Greetings, Earthlings!

And happy July! It was another raucous 24 hours at the gargleblaster challenge. Let’s give a big yeah write welcome to the five brave souls who tackled the gargleblaster for the first time. We hope you stick around! And don’t forget our three hitchhikers! It’s not just about sitting at the bar, it’s about getting there in the first place, right? Well done, everyone. This round’s on me.

Crowd favorite

It must be hot everywhere – you all seem to be longing for a different season! This week’s crowd favorite badge goes to Mike Jackson for his unseasonable little anecdote Christmas Envy.

Congrats, Mike! Thanks for the breath of cool air. Don’t forget to decorate your blog with that lovely little crowd favorite ornament there in the sidebar.

Editor’s pick

This week’s ultimate question led to a large number of whimsical answers, lyrical poems, and fairy-tale romances. Mermaids lend themselves to that sort of story. It’s harder to incorporate them into a real-life situation. And yet, Rachel Kaiser did just that with her simple, heartfelt piece Trappings.

The story here is in the details, and in what Rachel doesn’t say. She manages to answer the question without needing to restate it or refer to it in any way, other than the mention of the mermaid. Knowing the question provides additional context, but you don’t need to know the question to appreciate the answer. Her word choice is impeccable: the word trappings alone is enough to set the scene for us. It’s a brilliant piece of writing, and we’re so pleased to award Rachel the editor’s pick badge. This one is all yours, Rachel. Keep a close eye on it!

Top row seven*

In addition to Mike, the top row seven includes: Jo-Anne at Going for Coffee for I’m on my way to…; Erica M at Free Fringes for day drinking at the gargleblaster #3; Christine (me!) at Trudging Through Fog for Tidepool; Cyn K at that cynking feeling for Office Politics; Thom at TNKerr for The Mermaid; and Rowan G at Textwall for 100m Butterfly. Congratulations, all! Thanks for playing along. Go grab your badges!

The gargleblaster grid is now sorted in order of votes from most to fewest. It’s always a tight race and a wonderful opportunity to learn from your fellow grid-mates. In the case of a tie, InLinkz gives precedence to the post with the highest number of clicks.

* I realize that your browser may not display the grid in neat rows of seven, but mine does. Therefore, the Top Row 7.

Looking for more?

Hard as it is to believe, there are other challenges out there at yeah write! Go ahead — take a few minutes to check out this week’s challenge grid (for personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes) and the speakeasy (for fiction). Read, comment, get to know the community. And if the mood strikes you, submit your own post: the challenge grid and speakeasy are open until 10:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday. We know you won’t all make the grid every week, but don’t panic! The moonshine grid opens on Friday and we’d love to see you there.

Don’t forget the summer series!

Whether you’re new to microfiction and microblogging or you’ve been doing this a while, we think there’s something new to be learned at the yeah write summer series. Bring three micro pieces to one of our lounges, or branch out and try some longer fiction or non-fiction. We’d love to have you in one of our small group workshops — there’s nothing quite like a deep dive into your own work and others’ to give you some insight as to what works and what doesn’t. Questions? Drop Christine a line.

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