Your Thoughts

Literally Stories are a sort of collective. Five avid reader/writers who came together to create a short story website where other like-minded souls could read good quality stories and hopefully see their own work published.

This space is for readers and writers alike who would like to comment on Literally Stories.

What is it that you like about the site? Our vision? What don’t you like or would like to see added, changed or simply got rid off?

We do want to hear from you and if we think you have a genuinely great idea we will steal it.

If you have any specific queries regarding submissions email us at literallystories2014@gmail.com

58 thoughts on “Your Thoughts”

  1. I understand that daily postings of stories are meant to give a window to as many writer as possible, which is, in itself, a wonderful idea.

    I hold back because my time simply doesn’t stretch to daily postings. My comments would be few, random and therefore seemingly unfair in relation to the rest of this community. I admit this problem of conscience is totally of my own making. Don’t know how others deal with this.

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    1. One of the things that we wanted to do was, as you say, give each story its moment in the sun. We accept that not everyone will have the opportunity or desire to read a story each day and that not everyone will be moved to comment and I do understand and admire your desire to be fair to all of our authors. The fact that you have visited the site and read some of the stories is wonderful. We are grateful that you have taken the time to comment now and to give us your thoughts. Please, just come when you can and when you want to and we hope that you enjoy each and every visit. We do give each of the authors who submit to us the choice of whether or not to have a comment facility on their stories and though I am sure that those who chose to include the comment field are delighted with the feedback that they receive I think that for them and I know that for us the best thing is that people are visiting the site and supporting what we are trying to do. Again thank you for taking the time to visit and to give us your thoughts.

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  2. Thanks, Diane. Will of course pop in.
    Could you take out the first comment?
    I had been asked to sign into google and lost the comment in the process, so I tried to replicate the first..
    Now there’re two.

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  5. Can i raise an issue about the central banner covering the main pictures, it spoils the view. could the banner be moved to the top as one continuous line allowing more of the picture to be seen. Just a thought. James.

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    1. The banner is unfortunately integral to the Theme, James. There is nothing we can do to change the theme (Hemingway Rewritten) – we could attempt to transfer the site onto a different theme that did not have a central banner. However, this is fraught with dangers and could create a real headache with other areas of the site. Thank you for your feedback. Sorry we can’t remedy this.

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      1. However, the central banner is giving us a bit of fun. Have you noticed that as you scroll down the page the banner fades? This has enabled us to “hide” things underneath it. I strongly urge you to have a look at “Crouching Feline, Hidden Lobster” with this in mind. Scroll slowly away from the heading. We are trying to think about this little issue when formatting the images and to crop or set up images so that not only will they not be too badly affected but, as in the Crouching Feline story, they will actually be a positive.

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      2. Well I never, I’ve just worked out how to view the whole image that is covered by the banner.
        Place the mouse icon on the picture, right click, then click on ” view background image”. This opens a new page and lets you see the whole picture as well as being able to magnify it.

        Great pictures,

        James.

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  6. Hi Ossie – thank you for your thoughts. We are not quite sure what you meant by “What is required is a single voice from the website. No matter what.” The five founders of the site are from different backgrounds, walks of life, parts of the UK (and Sweden, too) and range in age from quite young to the not-so-young, each of us with very different tastes in literature – which of course leads to some interesting and often lively debate about the various submissions that land in our inbox. We publish the best of what we receive (currently about 1 in every 4 stories) – all five editors commenting and often discussing at length the merits of each story, no matter what the genre and our individual tastes. We even have a section for Romance stories though sadly there’s nothing in there as yet – Diane came closest with Greek Oranges! Judging by your other comment we haven’t been publishing the kind of story you would like to read on LS so we hope in the coming weeks there will be some stories to suit your tastes – it all depends on what folk send us. With the exception of poetry and children’s stories we would publish almost anything that we felt was up to a standard we have set and intend to maintain.

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      1. Hi Michael,
        Thanks so much for the interest!
        The first full year (2015) we were running at a 39.7% acceptance.
        To date, this year we are at 15.7%
        Overall we are at 31.4%.
        But we need to take into consideration that our projected figures for this year is around two and a half times the submissions from 2015.
        Hope this answers your question.
        Hugh
        (A nod to Nik – The figures were all him!!!!!)

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  7. I’m sorry to hear! Could you please elaborate in which way it’s not user friendly? And also which Internet Browser you are using at which resolution? It works fine for me, but I might be blinded by my own creation if you allow the expression. Thank you for getting this to our attention!

