Hello everyone,

General:
I find it impossible to believe that this week is Alphaday eight and I’m still not in the house I should be in! At least the floor has been replaced and the decorators have started to make it look like a house, but now someone has decided to drag our large yew display unit across the floorboards and the plinth has broken. Much more interesting is that nobody seems to have touched it – silly boy, must have been me in my sleep or the tooth fairy…

I sent a mail to Ann Piper the other day hoping that all is well with her and Ron, being in Victoria where all the bush fires have been. She thanked me for the mail and said that she’s not in the same portion of Victoria as the worst fires. It puts my problems quite firmly in their place.

I’ve also been in contact with Maya about the challenge she is sending out. In our correspondence, she was using this alternative address that has caused her more problems than required, so it seems. So anyone who has changed her address, change it back to ‘coastpub’ right now!

One of the problems with working on a blackberry is that trying to send a lengthy response to someone involves typing on keys half the size of a pinhead. I recently had a mail from a pal of mine that made me feel better (I’m sure you’ve got used to my typos of late!). She was quite offended when I sent her a reply which asked if she’d changed her PC for a ‘notebook’ and had broken her fingernails and was using a poss-stick. That she’s too young to remember poss-sticks only added to her feeling of being abused, bless her.

Even if I’m having difficulty keeping in touch with the world (no net, six inches of snow last week I have a nearly tame fox which has been sunbathing outside the window of the room I use as an office. Just lying there enjoying the warmth and watching what world goes past the front door, going past! Margie, this would be one for your album. I’ll try to get a shot.

Challenges:
The challenges, even if I struggle to take part, seem to be getting a good quality of responses. I’m especially pleased that so many people decided to high-queue. As some have said during this season, there seems to be a lack of poetry in any form so thanks to all who wrote in response to Chris’s challenge. But I feel obliged to repeat the comment about entry and votes. It seems that someone has entered and then not voted – and has had to be (as it were) wiped from the list. It strikes me as so sad when this happens but it is important that we all express our opinions about what others have created.

Maya’s challenge worried me slightly when she first suggested it. But I think this will prove to be a good stimulus for our imaginations and also make us think about the craft of writing. What would we want to achieve if we had such a residency? How might we respond to the success or failure of our efforts? And what chance that in responding to this challenge we might decide to bid to take on such a residency! Thanks Maya.

And I’ll try to get an updated score list round to people as soon as is possible.

Log:
Thank you Christine for your timely reminders and encouragement. Every time the LOG reminder comes, I feel spurred to get on the machine and knock out another thousand words or so…

Finally...:
Just to keep Zena up to date; the cardboard box got soggy with the snow and the fence wire got wrapped round an errant sheep.

Our local bookies have better odds on the Falkland Islands winning the World Cup than us being in the house by alphaday nine. Ho hum. At least the snowdrops are out in rural County Durham.

best wishes all

- David

Alphaday eight postscript:

Challenges:

This is the purpose of the circular. I’ve read through all the comments about the high-queues and tallied the scores. The most interesting thing for me was the diversity of opinion about what was ‘best’. Maybe this is an occasion when our tastes have influenced us more than any objective view about ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Does that matter? Not in my eyes.

And now I’m having a first read of the horror stories. Tell you what, if I could have compressed the last few months into 300 words, I’d have won this one by a mile!!!!!

Okay, some scores. Sadly, the blokes have slid from top spot after challenge 6, and as I’m not in challenge 7, we might not make any inroads. But overall, scores are close. I’m at the bottom of the pile with 6 points, looking up at all you inveterate scribblers!

Christine is now la première avec 15 points et deux étoiles (ou deux astérisques!). Margie is close on her heels with 14 points and a star. Then Chris, 13**; Rosemary 11*, Sally 10* and Geoff also 10.

Finally...:

Having finished the first 101000 word draft of the latest tome, I'm now hoping I can find the box with all those paperbacks I exported to France last autumn! A bit of a read while everyone waits for everyone else to do some work on this damned house could do me some good. Or maybe I should go on a writing residency while I wait!