Guitars
Broke a guitar string the other week on the Tanglewood. Had to get a new set, which I got around to fitting on Friday. Boy they sounded fresh and zingy. It was that point that I thought that maybe I should have got two sets and changed the strings on the Takamine. They were similarly two or more years old (probably significantly more). So I got myself a second set and now I have two fresh and zingy guitars. A job well done—and definitely one that needed doing.
Got myself a winder tool for the first time (definitely quicker and better than just using your fingers on the machine heads), and it had a string cutter on it which helped a lot too. PSA: Defo use the correct tools for any job. It helps a lot in all matters.
Won’t leave it two years (plus) again between strings. Even galvanised me to put up a wee video about it on YouTube (first one in a damn long time). Now I just need to play some darn tunes again.
Got myself a winder tool for the first time (definitely quicker and better than just using your fingers on the machine heads), and it had a string cutter on it which helped a lot too. PSA: Defo use the correct tools for any job. It helps a lot in all matters.
Won’t leave it two years (plus) again between strings. Even galvanised me to put up a wee video about it on YouTube (first one in a damn long time). Now I just need to play some darn tunes again.
Comments
Damn Phones, Damnable Deliveries
17/01/25 14:13
Three years ago I bought a refurbished iPhone X from Back Market. It did well for me, but after a screen breakage and occasionally overheating battery I ended up moving on to a Samsung Galaxy S9+, which was kindly passed on to me. I need a phone for work. Anyhoo it has got to a point where it too has been slightly damaged and it is beyond financial common sense to get it fixed, so I’ve had to get myself a newer phone. Once more I’ve gone for a refurbed Apple iPhone (this time a 2020 SE). The X would have been seven years old so a newer phone is called for. It’s nice to get back to an Apple from Android. I’m truly an Apple fan. Just hope the memory is enough for me (I’ve gone for a 64GB rather than a 256GB X). The phone was with me in a couple of days and so far after some initial fear it seems the 64GB could be enough. We shall see if that continues to be the case.
Always a pain having to get new a new case etc when you change these things ain’t it? Not sure how many cases I’ve got—or thrown out—the different phone sizes and the positions of the camera lenses etc mean the cases can never be used again. Maybe I’ll have to think of some other use for them.
Refurbed phones are defo the way to go anyway—less than a ton for a decent phone. Lovely. Looking forward to getting used to it. The new iOS seems quite different and buttons that used to do one thing now do other things. It should be a relatively shallow learning curve though.
Back Market quickly processed the order and sent it out by Royal Mail. I was a little surprised the Tracked delivery was delivered to the Purple Bin (the waste to landfill bin). They even kindly took a photo of the bin to prove delivery. The mind boggles. Even Amazon don’t send stuff to the rubbish. Bin Day was the next day and I did rescue it in time; thankfully.
Links:
Back Market
Always a pain having to get new a new case etc when you change these things ain’t it? Not sure how many cases I’ve got—or thrown out—the different phone sizes and the positions of the camera lenses etc mean the cases can never be used again. Maybe I’ll have to think of some other use for them.
Refurbed phones are defo the way to go anyway—less than a ton for a decent phone. Lovely. Looking forward to getting used to it. The new iOS seems quite different and buttons that used to do one thing now do other things. It should be a relatively shallow learning curve though.
Back Market quickly processed the order and sent it out by Royal Mail. I was a little surprised the Tracked delivery was delivered to the Purple Bin (the waste to landfill bin). They even kindly took a photo of the bin to prove delivery. The mind boggles. Even Amazon don’t send stuff to the rubbish. Bin Day was the next day and I did rescue it in time; thankfully.
Links:
Back Market
Storygraph and that Twitter Shite
19/11/24 00:29
I’ve been tweeting a lot less lately on both my Zevonesque and RealeLiverpool accounts as its death by a thousand cuts (many more really) continues. It’s obviously a lot less friendly or useful than it used to be and many people have either stopped going on it, or using it—or left it completely. For now I think I’ll just stop using it in the hope that Musk sells it to someone who cares about what it was/could be (now that he’s got what he wants out of it for his MAGA lot). It’s probably beyond rescuing to be fair and it’s the hope that kills us, isn’t it?
