With 252 recent views, 30 likes, and 202 insightful comments, this month’s story, “All About Sophia” was another Story Chat success. Bookmark it for reference. Take a look if you missed it. If you love to read short stories, you will enjoy Story Chat Digest. For links to all of the SCD stories, bookmark the Story Chat Digest Page.

9 Word Summary

Spunky Sophia gets out of poverty and becomes famous.

Attendance with Links

Thank you to everyone who attended this Story Chat Digest session. Without your input, Story Chat is an average writing challenge. Your helpful, honest comments make this like a book club. If you get a chance, check out our attendees’ blogs. It’s well worth your time.

Going into a chat room online is much the same as going to a party. Story Chat is like a warm, homey chat room. There’s a lot of off-topic conversation as well as niceties. Since this is a summary of the chatter, not a taped recording to be used in a murder trial, I edit (not murder) comments.

Attendance with Links

Follow the attendance links to give the chatters a visit. To read the unabridged comments, click here to refer back to the story post.

• Collaborature “For me, the story touches on themes of survival and the human condition, injustices of social class, the search for self-identity, and possibly (no matter how skewed) love and sacrifice. The humorous touches move the story along and keep the reader engaged. I laughed about Sophia’s letter to Santa, the name ‘Dapper Dan Steve’. The cultural references make the story feel authentic, inviting readers into a shared experience with a world possibly outside their own. The moral and ethical dilemmas of infidelity, dating for a way out of a lower class, are all too real and relatable. They pull us into the characters’ inner sanctums, and stir our emotions. I don’t want to like Dan, but perhaps he exhibits tenderness in offering the jacket. I almost don’t want to approve of Sophia’s actions, but tied in with her motivations, it gives me empathy for her. The cockroaches seem like almost a karmic response, in a way. And a lesson in planning.😅Overall, and enjoyable read, Nigel.”
• Esther Chilton “I was curious to learn more about Sophia and how she was going to be famous. I certainly didn’t expect the outcome! I think I would have been mortified, but of course Sophia’s goal was to be famous and she certainly got her wish! You’ve given us something different here, Nigel.”
• Fata cu suflet de surneala “It’s always a pleasure to read your stories, Nigel! You are a brilliant storyteller 👏👏✍️.”
• Fenland Phil’s Blog “The only story that springs to mind straight away, is a story I wrote, with the title, Strange Times. The story is inspired by a dream I had, in the dream, I was walking down a road in Cambridge and without any explanation I found myself in the front room of a house I was walking past at the time. (Nigel asked him to share a link.) The story is published in a book of my and George Holmes’s short stories, Strange Times and Other Stories. George is a Great Great Grandfather of mine and a pen name I use. It’s close to 4,000 words a bit too long for a blog post. I don’t know whether this will work.”
• Helping You to Succeed (author) “As we say back home, Sophie had a hot mouth. She didn’t put water in her mouth when she spoke to you. That letter to Santa had me giggling as I was writing it. Sophie was more than just a little disappointed with Santa. I think she handled her societal debut quite well, despite the roaches. Lol… Steve has someone with an eye for Mercy on his side. But I have to agree, he did show a “kindness ” to Sophia while at the same time maintaining a warped fidelity to his missus. I do believe that Dappa Dan Steve will have his comeuppance in due time. And I learned that Cindy the writer, loves a good night out…  I’m glad you loved Sophia’s story. I was so nervous sharing this with a first-time audience, but you lot have made the experience so rewarding. I would love to write for television one day… it’s on me bucket list.”
• Hugh’s Views and News “This was a fun read that had me hooked all the way to the end. I wanted to know more about Sophia Vazquez, and Nigel delivered that nicely in his writing. The characters, scenes and descriptions are all a delightful read. The story reminded me of a connection to comedy sketch shows – Can you imagine how ‘The Two Ronnies’ (Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker) would have turned this story into a sketch that would have the whole audience in tears of laughter? Characters like Dapper Dan Steve fit perfectly with how those two wrote their sketches. There are hints of comedy throughout this story, my favourite being the one of Sophia looking like part of the Von Trapp family from The Sound of Music. The theme of this story is definitely comedy. Even though Dapper Dan Steve is married, I still could not help but love him because of the way Nigel introduced him to us. However, I did briefly wonder why Sophia dated him, knowing he was married, but then I remembered that she wanted to be famous and would do just about anything to make that dream come true. Thank you for the laughs, Nigel.”
