Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/contest.ez?contest_id=476&folder_id=27

First, I apologize for not being available to properly start the voting thread Sunday night. I'm on a mini-vacation and simply wasn't able to get online. Because of the delay, I have extended the voting deadline and entire day (also changed in the contest rules) until 8 PM (Rosity time) February 28th. Voting is simple: assign 3 points to the entry you think deserves first, 2 points for second, and 1 point for third. Post your votes in THIS THREAD ONLY! The entries can be read at the attached link.

All right! Plenty of responses. Looking forward to soaking in the stories. Tough part will be choosing!!

I responded, but no one else did, I thought I had made a mistake........ did I?

jstro 3 yanek 2 garblesnix 1 OK, I voted....... anyone else gonna?

Hold on, hold on! I'm still reading! ;-p

jstro 3
yanek 2
Barringhupite 1

Have we announced our challenge on the other forums? Just being a curious little monkey.

Garblesnix - 3 yanek- 2 Karen- 1 :)

(Clarified) Dang this was tough! You folks REALLY did a great job working with the concept. It was incredibly difficult trying to pull three out - and then put them in an order. Too much brain work for a weekend! Okay, here goes: BinkiKitty - 1 Garblesnix - 2 Jstro - 3 Bravo to all!! -j.p.

3 points: jestro (for the most likeable - Sparky - and the most annoying character - Mrs. McGiviney) 2 points: garblesnix 1 point: BinkiKitty My lame excuse for not writing anything: I thought the challenge was too restrictive this time. There was the premise (role reversal), a required set of characters (a pet and a human) and even a part of the plot was predetermined (You wake up in the morning and discover ...). I expected a lot of similar stories, and didnt feel like adding one of my own, not to mention that there already is a famous story of that kind by Franz Kafka (Garblesnix refers to it in his story). As I said, a lame excuse. Having read your stories, I have to admit that they are all funny and each story has a distinct quality of its own. However, next time Id prefer a less specific topic again. Keep up the good work!

3 jstro....be careful as to how you treat the neighbor's dog! 2 binkikitty 1 garblesnix good reading

jstro, followed by: garblesnix yanek BinkiKitty RNKarenER Barringhupite Congrats, Jon! The entries were a blast to read - thanks everyone! There are a couple of points I would like to address regarding this (and any) challenge run here. First, any questions that come up during the challenge should be posted to the announcement thread. By doing so, we can air issues and resolve any potential problems. For instance, there may have been many others who, like Gurami, felt the challenge was too limiting. If we discuss things like this prior to closing, perhaps we can fix the problem(s). Then I (or any other challenge manager) can rewrite the challenge and extend the deadline, if appropriate. Second, since the challenge is always posted to the front page and is visible when clicking on the "Contests" link in header to every page, I do not post specific notices in other forums. That said, if anyone feels a particular challenge should be announced elsewhere, please let me know so I can contact the moderator/coordinator of the other forum(s). Like you, I am interested in ways to increase participation in our challenges but would like the opportunity to discuss the matter with the other forums before irritating anyone. Now, for next month's challenge we're going to try something just a little different. Jstro still gets to pick the theme, but I'm going to ask someone else to handle most of the challenge management. Any guesses as to who it will be?

(Claps) 4th place for me! Not bad, for my first challenge..not my first time writing. I'm glad I got a couple votes. Looking foward to the next challenge, congrats, Jstro! :D Pick a topic real psycho-dramatic. (cough) Or whatever you want. ;)

Congrat to the winners! I will gracefully bow out now.. this one was a tough one to do!

Congrats to all who entered the challenge - You are ALL winners, just by entering :] Karl - I would also like to propose a change to the next challenge 1. How about uploading the challenge entries "without" the artist's name listed on the challenge page?? 2. Conduct the voting through the actual challenge page - that way more people would be inclined to vote, as some members do not wish to have their votes displayed in a public forum :) Just a thought :)

Wow, I won! I've got to admit, it feels pretty nice. Thanks for the votes and thanks for all the other entries. Let's hear three cheers for garblesnix, RNKarenER, yanek, BinkiKitty, and Barringhupite. It takes courage to post one's writings (or artwork) for the world to see. So thank you all for participating. I hope Karen reconsiders and bows back in again soon. The more the merrier. I have a topic in mind and will IM GonWaki soon. If I remember correctly, since I pick the topic I can't participate. So, since I don't have to do one I can make this one REALLY hard, right? Just kidding. ;-) jon

Congrats to all. RNKarenER: do not stop. If you do, all the words in your head will become voices and only the nasty ones will be heard. The more you put them on paper (or monitor), the easier it is to banish the bad ones.

Hey jon, GonWaki has been out of town - so, not to delay the monthly challenge any longer - if you can please post your topic here [or drop me an IM] we will get the March Challenge started ASAP :] Dee-Marie

I thought that might be the case. This is what I had suggested, more or less: Theme - Forgotten Did you forget something? Or someone? I know, I know it's on the tip of your tongue. Write a humorous short story in the theme of Forgotten. I, for example, once forgot to take a final exam in college. Oops! They don't have to be true stories, just humorous. And they don't have to be real world. Fantasy and science fiction would work just as well as a final exam. It's true about the final exam, by the way. :-P jon

Rofl. I love it. :)

Too much fun - thanks TONS Jon - I will work on getting the challenge up and running by Friday :) If you have something you would like to use as a supporting image - please post to this forum as soon as possible. If not ... perhaps we can get our very own dido to create something for us ;] Dee-Marie

I'm afraid my digital arts days are pretty much behind me. I seem to have forgotten how to do most of that stuff. ;-) Best let someone else tackel that end of things. jon

Not a problem :) I will get a place-holder image ready, just until we hear back from dido :) Dee-Marie

I can try something, if you guys want..I just have to know what you want, and how you want it. ;)

Oh wow that would be wonderful BinkiKitty :) As dido is under that weather with a bad bug :( We would love to have your help with this month's challenge image-placeholder. We would need two images - something that would depict this month's theme: "Forgotten" ... a humorous tale. As a side note: Renderosity's contest/challenge entries page was originally set up for artwork submission - however, when the writer's forum was established, the contest/challenge area was revised. However, due to the nature of the contest/challenge html source - both a thumbnail and an image has to be uploaded for entries to be accepted :] Which brings us to our current need for a challenge image-placeholder. Sizes: The thumbnail should be: 100 pixels wide x 80 pixels high 72 dpi/jpg The main image should be: 250 x 250 pixels 72 dpi/jpg Oh ... and by creating the supporting challenge image - you CAN still enter the challenge! Dee-Marie