July 2008 Challenge--VOTE! FOR REAL!

[Goliath]

Okay, let's try this again.

The entries in the July 2008 Challenge are:

“Last Man Standing” by captcalhoun.

“Let the Games Begin” by alicelouise.

“Star Trek Vesta: Murder” by Starkers.

“These are Your Voyages…” by friedebarth.

“Ambush” by smeos.

“Redress” by Mistral.

“The Nightmare” by TheLoneRedShirt.

“Well, Hello There…” by Jamee999.

"An Ordinary Day" by TrampleDamage.

You may vote for one.

The poll will close in three days. In case of a tie, I will decide the winner.

Good luck everyone!

(And congratulations to all the authors for meeting such a difficult and unusual challenge!)

(And thanks to the responsible Mod for correcting my mistake so quickly)

 

[Mistral]

Voted-but 2 would have been more to my liking-can they do something about that?

 

[Goliath]

I don't know. I don't think so. It seemed to offer only two choices--"one" or "as many as you like". If there was something in between, I didn't see it.

 

[Mistral]

Sad-so many good entries. Starkers-you would have been my other vote. Helluva story. And everyone did a great job this month. Y'all deserve a pat on the back.

 

[captcalhoun]

the thing is, you make it a multi-vote and then tell people to vote for 2 and make it public so people can see if someone voted for more than 2...

i voted for smeos

 

[trampledamage]

the thing is, you make it a multi-vote and then tell people to vote for 2 and make it public so people can see if someone voted for more than 2...

That's what I did for the challenge a couple of months ago - well not the make it public part. I just trusted people to not cheat. And they didn't.

 

[mirandafave]

A great challenge that prompted excellent stories. Like others wish I had more than one vote. That said even with two votes would be hard pressed to decide.
Liked the 'Nightmare' because so important to the world of The Bluefin, really impressed by 'Redress' and the tone it set. The Sniper stories were made for this noir and so an excellent use of the second person narrative and used it to full effect. But my vote goes for TrampleDamage and 'An Ordinary Day'. Just a nice piece of writing with the hopes of a young cadet cruelly taken away.
But well done all. Great stories especially in light of the brain drain created by the challenge upon first sight.

 

[trampledamage]

Ye Gods this is a difficult decision. Every single one of these stories is good enough to be a winner in its own right.

I have been to this thread several times this afternoon, thinking I'd made my decision and then not being able to vote because I'd thought of a different story.

*sigh* I have never had such a difficult decision in all the challenges before, but I'm going to make my decision and I've gone for Nightmare. I'm not a Bluefin reader (yet!) but the pain of the young boy has just stayed with me.

 

[Starkers]

I voted for TrampleDamage, it wasn't easy choosing though as there were a lot of really good entries! Fantastic challenge, Camelopard

 

[Mistral]

I don't think Red Shirt has weighed in yet-he usually has something to say.

 

[Goliath]

Fantastic challenge, Camelopard

Thank you. I'm very impressed by both the quantity and quality of the response.

It's funny--my most successful challenges all seem to concentrate on form rather than content.

Before this, my most successful challenge was to write a drabble of one hundred words.

 

[captcalhoun]

hey, i just noticed, you got my entry's title wrong!

you've used last month's title!

 

[Mistral]

Damn-you're right. I don't think its gonna matter in the long run-looks like Redshirt took it.

 

[Goliath]

hey, i just noticed, you got my entry's title wrong!

you've used last month's title!

 

[Goliath]

Now that the poll has closed, I hereby declare TheLoneRedShirt, author of "The Nightmare," the winner of this month's challenge. Congratulations! And good work, everyone!

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Thanks, Camelopard, for a great challenge this month. It was a tight contest with some outstanding entries this month. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

I have an idea for the August challenge and should have it up by tomorrow, latest.

 

[trampledamage]

Congratulations TLR! - A great entry in a very strong field.

 

[Mistral]

Good job TLR-I kinda thought you were gonna take it when I realized what your story was about. I didn't vote for you, but only because I guessed your "hook" right away. However, it was a great story with a unique look at Akinola's character. Congratulations! Hope your challenge is a good one!