WRAP UP - ROMANTIC PICNIC and new challenge guidelines, I Should Have Kissed You.

Ah, what a great turn-out for The Romantic Picnic. Thanks Andy for all your promo efforts  *high-fives*

Welcome to several new followers - Cluelessincairo, Elen Lackner, T Roger Thomas, A J Locke, and Anne @Writers Space. Welcome new contributors Sulekha Rawat, Nilanjana Bose, Anne, Elen Lackner, Michael DiGesu, Suzy Que; and to JL who has been gone awhile.  Glad you all could join us.  And a big thank you to all our returning contributors, you know you rock!

I always marvel at how a simple theme can have so many wonderful interpretations.  Few of us – myself included – actually incorporated the picnic as more than the setting, and I was surprised there were not more children and families depicted.  Even more interesting: only one person included the Ants.  Picnics must be fun to write, cuz many excerpts were over word count!  I was impressed with the awesome landscapes - beaches, mountains, and gardens - and a variety of rich cultures to fascinate us.  My weekend reading was filled with wine and potato salad . .

Francine: used the picnic throughout her writing.  The setting and picnic spread were romantic, the Marques and The Lady unchaperoned, and a matter of social etiquette to discuss.

Sally:  had a special invite, a beautiful day, and a bad childhood memory on the horizon to spoil the lover’s time together.  Except; this beau knew how to get to a picnic with the hood down, and holding hands, and an unexpected proposal to rival the shining sun.

Sulekha: wrote of a mid-day, Valentine’s Day getaway with a busy corporate husband.  As a good wife, our pov lover fulfills her duty, as unsatisfying as it is, all the while thinking her husband has no time or caring for her.  Until the moment he proves he listens to every word she speaks.

Madeleine: treated us to a lesson in perspectives; writing out the same scenario from differing POV.  Interesting; all the different ways to ask a person on a picnic, and all the emotions and possibilities from just a subtle change.

Anna: continued her story of Paul, Jenny and Priscilla, this time adding in the responses of the kids to the return of their mother.  She leaves us hanging with the possibility that the picnic reunion may not be as happy as hoped, or may not happen at all.

Adura:  took us on a sensual journey into the botanicals with a long time crush on a competent co-worker.  The picnic seemed the perfect setting to take a plutonic relationship to its next level.

Nancy: set us atop the Grand Canyon, with the wind blowing in our hair, a child who wants to learn to cook, and the love of a dad for the helpful neighbor.  Seven years is a long time for a love to grow.

Roland: gave us the gift of “finger” foods for a midnight picnic in the cemetery; complete with the insanity of long dead spirits to cheer the happy couple through their long night of running.

Denise: took us back to the islands to wait with Inya for his tourist attraction to return to him.  Trusting the endurance of the fling, Inya returns to the place of their first meeting; papaya, wild ginger, wine and a trusting heart exposed to the sea, and fates.

Linda: offered a cultural feast, complete with a rebellious teen, a forbidden love affair, and a risky chance at an alternate life.  She left us all with aspirations for the mysterious future.

Andy: deviously allowed the female lover to stew in her own cooking as he purposefully arrived late, then sweet talked her into a white limousine .  Within was a romantic picnic complete with pink champagne, roses, and a pink diamond to ensure a long, full night.

Nilanjana: filled the night with stars, wine, and fine poetry to lift our mood and leave us breathless in the moonlit air.  A feast for the soul.

Anne: wrapped us in a memory of the perfect day, overlapping the picnic of past and present to build a dream world where the spirits of loved one dine on remembrance.

Suzy: tricked her lover into revealing her perfect date, then flew us off to a romantic location, all perfectly set up with music, fine cutlery, and all the alone time anyone could wish with such an adventurous, handsome man.

Crystal:  watched our lovers play with the family at the park; a family and a love that was rejected for more immediate concerns, now looked upon with regret and a taste of jealousy.  We were left with the consequences of choice, an ache for things that could have been.

Radwa: walked the shoreline, taking note of all stages of love from new romance, to comfortable passion, to sharing of family and growth.  We fed on the waves, and the salty air, and drank in the soothing wonders of life in its unguarded moments.

Elen: reunited us with a long lost love; recapturing a moment in time as if it had never escaped loving arms, sensual kisses and silvering moon lighting the way to wild abandon.

