@katemachon
Active 4 days, 17 hours ago-
Terrie replied to the topic Monthly Competition May 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Renewal Dance
Below a patchy canopy of leaves, sunlight falls in dusted shafts of light, highlighting small tufts of fluffy-winged seeds, spiralling and soaring in the breeze and somewhere, within the cool, dark, caverns of under-earth, the chime of rock, root and soil begins its soft, ceaseless, song of renewal.
Stirred from slumber beneath the…[Read more]
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Libby posted an update 1 year, 2 months ago
Among all the relentless bad news in the world, something today which made me laugh, courtesy of Tom Cox on Substack https://substack.com/@tomcox/note/c-115447202
“In 1996 two neighbours in Devon spent an entire year hooting at each other while believing they were communicating with owls.”
Is this true? Who knows. It doesn’t matter.
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Oh, but I hope it *is* true đ
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Me too! But the thought of it is enough. Or nearly enough. On the other hand anything via Tom Cox is slightly extravagant while also being delightful
https://substack.com/@tomcox/note/c-115447202
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We do need these laughs!
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition May 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Lyrical determination (thin on legend)
2001, around eleven, on the first day of May, lying on a sun-striped bed in an attic studio, John Martyn exhorted, âMay you neverâ, in a voice fluffy and worn as the sheet beneath them and a saxophone further ramped up lust while Fran Lloyd satisfactorily surrendered her virginity to Ivo Kinnersley. Ivo,…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Oh BOTHER! So sorry, Libby. I confess I found the prompt a little tricky, but I was getting the start of an idea. Then I got myself involved with something and forgot all about it.
Well done to all three entrants, especially Janette. I liked the stories very much.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Well done Janette for and Seagreen for such entertaining tales, and thank you Libby for forcing me into finding new characters to deal with this tricky prompt. I was grateful for the part played by Google.
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 2 months ago
Sandra, this is an atmospheric depiction of the personalities within a family, all so economically written. Iâd never heard of furanocoumarins. What an interesting thing to discover! You built tension with all the possible problems resulting from letting children loose in the kitchen, then there was a fine twist at the end. Very e…[Read more]
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Ten days left to enter the monthly competition for April!
Details here
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Three sleeps become one [342 words]
Odd the way memory works, Changes shape and emphasis as one grows older. For me, hearing myself  echoing my motherâs faux cheery encouragement as she told me and Robin, my brother, âSo, youâll be staying with Granny and Grandad Trent for a little while. Just three sleeps â â shocked me. That I was  âŚ. not ex…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic New novel from Kate Machon! in the forum Podium 1 year, 3 months ago
Really well deserved. I love the fact that you carried the two MCs along for ages and are reaping the rewards!
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Libby started the topic New novel from Kate Machon! in the forum Podium 1 year, 3 months ago
Here’s a chance for me to congratulate Kate, the group admin and stalwart of our SE Course Group Sept 2016, for her new novel The Ghost Orb. It’s the second book in her Pix and Gabe adventure series. I know how good it is because I was lucky enough to see it in draft đ
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Thank you, Knicks! @knickylaurelle
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
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 đ
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Libby started the topic Monthly competition April 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
I’ve taken Sandra’s brilliant prompt idea from last month and tweaked it. On a micro-fiction course some time ago, I was advised to find story prompts by combining a line of poetry with an instruction from a recipe.
For the April comp please write 400 words max of prose inspired by:
<p style=”text-align: center;”>”Suntrap bay windows”</p>
and
<p…[Read more] -
Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Thank you, Ath!
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
You may not have expected it, but you should believe it, Libby. really sharp story there.
Thanks, Sandra. I enjoyed that prompt. And thanks to all the other entrants; I really enjoyed reading through them this month.
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Thank you, @sandradavies I really didn’t expect that. The other entries were so good.
I’ll be back later with a comp for April.
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Sandra posted an update 1 year, 3 months ago
March competition winner declared, and I urge everyone to read the half dozen entries as evidence of the strength and breadth of talent in the Den, and thank Athelstone, for providing the venue.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
And, at close of play, I confess I find myself reeling at the richness of the offerings sparked by this ptompt, and rather than daunted by the necessity of choosing a winner, feeling well rewarded by the pleasures of reading them â thank you all.
<u>Terrie</u>âs single word of denial sparked instant interest, and maintained it with phrases suc…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
Of course, I felt stupid when I realised. There I was standing on the landing in shorts and tee-shirt with my apron on. âWorldâs Best Chefâ it said on the font. Katya bought it for me for Christmasâohâmust be ten years ago. Mrs. Hardcastle from number seventy was out there as well. I wonder if she thoughtâŚ
âMorning Mrs. Hardcastle. It was the gu…[Read more]
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly competition March 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 3 months ago
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 itâs way beyond midmorning, though the blackout curtain over the single window could convince him itâs the wit…[Read more]
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