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KazG replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 6 months ago
Oh wow, what a story @philippaeast. Suspense and pacing tight as a drum, cool and utterly unnerving. Brilliant!
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KazG replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 6 months ago
Congratulations @elle! You seem to be on a roll 🙂
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KazG replied to the topic Camp NaNoWriMo in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 6 months ago
Hooray, the more the merrier! I’ve sent you both invites and I see you’ve settled in already Squidge 🙂
@squidge that doesn’t make you stupid, I did exactly the same thing the first time I did NaNo 🙂
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KazG started the topic Camp NaNoWriMo in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 6 months ago
HI all, a few of us have signed up to do Camp NaNoWriMo in April. It’s much like NaNoWriMo in November, except you choose your own target. I’m ready to tackle the next version of my current wip so the timing is perfect for me, and maybe you too!
Anyway if anyone feels like a challenge and a few co-writing cheerleaders, I’ve set up a private…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Writers & Artists short story comp in the forum Podium 7 years, 7 months ago
That’s BRILLIANT, @raine! So glad others are seeing your amazing talent 🙂
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KazG posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 7 months agoOK I’m doing it! IT being Camp NaNo for April. I have to rewrite the book I did for NaNo anyway, as I’m now condensing what I thought were two more books into one – so this will be the only sequel to the book currently out on submission. I can re-use some of my November words but lots have to be written from scratch, and the structure had changed…[Read more]
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If I manage to get enough planning done (not looking good at the moment but am pants at planning) I will join you @kazg. In fact I’ll go and join anyway…
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Done it – how can I join you? Have you set up a private cabin?
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Good luck both of you! April = school hols so it’s a no go for me, sadly, as a kick up the arse would be useful. But I’ll be here with the pompoms. And I’m keeping any spare fingers crossed for you @kazg the waiting must be hell, but I have high hopes if not for this editor then definitely for the wider sub.
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Hooray for you @janeshuff! But I’m not sure about the cabin thing – i’ll go and have a look…
Thanks @raine!
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@janeshuff what are you calling yourself over there? I’ve set up a private cabin called Mini Den and want to invite you 🙂
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Should be called Janeshuff. Sorry @kazg I will reply in more detail later. Right up against it with a client who wants something translated into beautiful French in two hours before she gets onto a plane… Beautiful French is not my thing, so need to get it done fast enough to find someone to check it.
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I might join you too, if that’s alright? Would be a good chance to get these other historical novellas done.
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@kazg I haven’t seen an invite from you. Fabulous @jillybean
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@janeshuff I can’t find you! There doesn’t seem to be a Janeshuff coming up. Other Janes, but not you 🙁 Might you come up under another name? Ditto for @daedalus and @jillybean…
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Try under my e mail address. I will send it again if you gaven’t got it. Or what is your name?
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Nope to the email address. Have you signed up for the Camp? I think you have to sign up specifically for it first – it won’t find you from the old Nano site (which I think is why I can’t find @daedalus and @jillybean at the moment). It’s a private cabin so you won’t see it @janeshuff – if you make it public they fill it for you and I don’t…[Read more]
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Ok I have just seen this on the Camp NaNo website:
‘Once in your cabin, you can invite your friends by typing their usernames into the invitation field. You can invite up to 19 Campers. A Camper must have created a profile, a novel, and deselected “I don’t want cabin invitations this session” to be eligible.’
So there you are – you need to be si…[Read more]
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(Also you have to select, “I don’t want to be included in a cabin” so you are not sorted into a random cabin)
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No invite thus far, Kaz. My NaNo handle is ThrowingCopper. (You did invite me right? Because someone else had already nabbed the name Jillybean 😉)
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Aha! Got you 🙂 and yes I did invite Jillybean so I’d better go and uninvite them, if I can…
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please do! That would be fab 🙂 (and also your output will keep us on our toes..!)
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(This for @jillybean of course 🙂 )
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I thought I had. I will be home in an hour and will check and look for you
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I think I’ll jump in too
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Hooray @daedalus! The more the merrier
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Faberoo
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I wasn’t signed up to Camp before but I am now – my username is just Matthew Willis
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Found you and invited you, Daeds 🙂
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@kazg Just found you and sent you a message. Can you invite me now? What am I called?
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Found you @janeshuff! You ARE called Janeshuff, but for some reason you don’t come up in the dropdown menu – but I think I still managed to send you a message and an invitation. I’ve think I’ve also invited @jillybean and @daedalus to join Camp – did that come through, you two?
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Oh my goodness, @kazg, I am keeping everything crossed for you. But whatever happens with PRH, I’m sure you’re well set up for wider subs, and WELL DONE for already having made progress on Book 2. I will have a look at Camp April. But we can always set up a support forum on the Den (extend December slo. O?). I need to make some inroads (ANY…[Read more]
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Thanks @philippaeast. There will be poms poms aplenty, wherever you’re writing!
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The Camp NaNo search doesn’t seem to be working at the moment so I can’t find you, unfortunately
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Hi @daedalusI just invited you to the cabin – can you see the invitation?
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Jules replied to the topic Monthly comp: Feb 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 7 months ago
Something ate Feb and most of March when I wasn’t looking, so I’m all for @raine ‘s suggested course of action.
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KazG posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 7 months agoand thanks @elle! Still NO NEWS and I can’t bear it…:-(
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Oh my God, Kaz, you must be going out of your mind!!! Has your agent been in touch? It might be time to ask her what the next step in the game plan is…
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Tell me!! Yes my agent has been in touch – apparently the re-read was only, finally, happening from the end of last week. But that was the end of last week. And here we are. I’ve gone into a strange state of numbness…!