Joy: lingered on the rebound; a heart breaking dilemma of doubt and mistrust where the past over shadows the present, the future a turned back walking into the horizon without a glance back, leaving only the ants and crumbs to share the loss.

Michael: swept us away in a gusty moment of passion; the wind and fingers in the lovers hair stirring breathless kisses and waves of desire with a wet “I love you.”

Donna: undressed our lovers for an afternoon delight; surfing the years of togetherness as well as the enduring waves change.

As you can see, we met our challenge goal of 20 entrants, gathered some new friends, and fed our passion for Romance in a variety of flavors.  What we didn't obtain is a clear winner for the People's Choice award.  Part of the reasoning could be the technical errors Denise had in getting the poll up, and then the inability of mobile apps to view the sidebar; or perhaps it is just that our writers are so awesome it is difficult to pick only one winner.  I think I'll go with that one.

Thank you all for joining us for The Romantic Picnic.

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Our next challenge I SHOULD HAVE KISSED YOU, is eligible for the Featured Writer and Runner Up awards, so you may want to start creating/polishing your 600 word (or less) prose or prosetry excerpts now.  Challenge #44 was inspired by Glorianna’s song I Should Have Kissed You.

What we are looking for is the hesitation, the uncertainty, and the (however temporary or permanent) consequences of the missed opportunity TO KISS.  We want our lips to feel it, our tongues to taste it, our bodies and minds to be so involved in the anticipation that we have to kiss our hand (or our uninterested significant other) just to be fulfilled . .

Read the full details by clicking on the Challenges page up top. All upcoming challenges have been posted, so check out the guidelines on the page. 

You do not need to be a member or follower to sign up on the linky and post your vision of the Challenge Theme, but you DO have to be a MEMBER to be considered for FW/RU, so if you haven’t yet joined, now is a good time.

Challenge Schedule:

Challenge #44 -  Sept 7 -    I Should Have Kissed You   FW/RU

Challenge #45 -  Sept 21 -  Oh How I Hate My Beautiful Friend

Challenge #46 -  Oct 5   -    Birthday Madness 

Challenge #47 -  Oct 19 -    Halloween – House of Horrors.  FW/RU

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WRAP-UP

This weeks submissions for Challenge #39 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE were awesome!!

I was a bit worried that we would have no poets this challenge, because Our criteria was slightly different in that it involved an observer to the love affair, not the couple themselves.  We should not have doubted the creative skills of our poets though:

Sally's emotionally sensitive poem stirred my social worker heart.  So often I see this scenario in my day job.  The sentiment, the adultified child, the family angst; all captured the Stuck in the Middle theme perfectly.

 Genskie is new to RFW, and her first submission was a poem of forgiveness for a father that already had a family he was stepping out on.  A poignant, evocative poem of cheating, ethics, and choices.

Adura's poetry gave a different twist to the theme with a wife/mom stuck in between her husband and his son.  The conflict was sympathetic, the emotive plot heart wrenching, and the character personalities vividly realistic.

Several of our contributors chose to submit fitting/or reworked excerpts from their published novels:

Ruth's (from a novel she is currently polishing for publication) interpretation of the theme included engaging characters and a scene plot with the stuck in the middle character as a middle-man/go between type.  And, he's a ghost, closely tied to both the lovers.  Although his realm of influence is limited, his powers of observation are clear.

Roland posted an excerpt from his latest publication New Orleans Arabesque.  Victor sacrifices himself for the love of Capt Sam and Sam's reunited wife Meilori.  Poor Sam and Alice are stuck in the middle as Meilori disapproves of Sam's son Victor, and Alice would as soon send Meilori back to the darkness that her sister captured her in for years.

Francine posted an excerpt from her novel Love Walked In, and is from the perspective of a 14 year old boy internalizing the virtues of a potential new step dad.  The poor kid had a lot of people's opinions to mull over, not to mention his own conflicted thoughts of what would make his mother truly happy, despite the discomfort of the rest of the family.

Kiru chose a snippet from her steamy novel An Engagement Challenge.  Kiru's excerpt focused on a love triangle.  A dual stuck in the middle with our lover moving on to a new relationship; but still wondering what would happen if she explored her erotic attraction to a one night stand.  Not only does Kiru introduce the conflicted emotional ties to both men, she also adds a bit of intrigue over what the relationship between the two men is prior to their connection to our displayed lover.

