Friends – Activity – Emma Robinson

Libby replied to the topic Drink with a dead man in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

Congratulations, Sandra!

Kate replied to the topic Drink with a dead man in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

This is fab, Sandra. Congratulations.

Libby replied to the topic What if I'm a bad human being? in the forum Blogs 5 years, 2 months ago

Re the intentional fallacy, that’s an illustration of how many things which used not have an ethical dimension now do so, or do so more than they did before. Food shopping is another example.

But back to literature, I recently discovered the Literary Friction podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/literary-friction/id1000387053

I…[Read more]

Libby replied 5 years, 2 months ago

Ooh, another message I wrote some time ago 🙂

Libby replied to the topic Cover reveal for This Is Our Undoing in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

Gosh, that Mrs D cover is ghastly. And not very helpful.

Libby replied to the topic Cover reveal for This Is Our Undoing in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

This is a fabulous cover @raine Classy and enticing.

Apologies, I thought I’d replied when I first saw it but obviously I hadn’t 🙁

Libby started the topic Book shops in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

With apologies for starting a coronovirus thread but UK bookshops are really starting to struggle as their wholesalers have difficulty in supplying them due to coronovirus. This article explains https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/03/booksellers-struggle-with-lack-of-new-stock-amid-covid-19-crisis-coronavirus
Readers can help by ordering…[Read more]

Squidge replied to the topic Cover reveal for This Is Our Undoing in the forum Podium 5 years, 2 months ago

Stunning, Raine.

Kate started the topic Short story in the forum Podium 5 years, 3 months ago

If anyone would like to read my HWA longlisted short story, it is now available in Sundial magazine at the below link. A Viking romp that I hope you will enjoy.

https://sites.google.com/view/sundial-magazine/short-stories/when-the-gods-laugh

Libby replied 5 years, 3 months ago

Congratulations, @katemachon . Sundial has done a super job with the layout and presentation. What a fabulous picture.
Well done.
- Kate replied 5 years, 3 months ago
  
  Thanks, Libby. I’m impressed with their attention to detail.
Sandra replied 5 years, 3 months ago

A Viking romp remembered and very much enjoyed again, and the picture beautifully matched.
- Kate replied 5 years, 3 months ago
  
  Thanks,Sandra.
JaneShuff replied 5 years, 3 months ago

Great storytelling Kate, and I didn’t know you lived in Jersey!
- Kate replied 5 years, 3 months ago
  
  Thanks, Jane. Not a Jersey girl, but been here 30 years. Are you a Channel Islander? Not a Guernsey girl, I hope. 😀
  - JaneShuff replied 5 years, 3 months ago
    
    No. I am in France just down the coast in Brittany but keep on planning to visit with a friend who lives in Normandy
    - Kate replied 5 years, 3 months ago
      
      We used to like hopping across to St Malo.

John S Alty replied to the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago

Well done, Janette!

Libby replied to the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago

Congratulations, @janette . Two shivers for the price of one. A very enjoyable story.

Janette replied 5 years, 3 months ago

Thank you, Libby x

Squidge replied to the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago

Well done Janette!

@Athelstone – yup. Rocky Horror Show at The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton whilst at uni. And then at The Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, when we were in a minority dressed up, and me and Mr Squidge got into the local paper cos the reporter wanted to know what made people dress up that way to watch a show. (We were dressed as…[Read more]

Janette replied 5 years, 3 months ago

Rocky Horror’s a hoot, isn’t it? Might have to go again.

Squidge replied to the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago

Just Another Night at the Theatre.

Suspenders. Check.
Stockings. Check.
Corset and lacy panties. Check.
Stilettos.Check.
Pearl necklace. Make up to die for. Check.
Lab coat. Check.
Rubber gloves. Check.
Rice, torch, water pistol, newspaper, confetti, party hat, rubber gloves. Check.
Sense of humour. Check.
Willingness to participate.…[Read more]

Squidge replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

Oh – and contractions? Bunkum! If you have a distinctly voiced character, they will ‘think’ and describe in contractions just as much as they use them in dialogue. I’d have no luck with this editor cos I often write voice with contractions…makes it more real to me as the writer, and immerses the reader in the story, in my experience.

Squidge replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

Is it worth having a look at how you’ve used ‘I’, Doug? If you’re using it frequently, then yes, definitely worth looking up psychic distance. There’s a big difference between ‘I sit at the table near the window. Outside, I see a man fighting to keep his brolly up in the wind and rain’, and ‘I sit at the table near the window and watch the man…[Read more]

Kate replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

I write in first person a lot and the overuse of I was something that was pointed out to me early on. The writing can end up feeling like a list of stage directions. I have found that the gymnastics you have to go through to avoid overuse does what Libby mentions and moves you closer into the character’s head as well as adding voice. As Richard…[Read more]

Libby replied 5 years, 3 months ago

Yep, contraction comment. WTF.

Libby replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

Oh, it has worked!

I’ll go back to my quill and parchment.

Libby replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

Thanks, Richard. I tried to copy the link first of all and couldn’t make it work. Thank you for a working link to Emma Darwin.

BTW have you seen this on the BBC news website today?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55937512

Blast, link not working. BBC news website, go to the Wales tab. “Station reopening at Bow Street brings first trains for…[Read more]

Libby replied to the topic Comments from an Editor in the forum Blogs 5 years, 3 months ago

As Richard says, this is seems more about style, and a rigid editor, than about the rich possibilities of first-person narrators.

I’m the first to agree that repetition of ‘I’ can be a problem, just as repetition of any word can trip up the reader. And the over-repeated ‘I’ can be hard to get rid of, as I know from my own efforts.

It can also…[Read more]

Squidge replied to the topic Good news on the lyric writing front in the forum Podium 5 years, 4 months ago

Congratulations! Fab news!

@emmarobinson