Hatch-Match-Dispatch

All tcwg site members (and any other interested parties) are invited to read and enjoy the stories entered in the January 2018 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 January 2018 Creative Writing Competition passed at Midnight on the 31st of January 2018.

 The topic for January was set by the winner of the October 2017 competition, ‘Araminta’, who chose “Hatches, Matches, and Despatches’.

To paraphrase Araminta’s thoughts on the topic, she commented … 

 ‘What about “Hatches, Matches, and Dispatches”? You may choose one or all of them … and in the sense that one usually leads to the others, then I’m sure that one can focus on one and also perhaps, include the others.’

10 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 will continue until 11 p.m. on Friday the 9th. of February 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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Wilbur. Written by Colmore.                              https://colmore54.wordpress.com/2018/01/10/wilbur/

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Ellie. Written by AmericanMum.                                                https://americanmumsite.wordpress.com/january-2018-entry/

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Love that is passed on. Written by Expatangie.                                        http://angiefiction.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/love-that-is-passed-on.html

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New Beginnings. Written by Expatangie.                      http://angiefiction.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/new-beginnings.html

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Love Charm. Written by Seadams.            https://seadamsblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/love-charm/

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A Bit of a Week for George. Written by Fizzeerascal. https://fizzeerascalstories.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/january-2018-tcwg-entry/

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The Last Haddock. Written by Danthemann. https://tcwgshortstories.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/the-last-haddock/

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And so we did. Written by Araminta. https://detectivemouse.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/and-so-we-did/

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Coming and Going. Written by Gazoopi.                                                                    http://gazoopi.com/?p=205

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Many a slip twixt …  Written by Bleda.                                    https://bleda22.wordpress.com/many-a-slip-twixt-but-omnino-non-meus-mendum/

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Pleasant reading everyone, and please do not forget to vote.

 

 

 

 

 

42 thoughts on “The January 2018 tcwg Competition. Where to find the links to the stories plus full voting instructions

  1. From Colmore:
    Colmore’s vote for January:

    Very difficult as usual as there were a number of stories, but…
    1. 5 points – Gazoopi with “Coming and Going”.
    2. 3 points – ExpatAngie with “Love that is Passed On”.
    3. 1 point – Fizzee Rascal with “A Bit of a Week for George”

    Oh look, a Grouse has landed on the table to help my throat. Cheers.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. A clutch of great tales to kickstart 2018! I genuinely have found this a tough one – to only single out just three…
    5 points Love Charm by Seadams
    3 points Coming and Going by Gazoopi
    1 point The Last Haddock by Danthemann
    Fizz x

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Hello writers, lovely crop this month, here are my votes
    5 points – Love Charm – Seadams
    3 points – A Bit of a Week for George – Fizz
    1 point – Ellie – American Mum

    Sorry I reneged on the deal this month, Fizz, hope to honour the deal this month….well done to everyone who managed to discipline themselves enough to get these up there.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for the point Giselle, it is much appreciated.
      The one relief following the saga of the cake was that the winner was not one of our overseas contributors … they would have been lucky to have seen the cake this side of Easter.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Great stories from everyone and as always it is very hard to choose three,, January can be a time of year when we get the blues what with everyone having flu so I chose the ones that cheered me up the most but Hms to everyone

    Wilbur by Colmore 5 points

    Many a slip twixt… Bleda

    And so we did by Araminta

    Congratulations everyone

    Like

  5. I don’t get the opportunity to vote very often and had almost forgotten how difficult it is to arrive at a decision, but here goes …

    5 Points … Love Charm. Written by Seadams.
    3 Points … Ellie. Written by AmericanMum.
    1 Point … Coming and Going. Written by Gazoopi.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. The entries this month were all so varied, and again difficult to make a choice.

    Finally though:

    5 points for Love Charm. Written by Seadams.
    3 points for The Last Haddock. Written by Danthemann.
    1 point for Many a slip twixt … Written by Bleda.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for your point Mum.
      I felt a bit of a cheat slipping in the old English words that were definitely post-Roman, but it was no worse a transgression than the Cod Latin, and was an opportunity that was too good to miss. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Before I give out my scores, it is necessary to mention that I have a scoring system. The only way I can find to select the top three is through a system which evaluates five different criteria out of 10, therefore giving a perfect score of 50.
    In the past this has served me well in deciding the top three stories. Not this month. I have one outstanding story from Seadams, scoring 38 and 4 scoring 36, 2 scoring 35.
    This makes for a very hard decision.
    So after much thought my decision is as follows:
    1st Seadams – Love Charm – 5 Points
    2nd Araminta – And So We Did – 3 Points
    3rd Dizzy Fizzy – A Bit Of A Week For George
    My votes are coming in at the eleventh hour as Bettina has broken her arm, while out running and it is a very difficult time. I am sure that I have your sympathy as I have to do the cooking, washing, cleaning, ironing (well actually not true as her right arm is broken and she can iron with the left…hehe).
    She has my sympathy of course . having to cope with my cooking.
    I can’t tell you how good it is to be back writing.
    Gaz xx
    P.S. Thanks everyone for a great set of stories.

    Like

    1. Hi Gaz – thank you so much for the 3 points. I now feel a bit more cheerful. Commiserations to Bettina – poor thing!

      Good to see you back writing and your story is doing very well! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hi all, my votes as follows:

    5 points – Love Charm. Written by Seadams.
    3 points – Ellie. Written by AmericanMum.
    1 point – Many a slip twixt … Written by Bleda.

    Like

  9. The provisional result of the January 2018 tcwg competition is as follows

    In clear First Place with 35 points (all of them 5 point awards), is Love Charm. Written by Seadams.
    In Second Place with 17 points (and a welcome back) is Coming and Going. Written by Gazoopi.
    And in Third Place with 12 points is Many a slip twixt … Written by Bleda.

    Congratulations to our top three and particularly to Seadams who won with a blanket 5 points from seven voters (63% of all voters), a remarkable result.
    Thanks are also due to all entrants for their efforts and to all those who took the trouble to read the stories and register a vote.
    As has now become the norm, AmericanMum will confirm these results shortly, and we thank her for her assistance in collating and posting a detailed list of all votes cast.
    Goodnight to you all.

    Liked by 1 person

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