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  8. Just want to find a place to say a big thank you for selecting me as one of the Story of the Week winners. I am thrilled. Also, I LOVE the pictures! June

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  9. I have perused a great deal of the archives. I am, in turns, impressed, jealous, in love, and envious.
    If I continue this way I’ll have to go to a place where the sunsets are lovely and the Thorazine is plentiful. But at least I will be sent there due to the high quality of the fiction I have read on this site. Bravo to all.
    Irene Allison

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    1. Thank you Irene – we continue to be amazed, too, at the quality and variety of writing that lands in our inbox. It is pleasure and honour to host so many talented writers – best wishes all at LS

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  10. I think that we here at the mighty LS can do even more than just support one another. We can also be altruistic toward fellow writers who are down on their luck.
    It’s little thought about, but I am going to establish a support group for pen names that, through no fault of their own, no longer produce new material because the person whom they had so faithfully shilled has gone and died on them.
    Just think of it: a virtual room in which make believe chairs are arranged like Stonehenge, in which the likes of Mark Twain, George Eliot and the Boz (or was that Bos?) can kvetch freely about the ingratitude, and perhaps audition replacements. Just a thought. I’ll keep you posted on further developments.
    Irene Allison

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  12. Very nice site but I made the mistake of trying to read all the guidelines and I just gave up. I suspect if were a younger writer I would have read everything and followed them to the hilt.

    Simply saying this because a hard edit and shorter guidelines might lead to even more contributions.

    All the best with Literally Stories.

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    1. Hi Christa,
      At this moment in time, an anthology is not something that we are planning.
      However, we may decide to do another at a later date.
      Any news regarding the site would be posted on the weekly Saturday roundup.
      Thanks so much for the comment.
      Hugh

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  14. Hi there.

    The Anthology was published in 2015 and so unfortunately that story was not a part of the site at the time. We had a very tricky job picking stories for the book and we struggled. It was of course a labour of love because all the proceeds go to charity.

    It was very time consuming and so we have not done another one since. That is not to say that one we might. You never know.

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  15. I am new to the site and like it very much. I was wondering, however, If we see a typo in a story, is there a way to contact a mod or editor to alert you? I wouldn’t think you would want us to use the submission email and I’d rather not include it in comments.

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    1. Hello – Thank you for your comments and we are really happy that you are enjoying the site.

      If you have any comments to make about the stories, which you don’t think you want to make publicly, please send them to our email address. We would be very grateful.

      literallystories2014@gmail.com

      Regards

      Literally Stories.

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  16. Pretty interesting site so far. This must take a lot of work to keep going. There must be dedicated people involved. The stories have been quite varied, and I notice they are mainly positive, although the characters struggle. I like the humorous stories also.

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  20. Hi there,
    A newcomer here and thinking of submitting some writing. I just have a question about the word count. Are you pretty strict about the 3000 word limit? I have one piece around the 3700 mark. Thanks for any feedback.
    Nigel

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    1. Hello Nigel. As in all things we are flexible. All we would say is that for a piece outside the guidelines to be approved it does need to capture us early and hold our attention all the way through. We would be the first to admit that great stories do tend to make you forget about the word count and that’s what we look for in longer work. I hope this helps.

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  21. What I like about Literally Stories is that, after years of submitting to journals that take so long to reply you forget what you sent them in the first place, the editors here get back to you in a timely fashion. If the answer is no, you can move on.

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  22. Thanks so much for your kind comment.
    We try our best!
    I won’t say that we are perfect and the odd one or two can be missed, but if they are, they are a genuine oversight.
    We appreciate the work that all the writers put into their submissions and it would be disrespectful for us to be anything other than to be as professional as we can.
    All the very best.
    Hugh

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  23. I just read Doug Hawley’s “Better” and was duly impressed. In fact, I thought it was a hilarious take on what is available on TV and what passes for entertainment. I happen to know — to a degree — one putative Doug Hawley and I happen to know he is damaged goods. But, I wish all the best for him and his recovery and hope that one day he will return to norbal and be able to exist independently in society once more. I liked his story very much.

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  24. Dear Leila, Hugh, and all LS Editors,

    I just want to write and say thanks again for putting out such a unique, relevant, unusual, and refreshing literary site/magazine. As I’ve said before, this is the kind of place that American literary greats like Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, William S. Burroughs, Philip K. Dick, Flannery O’Connor, and Carson McCullers, would be publishing in, if they were here today.

    I have some outsider’s insider (or insider’s outsider) knowledge of two forms of publishing in the U.S. today. There are always the blessed exceptions, for anything, of course. And: this is my two cents.

