Hee hee! Good comp! Big congrats to all the winners, and all the entrants! That was fun, and made for several excellent nights of spooky Halloween reading. And thanks to Molly, for all her work behind the scenes! Come have a cup of hot tea, Molly!

No Talia Friday. Not making this up: I haven't seen the cats since I woke up. Perhaps they see the writing on the wall.

I hit 27k words yesterday. First drafts are easy, but still, the words are flowing. I have got a LOT of plates in the air, plot-wise. Let's see if I can this juggling act up. It's like juggling cats! Hey, that's an idea.

We saw Last Night in Soho last night. We both really enjoyed it. Not perfect, but really fun, and really smartly done. And Anya Taylor-Joy is crush-worthy; she's just mesmerizing.

Okay, time to make the donuts. A coffee and a GIANT PING-SHAPED COOKIE please!!!

Ha! Too frikkin cool! I actually clapped when I saw the results! Big congrats to all the winners in a very strong field: the Marvelous Bastard himself, VV, and WriterGirl! And to everyone who entered, for giving us a great set of reads. This was an excellent comp!

Happy Veteran's Day, all, and my gratitude to those of you that served.

Talia has the day off, and I'm feeling lazy, so I will write a bit, but not shooting for the daily 1k (as a side note, I have friends doing NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month--churning out thousands of words a day, anyone doing that? the idea of writing that quickly makes me anxious). We are threatening ONCE AGAIN to see Last night in Soho, We'll see if we actually get out of the house.

We finished binging Maid last night. I cannot praise that show enough. Margaret Qualley and Andi McDowell absolutely shine in it. Perfect. Or as close as it needs to be.

Coffee and a Maragaret Qualley shaped cookie. Oh, and a spliff rolled from the Ape's Chinese green tea please, too!

Quote by Mendalla
Found a tin in my work credenza and I am not even sure what type it is. Smells stronger than my senchas so maybe some Chinese green tea I had kicking around, though I thought I had finished that.

Clearly it's weed.

Quote by redwriter

Quote by verbal
Now, to do the same with an eye doc appt. in my sights (see what I did there?). I have faith.

Verbal, I don't know how bad your eyes are, but if you are offered a cataract op, take it.

I had mine done three weeks ago. In and out in one hour (20 minutes only op time). Told I would need the lenses on my specs readjusted after four weeks and things might be a little blurry until then. That was the case, but only in a minor sense. At the weekend I was watching a football game on TV and the figures were slightly blurry. I removed my specs to wipe then and was amaze to see pitch and players on screen much clearer and brighter. I could even read the names on the shirts. This without the specs. When I tested other programmes I found the same. Clearly something to do with focal length. I'm hoping my optician will shed some light (no pun intended) next week. So if you need it, and are given the choice, I strongly advise it.

I have the beginnings of cataracts but nothing too worrisome yet. Actually, the (non) worry is macular degeneration, which they are keeping an eye on (heh), but which isn't yet a big deal yet either. The dilation was annoying for several hours, but the only upshot is to take eye vitamins.

Got my writing done though!

Losing more writing time today, doing COBRA paperwork for healthcare. Grrr. About halfway done. It's unnecessarily complicated.

No Talia Wednesday. Today the cats and I are staging the fight scene in Godzilla vs. Mothra. They're fighting over who gets to be a moth.

Coffee and a snickerdoodle please!

Morning all. Looking forward to reading WriterGirl. I like having my heart lifted.

House selling BS went fine, and I still got all my writing in. Now, to do the same with an eye doc appt. in my sights (see what I did there?). I have faith.

I've just brought TWO laptops into Windows 11. Painless process. Not much different from 10, to be honest, but a few neat little design details. No problems so far. The God Mode thing (create a folder and name it GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} ) is really helpful at tweaks.

Time for a coffee and eleventy-six snickerdoodles.

I thought I'd read all the comp entries, and suddenly stumbled across VV's crazed entry concerting animatronic frikkin WEASELS!!! My kinda story. Any others I've missed?

