Den of Writers | Jim Bish | Friends Activity https://www.denofwriters.com/members/jimbish/activity/friends/ Activity feed for Jim Bish's friends. Sun, 19 Apr 2026 10:56:52 +0000 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-GB 30 hourly 2 3850471a0eed1c9e869c021e03b38ab6 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24870/#acomment-24875 Sun, 19 Oct 2025 12:59:45 +0000 I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of it, but a lot of non English language literature is not on my radar. As far as Ulysses is concerned, I can see why it is important, and I enjoyed parts of it very much, but it was a tough read because with the style constantly changing, I couldn’t settle into it the way I generally can sooner or later. Middl…[Read more]

In reply to - Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum September Song I finally managed to read Ulysses earlier this year after numerous failed attempts over several decades (Middlemarch likewise). So I’m going to m […] ]]> f3f843760978b8fb3f5e12e6b12672a8 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/chit-chat-7/#post-16974 Sat, 18 Oct 2025 17:51:30 +0000 I finally managed to read Ulysses earlier this year after numerous failed attempts over several decades (Middlemarch likewise). So I’m going to make the most of it!

]]> 9 457763a5606d3f80326529e928631fa7 Daedalus replied to the topic Choices in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/choices-7/#post-16972 Sat, 18 Oct 2025 09:55:23 +0000 Snow

Ulysses

]]> 0 e29a28d79afd6896de3386db4feb26be Daedalus joined the group September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24866/ Sat, 18 Oct 2025 09:51:38 +0000 0 105c582de3e50703971976d596f14a99 Jules replied to the topic Choices in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/choices-7/#post-16941 Sun, 12 Oct 2025 17:43:39 +0000 Rain

The Morning Gift

]]> 0 ca4b3d1236938fd132ca955ddd315615 Jules joined the group September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24811/ Sun, 12 Oct 2025 17:40:15 +0000 0 9011dbc9fb001d7b7ee856e9531c8f42 Squidge replied to the topic Choices in the forum September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/september-song/forum/topic/choices-7/#post-16939 Sat, 11 Oct 2025 10:16:59 +0000 Ice

The Lies of Locke Lamora

]]> 0 3cd2966deeceb8d97c7c2304efec1da8 Squidge joined the group September Song https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24807/ Sat, 11 Oct 2025 10:14:37 +0000 0 04022f60562a54c2645f28c4792fb827 Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competion - September 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competion-september-2023/#post-16893 Sat, 04 Oct 2025 16:34:25 +0000 Congratulations, Libby! Well and beautifully written to you and Ath too 🙂

]]> 0 729a7125ac99b1ae0dd30e4a2d477253 Knicks joined the group DONATIONS https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24706/ Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:27:39 +0000 0 b8628763c04638eb34d9a8ed1f0be540 Knicks joined the group Beta Reading https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24705/ Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:26:30 +0000 0 213340bade3f0c1d149e0e3c17049a0d Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competion - September 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competion-september-2023/#post-16849 Mon, 22 Sep 2025 02:20:21 +0000 (Untitled, 394 words)

The book was finished, the story told. But more importantly, the truth laid bare. Every pocket dimension of past trauma exorcised. Every chapter of his life stamped adult, checked as complete. Every fragment of what it meant to be human sorted and struck through.

Now was a new time. A beginning time. Time to rejoin the…[Read more]

]]> 0 07f416c3008c48e383ff97f8d2484885 Knicks changed their profile picture https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/24702/ Sun, 21 Sep 2025 21:24:05 +0000 0 f066e18a82fe0554c8056c4b91618b95 Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-march-2025/#post-16401 Thu, 03 Apr 2025 20:26:25 +0000 Thanks for the kind words, @sandradavies! I appreciate it. And congratulations to you, Libby! I enjoyed yours and every other entry coming out of this prompt. It was a good one 🙂

]]> 0 738b3be18d31e9b97566c65d965c285d Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-march-2025/#post-16374 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 23:44:48 +0000 Promise Landing

(410 words*)

The screams tear Seth like cheap paper from shallow, disturbing dreams, and he gasps awake, eyes on the living darkness that writhes, malevolent with secrets, in the corners of the room. His gut can tell it’s way beyond midmorning, though the blackout curtain over the single window could convince him it’s the wit…[Read more]

]]> 0 bcec0ece7641f46fd0c86436b6578f48 Daedalus replied to the topic The Wild West Railway in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/the-wild-west-railway/#post-16360 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:25:30 +0000 Glorious. I’ve been to that part of the world and had no idea there had been a railway there, let alone one with such a remarkable history. It’s a shame it didn’t survive long enough that the preservation movement had got going, though by the sound of things it was probably lucky that they quit while they were ahead.

