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Athelstone replied to the topic Is a social media Christmas appeal worthwhile? in the forum Blogs 1 year, 8 months ago
If it has any impact at all on the publishing world, I would be pleased. I can see that it is galling when an author with a genuine passion for writing, say for a young audience, hones their craft and achieves moderate success, and then watches a celeb waltz in like an unoriginal bargain-basement Roald Dahl, have a small fortune spent on…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Is a social media Christmas appeal worthwhile? in the forum Blogs 1 year, 8 months ago
My view is that publishers are in it for the money, and celebrity sells more – and more reliably – than as-yet-unknown novelists (potentially supplying a profit which might enable them to take more chances on unknowns?) It might be seen as ‘not fair’, but in my view is more honest to trust readers’ appreciation of well-written novels than bombard…[Read more]
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Sandra, it isn’t so much a bombardment campaign, rather a sharing of a meme to ask for support. I appreciate the view that regular novelists are enabled to be taken on because of the success of celebrity books, but the avalanche of them in such an unlevel playing field is instrumental in creating this huge imbalance, and I think the dishonesty is…[Read more]
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I suspect, lacking conviction in my opinions, I’m not a campaigner.
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I have bowed out of this. My intention was to be supportive, but the feelings stirred and opposing views given have me concluding that I should leave it to published authors and their representatives to fight the battle. Lesson learned.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition- November 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
This is not my take on the headline, but I’ve posted it here because I could not come up with anything more ludicrous.
“Short hair hints may be ‘sabotage” study finds.
Publishing her research on the ’Science Direct’ website, under the heading ‘Personality and individual Differences’ Danielle Sulikowski details how women were asked to giv…[Read more]
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Thank you for setting Octobers comp, Knicks.
I enjoy seeing how differently we all approach the monthly challenges. this months were wonderfully varied.
Congratulations to Seagreen for such an atmospheric winning offering.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Congratulations to Seagreen, and to everyone else who supplied an entertaining and impressive piece to October’s comp. And to Knicks for setting it,
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Heya lovelies,
Apologies for the day-late decision making. I’ve been oout and aboout with my egg, enjoying our midterm break from work and school, and foolishly saved the reading until the final day of the month because I wanted to take in each piece at the same time, rather than read as submitted, and also to give everyone who could, a chance to…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Darn it! Missed it! A fab selection though.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Apologies, Knicks, I’m not going to submit anything this month – torn three ways with something that will not knit.
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly Comp – October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 9 months ago
A rhyming effort from me for this challenge
<u>All in my head</u>
Emotion, bright as a shooting star, trails across the bowl of dark-light, caught
crackling and spluttering, straining against the speckle and spackle of midnight thought.
I feel it drift, almost mutely, into a cascade of unspoken dreams, tumbling, and falling
slowly, into an…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoPlease don’t feel you have to emphasise the differentness. It was a throw-away comment about making me happy. The following remark that making me happy is not a condition of entry to the challenge was intended to say that. What should probably have put is that emphasis on difference will be great, but not emphasising it will also be…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoRe 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]
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Gosh, I had to read that last sentence twice! I’m astounded that only one of your excellent challenge stories has been accepted. Really sorry to hear that.
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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]
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Congratulations on having another story accepted. You say the anthology might be “up in the air”, so I really hope it all goes through alright.
I honestly don’t think there’s anything “dated” or “off-putting” in your stories. I’ve read several in the challenges over the years and they have all been excellent. I’m sure that if you look back at the…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoYeah. Thanks. Still pondering …
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoHow many words would it be? That said, it isn’t against the rules, and this is a challenge to produce a short story in any way you see fit as long as it fits with the theme.
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Sandra replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoInitially, absence of choices left me teetering, unsupported. lacking a direction pointer (as did the lack of a ‘final twist’ in previous years.) But it didn’t take long to seize on an idea (and even less time to feel that a mistake and subsequently suffer an alternative uncertainty of direction) Still ongoing, but that’s the nature of a ch…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoI’m interested in how people feel about the different approach this year, i.e. the absence of choices and surprises. It was something suggested to me by a group member and I thought I’d give it a go.
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I have always loved the choices and surprises – they’ve taken me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways I didn’t expect. It was always fun in the run up to the reveal and, ultimately, to see who made what of the same (or similar) choices. Last year, however, I didn’t enter the comp because one of the elements completely threw me (can’t…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 9 months ago
Fabulous competition! Hooray for all of us, especially Knicks. Thank you Sandra.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 9 months agoAll sounds promising so far.
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 9 months ago
What a productive monthly challenge ,Sandra.
Everyone of the stories so enjoyable. I’m glad it wasn’t me having to make that choice on who to pass the baton to.
Congratulations Knicks for such a great piece, and well done everyone else for their offerings too.
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I wholly agree, though in a fit of madness, I thought that an increased gathering of writers might at least get our voices heard, if not have any bearing on sales. It would be a start if some regulation was brought in regards being able to blatantly claim someone else’s work is your own – but too many influential people are on the opposing side to…[Read more]