@pinkbelt75
Active 7 months ago-
Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 7 months ago
UPDATE/ALTERNATIVE TO SEPTMBER COMP.
In view of lack of response so far, I wonder whether Tessa Hadley’s new collection, ‘After the funeral’ might be more inspiring? If so, give it a go – give them both a go if you feel so inspired – you’ve still a couple of weeks.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Substack in the forum Coffee Shop 1 year, 7 months ago
Well that’s excellent. I don’t think she’s the kind of person who makes that stuff up!
If it’s any help (it won’t be) I had good vibes from a couple of book doctor people, followed by disasters with agents. I think I picked badly.
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I think it’s hard to know how to pick well. As with Richard’s experience of agents, it seems the unadmitted part of their job description is to have narrow vision. We know they will want MSs that are often versions of what already sells but they don’t add that this discrimination can be taken to a fine degree.
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Which isn’t to deny the pressured commercial environment they work it, just that authors can be turned down for seemingly odd or circular reasons, the ‘nobody reads stories about [insert topic of novel]’ type of response.
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I think you’re right on all points. I know that it’s probably more a tendency of agents from the larger, more commercial agencies, and that it isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it’s clearly a factor. We live in a world where many shops and stores no longer choose what to stock; the algorithms determine what is or is not delivered to the shelves. So…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic Substack in the forum Coffee Shop 1 year, 7 months ago
A bit off-topic, but hey, this is the coffee shop, right?
I too have a huge amount of respect for Emma Darwin. And she gave me the happiest moment of my writing career.
The only time I went to the York Festival I (naturally, considering what I’ve just said) booked a book doctor slot with her. Mine was the first slot of the day, and as we sat…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Substack in the forum Coffee Shop 1 year, 7 months ago
Emma’s writing is just marvellous.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Thirty Days in the forum
Beta Reading 1 year, 8 months agoBrilliant. Thanks Seagreen.
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Seagreen replied to the topic Thirty Days in the forum
Beta Reading 1 year, 8 months agoMe, please ☺️
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Athelstone replied to the topic Thirty Days in the forum
Beta Reading 1 year, 8 months agoHah! That’s an interesting comparison, and thank you for it. If I assign a strangeness value (SV) of 5 to Sunken Land and, say, 8 or 9 to Viriconium, then Thirty days is mainly a 4 with the occasional 6. I am doing very different things. Thank you very much for the offer. I hope I can appeal to a wide range of readers.
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Seagreen replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Well done, Sandra, and thanks Libby for inspiring a rather fun-to-explore effort ☺️
For a variety of reasons, I never studied Shakespeare at school and had to go off and read a sonnet (or two!) to gauge the appropriate level of thees, thines and thous.
Ath and Terrie – both delicious reads!
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Athelstone posted an update 1 year, 8 months ago
Phew, after a bit of panic and faffing about with the Beta Reading group, I’ve posted a request for reading.
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Athelstone posted an update 1 year, 8 months ago
OK, I had a try at the Beta Reading group. Soon after I posted, I felt that it was too public. I didn’t want my synopsis etc on show. Temporarily I’ve made the group private while I have a think. Apologies for the confusion. Ideas welcome!
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Also, now I think about it, apologies to anybody who might have liked to try the beta reading option, but couldn’t opt to make it private like I can
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Do you actually need to provide a synopsis in a beta reading request? I would have thought a brief outline of what sort of novel it is – genre, style etc – might suffice. Then there wouldn’t be such a need for privacy.
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I think you’re right. I put the guidelines together based on a variety of sources, and a brief synopsis was a common suggestion. However, it ought to be part of the private correspondence between author and reader, not out there on the web.
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Athelstone replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Another great competition. Thanks so much Libby. Congratulations to all, especially Sandra. Very well deserved.
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Sandra posted an update 1 year, 8 months ago
September monthly competition is up. If you were alive and kicking in the Sixties, even if (shame on you) you don’t usually bother, you might find inspiration here. Each month demonstrates the benefits of stepping outside one’s comfort zone and giving it a go.