    First: academic literary journals of today (poetry, fiction, and criticism). These journals are almost exclusively funded and published these days by a tiny, elite group, and for a tiny, elite group. These academic folks mostly live in a sheltered bubble, and continuously follow the flavor of the moment. “Political correctness” dominates the scene, and almost all these folks are willing to follow the formula (or they would be cast out). (They will change their pronouns when asked, and changed them back again when asked again, for example.) They write for money, or position, and not from an inner compulsion, nor for a love of the craft. As stated, there are always the exceptions! And yet, this is the basic breakdown of the situation (my two cents) now. And I feel like I could offer hundreds of specific examples, side by side, if this were really worth anyone’s time.

    I also have a few friends/know a few people who have “made it big” as novelists in the Big Apple and beyond, including L.A. All of these folks were asked to cheapen and reduce their work before publication: by adding fake chapter endings, smoothing out edgy characters, focusing on middle-class, or upper-class, characters almost exclusively, dumbing down the humor, and simplifying the prose style to an OVER-simplified level. Again, this is my two cents. But I feel that I can back up such a wild claim with evidence. (Following the formula is, again, key here.) (And there are always the exceptions, no doubt.)

    Charles Bukowski is a far greater writer than he’s really given credit for: a true heir and descendant of Hemingway and Henry Miller, who wrote a vast amount, some of it not so great, some of it truly, truly great (especially some of his poems, essays, and stories, and one novel, “Ham on Rye”). He stuck to the West Coast and published almost all of his work in small (usually tiny) mag’s, underground newspapers, and small, indie book publishers. He stuck with this formula even when he had the chance not to, a lot later in life.

    LS is uniquely valuable, and one of a kind, hands down, because of its great writer/editors and editor/writers. THANKS for all your insight, inspiration, and hard work. Truly appreciated by me more than I can really say!

    Sincerely,

    Dale

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  25. Hi Dale,

    We can’t thank you enough for the kind comments.

    It was interesting to read your take on those publishing ideals. I am glad to say, we have none, except for the simple ‘Do we like the story’ thought.

    Years back a guy asked us about ‘Blind Submissions’ and I hadn’t a clue what he meant. When I found out, I thought ‘How ridiculous, what does it matter who or what you are, it’s all about the story.’ Ten years in I can see that this isn’t a bad idea as we get so many submissions that try to manipulate (Pronouns / Gender / Ill health / Trends) – Again, we don’t give a fuck – If the story is good, then that is all that matters.

    You mention PC and Pronouns and (I might get slated for this again!) I changed the guidelines to say that anyone’s sexuality, gender or pronoun meant as much to us as their toilet habits – Initially, we didn’t need to know – It was all about the story. (Bio is different and whatever anyone wants to say, we are delighted to publish) We received a few emails accusing us of being homophobic!! I answered the original offended and offered to publish their outrage and our answer of ‘How can you state that we are homophobic when we stated that we don’t care who or what you are, we only care about the stories.’ We also pointed out how the thousand or so writers we have on our books are from many countries, multiple religions, different sexuality and all walks of life. (HAH! I hate PC and refuse to use the ‘diversity’ word…Even though I just have!)

    Reluctantly we changed the guidelines back – It wasn’t worth the hassle!

    We appreciate the likes of yourself who gets it. You write spectacularly well, the comments you make are informative and encouraging and it is us who are privileged to have the likes of your good self involved with our site. We have been very lucky as our writers and those who comment are all exceptional and it makes the site’s success more about them than us.

    Thanks again!!!!

    Hugh

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  26. Dear Leila, Hugh, and Diane,

    Hi! I wanted to take the time this morning to highlight something Leila said in one of her essays from a while back. I don’t remember the exact date or title of the essay at the moment, but I wrote down the quotation a couple weeks ago and posted it on my refrigerator here in Illinois outside Chicago. It bears repeating and being considered by anyone interested in the art of writing.

    Leila writes about how she saw a neighbor’s kitten beating up the window shade in her neighbor’s window while walking by. Then she writes about how real writers should be like that kitten. The exact quotation says:

    “They [writers] should go to war against the big and little things in life that they are offended by and exalt what they like even though it may be a minority opinion. Trust the reader to come to an opinion about you that is based on honest writing.”

    The whole thing is worthy of Bartlett’s Quotations or any good guide to writing. Charles Bukowski wrote much across seven decades about how there are “too many writers these days.” Now, in an age when it seems almost everyone has become a part-time writer at times, Buk’s concern is even more urgent.

    But it isn’t really that there are too many writers, it’s that too many of them don’t write the true way, or for the right reasons. If every writer followed Leila’s advice in this quotation, it would be nothing but a good thing. Fear of failure should also be banished, just like the brave little kitten.

