Quote by DenimAngel

Oops sorry Scott ..

I'm a collector of the coca cola Christmas bears and I thought the polar bear drinking a coke was cute

You've reminded of something I could post in Anna's advertising thread.😊

And some more straight forward, old school heavy metal from metal legends Judas Priest. Rob Halford looks and sounds pretty good for a 72 year old who has been belting out heavy metal for something like 50 years.

Was watching the set by Visions of Atlantis, an Austrian symphonic metal band, at Bloodstock Open Air this year. Here's the set opener. There's another video with the full 42 minute performance. VoA has become a favourite of mine over the past couple years. Solid symphonic metal band with a pair of engaging lead singers, French Clementine Delauney (a favourite of mine in just about anything she does, if you scroll up this page to October 24, you can see her in the female metal supergroup Exit Eden) and Italian Michele Guaitioli.

Quote by jmcchesnie

Hello everyone, I am new here. I like to write poetry and short stories. I am working on a couple of children's stories at the moment. I look forward to being part of this community and reading everyone else's stories too.

Ooh, you and Sara (DenimAngel) will get along. She writes children's stories mostly on here. Nice to meet you and look forward to seeing you around. I see you found the coffee house already.

I am the resident gorilla, aka Scott, and I write mostly fantastical fare (horror and fantasy) with occasional forays into other genres. No children's stories that were specifically written as such, but many think my comp winning fantasy piece The Goddess Dances would be good for kids.

Quote by jmcchesnie

Hi all, I'm new here. It's mid afternoon and I'm on my last cup of chicory coffee mixed with a little oat milk. I'm trying to get the motivation to put Christmas decorations up, maybe sometime today it will happen. Cheers to all and have a great day!

Welcome. I haven't been motivated to put my decorations up in years. Kind of stopped when we were often on trips over the holidays and never picked it back up again when the pandemic kind of put a stop to that. Maybe this year. We'll see. I just ordered a new TV for the rec room so setting it up comes first.

Thanks for the setup, verbs.

And, hey, Sara, I saw that avatar out of context on the thread list and thought it was Da Bear. 🤣Very cute.

Ape is here.

Coffee is a Nicaraguan dark roast from Las Chicas. Teas are Russian Caravan and Monk's Blend. Cold beverages are refreshed. Hot chocolate and marshmallows are lookin' good.

Later, alligators.

Oh, check out and contribute to Verbal's new thread on quotes about writing. Should be a fun, interesting thread.

https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/tips-troubles-technique/quotes-about-writing

From a collection of Neil Gaiman quotes about writing.

"I think one of the great things about fiction is that it takes the chaos of life and feeds it back to one in a form that is emotionally satisfying."

"The story is an explosion. And you get to the end of it, and once it's done, then you get to walk around it and you get to look at the shrapnel and the damage it did. And you get to see who died. And you get to see how it worked."

The full collection is at https://www.writinganalytics.co/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGrowing%20up%20is%20highly%20overrated,Just%20be%20an%20author.%E2%80%9D&text=%E2%80%9CRule%20one%2C%20you%20have%20to,write%2C%20nothing%20will%20happen.%E2%80%9D

Quote by verbal
About to start writing a horror Western. Deeply weird.

I don't know if I am more intrigued by the "horror Western" part or the "deeply weird" part. 😊

So after an extended break including giving birth to her second child, Floor Jansen is getting back into action. She finished laying down vocal tracks for the next Nightwish album this week (per the band's drummer Kai Hahto) and has a major solo gig coming up in Amsterdam in two weeks. Supporting act, as for many of her other solo concerts, is fellow Dutch vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen.

Floor:

Anneke (song is from her old band The Gathering):

Kitchen witchcraft. You know I love it.

Well, it's the day after Black Friday. No name for that as far as I know, though I imagine shaking off a shopping hangover is involved.

To help with that, we've got some Deathwish Dark on. Also some English Breakfast and Duke of Earl teas. Fresh pitchers of iced tea and lemonade are also there, as are hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows.

Oh, and ape's been cooking.

Coffee and tea for you and me.

On this American Thanksgiving, I am thankful for those who cover for my sorry ape ass when I am not around.

In the coffee pot we have some dark roast Nicaraguan from Las Chicas.

Teas are Assam and Russian Caravan.

Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade.

Hot chocolate and marshmallows are on standby.

Good morning and, for the Americans, Happy Thanksgiving!

(You missed Verb's post, eh?😊)

Verbs: I get out now and then in winter but mostly stay inside.

Meagan: Beach. I don't ski.

Just sunbathe on the beach or hit the water for surfing, paddleboarding, swimming, etc.?

Hey, Sharon. Nice to see you over here. Take care and get well. Good that you have family for support, at least.

And good morning to all!

New coffee supplier today. Hasbeans is a local outfit in my city. This is their Special Dark.

For teas, we have Canadian Breakfast and Russian Caravan.

Cold beverages are available as is hot chocolate and some other fine teas.

Have a good Sunday!

Quote by Molly

I've noticed the "likes" are still not staying checked. I've reported this issue.

I've noticed it mainly when liking story comments. Is it happening elsewhere, too? I thought story Likes and forum Like were working properly.

Oh, and the cover image is done using an AI as tends to be my approach these days. I use a site called Nightcafe that offers multiple models to choose from. It's a bit of a struggle to get exactly what you want at times, but I think this one kind of got it. I did one of Jadek himself, too, but was not totally pleased with it.

