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Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 09:33
by Moonraker
Chrissie777 wrote: I don't want to blow up the forum unnecessarily. :|
Please don't, Chrissie!!! :shock:

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 10:02
by Julie2owlsdene
Loved your story, Daisy. Great read. :D

8)

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 10:02
by Daisy
Thank you Julie.

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 10:22
by Anita Bensoussane
A great story indeed, Daisy. I like it when Enid Blyton shows the Secret Seven doing everyday things like playing Red Indians or setting out a train set so I was pleased to find you bringing in things like that too, e.g. when the Seven laid tracks for one another through the woods or built a dam. The whole thing sounded fun as well as exciting. It's the kind of adventure I longed to have myself when I was a child.

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 10:29
by Daisy
Thank you Anita. I appreciate your comments.

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 11:14
by Dinah Cunningham
I liked the story and I also liked that Susie wasn't that much in it and that she was nice at the end. Thanks for your effort!

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 11:32
by Rob Houghton
Really enjoyable story, Daisy - and wrapped up very satisfactorily at the end too! I really liked the 'back-story' about the old man and the ferrets! A really nice touch, and it of course explained a lot of things that had happened in the story regards the tunnel etc.

I must admit, I rather like Susie, so I did miss her presence a little! She's one of my favourite characters. Now - if anyone was writing an Adventure book without Kiki, I'd enjoy that very much!! ;-)

Well done Daisy on a great addition to The Secret Seven series. :-D

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 11:55
by Daisy
Thank you Dinah and Rob... so glad you enjoyed the story and Susie's part in it. Sorry she wasn't able to be included more Rob!

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 21:29
by Nick
Wonderful story Daisy, really enjoyed it.

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 21:45
by Eddie Muir
Now that the complete story is available, I shall read it at my leisure, Daisy. :D

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 28 Aug 2017, 21:53
by Daisy
Thank you very much Nick. Eddie, I hope you enjoy it when you get the time to read it all at once!

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 29 Aug 2017, 20:42
by Eddie Muir
I'm sure I will, Daisy, especially after reading all the positive comments about it. :D

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 30 Aug 2017, 09:26
by Moonraker
Image



Plot Spoiler Warning!




I spent a pleasant afternoon in the garden reading this new Secret Seven Story. Although not one of my favourite of Enid's series, the books still have a place in my heart for mainly nostalgic reasons. I have always found them on the light side and some of the plots don't stand up to too much scrutiny. However, it must be remembered that they are written for young children!

Ilsa has written a well-constructed story. It starts with a rather nice meeting where Barbara announces that on the last day of term her parents gave her "the shock of my life" - a twin of baby brothers! I was rather puzzled - didn't Barbara notice that her mother was pregnant in the weeks before the birth? Maybe noticing pregnant women wasn't on the Secret Seven's detective notes!

We were treated to this adventure on Peter and Janet's father's farm. I rather liked this as I could picture all of the locations in my mind. It became an adventure when it was noticed that their father's caravans had been moved. This rang a bell - wasn't a caravan moved in another book from a different series. It transpires there was a hole under the caravan which was needed to be accessed by the baddie. Hmm - we are really into Five Go Off in a Caravan territory now!!!

Putting this aside, it developed into a fine story, well paced and written in Enid's style - something that many follow-on writers struggle with. I did wonder if villains really would steal pet rabbits when the fields are rabbit-a-plenty, but maybe I am being too picky! I also thought it a bit of a cop out when Jeff asked a question that had been puzzling me:

"But why, Dad? Couldn't he rent it for himself?"

Exactly what I had been thinking! The only answer he got was, "Sorry, Jeff, but it need not concern you. Let me just say I owed this man a favour."

Come on Ilsa - you can do better than that!! :wink:

Nevertheless, these minor points aside, Ilsa has written a fine story. I agree with Rob that I would have liked a little more of Susie, but that aside I really enjoyed it. Well done, Ilsa - I could never come up with something anywhere near as good. All of our writers do a first class job and do a great service to Enid and the Society by writing these continuation novels. Good one, Daisy! :D

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 30 Aug 2017, 10:55
by Daisy
Thank you so much for your response to my story Nigel. Like you, the Secret Seven was never one of my favourite series - and I only read the first two as a child - but in attempting to write a follow on of one of Enid;s series, I opted for the Secret Seven for the very reason that the plots were usually simpler and aimed at younger children. Yes, I confess it was a bit of a cop out about Jeff's dad and the caravan but think that sometimes Enid also slid over what could have been explained further in some of her books. Not that I ever noticed it as a child though.
I think children of the age of the Seven were not very observant about pregnancies - and women did wear very concealing garb in those days. I well remember the "maternity smocks" of the 1950s.

Re: New Weekly Serial

Posted: 30 Aug 2017, 11:32
by Rob Houghton
Moonraker wrote:Jeff asked a question that had been puzzling me:

"But why, Dad? Couldn't he rent it for himself?"

Exactly what I had been thinking! The only answer he got was, "Sorry, Jeff, but it need not concern you. Let me just say I owed this man a favour."

Come on Ilsa - you can do better than that!! :wink:
Really enjoyed reading your review, Nigel - always good to see real feedback. I must admit I agree with you regards the question Jeff asked...and I was maybe too intrigued by the answer. 'It need not concern you...I owed this man a favour...'. I couldn't help wondering what this man had on Jeff's father...had Jeff's dad been carrying out a tempestuous love'affair with his secretary...had he been indulging in dubious 'parties' after hours at the office...what had Jeff's dad been up to? My mind was running on overdrive, lol!

:lol: :lol:

However - I also agree with Daisy that this is something Enid did quite often - skate over the facts, so its quite acceptable...apart from the fact that this particular answer opened up a whole new can of worms for the reader, and made us want to know more, lol! ;-)