DISCUSSION THREAD -- December 2022 -- 75 Word Writing Challenge

[Wayne Mack]

So when I started thinking about "drift" that conversation came up front and center. I was so grateful for the likes I received. I didn't really expect any votes because I felt that the story lacked something, I didn't know how to fix it. And I didn't want to write another one.

Just write the story you want to tell and let the rest of us enjoy it. I liked your tale and it ended up a numbers game where I couldn't vote for every story I liked. Congratulations all the same on a fine story.

 

[Abernovo]

Congratulations, @mosaix!

 

[Hugh]

Congratulations @mosaix . Great story.

And very well done @Shyrka

 

[Elckerlyc]

Congratulations @mosaix!

Three votes and a whopping ten mentions/shortlisting for my story. My drift-proof thanks to @BT Jones, @The Judge and @Daysman for their vote and @therapist, @Christine Wheelwright, @sule, @AnRoinnUltra, @Parson, @THX1138, @Shyrka, @Hugh, @johnnyjet and @Phyrebrat for noticing my tale.

 

[The Judge]

Congratulations, mosaix! Commiserations, Shyrka -- but congrats on your second placing!


Thanks, Chris p for the further shortlisting for my story. As to which, I'm sure everyone got the allusion in the title to the Beatles song, but what I hadn't realised before checking up on "Lucy", the first-discovered remains of Australopithecus afarensis, is that she was called that because Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was played in the evenings in the camp when she was found. She wasn't the first hominin to be discovered who could walk upright -- which necessitated a tweak in my story, as that's how I'd originally described her -- but as I understand it she was the one who effectively proved the theory, as well as proving that brain size increased after our ancestors became bipedal, not before. And though plastic-living/eating Lucy may be the stuff of SF, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch of plastic, is alas already with us and getting bigger every day.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Congratulations, mosaix! And well done on the runner-up spot, Shyrka.

 

[Phyrebrat]

[choking on the words] Congratulations @mosaix — a true inspiration, a king amongst riffraff! [/choking on the words]

 

[mosaix]

Thanks, everyone.

Commiserations to @Shyrka who made it a close-run thing. Made closer by me voting for the story!

Thanks for the mentions / shortlists @Victoria Silverwolf, @paranoid marvin, @Christine Wheelwright, @Parson, @Cat's Cradle and @The Judge.

A special thanks to @M. Robert Gibson, @THX1138, @Hugh, @Bowler1, @Pyan and @nixie for the votes.

And thanks to @Vertigo who ran an eye over an early version of the story and caused me to re-think some of the wording. When I saw the theme I immediately thought of drifting snow and the SF genre meant it just had to be methane snow on Titan. Then the Padre's life was drifting and, in a way, so was the orbit of the doomed spacecraft.

When it came to voting, in a similar way to @Phyrebrat, I'm quite selective in terms of theme and genre and, the same as @The Judge, there were some I just didn't understand, but @Shyrka's story passed the tests, stood out, and got my vote.

 

[Shyrka]

Ach, pipped to the post again! Ever the bridesmaid, etc. Congrats to Mosaix, a worthy winner, as ever. I'm thrilled to have gotten even one vote given how rusty I am at this. Thank you all!

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Well done @mosaix , great story -made me think of the ham radio man who filled the cosmonaut in on events during a dramatic year in the early 90's ...if this was the anonymous challenge I'd have said the author was @Parson too

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Well done @mosaix I knew it was winner

Big thanks to @paranoid marvin for the totally unexpected vote
And thanks for the mention @Wayne Mack and anyone else who thought it worthy

And the usual thanks to @Parson and @Victoria Silverwolf for taking the time for the wonderful reviews

---

I say unexpected because my muse had deserted me for much of the month, so I just did the old trick of throwing in a few references to songs in the hope of tricking people into liking it

So given that, here's my entry again for people to go song spotting. There are some titles, some partial titles and some lyrics referenced.
Your mission, should you accept it, is to name the artist and full song title. (There are seven)

"Hello, you've reached the AA. What's your emergency?"

"Hi. I've been space truckin' for 2000 light years in my interplanetary craft and was about to re-enter Earth's stratosphere when my thrusters failed. Now I have no control over my craft. I'm eight miles high and floating in a most peculiar way, sort of sideways through time and..."

