.4K - A Season to Be Brief: WE HAVA A WINNER

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What's the best short piece of prose?

Poll ended at Wed Dec 08, 2004 12:55 am

Cloven
4
9%
Annie's Baby
4
9%
Got a Cigarette?
1
2%
Zany Granddaughter
11
26%
Cautious Captain
10
23%
The Associate
1
2%
Blueberry Summer
3
7%
Sarah shuffles through fallen leaves...
3
7%
Our Song
4
9%
Dissolution
2
5%
 
Total votes: 43
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

"Cautious Captain"--I voted for you. Please step forward!

To the anonymous author of "The Associate"--depite your final placing, I found your piece delicious--please take credit. I wavered between you and Lee Marsh's opus to new beginnings before picking "Captain."

To the 4 people who voted for "Cloven." Wow. Thanks. I seem to have entered a confusing transitional phase of life with no discernible guiding star other than the vague conviction that writing is my calling--very perplexing since I'm well aware that, conceptually, my ideas appeal to a narrow segment of the market and leave my husband scratching his head. So thanks for the encouragement.

Susan, FJohn--I always wished I could do pathos. You guys are the men. :wink:
Nano, FC--you make me laugh. Don't stop.
Midnight and Walt--thanks for de-lurking! You're too smart not to be sharing other insights with the Board.

This was mega-fun. Let's do it again. But not too soon!

p.s. Susan, Lee--I just looked over the prize offerings...looks like we're splitting the dregs! Might this be the worm in the bottle of tequila Bloom has shoved in the dark recesses of his liquor cabinet? I just don't want the head.
Last edited by emmline on Tue Dec 07, 2004 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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scottielvr
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Post by scottielvr »

All right, all right, guess I’d better come out: I seem to have somehow won this thing. Thanks, all, so very much for your gracious congratulations and comments. Flying, your excellent piece sure gave me a run for the money; thanks to such good stuff from all the finalists, Cautious Captain was in distinguished company indeed.

And congrats to the other winners, finalists, runners up, down and sideways, and honorables; thanks as well to everyone who wrote in; great fun. And thanks, last but surely not least, to Bloomfield, for his tireless efforts on behalf of the craic.

Footnote: I was going to leave it an enigma, but only since dubh asked, I’ll confess to having written The Associate. Thanks, dubh; pleased to have tickled you. :wink:

Edited to add thanks to Emm, also. :wink:
Last edited by scottielvr on Tue Dec 07, 2004 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

But why did you post the good stuff anon?
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scottielvr
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Post by scottielvr »

Abashed by my prolixity! :wink:
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Post by Flyingcursor »

So the truth is out. Besides you have to reveal yourself to get your prize.

I liked all of them. Cloven and Captain probably my favorites. It took me a minute on Cloven to grasp what had happened. Then I thought, "What a concept!" I'd love to see that idea expanded. For some reason I thought of Fred Saberhagen's version of Dracula.

Scottie - Thanks for not smashing the little boy on the rocks. I loved the ending.
I'm no longer trying a new posting paradigm
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Bloomfield
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Post by Bloomfield »

I've edited the post, to reflect that scottielvr is the winner.

Just as reminder:
And the fantastic prizes are:

L.E. McCullough's new book/cd "Whistle Around the World" (Read a brief review by Dale in the latest C&F Newsletter)

El McMeen's newly-released CD The Soul of Christmas Guitar

A cheap whistle tweaked by Bloomfield

Winner's choice, second-place gets to pick next, third-place takes the fantastic prize dregs.

In addition the winner will get his entry published in Dale's Right Hand Pointing.

In further addition Dale may publish other entries that he likes on Right Hand Pointing.

In added further addition the author of the fourth-placed entry will get a thread on the chiffboard named after her or him.

And in final added further addition I reserve the right to send the sorry loser (or anyone who volunteers) my Phil Coulter CD.
/Bloomfield
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Nanohedron
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Post by Nanohedron »

Well, at least one voter didn't find using a cigarette as the fulcrum for a short-short to be politically incorrect. :wink:
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dubhlinn
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Post by dubhlinn »

Nanohedron wrote:Well, at least one voter didn't find using a cigarette as the fulcrum for a short-short to be politically incorrect. :wink:
Good job it wasn't a joint...... :wink:

Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

W.B.Yeats
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

Nanohedron wrote:Well, at least one voter didn't find using a cigarette as the fulcrum for a short-short to be politically incorrect. :wink:
Politically incorrect Nano? No way. You just cut to the chase mighty quick there, and, as short as the other entries were I think readers enjoyed the bit of fleshing out afforded by running close to the .4K limit.
In a .2K you'd nail us.
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Nanohedron
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Post by Nanohedron »

emmline wrote:
Nanohedron wrote:Well, at least one voter didn't find using a cigarette as the fulcrum for a short-short to be politically incorrect. :wink:
Politically incorrect Nano? No way. You just cut to the chase mighty quick there, and, as short as the other entries were I think readers enjoyed the bit of fleshing out afforded by running close to the .4K limit.
In a .2K you'd nail us.
I think you're right about the fleshing-out. Seriously, there are some very killer wordsmiths here. In a 2K, I'm afraid I'd dig myself too deep to get out, but I very much enjoy the exercise! Bloo rocks.

(edited to mention that it was a 4C limit, Em. :wink: )
Last edited by Nanohedron on Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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FJohnSharp
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Post by FJohnSharp »

emmline wrote: Susan, FJohn--I always wished I could do pathos. You guys are the men. :wink: .
It turns out, pathos doesn't sell on a whistle site :)

And what was odd was that all my votes came in the first hour. I was leading for about a half a day. Which was funny because I had just weeded mine out of my top five and made my selection for Dissolution, which I thought had the best ending, and then saw the early returns. Now I know how Kerry felt.

Exit polls are heartbreakers.
"Meon an phobail a thogail trid an chultur"
(The people’s spirit is raised through culture)


Suburban Symphony
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

Nanohedron wrote: (edited to mention that it was a 4C limit, Em. :wink: )
POINT 4!
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LeeMarsh
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Post by LeeMarsh »

Thanks to all that voted. I really enjoyed the chance to wrap words around the tune Carol provided. The stories were great with a range of experience and style to be savored.
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee Marsh
From Odenton, MD.
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

Someone's messing with the final score!
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Darwin
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Post by Darwin »

emmline wrote:"To the 4 people who voted for "Cloven." Wow. Thanks.
For me, it was a tossup between "Cloven" and "Zany Granddaugher". I was very tempted to vote for both. (Would that have been possible?)

"Cloven" sort of reminds me of the short short stories in Nightmares and Geezenstacks by Fredric Brown, one of my all-time favorites.

I guess I finally went with "ZG" because I actually have a granddaughter, but no demons that I know of. In addition to the subject matter, I particularly liked the writing style in both of those. In the same way, while I appreciated the more angst-filled efforts, I don't have any real angst of my own, so I found them less immediately appealing.

Still, I enjoyed "Dissolution", and of those that didn't make the final cut, "Condemned house" kind of got to me.

There were few that didn't impress me quite a bit, really. I could no more write fiction than I could poetry. (But unlike poetry, I actually enjoy fictiion.)

Thanks to Bloomfield for doing this.
Mike Wright

"When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place."
 --Goethe
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