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Three of our members recently took a table at a local craft fair.

Hulme Hall, in Port Sunlight, regularly holds fairs in one of its larger rooms. They do tend to vary according to season, so there was the hint of tinsel and a whiff of nutmeg in the air as THAT season approaches.

Mike, Alexandra and Tom shared a table and displayed their wares – Mike had his Sphere of Influence trilogy, plus other sci-fi titles, as well as his humorous travel series. Tom brought A Step Beyond, his collection of short stories, and Alexandra brought five of her titles of different genres.

There were a couple of sales — nothing to write home about, But it was an experience.

We talked about the unsuitability of the fair and how there is nothing on the Wirral dedicated to writers. There is an annual Arts Festival that includes, music, visual art and a poetry event. The idea was mooted to approach someone involved in the organising of that Festival to include something for writers.

We may look around for suitable venues, such as the Floral Pavillion in New Brighton, and enquire if anyone would be interested in running a writers event. A book fair for local authors perhaps.

Watch this space!

Currently working on a couple of stories, pure sci-fi. Got to the stage I’m wondering where the hell I’m going with them, but they are growing in size, probably needs 3/4 of taken out and rewritten, but hey ho, not a lot else to do with Covid-19 lurking out there.

Find out more about me here https://www.paulgmann.net/

Hello fellow Writers,

I think some of you may be aware that I have had ‘issues’ with my computer over the past year or so. I ended up having a new hard-drive installed; Windows 10 is gone as I went back to Windows 7.

I can’t say there is much improvement.

When there are updates to install, it takes time, and then, it gives me a message saying: Installing Incomplete, Windows is Reversing the process – which then takes anything from 4 to 24 hours!!!! Really Microsoft?! I pay for this?!!

So, I scoured the online FAQ’s and Help Desks and Forums etc.

I even did some of the stuff people said worked. One was a trial to see where the malfunction was occurring; it appeared to be in my Windows Word docs! Hmm, so I decided to look around and see if there was anything else to use.

I am fed up with the stranglehold that massive corporations have on products, what am I paying for if it keeps going wrong?

I have discovered a plethora of alternatives – in no order of preference, they include –

• Deep Blue Diving
• LibreOffice
• WPS Office
• Google Docs
• Apple iWork
• Calligra Office
• Dropbox

But how do I know which will suit me? How do I know that I will be able to open up all the work I have done previously on Word.docs? Will I be able to open up the work on another computer?

My husband uses Ubuntu – software that uses LibreOffice – he has NEVER had an issue with it. It has security updates every couple of weeks, this takes around 30 minutes. It does everything Microsoft Word does, but at a ‘lower level’, he says. Also, Ubuntu and LibreOffice are FREE!

So why am I not rushing to install it now? Because I am terrified that if I undo all my Windows and install something else, then the whole computer will come crashing down around my ears.

It would be great to hear your experiences of an alternative to Windows; what you use and why you like it.

Jonathan Green, Author: Short Story Saturday: GAME OVER

Through the cyber jungle I struggle and fall.

Each time I click I meet a brick wall.

Exhausted with frustration once again I begin.

Shall I persevere or just give in?

At last I find my writer’s home,

And a space to call my own.

Look out for Juniper now and again.

Will he make you laugh or cry or just be a pain?

Though there’s many a slip ‘twixt lip and cup;

He hopes to continue and not give up.