Den of Writers | Alan Rain | Friends Activity https://www.denofwriters.com/members/alanr/activity/friends/ Activity feed for Alan Rain's friends. Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:30:58 +0000 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-GB 30 hourly 2 dc534b0c9115c0eb5ebef95a7f7b41c9 Daedalus replied to the topic Vaulting Ambition: the BRM V16 in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/vaulting-ambition-the-brm-v16/#post-17922 Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:22:11 +0000 Great blog as usual Richard. It’s a fascinating story. One of those that has so much promise of what might have been, yet also so typical of the often shambolic British way of going about things that one feels it could only ever have ended up this way. Look at the contemporary British aviation industry – much brilliance and yet so much avoidable c…[Read more]

]]> 0 3850471a0eed1c9e869c021e03b38ab6 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24870/#acomment-24875 Sun, 19 Oct 2025 12:59:45 +0000 I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of it, but a lot of non English language literature is not on my radar. As far as Ulysses is concerned, I can see why it is important, and I enjoyed parts of it very much, but it was a tough read because with the style constantly changing, I couldn’t settle into it the way I generally can sooner or later. Middl…[Read more]

In reply to - Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum September Song I finally managed to read Ulysses earlier this year after numerous failed attempts over several decades (Middlemarch likewise). So I’m going to m […] ]]> f3f843760978b8fb3f5e12e6b12672a8 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/chit-chat-7/#post-16974 Sat, 18 Oct 2025 17:51:30 +0000 I finally managed to read Ulysses earlier this year after numerous failed attempts over several decades (Middlemarch likewise). So I’m going to make the most of it!

]]> 9 457763a5606d3f80326529e928631fa7 Daedalus replied to the topic Choices in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/choices-7/#post-16972 Sat, 18 Oct 2025 09:55:23 +0000 Snow

Ulysses

]]> 0 e29a28d79afd6896de3386db4feb26be Daedalus joined the group September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24866/ Sat, 18 Oct 2025 09:51:38 +0000 0 105c582de3e50703971976d596f14a99 Jules replied to the topic Choices in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/choices-7/#post-16941 Sun, 12 Oct 2025 17:43:39 +0000 Rain

The Morning Gift

]]> 0 ca4b3d1236938fd132ca955ddd315615 Jules joined the group September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24811/ Sun, 12 Oct 2025 17:40:15 +0000 0 bcec0ece7641f46fd0c86436b6578f48 Daedalus replied to the topic The Wild West Railway in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/the-wild-west-railway/#post-16360 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:25:30 +0000 Glorious. I’ve been to that part of the world and had no idea there had been a railway there, let alone one with such a remarkable history. It’s a shame it didn’t survive long enough that the preservation movement had got going, though by the sound of things it was probably lucky that they quit while they were ahead.

]]> 0 af8491eb5127f91fc41a0950ace1e8ed Daedalus replied to the topic What if I'm a bad human being? in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/what-if-im-a-bad-human-being/#post-16098 Sat, 01 Feb 2025 21:19:38 +0000 Oof. Yes. Gaiman. I think a lot of people I know are particularly hurt by that one because he appeared to be a writer of such humanity. I didn’t read anything of his that I didn’t like, and connect with in some way. At first, I did allow myself to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not for very long, and I’m not sure there’s any doubt now…[Read more]

]]> 0 3f6380c1df13947a71606617409fdc8c Daedalus posted an update: Finally completed a more-or-less subbable draft of the novel […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23855/ Tue, 28 Jan 2025 17:09:41 +0000 Finally completed a more-or-less subbable draft of the novel I’ve been working on since 2013. I did the Writers’ Workshop Self Edit course using this novel in October 2014 (back in the days when I hilariously thought of it as ‘nearly finished’). Is anyone still around from that course? Anyway, it just goes to show that if you occasionally put your…[Read more]

]]> 1 4f15d363029c6bd0e03927e366ed8d5d Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23448/#acomment-23839 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 16:49:02 +0000 Thanks Thea. In part I’m sure it’s my own fault for not being persistent enough. That said, I can’t help worrying that there’s something indefinably dated or just offputting in my writing. I should add that since I wrote the above, another story based on one of the Den challenge pieces was accepted for an anthology, but for various reasons that…[Read more]

In reply to - Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time Re absence of choices and surprises. I’m not sure really. Sometimes they’ve helped me push myself to do something dramatically different, or […] ]]> 651ff7e9f5535117f5b712cb0cdcf211 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15724 Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:47:39 +0000 Re absence of choices and surprises. I’m not sure really. Sometimes they’ve helped me push myself to do something dramatically different, or have at least significantly shaped what I’ve written. Other times they just made slight complications to writing the story I would have written anyway. Generally it’s the overall theme I have the biggest…[Read more]

]]> 3 db986d9f2629e395500b7c91da1a78c1 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15695 Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:14:48 +0000 Hope so!!