I created Bluesky accounts for both names last year with the hope that maybe it could do the Twitter thing in a better way. It’s taken a year (yes, it turns out I was an early adopter) but things seem to be taking off on it, with sports clubs and newspapers leaving Twitter for Bluesky. So maybe it has a damn good chance. I’ve been using the Zevonesque account a fair bit, but haven’t touched the RealeLiverpool one. Sadly I want to use it, but I can’t log onto it and I can’t remember what email address I used to set it up—so I can’t reset the password. Bummer! Fingers crossed I can sort it out, or else I’ll have to register a slightly different named one in its stead I guess.
In other I.T./App news I’ve moved on to Storygraph from Goodreads. It seems a nice simple App and works well—and on Android as well as AppleOS. Exporting all my data from my years of using Goodreads worked quickly and seamlessly—as far as I can tell. I like the visuals from the pie charts and the selection from those pie pieces works well too. It’s only been a day or two… but farewell Musk… and farewell Bezos. When I say farewell I mean…
Hope to see some more of you guys on Bluesky and maybe Storygraph too (haven’t looked at the social side of that yet, perhaps there isn’t one).
I created Bluesky accounts for both names last year with the hope that maybe it could do the Twitter thing in a better way. It’s taken a year (yes, it turns out I was an early adopter) but things seem to be taking off on it, with sports clubs and newspapers leaving Twitter for Bluesky. So maybe it has a damn good chance. I’ve been using the Zevonesque account a fair bit, but haven’t touched the RealeLiverpool one. Sadly I want to use it, but I can’t log onto it and I can’t remember what email address I used to set it up—so I can’t reset the password. Bummer! Fingers crossed I can sort it out, or else I’ll have to register a slightly different named one in its stead I guess.
In other I.T./App news I’ve moved on to Storygraph from Goodreads. It seems a nice simple App and works well—and on Android as well as AppleOS. Exporting all my data from my years of using Goodreads worked quickly and seamlessly—as far as I can tell. I like the visuals from the pie charts and the selection from those pie pieces works well too. It’s only been a day or two… but farewell Musk… and farewell Bezos. When I say farewell I mean…
Hope to see some more of you guys on Bluesky and maybe Storygraph too (haven’t looked at the social side of that yet, perhaps there isn’t one).
Steph's Boss Strings
10/11/24 15:16 Filed in: music | liverpoolgigs
On Tuesday I went to Leaf, on Bold Street, to watch a Steph Strings gig. I’d never seen her play before—she said during the show that it was her first time in Liverpool (but she had played in the north west, including Manchester, before supporting someone). I can’t actually recall how or when I discovered her and so am not sure if it was from an Insta or Spotify algorithm. However I was introduced to her I thank them/it. I’ve been listening to her stuff via Spotify and following her exploits on Insta for a few months and it was great to she was to play Leaf and I soon got me a ticket.
Liverpool were playing at home in the Champion’s League which made the transport in a bit of a worry—as it always is for home games. It turned out that I had no probs getting in at all. I checked out the stage times and Steph was due on at 9pm, so I headed into the Vines to watch the 1st half of the Reds vs Xabi’s Leverkusen, partly so I could just see at least some of the game, but also because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to sit or not following my severe MS leg fatigue at my last gig. So I left at half time when the score was 0-0 and got to Leaf before Steph went on. It turned out that the gig was pretty full but there were plenty of chairs and in fact many of the audience were sat on the floor to watch. I opted for a chair as I was unsure about the spectacle of me periodically trying to stand up from the floor.
Steph came on just after 9. She play’s unaccompanied with just her guitar and a stomp box or foot tambourine thingy. Her songs and playing are exemplary and she gets the crowd going both with her performance and her stories between the songs. She even managed to get everyone singing or clapping along with her through patient instruction to a willing—and able—audience. I got my phone out to take a couple of pics and was greeted by notifications that Liverpool were winning 2-0. Cool! She plays the guitar effortlessly using lots of clever techniques—even channeling Jeff Healey a couple of times. By the time the gig was over everyone was mightily impressed and happy with the night’s gig—and I found Liverpool had won 4-0. Although I’d missed what must have been an excellent second half, I was glad I’d not missed the gig. Yes, Steph was that good.
If you get the chance to see her do. Although I guess she’ll be playing more in her native Australia for a while now. I’m not sure what Steph’s surname actually is, unless it really is Strings and it’s the best example of nominative determinism ever. I dare say I could Google it. But hey I’m not bothered. Have a listen to her on Spotify (or wherever you can). I’ll put some links below.
