Week 88 – Bingo, Sean Connery And Equal Ground

This is weird as I have no inspiration on what to write. I’m hoping that I can write my way into something.

I think all of us here at Literally Stories have done this once or twice when trying to decide on a story. We write down our thoughts, our reasoning and that eventually helps us decide.

So here goes.

Week 88 – Well the number just reminds me of ‘Bingo’ and the ‘Two fat ladies’. I am not sure if they say that anymore as it is an …ist. (Sexist, racist, bigotist, svelteist, not-so svelteist, the …ist list goes on so much that I wonder if ‘list’ is an issue?)

The late great Rikki Fulton had a character called I.M. Jolly who was a very miserable Scottish Minister. He was banned from the old folks bingo for saying things such as, ‘Twenty two – It’ll no be long noo.’ and ‘Forty four – Knocking on Heavens Door’

One other sketch that comes to mind was when he was approached by a nymphomaniac and she asked ‘Would you like to come in for super sex?’

He replied, ‘If it’s aw the same to you, I’d rather have the soup.’

That was as risky as he got. I wonder if that was a conscious choice or he was picking material for his audience?

That makes me wonder about writing out-with our comfort zones. Yep I know that I’ve mentioned this before but for the dozens, hundreds, thousands of folks who don’t normally read this, I reckon I can get away with mentioning it again. (You know who you are…But wait a minute, when I think on it, you won’t as you won’t be here!)

Not many successful authors mix up their genres, they stick to one as that is what their audience expects. Short stories maybe give us a wee bit more freedom. I myself have written Horror, Humour and General Fiction which touches on Social Commentary. I have even done Romance, but to be fair that was about Fred and Rose West, so I am thankful that it might not count!

I think the Science Fiction and Fantasy writers are the guys who stick to type more than any writer of other genres. (I will probably get pelters for that one.) I think it is because they live in their own wee worlds within the confines of their bedrooms. (Only kidding Nik!!!)

Romance writers very seldom do any Horror Porn. (I wish they would) And I don’t think many horror writers do cuddly. It is all about what you are comfortable with. The thought of me doing anything with eye gazing and seeing their children within them makes my blood run cold. I know that if I tried, the story would take a turn and I would probably kill someone. There was a cracking line from ‘Only Fools And Horses’ regarding ‘Love Story’,

‘I cried ’cause Ali McGraw died – You cried ’cause Ryan O’Neil didn’t’

Ah, I have managed some words so I’ll move onto our stories from this week.

We only had one new writer but the old guard also came up with some crackers. Topics for this week included spelunking, some chemical enlightening, living words, old soldiers and an update of some mythology. As always our comments follow.

Tom Sheehan continually sends us in work of the highest quality. He was up first on Monday with ‘Beau Geste Murtaugh, Veteran Of Wars‘

‘The way he puts words together is enthralling.’

‘He can mesmerise you with words.’

‘It’s a joy just to read the prose.’

On Tuesday we had a very dramatic piece of updated mythology. Fred Foote made this relevant to these times. We were honoured to publish ‘Atreus (Arthur) And Thyestes (Theo)‘

‘Fred had a yes with the first line!’

‘Beautifully seductive writing.’

‘There is a wonderful pace to this.’

Now we had a bit of a difference on Wednesday and then Thursday. Two of our own Editors got their pens out. Again, I have mentioned this before but I want to state for the record, we all have to go through the same process. My story last week along with Nik and Diane for this week were read, discussed and voted on. We have no guarantees or any passage straight through to being published.

So for the record, Mr Nik Eveleigh was up on Wednesday with ‘Word Puppet‘. It was a horror that every writer will relate to. It was good to see him adding to his excellent and eclectic back catalogue. (That might balance up the geek hint!!!)

Diane is a very talented horror writer and I think we dubbed this speculative horror. I am sure that if you read her excellent story, you will see where those ideas go and the questions that they ask. Diane, on Thursday had ‘The Cave‘ published.

Please don’t think I am being sycophantic, but if you haven’t read either of these authors previous stories, give them a go. They are both very skilled and imaginative writers.

This brought us to Friday and our first new person. Sharon Mertins has given us the quirky and psychedelic offering of ‘Suki’s Unabridged Journey To The Train Of Thought.’ We welcome Sharon and really hope that she has more for us soon.

‘Peculiar and rather lovely in a weird way.’

‘I liked this, it was like listening to Iron Butterfly while staring at colours.’

‘This nagged at my brain, which can only be a good thing.’

After much word searching, some common themes, an introduction to Rikki Fulton and some wonderful stories, we bid this week goodbye!

Oh, just for the record…Shix and shix…Shixty shix!! (Sean Connery’s favourite Bingo number!!!)

Hugh

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