Have a great one, Larry!

Quote by verbal
You can get away with a lot if you power through, playing to your strengths.

This. Good writing advice. I mean, I write stuff no one has ever done (Claimed to have done, yes, but actually done? I remain skeptical.) like summoning and dispelling spirits and pull it off. And my crime story Us Survivors definitely goes places that I have not and got an RR and a top ten finish in a comp (though the protagonist's apartment is based on one I lived in long ago).

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/crime/us-survivors

Quote by Molly

It is a glitch leftover from the most recent update.

Figured it was something like that.

When I go to storiesspace.com (or that other place as well) instead of the home page, I get the attached image. I can get to the proper homepage by clicking on the logo. However, if I login, I don't get the proper page (home or forum depending on where I am) until I refresh. I initially thought it was a mobile issue but I see that I am having it on my desktop, too. I use Chrome on both. Desktop is Windows 10, mobile is Android 13.

Also, Remember Me seems to have stopped working once again. I am having to login on every visit.

Okay folks, here we go...

Coffee is a Nicaraguan dark roast. Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Hot water is ready for hot chocolate or other teas. Mini-marshmallows and other add-ons are restocked. And there's a plate of genuine New Orleans beignets on the counter with the cookies.

And since I've been away, here's a twofer. Swiss singer Melissa Bonny's band Ad Infinitum is also dropping a new album in March and continues to impress with the prerelease singles.

Fourth solo single from Floor Jansen has PTSD as its theme. A full solo album looms in a couple months. The percussion and pulsing strings really drive this one forward, with some of the Floor's best singing yet in her burgeoning solo career.

Quote by elizabethblack

Well said. I didn't know Canada had any of those Americans up there.

We have a few in Canada, but not many of them are in Ontario. It tends to be more of a prairie thing (Alberta and Saskatchewan). That said, even us Easterners have a few loons around (and I'm not talking about coins in our pockets😉).

Quote by verbal
Writing about a convenience store robbery today. I have NO IDEA how to write a realistic robbery.

Well,.if you're running for office to get insight into the process, maybe you should knock over that grocery store while you're there. Insight into the process,.right?🤪

Good evening. Back in the frigid world of Ontario. Oh well, I have survived here for 57 years, guess I can handle it.

Later.

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Thanks, Bear! Tea and cookies for a chilly day!! At least the sun is out in full force again. Rumor has it tomorrow will be warmer. I wouldn’t whine but it’s been too cold to swim and that is how I manage my brother’s Physical Therapy.

You're in Florida? We had to go around Florida to get back to N'Awlins from the Bahamas and it was possibly the coldest, windiest Southern cruise I have been on (I have done Alaska, hence the qualifier). Not bad here in NOLA, though. Low twenties Celsius.

Good evening. Visited the National WWII Museum, which is quite impressive.

And Jeff might seek political office? Cool, I guess. I have thought about taking a stab at council someday. Municipal politics are largely non-partisan in Canada so I wouldn't need to align myself with a party. Probably a retirement project, though.

Quote by DenimAngel
Wow the Georgia BULLDOGS crushed TCU into dust last night

And I think we have a mutual acquaintance who is absolutely over the moon, too, eh. They had that game on the big screen over the pool and I caught the end of the first half. TCU's coach was talking brave but they were already getting the crap kicked out of them.

Hi, gang. Just dropping a little note from somewhere between Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas. Hope the sick are recuperating and the rest are keeping well. Back more regularly in a week.

Quote by TaliaRussell

Hey Handsome - buy me a coffee? ❤️

Wonders what would happen if verbs said "no".😁

Hi, Talia. Nice to see you again.

Hey, Sara I think JAS would like some Superman cookies.😉

Good morning! Probably my last day doing setup for a bit. Coffee is a Costa Rican dark roast. Teas are Assam and Lemon Black. Hot water is ready.

Later, alligators!

Hamburg

Quote by CuriousAnnie

What's this winter you are talking about?

