Archives for category: Creative Writing

Welcome to the Super Dede Competition 2016.

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This week is a preliminary round and you are asked to vote for your favourite puppet or puppets, those you would like to be contestants in the Super Dede Competition. Of course, not all Dedes are in favour of the competition and Detail has done a great job of rustling up these 10 brave Dedes to choose from. The five with the highest score will go on to compete. The others will be sent home. To help you with your decision the ten puppets were asked to briefly state why they are here.

It will be a bit tricky establishing the winner of the preliminary round, as the competition runs on Instagram, Facebook and this blog. Mouse will simply add the Instagram and Facebook likes to the poll result on the blog. We have until next Saturday to establish who will become contestants.

You can vote for more than one puppet and please, please, please tell all your friends to vote too :)

The Dedes work impromptu and they appreciate any comments and suggestions. We are all very excited about what is going to happen in the next four weeks. All comments will go into the draw for a signed copy of the first Dede puppet book Hermit’s Web or the few friends I need, I handcraft myself.

Now give a big hand for the applicants!

(In alphabetical order)

Alley Cat

“I am here because it wasn’t cool enough for Cool Cat, but we felines need a representative in the cast.”

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Chambermaid

“I want to be in the competition because I am sick of tidying up after all the other Dedes.”

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Granddad Max

“I am old but I am not dead. We seniors have something to say.”

Granddad Max_s

Milky Bar Devil

“I am a devil in training and I want to learn how to become ruthless.”

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Lapdog

“I am here because I’m soooo prettaay.”

Lapdog_s

Loudmouth

“Honestly, I am the only Dede who can sing. This is a singing contest, isn’t it?”

loudmouth_s

Snippedy

“I didn’t make it last time, so I’m trying again.”

clown_s

Snotty Nosed Prince

“The king said I should experience what the commoners enjoy.”

Snotty nosed prince_s

Sunny

“I want to be an artist and the prize money might set me up.”

Sunny_s

Top Dog

“I will win. I am a joker, I simply trump them all.”

top Dog_s

Now, please vote for you favorite puppets!

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Detail is very good at keeping lists and things, so she volunteered to rustle up the contestants again. She is also very conscientious and got to work immediately. She opened the box where all the Dedes hide from the sunlight when they have their days off, and asked who wants to take part in the Super Dede Competition 2016. The one thing she is lacking though is a loud and commanding voice! So no Dede reacted to her question except for Bobby, the policeman. He jumped out of the crowd and placed himself right next to Detail. “Oi”  he shouted with his booming voice, “the lady is talking to you guys!”  All of a sudden everyone looked up.

Detail is not sure if they listened because he has a booming male voice or because he represents authority. To be honest, she doesn’t care, as long as she gets 10 willing Dedes on her list before Monday. So far she has only two: Chambermaid and Snippedy, the clown.

Have a look at the Characters page. Which one would you like to see in the competition?

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We had a really tough weekend at the Dede household with lots of crying and desperation. Devil was frustrated. His “Freeday” didn’t turn out as he expected. One of the Instagram readers suspected that it is just another devilish ruse and who knows how much you really have pay for it in the end. The reader made a good point. Devil has no idea how other people perceive him. Of course, he thinks he is the nicest Dede on the planet. We won’t burst his bubble, but it does explain why his generous offer wasn’t taken up in droves. He has kindly extended the offer until the 5th of June 2016. And no, it isn’t a devilish ruse. The book really is free (go to Smashwords.com and enter the code VV39S before you check out to get your free copy).

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One of our followers,  Jessie Martinovic in Australia, downloaded the book and sent us a wonderful message (see comment in the previous post). Thank you so much Jessie for this amazing feedback, it made my day. Unfortunately it was too late to lift Devil’s spirits.  You know how it is, once you are in this downward spiral, you go down, down, down until you hit the ground. So Mouse and Devil, who are usually an excellent team, sat down together and cried their little hearts out. Each of them tried to outdo the other as to who is the poorer puppet. In the end Mouse pointed out that it is dire for them all as I have set up another instagram account called beyond_the_dedes. I won’t tell you what Devil called me on instagram, but I can assure you, he wasn’t the nicest puppet on the planet then :)) I knew very well they won’t like it. They really want to have my full attention. But I can’t help it, I do other stuff as well! At least now we have proper separation.

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Yesterday, the benevolent King had enough of their antics. He looked at the sorry pair and remarked that it doesn’t help anyone when they drown themselves in a sea of snot-drenched hankies. That made them think and when Chambermaid came along this morning to clean up their mess, they listened to her suggestion.

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Once she had picked up all the hankies, Chambermaid dragged a big piece of fabric into the room and suggested they should make a theatre curtain from the material and run another Super Dede Competition. The 2016 version. Devil wasn’t entirely convinced. He knows how much work it is and they would also need support from the readers to make it work. But don’t forget, a minute earlier he was still very depressed, and just putting the idea to the readers is something of a victory for Chambermaid. She of course dreams of becoming a contestant and that could mean “good bye snotty hankies for ever!”

