Kate Hudson

One issue I can foresee with moving the competition here is that when it closes for entries, we may well have entrants who do not wish to join another forum in order to participate. Also, I don’t have a way to contact all members except via the Cloud should it go toes skywards. I think I will be backing up topics and the wall as we go along once…[Read more]

I always approach a new blog from you, Richard, with a feeling of anticipated pleasure. I am never let down.

Presumably we’ll shift the challenge over to here if the Cloud breaks. It often doesn’t load for me at all, particularly if I try to go onto the notifications page.

I found the Cloud has been slower and more erratic than ever over last few days. Could be coincidental or coukd be increased activity I guess. Suggest that everyone keeps a record of their choices and the story when it comes to it, just in case.

Also while keeping an open mind to the feedback you receive, don’t forget you’re in charge and you can ‘Accept, adapt, reject’. You don’t have to take on board all advice you’re given and the best way to decide what is and isn’t useful is to read feedback and then give yourself time to think about it, coming back to it after a little break with a…[Read more]

It’s worth reminding ourselves here of Neil Gaiman’s famous quote:

‘When someone tells you something isn’t working, they are nearly always right. When they tell you how to fix it, they are nearly always wrong.’

Yes, there wasn’t much fantasy being written then, certainly not on the industrial scale we have today.

Obscure though Cabell is to the reading public, he has been quite influential in his genre. He nfluenced later writers of humorous fantasy like Jack Vance and Fritz Leiber, whose stories also feature protagonists who fall some way short of…[Read more]

Yes. It’s one of the little snarls to be untangled – that sticky topics show in a sub forum even though they are located in a separate forum.

I see the lifeboat FAQ and the house rules thread as well as this topic and the creitique FAQ

Yes. Excellent point, Squidge. When monkeying around with someone else’s work, it’s important to always remember that your ideas and the author’s ideas may not mesh. Any rewriting should be done sparingly, strictly as an example (unless the author requests otherwise) and the power should always be returned to the author when you’ve finished.

Thank you for this, Richard. I enjoyed reading about Cabell, who I’d never heard of. You convey a great flavour of the man and his writing. He doesn’t sound like my cup of tea tbh. I hope you’re going to post some more literary byways and also more of your railway and suchlike stories…

There’s this topic and a sticky FAQ page which is closed to comments, Barny. Otherwise it looks fine in my browser.

Hi Laure. please forgive me if I sound silly aking this question, but should I know you from the Word Cloud?