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Oh Kaz. Don’t know what to say. Waiting for publishers to come back is the worst, horriblest thing. Try to think about something else…
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Oh Lord. But at least they are reading it! And they’ll have to get people,across the whole team to read, and that can take time. But an, I feel your pain. I can imagine how you’ve just numbed out! Sending all kinds of soothing and supportive vibes. This publishing malarkey really is a painful process…
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Oh dear, no wonder you’ve been going out of your mind. At least it sounds like things are moving now. Hopefully the wait won’t be for much longer.
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Thank you @philippaeast and @elle. Still nothing…:-(
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KazG replied to the topic You'll find us in the "activity" section….. in the forum
December SloMo 7 years, 7 months agoIs this where we post now? (bit embarrassed to admit I still don’t quite know how to navigate all the Den byroads…)
This popped into my intray and for me its good timing – Camp NaNoWriMo for April. You commit to a personal writing target for a month, much like NaNo but you choose the word count. I’ve been in planning and plotting mode for book…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Help/brainstorming needed please – using antagonist narrator in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 7 months ago
What an interesting idea, @bellam. I think this could defintely work.
Maybe one way to play it would be writing Molly in a slightly unreliable narrator way, so the reader is never quite sure whether it really is the house narrating, or Molly’s mental state projecting her own anxieties. I like the Stockholm Syndrome possibilities here too – the…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Interview with Fiona Erskine, author of The Chemical Detective in the forum Blogs 7 years, 7 months ago
Fantastic interview, @daedalus and @bric! I read an earlier version of this book and I LOVED it back then – can’t wait to read the new shiny published version 🙂
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KazG replied to the topic Plotting workshop notes in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 7 months ago
you’re all very welcome and I’m glad if they’re useful 🙂 But I forgot to put index cards in! I’ve just added that now, point 2 after Donald Maas.
Yes, that’s right @philippaeast – it’s very liberating to put all these approaches on the table and see that they all ‘work’ even though they’re different. It’s all there for the taking and what works…[Read more]
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KazG started the topic Plotting workshop notes in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 7 months ago
Hi everyone, I did a really useful workshop with an Australian crime writer called PD Martin looking at different plotting techniques last weekend. It looked at different ways of approaching a good story structure (which fascinates me). I was familiar with some of the methods covered, as I’m sure you will be, and others less so, but what I found…[Read more]
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KazG posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoGood for you @philippaeast. You more than deserve that break! What a rollercoaster in a whirlwind you’ve been riding, but also, what an awesome result. Do you have an outline for book 2?
My update is that backat the end of last year I thought that Penguin Random House had gone too quiet and all was lost (my agent was getting ready to go out on…[Read more]
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That’s brilliant news Kaz. It’s like snakes and ladders, isn’t it?? Glad you’re still on an upward trajectory, and really looking forward to this book
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This is AMAZING news, Kaz! Well done! Sounds really hopeful and positive and generally fantastic. I’ll be keeping fingers and toes crossed that aquisitions are quickly on board. WIll your agent be subbing more widely anyway, or are you waiting on this one first? And good luck getting back to the NaNo book. It feels like a looooong time since the…[Read more]
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Ooh that sounds fantastic Kaz. Exciting, exciting, exciting!!! I’m watching this space…
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Thanks @raine, @daedalus, @janeshuff! Yes, Snakes and Ladders is exactly how it is. We’re only submitting to PRH at the moment; the situation is a bit unusual in that I got a response from them after pitching directly to them, before I’d even signed with my agent (which happened just after, actually). They’ve already given me editorial feedback so…[Read more]
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Oh gosh, so exciting! And well don’t for grafting out those edits. Really pleased they worked for you, and hopefully it just means you’re even happier with the book. Now I’m keeping everything crossed, but given that (if I understand correctly) your agent hasn’t even sent anywhere else yet, this is all looking super optimistic! Good luck on the…[Read more]
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Thanks @philippaeast. Yes, we’ve only submitted to PRH so far. The silence is killing me!
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Oh man, I feel your pain!!
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ps I’m trying to put an outline together for Book 2 as we speak. I’m not keen to go writing off into the wilderness as I did with Book 1! Still trying to find all the pieces, and how they might fit together….
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Oh good luck! I’m doing the same, to try to stop things flying off in all directions. What outline template are you using? By chapter?
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I’m using the Story Grid Global Foolscap template, where you block out your beginning hook (act 1), middle build (act 2) and ending payoff (act three), identifying the key plot points in each (inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution). This template also gets you to define your overall genre (e.g. love story,…[Read more]
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Oh that looks interesting! A new approach. I’ve just done a plotting workshop that looks at different ways of approaching this so my head’s trying to incorporate it all and decide on the best approach for me right now. I’ll summarise and post when I get a moment. Thank you!
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And GOOD LUCK 🙂
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Jules replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Congratulations, Stevie. Great news and very well deserved 😊
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Jules replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 8 months ago
Sounds like my kind of novella, Stevie 😁
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Jules replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 8 months ago
Go for it, Stevie. I bet you can knock out more words in 5 months than you think. And worst case scenario, you’ll still have the makings of a story if you don’t hit the deadline.
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Jules started the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 8 months ago
Absolutely huge word count on these – publisher is basically requesting a novella. But you might find that works for you. Plus monster stories from a LGBTQAIP+ angle.
Here’s the link in case anyone is interested.
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