Squidge

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years ago

    Heads up for anyone who fancies a one-day writing conference? Writing East Mids run a day, (28th March 2020), this year at Lincoln Uni. Costs £60 if you book an early bird ticket before end Nov, £70 otherwise. Concessions available, lunch and tea/coffee provided.

    I’m booked on…anyone else fancy it?

  • Squidge replied to the topic Bumbling Round the Citadel in the forum Blogs 7 years ago

    Kudos for sticking with it all, Philippa – it sounds like it has really taken a toll over this year.

    Looking forward very much to reading it – I am sure that it will be worth every bead of sweat, nibbled fingernail and tear shed.

    And if it makes you feel better – Tilda’s just been published and even though we went through all the pages,…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years ago

    Glad it’s not just me – thought I must be doing something wrong!

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years ago

    OK – sorry to ask again, but…
    You know the captcha thing at login, where we say we’re not robots? I’ve logged in on 3 separate occasions today and when that page comes up, it’s counting down the number of attempts I can have, even though I’ve logged on successfully. Does this mean that we either have to stay logged in permanently to avoid the…[Read more]

    • I don’t know the answer, Squidge, but I had the same thing yesterday.

      • Glad it’s not just me – thought I must be doing something wrong!

    • I’ve had this, Squidge, including being locked out for 20 minutes. Chrome and other Google-based browsers will try to keep you logged in and synced across sessions and devices, but it doesn’t always work well – or in some cases at all.
      The Captcha plugin isn’t playing nicely with our setup and Jules is looking at it. Unfortunately, the alternative…[Read more]

  • Squidge replied to the topic September 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years ago

    Ath – really?!

  • Squidge replied to the topic September 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years ago

    Apologies for the delay in posting – life got in the way!

    Well these shades of beige definitely weren’t boring. Thanks to everyone who entered – thin on the ground perhaps (well it is York month) but not thin on quality.

    Some really poignant pieces in this mix (Dreamweaver, Je m’appelle Missy, and Hil’s Tortoiseshell Specs) secrets in Battle…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years ago

    Um…keychain? I’ve tried clicking the ‘remember me’ but it doesn’t.

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years ago

    I know we’ve had an issue with bots at the mo – I’m getting the ‘I’m not a robot’ thing every time I log in, but I thought once we’d done it once, it meant you should be OK to log in without after that?

    • Kate replied 7 years ago

      I’m getting that too Squidge. Can never sign in on the main page. Always get diverted and have to do the bot thing.

      • And me!

        • Although it’s not too much of a problem now I know.

          • Jules replied 7 years ago

            Do you guys use whatever your browser equivalent of ‘keychain’ is? Usually if you have your password stored in that, it will only periodically check that you’re not a robot. Apologies for needing to add recaptcha but the bot situation was getting a bit dire!

            • Um…keychain? I’ve tried clicking the ‘remember me’ but it doesn’t.

  • Wow, WB – that’s really comprehensive! Thank you. Also makes me realise I need to print out Andrew’s course outline and read it through properly…

    I’d be glad of an October start, cos I’m trying to set new routines around an empty nest, and it’ll be good to focus on something other than the lack of guitar playing and a deserted bedroom… ;)…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    No worries – I know September’s busy for most folk, especially after York. Mean I won’t have such a difficult decision judging 😉

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 1 month ago

    Just a reminder that there’s a week to go for September’s monthly competition…and for you to prove to me that ‘beige ain’t boring!’

    • I’m sorry I’m having to pass on this one Squidge. Combination of holiday and having work done at home. I did like your paint chart idea for prompts.

      • No worries – I know September’s busy for most folk, especially after York. Mean I won’t have such a difficult decision judging 😉

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    I love the book. It was reassuring to see mistakes I knew I was avoiding – and be gently reminded of some that I WAS making, without realising!

  • Been checking out the required texts… I’m getting a bit bogged down in Sin and Syntax, (for saying the author’s currently talking about brevity, she’s going the long way round to say a lot of it!) but Writing Fiction looks easier to read. Bird by Bird’s one of my most accessible reads (was given it as a gift some years ago), and I’d add How Not…[Read more]

  • Willing to have a go at this… Not sure how it’ll be structured in terms of posting – presumably a new forum for each unit, with each person posting within the forum? Hope it’s pretty clear, as I ‘lose’ threads so often!

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    Yay! Starting when?

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    Some extra spaces end up turning into extra lines…apparently. SO glad it’s not up to me to do the formatting.

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    Oh gosh. That looks really involved… I don’t know whether I’d be able to do all of that.

    • what a good idea! I’d be keen.

      • @squidge and @sandradavies I’m sure we can set it up so that people are free to participate in the units that interest them, and not the ones that dont. I think there are probably advantages to having a core group that go through the process together, building on what’s been covered. But I also don’t see the point in making it too ‘strict’, or…[Read more]

        • Besides, it’s structured as a full MA (two years of work) so I think most of us would rather take it slow and be free to dip out when RL/other commitments get in the way.

        • Completely agree with everything you say, @raine. Slow and gentle. Let’s have a go and discuss as we go along….

  • Squidge posted a new activity comment 7 years, 1 month ago

    Yes!! Even though you know what you’re doing, there are elements of it that are still useful. I think there will be lots you already know, but in reading others’ work and particularly seeing Debi and Emma’s comments (as well as fellow readers’) is like mini-critique course in itself.

    • Ta to you both for saying some nice things…but I know I need some pushing and shoving and just straight educating. Here’s hoping the January course is a classic!

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 1 month ago

    So it turns out that Amazon can reformat your ebook when you upload it for Kindle. Who knew?

    And I’d been blaming the publisher for all the extra line breaks, large text and blank pages…

    • Amazon is a menace, but we seem to be stuck with them if we want to sell books

    • I’m currently attempting to re-format my novels for publishing as ebooks – fiendishly tricky at times and not sure I’ve cracked it yet – sudden and random centering of paragraphs or indents, to say nothing of the change in fonts. A good reason to stick with print IMHO!

    • There’s definitely a knack to formatting ebooks but it’s easy when you’ve got the hang of it. I recommend the Smashwords Style Guide to get yoy started (perma free in ebook). And I might be able to help point people in the right direction if anyone is really stuck?

      • Some extra spaces end up turning into extra lines…apparently. SO glad it’s not up to me to do the formatting.

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