And of course lets not forget our contributors that reviewed the criteria (and I'll specifically NOT mention those that were over word count or posted a love triangle in any category), and created a special writing for this particular challenge:

Crystal's characters were engaging, well developed within the flash fiction and theme criteria, and displayed a unique take on the stuck in the middle theme as the prospective character is offered a viable love alternative for her "silence" after the crime family linked boyfriend has left her.  Lots of intrigue for a continuing story.

Linda (Scheherazhad) entry included a physical stuck in the middle concept as her characters embark on a surprise road trip to visit the MC absent boyfriend.  To sweeten the concept Linda placed her character as witness to her best friends cheating on their respective relationships, forcing our character to literally sit between the two to limit contact.  Hubba-hubba.

Heather's submission was told from two POVs; that of the little brother looking forward to the return of his older sister - which in turn means she will bring home her boyfriend who has become a "big brother" to our perspective character.  And also includes the internal conflicts of the Sister, as she wonders how to break the news to her family that she has broken up with someone all considered a family member.

Celeste (Weissdorn) also used the physical/emotional stuck in the middle concept with the perspective character sitting at a couples dinner, literally sitting between her best friend's new lover, and the ex.  And of course the new love is perfect, handsome, and definitely not the old love, which our perspective character remains loyal to through out the story.

Denise's excerpt was a continuation from last challenge, and showed our obsessed lover in the midst of a love triangle; desperately trying to recapture the lost love by a look-alike replacement.  And then, the ex returns . .

Donna used the perspective of a step-daughter running from her mother's house, and an argument over the ex with the new hubby; and ending up stuck in the middle of a similar argument between the step-dad and his  new love.

Rekha's excerpt explored the cultural repercussions of a break up, and the testing of loyalty according to gender and social standing.  A short but intriguing mystical look into a unique setting and circumstance.

Anna used a love triangle with a twist of having the past love unexpectedly and inconveniently appear at the moment when our lover finally gives up and moves on to a new life, and a new love.

You may have noticed I did not mention Joy (JL Campbell) as yet, and that is because I wasn't sure if her excerpt was a new writing for RFW, or if it was a sneak peak from one of her novels.  The characters were so well built, with intrigues, a past, and a present so intricately combined that I felt these characteers and their situation had to be a part of a larger work.  Our perspective character is stuck in the middle of several conflicts; his divorce proceedings from the ex, a new lover his mother doesn't approve of (mom loves the ex), and the lingering effects of the separation of his own parents on his social and  moral boundaries.

So that's a wrap for this challenge.

Our next challenge Greener Pastures on Friday, July 13, is also another complicated set up with some special rules to assist in judging the Featured Writer and Runner Up awards.  We'll post the specific judging criteria Denise and I expect to use for the FW/RU awards when we post the official announcement, but for now, you have two weeks to write, polish, and schedule your Greener Pastures excerpts using the following criteria:

 This prompt is about long-term love; perhaps suffering a mid-life or 7 year itch crisis. The couple recognizes it is time for a change; but how drastic does the change need to be to rekindle the relationship? Who wants the change; husband, wife, mutual? Who would suffer the most from either a break up, or from the status quo?

For older lovers: perhaps this is the retirement of one or both, or one is suffering a physical or mental health change.

For mid-life lovers: perhaps this could be an empty nest syndrome, or a male mid-life crisis, or female menopause.

For younger lovers: perhaps there is an unexpected pregnancy to upset the balance; or a career change –promotion or firing or company move; or the sheer boredom of routine.

What we want to see is when the romance loses it shine, and the eye wanders, but what our disgruntled lover finds so appealing in another is the qualities that the old flame has lost. Does he/she realize this on their own? Or does the jilted lover or new love point it out? How is the situation resolved? Or is it too late?

This is a special challenge, so it has special guidelines:

To be in the judging for Featured Writer, you must be a member (sign up on the thumbnail linky) and follow these guidelines:

• Word limit is 600 words
• Any POV - first, second, third person
• Prose/prosetry
• Judging will be based on the FIRST WRITING ONLY; meaning, if you edit or revise based on initial feedback, the re-write will be disqualified. Only the original will be entered into the competition. Once the link is up, it is the final submission version. It is fine to improve your piece for publication elsewhere, but for judging for FW just leave your original post up.