Tired from the weekend, though I should be rested with a free hour's sleep. But no. I wasted my hour on frivolity. I'm the grasshopper to Talia's very pretty ant.

Dumb chores to do today, mostly centering around getting my old house ready for sale. That stuff bores me. Should get a few hundred words in anyway. Starting...NOW!

A coffee and a snickerdoodle please!

Those Northern Lights shots are incredible! And you are a good Dad to take your son out to see them. Talia and I keep threatening to center our yes-we-really-will-get-officially-married-someday honeymoon around seeing Northern Lights (taking a cruise up to Alaska and Denali Park), though the more sensible version of that honeymoon is a train trip up the California coast. Anyway, you are lucky to see them, and your son is lucky to be shown them.

No Talia Friday, or as I like to call it, Where the F*ck Are the Cats Hiding and Why Friday.

I've finally broken free from the rewrites, and am on chapter 14 of new material. Open seas! No more ice floes to dodge. Follow that albatross!

Two good movies out this weekend - Last Night in Soho and Antlers. We may actually leave the house!

Sara, today, I brought cookies for YOU! I'd love a coffee to go with one of these.

Quote by Ping

In all my years, I've never seen such an enthusiastic display for that northern hemisphere dancing radiation. My son was in awe. He's not seen the northern lights as vibrant as they were. So much green and purple rippling across the star-studded sky. Took some amazing pictures with my iPhone. The greens and purples were brilliant. Even thought we got a glimpse of some red too. That's rare. Usually, only see that at higher latitudes. We could have stayed there all night, but he needed more sleep before school. I once wrote a story about a zoo, igloos, polar bears, and northern lights. Good times.

That's so cool! I've never seen them, except for some very tame spokes in the sky in Mpls. once. Always wanted to see them - so cool you did! I learned about them when I was a really little kid, at a planetarium in Chicago, and it blew my mind! Good on you for taking your kid out to see them!

My Dad once took me out to see a comet late at night, and it changed my life.

The Jays-Phillies World Series was one for the ages. I think Joe Carter's home run is still circling the globe, now in orbit. I loved that Phillies team, but baseball transcends mere team identity.

Not much else going on. Gotta write. Feeling unmotivated. But I will push on.

A coffee and a Mitch Williams shaped cookie please.

Congrats on the win, Sara! The Braves deserved it. I became a big fan of Albies during the postseason. No more baseball for five months.

Haven't started writing yet - had a video therapy session today. My therapist actually compared me to Pigpen, the filthy Peanuts character. I plan on suing her.

No Talia Wednesday. The cats are on strike, and refuse to participate in my all-feline version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof without better pay and working conditions. Actors! So actor-y!

Okay. Time to buckle down. A coffee and an apple cinnamon whippersnapper would be a dream come true.

Quote by Ping

You know what’s great?

You know what’s great?

Looking for common ground and interest with one’s own kids, especially dads and daughters, and then finding them. Verbs will definitely get this.

My eleven year old is a very creative and talented artist. I really wish I could post some of her stuff. She can creatively draw like I can creatively write. But her drawing is so much better than my poor attempts of writing. And, she has an edge.

For example. One art assignment in grade two or three, I don’t recall the parameters, but she did not subscribe to the premise. So, out of spite, she drew a frog holding a bloodied and clearly deceased small mammal of some sort in its mouth. Sound like something anyone you know would do with writing?

My God, we laughed when she brought that home. I’m sure her teacher was stunned.

Anyway, we’ve unearthed her interest in the horror/thriller genre of movies. Yup. She kind of reminds me of a little Vanessa. Leading up to Halloween, we watched Signs, and a few others. The other parental unit was concerned. Nightmares et Al. Nada. Stop projecting on the kid.

Then, as some of you may recall, I sang the praises of a wonderful Spanish movie called, Veronica. Damn. We had a great discussion about that movie. Sister Death. Evil spirits. Good stuff. I expressed how much I loved it and why. She actually got it, or so I think.

