Great story Meghan! I disagree with judge #2 and agree with judge #3 that the ending was not predictable but an amusing twist. When they learned Lydia bought the egg I gasped. When Alvin suggested they sell them both, I smiled. I love how you incorporate wildlife into your stories. Keep it up, even if its just for us fans.
Thank you for your thoughts! And the encouragement. I do believe my continual incorporation of wildlife may have something to do with the years I worked with you!
Congratulations again on another first place story. I’m amazed at your creativity and what you can write in just eight days! I loved your characters and their crazy adventure. What fun.
Thanks for asking, Alenka! Great question. I needed to include a tradeshow as a major plot point, but every industry has a tradeshow, so that didn’t narrow down my ideas. Then I wracked my brain about items so valuable they’re worth stealing, and yet someone would bring one to a tradeshow? Hmm… this had to be a crime caper, so a comedic heist where no one dies…
Most likely our chickens were clucking in the backyard when I googled “rare birds whose eggs look like chickens,” and there was my key: the gyrfalcon. A bird so rare people would pay to see but their eggs are illegal enough to attract some shady characters. Perfect.
This also provided good architectural elements to the story: a ticking timebomb (a rare egg’s about to hatch); hiest tools simple enough for me, the writer, to understand (a waiter’s uniform, eggs from the fridge); a heist that doesn’t need a large cast or computer whiz (in a 2,500-word story there’s not room for more than 4 main characters, and writing about someone typing codes into a keyboard is boring). I don’t love leaning on stereotypes, but the idea of inviting your shopaholic wife to a tradeshow was just the perfect fit. And that's when I thought of the ending....
Somehow, it all rolled into the story I wrote. Like I said, part of the joy of this competition is the surprise of it all. And as they say, surprise the writer, surprise the reader!
I just love it! Very clever and lighthearted. Now that I have my glasses on, I saw I typed exotic poet expo- that can be a title for your next story! Keep writing! And, congratulations! You rock!
Great story Meghan! I disagree with judge #2 and agree with judge #3 that the ending was not predictable but an amusing twist. When they learned Lydia bought the egg I gasped. When Alvin suggested they sell them both, I smiled. I love how you incorporate wildlife into your stories. Keep it up, even if its just for us fans.
Thank you for your thoughts! And the encouragement. I do believe my continual incorporation of wildlife may have something to do with the years I worked with you!
Congratulations again on another first place story. I’m amazed at your creativity and what you can write in just eight days! I loved your characters and their crazy adventure. What fun.
Great news. Congratulations on writing such an engaging story with wild characters. And coming in in first place, too. Fantastic.
Cute, fun happy ending
You really bring the reader into your stories,captivating for me...Michael
Thank you, Michael!
Great characters. Where did the idea for Exotic poets expo come from?
Thanks for asking, Alenka! Great question. I needed to include a tradeshow as a major plot point, but every industry has a tradeshow, so that didn’t narrow down my ideas. Then I wracked my brain about items so valuable they’re worth stealing, and yet someone would bring one to a tradeshow? Hmm… this had to be a crime caper, so a comedic heist where no one dies…
Most likely our chickens were clucking in the backyard when I googled “rare birds whose eggs look like chickens,” and there was my key: the gyrfalcon. A bird so rare people would pay to see but their eggs are illegal enough to attract some shady characters. Perfect.
This also provided good architectural elements to the story: a ticking timebomb (a rare egg’s about to hatch); hiest tools simple enough for me, the writer, to understand (a waiter’s uniform, eggs from the fridge); a heist that doesn’t need a large cast or computer whiz (in a 2,500-word story there’s not room for more than 4 main characters, and writing about someone typing codes into a keyboard is boring). I don’t love leaning on stereotypes, but the idea of inviting your shopaholic wife to a tradeshow was just the perfect fit. And that's when I thought of the ending....
Somehow, it all rolled into the story I wrote. Like I said, part of the joy of this competition is the surprise of it all. And as they say, surprise the writer, surprise the reader!
I just love it! Very clever and lighthearted. Now that I have my glasses on, I saw I typed exotic poet expo- that can be a title for your next story! Keep writing! And, congratulations! You rock!