Hello From The UK

Ailsa

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Another UK writer here :)
In Edinburgh at the moment finishing uni, but home is elsewhere in Scotland, and since finishing high school I've travelled around a bit & lived in France & the USA, too.
 

Moont

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Hello to all of you!
I'm not from the UK, yet I've been browsing yout thread and feel somewhat curious about this Scottish Independence vote, since it would be a precedent that could be invoked by us Catalans, who also want to get independence for Catalonia ever since the Spanish conquered us by force, forbidding us to speak our language and subjugating us (like all conquerors always do). Fact is, here in Spain there's much talk that Catalonia getting its independence will mean we Catalans are going to lose European membership, so we will have to do like Bosnia or Croatia or all those Balkan countries did, and apply for membership as a new country. OK, I'm not so good at politics, so I ask if, for an hypothetically independent Scotland it would be the same case. Have you Scotts been scared into voting "no" by the central government, so as not to lose European citizenship, amongst other things? How come you can vote for a referendum or whatever to get independence, while here in Spain any mention or petition for a peaceful, democratic vote seems to be akin to "Sacrilege, Spain is sinking, the Catalans want to destroy us Spanish, Our Constitution is going to blazes, God help us"? I swear we don't want to destroy anything, we just want to be recognised and respected like any other nation! Some statistics: Catalan population = 7,565,603 inhabitants. Scotland, has, I think, about 5,2 million inhabitants, Danish = 5,6 million, Bosnia-Herzegovina = 3,875,723, Serbia =some 7,181,505... So... Just curious, and for those of you who also want peaceful independence, I wish the best for you, from Catalonia!
I understand nationalism of historically oppresed minorities, myself being one of those. I think all nationalities should have the same rights, yet we live in a global world, so wouldn't some sort of federation like German Länder or US states be more respectful of minorities and deal in common issues with egalitarian criteria?
Just curious, that's all...
 

Ailsa

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Have you Scotts been scared into voting "no" by the central government, so as not to lose European citizenship, amongst other things?

"Scared into voting no"
No. You could not pay me to vote yes for independence. But beyond saying that, this is a topic I don't particularly want to talk about on a message board, as people sometimes have very strong opinions about voting one way or another.
 

Cosy_Mimi

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Yes - there have been continued scaremongering and propaganda in an attempt to prevent Scots vioting yes. I am a firm yes and can confidently say it will be the best thing to happen to Scotland. However, people are against change in general and it could go either way. Its an exciting time for Scotland and I just hope our people can make an intelligent decision based on facts and the inevitability of a thriving future.
 

Moont

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Thanks for responding, I did not intend to initiate any heated arguments for or against any vote, Ailsa. Yes, the topic involves strong opinions for sure. I just feel curious about how other countries deal with allowing separatist referendums. And yes,Cosy Mimi. It's hard to get people to change. Best wishes for independence, from a Catalan Independist!
 

KarmaPolice

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I'm jealous. I want England to leave the UK...

Though personally, I honestly think full independence is not the best way to go; I'm in favour of a loose federal system, where each nation has pretty much the freedom to do the hell it wants with a rump UK parliament looking after the stuff like defense, foreign policy etc. And yes, this applies to England too - where I live, we often get the feeling that our needs are always sacrificed to that ever-hungry monster squatting down there called Greater London.
 

Ailsa

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I'm curious - how many of you use the UK as a setting for your stories, and how many set them elsewhere?

I find a lot of the time my stories are set in places in the UK, I think largely because I'm much more familiar with it than anywhere else.
 

JimmyB27

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I'm curious - how many of you use the UK as a setting for your stories, and how many set them elsewhere?

I find a lot of the time my stories are set in places in the UK, I think largely because I'm much more familiar with it than anywhere else.

Even though my current WiP is a fantasy, it's still set in England. And it's not urban fantasy or alternate universe either. ;)
 

zclesa

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Hi all!

I'm new here and from the UK as well. I'm based in London. So nice to see so many GB writers here.

So far, I have written about London in my (as yet unpublished) books, naming it as such. I have also written about Brighton, but called it a pseudonym. You'd probably suspect it was Brighton if you ever lived there or knew anything about its history. I misspent my youth there, so I know it quite well ;)
 

Lonegungrrly

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I live in the North West England, and have set a book in London, and one also in the US because the situation needed it. My current WIP is much more Northern! And surprise surprise it's easier to write!
 

Ailsa

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We have loads of great locations that provide inspiration.

I think this is why I end up setting things in the UK a lot of the time - we have so many interesting locations! I find the history of places is very good story inspiration, too, and Britain has a lot of interesting local histories in different places.
 

Lunarose

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Hi all!

I've just joined this site. I'm originally from London, but am now settled in the North West.

I've used London as a setting for most of my story, probably because I grew up there and know it so well. My current WIP is set in a school, it's in the UK but I haven't decide where exactly yet.
 

rchapman1

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I was born in the UK but moved to Australia in my twenties. I tend to write about Australia because it's more familiar to me now. However, I still holiday in the UK on a regular basis and I'm hoping to do a sequel to Missing in Egypt (set in Australia and Egypt) that will be at least partly based in the UK.
 

Cody Lane

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Hi all, I'm a UK writer myself! Okay, I'm actually American, but I'm living in the UK, so I think that counts. I'm currently living in the absolutely tiny village of Tuddenham near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.
 

AliceWrites

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I'm curious - how many of you use the UK as a setting for your stories, and how many set them elsewhere?

I find a lot of the time my stories are set in places in the UK, I think largely because I'm much more familiar with it than anywhere else.

Interesting question!

I live in Scotland, but have set my current fantasy novel in London. As I write science fiction too, these stories are sometimes based in space and take on a 'whole world' view. But I recently wrote a fantasy/futuristic type of story, and I based all my scenery on different parts of America, purely because I needed such diverse settings for my characters.
 

Forbidden Snowflake

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Hello, I just joined the UK. I used to live in Switzerland but my partner is from here and has a job here so I moved.

North of London.
 

Forbidden Snowflake

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Hello, Snowflake! How are you finding life in the UK so far?

2 weeks of trying to get the dogs settled. So I haven't seen much of the outside. I probably have some romantic Jane Austen idea of what it is like to live here :D ;)
 

Brian Cull

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Hi folks!

Born and raised (if that's the word) in Liverpool; moved around a *lot*; finally came to rest in Hampshire - where my current WIP is set.

Cheers,

Brian
 

waylander

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Hi folks!

Born and raised (if that's the word) in Liverpool; moved around a *lot*; finally came to rest in Hampshire - where my current WIP is set.

Good to have you on board.
[born and raised in Southampton]
 

archangel

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Hello, and welcome to the forum. I could really use some scones and clotted cream. I just made some scones 2 3 days ago, but I need the clotted cream.