]]> 0 177e23d4f1739b3afa0591cf57bae85b Jules replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15692 Tue, 01 Oct 2024 07:57:27 +0000 Asper usual, I have no ideas at all yet. Knowing me, it’ll be something weird though ????

]]> 0 5e05a6efcbae8984b50c11251835ec32 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15688 Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:33:51 +0000 I’ve an idea. Whether it’s a workable idea or not is another matter. Recently my life has taken a slight turn reminiscent of the film Stand By Me, and it’s kind of demanding to be written about. On the other hand, it doesn’t have an obvious narrative shape or all the checkbox things you’re supposed to include to make a story these days, and…[Read more]

]]> 0 d62525c777ac168d9dc66df094aeb804 Daedalus joined the group A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23404/ Sun, 29 Sep 2024 22:08:54 +0000 0 d8adf8d70b1e61ba9e68ee233e722e95 Jules joined the group A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23401/ Sun, 29 Sep 2024 19:33:06 +0000 0 a354dc71f1b4e25037c56d954e3a861d Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22410/#acomment-22412 Sun, 28 Jan 2024 20:14:47 +0000 Try toggling between ‘Visual’ and ‘Text’ and pasting into it set to one then the other to see if it works better. The only other alternative is to paste it into a notepad-type app where it will clear all the formatting, and you won’t get the code, but you probably will need to go through it in the editor and manually add things like italics (and…[Read more]

In reply to - John T posted an update Anyone on here. Help. Something went wrong in the copying of my story to Whodunnit. It’s full of visible computer code. Anyone know how to cure that? ]]> e0188805c5732d243e781b4f191d3df2 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22404/#acomment-22406 Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:15:47 +0000 Of course it does! You can’t paint a picture without setting up the easel, preparing the canvas and laying out your palette, and this is no different. Sorry to hear about the laptop

In reply to - Woolleybeans posted an update Welp, as my laptop has decided my writing since…August does not exist, I am going to start over on some stuff. Which is a good time to work on the Den challenge, because so far I have […] ]]> 5163f6439bba8a2dba843cd13b4d505e Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22241/#acomment-22247 Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:10:53 +0000 At the risk of inflaming any anger about this just before the season of peace and goodwill (unless you live in Gaza) here’s an article about the £billions spent on dodgy PPE from people with personal connections to the governing party https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/michelle-mone-disease-corrupting-british-politic

In reply to - RichardB posted an update Seen by MrsB today somewhere, I believe, on Facebook: ‘We used to have empires, ruled by emperors. We used to have kingdoms, ruled by kings. Now we have a country…’ ]]> 1e74f0d8d95a456ef7615c3edd93ccfe Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14479 Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:46:05 +0000 I think for me Salter stands out because the spareness is also lyrical. I find many ‘less is more’ authors to be a bit dull, but his prose manages to be as poetic as it is simple

]]> 0 7320f9ea6ed3a3d636d26eca75daf4dd Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14470 Tue, 17 Oct 2023 15:18:30 +0000 Salter is very much a writer of men. I was somewhat horrified by his treatment of women in All There Is (although there’s always a detachment to his writing that means it’s never entirely clear who his sympathies lie with). I find his earlier work rather tighter.

]]> 0 f75c44f8132e6396c413ca19c24ccf2d Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14449 Mon, 16 Oct 2023 22:13:20 +0000 Sandra, interesting you say that about unconscious influence from books you read years ago. I’m generally reluctant to specify my influences because I’m certain that I don’t know who all of them are. On more than one occasion I’ve reread something I read in my youth but had only the haziest memory of. And, to my horror, encountered somethi…[Read more]

]]> 0 fb2111b2b776b12ba81c37ef2172af49 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/#acomment-21993 Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:54:19 +0000 Well now I’m going to spend the next three days feeding my own work into it to see how much I sound like myself

In reply to - Daedalus posted an update And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones. ]]> a3d99b024d77cee3dc5b90bbaa4b6b91 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/#acomment-21971 Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:01:14 +0000 Japanese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles? Blimey, I knew I had to incorporate arithmetic, but that seems a bit much