• Jan Sikes “Oh, my goodness, Nigel. What a tale! You took me right into the scene with Sophia and her dilemma plus determination. Fantastic writing!”
• Keep It Alive What an interesting story Nigel. You make the characters come to life and then they have all our sympathy and attention. Great writing my friend.”
• Myths of the Mirror ““She wasn’t going to a fancy dress party, dressed as a curtain.” I loved that line. It cracked me up. Nigel’s story has a lot of those clever lines and the pace is wonderful. I was engrossed in the story. I guess it wasn’t quite the “fame” that Sophia wished for, but it got her what she wanted. Great story, Nigel. Thanks for sharing, Marsha.”
• Roberta Writes “Oh my, this is such an entertaining story. I can just imagine this ambitious girl trying to be sophisticated in her borrowed feathers and finding out there was a cockroach nest lurking. I liked the way Sophia handled it and I enjoyed that this story had a positive ending for her. Great work, Nigel.”
• Rum and Robots “I love the story; each character’s introduction is always done so splendidly in Nigel’s stories. It was an engaging story and I found myself wanting something nice for this woman who so desperately needed to find herself a way to be famous or some body truly special. Nigel showed us that she could manage to be anything she set her mind to be by having the nerve to still pull off the evening. I mean no one likes a cockroach. Thank you for sharing and for hosting Nigel, who is a great storyteller.”
• Silent Pariah “Really enjoyed this one, Nigel. You have a keen sense of humor, amigo. Incredibly believable characters and a good sense of place make this story shine.”
• Times and Tides of a Beachwriter Our opinion of Dapper Dan Steve soon went downhill and I thought it could only end badly for Sophia, but what fun that she still achieved her ambition.”
• Unique Times with Cindy “Truly a great story, Niquel. You had me engaged from the beginning and to the end and that doesn’t happen a lot for me in stories. I was so mad at Santa and I couldn’t blame miss Sophie. I kept wondering if Santa not getting her a gift (perhaps out of poverty, I’m not sure), gave her the desire to be The Bell of the ball. Sophie Barbie. Well, she got her wish and she actually handled it all pretty well as the bugs were biting, heads sure to be spinning and everyone was dancing. Quite a story and with so much ingenuity and fun throw in. It brought me back to my dancing days… The show must go on! Thanks for the fun story and surprise. Brilliantly penned! Hey and she rocked the plaid coat but let’s say ignorance isn’t usually bliss Dapper Dan Steve and the price one might pay for fame. I can’t imagine the hiccups or roaches that might show up to bite him later. By the way, the roaches were hysterical.”
• Who Let The Stories Out (also Six Crooked Highways) “An evocative tale of a woman to be both celebrated and mocked in equal measure but determined to escape her seeming destiny. I am familiar with the term ‘Trinidadian’ (especially related to the exploits of cricketer Brian Lara) but not Trinabogian. Is it somehow related to the Australian term ‘bogan’?”
• Writer Ravenclaw “A brilliant story, sending a letter to Santa was a brilliant move. Glad she got to be famous.”
• Writing Wrinkles “We certainly got Sophie’s measure in the first paragraph, further embroidered in the next. Dapper Dan Steve came across quite quickly too – economical and effective writing. She wasn’t going to let that little disaster end her evening though, was she? Amazing what a little determination to succeed can do. May we all be as determined to realise out dreams. And as easily pleased with the result of our efforts? Maybe not. A great bit of fun! I can imagine it on screen.”

Testimonials

Nigel: “I’m realizing that this is really nice vibe. So grateful for the invite.”

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Exciting Story Chat Volume II Video

I hope you enjoy the video.

Story Chat Volume II Book Blog Tour Schedule

• Colleen Chesebro – November 24, 2024 (US) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• Gloria – November 29 (UK)
• Robbie & Michael – November 30 (SA)
• Diana – December 1 (US)
• Doug – December 2 (AU) December 1 (US, UK, SA) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• Cathy – December 4 (UK) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• Amanda – December 9 (AU) December 8 (US, UK, SA)
• Dan– December 11 (US)
• Philip – December 14 (UK)
• Cindy Georgekas – December 16 (US)
• Esther Chilton – January 30 (UK ) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• D. L. Finn – February 4 (US) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• Yvette – February 5 (US) Thanks for reviewing on Amazon.
• Hugh – January 27 (UK)

Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations

Thanks again for being a great part of Always Write’s Story Chat Digest. Until next time, keep reading, writing, and chatting.