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John S Alty replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Thanks, @JaneShuff
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John S Alty replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
I made the long list for the Ink Tears Short Story Competition 2018.
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Squidge replied to the topic Monthly comp: Feb 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 5 months ago
Nice… my kind of prompt.
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John S Alty replied to the topic January 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 5 months ago
The results are in!
Jonathan: A really clever piece of writing, wry observation. Excellent.
Libby: A pleasing little tale, well written and with a message. Good job.
Daedalus: Hugely enjoyable and accomplished description of life with a new puppy and the utter contentment that comes with its unreserved adoration. Liked it a lot.
So, eenie,…[Read more]
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Squidge replied to the topic Entering the Citadel in the forum Blogs 7 years, 5 months ago
It is such an emotional rollercoaster, isn’t it? So glad you came out of it on a high – well deserved. Really happy it’s all come together for you. x
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John S Alty replied to the topic January 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 5 months ago
Well done to the three of you! I’ll give these tales due consideration during the day and post the result by this evening.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Publishing Deal in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Well done, Philippa – just brilliant news.
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John S Alty replied to the topic Publishing Deal in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Well done Philippa!
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Squidge replied to the topic Publishing Deal in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Just seen it on facebook – well done, Philippa! So pleased for you x
Another success for the self-edit alumnis!
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Athelstone posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
I’m trying, guys. PLEASE be careful who you make friends with
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No intention of doing any such thing in this case, Athers.
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Quite right too 🙂
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I wonder if it’d be an idea to insist on a profile for joiners? Can be faked, of course, but is a bit more of a nuisance to compile plus enables a bit more of an informed choice as to whether or not to befriend.
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The problem is not insisting on a profile. The problem is the necessary custom code to make it visible. It’s being looked into at any rate.
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Ah … thanks, Jules.
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Sorry! I was one of the trusting culprits who made friends. It just seemed unkind to refuse. I’ve learned my lesson now.
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Not a culprit at all. The name on the profile gave nothing away and I was the first to accept because I thought it was somebody I’d met recently and told about the site (I only knew her first name). Anyway, Jules has sorted “her” out now.
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Oo er. ‘She’ must be sore!
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Sore bot?
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😀
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Squidge replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 6 months ago
Read and shared over on facebook. x
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Squidge posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
Had to laugh – had a query via the Contact an Author website. The date of the event was 24th January. I received it this afternoon…
Hope they’ve filled it in as today’s date rather than the date they want…
Nice thing is, it’s because of a recommendation from a friend in Birmingham who’s a librarian.
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LOvely to be getting recommendations @squidge, shows how well you run your events. 🙂 But yes, hope they weren’t expecting you to dash over there immediately!
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John S Alty posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
Looks like judging the January competition will be an easy task.
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I suspect it’s because many of us are desperately trying to beat our RWAV stories into submission!
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Aye, that’s the likely thing. And my judging late didn’t help. Could always think about extending the comp to the end of Feb?
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It doesn’t bother me at all to have no takers. I know everyone is absorbed with RWAV. Real life intrudes as well. Priorities.
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Have started a submission. Now I’ve admitted it I’d better get on with it 🙂
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Regarding that Raine, how would Denizens feel about making it a two-monthly comp? I suppose Christmas plus Winter Challenge is going to make Nov-Dec-Jan most difficult for most people, so it might not be a problem in the normal run of things to keep it monthly
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Or even a quarterly competition. Maybe we could look at a judging panel, too. It needs new life breathing into it, somehow.
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Possibly. It might just be the time of year – there were ebbs and flows on the Cloud too, and with a smaller pool of people here we’ll always feel it more acutely when people are busy. But I’ll open a thread, and we can put those suggestions to people and get a sense of what might boost participation a bit.
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Squidge posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
OK – question for you. Working on my RWAV story, which is (painfully slowly) coming together.
But – the storyline is obvious if I take it where it’s logically heading. No twists or turns, no surprises. It feels like an A to B kind of story, and I don’t usually write this sort of thing. Is it enough for readers? Do you mind – as a reader – if…[Read more]
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It’s not the destination, it’s the journey 🙂
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Hmmm… hope the journey’s interesting enough then!! 😉
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I wouldn’t be put off. I can often guess the ending of books, or at least of plot lines, but as long as i care about the characters, I’m happy to follow along with them. Keep going – it’ll be grand. X
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Well I got to the end of the story so I know its shape now. Just got to iron out the crinkles and make you invest in the MC now then! 😉
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I agree with Sea and Raine. The characters are the thing that keeps me reading and I’m looking forward to reading your story and all the others in RWAV.