Spotify
Liverpool were playing at home in the Champion’s League which made the transport in a bit of a worry—as it always is for home games. It turned out that I had no probs getting in at all. I checked out the stage times and Steph was due on at 9pm, so I headed into the Vines to watch the 1st half of the Reds vs Xabi’s Leverkusen, partly so I could just see at least some of the game, but also because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to sit or not following my severe MS leg fatigue at my last gig. So I left at half time when the score was 0-0 and got to Leaf before Steph went on. It turned out that the gig was pretty full but there were plenty of chairs and in fact many of the audience were sat on the floor to watch. I opted for a chair as I was unsure about the spectacle of me periodically trying to stand up from the floor.
Steph came on just after 9. She play’s unaccompanied with just her guitar and a stomp box or foot tambourine thingy. Her songs and playing are exemplary and she gets the crowd going both with her performance and her stories between the songs. She even managed to get everyone singing or clapping along with her through patient instruction to a willing—and able—audience. I got my phone out to take a couple of pics and was greeted by notifications that Liverpool were winning 2-0. Cool! She plays the guitar effortlessly using lots of clever techniques—even channeling Jeff Healey a couple of times. By the time the gig was over everyone was mightily impressed and happy with the night’s gig—and I found Liverpool had won 4-0. Although I’d missed what must have been an excellent second half, I was glad I’d not missed the gig. Yes, Steph was that good.
If you get the chance to see her do. Although I guess she’ll be playing more in her native Australia for a while now. I’m not sure what Steph’s surname actually is, unless it really is Strings and it’s the best example of nominative determinism ever. I dare say I could Google it. But hey I’m not bothered. Have a listen to her on Spotify (or wherever you can). I’ll put some links below.
Spotify
1993 was a Most Excellent Year
02/11/24 14:31 Filed in: music
On Bluesky a couple three weeks ago I saw one of those ‘Post 20 albums/books/films/cheeses/bus routes that you were kinda into.’ I eschewed the cheese one (for now) and went for the album one. Twenty albums is damn difficult. Could have swapped a few, but I’m happy with my list: even if I went for a few Greatest Hits ones (earlier REM, Status Quo, and Queen). To be fair they were played to destruction (Queen in my early teens and REM in my later ones).
Well to cut to the chase these were my twenty albums covers in the order they were released. There really could and should have been some more blues and Motown albums (Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, the Temptations and Four Tops, then there’s Pink Floyd, Teenage Fanclub etc). Maybe I’ll make it 40 rather than twenty. We’ll see.
Beatles - ‘Rubber Soul’ (1965)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - ‘Are You Experienced’ (1967)
Rolling Stones - ‘Exile on Main Street’ (1972)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979)
Status Quo - ‘12 Gold Bars’ (1980)
Queen - ‘Greatest Hits’ (1981)
Dire Straits - ‘Alchemy - Live’ (1984)
Robert Cray - ‘Strong Persuader’ (1986)
REM - ‘Eponymous’ (1988)
The Waterboys - ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ (1988)
The Stone Roses (1989)
Counting Crows - ‘August and Everything After’ (1993)
Cracker - ‘Kerosene Hat’ (1993)
Chuck Prophet - ‘Balinese Dancer’ (1993)
Radiohead - ‘The Bends’ (1995)
Ryan Adams - ‘Heartbreaker’ (2000)
Wilco - ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ (2002)
The Jayhawks - ‘Rainy Day Music’ (2003)
Frank Turner - ‘England Keep My Bones’ (2011)
The Decemberists - ‘The King is Dead’ (2011)
Not a bad listening list I reckon—and 1993 was definitely a most excellent year.
Well to cut to the chase these were my twenty albums covers in the order they were released. There really could and should have been some more blues and Motown albums (Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, the Temptations and Four Tops, then there’s Pink Floyd, Teenage Fanclub etc). Maybe I’ll make it 40 rather than twenty. We’ll see.
