DISCUSSION -- April 2016 300-word Writing Challenge (#21)

[Wruter]

Thank you Victoria, Rafellin, pambaddely, Vaz, Venusian Broon, Perpetual Man, DG Jones and Ihe (whew!) for the mentions - and special thanks to DG for the wonderful and astute analysis.

 

[The Judge]

Just to mess with everyone's minds further, here I am, voting. (If you are now in a flat panic, thinking that today must be the 15th and the last day for voting, then my work is done... )


Anyhow, my first vote was easy. Second and third took a little longer to arrive at, as my shortlist was a good bit longer than normal even after the drastic pruning from a very long long-list which left me with the following:

DG Jones -- Unwanted Baggage
Ihe -- Late Return
johnnyjet -- Parchment Out of Time
Juliana -- Tiny Bones
LittleStar -- Easy Choices.
Luiglin -- First of the Line
Phyrebrat -- Missing Stock
Rafellin -- Fantastic Taxonomy...
Robert Mackay -- A Murder
Shyrka -- Patience
Venusian Broon -- The Bone Forest
Victoria Silverwolf -- Fossils
Wruter -- Bad Girl​

The easy vote was for Juliana's Tiny Bones, which wrung my heart as soon as I read it. After a good deal of contemplation and rather arbitrary decisions as to why some stories should be excluded, it was joined with Robert's A Murder (which caught me with the beautiful writing, not least the images of "saw-blade voice" and "stiletto whisper") and Wruter's Bird Girl (that wonderful final line clinched it for me).

And Phyrebrat just pips Ursa for the award for punniest title of the Challenge.

Some rite handy seede cake thanks for the short-listings/mentions Glen (yep, the sppeelling went all rong this month), pam, VB (it's starlings, not sparrers, which perform the aerobatics!), johnnyjet and Perp (glad you loved it!), and some mega pettrel-driven skuer-flamed thanks for the wonderful votes Wruter (thank you for the kind words), Chris, Juliana, Luiglin (also thanks for the lovely comment), and nixie.

 

[Rafellin]

Thankee kindly to The Judge for th' honourable mention.

 

[Shyrka]

It took me a long time to get around to voting this month due to many, many other things. Where does all the time go? Anyway...

Shortlist:

@Rafellin, Fantastic Taxonomy and How to Conceal It
@Luiglin, First of the Line
@Robert Mackay, A Murder
@Vaz, A Queen for Ravens
@The Judge, Letter Home from Merlyn's Mage School
@Glen, Fractured
@Venusian Broon, The Bone Forest
@TitaniumTi, Museum at the End of the Universe
@Mad Alice, The Magician

Votes:

@Ihe, Late Return - A clever little tale of body swapping that won me over with its characterisation of a literal bird-brain.
@Juliana, Tiny Bones - Rich with melancholy and moments of true horror, I found it impossible not to be drawn into the bleak world this story depicts.
@LittleStar, Easy Choices - A charming story, evocatively told, that tugs on all the right heart strings. Excellent use of the inspirational image.

 

[Juliana]

Thank you very much for the votes TJ, Shyrka and Remedy. And TJ and Shyrka, thanks for the nice comments!

 

[Vaz]

Thank you kindly for the shirt listing Shyrka

 

[farntfar]

First of all, thank you very much JohnnyJet for shortlisting me.

My shortlist
Juliana
Luiglin
Robert Mackay
The Judge
Cat's Cradle
Cascade
Littlestar
DG Jones
Mosaix
Reiver33

With Juliana, Littlestar and The Judge getting the votes.

 

[Rafellin]

Thank you Shyrka for the honourable mention.

 

[Wruter]

@The Judge Your honor.

 

[Starbeast]

Firstly, A huge THANK YOU to Calliopenjo, for the stealth vote. You made my day shine bright. Wheeeeeee!

'Short list'/honorable mentions:
Shyrka - Patience The Judge - Letter Home from Merlyn's Mage School
Wruter - Bird Girl
Starbeast - Chapter 13: Hellboy Gets the Boid
Phyrebrat - Missing Stock
Ihe - Late Return

Thank you Pambaddeley for the listing. You made my day.

Lots of inspiring and wonderful stories, here are my picks.

