While I appreciate this site is only in Beta, am I the only one who's frustrated that we can't create an author's profile or search properly or message each other? And there's no way to raise problems, questions or suggestions with Fictish, no 'Contact Us' and, in fact, no info about who/what Fictish really at all.

So, in the meanwhile, shall I start a thread?

I'm ShortAndSweet. I came upon Fictish by accident as it's not really promoted. I'm female, an early-retired Computer Specialist, an ex-carer and from England - which you may have noticed from my British spelling and my iffy American dialogue - specifically the North-East, Geordieland as we call it.

A decade ago I used to write a lot of fan fiction, so I've done my apprenticeship, but I'm strictly in this for fun only so I don't need any literary criticism just the occasional enthusiastic encouragement if you can manage it. Currently I find I have a lot of time on my hands so I thought I'd give the creative writing another try.

Please feel free to comment. Please also feel free to add your self-introduction to this thread. I don't know whether this sort of 'story' is allowed on this platform but, hey, I might get to hear from a monitor (if there are any).

Whoami? [Does anyone else recognize this UNIX command?]

After a miserable time in high school, especially in English classes, I avoided writing as much as possible, except for a little bit of technical writing.

About twenty years ago, I started creating crossword puzzles. I especially enjoyed writing clues that incorporated some sort of wordplay.

Ten or so years ago, I wrote a few "chipmunk" stories for my young granddaughter. Here's something unusual -- I would start with interesting pictures I found online, then I built the story to incorporate the pictures. A picture of a chipmunk riding a motorcycle really caught my attention. This picture led me to write adult stories of a motorcycle-riding chipmunk cruising the roads of USA, visiting places named "Chesterfield", from his birthplace in Chesterfield, CT to a ghost town, Chesterfield, ID. He eventually lands in Trinidad, CO where he founded a soft-drink bottling company [most popular product is Wooly Bully Root Beer] and a cafe.

What else should I tell you? I live a quiet life in retirement. My two sons also live in the Denver area.