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JaneShuff replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 6 months ago
Interesting. I would have said it is perfectly acceptable to use contractions such as I’m, He’d, don’t etc in narrative writing. In fact I think it’s fine to use anything you want provided it doesn’t obscure the meaning. It’s all down to what the voice and style require.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Good news on the lyric writing front in the forum Podium 5 years, 6 months ago
That is amazing news. Well done, indeed!
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Thank you, Ath
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Squidge replied to the topic Good news on the lyric writing front in the forum Podium 5 years, 6 months ago
Congratulations! Fab news!
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Good news on the lyric writing front in the forum Podium 5 years, 6 months ago
Wow! Congratulations! Where can we read it?
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Should be here:
https://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk/later-than-you-think.html-
Beautiful, John. I can hear it. Where do you go from here with it?
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Collaboration. Either someone wanting to produce this song, or one of my others, or wants me to write something to a specific melody. We’ll see! Elton John hasn’t called yet – must be busy.
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and I’ve just bumped in!! Hooray, now for the reading 😅
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Daedalus posted an update 5 years, 6 months ago
Cutting a story down from 3800 to 2800… Got to 3200 and now every word removed feels like a fingernail
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Keep going, Daeds. And good luck!
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Thanks @libby! 209 to go
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Oh no, @daedalus, we’re not going to be haunted by all the babies murdered, are we? 😀
Seriously, good luck with that. If anyone can, you can.-
Thanks! It’s looking pretty sparse, I can tell you
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59 for me.
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And I just happen to be reading a book about writing titled “Murder Your Darlings.” 🙂
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Sounds like fate to me. Keep slaying 🙂
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I have allowed myself one darling to remain. The rest have been butchered
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I started out at 900 words over, Daedalus, but persevered and think my cut down version is stronger. Funny how that can happen. Good luck with losing those final few hundred words.
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All of you! Save those precious babes and enter them in the Monthy Comp!
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Often that is the case, but in this case the original version was fairly tight, and there was no real way to lose length other than salami slicing. Ah well
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Athelstone started the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 6 months ago
Can’t believe it’s February already. To quote Don McLean, February made me shiver. Cold, love, anger, heat, fear, excitement, illness, happiness – 400 words maximum on absolutely anything that caused a shiver one February.
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Ooh, thank you, Ath – you’ve enabled me to tackle another tricky scene.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 6 months ago
A small field but some fab entries and I’m very happy to be picked!
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Squidge posted an update 5 years, 6 months ago
My Bump story’s up at last. Been pondering it for weeks, with no real ideas coming together, then it all came through in a rush this weekend. Phew.
(Loved reading the other stories that’ve been posted. I never start on them til I’ve posted my own…)
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Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 6 months ago
A MESSAGE FOR ALL “THINGS THAT GO BUMP” ESSAYERS. There is an update in the group’s activity stream.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 7 months ago
Occasional rough language
Prat’s Key Wood
Prat’s Key Wood was as old as the hills. No, really.
Well, seeing as the hills are billions of years old and forged in the countless aeons before organic life, that’s a stretch. But, I mean 1) it was ancient to the max and 2) it took Jacko and a team of ten, and a bulldozer, and chainsaws, just one…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 7 months ago
Is it just me, or is the commercially produced garlic from supermarkets and greengrocers feeble old shite compared to the stuff I cooked with a few years back? I’ll swear it used to have some bite and tang to it, but these days I could stick whole bulbs in and hardly taste it. Going to try growing a few different types.
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No it’s not just you! Supermarket garlic tastes quite bland compared to the stuff I’ve cooked with while self-catering in France – though our local farm shop sometimes has decent bulbs.
Sounds a great idea to try growing it yourself.-
Definitely true. The garlic in the box I get from the organic farmer in the next village is ten times tastier than supermarket stuff.
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I agree. It has gone the way of so many other foods, so bland when mass produced. My France holiday (a distant memory) showed just how much.
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One of the first and most obvious changes is that after preparing a meal with garlic I’d have to scrub away at my hands for a good ten minutes and they’d still be poor company next day. These days a quick rinse is all that’s needed.
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JaneShuff posted an update 5 years, 7 months ago
Posting this on the off chance someone can help. I’m planning my next book, part of which will be set in a camp for refugees and immigrants – very similar to the camp on Lesbos in Greece. I need to do some research into the conditions in the Greek camps and how they operates and also get some sense of the refugees’ different stories. I’ve found an…[Read more]
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Might be worth looking at Medecine Sans Frontier websites etc. They do a lot of work in the Med with the migrants, so there might be things via them?
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JaneShuff posted an update 5 years, 7 months ago
Congratulations to all for the great bunch of entries! And A Happy New Year!!
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly comp: December 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 7 months ago
A very happy new year to all Denizens! The advent competition didn’t have 25 entries as I hoped, but by way of compensation, those that were submitted are all gems that I would be happy to find behind a calendar window.
Janette: A New Opening
A truly positive response to the Covid restrictions. This was beautifully written with a powerful feeling…[Read more] -
Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 7 months ago
Are there any more takers for the last monthly competition, in the final hours of the year? We have three super entries so far, but room for more.
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Mad Iguana replied to the topic Indie publishing deal in the forum Podium 5 years, 8 months ago
I’ve said it elsewhere, but I think it’s OK to congratulate a person more than once, isn’t it?
Congratulations Jane! Over the (edge) (of the) moon for you, if that’s not too tortured an attempted pun (I know it is).
Can’t wait to read your published work.-
Thank you. Despite the pun! Actually I am in the market for phrases using the word “edge” for the title of the next one!!
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Don’t tempt me. I could be making up puns for the rest of the year.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Traditional or Self-Publishing? in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 8 months ago
@dougk if you’d like an alternative to a sedative, you can read the exhaustive cautionary tale of my small press experience here https://airandseastories.com/2019/01/30/my-publishing-nightmare-the-story-of-a-book-deal-gone-bad-part-1/
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Traditional or Self-Publishing? in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 8 months ago
Good article @dougk.
For anyone looking to submit to Indie Presses in the UK and Ireland, the Indie Press Guide produced by Mslexia is a good place to start. Also, if you don’t have an agent to check a contract for you, the Society of Authors in the UK will check it at no charge. I’ve found them VERY thorough!
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Indie publishing deal in the forum Podium 5 years, 8 months ago
Thank you @athelstone @janette @raine @thea @libby @sandradavies.
Verve are a small imprint of an indie press so there’ll be no books on shelves in Waterstones but they’re lovely people and the fit feels so right. The indie press route has worked very well for me and is well worth a try. They’re often more open to books that don’t quite fit into…[Read more]
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Aha, Jesmond. My brother lived there in the early/mid 70s. Lily Avenue. I visited a couple of times. Don’t remember much about it – but we were young.
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We moved away when I was three so I remember nothing!
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