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It occurs to me that I’ve already answered that question in the ‘All You Need’ challenge. I could always try for another answer though…
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Another answer, another character or two – yes please Richard, go for it!
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Sandra started the topic Monthly competition, September 2024 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Each of the dozen short stories in A L Kennedy’s 2009 collection, entitled ‘What becomes,’ attempts to answer the question hauntingly posed by Jimmy Ruffin in 1967. I’d like to know how successfully (or otherwise) your character(s) deal with their particular situation, preferably in no more than 600 words, and no later than midnight on…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Oh heck – I never saw that coming, not among so many superb entries – thank you, Libby, for comp and comments, and thank you all for much reading awe and entertainment. I’ll aim to post September’s competition before the end of the day. [but isn’t it odd how often a last minute, popped into one’s head, final sentence seems to make what seems a d…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Don’t envy your task of choosing a winner, Libby!
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Athelstone replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
I had been thinking of writing a piece about the regular assembly of early morning imbibers near the local pier. My idea was to call it The Breakfast Club, but in deference to the competition it is as requested. Note that the language at these events is often rough. I have tamed it a bit but there may be a trace…
Shall I compare thee to a…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic August 2024 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 1 year, 8 months ago
Probably a bit aslant of what you were hoping for Libby, but is the idea that stuck
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’
I guess you had to’ve been there, because even now, months later, just thinking about it makes me smile. It was the usual semi-dormant Friday afternoon meeting, Anton, our boss, wanting us to brain-storm some sort of…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 1 year, 8 months ago
I’d be grateful for some thoughts. I read a section from my WIP at a writers’ meeting and somebody commented on the name I chose for a character aged around 40. I named the character Carol. She said that this seemed rather an odd name for somebody of that age and that if you see “Carol” you immediately assume somebody older. This hadn’t occurred…[Read more]
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As far as I’m concerned the answers to your questions are ‘No’ and ‘No.’ I had a similar experiance about ten years ago when my daughter suggested that Angela was an unlikely name for a twenty-year-old, but the character had been with me in some shape or form for years and I couldn’t imagine her being anything else, so i stuck with it. And lo and…[Read more]
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I’ve realised for a while that I’ll need to change the name of one character. I introduced her simply for a physical look and mannerisms that I could understand and write about with some realism. But the name belongs to a real person and I’m not the only one who knows her. So…
But the other name? Is my critic opinionated? I couldn’t possibly…[Read more]
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I don’t remember anyone called Carol in the 80s and my younger sister did not have any friends called Carol that I know of. However, I do not associate the name with any particular generation in the way that I would, say, Mabel or Enid or Hilda.
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I knew a couple of Carols at work, but I think they were both probably born in the 60s. I also know a Carol (as I said up there) who’s in her early 40s now, so would be around the age of my character. I suspect that the person who was so definite on associating the name with an era was extra sensitive to it because she was a Carol herself. I’ve…[Read more]
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I’m late to the conversation but I think it’s fine to have a character with an out-of-era name. The only problem I could see with a story is if all the names were old-fashioned or unusual in some way without the author giving any explanation.
Seeing Carol and Angela now, I’m struck how pretty these names are. When they were in commoner currency I…[Read more]-
As a matter of interest (or not…) my character isn’t usually referred to as Angela. It’s part of an authorial joke. I gave her that name so that she could have the nickname Jelly, with the excuse that that was how she said her name when she was learning to talk and it stuck. The girl is a head-turner, and ‘jellyroll’ (as in Jellyroll Morton,…[Read more]
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I’d better not describe the original Teabreak to you as that might break something. Personally I can’t see anything wrong with Carol for the 80s, although I might add an “e” to the end (Carole). I’d go with what you’re comfortable writing with – you can always do a global change when finished if you really want. In other news I know at least one…[Read more]
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Well, thanks for the replies. She stays as Carol, with a suitable comment or two to settle her age. I’ve given this some more thought. In the novel her age is quite clear anyway because this and her appearance are described before Teabreak gets to know her. That’s one of the possible disadvantages of offering critique (especially “definitive”…[Read more]
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Jelly Roll Blues
A century old this year
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