We were channel surfing and the beginning of Jaws 2 was on. We watched to the explosion and she then ask if I found that scary. No. No I didn’t not. Nor did she. But one needs context. She’ll see Jaws sometime when she wants to. I’m good with that.

But the apple pies de resistance was tonight. Sorry, I was supposed to be reading comp stories. I promise. I will. But tonight, after ballet, we were going to watch, A Quiet Place. We were going to start it when I had a revelation: Killing Eve.

Well, she LOVED the first episode. Her eyes got wide and glossy. She was riveted. So, we will watch the series (me re-watch) so we can watch the last season together.

How great is that?

By the way, if you are down or just need a laugh, watch some Best of Graham Norton clips on YouTube. Tears. Always. I laugh until I cry.

Egg nog, please.

Too soon?

Ping and Annie, it really is a gift to watch your kids interests and future self begin to emerge. I still remember my youngest writing a poem about birds swimming in a "trusting sky" and the teacher wanted her to change "trusting" to "blue" (in teacher's defense it was supposed to be a poem written with the color prompt blue). Let's just say I had a short talk with the teacher about nurturing creativity. She didn't change the poem.

Much love and luck and magic to your newborn, Annie.

Saw Dune last night. I LOVED it. It's slow and ponderous and kinda cold, which I know doesn't sound good, but it's so like, epic. Just HUGE. It inspired awe. Timothy Cambriolet (or whatever his name is) is a little lacking in gravitas for the role, but it all worked for me. I love the book, which helps.

World Series returns tonight. I'm rooting for a 7th game, so sorry, Sara. I'm rooting for the Cheaters tonight.

Coffee and a sandworm shaped cookie please!

Quote by Violet_the_Verbose

I have just succeeded in submitting something so last minute, it should be shameful. We'll see if it's allowed to slide into the comp lol. Read at your own risk.

Yay!!! Haven't seen you around much, VV! Hi!

Quote by Ping
Verbs sucks.

Dude! What did I do? I'm just sitting here, resting on my laurels. Sadly my laurels are going numb.

Great Halloween - we had a ton more kids than we usually do - I chose to see that as an optimistic thing, though I don't quite know why. We ran out of candy toward the end and were considering handing out canned goods. Mmm, canned yams! We had left over cake frosting, I was suggesting having kids open their mouths and then spreading frosting on their tongues with a butter knife. Calmer minds prevailed.

Good World Series! Braves in 7 games!

Cool and cloudy. Not much on my plate today - about to start herding words like cattle. Heyaa! Git!

A coffee and a yam flavored cookie please.

Happy Spooky Day! Candy is ready for the 2 or 3 kids willing to brave freezing cold and drizzle for a handful of candy bars. The rest we will eat while binging You (I may or may not have the World Series on the iPad at my side while we watch). Sorry, Sara, I’m rooting for a good World Series, and that means Houston needs to claw their way back into the fight.

A decaf and the scariest cookie please!

Good morning everyone.

Yesterday was a lost day, writing-wise. Trying to massage a plot change and just got blocked--something I always say doesn't happen to me. So, today it's important to get back on the horse and show the story who's boss! The story's the boss!

Last Night in Soho is out. I've been wanting to see it for awhile, and this might be the weekend. Looks creepy, and I have a tiny crush on the Queen's Gambit actress (too lazy to look up her three names).

Halloween plans are what they always are: watch scary movies, give out candy, and eat what's left.

Time to write. Take no prisoners.

Good luck against the Astros tonight Sara.

A coffee and a writing-block-shaped cookie please.

Good morning all.

Ping? Where are you? Did you go full scale biker and begin exploring Canada on a Harley D?