]]> 0 a3aeab46a9191158cfa34e467d30c001 Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition - February 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-february-2025/#post-16304 Tue, 04 Mar 2025 19:12:43 +0000 Congratulations @sandradavies!! Well deserved!

 

I loved each dragons – real, metaphorical, and felt. This was a delicious prompt to sink teeth into. Thanks lotsly, @seagreen 🙂

]]> 0 43ffd461346371d7007b8cbb3cf11914 Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition - February 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-february-2025/#post-16270 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:05 +0000 A Draconian Call in the Dark

(400 words, excluding title)

“I don’t want anything. That’s how I survive. I will never want anything again.”

I wring my head, trying to force the memories leaking out of me back down my spine. I hate the wet upon my face, the ache in my throat, the hollow in my chest. I hate so many, many things.

“YOU WILL NEVE…[Read more]

]]> 0 af8491eb5127f91fc41a0950ace1e8ed Daedalus replied to the topic What if I'm a bad human being? in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/what-if-im-a-bad-human-being/#post-16098 Sat, 01 Feb 2025 21:19:38 +0000 Oof. Yes. Gaiman. I think a lot of people I know are particularly hurt by that one because he appeared to be a writer of such humanity. I didn’t read anything of his that I didn’t like, and connect with in some way. At first, I did allow myself to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not for very long, and I’m not sure there’s any doubt now…[Read more]

]]> 0 3f6380c1df13947a71606617409fdc8c Daedalus posted an update: Finally completed a more-or-less subbable draft of the novel […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23855/ Tue, 28 Jan 2025 17:09:41 +0000 Finally completed a more-or-less subbable draft of the novel I’ve been working on since 2013. I did the Writers’ Workshop Self Edit course using this novel in October 2014 (back in the days when I hilariously thought of it as ‘nearly finished’). Is anyone still around from that course? Anyway, it just goes to show that if you occasionally put your…[Read more]

]]> 1 4f15d363029c6bd0e03927e366ed8d5d Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23448/#acomment-23839 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 16:49:02 +0000 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]

In reply to - Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time Re absence of choices and surprises. I’m not sure really. Sometimes they’ve helped me push myself to do something dramatically different, or […] ]]> 618f4eba149932ecd9f325fc88dfa3de Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Comp - October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-comp-october-2024/#post-15798 Sat, 02 Nov 2024 04:09:29 +0000 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]

]]> 0 651ff7e9f5535117f5b712cb0cdcf211 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15724 Fri, 11 Oct 2024 15:47:39 +0000 Re 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]

]]> 3 bda107254f9992dc47e0981917789463 Barny joined the group A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23430/ Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:56:02 +0000 0 806dc0e64e774511cd8f520eefc76518 Knicks started the topic Monthly Comp - October 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-comp-october-2024/ Tue, 01 Oct 2024 23:03:19 +0000 In the tides of life rage fuels resolution, and patterns emerge from paradoxes, only for all to dissolve into their eternal ebb and flow.

Whatever these words might mean to you, whatever emotions, memories, dreams or ideals they call forth, share it with us in no more than 800 words.

]]> 0 4c6443dc58f99a996deb70cf95b7757f Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-september-2024/#post-15700 Tue, 01 Oct 2024 22:51:47 +0000 🙂 It has been a while, yes. Thank you for your flattering words, Sandra, and for trusting me with the monthly comp baton this turn around. Thank you Richard for the congrats. Well done to all! I thoroughly enjoyed each entry, lots of lovely lines and all the proper, not to mention yummy, writing I’ve missed reading around these here parts…[Read more]

]]> 0 db986d9f2629e395500b7c91da1a78c1 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15695 Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:14:48 +0000 Hope so!!