Beatles - ‘Rubber Soul’ (1965)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - ‘Are You Experienced’ (1967)
Rolling Stones - ‘Exile on Main Street’ (1972)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ (1979)
Status Quo - ‘12 Gold Bars’ (1980)
Queen - ‘Greatest Hits’ (1981)
Dire Straits - ‘Alchemy - Live’ (1984)
Robert Cray - ‘Strong Persuader’ (1986)
REM - ‘Eponymous’ (1988)
The Waterboys - ‘Fisherman’s Blues’ (1988)
The Stone Roses (1989)
Counting Crows - ‘August and Everything After’ (1993)
Cracker - ‘Kerosene Hat’ (1993)
Chuck Prophet - ‘Balinese Dancer’ (1993)
Radiohead - ‘The Bends’ (1995)
Ryan Adams - ‘Heartbreaker’ (2000)
Wilco - ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ (2002)
The Jayhawks - ‘Rainy Day Music’ (2003)
Frank Turner - ‘England Keep My Bones’ (2011)
The Decemberists - ‘The King is Dead’ (2011)
Not a bad listening list I reckon—and 1993 was definitely a most excellent year.
Flash Memory
21/10/24 12:26 Filed in: Writing
Following the Flash Dogs Equinox challenge last month I’ve decided to give the Remix a go. To that end I downloaded a Kindle ‘book’ of writing I’d done for a load of flash challenges from back in the day. There are literally dozens and dozens of them, and bloody hell so many old flash fiction challenges that have been and gone. It got me proper reminiscing about all the good stuff the Dogs & Co. used to be involved with.
What a time it was, anyone new to Twitter won’t know how good it used to be for the writer types, which is how the Flash Dogs formed—it wouldn’t these days with the awful mess Twitter has become. Elon doesn’t like reading.
How many of these (largely weekly) challenges do you remember?
Angry Hourglass
Finish That Thought
Flash Friday
Last Line First
Luminous Creatures
Microbookends
Mid Week Blues Buster
MidWeek Flash
Race the Date
Seedling Challenge
Thursday Threads (still going)
Trifecta
Visdare
I used to use these all very regularly and it makes me realise how little I do now along these lines. I have started doing a few of my own stories from short snippets I come up with myself. While the challenges have gone I should really just do my own that way and then either develop into something more substantial, or put up a few on this ole website. I do need to be more regular in terms of writing and publishing I guess. I shouldn’t use the demise of these sites and prompts as an excuse not to.
Next though I’ve got to choose one of my old flash stories from one of these challenges to get in and remix. If you wrote for any of these why don’t you give it a go to? Consider it a new prompt.
What a time it was, anyone new to Twitter won’t know how good it used to be for the writer types, which is how the Flash Dogs formed—it wouldn’t these days with the awful mess Twitter has become. Elon doesn’t like reading.
How many of these (largely weekly) challenges do you remember?
Angry Hourglass
Finish That Thought
Flash Friday
Last Line First
Luminous Creatures
Microbookends
Mid Week Blues Buster
MidWeek Flash
Race the Date
Seedling Challenge
Thursday Threads (still going)
Trifecta
Visdare
I used to use these all very regularly and it makes me realise how little I do now along these lines. I have started doing a few of my own stories from short snippets I come up with myself. While the challenges have gone I should really just do my own that way and then either develop into something more substantial, or put up a few on this ole website. I do need to be more regular in terms of writing and publishing I guess. I shouldn’t use the demise of these sites and prompts as an excuse not to.
Next though I’ve got to choose one of my old flash stories from one of these challenges to get in and remix. If you wrote for any of these why don’t you give it a go to? Consider it a new prompt.
A Night at the Casino Where Everyone Is A Winner
Went to the Liverpool O2 on Friday to see Casino’s biggest hometown gig, where they were supported by Heavy North. Several years ago I went to the Arts Club (don’t confuse it with the Arts Bar btw) to see the Heavy North supported by Casino. Both top Liverpool bands and matey too.
I didn’t see the second support (Neil Noa) as my sorry old body wasn’t up to it (it turned out it wasn’t up to two bands either, but that’s a different story).
I grabbed a pint of something wet and expensive and headed up the front of the venue and grabbed a bit of rail on the far right of the stage. Got chatting to John from Bury, a big music fan and a Liverpool FC fan to boot (a big fan of Heavy North who’s seen them at least as much as I had, but hadn’t seen Casino before).
The Heavy North
Heavy North came on stage right on time to play their half hour or support slot and hit their groove straight away with a couple of tracks from their first album. The atmosphere for their performance was great and the O2 had filled considerably. I was glad I had bagged a place at the front, resting on the rail and dropping the pint on to the step on the other side for intermittent retrieval was a godsend. The set was a pleasure to hear and every song was celebrated with loud applause. The crowd were there to see the bands, not to chat which is sometimes an issue when I’ve been to the O2. Didn’t manage to grab a set list when they finished but LFC John from Bury did.
