november-tcwg

All tcwg site members (and any other interested parties) are invited to read and enjoy the stories entered in the Bumper Winter 2017 TCWG creative writing competition.
If, having read all the stories, you would like to register your vote for the winner and placings please follow the voting instructions set out below. This is not obligatory, but if you choose to join in, your participation will be very much appreciated.
JUST FOLLOW THE LINKS TO ALL THE STORIES (which are listed below), AND YOU WILL FIND EACH STORY IN TURN.

The deadline for entries into the Bumper Winter 2017 Creative Writing Competition passed at Midnight on the 17th. of December 2017.
There was no set topic for this Winter competition and the only requirement was that entries should have a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 2000 words.

15 entries have been accepted and links to the stories are set out below. 
Sincere thanks are due to all those who have posted entries, and it was pleasing to see entries from previously active members who, for one reason or another, have not been able to compete regularly of late. Also, a big thank-you in advance to all those group members and/or followers who I hope will now support the competition by reading the stories and registering their vote in the form of a comment below.

VOTING PROCEDURE.
As in previous months, when recording their vote it will help if voters will make sure to quote the name of the story when posting.
Voting can now commence, and in view of the busy Christmas Festivities we have an extended voting period that does not close until 11 p.m. on Wednesday the 3rd of January 2018.
There are no restrictions as to who is allowed to vote, all that is asked is that the voter reads all the stories and votes according to their preference. A brief reason for the choice is welcome but not mandatory.
Voters are requested to vote 5 points for first place, 3 points for second, and 1 point for third place. Votes should be registered in the reply box below.
Please do not submit any other point combinations such as 3/3/3, 4/4/1, 5/2/2, etc.
Writers are requested not to vote for any of their own entries, and voters are asked not to comment at length about the stories or record any thoughts that you may have on them, until after voting closes.

There will be no detailed summaries posted as to how the voting is progressing throughout the voting period but as soon as possible after voting closes a tabulated list of results will be posted separately and the winner declared. Voters who may wish to describe in detail the reasons for their choices, or comment at length about some or all of the individual stories, will be given the opportunity to comment on a separate page that will be set up at the end of the voting period and after the result has been posted.

Here are the links to all the stories. (If I have inadvertently missed any entries, or if anyone has difficulty with the links, please advise).

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Dora. Written by ExpatAngie.

http://angiefiction.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/dora.html

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Nina. Written by ExpatAngie.

http://angiefiction.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/nina.html

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Gemma. Written by ExpatAngie.

http://angiefiction.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/gemma.html

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Santa’s Got Mail. Written by Colmore.

https://colmore54.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/santas-got-mail/

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The Tree of Belief. Written by Lostinwords.

https://lostinwords2.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/december-2017-competition/

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Rudolph’s Red Nose. Written by Colmore.

https://colmore54.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/rudolphs-red-nose/

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The kitchen window. Written by Giselle.

https://chateauxenespagne.com/stories-2017/the-kitchen-window/

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Home James, and don’t spare the donkeys. Written by Atiller.

https://atiller16.wordpress.com/an-entry-for-the-bumper-winter-tcwg-competition-2017/

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I Know Who You Are. Written by Gazoopi.

http://gazoopi.com/?p=198

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Aberdeen. Written by PavlovaQueen.

http://www.pavlovaqueen.com/archives/333

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Mr. Goo Goo. Written by DantheMann.

https://tcwgshortstories.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/mr-goo-goo-bumper-christmas-cw-entry/

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The Wrath of Grapes. Written by AmericanMum.

https://americanmumsite.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/december-competition/

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Kagibari-ami Taishi. Written by Christopertrier.

https://christophertrier.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/kagibari-ami-taishi/

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A Christmastime Flirtation. Written by Chester B Goode.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-AGSbwvI216fDOPWM5Xn4LQTI18tZCtGft8q-DzmRo8/edit

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Wrong Kind of Speed on the Line.  Written by Charles Stuart.

https://furryfeatures.wordpress.com/

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May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your generous support during the past year, and wish all members and followers a very Merry Christmas, and a New Year that brings a continuing steady increase in the number of entries month on month.

It has been a rocky road since the old Daily Telegraph sponsored CWGroup was forced to relocate to pastures anew. That we have come this far is testament not only to the dogged determination of our regular writers, but also to the ready support that has come from all our other followers in whatever capacity they may serve.

Long may that continue.

48 thoughts on “The TCWG 2017 Bumper Winter Competition. Where to find the links to the stories plus full voting instructions”

  1. Thank you very much for all your hard work keeping the group together, to Americanmum too and all of you for your enjoyable stories. I haven’t got a Christmas book this year so your stories will maje up fir that,
    12 stories for me to read, that’s 12 mince pies and 12 days, perfect!
    Sending you all warmest wishes for you and your friends and family xx

    Liked by 4 people

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  4. From Colmore:

    In case my votes for the Xmas competition haven’t got through by the more trad route, here they are again:
    5 points – Giselle
    3 points – Attiler
    1 point – DantheMan

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  5. Thank you for your kind votes for my story ‘Home James’.
    We are not firing on all cylinders at the moment and Bleda says that there might be a delay of a day or so in setting up January’s competition … but it WILL be done.

    A HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all, from both of us.
    (Forced by circumstances to be tee-total since the 18th. we will toast you all at the start of the New Year with a glass of water and a pill.)

    p.s. Bleda has asked me to add one comment regarding our new found sibling reconciliation … “”IT WON’T SURVIVE PAST THE FIRST SHARED BOTTLE OF WINE.”.

    p.p.s. I’m inclined to agree with him.

