Parker

I don't know why, Parker, but like you I tend to write 'short' short stories. I have, however, found that when I have to stretch out a story to reach a minimum word count for one of these contests I pay more attention to details and end up with a more developed set of characters. I think it improves my writing and helps me grow as a writer.
That is why I prefer to think of them as challenges rather than contests.
Hope you get an answer that is helpful.

Just out of curiosity, why do you place restrictions on the length of the stories? My short stories are... short. I find that I usually end up with about 4000 to 7000 words, and it's a stretch to make 10,000,  let alone 15,000 words. I wonder if more people would submit stories if they didn't have to be so long. I have noticed that many of the writers here have no trouble finding 50,000 words or more, and that's great. I'm just not one of them.
As I said, I'm just wondering.
 

Parker I was hoping you might try your hand at this one.

I'm in. I've had an idea for a super power that I've been kicking around for a while.

Thanks Shayn,
I thought of one more:  The foreman at the Guinness brewery walked up to the door of cottage and said to the woman who answered, "Mary, I've got some terrible news. It's you husband, Sean. He fell into a vat of Guinness today and drowned."
"Saints preserve us," cried Mary. "Poor Sean. Tell me, did he go quickly?"
"Ah, I'm afraid not, Mary. He got out three times to pee."

Thanks Shayn,
I thought of one more:  The foreman at the Guinness brewery walked up to the door of cottage and said to the woman who answered, "Mary, I've got some terrible news. It's you husband, Sean. He fell into a vat of Guinness today and drowned."
"Saints preserve us," cried Mary. "Poor Sean. Tell me, did he go quickly?"
"Ah, I'm afraid not, Mary. He got out three times to pee."

Thanks Shayn,
I thought of one more:  The foreman at the Guinness brewery walked up to the door of cottage and said to the woman who answered, "Mary, I've got some terrible news. It's you husband, Sean. He fell into a vat of Guinness today and drowned."
"Saints preserve us," cried Mary. "Poor Sean. Tell me, did he go quickly?"
"Ah, I'm afraid not, Mary. He got out three times to pee."

LOL, And with a picture of the boy with machine guns in his butt!  Somewhere in the RU Juan is reading this and having severe jealousy over his lack of internal firepower.

I love it Parker. Its not bad. Here's mine for today.
The elderly Italian man went to his parish priest and asked if the priest would hear his confession. "Of course, my son," said the priest. "Well, Father, at the beginning of World War Two, a beautiful woman knocked on my door and asked me to hide her from the Germans; I hid her in my attic, and they never found her." "That's a wonderful thing, my son, and nothing that you need to confess," said the priest. "It's worse, Father; I was weak, and told her that she had to pay for rent of the attic with her sexual favors," continued the old man. "Well, it was a very difficult time, and you took a large risk -you would have suffered terribly at their hands if the Germans had found you hiding her; I know that God, in his wisdom and mercy, will balance the good and the evil, and judge you kindly," said the priest. "Thanks, Father," said the old man. "That's a load off of my mind. Can I ask another question?" "Of course, my son," said the priest. The old man asked, "Do I need to tell her that the war is over?".
 

Here's a bad one, Shayn,
A twelve year old girl was passing her older sister's bedroom door when she heard her talking. Peeking in, she saw her sister naked and lying on her bed, rubbing herself between the legs and repeating over and over, "I need a man. Oh God, I need a man."
The young girl went away confused but the next day as she passed her sister's door she heard someone moaning. Peeking in, she saw her sister naked on her bed with a naked man on top of her and they were making funny noises. Immediately the little sister ran to her room, threw off her clothes, jumped into bed and began rubbing between her legs. She yelled, "Oh God, I need a bicycle. Oh God, I need a bicycle...."

Here's a bad one, Shayn,
A twelve year old girl was passing her older sister's bedroom door when she heard her talking. Peeking in, she saw her sister naked and lying on her bed, rubbing herself between the legs and repeating over and over, "I need a man. Oh God, I need a man."
The young girl went away confused but the next day as she passed her sister's door she heard someone moaning. Peeking in, she saw her sister naked on her bed with a naked man on top of her and they were making funny noises. Immediately the little sister ran to her room, threw off her clothes, jumped into bed and began rubbing between her legs. She yelled, "Oh God, I need a bicycle. Oh God, I need a bicycle...."

I missed yesterday and so we get two today.