Casino
A Brief Casino Solo
Casino had a hard act to follow even if they are all mates. They rose to the challenge and performed brilliantly with their new single, Heaven, kicking it off. By Your Side was greeted like an old friend with everyone singing along. It was clear the band were loving the night too and they played as a tight outfit—like they always do to be fair. They’ve got tons of great songs that always get the crowd going. Now if I could just hold an album in my hands...
Casino
I didn’t see the second support (Neil Noa) as my sorry old body wasn’t up to it (it turned out it wasn’t up to two bands either, but that’s a different story).
I grabbed a pint of something wet and expensive and headed up the front of the venue and grabbed a bit of rail on the far right of the stage. Got chatting to John from Bury, a big music fan and a Liverpool FC fan to boot (a big fan of Heavy North who’s seen them at least as much as I had, but hadn’t seen Casino before).
The Heavy North
Heavy North came on stage right on time to play their half hour or support slot and hit their groove straight away with a couple of tracks from their first album. The atmosphere for their performance was great and the O2 had filled considerably. I was glad I had bagged a place at the front, resting on the rail and dropping the pint on to the step on the other side for intermittent retrieval was a godsend. The set was a pleasure to hear and every song was celebrated with loud applause. The crowd were there to see the bands, not to chat which is sometimes an issue when I’ve been to the O2. Didn’t manage to grab a set list when they finished but LFC John from Bury did.
Casino
A Brief Casino Solo
Casino had a hard act to follow even if they are all mates. They rose to the challenge and performed brilliantly with their new single, Heaven, kicking it off. By Your Side was greeted like an old friend with everyone singing along. It was clear the band were loving the night too and they played as a tight outfit—like they always do to be fair. They’ve got tons of great songs that always get the crowd going. Now if I could just hold an album in my hands...
Casino
Flash Dogs-Woof!
Was made up with the return of the Flash Dogs and their Equinox challenge back in September (hey, it was on the Equinox, wasn’t it?). And this very Sunday they published the results of the judging by Rebekah and Juna: and one of my stories was chosen as a winner (by Rebekah, of Flash! Friday fame). So now I am doubly made up.
Flash Dogs Equinox—Photo Prompt
Two fifty words is a difficult challenge, but everybody managed it admirably. My first story ‘Newcote: A New Beginning’ won, along side Eric Martell’s ‘Why We Seek’ (picked, of course, by Juna)—and one my other two got a mention as well for the ‘most appropriate response to seeing a Dragon’—which I guess was the protagonist peeing himself.
I’m glad I got a dragon into a story with a nod to the judges. It would have been rude not to. Anyway, more writing awaits—and maybe more dragons or some alternative events with ‘appropriate responses’. Onwards and Upwards.
Flash Dogs Equinox—Photo Prompt
Two fifty words is a difficult challenge, but everybody managed it admirably. My first story ‘Newcote: A New Beginning’ won, along side Eric Martell’s ‘Why We Seek’ (picked, of course, by Juna)—and one my other two got a mention as well for the ‘most appropriate response to seeing a Dragon’—which I guess was the protagonist peeing himself.
I’m glad I got a dragon into a story with a nod to the judges. It would have been rude not to. Anyway, more writing awaits—and maybe more dragons or some alternative events with ‘appropriate responses’. Onwards and Upwards.
Very Mostly Water
Not been out singing at Open Mics much this year at all. Not even approaching double figures out there, but I went to the newly moved OM night at the Dispensary on Monday. Yep, it’s moved to Mondays so that it doesn’t clash with any footy (or will do so a lot less often) now that Liverpool are back in the Champion’s League (which has games on random Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to make it difficult as far as I can see). There’s also other OM nights on the Tuesday (including the nearby Metrocola), but to be fair there are OM nights all over the city on nearly every day really so any day will clash with one or another.
Last Monday was one of the wettest day in the recent history of the city so it was a bit of a last minute call to get out there. I felt I should make the effort after watching too much telly (I’d binge watched Ludwig on the iPlayer). Got wet going to the bus, then got wet leaving Queen Square, had a quick pint in the Vines before getting wetter with the last few hundred yards to the Dizzy.
