This is what Gary has to say about his dynamic international group WriterLot and about my story Picture This …
A couple of years ago I had mad idea – why not get a bunch of writers together and set up a site that would enable people to access a free bit of writing for their coffee break/wind-down time/bed-night-story time, or whatever?
I sent out an open invitation and grabbed the first fourteen writerly respondents. An international group from seven different countries. ‛Right – we’re going to put out one piece every day – that means one every two weeks for each of us.’
What could possibly go wrong?
As it happens – nothing. I’m still dazed by the discipline everyone has shown (especially me) and frequently dazzled by the writing. WriterLot are a fun, friendly and supportive group.
We challenge each other… “Gary, you’ve never written from the viewpoint of a frog – deal with it”, Gary, write a story that changes genre half way though – but the reader won’t notice”, uh… what?
We love guest writers and it’s wonderful to have Sarah Potter with us. We hope she’ll come back again and again. Take a look at the piece she’s provided and be swept away into a beautifully (and very accurately) described world, which brought back my nightmares of psychiatric nursing.
Thank you, Sarah!
Gary Bonn
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Thank you, Gary, for your kind comments and for inviting me to guest post on your website. There are some really talented regular contributors on writerlot.net, so do check them out after you’ve read Picture This.
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Sarah Potter Writes 
I love the idea. How can I be a part or a guest?
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I was invited by Gary to submit something and then he passed it by the rest of his team for their approval before publishing it. We’ll have to ask him, won’t we?
I’ll get back to you, Barbara, or maybe Gary will, with an answer.
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Hi Barbara, I’m back again. Would you like to email me one of your short stories to sarahpotterwrites@gmail.com and I’ll pass it on to Gary for consideration. Thanks.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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Hi Sarah,
Most unexpected and so well done. I was totally engaged from the very beginning to the very last word. This story will stay with me.
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Thank you so much for taking time to read my story, Naomi, and for your lovely comments. Much appreciated 🙂
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Just read your story a few minutes ago. As I went along I thought I had a sense of where you were headed and then – total surprise. The best of stories engage us and carry us along and then take us completely by surprise. That’s what you did. Brava!
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Thank you, Joss:-) I love reading short stories with twists at the end, so usually feel led to provide one in my own stories. I say “usually” rather than “always”, otherwise people would come to expect them, then my endings wouldn’t be such a surprise anymore!
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Great story Sarah – I was hooked in by the image at the beginning, then by a real sense of place and character that you managed to convey in just a short piece – and I loved the ending!
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Thank you, Andrea. Glad to have hooked you into the story straightaway and kept your interest. The ending does seem popular. I could have gone on, but it was probably the best place to stop and leave things up to people’s imagination!
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Loved the story Sarah!!!
Serves him right!
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Glad you enjoyed it.
As for “him”, he’s a composite character based on a certain type of co-worker that I used to come across from time to time in my job. Ugh.
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