@stevie
Active 6 years, 8 months ago-
Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Comp – September 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 days, 16 hours ago
Episode from long-running tale ‘The Blacksmith’s wife’
Kick a corpse to life and you’ll inevitably disturb carrion.
Tao knew this but only recalled it on attempting to leave his inn-room. The body that had earlier impeded his exit messenger for the man whose name Tao had evoked in hope of boosting his financial standing, believing those who…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition August 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 days, 10 hours ago
Thanks Libby for the prompt and your kind words. Only as I finished writing my entry did I recall the only holiday spent with my parents was in 1973 , after chld#3 born. It was NOT a success (and Dovercourt still feels like home)
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition August 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 2 weeks, 6 days ago
Orientation
In July 1953 we – Dad, mum. brother and me, left our now-echoing and curtainless home on the edge of Dovercourt Bay – an Essex seaside town dominated by a pair of cast iron lighthouses whose clean, and well-protected sands were sectioned by sea-slimy black wooden groynes within which squatted large black crabs. There was also a…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition July 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month ago
Thank TOY Ath foc comp and commentryand well done to all of us for so vividly evoking childhoods now past, I particularly enjoyed Ath’s reference to radio – ours was a brown 18″B Bakelite cube which was only allowed into our bedrooms when we were sick (and often. it seemed. Luxembourg sicker. Looking forward to Libby’s comp for August.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition July 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month ago
Don’t mind at all; hope fulfilling demands not too onerous.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition July 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 1 month, 2 weeks ago
There’s a word for it!
The much faded five inch Quality Street tin I inherited from my mother is near-filled with buttons, their variety in part due to them having been donated by my aunt Muriel, who was a dressmaker and her mother Dora who was a tailoress. Needless to say, had there been such, I would’ve won ‘best-dressed child’ many a time had…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition July 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 2 months ago
Well done, Jill – the only inspiration I’d had so far, came from my mother’s mincer (of which I’ve a 1960’s version in a cupboard. Back to the drawing board for me 🙂
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition June 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 2 months, 1 week ago
Hooray!! Well done Ath for your last minute, colourful Teabreak entry thus rescuing me from having to devise July’s competition and thank you Jill. for your kind words re ‘Snap is not a Children’s Game’, adding impetus to my getting on with it.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition June 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 months ago
<h3>Prior to the magic going black</h3>
<h3>June 23rd, Caithness</h3>
Pre-dawn on a midsummer morning, Tait Duncan, drove south-east along an A1 empty of all but Highlands-bound supermarket wagons, conscience similarly uncluttered by the lie he’d last night told his wife as to the reason for his early morning departure. (In what had become th…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition May 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 months, 1 week ago
A fascinating quartet of music-generated memories resulting in stories that couldn’t help but provide their own soundtracks. Ath’s tale fully matched the discordant challenging streetwise vibes of the music chosen. Libby’s rich musical pot-pourri connected brilliantly with the warmth of disparate family interactions. Terrie’s combining ne…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly competition May 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 3 months, 1 week ago
MONTHLY COMP ALERT – I was hoping for earworms, from songs I remember but despite two excellent entries, I feel a little disappointed so more Top Ten memories by Sunday night would be much appreciated.
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Sandra posted an update 4 months, 1 week ago
May’s monthly comp is up – something to inspire lots of you I hope!
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Sandra started the topic Monthly competition May 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 months, 1 week ago
What I’d like you do for May’s competition is
1) choose a significant anniversary in your life: e.g. birthday, wedding, first child: graduation – then,
2 ) Google the UK Top 10 singles chart for that week.
3) select two, three or four song titles from that list and,
4) use them (loosely if necessary!) as a basis for a short story, of…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition April 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 months, 1 week ago
Thank you , Terrie, both for the challenge and your comments on both my entry and Jill’s excellently crafted, sensitive story. I’ll aim to set something for June by the end of today.
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Sandra replied to the topic A Step Into Indie Publishing in the forum Blogs 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Thank you for this Janette; as a Blurb self-publisher , (but not seller), I much appreciate this breakdown of your experiences .
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Sandra replied to the topic A bit "poorly" in the forum Blogs 4 months, 2 weeks ago
I’ve always found the same, right up to last week with the theatre nurse who held my hand while my eye was bring anatheasised for an op. bless him. (all well post op.)
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Sandra replied to the topic A bit "poorly" in the forum Blogs 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Crikey Moses, William, I’m heart-heartedly glad to hear you are home and hopefully on your way to some sort of recovery – what a torrid time you and your family must have gone through, and thank you for updating us so vividly.
Sendng love and the most healingest of good wishes
Sandra
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition April 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Untitled
‘Gobsmacked’ the inelegant word that came to mind when I read the letter. What else would you expect , being told your three year-old daughter’s poem had been awarded first prize ? A prize which earned her up to three sittings with well-renowned portrait artist Bernard Broom. Especially when I’d not an inkling she’d written any…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 1 week ago
Thank you Janette – you did us proud with thoughtful comments, and well done for every other entry, all of which fitted the remit much more closely than my hastily-grabbed from a long-ago hidden in the drawer novel.
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly ompetition March 2026 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 months, 1 week ago
Janette has kindly volunteered !!
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