A bus full of Nuns falls of a cliff and they all die. They arrive at the gates of heaven and meet St. Peter. St. Peter says to them "Sisters, welcome to Heaven. In a moment I will let you all though the pearly gates, but before I may do that, I must ask each of you a single question. Please form a single-file line." And they do so. St. Peter turns to the first Nun in the line and asks her "Sister, have you ever touched a penis?" The Sister Responds "Well... there was this one time... that I kinda sorta... touched one with the tip of my pinky finger..." St. Peter says "Alright Sister, now dip the tip of your pinky finger in the Holy Water, and you may be admitted." and she did so. St. Peter now turns to the second nun and says "Sister, have you ever touched a penis?" "Well.... There was this one time... that I held one for a moment..." "Alright Sister, now just wash your hands in the Holy Water, and you may be admitted" and she does so. Now at this, there is a noise, a jostling in the line. It seems that one nun is trying to cut in front of another! St. Peter sees this and asks the Nun "Sister Susan, what is this? There is no rush!" Sister Susan responds "Well if I'm going to have to gargle this stuff, I'd rather do it before Sister Mary sticks her ass in it!"

In a small cathedral a janitor was cleaning the pews between services when he was approached by the minister. The minister asked the janitor, "Could you go into the confessional and listen to confessions for me? I really have to go to the bathroom and the Widow McGee is coming. She tends to go on but never really does anything worthy of serious repentance, so when she's done just give her 10 Hail Mary's and I'll be right back." Being the helpful sort, the janitor agreed. Just as expected the Widow McGee came into the booth and started her confession. "Oh Father, I fear I have done the unforgivable. I have given into carnal thoughts and have had oral sex." Stunned, the janitor had no idea how to handle this situation. Surely 10 Hail Mary's would not do. So, in a moment of desperation the janitor peered his head out of the confessional and asked an altar boy, "Son, what does the minister give for oral sex?" In reply the altar boy said, "Two Snickers bars and a Coke."

A young sailor met an older seaman one day and they began to talk. The old salt had a wooden leg, a hook for his hand and a patch over one eye. Curious, the young man said, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you lose your leg?"
"Well, I was swimmin' in Jamaica and a shark took my leg, so I got me this wooden one instead," the old man replied.
"What about your hand?" the sailor asked.
"Arrrgh, I was in Australia and a saltwater crocodile nipped off me hand. Had to get this hook after that."
"And, what about your eye?"
"A seagull shat in it," the man said, sounding embarrassed.
"A seagull shat and took your eye out?"
"Not exactly, you see, it were the first day I had me hook."

A young sailor met an older seaman one day and they began to talk. The old salt had a wooden leg, a hook for his hand and a patch over one eye. Curious, the young man said, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you lose your leg?"
"Well, I was swimmin' in Jamaica and a shark took my leg, so I got me this wooden one instead," the old man replied.
"What about your hand?" the sailor asked.
"Arrrgh, I was in Australia and a saltwater crocodile nipped off me hand. Had to get this hook after that."
"And, what about your eye?"
"A seagull shat in it," the man said, sounding embarrassed.
"A seagull shat and took your eye out?"
"Not exactly, you see, it were the first day I had me hook."

A young sailor met an older seaman one day and they began to talk. The old salt had a wooden leg, a hook for his hand and a patch over one eye. Curious, the young man said, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you lose your leg?"
"Well, I was swimmin' in Jamaica and a shark took my leg, so I got me this wooden one instead," the old man replied.
"What about your hand?" the sailor asked.
"Arrrgh, I was in Australia and a saltwater crocodile nipped off me hand. Had to get this hook after that."
"And, what about your eye?"
"A seagull shat in it," the man said, sounding embarrassed.
"A seagull shat and took your eye out?"
"Not exactly, you see, it were the first day I had me hook."