The leaves are all bright yellow and deep reds around us, a chill is in the air, though the sun is shining brightly. Few obligations today, other than to a plot shift I thought up at around 1 in the morning, so I suppose my day will be following the rabbit down that particular hole. I've been stuck at 20k words for a few days now, because I keep cutting old material, and it looks like today will be no different. It's work that's gotta be done, and sooner is better than later.

Sorry about your Braves, Sara. At least it makes for a more exciting series. And you gotta admit, Altuve is a force of nature.

Coffee and a fudge marshmallow cookie please.

I am dressing up as an easily amused man sucking down horror movies on the couch with my wife while displaying a gluttonous appetite for Halloween candy.

No Talia Wednesday! I am fashioning some sort of giant slingshot in the back yard for the cats. Air travel! They can't talk, but I sense they are enthusiastic.

Cool sunny day. Fine weather to write to. I see there are two more story entries! I shall get to them soon!

Congrats on game 1, Sara. Your pitcher BROKE HIS FRIKKIN LEG and still pitched 16 more pitches! Now THAT'S a gamer.

Coffee and a femur shaped cookie please!

Homemade chicken nuggets

Quote by Mendalla
If your old one is USB just use it. Keyboards are still interchangeable. Or hit a computer store and find a nice new one.

It's a laptop. I'm looking into replacing the keyboard, but that's a bit beyond my skillset.

Yarg. Didn't sleep well.

I got my new computer today. I don't like the action on the keyboard, but at least it's a relatively fast little machine (1TB solid state drive!). And unlike my last one, this will take updates, and Windows 11 eventually. So today I'll be pulling all my old files onto the new drive. Loading Office 365 now, which is taking forever.

Talia is doing fine. She's new to back pain (I'm an old hand) so got a little scared. I'm teaching her my back exercises. Geez, that sounds boring. It's not, actually. Kinda fun!

World Series begins tonight! Good luck Sara! I'm mostly rooting for the Braves, but whenever they do that stupid tomahawk chant I start hating them - I heard it during WAY too many Mets-Braves games (that you guys usually won).

Time to face down the blank page.

Coffee and a baseball cookie please!

Quote by Rumple_deWriter

Greetings on this Moanday mourning. Not sure how this feat was accomplished, but for some mysterious reason, I'm here -- sorry about that. Sometimes I can login, other times, not. Beats me why.

Before I forget (something that happens quicker and quicker these days) just what is a 'kreplie(sp). That's just one of the many things about this new set-up which I do not understand.

If I crank up a new account, will it delete my current one? I seem to remember there being a way to put an account into something like hibernation.

Anyway, enough of my whining. Now that our boss man has upgraded the coffee/tea/and goodies offerings, I'm gonna grab me some and go sit in a confy chair while hoping my Saints beat the Seahawks tonight on Monday Night Football.

Later, Inspirators. :glasses8:

Greetings, Bill! So nice to have you! Can I buy you a coffee? 'kreplie(sp), by the way, is the name of out new cat! The apostrophe is silent.

New computer is coming a day early, and should be here today! Yay! Of course, all the setting up (which I love) will eat into writing time, but what are ya gonna do?

Figured out a nice plot point for the novel this weekend. Wireless optochemical stimulation of dopamine receptors using a network of Ring doorbells = the end of the world. Or of the present world anyway.

Not much else going on. Talia is almost back to health. World Series starts tomorrow. Go Braves!

A dopamine receptor shaped cookie and a coffee please.

So my computer is rebooting every few hours (I think one of the hard drives is physically damaged, but slightly), and I keep losing small bits of writing between saves, so I moved to Talia's old Windows 7 laptop, and it's taking me forever to write anything. Partly because it's an old, bad, slow OS, partly because the keyboard layout is so different. My new computer comes Tuesday.

Nothing much else going on. Talia is almost back to her regular self. No baseball for two days, but then THE WORLD SERIES. Good luck Sara. I'm rooting for the Braves, but mostly because the Astros are a bunch of cheaters.

Gunther from Friends just died. Sad.

