First off, thanks to everyone who submitted entries. I read them all several times and I enjoyed playing judge. My instincts were correct: watching paint dry can be interesting! There were 16 pieces to choose from, and my task was to narrow it down to three. It was difficult. I can't imagine what Nathan Bransford went through trying to whittle 2,500 entries down to a handful in his first paragraph contest...
Now to the brass tacks (NOTE: what the hell does that saying even mean, anyway? Feel free to discuss in the comments. After you vote.)
Among the entries there were three that stood out to me among all others:
Jan Melara did a great job at evoking fear and horror. It played on my senses of sight and sound, and the ending was terrible (in a good way). Click here to read the entry.
Glass Dragon cracked me up with the alien invasion story. It had a great voice and a fun wit to it. Among all the submissions, it had a very unique premise. Click here to read the entry.
Brenda also cracked me up, and did an awesome job with the build-up to the punchline. It was well-written, and I liked the way she portrayed the character of the novelist, so indignant to the suffering of her foe. Click here to read the entry.
Vote for your favorite in the comments on this post. You have until 8am EDT Friday morning to vote. Read the entries many times, but please only vote once.
If you would like to comment on any of the submissions, feel free to offer kudos and/or polite criticism to other submissions that you liked..but only the finalists listed here will be open for voting. I know there are many other entries that are worthy of accolades.
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26 comments:
My vote's for the alien invasion one. Definitely the funniest way I've seen to defeat hostile creatures from outer space.
Rick, they´re exactly the three I liked best. Therefore I can´t vote just yet, more ruminating required...
So good, all of them. I'm going to go with Brenda's. Love the 'surprise' ending. Very funny. Though the alien invasion one is pretty hilarious too.
Oooooh. It was a tough decision between Glass Dragon's story and Brenda's.
I loved them both.
But I think, since Glass Dragon's has more to do with watching paint dry, and that it was creative enough not to resort to using blood as a shock value (which most of us did. I wasn't very creative with that) I'm gonna go with the Alien story.
Nice job everyone! I hope everyone who entered enjoyed the creativity of entering a contest. Thanks for letting us read them, and thanks for holding this contest.
Oh, and a word on Brass Tack.
Just go look it up on Wikipedia. It's probably your best bet.
Tough decision, but I think my vote's gotta go to the alien invasion.
Thanks to everyone who submitted. I enjoyed all of the stories, every single one.
My vote goes to Brenda.
I am still laughing, and boy, does it feel good!
Congrats to everyone! I vote for Glass Dragon. :)
I vote for Glass Dragon. I LQL'd.
(Laughed Quite Loudly.)
Jan Melara is my vote. Thank you.
Glass Dragon, by a nose. But I was impressed with all the other entries. Thanks for letting me read your stories, and thanks to Rick for running the contest.
Though I have to say, I'm disappointed at missing out on total consciousness. :-)
A very hard decision indeed, as all entries were excellent.
And both Glass Dragon and Brenda captured my attention. Love the quirk at the end of Brenda's.
But I have to vote for Glass Dragon, as the story really was all about the paint. And every time I even think about this story, I start laughing all over again.
Very creative.
..........dhole
All three finalists were terrific, but Glass Dragon edges the other two out and gets my vote for the aliens actually standing there fascinated with the paint drying.
That and it sounded so like a Treehouse of Horror episode.
Since I actually LOL'd and then went and got my husband to read it immediately after, I will have to toss my vote to Brenda.
All three are well done. Conrats to all. My vote goes to:
GLASS DRAGON!!!! Hilarious, good voice and concept.
Hey sometimes a typo is worth a thousand words. Conrats to all--heh,heh. Totally unintended. Bwahahahahaha
Congratulations to all the finalists.
I'm new here. Do I get a vote? I loved Glass Dragon's story, so that's where my vote, if I have one, will go.
Thanks for the contest. That was fun.
Sandra,
Welcome aboard, your vote carries as much weight as any other, thanks!
Tough choice! Brenda's story is awesome, and the last line is absolute genius! However, I'm giving my vote to Glass Dragon's alien invasion story. It's clever, funny, and cheeky. I love cheekiness. :)
Okay, Glass Dragon it is.
Out of the ones that didn´t make it into the top three I liked Lady Glamis´s best. Poetic and very moving.
Gina: Thank you! I'm smiling now. :)
Michelle,
Your entry had a high ranking. I liked the cadence. There were several places where you repeated words / concepts to great effect.
AJ's entry was also really good, my wife picked hers (I think all the wine references really drew her in ;-).
I have to admit that I laughed as I read through John's mish-mash of Hannah-Barbara characters on red-bull, jaeger-bombs, and mushrooms!
Thanks, Rick! There were many of these entries that I read over and over to see why I liked them so much. I have to admit you chose some really great ones! Becca's was my favorite, and that's not because she's my good friend, hah. You should meet her in person. She's even funnier. I'm mad that she moved to Australia and left me here.
Anyway, I digress. I think all of these entries were strong. These writers had better enter stuff into the Genre Wars contest!
Lady Glamis,
I liked your entry quite a bit, too. Gran's voice was well done, and her observation on clouds was brilliant.
FWIW, I love the Genre Wars idea and have already sent something in.
I love alien invasion stories, so my vote goes to Glass Dragon. There were some really good entries.
Jabez, thanks! Glad to hear you've sent something in. I won't know which one yours was until the contest is over and we've judged, but we've got some great ones so far. Thanks for entering!
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