@katemachon
Active 1 day, 9 hours ago-
Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition April 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 day, 12 hours ago
Untitled
‘Gobsmacked’ the inelegant word that came to mind when I read the letter. What else would you expect , being told your three year-old daughter’s poem had been awarded first prize ? A prize which earned her up to three sittings with well-renowned portrait artist Bernard Broom. Especially when I’d not an inkling she’d written any…[Read more]
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Terrie started the topic Monthly Competition April 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
I decided not to go with the traditional kinds of prompts associated with April and simply picked four words at random that must be included in your comp entry about anything in any genre that inspires your creative preference in 450 words or less.
The four words are :- Portrait Ignite Butterfly & Granite
 …[Read more]
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Thank you for helping out here Janette, and thank for choosing my offereing as winner. I felt all the entries captured Ath’s remit for this March madness comp so well done Jill, Sandra,Libby and Sea.
The April comp challenge will be posted shortly .
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Congratulations, Terrie! What a wonderful story. Loved it.
Thank you, Janette, for stepping in. Btw does Ath know he doesn’t have to worry about judging?
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Thank you Janette – you did us proud with thoughtful comments, and well done for every other entry, all of which fitted the remit much more closely than my hastily-grabbed from a long-ago hidden in the drawer novel.
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Thank you, Janette!
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Janette has kindly volunteered !!
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
That’s a great shame. All best wishes to Ath.
How about finding another judge?
Could anyone else reading this be willing to judge the comp? Five delightful entries. Then the winner can set the April comp.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 week, 6 days ago
Having heard Athelstone indisposed again, it’s unlikely he’ll be be judging this any time soon
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 2 weeks, 1 day ago
Running
499 words
My sister’s boyfriend dumped her so she booked a day at a willow-weaving workshop – in the countryside, calming and therapeutic. She’d make a sculpture of a hare though she’d never seen one in real life. Ironic, I thought, as she’d never seen herself either.
I admit the dumping had been nasty. Sis waiting to meet the…[Read more]
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 weeks, 5 days ago
You asked for mad? Well, here’s the slice of crackpot absurdity I came up with .
The necklace of tiny silver bells about her neck tinkled softly as she backed against the garden wall. ‘You’re all mad, you know,’ she muttered holding the sharp seed dibber, labelled ‘Mr Pointy’, like a knife at the advancing crowd.
At the front of the group,…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 1 week ago
Not yet mad enough …
Wine-heavy eyes and naked, she was cleaning her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror when he came in through the door behind her. He stood behind her, serious-faced, saying nothing, but unignorably attentive. She finished brushing. Spat, rinsed and spat a couple more times then put the toothbrush back in the glass on…[Read more]
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Athelstone started the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
In March it seems that hares go mad. They chase each other, jump and frolic, even have boxing matches. For March, somebody has done/is doing/will do something mad. It might be you, or not – whatever you wish. 500 words maximum please before midnight on 31 March.
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Athelstone replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Thank you for such a satisfactory February topic, Libby, and for your generous appraisal! I loved the other two entries; they could easily have won.
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Sandra replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Congratulations, Ath – more Teabreak always welcome, and well done Jill for so richly regarding the rules. Thanks Libby for appreciating my desire to take part, but this extract the only one I could recall which specifically mentioned ‘loving’
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Libby replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
The February comp has drawn a delightful selection of stories.
@jillsted Jill, you do an evocative encapsulation of Isabel’s memories of different kinds of love. Her memories are compelling, a sense of her moving through a full life. The ending has a twist, if I’ve read it correctly, that adds a shiver to the story, a question of whether Lydia’s…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Teabreak in love
Maureen Chapman. No, tell a lie, it was Chaplain, like a vicar. Her name, I mean—she wasn’t like a vicar. Anyway, Maureen Chaplain was perfect from my ten-year-old point of view. But I’m getting all jumbled up about how to start, so I’ll take a breath. See, it really began when the Brazells moved out from next door and the Cha…[Read more]
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Libby replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Amid the excitement of the annual Den Challenge there’s also the February monthly comp!! A reminder that there are two days left to enter. Max of 400 words on the theme of love.
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So sorry, Libby, that I simply haven’t found the time to fit in the comp yet. There is a crazy amount of things going on for me atm, some of which will become apparent soon.
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Hi @Janette Thanks for your note. No need to apologise. I’m intrigued about what news may be coming up!
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Sandra replied to the topic February 2026 Monthly Competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 3 weeks ago
‘Snap’ snippet
From the steps of Leith’s registry Office, exceeding the word count and containing expletives, but the best I can do given other demands.
Then, hand in hand, another looking-to-be-wed couple arrived from the rear carpark. On foot and windblown, Well-matched in the scruffiness of their clothes. Even earlier for their ceremony th…[Read more]
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