@katemachon
Active 2 days, 19 hours ago-
Knicks replied to the topic How to reach out to a speculative fiction editor? in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 4 years, 1 month ago
Thank you both, @richardb and @katemachon; Kate, the info on your process, experience and end results was especially illuminating. Thanks so much! ✨
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Libby posted a new activity comment 4 years, 5 months ago
Thanks, Kate! @katemachon
And thanks, Ath! @athelstone -
Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition – January 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years, 8 months ago
Ohai, just had my read-through. January’s entries were really eclectic, both funny and relatable.
@quellomayo – Gripping and amusing in equal measure; this wasn’t one that I’d read normally but having done, I wanted to read more. Fun stuff.
@sandradavies – Definitely en route to overcoming an adversary we can all relate to being plague by in…[Read more]
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Raine replied to the topic Short story in the forum Podium 5 years, 7 months ago
Oh well done @katemachon! It’s a great wee story. 🙂
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Thanks, Raine. Pleased you enjoyed.
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Libby posted a new activity comment 5 years, 7 months ago
Congratulations, @katemachon . Sundial has done a super job with the layout and presentation. What a fabulous picture.
Well done.-
Thanks, Libby. I’m impressed with their attention to detail.
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 8 months ago
What a tantalising range of stories and good use of the prompts. The standard is so high, and having a small number of entries paradoxically doesn’t make it any easier! In all of them I particularly enjoyed the voices both in the dialogue and the narration. I know Sandra’s piece is an excerpt from a longer work and Ath’s and Kate’s could be comp…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted a new activity comment 6 years, 4 months ago
@katemachon you could do worse than start with ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ which is a full novel but at 27,000 words, definitely more novella length as things are reckoned these days – and a short(ish) one at that.
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Thanks, Ath. I’ll give it a try.
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MCave posted a new activity comment 6 years, 5 months ago
Thanks @katemachon. I’d be happy to. I just didn’t want to presume people had time, as I’m new! How do people usually do it? A chapter? Or a synopsis and a chapter?
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Maybe post them separately for focused feedback. I’ll look forward to reading.
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Giselle posted an update 6 years, 6 months ago
@katemachon, Thank you! It’s great to see you. It was an exciting moment. I belong to a pre-history association, and am tempted to ask them if they can date it. What’s amazing is that all those tools are buried in the sand, then uncovered, as the dunes shift with the wind. What are the chances that that particular scraper would be temporarily…[Read more]
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Skara Brae, also uncovered having been buried in the sand (though a very different climate!) has similar tools, which one used to be allowed to handle – Your vivid description brought that 1980s pleasure back to me – thank you.
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Thank you for your mention of Skara Brae, Sandra. A new prehistoric site for me to add to the ever-growing bucket list. There’s something about these ancient dwellings that stikes a primordial nerve. 🙂
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Giselle, be warned – Orkney is dangerously addictive! We first went there in 1981 and this is the first year we’ve missed (not as it happened because of Covid19) There are SO MANY sites there, and heavily influenced the printmaking I was doing at the time .
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Great to ‘see’ you too @giselle. I love that feeling of time and serendipity. Mind boggling indeed. I’ve been quite interested in flint knapping since reading the Clan of the Cave Bear series. The author goes into the method in quite some detail. I have a flint blade on my mantle piece. Not old but from a knapping demo. Incredibly sharp and I use…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
Hi @katemachon, just got to this. I love the voice! I do agree about paring down the descriptions, making them part of the action as much as possible. And yes, you need to give us a reason to be on Ariadne’s side – give us her motivations, what she wants, what she fears.
I would also warn against overthinking the whole positioning of it,…[Read more]
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Elle replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years ago
That looks amazing, congratulations @katemachon !
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Elle replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 1 month ago
Thanks @janeshuff & @katemachon !
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Raine replied to the topic DIY soapbox in the forum Podium 7 years, 1 month ago
@katemachon 😀
@sandradavies yes, that one works better ta! Enjoy the whisky! -
GippsGirl posted an update 7 years, 3 months ago
@katemachon
Adored your competition entry, Kate! Second person worked so well, and in such few words you’ve conveyed perfectly that false sense of security. The last line was a stunner.-
Thanks, Gipps. 😀
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Good one, Kate.
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Thanks, John. There are a lot of really cracking entries this month. A great prompt from Sandra.
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 6 months ago
The wall or one’s head, @katemachon?!
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Elle replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Thanks @katemachon and @raine.
I have no idea when the shortlist will be announced. I didn’t even know the longlist was out until I saw someone twitting about it! There are so many great and experienced writers on that list I’m really chuffed I made it that far.
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Raine replied to the topic Some notes on Dara Marks' Transformational Arc in the forum Blogs 8 years ago
@katemachon glad it makes some sense & hope it’s helpful! 🙂
@philippaeast that’s so interesting. The thing that’s always drawn me to this model is how it really explores the psychology of the character and how that drives their interactions with the external world. BUt I’d never made the comparison between that and things like the stages of…[Read more]