]]> 0 177e23d4f1739b3afa0591cf57bae85b Jules replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15692 Tue, 01 Oct 2024 07:57:27 +0000 Asper usual, I have no ideas at all yet. Knowing me, it’ll be something weird though ????

]]> 0 5e05a6efcbae8984b50c11251835ec32 Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/a-different-time/forum/topic/chit-chat-6/#post-15688 Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:33:51 +0000 I’ve an idea. Whether it’s a workable idea or not is another matter. Recently my life has taken a slight turn reminiscent of the film Stand By Me, and it’s kind of demanding to be written about. On the other hand, it doesn’t have an obvious narrative shape or all the checkbox things you’re supposed to include to make a story these days, and…[Read more]

]]> 0 d62525c777ac168d9dc66df094aeb804 Daedalus joined the group A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23404/ Sun, 29 Sep 2024 22:08:54 +0000 0 d8adf8d70b1e61ba9e68ee233e722e95 Jules joined the group A Different Time https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23401/ Sun, 29 Sep 2024 19:33:06 +0000 0 fa411b8ba464e059a6bd5eb913467ba9 Knicks changed their profile picture https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23352/ Sun, 22 Sep 2024 13:10:55 +0000 0 0e9c08e5ff25c6339897c8acc085712e Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-september-2024/#post-15645 Sun, 22 Sep 2024 12:45:56 +0000 **A smol warning for all the darkness most foul; my headspace is aging like fine wine, and therapy is expensive ????**
<p style=”text-align: center;”>_________________________________________________</p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”>Home</p>
There were dreams I slipped into and out of. Through their haze I saw a prince and castle, figments of…[Read more]

]]> 0 da3701e1ec2c0a7bd91cb2b32bee1d61 Knicks changed their profile picture https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/23305/ Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:47:03 +0000 0 2ccda4e1a09a9cbd4b288dc43bf1de7b Squidge posted an update: I always seem to come on here to apologize for not being […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22539/ Fri, 09 Feb 2024 09:05:58 +0000 I always seem to come on here to apologize for not being here… Suffice to say that Life is a bit complicated and sad at the mo, and I’m not at my best. When I have the head space, I’ll be back.

Power to all of your pens in the meantime though 😉

]]> 0 a354dc71f1b4e25037c56d954e3a861d Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22410/#acomment-22412 Sun, 28 Jan 2024 20:14:47 +0000 Try toggling between ‘Visual’ and ‘Text’ and pasting into it set to one then the other to see if it works better. The only other alternative is to paste it into a notepad-type app where it will clear all the formatting, and you won’t get the code, but you probably will need to go through it in the editor and manually add things like italics (and…[Read more]

In reply to - John T posted an update Anyone on here. Help. Something went wrong in the copying of my story to Whodunnit. It’s full of visible computer code. Anyone know how to cure that? ]]> e0188805c5732d243e781b4f191d3df2 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22404/#acomment-22406 Sat, 27 Jan 2024 15:15:47 +0000 Of course it does! You can’t paint a picture without setting up the easel, preparing the canvas and laying out your palette, and this is no different. Sorry to hear about the laptop

In reply to - Woolleybeans posted an update Welp, as my laptop has decided my writing since…August does not exist, I am going to start over on some stuff. Which is a good time to work on the Den challenge, because so far I have […] ]]> 5163f6439bba8a2dba843cd13b4d505e Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/22241/#acomment-22247 Mon, 18 Dec 2023 16:10:53 +0000 At the risk of inflaming any anger about this just before the season of peace and goodwill (unless you live in Gaza) here’s an article about the £billions spent on dodgy PPE from people with personal connections to the governing party https://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/michelle-mone-disease-corrupting-british-politic

In reply to - RichardB posted an update Seen by MrsB today somewhere, I believe, on Facebook: ‘We used to have empires, ruled by emperors. We used to have kingdoms, ruled by kings. Now we have a country…’ ]]> 1e74f0d8d95a456ef7615c3edd93ccfe Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14479 Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:46:05 +0000 I think for me Salter stands out because the spareness is also lyrical. I find many ‘less is more’ authors to be a bit dull, but his prose manages to be as poetic as it is simple

]]> 0 7320f9ea6ed3a3d636d26eca75daf4dd Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14470 Tue, 17 Oct 2023 15:18:30 +0000 Salter is very much a writer of men. I was somewhat horrified by his treatment of women in All There Is (although there’s always a detachment to his writing that means it’s never entirely clear who his sympathies lie with). I find his earlier work rather tighter.

