Litopia - a sleeping dog?

[Marc Joan]

Hi all
Some of us are thinking that Litopia has gone rather quiet recently. AgentPete, come in from the cold! Olive Dog, there are several slow-moving cats marking your territory! Come back!
Seriously, is there something we should know....?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

You have been missed, AgentPete and Mr Octopus.

Couldn't resist this one; what's it like??

 

[Karen Gray]

I have been and currently am run off my feet with an ill household. I got about a week's reprieve where I was able to look at Litopia to post oh, I don't know. 2 maybe 3 comments. Everyone is ill again :/

So I'm stressing trying to get stuff sorted for that Word of Mouth Prize while nursing poorly babies and a poorlier (it's a word in my world lol) husband 24/7. I think in the last month I must have had about 20hrs sleep lol

 

[Marc Joan]

20 hours sleep in a month...!
We once tagged our cat to see what he got up to during the day. In one 24 hour period, he left the house for only 15 minutes, and then only to go to the bottom of the garden. For the rest of the day, no significant movement was recorded. Different worlds....He's old, but still.

 

[Karen Gray]

Lol. 20 hours was an exaduration obviously lol. But I am getting by atm on between 1 and 4 hrs a night right now. I think the longest sleep I have had recently is 6 hrs after a 36hr stint haha. I honestly ddon't know how I am still functional.

Case in point. I have been up for an hour. I only got to bed at 2.30am

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Tagging the cat?? Where do you get a cat tagger? Our old lady cat Willow is a dozy thing, just miaows at night, and I talk back in case she's feeling lonely.

 

[Lex Black]

I know our host had wanted to hit the magic number of one hundred members before putting the Houses back up, but perhaps we have waited enough? They were one of the big draws for the last incarnation of Litopia and I have no doubt their return would bring back past members and draw new ones in droves.

Assuming there are not serious problems behind the scenes, maybe that's the way to go to get the Colony jumping again?

 

[1408]

I feel like I've become a serial "liker". I don't have a lot to add sometimes, especially when a poster is calling on experience, so I find myself hitting the like button!

Hopefully we'll hear from AgentPeter and Octopus Messiah soon. If not, we could become the strangest bunch of spies there ever was and launch a missing persons investigation. Off we plod to London, confused and dazed and most of us, seemingly, with a cat under our arm. No cafe will go unsearched, no small dog will be left unturned, yoga instructors will look on in bemusement as we crowd inside rooms, cough nervously, and then retreat. Or, uh, maybe not.

Sorry to hear your lot are ill, @Karen Gray! I hope for your sake as well as theirs that all is better soon. Try to take it easy when you can.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Peter has been ill and is on the road to recovery, with catching up largely done, he says, and just a little more to do.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

1408, you just may have come up with a very unusual plot for a bunch of writers to write about searching for a missing Editor. Murder she Wrote, Rosemary and Thyme and all those Inspector shows all wrapped into one! It's not one author solving a mystery, but a bunch of them..... until...... ops!

 

[1408]

@Alistair Roberts Haha, I did actually think about how it could make for a fun story while I was writing it down! It might be something easy going to play with when I'm not fighting with attempting to plot my current book!

@Katie-Ellen Hazeldine Oh, no! That's a shame. Hopefully he'll be better soon. Thanks for the update.

 

[Steven McC]

I second Lex's appeal for the houses to open! I'm really eager to get feedback on my work and to engage with other people's works in progress. I think, as writers, the facility would help us all and make the site much more active.

Pete mentioned in a post at the start of the year that he hoped to have them up and running by the end of January so here's hoping...

 

[Karen Gray]

I feel like I've become a serial "liker". I don't have a lot to add sometimes, especially when a poster is calling on experience, so I find myself hitting the like button!

Hopefully we'll hear from AgentPeter and Octopus Messiah soon. If not, we could become the strangest bunch of spies there ever was and launch a missing persons investigation. Off we plod to London, confused and dazed and most of us, seemingly, with a cat under our arm. No cafe will go unsearched, no small dog will be left unturned, yoga instructors will look on in bemusement as we crowd inside rooms, cough nervously, and then retreat. Or, uh, maybe not.

Sorry to hear your lot are ill, @Karen Gray! I hope for your sake as well as theirs that all is better soon. Try to take it easy when you can.

