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Libby replied to the topic November 2025 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 4 months, 3 weeks ago
You asked for a heart-warming tale, Terrie, but my story, after I started it and got stuck, became the opposite. You’re welcome to disqualify it or not read it at all.
Content warning: includes postnatal depression
499 words including title
I Lied When I Said My Daughter Lived Abroad
After that walk up and down a steep crag, I sat beside t…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic November 2025 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Sorry, Terrie, no way do I have head space to do anything for this. Will aim to Do Better next time
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Terrie replied to the topic November 2025 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months ago
I expect lots of you, like me, are creating and drafting exciting entries for the September Song competition but dont forget there are only fourteen days until the monthly (November ) competition closes and i’m looking forward to reading your entries for that too .
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Athelstone posted an update 5 months, 1 week ago
I’ve added a few pieces to the Profile settings. The new entries are all entirely optional, but I do encourage you to take a look at what’s there. It’s nice to know a bit about your Denizen friends, and it can be useful sometimes. So, if you have the world’s largest collection of rare Tupperware, or are secretary of the East Kent Hare Coursing…[Read more]
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Thank you, Ath. A good idea. At the moment updated profiles aren’t necessarily being mentioned on the activity page, but you may well know that already.
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I didn’t know, Libby. Have you done an update recently? There’s a full change log in the admin menu, but I didn’t see anything. I haven’t looked at how the Activity Page is built; I know it’s complex and occasionally flakey, so I’ve tried to steer clear.
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Oh, or did you mean that my post about the changes has slipped down because of subsequent posts? That can be a nuisance sometimes. There’s a banner headline facility that I also avoid.
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Thanks, Ath. Some profile updates are mentioned on the Activity page, e.g. Richard’s and Janette’s, and others aren’t, e.g. Sandra’s and mine. Perhaps it’s just an example of its flakiness.
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Exactly that. I’m not even certain whether the activity page is a WordPress thing or one of the plugins that makes it a community site.
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It sounds as though it presents frustrations. Thanks for keeping it all going and working with its idiosyncracies.
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I sometimes feel a bit like the man who asked for directions and was told, ‘Well, I wouldn’t start from here.’
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Athelstone posted an update 5 months, 1 week ago
I’m going to update some of the software used on the Den. It should be invisible, and I’ve already done it on our test site, but if you spot anything odd happening please let me know.
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Terrie started the topic November 2025 monthly competition in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Now the November evenings are darkening earlier and there is that expectant chill in the air I was thinking about the art of storytelling beside the warmth and atmosphere of a log fire.
So, become that story teller beside a night-time fire and surprise me with the most heart-warming, scary, romantic, mysterious, or cautionar…[Read more]
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Terrie replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Thank you for choosing my entry Libby.
All the other entries were of such high calibre I had been thinking ‘I’m glad I’m not the one having to chose one above the others’ and now that’s going to be my dilemma at the end of Novembers competition challenge .
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Well done Terrie. A truly ghastly tale.
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
What fabulous entries, all of them fantastical, brilliant and captivating. Halloween has prompted very good stories.
@jillsted – here was an enticing mystery with a comic touch. Told with great pacing and a strong atmosphere of folk tale, it hooked me from start to finish.
@purplewitch (Terrie) – what wonderful creepiness. I loved the rich lan…[Read more]
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Libby replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
A reminder for anyone who, like me, forget this month’s competition deadline is tonight: the October monthly comp deadline is midnight tonight! You might have a suitable WIP hiding away somewhere…
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 2 weeks ago
The Estate Agent’s Appointment
I arrived at the house in pouring rain. The light was fading on a day that was already dark with cloud. I didn’t want to go in. I wanted to get in my car, drive home, shower, and settle down with a Scotch and whatever delicious microwave meal was next in the fridge. I had no choice. This old house wasn’t going to…[Read more]
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John T posted an update 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Ooh, I missed the challenge. My fault for not looking in. But honestly, I have a busy time ahead locally, both writing and storytelling events. And there’s THAT first draft that isn’t yet complete. So, good luck everybody and I’ll sit this one out.
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Oh well… Athelstone has persuaded me…
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition October 2025 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 3 weeks ago
This the result of apending 5 days writing with a gathering of Self-Edit participants.
Games people play
Monday morning’s plumping of the pillows of our marital bed effortful, thanks to both sleep and sex absent as snow in August throughout the weekend. Similarly, energy enough to dissipate the sourness of my reaction when I noticed the wor…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 5 months, 3 weeks ago
HURRY, HURRY, HURRY! The September Song short story challenge goes private at 10:00. If you’ve joined you must make your choices by then. If you haven’t joined, today is your last chance.
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Athelstone posted an update 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Barter Books in Alnwick is a terrible place for an impoverished reader to be…
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Kate replied to the topic Choices in the forum
September Song 5 months, 3 weeks agoIce
The Last Kingdom
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Libby replied to the topic A scheme to show books written without AI in the forum Coffee Shop 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Thanks, Ath. Yes, I was thinking that writers might collect some AI produced fiction and do something with its tropes, sort of like Pop Art did. I’m vague about this. Am looking for reasons for optimism!
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Athelstone replied to the topic A scheme to show books written without AI in the forum Coffee Shop 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Incidentally, Sandra’s comment is still there but she replied to the update on the activity page rather than directly to the thread
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