]]> 0 f75c44f8132e6396c413ca19c24ccf2d Daedalus replied to the topic Influences in the forum Blogs https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/influences/#post-14449 Mon, 16 Oct 2023 22:13:20 +0000 Sandra, interesting you say that about unconscious influence from books you read years ago. I’m generally reluctant to specify my influences because I’m certain that I don’t know who all of them are. On more than one occasion I’ve reread something I read in my youth but had only the haziest memory of. And, to my horror, encountered somethi…[Read more]

]]> 0 fb2111b2b776b12ba81c37ef2172af49 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/#acomment-21993 Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:54:19 +0000 Well now I’m going to spend the next three days feeding my own work into it to see how much I sound like myself

In reply to - Daedalus posted an update And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones. ]]> a3d99b024d77cee3dc5b90bbaa4b6b91 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/#acomment-21971 Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:01:14 +0000 Japanese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles? Blimey, I knew I had to incorporate arithmetic, but that seems a bit much

In reply to - Daedalus posted an update And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones. ]]> 11cea7319ed2982d8607c6ace2391976 Daedalus posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21903/#acomment-21944 Mon, 09 Oct 2023 14:13:50 +0000 Fascinating idea. Might give that a go

In reply to - Seagreen started the topic Monthly competition – October 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition I’ve just started listening to Ken Follett on BBC Maestro, and this is (sort of) taken from a task he sets at the end o […] ]]> bc23525745a8d3ac78fd2a9aba87402e Daedalus posted an update: And don't forget people, if you say anything mean about JK […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21943/ Mon, 09 Oct 2023 14:13:07 +0000 And don’t forget people, if you say anything mean about JK Rowling, you’ll get in her bad books. The detective ones.

]]> 4 30ce3185f745658add19a556d4d44dd8 Squidge posted a new activity comment https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21903/#acomment-21916 Wed, 04 Oct 2023 13:52:19 +0000 interesting…

In reply to - Seagreen started the topic Monthly competition – October 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition I’ve just started listening to Ken Follett on BBC Maestro, and this is (sort of) taken from a task he sets at the end o […] ]]> b7ab39cab6293f7c71823ae06576dc0e Squidge replied to the topic Monthly competition - September 2023 in the forum Monthly Competition https://www.denofwriters.com/forums/topic/monthly-competition-september-2023/#post-14352 Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:58:11 +0000 Wowser…spoilt for choice! Thank you all for taking my three little words and turning them into lots of great stories. As always, the three objects were used in very different and clever ways. So…

Sandra – there’s something about a pipe-smoking detective, isn’t there? Lovely piece, with the rat almost in the trap until the detective took his…[Read more]

]]> 1 6685c783efdfde5dfe843c1827a9c6bc Squidge posted an update: aaargh! Apologies, such a busy day at church yesterday, […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21891/ Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:40:15 +0000 aaargh! Apologies, such a busy day at church yesterday, totally forgot I needed to judge the comp! Am on it now…

]]> 0 1c9e364c9133744a6e93dd365a797715 Squidge posted an update: Only a few days left to get something into the monthly […] https://www.denofwriters.com/activity/p/21871/ Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:20:55 +0000 Only a few days left to get something into the monthly comp… Looking forward to reading the entries!

]]> 0 c02a1244c454263a2ed4977f29b65b4e Barny replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum Whodunnit? https://www.denofwriters.com/groups/whodunnit/forum/topic/chit-chat-5/#post-14260 Thu, 07 Sep 2023 19:49:38 +0000 The feeling is mutual.

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