"Can I just interrupt, Mr. Spaceman? This is the Automobile Association. I think you need the Astroship Association."

 

[paranoid marvin]

Congratulations @mosaix well done sir!

---------

My own story was seeded by my own experience. When I was in seminary a "financial planner" came to talk to the Seniors about finances and taxes. One of the little known parts of the American tax code is that pastors can opt out of Social Security. This is not an insignificant thing because Social Security counts pastors as "self employed" so we pay the whole load (presently about 15%), rather than as in most jobs where you are an employee and for Income tax purposes we are counted as "employees," the employer pays half the social security tax. To opt out you have to be able to sign a statement that says that you believe that it would be wrong for you as a religious leader to receive money from the government. --- I think the idea is that it would be a kind of conflict of interests to be serving the church and being paid by the government. --- Anyway, the financial planner had the idea that we should opt out of Social Security and invest the money we would save. (The pitch was more complex but this gets at the gist of it.) When I indicated that I could not sign such a statement honestly he said something like this to me. "They are not really asking if you are opposed to receiving money from the government. It's a systems question. What they are really asking is whether you want to be part of Social Security or not. You get my drift?"

So when I started thinking about "drift" that conversation came up front and center. I was so grateful for the likes I received. I didn't really expect any votes because I felt that the story lacked something, I didn't know how to fix it. And I didn't want to write another one.

Well done mosaix!


Parson, I think the only thing it lacked was the context, which you have now provided. This is no criticism, just down to the limited word count and the rules not allowing us to provide any kind of explanation before the poll has closed. Thankyou for sharing your insights, things of which I wasn't aware and definitely make your entry more understandable and enjoyable to read.

I think you would have regretted it if you hadn't posted the story you wanted to write and replaced it with one which might have been in with a better chance of getting votes, so well done for going with your instincts.

My entry this month was something similar in that when I wrote it I wasn't sure how it would be received, but it just seemed 'right' to me, even though it's not entirely grammatically correct. My first thought with the theme was to look at songs by 'The Drifters'; as soon as I saw the song 'Save the Last Dance For Me' I knew this had to be the story would be wrapped around.

Incidentally for anyone who doesn't know the context behind the song, I urge you to have a read up on Wikipedia. It brings a whole new light to the words, and makes the song a very special one indeed. I only looked it up after entering my story, but I'm so glad that I did.

I really appreciate the shortlistings and votes that I got, so thanks again for those people who liked my story.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Many congratulations!

 

[VRlass]

Congratulations @mosaix.
——————————————-
Thanks for the votes

• David Evil Overlord
• Aknot

I wan’t expecting any
My story was about misunderstandings, which comes when someone is unconsciously using symbolism.
Pilot was just describing the target, while his superior thought about Fat Man - Wikipedia

And I really really wanted to do a Christmas theme (dark, but still christmas)

 

[Wayne Mack]

I just did the old trick of throwing in a few references to songs in the hope of tricking people into liking it

No tricking was involved. I enjoyed the references and this was one of the few stories that Ii read multiple times so as to try to pick out all of the song references. The big risk, of course, is limiting the audience to those who remember 1970s rock and roll. Also, I did laugh at the final twist and I enjoy stories that incorporate a bit of humor.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Congrats to @mosaix on a well deserved win. Thanks to @Cat's Cradle for the vote and @paranoid marvin , @AnRoinnUltra , @Parson , @johnnyjet and @chrispenycate for the listings and mentions.

 

[Bowler1]

I backed a winner and I didn't have to threaten anyone with a pitchfork either, go figure?

 

[Astro Pen]

Well done @mosaix

Thanks to @The Judge and @VRlass for the mentions.
Mine was an abbreviated version of a story I wrote some years back, itself from a dream that I tried to exorcise by writing down.
The imagery of that alien explorer's death still haunts me though.

 

[Peter V]

Congratulations @ mosaix

Thanks @ chrispenycate and @ elvet for voting for my story and thanks to those who mentioned it.

I vote for the offering from @ BigJ as something about it stuck with me from the moment I read it

 

[BT Jones]

Well done, @mosaix. I have to admit I didn't really get your story until I re-read it, post voting, at which point it suddenly resonated.
This is probably not the first time this has happened with me. So, in any evet, a well deserved win.
Thanks to @Christine Wheelwright for the mention. And a Merry novus annus to everyone at the chrons.