It's back! Sekrit Santa 20.

[Jo Zebedee]

Whoever wrote mine knows me quite well I think. I’d have gone for Polly Dee but she has been in the new shop and knows the layout. They’re also a nice clean easy to read writer. I don’t think it’s Phyrebrat, who often has a more lyrical voice, so I’m going to guess Dan Jones.

I’d have got An Ronin and would have guessed Victoria, who uses full stops as a preference over colons and semi colons

The others - I’m pretty stumped. Surprisingly no one has got mine - it felt very ‘me’ in style when I wrote it

 

[Swank]

The others - I’m pretty stumped. Surprisingly no one has got mine - it felt very ‘me’ in style when I wrote it

Perhaps a genre or content problem rather than style.

 

[Provincial]

The others - I’m pretty stumped. Surprisingly no one has got mine - it felt very ‘me’ in style when I wrote it

How would you describe your style? It would be interesting to try and pick it (or them) out based on your description.

 

[THX1138]

Still a full reveal today or wait a day or two more? (itchy fingers here...)

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Still a full reveal today or wait a day or two more? (itchy fingers here...)

Author's choice, as I do not have full information as to who wrote what.

 

[THX1138]

I'll go first then!
I wrote:
The Dolphin of Table Rock Lake
and
Chopin’s Music Box

I hope you enjoy them!

 

[Swank]

I'll go first then!
I wrote:
The Dolphin of Table Rock Lake
and
Chopin’s Music Box

I hope you enjoy them!

Thank you for my present!!

Does this count as publishing?

 

[THX1138]

Thank you for my present!!

You are welcome! Did you enjoy it? It is my 1st short story, and I put my novel on a little hold, so, my this was my first real go at writing a real story too.

 

[Swank]

You are welcome! Did you enjoy it? It is my 1st short story, and I put my novel on a little hold, so, my this was my first real go at writing a real story too.

I did, thanks. Lots going on.


I'll either post or PM my story to anyone who wants to read the rest of the excerpt.

 

[THX1138]

I'll either post or PM my story to anyone who wants to read the rest of the excerpt.

PM please!

Yea, but it was fun writing it!
Try reading my other one as it's shorter and a different writing style too.

 

[BigJ]

Well, given that mine was correctly guessed (randomly or otherwise) -

The Inner Citadel - @BigJ

I can confirm that I did, indeed, write this one. The only thing that's kept me up at night about it is that @genelewis expressed that they were looking forward to seeing the rest, and I don't honestly know just where it goes from here (though on reflection I agree it needs to go somewhere). Ah, well. That'll be a project for another time this year. Hope you don't mind me spreading your gift around.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Does this count as publishing?

yes

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I wrote Ghosts in the Machine, which was really short and which I might expand at some point

 

[Provincial]

I don’t suppose anyone will be able to guess which stories I wrote because I don’t have a long back catalogue here on Chrons.

I wrote stories for Dan Jones, Sule and Jo Zebedee:

First Contact
For Where Your treasure Is
For Want of a Nail

Apologies to @Jo Zebedee for misleading you into thinking I was someone who knows you quite well. I was trying to personalise my story for you, as I did with all my Sekrit Santa stories, and you had a higher internet profile to work with. For Sule’s story I didn’t even have a name to work with!

I got all my background knowledge from 30 minutes of research on the internet - specifically Wikipedia, which, if I remember correctly, described you as Northern Ireland‘s foremost female science fiction author, and told me which town you live in; Safari, which gave me the name and address of the only bookshop in your home town; and Google Earth, which has a lovely picture of you and another lady in the entrance to your shop, with a twinkly Christmas tree on display in the first floor window, as well as other shots of the garden in the courtyard and the street it is on. Any other similarities are the result of natural deductions and creative coincidences.

All of which goes to show how disturbingly easy it could be for a conman or a stalker to learn about their target, I guess.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I don’t suppose anyone will be able to guess which stories I wrote because I don’t have a long back catalogue here on Chrons.

I wrote stories for Dan Jones, Sule and Jo Zebedee:

First Contact
For Where Your treasure Is
For Want of a Nail

Apologies to @Jo Zebedee for misleading you into thinking I was someone who knows you quite well. I was trying to personalise my story for you, as I did with all my Sekrit Santa stories, and you had a higher internet profile to work with. For Sule’s story I didn’t even have a name to work with!

I got all my background knowledge from 30 minutes of research on the internet - specifically Wikipedia, which, if I remember correctly, described you as Northern Ireland‘s foremost female science fiction author, and told me which town you live in; Safari, which gave me the name and address of the only bookshop in your home town; and Google Earth, which has a lovely picture of you and another lady in the entrance to your shop, with a twinkly Christmas tree on display in the first floor window, as well as other shots of the garden in the courtyard and the street it is on. Any other similarities are the result of natural deductions and creative coincidences.

All of which goes to show how disturbingly easy it could be for a conman or a stalker to learn about their target, I guess.

I enjoyed it a lot, thank you - yes I’m pretty visible - between the shop and my writing I have a lot of internet hits!

 

[Swank]

PM please!

Yea, but it was fun writing it!
Try reading my other one as it's shorter and a different writing style too.

Okay, which one is it?

 

[THX1138]

Okay, which one is it?

Chopin’s Music Box

 

[Swank]

Chopin’s Music Box

Nope!

PM'd you.

 

[genelewis]

I will confess as the one responsible for Jimmy Jolly's Christmas Wish, based on the prompt from @Provincial.

I'll admit that when I first saw that in the thread, I hoped I wouldn't get it, and then of course I did. But I'm really pleased with what it inspired. Thanks for getting me out of my comfort zone!

 

[THX1138]

I'll go first then!
I wrote:
The Dolphin of Table Rock Lake
and
Chopin’s Music Box

I hope you enjoy them!

Just for clarity:

The Dolphin of Table Rock Lake was for Swank.

Chopin's Music Box was an additional last minute one I did for Dan.

I enjoyed this workshop very much as it helped me to develop a short story/novel writing style, at last!
Also, this whole experience has been very enlightening and humbling for me.