    Perhaps keeping in mind the title of one of Leonard Cohen’s novels, “Beautiful Losers,” for days when the battle seems lost. As one of Samuel Beckett’s tramp characters tells himself in the midst of dejection, “I haven’t tried everything yet.”

    LITERALLY STORIES is uniquely valuable these days because of its focus on these kinds of writerly values. In an age when language itself has been stolen by the politicians, the pontificators, the priests, the corporations, the ad people, the actors, the snake oil sales folks, Leila’s eloquent call for honest writing could NOT be more important. Not to mention it’s good for the soul of the writer, AND the reader.

    Stephen King has frequently compared writing to telepathy. Sending the wrong message is bad.

    Thanks to the Editors for everything, including your energy.

    Sincerely,

    DWB

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    1. Hi Dale,

      I have been wanting to address the brilliance that has been your input. You are quite correct in validating Leila’s work and quotations. I’ll come to that…Diane is our most successful writer (Twenty-Eight novels, me thinks but I may be wrong and I apologise if I am wrong) You, my insightful friend is also someone who, as well as Diane, Leila, Nik, Dave Henson, Marco, Alex Sinclair, Harrison, Dave Loudin, L’Erin, Rachel, Tom Sheehan and James McEwan to name but a few humble me to be even in the same site as.

      I will admit that most of your references go well over my head, but my friend, let me explain, I love them…I love Robson Green talking about fishing! I love the wanker that is Jeremy Clarkson talking about cars – I have no interest in fishing or cars but their enthusiasm is infectious…And it makes me smile. Your interest, KNOWLEDGE makes me smile because I can feel that you have a love for it. You have mentioned your past and that has made you who you are today, so please keep commenting on things that go well over my head, ’cause that makes me think, accept and appreciate what has went before and thought on before I simplify it to my basic level!!!!

      All the very best.

      Hugh

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    2. Hi Dale
      I seldom open the door to this room!
      Currently re-reading all three Bronte sisters. I like to read stuff at various ages, which, obviously, cannot be done later; and thanks to something you mentioned a while back I reread V. Woolf Mrs Dalloway–still brilliant, still sad Septimus!
      Orange Cats know everything. They know how it all began and ends. But instead of sharing they like to ruin shades.
      I humbly appreciate your thoughts! But not so modestly to the point of disagreement!
      Leila

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      1. Dear Leila,

        Thanks for sharing. I love the Brontes. Emily is my favorite, but she’s only a little more interesting than everyone else. Branwell, the painter and laudanum addict brother, is also fascinating. The reading and writing collaboration/rivalry that family had between them is almost unrivalled. I know you reference Tennyson in your writings sometimes. He had the same thing going on in his family. And Henry James, Alice James, William James, and Henry, Sr., their Swedenborgian father. Also Dorothy and William Wordsworth. Dorothy was a great prose writer and poetry reader. Wordsworth called their brother, the sailor, “a silent poet.”

        Thanks again!

        Dale

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  27. Hi, Hugh!
    I don’t know the exact history of course, but the fact that yourself and Diane started regularly placing Leila’s stories on the site shows just what great and discerning readers of fiction you both are. Also, having read some of both yourself and Diane’s stories so far, I can also say that you both have your own distinct style, grace, and formidable abilities as fiction writers. Thanks for putting up with all my obscure references. It means the world to me that you find all that interesting. The going overboard with all the citations seems to be a flaw in my style that’s been there since the beginning and has even caused me a lot of trouble in the past, especially in academia, believe it or not, where I was always accused of defending too many dead white males like Socrates and Shakespeare. Looking forward to reading more of yourself and Diane’s work, as well as Leila’s, and all the other tale-tellers and commentators (or “posters”) on the site. I don’t know of another literary magazine/site with the intelligence, zest, grit, energy and variety of this one, and nowhere near.
    Thanks again!
    Dale

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  28. Hi Dale,

    I think we all knew that Leila was a huge talent when we first saw her work – Hell, Stevie Wonder could have spotted it!! Same with Tom Sheehan who we have been slagged off for for supporting his work. I stand by every time I said yes to Tom and Leila’s work – They bomb most writers out the water!!!

    Just a wee quick observation – Dead white male writers are unfortunately all that are MAINLY known!! It’s like talking about Women Libbers before Emily Pankhurst (Sp???)

    Of course they were there but they were never allowed to be known about.

    You may have a damn site better list than me!! But if I think back on books from around a hundred years back, how many women authors do we have?? The Bronte sisters, Shelly, Christie, Blyton. No matter who I have missed, I reckon that the list is a wee bit light compared to the men. And as for folks of colour – I’m ashamed to admit, I don’t know one!

