Libby

  • Kate replied to the topic Monthly comp – August in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years ago

    Brilliant, two entries. Inspiration struck, John. Can’t wait to read them at the end of the month.

  • Have we ever had an entry in the form of a song before? Formatting may be a challenge, so bear with me.

    On a restroom wall in Baltimore,
    Above a broken sink,
    Someone scratched this message,
    “It’s later than you think”

    I took this simple line to heart,
    I saw that it was true,
    And built myself a sturdy boat,
    Then sailed the ocean blue.

    Time goes…[Read more]

  • Just about to lose my data connection before surrendering to the joys of wifi at sea. No inspiration here yet. The pain chocolat is good though.

  • Athelstone replied to the topic From Bloom to Blizzard in the forum Podium 7 years ago

    Absolutely stunning story – one of my favourites. Congratulations! Really well deserved.

  • John S Alty posted an update 7 years ago

    Well, Kate, you’ve got me stumped with this months competition. Still waiting for inspiration to strike.

  • JaneShuff replied to the topic From Bloom to Blizzard in the forum Podium 7 years ago

    Fabulous news. Congratulations. I loved that story.

  • Kate replied to the topic From Bloom to Blizzard in the forum Podium 7 years ago

    Congratulations, Squidge. Thinking about your story still makes me shiver.

  • I thought I would try and stick with Sandra’s successful poetical theme. Here’s a line from William Henley’s ‘Invictus’ that really resonates for me.

    ‘I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.’

    I don’t mind what sort of interpretation you put on it; that’s going to be half the fun of seeing what you all come up with.

    Let’s say…[Read more]

  • Absolutely brilliant competition, and what a crop of entries. Well done Kate – superb bit of prose – and the honourables. Looking forward to this month’s!

  • Thanks, Sandra. I wasn’t expecting that! A really fantastic prompt and so many great entries. Bear with me on coming up with something for next month as I’m helping my mother move house today.

  • Congratulations Kate!
    Well done Sandra, really good competition, thanks.

  • Really enjoyed this one and it certainly got the words flowing. Congratulations to Kate and to the honourable mentionees! And very well done Sandra.

  • Great competition Sandra! Congratulations to all the entrants! I’m looking forward to the next one.

  • Last day to get your comp entry in!

  • My activity page is now completely occupied by bots!

  • Athelstone posted an update 7 years, 1 month ago

    Feeling a bit hacked-off. Just heard that my number one choice of agent to meet at York is no longer going to be there. To be honest, she seemed like such a good fit for my writing that she was a large part of my decision to go this year. My number two choice is a perfectly nice and doubtless excellent agent, but seems interested in rather more…[Read more]

    • Sorry to hear this, Ath. Afraid I don’t know anything about Hal Duncan. I suppose that if you submit your MS to the agent at some later date, you can tell them you’d applied to meet them at York and that would catch their attention favourably.

      • Hal Duncan? Think he’s the Scottish bloke. Talks nineteen to the dozen in his sessions, but knows his stuff. Can come over a bit abrasive, and I can’t remember what he writes himself. I have a feeling it’s a bit quirky, so you might be OK with him for your non-genre stuff…?

        • Yep, just had a look at his website and it is the chap I remember. His how to write a sentence session was brilliant.

        • I had a session with Hal Duncan 2/3 years back. Not easy because he knew nothing about my genre. While his sessions were hi-speed and he promised notes (because taking them was impossible), they never materialised. I can’t find my feed-back sheet but though what little he did say was useful.

          Bummer though, big time, for you.

          My review of Vellum…[Read more]

      • That is frustrating, Athers, especially as your other options are now limited and less appealing. I did a sentence structure workshop with Hal Duncan at York years ago. I’m afraid to say I got bored because he was being too methodical (my flaw probably, not his), but that’s not to say he wouldn’t be a good fit as a Book Doctor. Looking at his w…[Read more]

        • Heyoop. Just seen I’ve been name-checked here. I do check the Den regularly but missed this. Sounds like you’ve sorted something out, At hers. Bummer though. Hope you’re not regretting coming to York. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you there.

    • Ah well, thanks all – just letting off steam. The chance to actually get read by an agent and then meet them is very different from submitting into the dark and if things go wrong it shouldn’t be just a logistical exercise to ‘fix something up’ for the unlucky delegate. I’ve seen similar things happen in previous years and the outcome is never…[Read more]

      • And the decision I made is to have a chat with a book doctor who I trust to tell me if I’m being boring, or brilliant, engaging or execrable. I’ve done a bit of research (which is a posh spin on ‘checked the internet’) about Hal Duncan. Seems to be a very fine writer and all-round star, but I’ll stick with my choice.

        • Oh no, Athers, I’d seen that one or two might have been cancelled and it sucks that one was ‘the one’ of yours. I haven’t heard anything, so presume mine are okay, but that doesn’t help you. Nor does having to pick from the remaining places available so late in the day. I really hope you get something out of coming to York and as mentioned above,…[Read more]

          • Look forward to that, Janette!

            • The same thing happened to me, Ath. The replacement agent I’ve found I don’t know at all, but she looks quite interesting.

            • I had something of a false start with my WIP. After getting 40K plus into it, I’ve restarted with a new MC (wildly different character) and a change from past to present tense. The net result is that I’m way behind where I intended to be for York. I’ve decided that if I can’t get an agent who’s a good match then I’ll try a book doctor.

            • I know all about changing tense, having changed a whole novel from first person present to third person past (and still not getting it published). One possibility at york is to go for an editor. I had a brilliant session with a commissioning editor: I didn’t expect or get a deal, but she helped me pick out underlying themes in the book. One of the…[Read more]

  • Looks like we need a bot clear-out.

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