twitterfic contest poll

[coraa]

I got second place in the ninth Book View Cafe twitterfic contest! Hurrah. (You can see all the winning entries on their website. Congrats to several of my friends who also got honorable mentions!)

The theme was Monsters and Machines, in conjunction with the release of their steampunk anthology, The Shadow Conspiracy, including stories from Irene Radford, Brenda Clough, and Judith Tarr. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it, and will review here.

I entered four twitterfics; one of them got an honorable mention and the other got second place. I thought I'd create a poll to see which of them you'd most like to see expanded into a full story. (I'm putting the info about which ones got honorable mention/second place below the poll, so if you want to vote first before you see that info, you can.)

A: Some black sheep could be hidden in the attic, but not Caroline. She leapt; her brass wings arced her upward across the moon.

B: "We offer spring-loaded claws in a variety of materials and -- " "Silver," Irina interrupted. "My brothers are werewolves."

C: The Beast's daughter had her father's fangs, her mother's eyes. Hidden in her workshop, she did not cry, lest her works rust.

D: "Do not call me monstrous," she said, "just because my heart is crystal and not flesh. My sharp edges are no fault of my own."

[Poll #1500684]

And thank you for indulging me. :)

The honorable mention was A, and the second-place runner-up was D.

Posted at Livejournal and Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. comments currently at DW.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I thought your one that one was the best complete-story-in-126-words, but I was really curious about Irina's story. The way she cut off the salesman! Why does she want her brothers dead?

I loved the winning entry, but my very favorite one was by the same guy, the one about the hydrogen airships and the dragons :D

[ceph.livejournal.com]

I think B is my favorite of these as a Twitterfic, but I am most intrigued by A, because I'd really like to know how a sheep ended up with brass wings in the first place--is she an anthropomorphic sheep? A weresheep? Were the wings constructed by her or someone else? (It has also occurred to me that you may have meant that as a metaphor, but my speculative-fiction-reader instincts are to take it literally.)

[coraa.livejournal.com]

One of the things that I find most interesting is that the one that's the best complete story at that length isn't necessarily the one that I want to hear more about. Actually I think the dragons and hydrogen airships is like that, too; it's not as complete a story as the winning entry, but I really want to find out more. :D

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Ha! I actually did mean it as a metaphor (it was the shortest phrase I could find to get across the idea of a family disgrace, and with only 126 characters to work with, that was paramount), but now I'm intrigued by the possibilities of a wing-wearing weresheep. ;)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes! (Oh, and my second "one" in the original comment should have been "won"... d'oh.)

[ceph.livejournal.com]

You should totally write that. Were-herbivores, let alone were-ungulates, don't get nearly enough love.

[jessryn.livejournal.com]

I voted for d, but was originally torn between b and d. So really either one. I'm intrigued by the crystal heart in d, and in b I'd like to know the backstory.

[clairebaxter.livejournal.com]

I'm not only intrigued by Irina, I have a feeling her story could be funny. Or maybe I'm just hoping. If there's a funny side to threatening her brothers' lives to keep them in line.