Your writing prompt responses last week were disastrous in the best way, Detectives! I particularly enjoyed Colette’s story and Astrophysics’ story along others.

This is an extremely exciting week – not only is it PUBLICATION WEEK FOR DEATH SETS SAIL, but two days ago I was finally able to reveal the news that I’ve been keeping secret for almost a year: my Murder Most Unladylike series may be coming to an end, but my Ministry of Unladylike Activity series is just beginning! It’s set during World War II and stars three detectives – May Wong, who you might know from A Spoonful of Murder and Death Sets Sail, and two new friends who are yet to be revealed.

So because of this exciting news, I thought that the best prompt to give you this week would be new beginnings. I want your stories, poems, songs and plays celebrating newness – new life, new hope, new friendship, new adventures – anything and everything, as long as your characters are dealing with something new!

Because I’m going to be busy doing lots of things for Death Sets Sail – have a look at my calendar for some online events I’m holding – this prompt will run for TWO WEEKS instead of the usual one.

And finally, please remember that if you HAVE read Death Sets Sail, this is NOT the place to post spoilers about it. I’m going to create a post where you can discuss spoilers later this week, and that will be the ONLY place that I’ll allow you to share thoughts on Death Sets Sail‘s plot. Any spoilery comments here or on other posts will be deleted. I know you’re all so thoughtful, and I trust that you’ll be kind to each other about this – but I just want to make sure I’ve been clear!

The rules …

1. It can be as long or as short as you like, and take you as much or as little time as you want.
2. It can be any genre (type) of story you want. If you have an idea for something that I haven’t mentioned (writing a poem! Being inspired by a song you love! Writing non-fiction!), don’t wait for my permission – just go for it! This is your creativity working!
3. You are not allowed to worry about grammar or spelling.
4. You are not allowed to worry if it isn’t perfect, or criticise yourself as you’re writing.
5. You are encouraged to make a plan before you begin, to make it easier for you to get to the end of the story. This can be two words or a whole page! But if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.
6. Get to the end of the story without stopping to go back and fix bits you don’t like. Once you’ve finished, read it through again. If you still don’t like those bits, you can edit them now!
7. If you want (and only if you want!) you’re allowed to post the first 500 words of your story in the comments below. I have to moderate the comments so it may take a while for them to show up – please be patient. I don’t want to see you apologising for your story or minimising what you’ve done when you post – writing a story is a triumph and you should be proud!
8. Please do not use your full name when you comment – first names are fine, or you can make up a username that you like! Also remember to stay safe online and not get into private discussions with anyone you don’t know in real life without telling an adult first.
9. If you like someone else’s story, you are allowed to comment to say so! If you’d like to give them ideas that might make their story even stronger, that’s OK, but please be kind and remember how deeply we all care about our writing. A good format for feedback might be something like: ‘I loved ****! Have you thought of ****? I think it might make your story even better!’ I will delete any comment if I feel it’s critical without being constructive.
10. I can’t promise to give feedback on any individual stories – I’m not marking them!
11. This isn’t a competition, and there will be no winners and no prizes, though I may choose a story or two to highlight in future posts.

Here’s to new beginnings, Detectives …