@sandradavies
Active 2 days, 15 hours ago-
Knicks replied to the topic The Future of the Den (again) in the forum Blogs 3 years, 10 months ago
I agree that, as a place where we can meet to chat (ever so sporadically) and have monthly (great for writing practice) and especially annual competitions, it would be absolutely sad to see The Den dissolve due to the lack of activity. I don’t think the work anyone has put in should go to waste.
The implemented suggestions have been fun,…[Read more]
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Bella replied to the topic The Future of the Den (again) in the forum Blogs 3 years, 10 months ago
My participation is very sporadic, although I do actually pop in here most days and read what’s been written. I’m glad it can continue, at least for now. I would miss it if it went.
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Athelstone started the topic The Future of the Den (again) in the forum Blogs 3 years, 10 months ago
Well, here we are again.
Many, if not most of the suggestions from my last blog on the topic, have been implemented. We appear to have settled into a low to medium run of activity. For instance, over the last couple of months we have had around 100 posts of various sorts and 16 members have logged in.
Do we continue?
The short answer is ‘yes’,…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Comp – June 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 10 months ago
Darn it! Sorry Knicks. It’s a great theme and I meant to have a go, but things just got away from me this month 🙁
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Athelstone posted an update 3 years, 11 months ago
Den people, writers, denizens, does anybody know how much it cost in subs to be a scout (in the UK) in the early 1990s?
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I know somebody who might know if you are still trying to find an answer. Would you like me to ask?
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I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble, but if it’s easy to ask then I’d be grateful. My MC is recounting a time when his foster-mother gave him subs to go to scout meetings, but he stole the money. This would be around 1991. I’d like to be able to say what he used it for.
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I did ask MrsB, who used to be a Beaver Scout Leader, and she said there was no set amount handed down from above (that is, the Scouting Association) but that each group decided how much to charge, so you’ve got some latitude. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember how much her own group used to charge thirty years ago.
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Thanks Richard. Yes, thinking back to my brief spell as a scout, a couple of years in the mid-60s, I vaguely recall differing amounts depending on what activities were planned. I did suspect that it might vary from troup to troup, particularly as some are linked to schools and other organisations.
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My friend was a scout leader at the time but not involved with the finances. He reckons he knows someone who will know and is asking. Will pass on any further info I get.
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Thanks Bella
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Only just seen this. My family was involved in the scouts from the mid 80s to date, and my dad was group scout leader of the 4th Dovercourt during the 90s. I’ll ask him if you like, though I can’t say if he’ll remember or not
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Thanks, daeds. As with Bella, I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out for this. I can always “write around” the point.
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Fwiw I just spoke to my mum, who was also a leader, who thinks that by that time subs were collected annually rather than per meeting, and that it would have been about £50. I get the impression that before that it would be a case of a parent or guardian handing over 50p or a quid when they dropped off the child at the beginning of the meeting,…[Read more]
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Knicks started the topic Monthly Comp – June 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Ohai! Okay, for June’s prompt I’d like you to consider your emotional landscape. What is the most constant and persistent feeling that rears its head on the horizon of you, lately? What calls to it? For what resolution does it come seeking?
In no more than 500 words, paint a portrait exploring this pervasive emotion. Your entry can either be…[Read more]
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Awww, thanks @seagreen! I enjoyed writing this piece very much, and it is a very personal one to me. Just an anticipatory imagining of a band festival I attended quite recently, and how I wanted it to go. It went even better than what I wrote 🙂 haha
I too went on a Google search over @alex‘s piece, for the exact same reason 😄😄 It’s too funny you…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Well done all of us, especially Knicky. A great read. And well, done Seagreen. Worth waiting for.
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Seagreen replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Apologies for the lateness of these results. You won’t believe how hard it’s been these past few days to find time to settle down with a cup of tea and a clear mind to give your entries the attention they deserve.
@Sandra – No worries. If you’re in the zone with ‘Mercy’, you’re in the zone.
@Knickylaurelle – This sparked with energy. Loved ‘…[Read more]
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Seagreen replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Sorry, all. The day has not gone to plan. I’ll try to get a look at your wonderful entries later tonight 👍
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Athelstone replied to the topic New short story competition from former Cloudie in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 3 years, 11 months ago
Wow! Looks interesting. Thanks Daeds.
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Daedalus started the topic New short story competition from former Cloudie in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 3 years, 11 months ago
Some of you may remember Catherine Assheton-Stones, a Self-Edit course veteran and former Cloudie (going by the handle Catasshe). Catherine has just launched a new short story competition. There are really generous cash prizes for the winner and runners up so it’s well worth a punt.
- <p class=”font_9″>Open to all writers, anywhere in the…
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 years, 11 months ago
Under the Yoke
The security guard didn’t notice the elderly woman by the checkout. She noticed him. She noticed as his arm shot out, shielding the aisle so that the distinguished visitor could walk by unimpeded. The distinguished visitor, his blond hair carefully disarranged, smirked as his eyes slid, unseeing, across her face. He had come for t…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Microfiction published in the forum Coffee Shop 4 years ago
Fine writing. Compact and perfect!
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years ago
[TW for an F-Bomb 💣]
And Your Flesh Shall Be A Wild Night and A New Road
The wild scream of the guitar ripped down his spine, surging like power in his veins. Dominion, utter and absolute electricity, was what their music held over the night.
. . . 1984.
That was the last time he saw her, and all he could recall were a few, sparse details of…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years ago
The trouble is, it’s easy to get used to odd phrasing or vocabulary when I’ve produced it myself.
There’s definitely something in that. It’s a similar issue to writing something which doesn’t make sense on its own because you know all the back story that your audience is missing. You know what a turn of phrase means and it’s something of a sur…[Read more]
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Knicks replied to the topic Monthly Competition- May 2022 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 years ago
I’m emotionally excited over this!! haha. We’ll see what I get up to 😊✨
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Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years ago
Re the bee in your bonnet. My comments about commas were not directed at you. Commas are wonderfully useful and under-used.
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Athelstone replied to the topic It sounds wrong. But is that enough? in the forum Blogs 4 years ago
No, I don’t worry too much about rules. Most of the rules are inventions of over-educated elites designed to reinforce the idea that how the aristocracy spoke and wrote was the correct way*. That’s how we end up with such nonsense as split-infinitives and pointless debates about whether there should be a comma prior to and in a list. Seeing as…[Read more]
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