A decaf and a cookie and a MONKEY HUGS FROM THAT CUTE LIL OL MONKEY!!!

Quote by Molly

Dune.

I was not disappointed at all and I'm excited about another one. They are in talks to make it a full trilogy since the book itself is broken into three parts. Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune.

On a side note, it really does need to be seen on the big screen.

I am SO PYSCHED to see this. Tuesday, with youngest daughter, hopefully. Talia has NO interest in seeing it. All I read was the first book, but I did really enjoy it. It doesn't even have to be great, it just needs to NOT SUCK! and I will be happy.

Quote by gypsy

Quote by verbal

I think I've read all the comp entries. If you entered and I haven't voted, please let me know. I couldn't find a list of entries.

You should see* a banner at the top of the front page for the competition. Clicking on it opens the competition page with rules, regulations etc, plus a clickable list of the writers and entries. Et voilà, tous sont là!

*should see, because while I can see it, it's always possible with the changes here that not everyone's able to. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Just in case, and because I suddenly realised I could do so, here is the link. https://www.storiesspace.com/competitions/spooky-tales

Thanks for this! I think I've read them all!

Sorry about your Braves, Sara. Good series though.

I am late to the party but have just discovered Fleabag. I think I remember the Ping Unit mentioning this in the context of her writing Killing Eve. Excellent stuff. Most of the way through season two. Funny and moving and genuinely surprising at where it takes the story.

Okay. Didn;t write sh!t yesterday. Time to get to work.

Coffee and a W shaped cookie, for the Braves Win!

Quote by DenimAngel
Today's Braves game is gonna be a nail biter game 5 of 7 and the Braves lead the series 3 games to 1.

Watching the game now, Sara. You are down a couple runs in the fourth. It's gonna be very hard for LA to claw their way back into the series, so I wouldn't worry.

Busy day today, taking care of Talia (her back is still out but much better) and lunch with younger daughter and prepping the old house to sell. No writing today. Back in the saddle tomorrow.

I think I've read all the comp entries. If you entered and I haven't voted, please let me know. I couldn't find a list of entries.

A decaf and a single giant cookie in the shape of the Braves logo!

Quote by Mendalla

Quote by verbal
The one with the volcano opening up to reveal a missle silo is pretty cool too. You Only Live Twice maybe?

That's the one. Except it wasn't a missile base, it was for space launches. That's the movie where things started to get kind of unhinged. I mean SPECTRE went from stealing a couple atomic bombs from a crashed bomber in Thunderball to space piracy and a launch pad hidden in a volcano in You Only Live Twice. Fun movie, but definitely one of the more cartoonish Bonds.

Good day. Hope all are keeping well. My sympathies and best wishes to Talia.

Kettle is on for a late day green tea. Anyone else?

Oh, yeah, deeply unhinged, which is probably why I liked it. Even as a little kid I was thinking “this is crazy” when the volcano started opening up.

No Talia Wednesday had become Talia’s Back is Out So I am Taking Care of Her Wednesday. She’s having a tough time, but getting slowly better. Me, I’m writing and caretaking.

Sorry about your Braves Sara, but that was a good game yesterday! Both games, actually, and looking forward to two more good ones today. I still think the Braves look like the better team.

Coffee and a baseball cookie please!

Quote by Ping

Quote by verbal

Ping, you magnificent bastard, I shall watch and judge Bond flicks by whatever criteria I like. If I base the qualities of the movies based on how the main babes affected my quivering, unformed, pre-adolescent yearning, then so be it. Although Talia (speaking of yearnings) has seen 2 of the Craig Bonds and considers him the best too. Balderdash, I say! Don't confuse me with nuanced discussion!

Yup. In Talia we trust.

Offering an undeveloped, uninformed opinion on something is akin to a guy mansplaining menstruation to a woman. Not qualified. Period. 🤭

That was honestly not intended as such, but I actually covered my mouth in awe when I proof read this before posting. Funny stuff.

