The Challenge Factory discussion

Team Challenge
September 2023- November 30, 2023

Please take some time and choose a team name and your first monster. Let me know once you have decided.

Team
✔️Catsalive
✔️Severina
✔️RaeRae

Links
Team Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Q&A
Monster Depository (check-in)
Scoreboard
Collectible
Feedback

Rules
🧛Each monster has specific chains that need to be completed.
Examples:
1. Create a chain of 3 using titles consecutively (ABC)
-All the Light We Cannot See
-Becoming Mrs. Lewis
-Catching Fire
2. Create a chain of 3 with "dog" in the titles
-Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike
-The Dog Stars
-Hot Dog Girl
🧛One person should NOT complete a whole chain by themselves. This is a team challenge. However, if a monster has multiple chains and a slower reader can only/want to only read for 1 or 2 chains (they must read at least one), then the other two faster readers on the team can complete the other chains between the two of them.
🧛You may choose which creature to capture first but you MUST complete it BEFORE starting a new creature.
🧛You may use or drop articles: A, An, The
🧛If you somehow manage to incorporate a Formal Buddy Read book into a chain, you will earn 2 bonus points. See the buddy read folder for the current book. They are also listed in the spreadsheet dropdown list (when your team has a thread & spreadsheet assigned to them).
🧛Books should be a minimum of 140 pages
🧛Reading the monthly Group Read book for a task will earn you 2 bonus points.

Scoring
You will get 3 points for every completed book (9 per completed chain) PLUS page points.

Monster List

Frankenstein
Mummy
Witch
Vampire
Zombie
Ghost
Werewolf

Hi Team, Any ideas for a name? What monster first?

Catsalive wrote: "Hi Team, Any ideas for a name? What monster first?"

I am horrible at naming things so I'll leave that up to you. I guess we don't get to see what the chains are until the game starts? Zombie is my favourite monster but I don't really care what order we go in. :)

Hair-raising Hobgoblins?
Hangry Hobgoblins?

Howling Hobgoblins?

Severina wrote: "Howling Hobgoblins?"

I like the sound of that :0)

Yay! Hopefully RaeRae approves!

That sounds good to me

RaeRae wrote: "That sounds good to me"

Yay! Looking forward to getting started :)

I just need to know your 1st monster and your team will be all set.

Zombie first.

Zombies are the mythological undead created through the reanimation of a corpse. They can be reanimated in multiple ways such as through magic, radiation, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc. Zombies have evolved over the years from slow ambling creatures to fast zombies that are more aggressive and more intelligent. Zombies tend to be hungry for human flesh or brains.

To capture the zombie, complete the following tasks

Arm 1 Create a chain of 3 using titles or series with the word "zombie"
Arm 2 Create a chain of 3 books with scientists
Leg 1 Create a chain of 3 using books with the letters 'FLESH' in the title (any order)
Leg 2 Create a chain of 3 using titles with the word "blood"

Where do you peeps want to start? I can pick up a book for the "zombie" arm 1 tonight. I think I have one for Arm 2 as well

I've got books for the first arm "zombie", 1 for scientist, and I can get something with blood from the library. So I can start on anything but Leg 1.

I remember reading that we can work on multiple limbs at once. A single person just can't finish one limb.

I think FLESH is going to be difficult.

I've got one for Arm 2 & will look about for some others. The hardest for me will be Arm 1 - I have nothing with zombie in title/series.

Tracking Post: Zombie

Arm 1: Create a chain of 3 using titles or series with the word "zombie"
1. RaeRae - Zombie, Ohio
✅2. Severina - Married with Zombies
✅3. Severina - I, Zombie

Arm 2: Create a chain of 3 books with scientists
✅1. cats - The Radium Girls
2. Severina - The Phlebotomist
3.

Leg 1: Create a chain of 3 using books with the letters 'FLESH' in the title (any order)
1. cats - Mistletoe and Mischief
✅2. cats - Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh
✅3. Severina - Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh

Leg 2: Create a chain of 3 using titles with the word "blood"
1. cats - Summer of Blood
2.
3.

Severina wrote: "I remember reading that we can work on multiple limbs at once. A single person just can't finish one limb"

We have 4 chains to complete so I think this applies:

🧛One person should NOT complete a whole chain by themselves. This is a team challenge. However, if a monster has multiple chains and a slower reader can only/want to only read for 1 or 2 chains (they must read at least one), then the other two faster readers on the team can complete the other chains between the two of them.

If you've got a book for it, go for it!

You could also look in the Q&A and find this:

Q: Can we read books for several chains (of same monster) at the same time or do they need to be completed one after another?
A: You will get all the chains for the monster at the same time. I don't care what order you complete them in. You can read them at the same time if you want. I only have the rule that one person cannot complete a whole chain by themselves (this is a team challenge) but at least 2 people should (preferably all 3). You can work that out amongst yourselves. You only get one monster at a time.
EDIT: There are 2 that have a spell out attached that have to be done first. Other than that, whatever order you want to do them in is fine.

Catsalive, I have 2 for zombie so RaeRae and I could handle that chain. :)

Severina wrote: "Catsalive, I have 2 for zombie so RaeRae and I could handle that chain. :)"

Great!

