The Official Writing Challenge
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04/24/08
Great characterizations and descriptions - and such a fun story. Truly enjoyed this!
04/24/08
My face is hurting from laughing. Your family sounds like my family--right down to the unwritten rules about game-playing. (And, like your family, people are intimidated to marry into our super-competitive family.)

This is way too much fun...I have to go read it again.

Great job with the topic.
04/25/08
This is hilarious. I am a total failure at Scrabble (and now at WORDTwist with some online friends) but could appreciate the difficulty of holding down those "killer instincts" of a REAL player. Well done.
04/25/08
Very funny! Where on earth did you find the word fard??
04/25/08
In my wife's family it was Rummy. I never had met people so serious about a deck of cards! Thanks for reminding me of why those times are so special.
04/26/08
I really enjoyed this. My mom loved a good game of Scrabble, as does my husband. I'm going to try to use "fard" the next time I play--it's so funny! "Farding in the bathroom"--I'm still laughing. Too bad families don't spend more time playing those old board games anymore.
04/26/08
Hilarious! My mom lives for Skippo and we used to play Nerts for hours. Lots of fond memories!
Laury
That was too funny. Very enjoyable read. I laughed so hard! Thanks I needed that.
I love board games, so this story was right up my alley.

The "farding" dialogue was the best! I literally laughed out loud.

I enjoyed this light hearted piece. Thank you so much for sharing it.
04/28/08
I had to look up "fard" to see if you were pulling my leg :) That is so funny!
Thanks for entertaining me this evening.
LOL! I love your Scrabble Queen. Love the new word you taught me as well. Very entertaining entry.
04/28/08
This sounds like thanksgiving at our house. We don't even play trivial pursuit anymore because of the resulting throwing of the gameboard across the room.My mother was always the queen of scrabble but lately I've beat her a few times. Wanna play?
04/28/08
You had me a "Suck it up."
Hilarious.
04/28/08
I'm a Scrabbler too, but I never heard of "fard" :)
I was waiting for a twist at the end, but didn't get it. (a little disappointed)
Good character sketches and family descriptions. You'd love it at our house.
Great writing, as usual.
Excellent, non-sweet entry. LOL So glad you used Hi Ho CheeryO - I played this with my daughter. She loved it. Thanks for bringing back those simple, special memories.
So fun to read and enjoy this moment in time with this family. Our "Scramble" was Uno, but the memories and the fun all seem to be the same.
04/28/08
So happy to read something so real, without being too sentimental. Loved the humor, the laughter, the competitive edge,and even the name was funny... was that fiction? Sorry if that wasn't the creative part.. it just so fit with the story... I can see them in my mind.. you rock! Thanks for the lift today.
04/28/08
Are we related? My family is so serious about games that one cousin cancelled his engagement to a woman who didn't like to play games.

This was a wonderful read. One of my favorites so far.
I miss those days, will you adopt me? Rummy and Triv was our Thanksgiving games of choice. Thanks for the romp.
04/29/08
First of all, how could someone NOT read your story - the title was too intriguing. Enjoyed the story all the way to the end. I liked the ending... no twists, no angles, no surprises...with some stories that would have been a disappointment but not in this one. It's a real story about a real family. A REAL competitive family.
I want to know how long it took you to play around with all those words on a Scrabble board in order to write this story. The family interactions are very real and refreshing. Great fun!
Besides being utterly clever and entertainig, the story flowed with the touch of a master deciding when and where to tickle our fancy. Very, very funny; just what I needed.
Hilarious! Absolutely delightful! And it brings back memories for me. In our family my husband's mother was the Queen of Scrabble. I'm not half bad, but I was NO match for her!
04/29/08
This is funny and brought back so many memories. My Gran taught me to play Scrabble as a kid and within months, I was thrashing her. My family refuse to play Scrabble anymore as they say I take all the fun out of it :( Would love to challenge your MC.
04/29/08
Oh boy! I'm not competitive at all; until I play my husband in Scrabble. He puts down words like "Qum" and dares me to challenge him. I laughed out loud while I read this...some games just bring out the beast in even the most gentle people. Hee hee.
04/29/08
Oh...you merciless scoundrel of a niece...you crack me up!
04/30/08
Awesome, especially the 'I'm farding' comment, and the fact that although the MC was trying to throw the game, was unable to change her spots and do so.
04/30/08
Chinese checkers! That was the game when I was growing up. My aunt & Uncle, and My dad would lay for hours. then my younger sister started. I could never keep my mind on it long enough to remember what moves I had planned from one turn to the next.

Loved your story, great writing.
Oh, this was fun! Love it and very unique writing on topic.
04/30/08
LOL! Love this, Jan! And I only know the word 'fard' because I read where a lady got arrested for farding in her car while driving--I laughed for days over that!
This was soooo funny! I loved the last line with "I trounced her again" THat was too funny, I could see a whole novel expanding here on what would happen if some poor, innocent guy decided to date Maggie and got wrapped up in all the games. ROFL! Too funny! (and now I know what fard means...) ^_^
04/30/08
I Loved it! The closing line was the icing on the cake. You'd slaughter me at Scrabble--and I wouldn't care, as long as I had fun losing. LoL. As always: Great job!!
04/30/08
Words to live by:

"Sometimes in life, people get the Ice Cream Float, kid. Suck it up."

Outstanding piece, the pacing was great and it was so true to life when I was growing up that I was afraid to laugh for shame at my overly competitive nature.
Oh, I loved this. Can't add too much to the comments above but I'm still laughing. I used to play Scrabble with my mother...she was serious. I'm going to use "fard" on my daughter some day just to see what happens. Hilarious! Great writing!
04/30/08
Oh, this is priceless. Loved it from start to finish, being a voracious Scrabble player myself lately. ;)
Everyone identifies with this excellent story in one way or another.

I related to the "marrying into the family" line... my in-laws only played Pinnacle, cards, or Risk every time they were together. I never played cards so I read alone. I did learn Risk, even winning. My mom loved Chinese Checkers and Scrabble, but not as regularly or seriously as my in-laws.

Thanks for your creative genius.
What a great opening line! And it moves into a WONDERFULLY awesomely amazing piece of writing. (But, excuse me, I'M the Scrabble Queen. And now I know a new word. :D ) Love love love it!
05/02/08
This was great! I think it takes great talent to capture humor and you did it well. I also have a new word for my growing vocabulary. Hmm..wonder who I'll try it on first.
I am laughing, holding my sides
05/08/08
Oh Jan(ine)! How totally and utterly transparent! This has you written all over and through it. (chuckle, chuckle)

And what a write - a total pleasure to read.

(still chuckling)
05/08/08
In a household full of men, I now have a new word guaranteed to bring the house down. I must remember this. You're the queen of humor.