Jonathan

Thank you for the link, Richard! 😊✨

Not bad at all!

Congrats to the long and shortlistees! I’ve only just noticed that my story was on the longlist – as I’d already resigned myself to not being listed, missing out on the shortlist does not come as a blow, but I’m delighted for Richard and Kate, best of luck to both of you!

Sorry for delay in replying to your very interesting thoughts @libby, but I’ve been neck deep in work lately.

Re modernists etc using the techniques and ideas of psychic distance before Gardner codified it. Yes, absolutely, a large measure of what he was doing was identifying techniques that were already out there. I would suggest that his…[Read more]

<p>Congratulations @Alex!! 🥳🥳</p><p>I too am a fan of the penny-brown eyes. Well done, you 😃</p><p>Also another stunner from Ath; Top-shelf characterization in a small pinch of words. #howdoeshedoit </p><p>Sandra, this was a marvellous prompt and I fully enjoyed it! Can’t wait to see what Alex comes up with, for August :)…[Read more]

Only three entries depicting Andrew’s possible future, but each of a quality and breadth of imagination that makes the judging, the choosing of a “winner” extremely difficult.
Knicks opening sentence an instant hook, her choice of verbs ¬– “breathing hitched”, corner of mouth “kicked up” – is inspirational, and Andrew initially appears to have co…[Read more]

I like Discord for all those reasons too @raine.

It may well and best suit the members who will show up there, and couldn’t there be an influx of new writerly blood from the different tags we use on open channels?

Sorry Sandra, I copied it in from my phone and forgot the ever-imperative word count: 500 words excluding the title.

Just realised, quite a few of my Challenge stories are written in first person present. I think to give myself an extra treat!!Would definitely deny they are static!

Brief, and not necessarily well-thought out reply, (nor am I 100% I’ve got the terminology right), but Elly Griffith’s ‘Ruth Galloway ‘ series is told in present tense, with sentences/Pov  as “Ruth watches as C and C get into the Rolls” (second person??) Every time I start a new one I think “Oh no, forgot how much I dislike this” then very…[Read more]

<p style=”text-align: center;”>THE LIBRARIAN</p>
“Come here.”

Mayrie tensed at the grave, inscrutable timbre of his voice. Some would call it a salt-of-the-earth voice but she was under no illusion about the nature of the man seated before her. The slight narrowing of her eyes all but said, if it’s just the same to you Guv, I think I’d rather…[Read more]

Very true. There are precious few lighter moments. Mind you, he’s not quite the worst author I know for that. Not exactly fantasy (although he did write a collaborative series with Terry Pratchett), Stephen Baxter has the habit of making you identify with and root for particular characters, and then watch as their responses to ever tougher…[Read more]

@woolleybeans wrote: “For me, that aspect [the defining factor of PD] was/is the level to which the POV character’s thoughts, feelings etc influence/become part of the writing style itself.

As for how that correlates to film/TV…

The saturation of colours? Whether the shot angles up through something? The somewhat cliché blurry/wobbly scen…[Read more]

You’re probably right re urban fantasy, I have a rather vague grasp on the various subgenres, and that’s when authors oblige and ensure that their work falls squarely within one category. I have no idea where to put China Mieville’s Bas-Lag novels, and I suspect he likes it that way. They have the epic sweep and complex magical systems of high…[Read more]

Thank you for this Richard, on the strength of which I’ve just recommended it to my daughter.