Hi Alphas,
Welcome to Alphaday 8, Season XVII. Our 3-weekly meetings are a much appreciated opportunity to focus on all writerly matters and let ourselves be absorbed by our shared interest while so many other aspects of our everyday lives have been put on hold until goodness knows when. We can communicate freely from one end of the globe to the other without worrying about social distancing, travel restrictions or curfews. What more could one want?
A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare an Alphaday agenda that’ll satisfy our need for writerly thrills. Each one of the following items is crammed full of goodies. Enjoy!
Alphaday 8, Season XVII Agenda:
- This bulletin from me
- The results of the Christmas ghost story challenge from Morgen
- The collated entries for the Open Page Ed. 2 from Sarah
- The brief for Challenge 6 from Maria
- The Alpha Log contributions from Phil
That should keep us pleasantly occupied for a while; perhaps right up until next Alphaday.
The Alpha news will reach us via Phil’s Alpha Log. No doubt there’s plenty there from this busy group of writers.
The general news on the whole is a bit glum despite some promising dates on the calendar. There’ll be no romantic, candle-lit dinners for two in restaurants on Valentine’s Day.
Then there’s Shrove Tuesday coming up. That’s the day when you’re allowed those wild excesses. Carnivals and general mayhem; the floats that groups of people have lovingly beautified with all their artistic zeal over the previous months to prepare for the hour of glory as they proceed down the High Street, cheered on by crowds of carnival- goers in fancy dresses.
Cancelled; except for Venice and a few other places. Even the extravagant Rio Carnival is cancelled. My town of Granville was to have celebrated its 147th carnival this year: cancelled. (I’m no fan of mad crowds, but that’s neither here nor there!)
If you want wild excesses, you can at least treat yourselves to some pancakes before the beginning of Lent. As for Lent … what further deprivations can you impose on yourself over and above the ones that are already in place?
The best thing we can do is to over-indulge in Alphaday and the many pleasures it gives us. No need to deprive ourselves of writerly treats … not even for Lent.
Christine