July 2012 Flash Fiction Contest Voting Thread

[tmso]

No poll this time round. Since the limit is 12 per poll, having two threads just makes it confusing.

So, here's the list again:
The Bard by Cirias
Space Marines in Space by Merik7
The Unwritten Story by norm
The Waiting Room by D.R. Stevenson
Liam Baldwin - An Unauthorised Autobiography by JunkMonkey
Anger Management by txshusker
A Darkness in Molar by Gkarlives
IT'S IN THE ETHER by Slynt
The Map Maker by tmso
Faust in a Series by DailyRich
Zygote by gainespost
Perils of Hunting by Wulfen
You, Me by Tristis
Conspiracy Theory #73: The True Inventor of Time Travel by slindeman

(If I have missed anyone's submission, tell me!)

Please read (and comment if you have time) and then come back here. Vote by posting your favorite story from the selection above (only one).

Voting ends July 31st, midnight (whenever that is where you are).

Good luck to all!

[tmso]

Some quick comments:
Overall, this month's entries were all awesome, making it really hard to pick my favorite. I think the no theme/themed debacle is making it even harder to choose. But, choose we must.

The Bard by Cirias
An example of a writer that knows how to manipulate his characters and the reader. I liked the glimpse into how you develop a character and/or story. Well done! I can't offer you much to improve the piece, it reads very well. However, I do think it has a limited audience. In that sense, you've done very well to meet the challenge of my no theme/writer theme, but at the expense of possibly alienating a "normal" reader. Maybe I'm being narrow minded (or just trying to come up with something constructive)?

Space Marines in Space by Merik7
This story had my favorite line among all the stories. Cute tale, but the ending kind of fizzled out (sort of like the space marines). Otherwise, well done.

The Unwritten Story by norm
This is an awesome entry, norm. Another great response to the no theme/writer theme combo (which I think came about unintentionally). And it also shows your deft ability to craft an enjoyable story with so few words. Great job.

The Waiting Room by D.R. Stevenson
A good message piece that may have gotten drowned in the message! Otherwise, a good effort, D.R. Keep working at it. I look forward to more of your stories.

Liam Baldwin - An Unauthorised Autobiography by JunkMonkey
Made me laugh, numerous times. Enough said.

Anger Management by txshusker
Very cool world, and the demon was sufficiently scary and enticing enough for me to want to follow his dark path, but it ended too quickly. For me, it needed to go further. Otherwise, excellent, as always.

A Darkness in Molar by Gkarlives
It seems, if we don't like to write about ourselves, we write about our demons. Another demon tale that dropped us into a rich story-world. The only thing missing is: why was Augustine taking the time to flog Fallion? It hints at a much larger tale. Regardless, this works as a flash. Good job!

IT'S IN THE ETHER by Slynt
This was our best fantasy entry this month, I believe. A great setting, with two likable characters. I especially related to the main character and the piece's message, but there wasn't enough conflict or "story" for this to work as a flash. Would love to see a longer version of this and see where you take it.

The Map Maker by tmso
Not a flash...next!

Faust in a Series by DailyRich
A demon (in the guise of the devil) tale! And a writer! Rich, your skills and prose never cease to amaze me. You are a master among novices.

Zygote by gainespost
The flashy-st of the flashes this month, I liked the tale of the hesitant and scared sperm? egg? After the second read, I wasn't too sure who the 'I' was. Am I missing something obvious?

Perils of Hunting by Wulfen
Beastie things that are sort of like...demons! I should have made demons the theme this month...

I really enjoyed this story. I liked our gunslinger (resurrect him, please), the western-like world, the magic and the wicked bad guys. A great snap shot of your world at a crucial juncture in the main character's journey.

You, Me by Tristis
Another demon! But a welcomed one.

A great coming-of-age tale that managed to throw a dragon in your bedroom. Well described, and loved mom's fire and brimstone rant. Excellent job.

Conspiracy Theory #73: The True Inventor of Time Travel by slindeman
I am one of those annoying readers that you need to pound the obvious into. I just don't get it. I really liked the individual pieces, but

I'm just not sure how the professor managed to follow him around and kill him just before he showed up. How would he know where he was going? Ooooh! The journal? He's in the future? Going back? But...how? Unless he went far enough into the future to read each entry before, then traveled back just before, but each time couldn't quite get him before he jumped?

All really good entries, folks. I thought I'd be able to decide which is my favorite if I wrote a bit on each, but I can't decide right now. Maybe in a day or so...I don't usually have this hard of a time...

[Cirias]

Thanks for the comments, tmso. I really do value your feedback

My vote is going for It's In The Ether by Slynt. I really loved the floating islands and thought the whole thing was really original.

Is it me or do there seem to be more entries each month? It's excellent Although we do need to increase the amount of options available in a poll thread.

[norm]

Yep, this is definitely a hard one. I think I'll try to re-read them all before I give my vote.

[JunkMonkey]

Aha! I may have solved my 'I never get round to reading all the entries so can never feel like I can vote' issue.

Five minutes frantic cutting and pasting and all the stories are on my ereader as a PDF. Lot easier than reading on a monitor - which feels like work, and less chance of missing one by accident.

I promise to delete it after I've read it, so don't shout at me for wanton copyright infringement.


"Light Bulb!"
If you're in a Chinese restaurant and steal their secret recipe for dumpling soup, is that won ton copyright infringement?

