FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

Hi Challengeers.

Once again it's time to give a bit of encouragement to all those who didn't quite make it to the top in the BITTER and SWEET Challenge, but still did very well.

As always, competition was intense for this topic, so if your entry appears on any of the lists below, then you definitely deserve a pat on the back. Well done.

Love, Deb

TOP 40 - “BITTER AND SWEET” CHALLENGE
(Total number of Entries: 185 )

1 Filthy Water in a Washing Machine by Debbie Roome
2 You Want Fries with That? By Lisa Mikitarian
3 Catchin' Flies with Vinegar by Jan Ackerson
4 A Fine Line Between Tragedy and Triumph by Lisa Johnson
5 My Grandmother's Legacy by Mary Lou Tiner
6 Unwanted by Linda Boulanger
7 See the Miracle by Margaret Kearley
8 Rhubarb Remedy by Yvonne Blake
9 A Tale of Remorse and Two Chipped Cups by Gregory Kane
10 Making a Name for Herself by Myrna Noyes
11 Something's Rotten in Miss Callie's Orchard by Dee Yoder
12 Rhubarb Pie by Fay Ternan
13 Ale from Two Citruses by Beth LaBuff
14 Fasten Your Seat Belt, Edith … Zelda's here! By Kristen Hester
15 Arms of Love by Carol Sprock
16 Do Me a Flavor by Donna Emery
17 Hearts in the Garden by Dolores Stohler
18 Squeezed Like Lemons by Jack Taylor
19 A BitterSweet Paradox by Linda Payne
20 The Tooth of the Matter by Linda Germain
21 One Sunday in June by Pat Sipperly
22 Please, Mommy by Cindy White
23 Dog Days by Beth Muehlhausen
24 Naked by Ruth Neilson
25 Food Critic's Blog by Karuna Barla
26 Anger a la Commode by Bryan Ridenour
27 O for Grace by Sheri Gordon
28 The Gall by Brenda Kern
29 Ultimate Purpose by Marita Thelander
30 Mary's Tears by Rachel Burkum
31 Bumphry by Gloria Pierre Dean
32 She Bleeds by Rachel Lerch
33 Something Old Something New by Marita Vandertogt
Tied for 34th Place:
Broken by Shirley McClay
Open Wide and Swallow it All by Genia Gilbert
35 So Different by Folakemi Emem-Akpan
36 The Juice Extractor by Christine Gaudin
37 Lord, Plow Up My Garden by Lollie Hofer
38 What Was I Waiting For? By Carole Robishaw
39 The Homecoming by Gillian Dobson
40 Pennies from Heaven by Loren Thomas

TOP 15 LEVEL 1 - “BITTER AND SWEET” CHALLENGE
(Total number of Entries for Level One: 79 )

1 A Fine Line Between Tragedy and Triumph by Lisa Johnson
2 My Grandmother's Legacy by Mary Lou Tiner
3 One Sunday in June by Pat Sipperly
4 Bumphry by Gloria Pierre Dean
5 She Bleeds by Rachel Lerch
6 Disengaged by Al Lovelady
7 Millie's Choice by Ruth Desborough
8 It's a Little Like Lemonade by Stephanie Eckenroad
9 Farewell Cus by Brenda Rice
10 Old Paths by Maryknoll Santos
11 Exodus: Through the Eyes of a Dumb Boy by Remi Oyeyemi
12 Obstacle (Of)course by Tabitha Person
13 Regrets? By Marijo Phelps
14 A Sad Lady's Surprise Reunion by Daniel Kane
15 Summer of 1975 by Domingo Jr. Capias

TOP 10 LEVEL 2 - “BITTER AND SWEET” CHALLENGE
(Total number of Entries for Level Two: 25 )
Top 10 only due to low number of entries for this Level.

1 Rhubarb Pie by Fay Ternan
2 The Juice Extractor by Christine Gaudin
3 New Neighbors by Vickie Buchanan
4 Wonderdog by Anita Scheel
5 Where Bitter Turns to Sweet by Lisa Lister
6 Make Food Not War by Janeil Harricharan
7 I Uv You, Mommy! By Yasmine Renteria
8 A Treacherous Journey Home by CJ Raney
9 The Afternoon Storm by Judy Meyers
10 Wearing Pink Lipstick in a Pine Box…It Will Make You Smile! By Lisa Harris

TOP 15 LEVEL 3 - “BITTER AND SWEET” CHALLENGE
(Total number of Entries for Level Three: 54 )

1 Unwanted by Linda Boulanger
2 See the Miracle by Margaret Kearley
3 Arms of Love by Carol Sprock
4 Hearts in the Garden by Dolores Stohler
5 Squeezed Like Lemons by Jack Taylor
6 Please, Mommy by Cindy White
7 Food Critic's Blog by Karuna Barla
8 Anger a la Commode by Bryan Ridenour
9 Open Wide and Swallow it All by Genia Gilbert
10 Lord, Plow Up My Garden by Lollie Hofer
11 What Was I Waiting For? By Carole Robishaw
12 The Homecoming by Gillian Dobson
13 Joy Be Thy Journey by Mona Purvis
14 In the Corner of My Bedroom by S Harricharan
15 Cheers for Brendan by Frances Judge

TOP 15 LEVEL 4 - “BITTER AND SWEET” CHALLENGE
(Total number of Entries for Level Four: 27 )