In reply to - Daedalus posted an update And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones. ]]> 11cea7319ed2982d8607c6ace2391976 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21903/#acomment-21944 Mon, 09 Oct 2023 14:13:50 +0000 Fascinating idea. Might give that a go

In reply to - Seagreen started the topic Monthly competition – October 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition I’ve just started listening to Ken Follett on BBC Maestro, and this is (sort of) taken from a task he sets at the end o […] ]]> bc23525745a8d3ac78fd2a9aba87402e Daedalus posted an update: And don't forget people, if you say anything mean about JK […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/ Mon, 09 Oct 2023 14:13:07 +0000 And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones.

]]> 4 3cee887a2438f31f27842f86683124f5 Daedalus replied to the topic Choices in the forum Whodunnit? https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/whodunnit/forum/topic/choices-6/#post-14216 Tue, 29 Aug 2023 11:19:50 +0000 Arithmetic

Spanner

Comical

]]> 0 9b3fa0bb1ec43722b8d43f10501fca77 Daedalus joined the group Whodunnit? https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21707/ Mon, 28 Aug 2023 16:59:40 +0000 0 691a1325f4dd8a825a8055d03b012445 Jules replied to the topic Choices in the forum Whodunnit? https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/whodunnit/forum/topic/choices-6/#post-14207 Mon, 28 Aug 2023 11:46:38 +0000 Reading, candlestick, comical

]]> 0 13f3f04787add50764ed44ca5d1ef1e6 Jules joined the group Whodunnit? https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21702/ Mon, 28 Aug 2023 11:43:29 +0000 0 2295283f6b13e5e743d943ebbedc986b Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21363/#acomment-21426 Sun, 25 Jun 2023 12:14:37 +0000 I was thinking of entering one I’d already written, thought I’d missed the deadline but I haven’t, so I might go for it. How’s yours coming along?

In reply to - Daedalus started the topic HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities The 2023 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition is now open for entries. […] ]]> 8dac49356d1833c9d76df9708c076b84 Daedalus started the topic HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/hwa-dorothy-dunnett-short-story-competition/ Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:24:00 +0000 The 2023 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition is now open for entries. Up to 3,500 words, set 35 or more years ago, exploring every aspect of historical fiction.

Deadline 1 July

Full details and how to enter: https://historicalwriters.org/awards/ddshwass-award-2023/

]]> 3 c0ce0f8baf30e00c0adcf7594e5cd809 Daedalus replied to the topic Motor Racing's Blackest Day: Le Mans, 1955 in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/motor-racings-blackest-day-le-mans-1955/#post-13836 Mon, 22 May 2023 19:44:28 +0000 Fantastic blog Richard, as ever. A difficult one for me to read, as I’ve always found reading about this incident, its sheer violence and the scale of the death toll, deeply troubling. That the sport I love, and a race I love, and a driver I have always been a fan of (Hawthorn) could have been (in whatever way) responsible for such slaughter is d…[Read more]

]]> 0 a73744eb0d7f7977bcfb408627f5db99 Daedalus replied to the topic Story in new collection in the forum Podium https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/story-in-new-collection/#post-13764 Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:46:54 +0000 Thanks Richard

]]> 0 b1295c56911274e7a969def55e5dffea Daedalus replied to the topic Story in new collection in the forum Podium https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/story-in-new-collection/#post-13760 Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:27:19 +0000 Kindle out now, paperback in a couple of weeks

]]> 0 1f0d56542ee13db392325a61020c3133 Daedalus started the topic Story in new collection in the forum Podium https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/story-in-new-collection/ Wed, 26 Apr 2023 16:19:15 +0000 Hi all, just to let you know I have a story in the new collection ‘Action this Day’ – a set of WW2 short stories

]]> 1 c4a1806044f0f4a578b32d906b2c223a Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21172/#acomment-21199 Sat, 22 Apr 2023 12:05:20 +0000 It’s worth noting that the Guardian has form for taking money from vanity publishers. Back when I was first getting interested in writing ‘properly’, back in the mid-90s, I remember seeing ads for ‘Athena Press’ plastered all over anything to do with writing or fiction. Their MO was so similar to how you describe Pegasus, I find myself wondering…[Read more]