I received this email from a man named Brian Morrison, and felt it had to be shared.  When I read it, I felt humbled and awed at the same time.  This isn't an author using fan mail for bragging rights.  This is a reminder to all the authors on this site, and those who will eventually post their stories here as well... you never can tell how your work will affect those who read it, either in the depth or direction that effect takes.  I hope this inspires you as it has inspired me.
*****
Hi,
 I thought that it was well past time I introduced my self and thanked you for, not just this story, but all the great stories that you have posted.  I have been an avid reader for some time. Nothing particularly special here, 65yo, retired I.T. database guy, tried to do the “right thing” by family and church and got married to a really great lady whom I told that I thought I was gay, but we tried it anyway.  Have two grown-up girls who have forgiven me for eventually leaving the family and coming out, as has my wife.  Still get on with all of them really well.  Have had my own run-ins with suicide attempts, fortunately none successful.  My younger daughter is helping me by designing a tattoo of a semi-colon to go over the scars  on my wrist, as she is into tatts.  That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about any of your readers, but I needed to tell you than to tell you that the processes that Alex went through in the third chapter have helped me hugely with the issues of forgiving myself and helping to heal the issues which caused the suicide attempts. So thank you so very much.  All of your stories are great and I have enjoyed them, but this one was really special and I hope that you will eventually share Alex’s path to redemption and strength. If ever you need an editor, I would be delighted to do that for you (no charge, of course, nobody makes anything out of writing for sites like this except satisfaction). Your Devoted Reader, Brian (from Brisbane, Australia).  

Welcome to the Castle Roland Community. A good tip for writing is to write about something that you know and or a story that you want to tell. If you have a passion for it, it will flow. Another good tip is to have an editor who you can work with. A good editor will catch the errors in grammar, continuity and be a sounding board for direction and ideas.

IMHO... All three stories are great and each author should be proud of their work...
 
I for one would like to see each continue on... but that is up to the authors... Authors just know that you will have at least one egger fan out here hoping for more...
 
Though today is the last day for voting I would like to challenge all the forum members to read each story and vote...
 
The Authors and Castle Roland PR team will thank you for your time and effort...
 
Again another Great contest...

GCdiam,
Thank you for coming by and signing up on our community forum. I hope you enjoy your time here and get a chance to read some of the content on our Story Site.
Arthur is allowing us to publish his new story ahead of Nifty and any other sites he posts at. We thank him for his trust in us.
I agree that this story is one of the best historical novels on the interwebs, and also one of the best Arthur has written.

Agreed that this appears to be the natural conclusion. If Antor is force-sensitive, them that might be a loose thread to yank, but it is a stretch.
While I haven't completed the other stories, this looks to have the best integration into the Star Wars universe. Story # 1 seems to be a boarding school story with a superficial Star Wars patina (All younglings who become padawans are apprenticed to a Master, and don't have classes with other padawans). Story # 2 has better integration, but the choice of villains: a Zygerrian Empire lead by a Sith Lord with delusions of godhood) seems a little strange to me.
The Star Wars aficionado in me has one minor comment. This obviously takes place after the Battle of Endor. My understanding is that the shaman initially wanted to sacrifice Leia, Han, and Luke to C3PO, and was later discredited and removed from his position. The shaman during this time should be Paploo.
And also, two words. Not canon in the remotest sense, mind you, but ehh. Endor Holocaust. The destruction of the Second Death Star, so close to the moon, would have created an Ice Age, resulting in mass extinction

I just want to throw out a friendly reminder to everyone. We, the authors and CR staff, welcome our members to interact and comment on various stories that we host. Please do keep in mind, we ask you to be polite in your comments and critics of an author's work. I am certain authors want and value your feedback when that feedback is constructive and not demeaning or insulting to the author.
Please remember our simple rule here at Castle Roland. Never get personal. When you get personal it just leads to hurt feelings and a conversation can degrade fast. I nor anyone else wants to see that and want to have and maintain a friendly and open atmosphere here at Castle Roland.
Thank you and have a great day.

It's career day in elementary school where each student talks about what their dad does. Little Johnny is last, and finally the teacher calls on him to talk about his dad. Johnny comes to the front of the class. 'My daddy is a dancer at a gay bar. He takes off his clothes for other men, and if they pay him enough money, he goes into the alley and performs sex acts on them.' The teacher is shocked, and she calls for an early recess for the rest of the class. She sits down with Johnny and asks him if this is really true about his dad. Johnny says; 'No, but I was too embarrassed to say he played for the Chicago Blackhawks.' 

 

A Greek guy walks into a tailor shop with a pair of torn trousers. The tailor looked at them and said, "Euripides?"
The man replied, "Yes, Eumenides?"
 

So, a gay man goes to church one Sunday. As the offering basket is passed, he drops in a big wad of bills. When the basket gets back to the minister, he notices the wad of money and announces: "Someone here was very generous in the offering today. I would like to ask the person who gave this large amount of money to please stand." The gay man stood up. The minister continued, "Well, sir, we certainly do appreciate your generosity. And to show our appreciation, I'm going to let you select your three favorite hymns." "Okay," the gay man replied, "I'll take him, him and him!"