December Vote

[saltinespike]

SHORT STORY

of the month

COMPETITION

 

The Theme

 

Loss of a Loved One

'Not necessarily death, or the loss of a family member or partner. Bereavement is acceptable but let this month be an activity of expanding the writer's minds and imaginations.'

 

Previous Winners

 

November 2008

Author: The Unvirginiser

Title: The Best Christmas Present I've Ever Had!

Theme: Christmas Horror

 

October 2008

Author: Imnicus

Title: Lonesome

Theme: Isolation

 

September 2008

Author: Eminence

Title: Freedom

Theme: Getaway

 

August 2008

Author: Struff Bunstridge

Title: All is Darkness

Theme: Fantasy

 

The Entries

 

Candarelli's

That Man Named Francis

 

Carbine23's

It Was A Beautiful Day

 

Lochie's

What We Do Is Secret

 

Masterkraft's

Petelengro

 

Ronmar The Only's

Manifesto

 

saltinespike's

Exuviate

 

Struff Bunstridge's

Warrior Princess

 

ToyMachine's

Untitled

 

Wanted Assailant's

Birth Control

 

Voting Rules

 

- You can only vote for one person.

- Please, tell us why you voted for who you did. We here like to avoid bland, and therefore unneeded votes.

- No need to get into a full conversation about the entrants and entries. Spam rules still apply here.

 

Wrap Up

 

Yes, I know the Christmas coloring is a bit much. PM me if you don't like it and I'll omit most of it. Anyways, this month has proven to be very successful in terms of entry turnout. I hope to see as many votes as possible this month, with honest voting (going through and reading each story). Happy Holidays to all!

Edited December 24, 2008 by saltinespike

[Lochie_old]

Cand's;

 

1. He has a unique style of writing that stands out very well-throughout the story.

2. The story seems to be heavily based around self-reflection and is very deep and meaningful.

 

I only voted like that because it helps me not to blabber on. Good job Ryan with getting this set up,

[Canofceleri]

Untitled.

 

While there were other pieces that I'd consider to be more well-written, there's something about it that I find appealing. While it may not have done the best job at what it appears to strive for, I think ambition and departure are important. Good sh*t.

[Ronmar The Only]

You do realize that voting was not suppose to start till Friday, correct?

 

Everyone was supposed to have till the 25th to submit their pieces.

[saltinespike]

It was my understanding that voting was meant to start the last week of the month. We have until next Wednesday (and it is now Wednesday) until the end of the month. Why, were you planning on submitting something? I suppose entries can still be accepted for a short while, I don't care.

 

EDIT: Saw what you meant. If the mods want to put a temporary lock on this, that'd be fine, and then it can be opened back up on the 25th. On a side note, is anyone else planning on entering in this next day you have?

Edited December 24, 2008 by saltinespike

[Ronmar The Only]

Heh, I doubt I'd win but I may take a vote killing another's chances.

[Rhoda]

While the voting is early, Christmas was in consideration and I don't think many of us would want to spend our time voting and writing on Christmas Day. Many of us still will, but it's one less thing to worry about.

 

Anyway, for the time being, pinned. Good luck everyone, I'll vote later on when I've re-read the pieces.

[Ronmar The Only]

I posted mine, Manifesto.

 

Good luck people, and Merry Christmas, or whichever holiday you subscribe to this time of year if any.

 

[saltinespike]

Added. If anyone else wants to enter, you have seven hours.

[Vercetti21]

I've got two more pieces to read before I vote: Ronmar's and Struff's. Skimmed through both of them already, and they both look great.

 

Have an idea of who I'm voting for, but it wouldn't be fair for me to say without reading all the pieces first. Either way, this has really been a great turnout of competitors this month; let's just hope it's the same for the voters as well.

 

Come on, guys. Read the pieces and vote. After last month's sh*tiness, we owe it to ourselves to make this month an all-around successful end to Writer's Discussion '08. Especially if you've submitted a piece this month; I think you owe it to everyone else to vote for something.

[Struff Bunstridge]

I'm posting mine now; as of Wednesday I'll be locked away in the mountains in Ireland for five days with no internet access.

 

Candarelli's That Man Named Francis gets my vote. Wonderfully written, as i'm sure we've all come to expect, but the depth and honesty of the piece blew me away. This piece has everything, from poignancy and heartfelt sentiment to dark comedy and, dare I say it, belly laughs. For me it's that variety, flexibility and universal appeal that means it ought to be the winning story that caps off WD '08 very nicely indeed. My only gripe about the piece is that I wish it were longer.

[Rhoda]

My vote goes to Candarelli's The Man Named Francis. As biased as I may be (I've been a fan of Frank's work not long since I got here) this is nothing short of excellent. As prolific as he is, Cand has adapted so well to the recent comings of SSOTM and this is a fantastic piece which fits the usual criteria needed for the contest, though none of his style or substance is lost.

 

Candarelli's The Man Named Francis

[Vercetti21]

Well, I've now read them all. For me, it was a three-way tie between Cand, Struff, and saltinespike. All very rich in detail and, I felt, all fit the theme extremely well.

 

Candarelli's piece appealed to me because it was extremely personal and deep. While I wouldn't consider myself friends with the author, I actually felt like I was getting to know him through the writing. That's something that most writers cannot pull off. Most people like to write about fantasy lifestyles and adventures, but this piece stays true to the author and is very honest. Really brilliant writing.

 

Struff Bunstridge's piece takes the theme and flips it on its side. Instead of adapting to the "loss of a loved one" idea, he isn't afraid to play around with it a bit, which you don't realize until the twist at the end. Definitely made it stand out to me this month, some fantastic description and a great ending. Probably some of the best writing I've seen from him.

 

saltinespike's piece approached this month's theme in the most unique way, to me. While nearly everyone wrote about a concrete person being lost, Ryan immediately sets himself apart from everyone else and explores a relationship between a character and his past self. Because of the incident that has happened to him, there is an emptiness inside, leaving him to question himself and his qualities, one of which being his masculinity. Just an overall very well-written piece, great example of character evolution, and awesome application to the theme.

 

That said, I leaned a bit more towards Ryan's Exuviate this month, so my vote goes to him. You all made it an extremely hard choice for me though. Some great, and I mean great, entries this month. Definitelt the best SSOTMC we've had thus far, and much better than November. Let's keep this up, guys.

 

Good job to all the participants.

[Ronmar The Only]

My vote this month goes to Masterkraft's Petelengro because of the various themes that are present in the story. The failure of the titled character is one that I most enjoyed, and the opening and closing paragraphs were unique.

 

Looking forward to the new year of SSOTM Comps.

[saltinespike]

Thanks V21. Even one vote boosts the confidence. I will not be voting this month because I'm handling the voting section, but I encourage everyone to do so! You have today and tomorrow, and then January's Competition will begin. Get voting!

[Rhoda]

Been a good round this month, thank you all for your votes!

 

The winner this month goes to Candarelli for his brilliant piece "That Man Named Francis". We are currently waiting on a theme decision and we'll have the next round up to you shortly, hopefully in this first week of January.