In reply to - RichardB posted an update Today, for the first time in my life, I was moved to write to a national newspaper. This was prompted, of all things, by an advert I saw in the Guardian. The letter ran as follows: ‘In […] ]]> 0bf3e50bce94c32bc3893c5432b727c2 Daedalus replied to the topic Richard's Musical Byways: Robert Johnson, the Myth and the Man in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/richards-musical-byways-robert-johnson-the-myth-and-the-man/#post-13077 Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:52:49 +0000 Thoroughly enjoyed this, Richard. Another wonderful bit of writing that is bound to lead to a substantial musical rabbit-hole

]]> 0 bd42f5dcef20bbae1db3c91dd59a775e Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/20162/#acomment-20278 Mon, 17 Oct 2022 12:22:55 +0000 OMG that’s amazing! Well done

In reply to - Raine posted an update Hi all, just dropping by to catch up on the annual challenge & whisper that a previous challenge story (Bathymetry) has just won the British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction. So thank you […] ]]> a39a1f96b1e1ace18f0eda7a0a803a6b Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/20223/#acomment-20277 Mon, 17 Oct 2022 12:22:26 +0000 Oh no, really sorry to hear that Richard

In reply to - RichardB posted an update Went to the cattery this morning after returning from holiday to find that our cat had succumbed to kidney failure while we were away. She was a gentle, affectionate soul and much loved. […] ]]> 4dafdb8946d444c11aab4ce94330438d Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/20088/#acomment-20091 Mon, 12 Sep 2022 09:05:21 +0000 Even for a republican like me it does feel like the end of an era. Thinking about how as a Scout we had to make promises to do our duty to the Queen etc, and every time you see a post box or a coin, or hear The King, it feels strange. Very few people have known anything different – @athelstone that sounds like an incredibly trying day, was it all…[Read more]

In reply to - Squidge posted an update Dipping in to say hi… ridiculously busy at the mo with Life, so barely time to breathe, let alone write! How is everyone doing at the moment, following the Queen’s death? Whether you’re for […] ]]> 48d4319adc70ff5603ba1bd11bedf457 Daedalus replied to the topic Choices in the forum All You Need https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/all-you-need/forum/topic/choices-5/#post-12751 Thu, 08 Sep 2022 19:59:28 +0000 Coniston

Yes there is

]]> 0 504d72c98580e397c211fcdabfefef1e Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum All You Need https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/all-you-need/forum/topic/chit-chat-4/#post-12726 Thu, 01 Sep 2022 09:53:57 +0000 For me the town is the sticking point, as whatever I go with will necessarily narrow down what kind of story I can write a fair bit. That’s what comes of writing across a range of genres I suppose!

]]> 0 55fbeef50592d3f62cc7d9535f39156d Daedalus replied to the topic Monthly Competition - August 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-august-2022/#post-12725 Wed, 31 Aug 2022 21:57:54 +0000 Burn

The day the power went off for the last time, Dad started on about the country again.

“When did this country change?” he growled. “Things never used to be like this. This is Britain, how did it get so the electric doesn’t work?”

Gemma didn’t understood when he talked like this. It was like he felt the whole island was somehow the same. G…[Read more]

]]> 0 7e67a5ed580efbdc8ece466ec56af25f Daedalus replied to the topic The Price of Coal: Senghenydd, 1913 in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/the-price-of-coal-senghenydd-1913/#post-12697 Mon, 29 Aug 2022 15:04:19 +0000 I was just reading up on Gresford following this and noticed one striking coincidence. The name of an MP who castigated the mine’s management during a debate in parliament following the inquiry’s mealy-mouthed conclusions:

David Grenfell…

]]> 0 cdc0b77e67ffd713c35f3982558d98bb Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/20007/#acomment-20011 Fri, 26 Aug 2022 19:05:30 +0000 Great to see you Barry, hope all is well

In reply to - Barry Walsh posted an update Popping in after a long time away. Planning to stay but won’t be writing just yet. Hope all goes well with old friends. ]]> b2daccd86a54d05aa2cf758db4b24359 Jules replied to the topic Choices in the forum All You Need https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/all-you-need/forum/topic/choices-5/#post-12634 Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:55:56 +0000 Town – Droop

Choice – yes there is

]]> 0 ba2ba875fc4c00158bccf5a9f037126c Jules joined the group All You Need https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/19994/ Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:09:04 +0000 0 6895d143df52eb50e7b5987d4430dff8 Daedalus joined the group All You Need https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/19988/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 17:48:13 +0000 0