So, why did the winners win?

[peteOcha]

LOL! So does mine...

Mine saw the first one... I think she forgot there was more. Lets just say that I won't be the one to remind her. Especially since I got her to start reading The Dark Tower and Song of Ice and Fire.

[Ben Staad]

My wife loves Twilight... Sigh.

LOL! So does mine...

[Draven Ames]

My wife loves Twilight... Sigh.

[hamount]

For me, the best way to learn is to study others and what makes them successful or unsuccessful. So I'm not asking why you voted for whom you voted but why, in general, made this set of stories "winners"?

I voted mainly on story. I'm not impressed by flourishy prose; in fact, I find it obnoxious. I like a good story and even in horror fiction, I get irritated when the story doesn't make sense. Anyway, I didn't originally vote for many of the final 10 so I wonder what I'm missing... help me out!

thanks
RJ

Well, I don't like flowery writing, because I think it sounds like you're just trying too hard to be a good writer, but I do want it to flow nicely so it's pleasing to read. Story is another main component to my selections, and I also want a believable dialogue. Something that doesn't sound like it came from a cheesy soap opera.

[TerryE]

having a kid certainly helps with the age thing. I find myself a bit more youthful, acting at least, now that I have to enterain a 10 mos old. I'm just a big ole clown to him, or a big toy, or a waiter, or a remote control. At least I get to watch cartoons again, even if they are all weird, strange, and devoid of violence...

Yeah, the youngun makes you feel younger, until you have to start chasing him around. Then it evens out again. And as far as the cartoons goes, buy some DVD sets of the good stuff. I've got my 4 year old in love with Droopy and Bullwinkle, and the great old Warner Bros. cartoons. Right now it's Tweety, but I'll get him switched over to Bugs and the Roadrunner/Coyote in time.

[portrait in flesh]

We knew that when you said you loved your David Gilmour DVD.

Oh, that is priceless. Thanks, I needed that.

[RJHubbard53]

having a kid certainly helps with the age thing. I find myself a bit more youthful, acting at least, now that I have to enterain a 10 mos old. I'm just a big ole clown to him, or a big toy, or a waiter, or a remote control. At least I get to watch cartoons again, even if they are all weird, strange, and devoid of violence...

[PaulB]

It happens to us all

Yes but it's just a state of mind!

[Randy D. Rubin]

I don't know about ya'll but I refuse to get old! My warranty is LIFETIME, by gum. Now if'n ya'll will excuse me my teeth glue stopped workin'--where's my glasses and that con founded walkin contraption of mine, by sasparellie!

[C.W. LaSart]

It happens to us all

[TerryE]

OMG! Somewhere I went and got...OLD! LOL

We knew that when you said you loved your David Gilmour DVD.

[ozmosis7]

Gentlemen-it's YOUNG ADULT-they have much different requirements than we do

OMG! Somewhere I went and got...OLD! LOL

[C.W. LaSart]

Gentlemen-it's YOUNG ADULT-they have much different requirements than we do

[RJHubbard53]

A story about vampires avoiding sunlight b/c it would make them too beautiful and sparkly is like story about zombies aimlessly seeking the flesh of avocados and turnips.

[ozmosis7]

My wife read the first book and enjoyed it, so I asked her what all the hype was. She laid out some basic plot lines, etc for me--and mind you this is before the movie came out. I remember laughing at a lot of it, telling her how silly some of what she was saying sounded. She stuck to her guns. When the movie came out, she saw where I was coming from I think. Its not that its horrible, i actually find it mildly entertaining. Its just that it doesn't seem believable at all, where as something like Salem's Lot does ring true. I guess its all about how far you are able to suspend your belief. FYI, my wife refuses to watch the other movies, or read the other books since.