazelRah
Phyrebrat
Venusian Broon

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Thank you so much to everyone who has listed, or voted for my story. It is truly appreciated.

It's wonderful seeing how the votes are spread out. And there's still so much time left, for voting! CC