Short List

Phyre
Robert Mackay
Starbeast
Ashlyene
Jo
Perp
Wruter
Johnnyjet
Cats

Thank you Vaz for the listing. You made my day.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the SFF Chronicles, the votes are in from the Perpetual republic of Tim - not sure what planet he is on, mind you.

Special Mentions:
TJ - loved the voice the piece, the spelling and the font.
SB - I think it impossible to for a month to go by without some form of appreciation for Mr. Beast and his off the wall kookish-ness.
Mr. Orange - Made me laugh. Nuff said.

Thank you very much Perpetual Man, for the Special Mention. You stunned, thrilled me and made my day.

Short List​

@Victoria Silverwolf

@J D Foster

@Luiglin

@Cathbad

@The Judge

@johnnyjet

@Glen

@Cascade

@Phyrebrat

@Venusian Broon

@mosaix

@HazelRah

@Moonbat

@TitaniumTi

@Ursa major

@StilLearning

@Mr Orange

@Mad Alice

VOTES​

@Ashleyne. B. Watts - "Beautiful and Faceless"

@Juliana - "Tiny Bones"

@willwallace - "Atchoktol"

 

[Juliana]

Thank you so much for the votes, Farntfar and Beasty! What an exciting month.

 

[Phyrebrat]

The votes from Phyreba-Ba-ba-dook, dook, dook...

Strangely (for my tastes) this month saw me shortlisting comedy entries!

All my favourites:
Fanrtfar
Perp
Juliana
Ihe
JD Foster
ratsy
Luiglin
The Judge
johnnyjet
Cascade
Littlestar
Mosaix
Ursa Major

From which the following got my votes:
Farntfar
Mosaix
Juliana

Many thanks for the shortlistings, and blesséd assurance of intense thanks to Ihe, Perp and Cathbad for the votes!

pH

 

[Mr Orange]

okay, it's quiet, the baby is in bed, the only thing on TV is a bunch of nobodies singing horrible songs to supposedly represent their countries in a rigged contest, and it's still early. time to get my a into g and do some votin' before i have a glass of whiskey... first, a big thank you to @Starbeast for the mention (and to anyone else who mentioned my story - i have been a bit slack on here as of late), and a huge couple of thank you's to @Moonbat and @Mad Alice for the votes! much appreciated

so a shortlist:

@farntfar
@Jo Zebedee
@Ihe
@Glen
@Cascade
@Starbeast
@Phyrebrat
@DG Jones
@Moonbat



and the votes:

@Juliana - creepy and heart-wrenching. loved it
@Luiglin - couldn't resist not voting for another great dark lord story
@Venusian Broon - a moving story with a really nice, subtle twist

right, off to see if i can think of something for the 75 word challenge..

 

[Cat's Cradle]

There were so many stories this challenge that I could easily have voted for...it was another really good event.
But we have three votes, so here are my shortlist, and votes:

Shortlist:
Ashleyne, farntfar, Ihe, Shyrka, Robert Mackay, TJ, Glen, Cascade, LittleStar, DG Jones, Venusian Broon

Votes:
Juliana, Victoria, johnnyjet. These three seemed especially nice to me. Well done all! Looking forward to the next one in 1.5 months, CC

 

[Juliana]

Thank you very much for the votes, Phyre, Mr Orange and CC!

 

[farntfar]

Good lord!

Thanks for the short listing Cat's and Mr Orange, and for the vote Phyrebrat.

 

[Mr Orange]

You're welcome farntfar and Juliana.

Somehow I don't think there will be a tiebreak this month...

 

[HazelRah]

Firstly, thank you @Starbeast for saving me from a no votes no mentions month!


My votes are for Juliana, Wruter and J5V

Special mentions to LittleStar, johnnyjet, Mr Orange, and Robert Mackay who were all close contenders.

 

[Ursa major]

The poll is now closed.

Congratulations, Juliana!

 

[Ursa major]

Here were the votes of the Ursa jury, with the stories in posting order within the categories:


Honourable Mentions:

• Tiny Bones by Juliana
• Story Time by ratsy
• First of the Line by Luiglin

Runners Up:

• Letter Home from Merlyn’s Mage School by The Judge
• Missing Stock by Phyrebrat
• The Bone Forest by Venusian Broon

Winners:

• Patience by Shyrka
• Transcript of a speech by Gomen Humblot (SL).... by Cascade
• A Spot of Bother... by mosaix