Tracking post updated

Ever heard the saying "Ask and you shall receive"? Well, I had a question about Buddy Reads earlier. After some thought and some consultation with other mods, I have decided to give you the same bonus points for an informal buddy read as the TCF Group Read. Here are the rules:

*Your buddy must be on your team
*You may do a buddy read of 2 or 3 (as you have teams of 3)
*The book must fit one of your tasks, of course

To sign up for an informal buddy read click Here and a thread will be set up for you. This option will be added to the Group Read bonus dropdown in your spreadsheets shortly.

Here's the two reads I know I'll be doing so far:

Arm 1 - Married with Zombies

Arm 2 - The Phlebotomist

I've got a few other choices for my second arm 1 book so I'll narrow that down later. I've gone through all my Want to Read books and I can't come up with anything so far for FLESH. If there's any chance that RaeRae has one, then I could skip that one. If not, suggestions are welcome.

I have one for Flesh as long is it can be in the series name.

RaeRae wrote: "I have one for Flesh as long is it can be in the series name.
"

It has to be in the title. :(

bummer

That's been on my kindle for a while now

I found one for FLESH! I will read Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh

You know it is the Letters of FLESH, right? It doesn't have to be the actual word. They can be scattered in any order throughout the title.

Yes, thanks Donna. I just happened to find one that had the full word :)

Tracking post updated

Severina wrote: "I found one for FLESH! I will read Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh"

An excellent title! I can access this one, do you want to do a buddy read?

Cats' Zombie Completions:

Book: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Date: 1/9 3★
Task: Arm 2 (scientists)
Fits: scientist Marie Curie

Book: Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett
Date: 5/9 3.5★
Task: Leg 1 (flesh)
Fits: FLESH in title

Book: Last Chance Cafe by Liz Byrski
Date: 6/9 4★
Task: Leg 1 (flesh)
Fits: LaSt cHance caFE

Book: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Date: 8/9 4★
Task: Leg 2 (blood)
Fits: BLOOD in title

Book: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Date: 11/9 4★
Task: Arm 2 (scientist)
Fits: Ratthi is a scientist

Cats, I don't think a buddy read would work for me just because I tend to be a pretty fast reader

Completion Post

Book: Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen
Finished Date: September 02, 2023
Task: Arm 1 (zombie in title)
How It Fits: Zombie in title :)

I don't know how to add the link to my review :(

Severina wrote: "Cats, I don't think a buddy read would work for me just because I tend to be a pretty fast reader"

I think you just do a link & then make a few comments every few chapters as you're reading. It doesn't have to be formalised questions.

Here's an example: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We don't actually have to read it together, chapter by chapter.

I've requested a thread for it, anyway, & we'll see.

Cats - okay, that's fine then. That's good for me too because I don't have the fastest internet. I was thinking of starting it tomorrow but I'll start something else instead and wait for everything to be set up with the buddy read.

Also, I was thinking we should add our page counts to our completion posts so that the mod can easily see our bonus points. I'll fixing when I'm online tomorrow. Can't see how to do it on my phone.

Severina wrote: "Cats - okay, that's fine then. That's good for me too because I don't have the fastest internet. I was thinking of starting it tomorrow but I'll start something else instead and wait for everything..."

Hopefully the link will be up quickly because I'd like to get it started tomorrow, too.

I've put our completed books in the spreadsheet - it adds our points up for us. If you have trouble accessing the ss, I'm happy to put yours in. Page counts in your completion post will make it easier for me.

I didn't even notice that there was a spreadsheet. LOL I'll start adding mine there as I go. :)

Book: I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
Page Count: 222
Finished Date: September 02, 2023
Task: Arm 1 (zombie in title)
How It Fits: Zombie in title :)

Here's a link for the Buddy, Severina.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Completion Post - Leg 1

Book: Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh
Page Count: 226
Finished Date: September 04, 2023
Task: Leg 1 (FLESH in title)
How It Fits: FLESH in title :)

Tracking Post: Zombie

Arm 1: Create a chain of 3 using titles or series with the word "zombie"
✅1. RaeRae - Zombie, Ohio
✅2. Severina - Married with Zombies
✅3. Severina - I, Zombie

Arm 2: Create a chain of 3 books with scientists
✅1. cats - The Radium Girls
✅2. Severina - The Phlebotomist
✅3. cats - Exit Strategy

Leg 1: Create a chain of 3 using books with the letters 'FLESH' in the title (any order)
✅1. cats - Last Chance Cafe
✅2. cats - Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh
✅3. Severina - Mrs Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh

Leg 2: Create a chain of 3 using titles with the word "blood"
✅1. cats - Blood Bound
✅2. Severina - Blood Oath
✅3. RaeRae - Blood Bound

Leg 2.
I have one for blood. Blood Bound

I'm reading Blood Oath for the blood prompt.

Completion Post

Book: Zombie, Ohio
Finished Date: September 06, 2023
Task: Arm 1 zombie in title
How It Fits: Zombie in title

I had to change my book for blood it was unavailable at this time but I did add a different book in its place.

Blood Bound

Completion Post

Book: Blood Oath
Finished Date: 09-08-23
Task: Leg 2 (blood in title)
How It Fits: Blood in title