Newbie

  • “In a yellow rectangle, in the black facade of a house, a woman is laying a table.”

    The above is taken from  a prose poem by Thomas A Clark entitled by ‘A walk by moonlight’.  For August’s comp I would like you to develop this scene in not more than 300 words. Deadline 3rd September as I’ll be away until then.

  • Wow, Libby, and thank you, a big surprise, especially as I’d already identified winners 1,2 and 3 and, my laptop having died and been taken away, and only having my ancient, over-full and steaming one, I wasn’t checking as often as I have been. I’ll try and come up with something as interestingly challenging as the last few have been.

  • What terrific stories. So much horror too. I began to wonder if the topic of building work had raised deeply traumatic memories!

    @clebs ‘Behind Closed Curtains’ is very atmospheric, rich in detail and perfectly titled. I felt a few words could be cut, such as the second mention of Jimmy’s bowl, and I wasn’t sure if I got the story’s message.…[Read more]

    • Wow, Libby, and thank you, a big surprise, especially as I’d already identified winners 1,2 and 3 and, my laptop having died and been taken away, and only having my ancient, over-full and steaming one, I wasn’t checking as often as I have been. I’ll try and come up with something as interestingly challenging as the last few have been.

    • Congratulations, Sandra. And thanks, Libby, for the challenge. Didn’t expect the critique too.

  • Brutal

    Graham was beside himself. Furious, speechless, incandescent with rage. They had demolished the ancient well in his garden, thrown the centuries old stonework down inside, and constructed a former which showed their intention to pour footings a full twenty metres from where the summerhouse should be. He leaned forward and peered down. All…[Read more]

  • July monthly comp reminder – three more days to post an entry 🙂

    Tell a story of building work that suffers some kind of mix up. The wrong site, the wrong builder – anything you like.

    Deadline midnight 31st July.

    300 words maximum

     

  • And we’re there. Thank you to all the generous donors. We’re here for another year!

  • One More Year!
    Probably daft, bearing in mind we have maybe 10 to 15 members who are even close to regular, and perhaps half a dozen who are. I need to raise about £150 this month to keep the site going. It will keep going; it’s just a case of finding as much as I can. SO… please see the donations group for details. Simple as that.

  • Hi Janette – as discussed, it’s gone. Feel free to post again when ready.

    Ath.

  • Hi Janette – feel free to tidy up! I see no reason why software idiosyncrasies and confusions therefrom should affect anyone’s chances in the monthly comp.

    I haven’t yet read your submission so I won’t know what you change. I think you can delete the original post if you wish.

  • Right man for the job!

    Half eight, overnight ice on the inside of the windows, me already double Aran-wrapped, my phone rang:
    ‘Missus Blake? Morpeth Builders. We’ve a cancellation. Can come and have a look at your chimney today.’
    ‘That’d be great. There’s some sort of, of … blockage. The boiler’s broke, so lighting a fire the only way to kee…[Read more]

  • For this month’s comp tell a story of some building work with some kind of mix up. The wrong site, the wrong builder – anything you like.

    Deadline midnight 31st July.

    300 words

  • Thank you @Seagreen ! This is a lovely surprise. The standard of entries is so high – I loved all the stories.

    Thank you too @Sandra for your congratulations.

    Right, now I must try to think of a comp theme that will be as good as Seagreen’s …

     

  • Congratulations, Libby, and thank you Seagreen for such an enticing theme – I had a dozen possibilities in my head, and it was obvious others did too, strong voices all and I was glad not to have to do the judging.

  • I knew from the minute I started reading these that judging would be a tricky business…

    Thanks all for entering! I love that you each took a perfectly mundane experience – like sitting in traffic – and gave me a fabulous peek into the headspace of your characters.

    Ath, straight in there with your character reference of the man in the siler GT. T…[Read more]

  • What is this? I turn my back for TWO days and I’m inundated!! ????

    Please bear with me. Worked a fifteen hour shift today (with the same tomorrow). I promise to come back with a winner by Monday at the absolute latest x

  • Car

    Look at that bloke. Arm out of the window, cigarette in hand. Marks and Sparks polo shirt that his wife bought him. Revving the engine every five seconds; counting down the time until death. And he got the silver car, the GT model. He chose that. He calls it “my car”. But if anybody asks, “We chose it. Me and my lady.”

    How old do you reckon?…[Read more]

  • RichardB replied to the topic For Those in Peril… in the forum Blogs 3 years, 3 months ago

    Since writing this blog I have put my money where my mouth is and become a paid-up RNLI supporter, paying a direct debit every month. One of the consequences of this is that I receive a quarterly magazine. In the latest edition, which came a few days ago, I read that the old Penlee lifeboat station has now been granted Grade II listed building status.

    • Thanks, Richard. I hadn’t realised how small the station is. It’s good it’s now listed. I imagine it would be vulnerable to being left to fall apart without a team of dedicated voluteers.

      • Yes, when i stumbled across the place two or three years ago, though the memorial garden was well maintained the actual building did look just a little sorry for itself.

  • 398 words exc title

    Content warning: threat of terminal illnes

     

    The Road to the Hospital I’ll be Visiting Tomorrow

     

    The old sports model is red and open-topped, a Noddy car for the middle-aged and young elderly. How sniping I am today. From my hatchback I criticise the driver’s grey hair sticking out from his baseball cap. The passenger wea…[Read more]

  • ‘O dolce mano’ another opera

    Coming out of the theatre, in the carpark, beeping the car unlocked, you say ‘If we’re dropping Judy off, she’d be best in the front –‘
    Because it’s SO difficult to get out of the back seat? Nevertheless, I say nothing. It was Judy – a work colleague –that offered him the tickets. I bought the third on seeing the…[Read more]

  • 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/

    • Thanks, Daeds. I’m trying to get a story ready in time. Are you going to enter?

      • 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?

        • @daedalus
          Mine is becoming a more interesting story than I’d thought it was but it needs more time so I’m not going to enter. Good luck with yours if you do enter.

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