Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
DECEMBER 2019 - MICROSTORY CONTEST (COMMENTS ONLY)
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Justin wrote: "Nice one Tom!"Thank you, Justin.
C. wrote: "Mine is up! Bring toothpicks."Nifty concept, C. (You always did have a way with carnivorous talking dinosaurs.)
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Jot wrote: "Mine's up. Normally I would say enjoy, but..."I don't know why you didn't say it this time, but I enjoyed it very much. Great atmosphere and setting. Very moving. (POV a bit slippery at times, but great anyway.)
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Ho ho ho, now I've got a machine gun... If Die Hard can be a Christmas movie, then your story is fine! Yippee ki A!!
Just watched a fun documentary about Die Hard last night on the Netflix original series, "The Movies that Made Us." It has several episodes about movies from the 80's. The Die Hard one was interesting, and oddly enough, so was the one about Dirty Dancing. It's similar to the series "The Toys that Made Us," which at a minimum you should watch the one about Star Wars toys...
Justin wrote: "Mine's up."The three wise men and the expectant couple on the road. Definitely another Christmas-themed tale. And, very well written at that. Nice ending.
Justin wrote: "Ho ho ho, now I've got a machine gun... If Die Hard can be a Christmas movie, then your story is fine! Yippee ki A!!"I'm curious about this new "Black Christmas" movie. ('Wasn't crazy about the last one.)
Tom wrote: "Justin wrote: "Mine's up."The three wise men and the expectant couple on the road. Definitely another Christmas-themed tale. And, very well written at that. Nice ending."
Thanks Tom, it seemed appropriate. I wanted to see if I could make a sci-fi three wise men type story. I know my last one was also biblically themed, so that may grow too repetitive for some.
The names of the three crew are the names of the three wise men in Ben-Hur.
Tom wrote: "Justin wrote: "Ho ho ho, now I've got a machine gun... If Die Hard can be a Christmas movie, then your story is fine! Yippee ki A!!"I'm curious about this new "Black Christmas" movie. ('Wasn't cr..."
I'm really not a fan of Christmas horror and did not enjoy seeing the preview before I watched "Midway." Home Alone is about as dangerous as I want to get at Christmas. :)
I just watched Home Alone again. That movie was great.
Mine's up. My wife's comments: "Lewd! ... Not lewd? Oh my! ... What?"
I don't think I'm going to make the deadline this month. Just so many things going on with end of the year and the holidays. Oh well...
Chris,There once was a writer who took stock
of his current month's severe writer's block.
His priorities askew
he asked forgiveness from few
but then found a story in his red Santa sock.
Merry Christmas!
- C
C. wrote: "Chris,There once was a writer who took stock
of his current month's severe writer's block.
His priorities askew
he asked forgiveness from few
but then found a story in his red Santa sock.
Merry ..."
Lol. Oh, I've got ideas. It's just that this is probably the first time I've sat at a computer for any length of time in about 3 weeks. Even so, gotta run again.
Merry Christmas everyone! :)
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No place to go
Think I'll watch another bad Star Wars show
I watched Star Trek Beyond last night, a movie I like, and then read the reviews of the new Star Wars movie, mostly bleh. Anyone seen it?
Chris wrote: "C. wrote: "Chris,There once was a writer who took stock
of his current month's severe writer's block.
His priorities askew
he asked forgiveness from few
but then found a story in his red Santa so..."
Merry Christmas to you too, Chris. And, Happy Holidays to all.
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Not giving anything away here, just a vague glimpse of one man's view.
I saw IV in theaters four times when it came out (fitting), and then again when it was rereleased to the big screen after my son's were born. This, along with V and VI were brilliant. Pure clash of good verse evil, with a beautiful blend of technology and witchcraft. I would place Rogue One (III.5) amongst these.
I feel episodes I-III failed, but not due to a lack of writing so much as the childhoodish nature in which the characters presented the story. I see this as a failure of directing; a failure to recognize how the lack of seriousness would be perceived. But mostly, a failure to be able get the viewer to empathize with Anakin's struggle. To me, I was just watching an actor going through the motions of the story, instead of living them. Without this critical juncture, where he surrenders his will to the Emperor, the whole thing falls apart.
VII and VIII had it's struggles as well within the main actors/characters. I was disappointed with both and perhaps that is why I wasn't expecting this to be that well executed as well. But I had seen all of these, including the first three several times, and became more familiar with the characters that the actors were trying to portray. In this "last" movie, I feel they have reinforced who those characters are while addressing the extremely subtle difficulties that the actors have to figure out in their portrayal.
In the end, a few scenes pushed the line of sci-fi seriousness, but didn't cross, while leaving the viewer unaware of the outcome, not only in the close, but also the next scene. All in all, well done Lucas for providing us the greatest sci-fi saga to date. Again, in one man's view.
Jot wrote: "Just saw Star Wars IX. To sum up, I liked it a lot.Not giving anything away here, just a vague glimpse of one man's view.
I saw IV in theaters four times when it came out (fitting), and then aga..."
A very intriguing review, Jot. I'm more eager than ever now to see the film.
