Category: Writing Challenges
Challenges from the Bonanza Brand Forums.
Fireworks, Friends, and Innocent Prayers (by DJK)
Summary: Little Joe and friends managed to arrange “the grandest sight the town has ever seen”, and it only required a little deceit and disobeying. This prequel was written for the 3rd Quarter 2025 Chaps & Spurs Challenge.
Rating: Teen Word Count: 5822
The Weaker Sex (by Pat D in PA)
Summary: Marie Cartwright comes home from assisting a neighboring woman to find … Written for the 3rd Quarter Chaps and Spurs Challenge.
Rating: K/G
Word Count: 2,067
Let’s Play Chess (by LillianMontane)
Sumary: Hoss teaches Joe how to play chess. Written for 3rd quarter chaps and spurs.
Rating: G Word count: 1280
Saucy Sally and the Birthday Surprise (by Pat D in PA)
RATING: MA/R
SUMMARY: Not long after Adam returns from college, he begins to wonder if he should have come back at all, as his father doesn’t seem to recognize he’s not the stripling youth he’d been when he left home more than four years earlier. It takes a wise young woman of the world to potentially set both Cartwright men straight and help heal a rift that threatens to destroy the family.
Written in answer to the 2025 Brandaversary R-Rated Story challenge.
(10,230 words)
The Horse Auction (by LillianMontane)
Summary: Adam and Joe go to a horse auction.
Rated: K+ Word count: 1239
The Burden of Guilt (by CareBear)
Summary: Adam carries a self-enforced burden of guilt, haunted by memories of the past that are dredged to the surface by Delphine’s death.
Rating: T (violence) Word Count: 6823
High Stakes in Ragtown (by DJK)
Summary: The Carwright brothers stopped in Ragtown for a bath, food, and a trip to the saloon. They picked the wrong saloon. Of course, Opal did not think so.
Rating: T/PG13 Word count: 12,217
The Infinite Curse of a Lonely Heart (by Pat D in PA)
Summary: Unrequited affection, if not actually love, permeates this prequel tale of the Cartwrights as a church social becomes an unexpected source of disappointment and frustration for some, and wonder for others. Written for the 2025 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.
Rating: K+/T Word Count: 13,275
Not Til We Find Him (by Patina)
Summary:. A missing son, a father’s search. A WHIB and WHI for The Crucible.
Rating: T Word Count: 5,353
A Rare Courtship (by Tavia42)
Summary: Hoss and Joe become convinced that their father intends to marry the Widow Hawkins – and that it’s up to them to save him from this terrible fate. A “What Happened Later” for “The Burma Rarity.” Written for the 2025 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.
Rating: PG | Word Count: 8,040
If at First You Don’t Succeed; or, A Lesson in the Cartwright Way (by JC)
Summary: There are a few simple rules for growing up Cartwright: 1. Never underestimate your father. 2. Don’t forget the first rule.
Rating: K Word Count: 1195
Treachery on the River (by SydneyFate)
Summary: Adam Cartwright faces danger on the Mississippi River.
Rating: PG Word Count: 2,229
First Drive (by Puchi Ann)
Summary: There’s a first time for everything and everyone.
Rating:K+/T Word Count: 12,449
End Game (by AC1830)
Summary: A prisoner who escapes from the Nevada State Prison in Carson City has not only freedom but also vengeance on his mind. Little does he know that someone from his past is shadowing him, bringing full circle some unfinished business between them.
Rated: T Word Count: 10,050
A Little Lesson in Engineering And Physics (by CareBear)
Prequel. Adam and Little Joe bond over a simple engineering and physics concept. When Joe later tries to apply the concept on a large scale, he reaps chaos for all three brothers. Written for the Chaps & Spurs 2025 Third Quarter Challenge.
Rating PG Word Count 7438
