You can help by promoting next week’s #SatSunTails on your blog or by giving the post a +1 or a tumblr reblog or click the ‘tweet this’ link up on the right hand side or share from the facebook fan page or retweet from my twitter page to spread the word.
Or, even better, go on the #SatSunTails twitter search results and retweet other entrants.
The more people that hear about #SatSunTails, the more entries there are and the better the competition becomes!
If you are on twitter and you’d like an @reply every weekend to remind you that the competition is open then please leave a note regarding this along with your twitter handle in the comments of this post so I can set that up for you.
But for now, let’s get to the winners!
Guest Judge
And our judge for this week’s #SatSunTails was the great @DoctorMikeReddy. He had a little something to say about his choosing of winners:
“What I was looking for was a good piece of flash fiction that set the scene quickly and gave me both something to imagine (some gaps for me to fill in) and something tangible to take away from the reading. 150 words is a very small amount of space, which needs either reference to ‘something known’ like the biblical mythology used in one story, or ‘common understanding’ such as the expectation that arson, for example, would be considered extremely serious. Twisting things about is harder to do in a very short piece of prose, so having an open ending to invite the reader’s speculation as to what happened, or will happen next, is the key. All the stories showed this to some extent.”
The Written Prompt
sibling rivalry
Runner Up Mentions
@indigo_sam –
Lilith, Adam’s first wife, has always been a favourite with me. The title sets the scene for us, and if ever there was a sibling rivalry it is between Lilith and Eve. A lot is drawn into this short piece from the use of myth, which is a good technique for flash fiction. Touches like the serpent bowing end it nicely.
@needanidplease –
Tragic ambition! You set the location and feel of the story early and well. The descriptive sections paint a good picture, while leaving enough for us to fill in with our imaginations.
@mrdlcastle –
Very dark. Captures the theme and makes use of the tone of the photograph by providing a background to the image. I wonder if Margaret was so driven because she was smaller? Reminds me of the film “Death Becomes Her”
Overall Winner
@GasheadAu –
Loved the salted ground imagery, and the comic seriousness with which the police were going to be involved, once they had ‘better’ things taken care of, like the Beach in Bloom competition. The leaving of the two sisters and the strange lack of a conviction is delightfully understated, making me want to know why such an event might have been necessary.
The Elite Studios Fire Mystery
Miss Eliza Kemp’s “Elite” photographic studio on the High Street stood opposite her brother Mr Nicholas Kemp’s portrait painting studio. One Wednesday night in September 1898, Miss Eliza Kemp’s establishment was mysteriously razed by a singular conflagration.
Legend has it that the ground on which it stood was even sewn with salt.
Mr Nicholas Kemp, also a local justice of the peace in the seaside town made comment to the local newspaper, The Argus & Echo. He said, “This is a terrible crime against property and commerce. PC Marling will take to the case immediately following his successful policing of our Beach in Bloom competition this weekend and our world famous Pier Princess Pageant the following weekend!”
Miss Kemp, in company with her longtime companion Miss Lucy Young, left the town and started a new business in London in October 1898.
No one has ever been convicted of setting the fire.
Critique Mentions
Now, as promised, I shall critique those entries that didn’t make it. Sometimes it can literally come down to the smallest things.
Wanda @UndeadNether –
This piece more described the things that happened to the three than told their story, although the events chosen could have been an interesting tale. A lot of space was taken up with the naming of the characters, which could have provided some shorthand to their characters if used appropriately. The theme words were only addressed in negation; that is no hint of the theme was apparent, other than for us to be told there wasn’t any. I think the trick was not to try to tell so many events in one story, but intimate a hard background and focus upon one.
Thank you to all of those who entered.
The criticism is never meant to harm. It is there to help you better your writing and someday win overall. I’m sure it will also benefit those who were not criticised. I hope this has helped you in your writing as well as encouraged you to join in again next week!
Click here to read the other mentioned entries.
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