Mid-Week Blues-Buster Week 2.31 WINNERS

The results are in.

Time to put Week 2.31 of the Mid-Week Blues-Buster to bed.

Judge Lori Fetters Lopez had six entries to read.

So speaketh Judge Lori;

Thanks Jeff for letting me judge, I don’t get the opportunity often and its so much fun. Let me first say, as its been said before, this is subjective. My opinion. What strikes me at this moment. We had six participants this week and the music selection by Jeff I thought was pretty rad.

I’m going to give first place to LEVEL by Dan Dillard. I liked Dale. I liked the way he sprawled on the couch with his arms and legs spread like Davini’s Vitruvian Man. Dan really gave me a sense of how Dale lived. The card table, folding chair, and twin bed. As for a sense of who Dale was, well, that Dan kept close for most of the story. In the end, and I’m not telling you the end because you have to read this, my neck hairs were standing erect and I jumped when my neighbored knocked on my door.

Second place was a bit harder to choose. I was torn between Michael Simko’s untitled story and Meeting the Train by Miranda Kate. I went with humor.

Michael’s story had humor and sometimes, I need a laugh. I’ll admit it, it was the names. Sometimes the right name will make or break a story and for me, the names nailed it. This was also one of the best first-person present-tense stories I’ve read in a long time. Good writing. If you haven’t read this one and need a chuckle, you should read this story.

Meeting the Train by Miranda is third place for me. I had the feeling of dread as I read this. This Jefferson’s utter helplessness seeped through and I wanted to reach out and hug him. Have no regrets, that’s so hard. Miranda really pulled the emotion card on this one. And the ending? Talk about a left turn out of nowhere. Nice job. Again, the choice between 2nd and 3rd place was tough. Both stories really evoked emotion, one of joy and one of empathy.

Honorable mention goes to Leaving by Monabliss. I liked the back and forth between the two characters, something that is hard enough to pull off in a longer story. I might have picked it for 3rd place, but to be honest, I’m not sure I understood some of the story or what was meant by the line, “They won’t let me stay.” A little more explanation could have tipped it. Maybe just a line.

Honorable mention to RL Ames’s untitled story. Every story is supposed evoke emotion from the reader. This one made me uncomfortable, itchy, twitchy. I felt this man’s pull into drugs and the self hatred that pushed him to it. Well written, but not my cup of tea.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention Red Lines by Stacy Fileccia. This was another well crafted story, but I just didn’t care for the character. I think it was the looking into himself in the mirror that turned me off. I wanted to smash the mirror, so maybe that says something for the story.

Thanks again Jeff for the chance to judge this week To everyone who threw their story in the ring, thanks for playing. I know a couple of you are newbies at my request, you did an awesome job.

Mazel tov to all of our Winners.

Dan – Here’s a Winner’s Badge for you;

Thanks to all of our writers & readers, and thanks to Judge Lori Fetters Lopez!

See you on Tuesday…