Someday, we are going to get you spend a winter in Ontario. You'll appreciate your homeland all the more, I assure you.🤣

Woo hoo! Congratulations to the top 3! Good choices all!

I think we had a good selection of stories with interesting takes on the pictures.

Thanks for a terrific competition!

Still not quite a spinner, though.😉

Gooooooooooooooood Morning!

There's coffee in the coffee pot, hot and dark. Teas are Red Rose and Duke of Earl. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages like hot chocolate.

This might be my last setup for a couple weeks. Going to be traveling for a bit so probably scarce. Will be hanging around today, though.

Quote by rolandlytle

I wrote my first sci-fi story in high school, and it was set far in the future... 2023.

🤣Yeah, the 21st century seemed so far off at one time, eh. The original Bladerunner was set in 2019 (made in 1982). Last I checked, we didn't have androids and flying cars in 2019, though maybe I missed something. 😋The sequel came out in 2017 and is dated 2049. So maybe some of us will get to see how it compares to the real "future".

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess
I am allergic to all nuts, sadly

Better keep your distance from me then. 😜

More seriously, my maternal uncle had nut allergies and we used to think that's what killed him. Later learned his heart (their family's big weakness, it's what killed my mother) was the problem moreso than an anaphylactic reaction.

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess
Wonders if there are any cookies left...

There's always cookies around here somewhere, even if it's just day olds in the tins behind the counter. After all, we have a cookie fairy.😊

And then I got another one today with 5 literary markets (again, a bit heavy on the spec fic, 3 out of 5) that also has a few other markets with short windows happening tagged on at the end.

» 5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in January 2023 (authorspublish.com)

Quote by verbal

Hey Kat, hey Ape.

May I buy you a coffee and a cookie Ape? You have been doing some fine writing lately.

Me, I will keep slogging along. No Talia Thursday. Writing and CSPAN today. The cats are relieved.

I'll have a coffee and a cookie as well. Hearty congratulations Scott.

Thanks, Jeff. I guess I am getting my mojo back. Tempted to slug a laptop along on my vacation but probably will stick to reading. Though I have been known to bash out poems and micros on my phone when on vacation. 😋

Another non-spec fic one is Zoetic's call for Food-themed writing in all forms (poetry, fiction, essays, etc.).

I am kind of interested in the Renfield one but the deadline is during my vac and I leave soon so not happening. Would love to focus on him as a patient in the rudimentary, often punitive Victorian mental health institutions rather than as a gibbering, drooling vampire slave (even if Drac does still play a role).

New month, new year, new listed of themed calls for submissions. They are all over the map for the most part but seem to be heavy on speculative fiction (sf, fantasy, horror) this month. Queer horror, stories about Renfield (the character from Dracula), Christian spec fic, and others. But there's stuff for others, too, including a call for essays on women's reproductive health. And some themed comps at the end, for those who want more opportunities to win prizes for their writing.

Happy Writing!

» 39 Themed Submissions Calls for January 2023 (authorspublish.com)

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess
I’ve never tried Black Currant tea, but it sounds intriguing.

It's black tea with black currant flavour and it is delish. My wife and I got into via a Tetley's version many years ago. The Tetley's has become hard to get (the only place we can find it right now is on Amazon) but my local tea shop has a nice loose leaf black currant, which is what I use nowadays.

Good morning! Bit grey here but my mood is rather bright. Slept well and got some good news.

Coffee pot is filled with a Nicaraguan dark roast. Teas are Assam and Black Currant. Hot water is boiled and ready for other hot beverages.

Later...

Pulled this one down (just moved it to Drafts, did not delete yet). No longer sure I like having it here. It's a good story, just very dark and not in the way I usually lean. Might come back, might not. I'm giving it some time.

6 2 5 0 (sometimes we must all be heroes)

Quote by verbal
Talia is back on another site, and might pop her head in here. She might even start writing again!

Here's hoping it happens!

No New Year's resolutions here, either, but I would like to start writing more. I've been struggling a bit with mood and physical issues and was not very productive in 2022.