It seems that hardly a week goes by without a request for money.
Come on people, open those purses and wallets. Erin and her team need our support.
I've donated $200 this month. I've had to put off getting a replacement tyre for my bike until next month.
If we don't support the site then it will go away and will be a huge loss to the community.
Dig deep people.

Please...

Samantha

Once the current Roberta Galbraith story has finished, I will start posting a novel that I have written. It is almost complete and is currently more than 170,000 words long.
I have 4-5 chapters to write. I'm off to France for a week on 1st Aug. I'm heading down to the Ardeche region and have rented a Gite for a week. I hope to finish it then.

I know that this is a small thing and probably not high on your list of things to do but it might be worth posting so that everyone knows.

Trans people playing Chess at the top level.

It was my fault entirely that I pasted the wrong story into this site.
I have rectified that now. I am sorry for the confusion it might have caused.

before the works of Shakespeare are banned in US Schools?
Why?
I was up in London earlier today and walked past the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames.
That caused me to remember that when his plays were penned, all the female parts were played by men because there were no women allowed.

I'm doing some research for a future story and would like a little bit of help.

How long would it take to prepare a set of papers for a divorce? If the side petitioning for the divorce knew what they wanted before contacting an attorney, how long before they could get the application for the divorce? I would like it to be pretty short.

I need this to work on the timeline for the story.
Thanks,
Samantha

and into next...

Just a short note to give readers a heads up about what is to come for the remainder of the year and for early 2023.

First up is a 2-parter called 'Surprise'. A bit of fantasy coming true.
Then there is a 17-part story called 'A Quest for Justice'.
This is a political thriller set in the current day USA.
That should take until the end of December to finish posting.
My backlog then is still rather fluid but there is around 6 months of work in the can, and another 6 months of postings in my WIP folder nearing completion.

UK Conservative (UK Type not US) MP Jamie Wallis has come out as Trans. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer have voiced their support for him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-60925885

I wish him all the best for the future.

Samantha

I published a story back in 2013 (it does not seem that long ago) called 'Promises can get you into trouble'. As the story nears its climax, I floated the idea about a number of US States banning the books that had been written by the main character who was Trans.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/46574/promises-can-ge...

If you want a laugh (and who does not need one at the moment) then it is worth having a look at an old British Comedy film called "Please Turn Over". It dates from 1959/1960 but is a good yarn. The title refers to the pages of a book that takes a town by storm.

If you can find it then give it a watch. I found it on the Talking Pictures TV channel on FreeSat (UK).

Samantha

My mother died last night aged 99 years and 5 months.
I have been posting weekly for 4.5 years but I'm going to take a break from posting. The final part of 'On the Cut' was posted last weekend so it is an opportune time to have a break while I sort of Mums things.

Samantha

10 years ago today, I posted my first story. My... how time flies. Well over a million words later, I'm still writing. I have to hope that I've improved as a writer but that is really up to the readers.

Thanks to everyone for the kudos and comments. They are much appreciated.

Samantha

With nothing better to do... I started working out how many words I have published here.
I had this itch that needed scratching.

I've not finished adding them up yet and it is getting close 900,000 and will be well over ONE Million by the end of the year. I have one story that is over 80,000 words long ready to publish.

I will have been posting here 10 years in November. If anyone had said to me that in ten years I would have written and posted around a million words then I would have told them that they are mad, stark raving bonkers.

I have a dear friend that I have known since 1969 but sometimes, he drives me mad.

I produce a calendar every year. This year, all the photographs are of Castles. I give them to friends as Christmas presents and sell a few to cover my costs. An excess is donated to a Charity. This year, it is the RNLI (Lifeboats). I gave them a £70 donation last week.