Hi Alphas,
Welcome to Alphaday 8, Season XVIII. We’re moving ahead and each new Alphaday brings us plenty of material to think about, to learn from and to add to our already well-stocked writerly repertory for future use. We’re lucky to be part of such an enthusiastic group of writers, all with different approaches to the art.
This time our Alpha team has once more put together a tasty menu for us all to enjoy and take in over the next few weeks. As follows:
Alphaday 8, Season XVIII agenda:
- This bulletin from me
- The brief for Challenge 6 from Rick
- The collated entries for The Open Page, ed. 2, Season XVIII, from Christine
- The feedback and results of the character / dialogue challenge from Francesca
- The Alpha Log 4 contributions from Phil
- A Writers’ Reads prompt from Christine
There’s enough there to keep you busy well beyond the weekend. Enjoy!
Alpha news will be presented in the Log and related by the Alphas themselves. Something to look forward to!
General news: just one little item that caught my attention. It’s about typos – those dreadful little errors that can ruin your well-crafted piece of writing if you’re careless.
The UK population is joyfully looking forward to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the exact date of which is the 6th of February, this upcoming Sunday. The main celebrations and public ceremonials will take place in the beginning of June, when the weather might be a bit more clement.
The souvenir industry has been busy manufacturing all sorts of weird trinkets to celebrate the happy event, and one amusing incident caught my attention. A series of mugs and plates had been ordered with inscriptions and a picture of the Queen … from China. Why China? One may well wonder. Would it not suit the patriotic spirit more to have them made in the UK? Oh, it’s probably cheaper, because they don’t pay their workers much. That would explain it.
Was the order placed over the phone? That might explain the typo that crept into the loud inscription on all the objects. “The Queen’s Jubbly!” it read. Priceless! The firm responsible for this was unfazed. They’d sell the lot as a rare curiosity with an unusual typo in the text – upping the price.
If the current inhabitant of No.10 Downing Street is still in residence there by June, he’ll no doubt celebrate the Jubbly with some glasses of bubbly.
Beware of typos, dear Alphas!
Christine