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  • Thanks, Wilts. Yes, I saw your comment last week. Don't ask me why it doesn't work every week for you - I'm the world's worst when it comes to technology.
  • Great curse, Claudia! My inspiration has dive bombed these past two weeks.
  • edited December 2020
    As my blog moves toward being archived, I'm looking at 2020's annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year, and the Bad Sex in Fiction award.

    https://www.carol-bevitt.co.uk/2020/12/countdown-to-christmasbad-sex-in.html

  • My https://serena-lake.co.uk/ website has had a slight revamp ahead of Christmas. A change of colour, widget changes, and a tightening up of the text on the pages.
  • You've been busy, Carol!

    Here's my weekly offering.
    https://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2020/12/invasion.html
  • Gave last week's FF photo prompt a miss. This week's was more inspirational and I was able to write another story in the continuing Leprechaun saga.

    Susan A Eames - Travel, Fiction and Photos: A DISTRACTION - 100 word story (susan-a-eamestravelfictionandphotos.blogspot.com)
  • I didn't expect to write anything for FF this week because we were booked to do a Christmas market today. Well....! We did go but the weather was filthy. Hardly anyone else had turned up, so we called it a day and came home again.
    Anyway, this week's photo instantly inspired the following story:

    Susan A Eames - Travel, Fiction and Photos: FISHUN' - 100 word story (susan-a-eamestravelfictionandphotos.blogspot.com)


  • I thoroughly enjoyed your story, Claudia!  Here's mine.

    https://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2020/12/in-times-long-gone.html
  • Thanks, Lizy, enjoyed yours too. :)
  • Finished my end of year review and discovered how much I did achieve this year, despite Covid.

    https://www.carol-bevitt.co.uk/2020/12/review-of-2020-what-i-did-achieve.html
  • Good to write a list of achievements, Carol - now you know it's not been a wasted year!

    I have at least managed to blog almost every week, and here is the final one for 2020.
    https://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2020/12/sandcastles.html
  • edited December 2020
    Surprised myself, Lizy.

    My penultimate post on my blogger blog where my final word count for this year is revealed.

    https://www.carol-bevitt.co.uk/2020/12/happy-new-year.html
  • My final blog post on my blogger blog, and what will happen next...

    https://www.carol-bevitt.co.uk/2021/01/the-future-beckons.html
  • Have finally brought my blog back into action. I thought originally last year that keeping it going would keep up my momentum with writing but in fact I was asked to submit articles earlier than originally commissioned and it fell off the radar. Now I want to use it again to keep track of what i happening on the writing front - what is new and what is on hold.
    http://www.adbwilliams.co.uk/blog/
  • I've made a couple of new pages so a quick blog post about it...

    https://carol-bevitt.com/2021/01/03/new-pages/
  • I finished reading a book last night and it prompted me to look back at some of those I read last year - some non-fiction but mainly fiction. Reading what was available rather than browsing the bookshop or library shelves made an interesting experience. I have written about a few of these for my latest blog post.
    http://www.adbwilliams.co.uk/blog/
  • Wordy and Carol - you seem to use your blogs as a personal diary. Perhaps I should try that as an aide memoire for when my memory fails me! Meanwhile, I only put flash fiction on mine, though on many weeks I also make a personal comment after the story.

    http://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2021/01/boxers-100-word-story.html
  • Thanks for your comment on my blog, Lizy. I have just been reading your latest 100 word piece and it never ceases to amaze me how a story can be created in so few words.
    My blog entries are always loosely related to my writing journey but, as I write non-fiction, a day out, a holiday or even a new hobby can be a source of inspiration. The family once challenged me to write an article based on something we did or saw on holiday. I did so, it was published and now it is expected on any jaunt however, short. This past year I have been trawling through all my digital images to find those triggers, and so far it has been working, but it will be good to get out and explore pastures new when we are able.
  • We could all send you our holiday photos, Wordy, and you could write semi-fiction based on them!
  • Well, if your photos include decorative items or memorials I might spin an article from them. Recent topics have been tiled shop doorways, sculptors of war memorials, village signs and an old funeral custom still being held today. All resulted from photos taken on holidays that prompted me to ask who, why, when or something similar. I don't think I ever lost my childhood curiosity. I am sure BB feels the same when she sees a new postcard.
  • I do! My postcards open the door to so much. I always take photos of those tiled shop doorways, Wordy. 
  • edited January 2021
    Wordy, on one of my walks I took a picture of a sign within a town which says where the sign stands was the site of the annual Sheep Fair from 1838, the Beast Fair from 1853 and Pleasure Fair from 1879. I was strolling along, probably accompanied by the ghosts of people who had attended those fairs.
  • Those tiled shop doorways are real works of art, aren't they, BB. I had a long correspondence with a company still producing them as well as repairing damaged examples. The process is a real skill but so long as they are laid correctly they should last a very long time. Many have outlived the brands whose names they carry.