Anyway, yours and hairy arse mountain primate’s efforts are null and void. Full stop. 😉

But seriously, you guys really need to start with Casino Royal ASAP. Things will get leaked about No Time To Die. You don’t want those spoilers spoiling your enlightening Bond experience.

It’s getting cold here. Winter is coming…

Offering an overdeveloped, informed opinion on something is akin to Mothra moth-splaining radioactive breath to Godzilla.

The one with the volcano opening up to reveal a missle silo is pretty cool too. You Only Live Twice maybe?

Newsletter day today, so stepping back for the book for 24 hours. Talia's back is acting up (I think the weight of her incorrect opinion on James Bond tweaked it), so I am taking care of her while writing.

TWO games today. I think the Braves are gonna win the whole enchilada. They got hot at just the right time!

Coffee and a cookie. and I suggest Scamp goes into space for his next adventure!!!

Nice win last night Sara! Great game. This has been a fun postseason so far. I'm not even rooting for anyone specific, just enjoying the games.

Nice warm day today - I will probably take one of my last walks of the year today, as things are cooling off. I get bored stupid exercising indoors, but that's what I'll be doing for awhile.

Ping, you magnificent bastard, I shall watch and judge Bond flicks by whatever criteria I like. If I base the qualities of the movies based on how the main babes affected my quivering, unformed, pre-adolescent yearning, then so be it. Although Talia (speaking of yearnings) has seen 2 of the Craig Bonds and considers him the best too. Balderdash, I say! Don't confuse me with nuanced discussion!

I've rewritten my third chapter twice now. Guess what I'm doing today? Yep - try number four.

Enjoy the day all. A coffee and a cookie please!

I think I am finally over my Imposter Syndrome in critique group. I feel (mostly) like one of the gang, though I am the newbie. But I'm now officially on the chopping block next month, so we shall see.

I don't have a lot of opinions on Bond, a middling fan at best, but that's never stopped me before. Best Bond was Connery, all the others are in a tie for second. Not even close. The most memorable one is Goldfinger, because of Oddjob, and the name Pussy Galore made me giggle, and the pure insanity of the plot (I remember incredulously asking my Dad if they could really kill someone by painting them with gold). I can't say it's good, but it's stuck in my head all these years later. I also liked Dr. No.

Best song: the instrumental Bond theme. I frikkin HATE Live and Let Die.

Mostly I remember Roger Ebert, predicting correctly about 20 years ago that the Bond equation was about to change, way less emphasis on sex, more emphasis on gadgets and tech. Depressing, but spot on true. I quit watching Bond movies after that.

Coffee and exactly three cookies please!

Quote by Ping
Speaking of witch (see what I did there?), I’ve told my kids they are too old for trick or treating, unless… they only trick. No candy. So far, my daughter is considering statue posing as a zombie ballerina on our deck. As the kids approach, she’ll punch them in the throat, push them down the verandah stairs, and take their candy. I told her to let everyone else do all the hard work. Let them go house to house and collect the candy. She sees the light. My girl has management potential. I should get some kind of frickin’ super parenting award. I’m awesome.

TOO OLD FOR HALLOWEEN!? Get thee behind me! NEVER too old for Halloween. Clearly, your daughter's instincts are sound. She should be a normal statue, like on Dr. Who. Don't blink!

The last year I went out with youngest, I carried an ax and had dark eyes and bloody scars all over my face. Some woman told me I was TOO scary. She's dead now.

Joking. I was joking. Jeez.

During last year's Covid Halloween, we were gonna shout "Six feet social distance! Run!" and then fling hard Jolly Ranchers as hard as we could at the T or T-ers.

Good to see you back Bill! We've missed you. You are a legend. Have a coffee on me!

Going to see a play on Saturday: Guadalupe in the Guest Room. I don't know much about it, I'm just happy to be going out again.

Time to slap words on the page like so many spitballs and see what sticks.

Coffee and two hundred and fifteen cookies please. I'm hungry.