Discussion Thread -- September 2018 75-word Writing Challenge

[Ursa major]

there seems to be a challenger to your pundom

Rats!

 

[Parson]

Rats? Parson is working hard to find the pun. There is one? Isn't there?

 

[Phyrebrat]

More like wordplay, dear @Parson - starring with my threat to Danny :£

pH

 

[Cathbad]

If there's gonna be ratburgers, you gotta let me know!!

 

[Luiglin]

Rats? Parson is working hard to find the pun. There is one? Isn't there?

Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world?

 

[Graymalkin]

Last time I saw Mickey Mouse he was easy 5'10" and 100Kg.

 

[Ursa major]

Last time I saw Mickey Mouse he was easy 5'10" and 100Kg.

That's only because his success has gone to his head....

 

[Luiglin]

That's only because his success has gone to his head....

...and his ears.

 

[Joshua Jones]

So, how is it the one month I am too busy to post a story, Victoria pulls out encoded reviews, Jo manages to work in her sexy space pilot bit, and it ends with a debate about the virtues and vices of appealing to other works? I always miss the fun...

Anyway, I read through and enjoyed the stories this month. My vote went to @The Judge, with @mosaix a close second. For the record, I do typically ding stories that occur in a borrowed universe, but that is only one of a score of criteria I use, and a well written, entertaining or thought provoking story is pretty likely to overcome this ding. But, for this month, there were two that equally stood out among the crowd to me, and the deciding factor was the borrowed universe.

Still, great work everyone! I expect to be in the challenges in October.

 

[Phyrebrat]

After much whittling away of near misses and the odd serial non-voter, I found myself going for the darker stories. I did like the bleak, dark comedy of Bob Snr’s entry which nearly got my vote, but anyway, here are my choices of favourites and shortlist *

johnnyjet
Tein
Cc
Chrispy *
Pedro del mar
Stable *
Hugh*
Bob Snr*
TJ
TDZ*

My vote went to Dusty for being such a smarty pants. I begrudge her my vote though seeing as she set the theme and genre |•

pH

 

[Vaz]

I've voted for Cats Cradle.

v

 

[Phyrebrat]

I've voted for Cats Cradle.

v

That’s not why I did a reminder on Facebook!!!

pH

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Thanks to everyone for a fine month of spying, and to the bratty one for the lovely vote! I'd thought to come up empty this month, so that was a nice surprise.

Jo -- Come Up and See Me
johnnyjet -- The Spy Who Caught a Cold
Victoria -- All's Fair
chrispy -- Cutting Room Floor
Plucky Novice -- A View to a Kitchen
Peter V -- Sleeper
Shyrka -- Spy Shots
mosaix -- Tomorrow Always Comes...
*Stable -- The Viper*
Littlestar -- Sadder Than Fiction
Phyrebrat -- Horse with a Broken Leg
TJ -- Exit, Pursued by a Bear
paranoid marvin -- Licence Expired

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Tough one. I liked Luighlin, Cathbad and Jonnyjet (the Irish in me liked the whiskey!) with Luiglin just nudging it

 

[The Judge]

Being the curmudgeon I am, I had some problems with a lot of the stories this month, since for me they missed the genre in the narrow way I was defining it. Spies may kill and be killed, but I wouldn't count stories which revolve around assassins, but with no actual spying involved, as spy stories; to my mind they're thrillers. I'll stay on the fence about whether James Bond as a not-very-secret secret agent fits the spy bill, but to reduce my curmudgeonish level slightly, it never worries me if Challenge entries are based on foreknowledge of other stories, though the preponderance of Bonds this month was rather overwhelming.

Anyhow, I've no time for a proper short list tonight, so just a quick shout out for scarpelius, Abernovo and Hugh, but my vote went to chrispenycate, for an imaginative and believable tale of spying.

Many secret ciphered thanks for the mentions/shortlistings nixie, Stable (thank you for the kind words), D3athw4lker, Phyrebrat and TDZ, and Top Secret microfilmed and exfiltrated thanks for the lovely votes johnnyjet and Joshua!

 

[Cat's Cradle]

I shortlisted these:

Jo Zebedee, D.A. Xiaolin Spires, johnnyjet, chrispenycate, Parson, and The Judge

I voted for:
mosaix's cleverly written story.

Thanks much to : Parson, Peter V, RJM Corbet, johnnyjet, and Phyrebrat for the listings - that's a lot of listings!
And a huge thank you to Vaz for the vote; wasn't expecting any this month, and that was a wonderful surprise. CC

 

[Luiglin]

Looking forward to perusing the entries tomorrow over a coffee in my fave coffee shop - damn that makes me sound old

Cheers for the mentions and whoops for votes from @Mr Orange and @Jo Zebedee

 

[The Judge]

Um... haven't you already perused them and voted, Luiglin? Because you've only got a few hours left if not -- voting closes just before midnight GMT.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Looking forward to perusing the entries tomorrow over a coffee in my fave coffee shop - damn that makes me sound old

Cheers for the mentions and whoops for votes from @Mr Orange and @Jo Zebedee

You might be a bit late by then! You’re welcome

 

[paranoid marvin]

It never bothers me that entries may occupy the same universe as fictional (or actual) characters. With only 75 words to spare, one or two (eg James and/or Bond) can easily replace a dozen in explaining a scene; however if two stories were evenly matched, originality would probably be a deciding factor.

Having said that Bond is synonymous with spy/secret agent as Sherlock is with detective, Hoover is with vacuum cleaner etc etc. And can any story be truly completely original?