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Ann Enright, for example, writes novels that my son complains has “nothing happening” in them. For me she can do no wrong, part of which is because of the well-writ observations on the way. So I’m sure you’ll be fine.
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Squidge posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
I was asked by a local school (I know the deputy head a little) to help open their new school library yesterday (Nicky Morgan was the main attraction, and she couldn’t stay long as she was jumping on a train to London for some kind of Brexit debate and vote…?!) and talk to KS2 about editing your writing.
While I was there, they asked me to be…[Read more]
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That’s amazing Squidge, well done. That’s what it’s really all about isn’t it? Making a difference to people. Good work
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Lovely, Squidge
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Yes, Squidge, that’s lovely. Uplifting, heartwarming and empowering.
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Wonderful. Made me smile.
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That’s lovely Squidge. Just a compliment, and yes, those little things mean an immense amount.
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That’s lovely!
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How wonderful @squidge. It’s definitrly what makes it worthwhile (I imagine 😊). Congratulations!
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Squidge posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago
Does anyone else who blogs get hits from unsavoury websites? The Scribbles is getting multiple hits from porn sites. Now everyone’s welcome over at the Scribbles, but I can’t see that I’m offering anything over there that Britney34 or Sophia 23 would be interested in…
It’s a blogger site, and I don’t know whether they can be hacked or…[Read more]
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It’s a new one on me, Squidge. Not sure what the threat is, if it’s just visitors redirected from those sites, but I can see why you’re suspicious. I can only think that there are automatically generated search results posted there and you’ve happened to include some of theit search terms? A headscratcher
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Porn bots follow legit blogs etc because the more connections they have to them, the more hits are shown to be generated by the legit blog, the more the algorithms of search engines see the porn blogs as legit sites, too. (Or some version of that which is accurate about the tech side of it, but basically they are glomping onto you as a way of…[Read more]
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The Prediction Fiction site I host has a similar problem, every now and then a spike of hits, Britney and Tiffany (new to me) I can guess at but occasionally there’re sites less obvious. I’ve only once made the mistake of checking … and was reminded that I’d ever hated pink blancmange.
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A friend posted some info as to how I can filter them out… I’ll have a go if I can understand it. @sandradavies, that made me laugh! And I know EXACTLY what you meant! 😉
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Athelstone replied to the topic Speed Kills: Salisbury, 1906 in the forum Blogs 7 years, 6 months ago
Richard, your narrative quality is spot on again. Brilliant read.
Daeds, when I was knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper, we had a mix of streamliners and more conventional looking engines pulling the expresses that rolled into Newbury from London Victoria. I always hoped it would be a streamlined engine that would carry me off to exotic…[Read more]
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John S Alty started the topic January 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 6 months ago
OK, everyone, we’ll make this short and sweet because the RWAV competition is reaching its finale this month and many will be busy with that.
It’s a new year so the theme is “Looking Ahead” and you have to do it with a mere 200 words.
Good luck! - Load More

And I thought things couldn’t get more apposite after the year of the cock
Happy New Year! I’m a fan of pigs. Having met wild boars, I have much respect (mild terror) for them, and much love for the stripyness of their babes.
I like peccaries, with their tiny dainty feet
Okay, a bit of porcine trivia. The meat of the wild boar is prized in some quarters in France, but the animal is a protected species (though that doesn’t stop it being sold under the counter occasionally). to get round this, pig breeders have crossed the wild boar (sanglier) with the farmyard pig (cochon). The resultant hybrid is known as a…[Read more]
French is great. En anglais that would just be a Big
😀 @daedalus that made me cackle!
@raine I adore the baby humbugs. Utterly cute. They have escape ladders and platforms attached to trees in the Austrian woods to get away from angry Dad pigs, though.
I wonder where the other replies went?
It’s a bug that means the ‘show all replies’ button sometimes fails to appear, unfortunately. Has been annoyingly persistent
@bellam those platforms are a genius idea! Could have done with them in Poland – although it was the very protective mummies who made me more nervous tbh, especially when gorgeous humbugs decided to check out my boots!!