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Cafe Doom's Seventh Annual Short Story contest

Started by Ed, September 13, 2011, 02:58:29 AM

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QBall

I am about to read #37.
It will be tough to pick a winner.

Robert Essig

Robert's blog

Look for my debut novel THROUGH THE IN BETWEEN, HELL AWAITS in 2012 from Grand Mal Press.

slog3000

I'm amazed and envious that anyone has read all the stories already. Only on #10 myself. But really enjoying them so far.  :afro:

delboy

I'm making headway... a couple each morning with my coffee, a brace at lunchtime with a cup of tea, a few in the evening with a beer. I shall probably miss it when I'm done.

Some cracking reads - currently have about eight stories on my shortlist for re-reading. Let's hope I don't have 58 on that shortlist once I've got to the end...

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Rook

I think, Sebastian, there for I am.
Say Hi! on Twitter: @rookberg

Pharosian

I'm about to start #33. Hope to get through the rest at the weekend. While I agree there are some great ideas presented in the stories, many fall short in the area of characterization. My top picks will focus on those that combine a good idea with well-drawn character(s).

Prisoner24601

#126
I already said this in my voting post, but I just wanted to say it again: this was great fun and I was really impressed by the entries.  I'm so glad I stumbled onto these forums and entered this contest.

One of the coolest things about this is the way it shows through the voting method how subjective a reader's taste can be when it comes to picking winners out of a batch of strong stories.  Even with the few votes that are in so far, there are a lot of different kinds stories up there in those top three picks.  So it's been an interesting, fun and eye-opening experience for me.

delboy

QuoteOne of the coolest things about this is the way it shows through the voting method how subjective a reader's taste can be when it comes to picking winners out of a batch of strong stories.  Even with the few votes that are in so far, there are a lot of different kinds stories up there in those top three picks.  So it's been an interesting, fun and eye-opening experience for me.

This is exactly right, and why I love this comp' so much. It's also a lesson I fail to learn every year.  :/  We can clearly see here how one story can be unplaced with a reader and yet for another it can be a number one choice. We all know that's the case and we should carry such knowledge with us when we submit tales...yet I for one still tend to submit once, get a rejection, and drop the story into my bottom drawer never to resurface... Maybe one day I'll learn  ::)

In one way, reading the voting comments is almost as educational and fun as reading the stories - where else can you  get such a clear perspective on how varied our individual tastes are, be able to compare those tastes with your own, and with other people's, and thus start to really understand the nature of this writing malarky?

Anyway, I still have a way to go yet, so I'm off to read another tale (I was cursing the 3k limit whilst writing, but it does make the reading a little quicker!).

Kind regards,
DErek

"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Cory Cramer

I just want to thank the folks who leave comments on every story, even though I only comment on my top three. I might make a resolution for next year to write comments...

JJ Holden

Just finished reading the 27th. Still very much impressed.

I thought, going in, I'd easily be able to pick something out using a short list of criteria, but now I don't know. Yes, this one has typos but wow - what a story; not much in the way of horror but oh, such beautiful characterization; formatting's driving me crazy here, but the tempo -

On and on. It makes me appreciate what an editor has to go through, and I suspect I need to re-examine my list of no-no's. It's also a good learning process for me as a writer, being able to see what works, what doesn't.  Brutal, but this will help me quite a bit, I think.

Okay. nearly half way through!

delboy

Phew... I'm there  :cheers:  Except I have 14 stories on my short list that I now need to reread and make notes on and then pick some winners from. Loads of cracking tales, sick minds, and great writing. Good work one and all.

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Rook

Finished the first read through yesterday. Now I'll go over the 23 (!) I marked for rereads and whittle them down. Terrible decision this year.  :shocked:

Good job, guys!  :afro:
I think, Sebastian, there for I am.
Say Hi! on Twitter: @rookberg

Caz

I'm near to halfway through the stories. So far I've found a few I like. :cool:
Some may say slaughtered is too strong a word...but I like the sound of it.

QBall

Just finished reading the last entry. Phew! Decisions, decisions.
There are some very inventive minds out there, but after my reading, I'm not going out to meet THEM! Aaaarrrrgggggghhhh!

Rev. Austin

hahaha I hope I'm one of those, are maybe I don't?  :cheesy:

Tomorrow's my 'sort it out!' day for this. Yessirreeeeee!
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.