    You make me think my fine friend and I like that!!!

    Hugh

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  29. Hi Hugh,
    You’re absolutely right to point out that the list of known women writers before the 20th century is woefully small. Literary critic Harold Bloom had a theory that a woman wrote the Books of Genesis and Exodus from the Bible and his reasoning sounds convincing. There’s also “The Tale of Gengi” by Murasaki Shikibu. And in English, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Emily Dickinson. And Harriet Beecher Stowe. Dickinson, along with Walt Whitman, is America’s greatest poet, by far. She surpasses T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost. Perhaps William Carlos Williams is her greatest rival along with Whitman.
    But up to the 20th cen. the list of known women writers is far too small, even though women started to make up the majority of the reading population by the late 18th century and had definitely become the majority of readers by the mid-19th century as they still are today.
    There’s also another writer named Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz from New Spain/Mexico, 17th century, who wrote brilliant love poetry, philosophical poetry, and dramas, and was known in her own day as a great writer, and whose work is still readable and widely available today. Many females wrote in the form known as Christian mysticism, and while their names are not widely known among the general population, some of them produced amazing and visionary poetry long before women had anything like equal rights or voting power, etc. etc. There have always been a lot of female poets, even if not published and known.
    Virginia Woolf had a provocative theory that most of the brilliant female creative writers were unpublished and considered witches by the patriarchy until the 20th century.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Women see better than men.”
    Thanks again for all your excellent thoughts!
    Dale

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  30. Hi Hugh,

    I also wanted to mention Ann Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley. Phyllis was the first published black poet in the Americas, who met George Washington at one point because of a poem, right before the revolution started. Her best work is very much still worth reading. She was a former slave who died as a scullery maid: because of a husband who was bad with money; and because poets always get the short end of the stick, just like Bukowski said. Dreaming dreams and having indelible personal visions never goes well with taking over the practical world, or even functioning well in it at all. Thanks again!

    Dale

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  31. Dear Leila, Hugh, and Diane,
    I feel compelled to throw a shout out there for a great American short-form writer who passed on at 88 over the weekend: Kris Kristofferson. At one point he was a janitor in Nashville leaning on a broom and watching Dylan make a record. A few years later he was the star in one of the greatest American movies ever made in which Dylan had a small, and minor part (but created great music for the film, including “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”). “Pat Garret and Billy the Kid,” starring Kristofferson as the Kid and James Coburn as Garrett, directed by Sam Peckinpah, is worth watching a million times. The death scene played by Slim Pickens by the river is absolutely amazing.
    Kristofferson is famously having lines from Leonard Cohen’s song “Bird on the Wire” placed on his tombstone.
    He was a scholar of William Blake, and a creator of great phrases that have entered the language in the manner of Shakespeare or Robert Burns.
    “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” It will live a very long time!
    Dale

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    1. Hi Dale
      It’s one of life’s hardest things to lose people you in a real sense “knew” for life, if not in person. Sunday Morning Sidewalk is a classic poem of a song. He was a damn good actor too. I think he pulled a short draw on Jack Elam in the Billy the Kid movie. Few people recall that Lord Help Me Jesus was, according to Billboard, the number one song of either 70 or 71.
      Thank you
      Leila

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  32. Hi folks,

    Who would have thought of ‘The Highwaymen’ Willie Nelson would have been the last man standing??

    I’m not into Super-Hero films, as a rule, I hate them but I must mention Kris Kristofferson’s portrayal of ‘Whistler’ in the ‘Blade’ films. (Not sure if that counts as a Super-Hero film, but you will know what I mean!) The brutal coldness and scepticism he showed was a mile away from that bit of warmth in him that he hid.

    I thought his performance balanced the OTT one of Mr Snipes.

    He has left a legacy to be proud of.

    Hugh

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  33. Hiya, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on a technical problem, namely this:

    I find I can no longer reply to comments. On May 25th, I was able to reply to comments on my Jack o Diamonds re-run. Since then, I’m able to type in comments and click on the ‘Comment’ button, there’s then a brief ‘sent’ notice, but after that there’s nothing – the reply never appears. It’s odd because the ‘like’ button still works. I also got up LS in the WordPress ‘Reader’ system and found I could also type in replies there, but again, once sent, they just disappear completely. I figured it was probably a problem with my elderly laptop, so I activated the WordPress ‘Debug’ programme, but the programme foud no fault.

    Has this sort of problem occurred before? Any ideas?? I feel a bit mean, not replying when people have been generous enough to post comments.

    best wishes,

    Mick

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