I debated for a while, should this be an electronic swap or a flat mail swap?

I decided on flat mail because I love getting letters in the post and I know I'm not alone. Also, maybe, this is a chance to find a penfriend to share a love of writing with, something different to the normal penfriend letters we start with.

I bought a book called What's Behind The Blue Door by WriteGirl. it's a great book. I thought this swap might be a good one to run once a month with a long deadline to give us all a chance to write our stories using the prompts from the book.

1 and 2 have been and gone and I think a few people, including me, felt this was harder than they first thought and it's a bit different to the usual swaps.

I decided to put this up as a once-a-month swap, starting from January 2025. I'm going to post three months in advance so that we can have lots of time to work on our stories.

The Challenge....

Write a short story using the prompt. Add a separate page with the more traditional pen pal intro and about you but make the story a stand-alone part of the swap. The story must be based on the prompt.

I don't want to make too many rules but if you're going to join this then make sure you're happy to write more than a couple of pages. I would say this has to be at least three as a minimum but it could be so much more.

Presentation is sender's choice but sending it on paper/in an envelope that's been decorated and maybe in keeping with the story has got to be worth a heart.

The prompt, taken from the book is...

'Finish this sentence: What you don't know about me is...'

• The prompt doesn't have to be the first line but the story has to be based on the prompt

• At least three pages, preferably more

• Personal, traditional, penpal stuff as a separate letter in the same envelope, the main letter is just about the prompt.

I will Angel if needed but if you have any problems making the deadline let me and your partner know. Any questions drop me a message

I'm going to leave this open to newbies but I will check before assigning partners, no unexplained, recent 1's or 3's and a well-filled-out profile as a minimum requirement.

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