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. My votes:
    5 points – Giselle “The Kitchen Window”
    3 points – Chester Goode “A Christmastime Flirtation”
    1 point – Atiller – “Home James and Don’t Spare the Donkeys”

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  7. I echo Angie’s thanks to Bleda and AmericanMum for keeping the group going. It’s good to see that everyone is still around even though we haven’t all been able to contribute as frequently as perhaps we would have liked.
    This is my first set of votes to be posted from my *new study* and once my desk and books are fully moved in I intend to devote time to writing again.
    I enjoyed reading all the stories and as usual there were not enough points to give out. My votes:
    5 points to Chester for ‘A Christmastime Flirtation’
    3 points to Dan for ‘Mr Goo Goo’
    1 point to Atiller for ‘Home James and don’t spare the donkeys’
    HMs to PavlovaQueen and American Mum
    Wishing everyone a happy and productive New Year!
    Giselle X

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    1. Hello writers, here are my votes for the month.

      5 points Charles Stuart
      3 points – Giselle
      1 point – Chester

      Some meaty pieces nicely done. Good health in 2018. pav

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  8. 5 points Mr. Goo Goo. Written by DantheMann.

    3 points A Christmastime Flirtation. Written by Chester B Goode.

    1 point Wrong Kind of Speed on the Line. Written by Charles Stuart.

    Very much enjoyed reading the stories , and as usual impossible to choose just three.
    HM to Giselle, Angie, AM, and Christopher.

    Happy New Year!

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Having really enjoyed this month’s stories, I’m sorry that I can only give points to three.

    5 points to Expatangie for Nina
    3 points to Pavlovaqueen for Aberdeen
    1 point to Americanmum for Wrath of Grapes

    HMs to the rest = and I truly mean it!

    Over the last week I’ve had some good news that I’d like to share with my friends. Last May, after seven years on ESA, I took a part-time job on a temporary contract with Waitrose. I have now been advised that my contract is now permanent. Then, I got a tax rebate that was much larger than I anticipated. I’ve had a good Christmas and New Year with all that discounted Waitrose food I’ve been able to buy!

    I hope you all have had a good Christmas and New Year. And I also hope that you haven’t caught and won’t catch the dreadful cough I’ve had for about a week.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Wonderful news, Charles. Thanks so much for sharing. Hope the cough gets better–this time of year is bad for that sort of thing. And thanks for the vote. Hope your 2018 is even better than 2017.

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    2. Hello Charles, nice that life is looking up! for the cough you need manuka honey UMF factor 15 (at least) not the fake ones with no UMF (unique manuka factor). Its expensive but will save you from anything respiratory in a big way……..two teaspoons a day will see off your lurgy!

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    3. Thank you very much for the vote Furry features, I’m really glad you liked Nina, congratulations on your job in Waitrose, it’s my favourite supermarket, all best wishes for a happy and healthy 2018

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  10. Here are my votes for the Bumper stories, I enjoyed reading all of them and they were all good reads, voting is always so difficult,

    A Christmas Flirtation Chester Goode 5 points
    Santa’s got mail Colmore 3 points
    Mr Googoo Dantheman 1 point

    Hms to everyone else and happy new year to you all

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  12. Three Clear Winners for me.

    First – 5 points – Wrong Kind of Speed on the Line – Furyfeatures
    Second – 3 Points – Mr Goo Goo – Dantheman
    Third – 1 Point – The Kitchen Window – Giselle

    Gaz

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  13. Happy New Year all! May this year be very pleasant and productive!

    Picking three out of my shortlist was really tough, but in the end I went for:

    Gazoopi, I Know Who You Are, 5 points
    Chester, A Christmastime Flirtation, 3 points
    Expat Angie, Nina, 1 point

    HMs for Charles, Pavlova Queen, Giselle, Angie for Dora, and Lost.

    As a bonus reading tip, I’ve just finished Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin having come across a mention of it in The Economist recently. A very decent everyday story, and I must say it’s probably the only book I’ve enjoyed the style of even more than the story – which is something as books in fancy literary styles normally annoy me.

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    1. Thanks for the HM, Dan. I looked up Fever Dream on Amazon and it seems like one of those clever books that I would finish without really knowing what it was about.
      I bought some recent historical fiction paperbacks on the ferry before Christmas and just finished reading ‘The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry which is beautifully written and cheerfully discards all the set pieces of historical romance.
      Giselle

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      1. Hi Giselle, just out of interest, have you explored the library service in Ireland yet? It’s really very good, you can order any book found at any library in the country online via your local library for a small fee (for instance I took out a brand new copy of Stephen King’s short story collection on the day of its release a couple of years ago). They also have a handy e-book service available called BorrowBox, you need to get an App and then you can get loaned any of a decent selection of ebooks for a few weeks at a time. That’s where I found Fever Dream.

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        1. Hi Dan, I have briefly visited the library in Wexford and it looks quite good but I haven’t looked into it in any detail – I shall investigate further. Thanks for the information. Kind regards, Giselle.

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    4. Hi Dan, after searching through the site to find the voting for the January comp and the topic for February, I also saw that I had not given you a thank you for the fiver, for December. I don’t know how that happened, as they are very rare for me. Cheers and glad you liked it. Gazoopi.

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