Well, he's the protagonist of my new story but the name has been sticking in my head for a long time. Somehow, I finally decided he was a Conan the Barbarian-esque warrior with the title Battle Lord, so basically a mercenary general. As I started writing a description for him, somehow I hit on the idea of this hulking barbarian being challenged by a woman and the rest of the story kind of wrote itself from there.

The one thing I waffled on, and finally rejected for now, was explicitly tying this to another of my fantasy worlds. In some early drafts, the goddess Nethandra, who is the primary deity of the world where Night of the Wind and The Goddess Dances are set, got name-checked but I lost that in a later edit, deciding to keep this standalone and maybe in its own world for now.

That said, I am still thinking of another story that makes that connection but does it less casually, perhaps having one of the characters from Night of the Wind encounter Jadek in a new story. Dev, the protagonist of that story, is a war veteran so could well have crossed paths with the Battle Lord.

For now, I give you Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

Good morning! Happy weekend, y'all! We got sun, though it is chilly still. Frost last night and high of only 6C today.

My new story, a Flash fantasy is up. Will post a bit about the background and thinking behind it in a post later, but here's the link. Let me know what you think.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/flash-fiction/last-challenge-of-jadek-prynn

And to sip while you read, we have some Kicking Horse Grizzly Claw dark roast coffee or your choice of English Breakfast or Duke of Earl teas. Cold beverages are refreshed since I guess those in more Southern climes might still appreciate them. Hot chocolate and an urn of hot water await those who prefer that option. We got tons of mini-marshmallows thanks to Sara bribing the delivery guy with cookies. 😊 I think he gave us two more boxes than I ordered.

Hey there! It's morning and it's Friday. How's life going?

Putting some Tobermory Flowerpot Island coffee on. There's Assam and Scottish Breakfast in the teapots. Washed the pitchers to make up some fresh iced tea and lemonade. Hot water is on standby for hot chocolate and other teas.

Need to give my new piece a final reading but I am pretty sure it's good to go. Of course, then I'll read it again and end up spending two hours making minute but (to my eye) critical edits.😜

Quote by DenimAngel
Starbucks

There's your problem right there. 😁

No fears, we only serve the best hot chocolate here and no Battlestar Galactica characters were involved.😊(Was that a nerdy line or what?)

Bond being tongue in cheek depends, for me, on how it is tongue in cheek. 007 lobbing quips and verbal bombs along with bullets is one thing. As long as they are well-written and delivered, I am down with that. What put me off in the Moore years was the proliferation of dumb sight gags (remember the pigeon double take in Moonraker) and mediocre, throwaway lines.

Maybe ham. I've been feeling turkey'd out in recent years. And I'm talking Christmas since Canadian Thanksgiving is now well behind us.

Escaping Winter: Take a cruise or stay at a resort?

Quote by verbal
I have a really intense story up. Be forewarned it is not for the squeamish. I like to think there is some humor and irony in there too, but I don’t get to be the judge of that.

Apparently you are the one person on either site that I follow. Got an alert for your new story last time I came in before seeing this post. Will get to it tonight maybe. Or the weekend. We shall see. And, hey, if you tried to put humour and irony in it, then you can say that. Whether we readers find it there or not is what you have to wait with trepidation to find out. 😋

My new flash fantasy story might be close. Finally got a cover image added and the text clocks in at pretty much exactly flash length but I do want to give it another reading and already have thoughts on something I might change.

Eat. Turkeys are a lot of work.

Homemade stuffing or from a box?

Maybe it's listening to Spiritbox and Courtney's growls, but I'm back into melodic death metal again. And my favourite band of that ilk at the moment is Sweden's Arch Enemy. Though are a rather multinational band now, featuring a Canadian lead singer and an American as one of the guitarists.

Here's one from 2017 with current lead singer Alissa White-Gluz

And from 2003 featuring her predecessor, German Angela Gossow. Angela quit singing and became the band's manager in 2014 so she could have more time for other interests and her family.

Hm. Never X-country skiied so probably that. Though I have not snowshoed since my school days and I hear there's some nice snowshoes on the market now, better than the traditional ones we used back then.

Make your mark or live quietly and unnoticed?

Time for coffee and tea!

Throwing on some Deathwish Medium Roast for the coffee lovers. In the teapots are Irish Breakfast and Chai. Cold beverages are looking good. Hot chocolate is now out for those needing some warmth and a chocolate fix.

New story is probably on the way from the ape. It's only Flash length right now though I am contemplating fleshing some things out so it might up in the 1500-2000 range once I am done. Genre is fantasy, a bit mythical and a bit sword and sorcery.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

My choice would be Robbie Williams!

There was some video of his that had me going, "This is an audition to play Bond, isn't it?" Forget which one but it was quite a while ago. Another one who would really depend on whether they want a new, wet behind the ears Bond starting out or the ongoing adventures of a veteran agent. Robbie is getting up there so would work for the latter, not so much the former.

Quote by verbal
I took a walk yesterday and it was COLD - I will have to dress warmer to keep up this walking in winter thing.

Same here. Wore just a shirt and hoodie yesterday and it was a bit too chilly for that really. Was double digits Celsius but with a wind chill.

Quote by gillianleeza

So that's my problem? I live in Westeros? Because that so sums up our Fall weather here.