I'll get my coat.

[tmso]

I've done that before in the past, and offered the file to participants. It takes some time so I only did it the once (and promptly deleted it afterwards and asked everyone else to do the same).

Anyway, great minds think alike and all...

[Slynt]

I think I may have to do that, too

[tmso]

Okay, my vote goes to:

Liam Baldwin - An Unauthorised Autobiography by JunkMonkey

It made me laugh.

[Wulfen]

I'm doing re-reads before submitting my vote. Tough month.

[gainespost]

Zygote by gainespost
The flashy-st of the flashes this month, I liked the tale of the hesitant and scared sperm? egg? After the second read, I wasn't too sure who the 'I' was. Am I missing something obvious?

ROFL... Sperm?? Eggs?? I know I titled it "Zygote," but my story had nothing to do with sperm and eggs at all; that hadn't even occurred to me. Just where is your mind :-p Seriously though, the "I" was simply one of the prisoners, the narrator (the other was the girl who got swallowed by the blog thing first); presumably they were captives of some alien entity and had been placed in the room with the blob for some unfathomable alien reason. The "zygote" came into it in that the character was dividing, duplicating....

I guess I can see how you interpreted it the way you did, lol. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll describe the scene better so it won't be so misleading.

[tmso]

I guess I can see how you interpreted it the way you did, lol. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll describe the scene better so it won't be so misleading.

Well, at least one of us got a laugh out of it. My apologies. Maybe I should have read it a third time through?

By the way, there is a late entry: Something Written This Way Comes by funky mosquito

Too late to include in the voting, but you all might want to give it a read.

[Slynt]

I'll rate the entries (on a scale from 1 - 10) as I find time to read them, then edit in later reads, then decide which story gets my vote.
Edit: And done - my vote goes to DailyRich.

"The Bard" by Cirias: 8,8 points ~ Best twist of the month ~
"Anger Management" by tsxhusker: 8,7 points
"Space Marines in Space" by Merik7: 7,5 points ~ Best humor of the month ~
"The Unwritten Story" by norm: 7,0 points
"The Waiting Room" by D.R. Stevenson: 5,5 points
"Liam Baldwin: An Unauthorised Autobiography" by JunkMonkey: 8,0 points ~ Best characterization of the month ~
"A Darkness in Molar" by Gkarlives: 7,9 points
"The Map Maker" by tsmo: 7,6 points
"Faust in a Series" by DailyRich: 9,0 points ~ Best flash fiction of the month ~
"Zygote" by gainspost: 5,0 points
"Perils of Hunting" by Wulfen: 7,3 points ~ Best opening paragraph of the month ~
"You, Me" by tristis: 8,0 points
"Conspiracy Theory # 73" by slindeman: 8,6 points

[Gkarlives]

I feel there are more talented writers here than out there at times. I would be happy if I had bought most of these works in some collection after they were edited. Hey even the best writers have to clean up their work. The publishers do not know what they are missing.

The Bard by Cirias – Struggled to follow a bit here and there. Fun read once you learn and sympathize with this poor trapped character. Good idea that just needs some cleaning.

Space Marines in Space by Merik 7 – Good amoral fun where a hoard of unrepentant warrior killers get their odd reward. Liked the ending but it needs some cleaning up to strengthen it.

The Unwritten Story by Norm – Unfairly good take on the theme and a well-paced story, good humorous tone throughout.

The Waiting Room by D.R. Stevenson – Good concept but the execution was a little clunky and heavy handed. Adding more background in a non-preachy way along with more irritable interaction (start with something unrelated that leads to a rant on the situation) would be helpful.

Liam Baldwin – An Unauthorized Autobiography by Junkmonkey – A very funny political, social, life, etc. satire and connection to the theme. Needs some cleaning up.

Anger Management by Txshuker – Funny. Loved the world image you built and I hope you know that you are messing up my reading of Delirium’s Mistress because this story is trying to fit in there.

Its in the Ether by Sylnt – Good story and world building. First paragraph is confusing and needs cleaned up. Felt more like a scene in a larger tale.

The Map Maker by TMSO – Loved the characters and the hinted world but needs some polishing but I would love more in this world.

Faust in a Series by Dailyrich – A great fun read htat is well written. I liked that you plunked in Piers Anthony as well as Jordan. Anne McCaffrey could have worked as well. Ending was predictable.

Zygote by Gainespot – Liked the ending but the overall execution left me confused. Good idea and try.

Perils of Hunting by Wulfen – Well imagined world but there was some confusion at the end, which can be easily fixed. Good take on what to me felt like a werewolf story.

You, Me by Tristis – Fabulous story/ fictional autobiography. I sense a demonically spirited childhood.

Conspiracy Theory #73: The True Inventor of Time Travel by Slindeman – The writing was very good and drew me in. Ending was vague and confusing and would be good for a longer piece of work.

A Darkness in Molar by Me – ‘nuff said.

[Gkarlives]

A Darkness in Molar by Gkarlives
It seems, if we don't like to write about ourselves, we write about our demons. Another demon tale that dropped us into a rich story-world. The only thing missing is: why was Augustine taking the time to flog Fallion? It hints at a much larger tale. Regardless, this works as a flash. Good job!

It is just what demons do for fun. Where is the fun in just killing your victim, especially if you want to gloat.

[Gkarlives]

My vote goes to The Unwritten Story by Norm.