    Dora, that is just the sort of sign I find intriguing. All sorts of question spring to mind. Was there an earlier site for the sheep fair? Does the change of name to Beast Fair suggest a change in farming in the area and so on. I am sure fiction writers could find it a sparking point, too. A historic romance perhaps?
  • Love the idea of your ghosts, dora!

    My weekly story is here;
    https://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2021/01/sisters.html
  • I've written a few more rambling thoughts on the blog today. Looking for the niche to catch the editor's eye.
    http://www.adbwilliams.co.uk/blog/
  • Wordy, your interest in war memorials makes me think of a book I have by a local poet, who wrote a poem for many of the memorials in our area. Vanessa Gebbie.
  • Thanks, Lizy. I just did a quick search on Vanessa Gebbie and have found several links to her work so will explore further. 
  •  :) 
    I love her work.
  • Wordy said:
    Those tiled shop doorways are real works of art, aren't they, BB. I had a long correspondence with a company still producing them as well as repairing damaged examples. The process is a real skill but so long as they are laid correctly they should last a very long time. Many have outlived the brands whose names they carry.
    Do you know if they were relevant to particular types of shops? The ones I've seen are mainly for chemists - when I've checked back through the records.
  • Chemists, sometimes written as chymyists, is one common shop that adopted this type of tiling, BB. The tiled doorways can often be as revealing as those ghost signs - painted adverts on walls that are now fading - for recording original uses for shops. They can be useful if tracing the history of a building or a street. They were popular for butchers' shops where the interior was often tiled with glazed tiles for hygiene. Dewhurst was a big chain of such shops. I have seen their name in several towns across the country. Several grocers chains that grew out of tea importers, such as International Stores and Lipton's are still "advertised" in shop doorway tiles. Independent shops of all types used the tiles as they were so durable and easy to clean. There are decorative versions, too, often in art deco designs.  Maybe I need to write another blog post! Or even another article. It's a while since I tackled this one.
  • You should - I love it when I find one.
  • I had the (troublesome) honour of being invited to participate in one Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror's oldest web magazine's Decade in Review. It was far harder than you'd think. http://www.millymollymo.com/reviewing-the-reviews/

  • A thoughtful article, SL. 
    BTW - it still puzzles me why SF, Fantasy and Horror are clumped together like that - they are so different.
    My series is Fantasy but has no science or horror in it anywhere.
    Just saying :)
  • Thanks Lizy. I think it's down to the fact that they are all 'Speculative' and 'Made up' in some way. But I do agree, a fantasy novel is not like a science fiction one,... unless its science fantasy :)

  • A timely and thoughtful piece, Lizy.
  • Thanks Wordy x
  • Have just written a blog post on the tiled shop doorways I mentioned a few days ago. Have been putting together some ideas for articles on the subject and checking through the images I have, some of which are in the post. Baggy asked what sorts of businesses used these tiles and I am finding that the answer is - quite a lot!
  • Very interesting, Wordy. I'm going to dig out my photos at some point and check the names. 
  • We've a couple locally that have unique marble doorways - always found them interesting.
  • Thanks, BB. I think there may be one or two quite close to you. I have some in my collection but may not still be in situ of course.

    You're right, SL, they are often things of beauty in their own right in addition to being functional. There are some beautiful designs around without lettering, too. If cared for they can last a very long time but sadly many are not repaired quickly or unsuitable materials are used and they lose both their beauty and their function, too.
  • I love beautiful tiling, and lettering too, There's a row of houses in our village with a Latin inscription under the eaves - I translated it once but I've forgotten what it says. Must try harder!

    My flash story this week is exactly 100 words.
    https://lizy-writes.blogspot.com/2021/01/late-home.html
  • No! Oh, Lizy. :(
  • Heart-stopping, Lizy. 
  • Great ending Lizy.
  • Thank you all, it means a lot x
  • That was good, Lizy.
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