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Daedalus posted an update 5 years, 3 months ago
Cutting a story down from 3800 to 2800… Got to 3200 and now every word removed feels like a fingernail
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Athelstone started the topic Monthly comp – February 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago
Can’t believe it’s February already. To quote Don McLean, February made me shiver. Cold, love, anger, heat, fear, excitement, illness, happiness – 400 words maximum on absolutely anything that caused a shiver one February.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 3 months ago
A small field but some fab entries and I’m very happy to be picked!
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Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 3 months ago
A MESSAGE FOR ALL “THINGS THAT GO BUMP” ESSAYERS. There is an update in the group’s activity stream.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2021 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 4 months ago
Occasional rough language
Prat’s Key Wood
Prat’s Key Wood was as old as the hills. No, really.
Well, seeing as the hills are billions of years old and forged in the countless aeons before organic life, that’s a stretch. But, I mean 1) it was ancient to the max and 2) it took Jacko and a team of ten, and a bulldozer, and chainsaws, just one…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 4 months ago
Is it just me, or is the commercially produced garlic from supermarkets and greengrocers feeble old shite compared to the stuff I cooked with a few years back? I’ll swear it used to have some bite and tang to it, but these days I could stick whole bulbs in and hardly taste it. Going to try growing a few different types.
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No it’s not just you! Supermarket garlic tastes quite bland compared to the stuff I’ve cooked with while self-catering in France – though our local farm shop sometimes has decent bulbs.
Sounds a great idea to try growing it yourself.-
Definitely true. The garlic in the box I get from the organic farmer in the next village is ten times tastier than supermarket stuff.
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I agree. It has gone the way of so many other foods, so bland when mass produced. My France holiday (a distant memory) showed just how much.
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One of the first and most obvious changes is that after preparing a meal with garlic I’d have to scrub away at my hands for a good ten minutes and they’d still be poor company next day. These days a quick rinse is all that’s needed.
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John S Alty replied to the topic Monthly comp: December 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 4 months ago
Well done Libby. Excellent entries from all.
Happy New Year! -
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly comp: December 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 4 months ago
A very happy new year to all Denizens! The advent competition didn’t have 25 entries as I hoped, but by way of compensation, those that were submitted are all gems that I would be happy to find behind a calendar window.
Janette: A New Opening
A truly positive response to the Covid restrictions. This was beautifully written with a powerful feeling…[Read more] -
Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 4 months ago
Are there any more takers for the last monthly competition, in the final hours of the year? We have three super entries so far, but room for more.
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Mad Iguana replied to the topic Indie publishing deal in the forum Podium 5 years, 5 months ago
I’ve said it elsewhere, but I think it’s OK to congratulate a person more than once, isn’t it?
Congratulations Jane! Over the (edge) (of the) moon for you, if that’s not too tortured an attempted pun (I know it is).
Can’t wait to read your published work. -
Daedalus replied to the topic Traditional or Self-Publishing? in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 5 months ago
@dougk if you’d like an alternative to a sedative, you can read the exhaustive cautionary tale of my small press experience here https://airandseastories.com/2019/01/30/my-publishing-nightmare-the-story-of-a-book-deal-gone-bad-part-1/
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Athelstone replied to the topic Indie publishing deal in the forum Podium 5 years, 5 months ago
So pleased with the news! Simply brilliant.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: Pete Who? in the forum Blogs 5 years, 5 months ago
They do have that sort of instant hit of relateable truth don’t they? Ironic, or perhaps not, that Roche’s career might apply to the principle of ‘Connections’, even though it’s clearly about something much more personal. A missed connection here or there is the difference between national treasure status and obscurity.
Also interesting for me to…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Monthly competition November 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 5 months ago
@sandradavies thanks, I will look that up. I’m a fan of keeping speech tags/descriptions to a minimum and I often write scenes with dialogue first and then build the other stuff around it, so this is very much up my street
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Daedalus replied to the topic Monthly competition November 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 5 months ago
Great competition Sandra, am really intrigued to read the story that inspired it now. Well done Ath, and everyone else, good set of stories
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Athelstone started the topic Monthly comp: December 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 5 months ago
Advent is upon us. I always liked Advent Calenders when I was little, but I haven’t had one for years. So you can make one for me. The theme is “opening a door or window and finding something”. It doesn’t have to involve calendars! Anywhere between 25 and 500 words.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition November 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 5 months ago
Smashing comp, Sandra and a similarly smashing selection of entries. So I’m really pleased to be picked!
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition November 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 6 months ago
I dreamt about you last night.
Really? I haven’t thought about you for ages.
Ooh! Harsh.
Aha – Sorry, Jack. That sounded terrible. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, well, you know – the kids and all that. I don’t have much time for myself.
How old are they now?
Callum’s ten and Orla will be seven on Saturday. Most of this shopping is…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Monthly competition November 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 6 months ago
“I dreamt about you last night. No, don’t look like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like it’s a line or… like I’m being…?”
“What?”
“I dunno. Overly sentimental.”
“OK. I won’t then.…Well you can’t leave it hanging like that. What was I doing in this dream?”
“That’s the thing. I can’t actually remember. You know what dreams are like.”
“I know what my…[Read more] -
Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 7 months ago
OK all. Did you miss out on your chance to join the “Things that go bump” writing challenge? Well, just like Brigadoon, we have appeared again – just briefly – to give you one last, brief, opportunity to join your fellow Denizens. To grab the opportunity send me a Direct Message and I’ll tell you what to do. ACT FAST! This offer expires on 1…[Read more]
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Keep going, Daeds. And good luck!
Thanks @libby! 209 to go
Oh no, @daedalus, we’re not going to be haunted by all the babies murdered, are we? 😀
Seriously, good luck with that. If anyone can, you can.
Thanks! It’s looking pretty sparse, I can tell you
59 for me.
And I just happen to be reading a book about writing titled “Murder Your Darlings.” 🙂
Sounds like fate to me. Keep slaying 🙂
I have allowed myself one darling to remain. The rest have been butchered
I started out at 900 words over, Daedalus, but persevered and think my cut down version is stronger. Funny how that can happen. Good luck with losing those final few hundred words.
All of you! Save those precious babes and enter them in the Monthy Comp!
Often that is the case, but in this case the original version was fairly tight, and there was no real way to lose length other than salami slicing. Ah well