Fiction Challenge: Feelin' hot hot hot... WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!

Glitch Girl · August 26, 2007, 10:00:00 PM

IT's midnight, and that means the deadline has come. I want to thank every one for entering, we got some amazing entries here... gonna be tough to judge this.

If you didn't finish in time, I would encouage you to post your work none the less. You won't be eligible for the prize, but I would enjoy reading what you did anyway.

thalaw2 · August 27, 2007, 05:45:13 PM

I took on a part-time job that has me working seven days a week. I'll just post my story separate from the contest...when it's done :thumbup:

Good entries here! I've enjoyed the reads.

Glitch Girl · August 29, 2007, 11:16:55 AM

An update:

You know, on a lot of other boards, I could just skim a bit through the obviously weak entries and pull out a few gems and judge from there.

Here, there's nothing to skim. Everything deserves a full read. I want to thank you guys for putting such effort and cleverness into your entries. A nice variety of takes on the theme and a nice variety of styles too.

I had hoped to have the winners annouced today, but I haven't gotten the results from my co-judge Tygerstyle yet (he has contacted me though, so it should be soon) and honestly, I'm torn between several entries as to who should win. Hopefully, I won't have to postpone the results until after the convention, but I'm giving you all fair warning.

Seriously though, great work everyone. It's been a real pleasure having to jusge this level or work. Hopefully I'll have some news for you soon.

TigerStyle · August 29, 2007, 03:58:26 PM

My apologies for the delay.

I always love seeing the way people can take a simple concept like this and run with it. The variation mixed with the quality doesn't make it easy to judge, either.

My hat is off to anybody who entered, and I'm willing to send any critiques via PM if the author wants. Good job to all!

Glitch Girl · August 29, 2007, 07:03:58 PM

It was tough, but the results are in! My thanks to Tigerstyle for his help in narrowing down the winners.

First, for tale of the liquor that goes down not so smooth, An honorable mention to Bredon.

And as much as I hate to say it, there's been a tie for first (you guys make this really hard you know ;) ) both of whom are receiving a $25 dollar gift certificate. May I present Direwolf, for his continuing adventures and Viking for his tale of corporate evil. Great work guys.

And as for the rest of you, I applaud you all. I plan to hold another fiction challenge starting at the end of September and running until the end of October. More details at that time, but consider this a little warning to keep a little space in your schedules.

And one again, thank you everyone for entering. If you didn't get your stories in, please, post them anyway, I'd love to see them. :)

Viking · August 29, 2007, 07:16:32 PM

Hot damn! Er.... no pun intended.

As always, I would love any and all feedback on my story. As I've mentioned to GG, one of the frustrations in writing comedy is that you rarely know what parts are successfully making people laugh.

As for feedback of my own to give, I must confess that I haven't finished reading all the entries yet. But I quite enjoyed BlueBard's entry. I think that perhaps one of the elements that I most enjoyed was BB's ability to rapidly characterize secondary characters in an engaging and enjoyable fashion. On top of that, it was a well-crafted short mystery. The set-up portrayed the mayor as a shady character and natural suspect at the start, which played out with the revelation of the evidence at the end. Very tidy and well-balanced.

Premonitioner · August 29, 2007, 07:35:04 PM

Bah! The contest is rigged! I am the obvious winner here! :P

On a serious note, congrats to both Viking and Direwolf. Viking, I must say that I really enjoyed your story a lot. I'm not sure what it is right now (and it'll probably hit me later), but your story kept me reading. It might have something to do with the magical elements involved. :P

Sir Bredon, I also enjoyed your story. I would have never thought about using a bunch of guys at a bar to tell a heroic based story. Kudos to you.

Anyway, if anyone has any critiques/criticisms for me, send send (sic) away, yo. ^^

Verfall · August 30, 2007, 03:01:20 AM

I just could not get mine to work out at all like I planned. The more I look at it, the more I wanna "firebrand" the damn thing :lol:

Grats DW and Viking, I knew as soon as I saw the two of you I should have just ran for it, heh.

Glitch Girl · August 30, 2007, 07:02:03 AM

I'll give some of my feedback when I get back Viking and Prem and anyone else who wants one. Not now though, too much to do still.

Next one I might offer more prizes, allowing for more winners. This will give more people a chance to be recognized, but it will depend on the number of entries, so for the next one, bug your friend to enter. ;) I'll also probably take on a few extra judges, but possibly not from here - get an outsider's view on some of our stuff just too see their thoughts.

DireWolf · August 30, 2007, 07:31:13 AM

Thanks, GG and my thanks to all who entered. There was a lot of good stuff.

And Glitch, if you need a judge for the next contest, count me in for that.....

:direwolf

bredon7777 · August 30, 2007, 09:10:18 AM

*blush* Thanks for the kind words y'all.

I'll gladly take any and all feedback offered- thats the true prize (Not that I'm gonna turn down a gift certificate if I win :D )

And while I enjoyed all the stories, I have to give special commendation to Viking who was going for the same sort of tone I was - but managed to pull it off much better than I did.

BlueBard · August 30, 2007, 09:55:26 AM

No surprises here. Goncratiations to Viking and DW!

And thanks for the kind words regarding my story. I knew it was a case of starting well and ending a bit lame, and leaving a few things not fleshed out that possibly should have been.

But my brain was crying for mercy and I knew I had to just end the thing. It didn't deserve to win, but I enjoyed writing it. ;)

If I had a do-over (which I'm not gonna), I might go into a bit more detail into Rick Brand's history beyond just the tidbits I threw out. (I didn't because I didn't take the time to MAKE a history.) The transition from Googling zircon to consulting a psychic was too abrupt, I thought. I probably could have tied that in better. It hadn't even occurred to me to deal with the probable corruption of the police force where the mayor was concerned and I wish I'd been able to make the arrest scene more compelling than I did.

But, like I said, sometimes you just gotta end it and hope for the best. I'm glad others enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Viking, your story was good. I'm not comfortable with the infernal elements, but that's just me. The irony of the whole situation was delicious: seasoned, marinated and well done.

Viking · August 30, 2007, 10:02:49 AM

Okay - here's my feedback on bredon7777's entry:

The setting in the bar worked quite nicely. It gave the story a sort of "Callahan Chronicles" vibe. (The Callahan Chronicles are a collection of short stories by Spider Robinson, which I recommend as a good read. All of the stories take place in a bar, and many of them involve recounting things that have happened outside of the bar.)

The bar is also a great setting for the tale because the wrap-up ultimately involves a type of liquor. That's a kind of layering of themes that I enjoy in stories - even if it's unconsciously done.

A minor quibble of mine is drawn to the characterization of the bar as a "supervillain" bar. This is because the bar ends up being devoid of supervillains when the narrator enters. It's kinda like the characterization of the bar as a place for supervillains in the opening paragraph suggests that it will somehow be significant later on... but it doesn't happen.

bredon7777 · September 01, 2007, 07:58:53 AM

Wow, to be compared to the "Callahan Chronicles" is high praise indeed. :) It's one of my all time favorite series. I must confess however (and I'm showing my age) that the story is actually fairly specifically modeled on Arthur C. Clarke's "Tales from the White Hart" series - a bunch of short stories where an ordinary guy in a bar gets a fantastic story told to him by his friend who works for a shadowy government agency...(And yes, that's why the mole's name is Arthur ;) )

The bar wasn't originally intended to be a supervillian bar, but I had to work the "super" concept in somehow; and then of course I got the wonderful image of a mole in a suit and tie sitting at a bar, drinking...