Hi Alphas,
Welcome to Alphaday 12, Season XV. We may be winding down and working our way towards our well-deserved annual break in Alpha activities, but the operative word here is still ‘working’ and we have quite a few tasks lined up for you which I expect will appeal to your writerly instincts.
Today’s agenda is as follows:
- This bulletin from me
- The results of the Location challenge from Phil
- The collated entries for the 3rd edition of the Open Page from Christine
- The Log from Sally
That is an agenda full of writerly treats, I’m sure you’ll agree. It will keep you happily occupied for a while.
General news:
Occasionally you get a shiny spark flying off the most boring and mismanaged long-term political situation – like Brexit. I have always been fascinated by legendary and mythological creatures and the unicorn is particularly attractive because of its beauty and the virtues of its horn which can cure diseases and make poisoned waters drinkable. Also it’s so wild that nobody can approach it – except for a pure and unselfish lady whose virtues make the unicorn so tame that it lays its head in her lap and sleeps.
Is there such a pure and unselfish lady in the British government who can deliver a (non-existent) unicorn to cure all ills? I looked at some of the cartoons and other snippets on the subject and ‘wow!’ there certainly were bright sparks flying.
What you need in order to deliver a unicorn, in my view, is somebody with the right source material, the research skills required, a splendid imagination and a way with words. A writer can do it. Tracy Chevalier delivered a wonderful unicorn in her novel, The Lady and the Unicorn, based on a 15th century French tapestry which comes alive in her interpretation.
That’s how you deliver a real unicorn; one that will enrich the minds of people who’re deprived and poor because of the dreadful political stories they’re being fed.
And yes, I do have a unicorn in one of my stories.
Christine