Jot, thanks! That's exactly how I felt regarding the first movies in the series. And for me, Rogue One was the best of the lot, even better than the original 3 (4,5 & 6). Anyway, i was debating whether or not to go, now i think i will.
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Rogue One ended exactly the way I hoped it would: segueing into the beginning of A New Hope. I wanted to be able to watch Rogue One and immediately delve into A New Hope, which you can almost seamlessly. It was a great blend of nostalgia and new story telling.
I just saw SW IX. Visually spectacular and emotionally intense. I found the plot a bit slow at times, but overall, it was very effective and moving.It included familiar gimmicks from the earlier films. The dark vision quest in the cave, the famous holo chess board, the Jedi training drone. And, of course, the familiar landscape of Tatooine, where it all began. Along with some new gimmicks, like "light jumping."
The underlying moral themes of Star Wars...not giving in to hate, fighting the darkness within, across family lines, naturalism in conflict with destructive technology, the innate good in humanity emerging in the face of overwhelming injustice...were all there and keenly felt.
These last few films, I felt, recaptured the power and enduring majesty of the first three films, to which I have to say I felt the middle three films did not do justice.
From a societal view, it's interesting to see Star Wars, our modern-day version of the Arthurian fable, evolve as society evolves, the cast of characters becoming more gender-balanced and racially and even sexually diverse. (Was that a Sapphic kiss I glimpsed among the rebel pilots?) And, the torch of the hero's quest is passed to a heroine.
On a personal note, I was pleased to see an array of familiar faces among the cast. Not only returning SW favorites like Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, (and the last great scenes of the sorely missed Carrie Fisher) but actors I've missed since their time on shows like "Lost," "Alias" and "Heroes."
Space opera is a genre I hope will continue to spawn other such inspiring and enduring modern fables.
Mine's up, just under the wire. Been doing a lot of Christmas cleaning and home repair ahead some visitors coming in about two hours.
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Forgot to name my story “Sleigh ride” perhaps.
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Alternate universes still have it. This universe must be a dead end. Crap.
Thank you everyone! A nice little Christmas present for me! I hope Christmas was enjoyable for everyone (who celebrate) and that the New Year brings you all many good things! New story prompt up in a moment!
Every year we go to a New Year's camp up on Quadra Island (just east of Vancouver Island, BC. They have a talent show at the end, and for the past two years I've been reading one story from my year's collection. I always get a good response - which is nice. So I know which one I'll be reading this year. :)
I do the same each year but I read to the squirrels in my back yard. They throw nuts and jeer.
To help polish our skills and present a flavor of our art to other members in the group, I am continuing this friendly contest for those who would like to participate. There is no money involved, but there is also no telling what a little recognition and respect might generate. The rules are simple:
1) The story needs to be your own work and should be posted on the goodreads (GR) Discussion board, which is a public group. You maintain responsibility and ownership of your work to do with as you please. You may withdraw your story at any time.
2) The stories must be 750 words or less.
3) The stories have to be science fiction, follow a specific theme and potentially include reference to items as requested by the prior month's contest winner.
4) You have until midnight EST on the 22nd day of the month to post your story to the GR Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion. One story per author per month.
5) After, anyone from the LI Sci-Fi group or the GR Science Fiction Microstory Discussion group has until midnight EST of the 25th day of the month to send me a single private vote (via GR or to author.jotrussell@gmail.com) for a story other than their own. This vote will be made public once voting is closed. Voting is required. If you do not vote, your story will be disqualified from the contest. You don't need a qualifying story to cast a vote, but must offer the reason for your vote if you don’t have an entry.
6) To win, a story needs at least half of the votes, or be the only one left after excluding those with the fewest votes. Runoffs will be run each day until a winner is declared. Stories with vote totals that add up to at least half, discarding those with the fewest votes, will be carried forward to the next runoff election. Prior votes will be carried forward to support runoff stories. If you voted for a story that did not make it into the runoff, you need to vote again before midnight EST of that day. Only people who voted in the initial round may vote in the runoffs.
7) Please have all posts abide by the rules of GR and the LI Sci-Fi group.
8) For each month, there will be three discussion threads:
a) Stories - For the stories and the contest results only.
b) Comments - For discussions about the stories and contest. Constructive criticism is okay, but please avoid any spoilers about the stories or degrading comments directed towards any individuals. If you want to suggest a change to the contest, feel free to start a discussion about the idea before making a formal motion. If another member seconds a motion, a vote can be held. I will abstain from voting, but will require a strong two-thirds majority to override my veto.
c) Critiques - Each member can provide at most one critique per story, with a single rebuttal by the author to thank the critic and/or comment to offer the readers the mind set of the story to account for issues raised by the critique. Critiques should be of a professional and constructive manner. Feel free to describe elements that you do and don't like, as these help us gain a better perspective of our potential readers. Remarks deemed inflammatory or derogatory will be flagged and/or removed by the moderator.
9) The winner has THREE days after the start of the new month to make a copy of these rules and post a new contest thread using the theme/items of their choosing. Otherwise, I will post the new contest threads.
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This Month's Theme:
Home for the Holidays
Required Elements:
Terran and Non-Terran traveling
Alien Technology