Congratulations to Gurami and garblesnix for first place. You both did an incredible job of the theme I picked. I think you both have a lot of talent as do the other entries but I guess there can only be one (or in this case two)winner/s. Can't wait for the next challenge to see what you two come up with.

Garblesnix, I love your sense of humour and reading the postings in this forum I've laughed out loud. I'm trying to get my head around how you could possibly (or even want to)flatulate a polygon in Wings 3D. Mental images I really don't need....LOL.

Wow! Amazing entries. Congratulations to the winners. Very well deserved. :0)

Congrats on getting Featured Fractal of the week Wolfbear. Very nice. Love the colouring.

I had two weeks away from the net because I'd moved house and had to wait to have phone and net connected. Now that I'm back online again I've had a chance to read and even re-read some of the entries for this contest. There is a lot of talent out there and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the entries. Good luck to all those who have entered and thanks to GonWaki and dialyn for their help and patience during this contest. I've loved being a part of it. regards shemia (Helen)

I agree with dialyn that you only have those first few opening words to grab the attention of your intended audience. What I would like to ask though is that once you are established as a writer do your openers need to be as important? (Take cases such as Stephen King who doesn't have particularly attention grabbing openers anymore or Dean Koontz either and they sell squillions)These guys don't need catchy openers to grab their audiences. I'd be interested to see what other people think.

"The darkness was extreme. It was then I realised that I wasnt alone. I tried not to feel anything but the goal ahead. I would have screamed at the clawed hand on my shoulder but at this point I had no throat to scream with."

(Not exactly 50 words but I just had to join in the fun. We should do this more often. I think if there are word count restrictions you become very inventive. I love this sort of thing. Thanks for bringing this to the forums jstro. regards shemia)

Message edited on: 10/22/2004 12:23

Well I'm back. The phone company couldn't install the phone or the cable net on Monday because for the past week here in Sydney we've had torrential rain and the installation had to be re-scheduled for Thursday. So I've been without the net or phone for nearly two weeks now. Well Thursday turned out to be the only day this week that it hasn't rained and now I'm back online and connected to the world. The move went well and I love being in my new house. I had my old house torn down and a brand new one built on the site and I love wandering the rooms and thinking 'this is mine', smiling rather dementedly. If only the neighbours could see me ;o) It's good to be back. I've missed reading the entries and now that I've caught up with most things I think that there is an incredibly talented group of writers in this forum. I love reading these entries and having chills down my spine. Great stuff!

Knew the lil dancing white thing was a ghost..I just loved the way garblesnix put it...it made me laugh. Just wanted to play along. :o)

awwww...the dancing white thing is so cute. If I feed it will it follow me home?...drops a few breadcrumbs.

dialyn
Thank you for your quick reply to my query. At least I know that there's hope for me yet..lol. (Maybe). No need to be sorry, short staffing is a problem that I understand well. I hope you don't feel pressured, that wasn't my intention. I was just concerned at my inability to find the things... I also hope that your staffing problem improves for you.
Take care and thank you again for letting me know
Shemia (Helen)

Thanks to Avalonne for posting this question and to aeires for solving it. I was having the same problem and thought it was just something that I did. Thank you both for solving something that was bugging me. Much appreciated.

Congratulations to the winners. Well deserved win and gorgeous images. I would love to have the talent to create like that. :o)

Fiction is so much more fun than reality... ;o)

Just logged on after a day or so away from the computer. I've just had my new house finished and have had to be on site for the installation of appliances etc.. Sorry I'm a bit late replying to GonWaki's message. If he sees this, I hope his holiday is a safe one and he has fun whatever he is doing. :o) Is rather concerned about this wet noodle thing... looks suspiciously at dialyn. You wield a pretty mean noodle then do you?.. Will behave and do the best I can not to get out of control. Honest!!

Thanks ufrey for your help. I'm going to trying the layering and transparency in Photoshop to see if that works, I will let you know the results if they work out to what I want. And thank you to paragon5 as well. Your hints for colouring have given me ideas and I will be trying them out also. Your gallery is wonderful and I will keep watch on both of you for your gallery images. Regards and thanks to both of you for your help.
Shemia (Helen)