Thanks @1408 Sadly it's nothing new in my household. Hey-ho it's anything but boring

 

[AgentPete]

Litopia is what you make it, and although it’s secretly flattering to be missed, I don’t want you to feel that it revolves around me. That’s a bit scary for me, btw

I think you know I was flattened by the flu, and then post-viral crap has kept my output irritatinglylow, at a time of year when it’s all kicking off.

A huge amount of contractual work and, in particular, negotiation and renegotiation. I’ll be posting a lot more about the latter in due course, because it has massive implications for any author who has ever signed a contract, either with or without an agent.

Meantime, back at the ranch, I need to get the Houses going (planned for the Xmas break, derailed by orthomyxoviruses). And about a zillion other things, too

Anyhow, good to be back, alive and kicking...

 

[Lex Black]

Glad you're better, Pete!

 

[Jennifer Stone]

'The Houses' is what drew me to this colony, the chance to receive feedback, find out maybe where, if anywhere, I'm going wrong or right. I love having the support and guidance of my fellow litopians, your critique would be most welcome.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Well, it actually revolves around writing. Now if I can warm my fingers and brains, I might also get some editing done. Hope the flu stays away Pete!

 

[Karen Gray]

Glad you are doing better @AgentPete. I think we have all been busy for one reason or other over Xmas. Glad everyone is back after the holidays and ready to get stuck into discussion and debate

 

[Octopus Messiah]

Aack, yes, sorry, hello-- this guy and the Olive Dog are back in from the cold. Glad to be back, great to be missed!
(some of us also look fabulous in our new coat)


Had a long, productive meet inre Litopia/Litopia After Dark 2015 with @AgentPete earlier this week. South Indian buffet in the arse end of Nowhere was amazing-- how does he find these places? Anyway, he looked soooo much better than just before Christmas when he was basically a vector for the dreaded HMVirus (or whatever). Cause then he looked like death. Glistened like a slug with hair, really. Makes me nauseous just thinking about.

Bigger things are definitely happening. I'm under a confidentiality agreement-- restraining order?-- not to say more until it's done but changes, upgrades, down-lows are in the works.

Got a few LAD shows in the can that Pete is busily editing-- poor guy fell behind everywhere, please donate slack. Personally, I'm disappointed over a show we recorded on Sunday (which included an old fashioned literary spat btw-- rowr!) Felt like I rolled over to keep pace and accommodate our guest but inside I was *furious*. Woke up with nightmares, even. Will say more once it posts.

Also: fear not. The squirrels have been treed and the cats know what they did.

 

[Carol Rose]

Glad to see you back and posting, Agent Pete! Take care of yourself.

 

[tabby3]

Glad to hear everyone and everything is on the mend.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

People used to die of flu. When my mother was a girl they still called it 'the old people's friend' because it culled them every winter. Not pleasantly but less unpleasantly than other ways. And it's rarer now, but they still do. It's no joke, and the Colony has kept on sailing, while the site software, and industry and writing know-how of the founding pros is still port and lighthouse. Re: guest. Was it handbags at dusk? I'm sure you handled it like a pro but perhaps stab a beanbag if it helps abate the fury.
Olive is looking smart. I like that quasi nautical-military look in a high quality fabric. I have a dress like that, myself. Bigger and with a collar and sleeves, obviously.

 

[tabby3]

People used to die of flu. When my mother was a girl they still called it 'the old people's friend' because it culled them every winter..

I just cancelled a trip across the river to Detroit, because my 'friend' has been visiting for about a week now.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

We don't hear that phrase in the UK any more. Old folks get put on aspic instead and by old I mean tottering geriatric. This was post war, 50s. Hope you're better very soon.

 

[Octopus Messiah]

Of course, Olive's opinion of the new coat appears to be "Get it off! GET! IT! OFF!"

 

[tabby3]

Old folks get put on aspic instead.

If it makes them feel better I suppose they would be just dandy in aspic.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

One would very much like to be able to think so.

 

[Owen Latchkey]

I was wondering the same thing, though I am certainly not a model of forum mainstay.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

What might make you want to visit more often? A chance to discuss work in progress? If anyone wanted to do that, pending Houses, would anyone object?

 

[Owen Latchkey]

I suppose more activity draws me in more. I also enjoy considering different aspects of writing, tutorial style conversations I guess. Just a good, thoughtful community is nice. I am a member of Scribophile and really enjoy it and when Litopia was up and running full steam I enjoyed it too. I'm sticking around here because I like the foundation of what Pete has done here and want to be a part of it.