1 Filthy Water in a Washing Machine by Debbie Roome
2 You Want Fries with That? By Lisa Mikitarian
3 Catchin' Flies with Vinegar by Jan Ackerson
4 Rhubarb Remedy by Yvonne Blake
5 A Tale of Remorse and Two Chipped Cups by Gregory Kane
6 Making a Name for Herself by Myrna Noyes
7 Something's Rotten in Miss Callie's Orchard by Dee Yoder
8 Ale from Two Citruses by Beth LaBuff
9 Fasten Your Seat Belt, Edith … Zelda's here! By Kristen Hester
10 Do Me a Flavor by Donna Emery
11 A BitterSweet Paradox by Linda Payne
12 The Tooth of the Matter by Linda Germain
13 Dog Days by Beth Muehlhausen
14 Naked by Ruth Neilson
15 O for Grace by Sheri Gordon

Congratulations to everyone on the lists!!

Drat the 11th spot, Dee--you wrote a fantastic story. And Beth, your poetry adds years to my life.

Now it's time for Spring Vacation!

Congratulations, Winners! Your work and its ministry was truly exceptional. You are a blessing to all. Keep writing.


As for myself, I don't know ...

jim mcwhinnie

Wow! 38th isn't bad. I didn't expect to place at all with this one, I didn't even bother hinting or tossing a brick!

Thanks for the votes, and

CONGRATS to everybody

OldManRivers wrote:As for myself, I don't know ...

jim mcwhinnie

Jim, don't give up! Take a breather over the next few weeks (jump into some of the mini-challenges just for fun), then come back fresh in July.

Love, Deb

Congratulations to everyone on the list.

Only ONE more week of this! (Happy AND sad, yanno??)

Time for some more woowoos (LOTS of familiar names!)

WOOWOO to DDDDEEEEEEEEEEE!! (Soooo close!!) BBBBEEFFFFFYYYYYYY!!(a gem, as always!!) KKKRRIISSTTTENNNNN!!! CCCAARROOLLLL!! DDDOOONNNAAA!!! DDDOOOLLLOORRREESSS!!! JJJAACCKKK!! LLLLIIINNNDDDAA!! KKAATTIIEESSCCAARRLLEEETTT!! BBBEEETTHHHH!! RRRUUUUUTTTHHHHH!!! BBRRYYYYAANNNN!! SSHHHEERRIII!!! BBBRREENNDDDAA!! MMMAAARRRIIII!!! RRRAACCHHHHELLLL!!! SSSSHHIIRRRLLEEYYY!!! LLLOOLLLLIIEEE!! CCCCAARRROOOOLLLEEEE!! LLLLOORRREENNNN!!! MMMAAARRRIIIIIJJJOOOOOO!!!! JJJJJJ!!! MMMOOOONNNAAA!!!!! SSSSSAAAAAWWWAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Congrats all!!

We have had no internet connection for a couple of days so I have only just seen the results now. Wow, swoon, fall over backwards and hit the floor! It's a funny thing but I wasn't entirely satisfied with my entry for this week. I was trying to do something clever with twists and counter-twists and judging by the paucity of comments received I had more or less decided that it hadn't worked. Hence I didn't even bother to post a hint this week. And yet to my complete amazement and delight the judges liked it!!!

I was struck by something that Rachel Burkum said this week in her thread:

wrider wrote:Sometimes I gauge a piece by knowing if I like it, it probably won't place. If I don't like it, it has a good chance.

Sometimes that's exactly how it feels. Go figure! Any red ink on my tale would be appreciated even at this late stage. Did I paint the characters well? Was the twist fair or foul? Was the message obvious?

Bless you

Gregory

Greghory wrote:We have had no internet connection for a couple of days so I have only just seen the results now. Wow, swoon, fall over backwards and hit the floor! It's a funny thing but I wasn't entirely satisfied with my entry for this week. I was trying to do something clever with twists and counter-twists and judging by the paucity of comments received I had more or less decided that it hadn't worked. Hence I didn't even bother to post a hint this week. And yet to my complete amazement and delight the judges liked it!!!
I was struck by something that Rachel Burkum said this week in her thread:

wrider wrote:Sometimes I gauge a piece by knowing if I like it, it probably won't place. If I don't like it, it has a good chance.

Sometimes that's exactly how it feels. Go figure!

Congratulations!!!! So happy you placed so well. Good for you!

I'm another one that didn't know I had an EC (until last night around 11:15 PDT)! What a total SHOCK!! Like Greghory, I only had a couple comments by Monday and didn't think it could possibly make an EC, so I didn't hint or throw a brick. I had computer problems yesterday so couldn't check the wiinning results anyway. I finally was able to get my email late last night and saw the Writing Challenge Agreement. I was stunned! I, too, am coming to believe that if I really like a piece it probably won't go anywhere, but if I'm not sure about it, it will win!

Thank you judges for enjoying my story!

Blessings,
Myrna Joy

Congratulations everybody! I'm sorry I was out of the loop last week with reading. This week I will have to do better. God's blessings to you all!

Yippee Yay to all those recognized for their great stories (and to those who weren't recognized but wrote great stories any way).




I was shocked to myself on the list at all. I didn't even hint this week because I wasn't all that thrilled with the poem. It was a new attempt, never tried writing three lined poetry before this. Thanks judges for the recognition. I've only had the computer available to me a couple hours in the early evenings so haven't been able to read anyone's story yet. That should change Sunday and I'll have more computer time to read some of the awesome stories.

And to think a story called, "Naked" made it into the top forty!