Dave O’Grady was there and a couple of regulars—and a newbie (Dan?) on his first Dizzy appearance. Headzic played his double wok after him, with all his man-made sounds of rain falling to compete with the real stuff outside, then I went up to play a few songs (five). Dave came up after me and played some of his bluesy tracks.
With the constant (around 36 hours) rain I went with Bap Kennedy’s ‘Mostly Water’ first. Think I’ve only played it once or twice in the wild before. Followed that with ‘Splendid Isolation’ Warren Zevon (don’t play that often either), then it was a few of my old dependables: ‘Heart Breaks Like the Dawn’ Chuck Prophet, ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ Ryan Adams, and, due to requests, ‘Whiskey in my Whiskey’ Felice Brothers. Five songs—that’s like an EP’s worth. Afterwards chatted to a nice couple from Munich who were travelling through the city and they’d loved the OM. Said it was rare in their part of the city. The guy asked if I’d written the songs, to which I replied with the names of the singer songwriters who actually had. He knew all of them (though maybe not Chuck P), but said he hadn’t recognised them when I was playing them. I confirmed that by not playing the guitar well I did them in my own way and by necessity ‘made the songs my own.’ His other half had said she’d loved them and had been looking up the songs whilst I was playing them—which you can take in multiple ways. Anyways for one reason and another I was glad I’d made the effort to go out.
And incredibly when I walked out on to Renshaw Street it had actually just stopped raining. Though Liverpool was still remained mostly water.
Last Monday was one of the wettest day in the recent history of the city so it was a bit of a last minute call to get out there. I felt I should make the effort after watching too much telly (I’d binge watched Ludwig on the iPlayer). Got wet going to the bus, then got wet leaving Queen Square, had a quick pint in the Vines before getting wetter with the last few hundred yards to the Dizzy.
Dave O’Grady was there and a couple of regulars—and a newbie (Dan?) on his first Dizzy appearance. Headzic played his double wok after him, with all his man-made sounds of rain falling to compete with the real stuff outside, then I went up to play a few songs (five). Dave came up after me and played some of his bluesy tracks.
With the constant (around 36 hours) rain I went with Bap Kennedy’s ‘Mostly Water’ first. Think I’ve only played it once or twice in the wild before. Followed that with ‘Splendid Isolation’ Warren Zevon (don’t play that often either), then it was a few of my old dependables: ‘Heart Breaks Like the Dawn’ Chuck Prophet, ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ Ryan Adams, and, due to requests, ‘Whiskey in my Whiskey’ Felice Brothers. Five songs—that’s like an EP’s worth. Afterwards chatted to a nice couple from Munich who were travelling through the city and they’d loved the OM. Said it was rare in their part of the city. The guy asked if I’d written the songs, to which I replied with the names of the singer songwriters who actually had. He knew all of them (though maybe not Chuck P), but said he hadn’t recognised them when I was playing them. I confirmed that by not playing the guitar well I did them in my own way and by necessity ‘made the songs my own.’ His other half had said she’d loved them and had been looking up the songs whilst I was playing them—which you can take in multiple ways. Anyways for one reason and another I was glad I’d made the effort to go out.
And incredibly when I walked out on to Renshaw Street it had actually just stopped raining. Though Liverpool was still remained mostly water.
The Return of the Flash Dogs
06/10/24 22:09 Filed in: flash friday fiction | flashdogs
Was good to see the recent iteration of the Flash Dogs with the Equinox challenge. And it was nice to see some familiar names there. The invite was for ‘up to four’ stories using the photo prompt. In the end I wrote three, but two of the writers did submit four stories (Stella and John Murphy). Two others wrote three stories and another six wrote one story (which is plenty enough really).
Writing stories of just a 250 word maximum is damn hard. It’s been a while since I tried (I have done Thursday Threads once this year—a maximum of 150 words). Think 350 is a bit easier to get a story out there, but hell even that is a push too).
Have read all the stories and I enjoyed them all. My top few were ‘The Land Remembers’ (Voima Oy), 'Postcard' (Bex Spence), ‘Pentimento’ (Bex Spence, again), and ‘Ask the Dog’ (Stella)’. But if I went through them all again maybe I’d pick some different ones. Sometimes judging is even harder than writing to a very tight margin. Kudos to all those who got involved. It’s good to be back (whether it’s for a short stop or for something a little longer).