Mouse doesn’t have an opinion. As usual, she just wants to be busy. Faster than you can say boo she got her clipboard out to make notes about how the whole thing could work across two platforms: Instagram and the blog.

So what do you think?

 

Lou waiting

The Dedes are currently discussing love. I am sure, we all agree, love is the most wonderful thing that can happen to someone. However, when there is an imbalance in affection it can also become scary. Lou, the young puppy, is infatuated with Skeleton Edeltraut. Who can blame him? Any young puppy will fall in love with a pile of bones. Whenever she shows up, he gets all excited, jumps up and down, tries to lick her and basically follows her around sniffing and worshipping the ground she walks on. Skeleton Edeltraut is outright scared, but no-one offers support. Everyone believes she should be able to cope with it. After all, she is in the scaring business herself. When she comes out of her closet, a lot of people are very frightened. It doesn’t help that she is generally a bit distant and cold and not as cute as Lou. No one takes her cry for help seriously. They put Lou’s behaviour down to his nature and advise her to harden up. Mhm. That is such a classic dede conundrum. How can this be resolved?

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Esta Blished, the fairy godmother, was inconsolable yesterday when she realised her memory fails her more than she cares to admit. In the afternoon she visited her best friend Witch and had a good cry on her shoulder. Witch is one of the oldest and wisest Dedes. Unfortunately, with the big wart on her nose she is not particularly photogenic. Does she care if she doesn’t appear on the blog much? No! She is happy to spend quality time with her pet owl and discuss the issues of the world. If you have a problem you really want to consult an old owl or a witch! The clever old pair had a good look at their RTD cabinet to see if there is an appropriate potion for Esta’s ailment. Sadly, even with their tremendous knowledge, there are certain things they simply can’t solve.

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Some of the Dedes are such copy cats. They have no original ideas and prefer to stick with what is tried and tested. After Cash Cow told Devil yesterday that he had no chance as fluffy toy, he thought his best bet for Instagram success would be a funny cat picture. Luckily there is a cat amongst the Dedes. So he took his mobile and went to track her down. As usual she was minding her own business in a quiet corner of the studio. It appears poor Devil doesn’t know a thing about the felines… Being a real one, Cat couldn’t be bothered with what Devil had planned at all. Though he tried so hard to convince her, Cat just didn’t move! Then…. all of a sudden Cat streched and Devil thought that was so funny. We love cats!

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Yesterday we had a storm forcing Devil to get out of his hammock only to move straight onto the sofa. Out of boredom he decided to check out Instagram more closely. Cash Cow joined him on the sofa with a book. She expected a quiet relaxing afternoon, but she very quickly regretted sitting next to Devil.  He interrupted her every couple of seconds and wanted her to look at a picture. First he was really excited. “Look at all these fluffy toys and what they are doing. They are out in the world traveling. I wish the artist would take me too.” He found so many images he liked and then, ah, how he enjoyed images depicting snow. He would so love to be in those places. It is January and it should be cold and white. Then he looked at all the photographers,  then at all the painters, then at Lego people doing things and then at fluffy toys again. And the longer he spent on Instagram the more his excitement turned into an anxiety. “Here are all these fluffy toys doing things and they are so cute and cuddly. They have so many followers and people want to know what they are up to. And here I am sitting on our sofa looking on the mobile to see the world. Who the hell knows me? Who gives a toss about me!”

Cash Cow sighed deeply and put her book to the side. “Look Devil…. I am telling you, you are not in competition with fluffy toys! You are not soft and you are not even cute. Maybe a Dede might think you are good looking, but that is it. You were born a No Body like all the other Dedes and while we try hard to dress up as something, we will always be Nobodies!”

 

 

Drum roll for the new film. I have to admit, the Dedes are much better cooks than singers :) . This time they made flatbread, the recipe from the Artist’s Survival Cookbook on page 22. You can fill the bread with grated vegetables and cheese. Yummmmyyy.

For this film Devil wanted to be the director because it is his recipe in the book. He finally let me know what his gripe is with the rest of the Dedes. He finds them far too unprofessional and in his mind they have to seriously up their game. For this reason Mouse didn’t show him the final version before she uploaded it to Youtube. She wanted to avoid the scathing remarks he will no doubt air as soon as he sees the film. That would have been too much for her yesterday.

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…of Christmas my true love brought to me Two Purple Gloves and a Chicken in a Dead Tree.

Now I am even more bamboozled. They obviously didn’t put much thought into their selection of presents or who is going to deliver them. Isn’t the bunny totally out of season? Also, in the original song, the second present was “two turtle doves”. Doves are the symbol of peace. The gloves and the rabbit’s posture looks more like fighting stance to me. He looks very determined, too.

Previous present

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Chicken in a dread tree

 

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Finally, the Artist’s survival book went to the proofreader this week. I will upload the file to CreateSpace and order a copy to see what the print quality is like. Then when it comes back from proofing, I can make the changes and thunderbirds are go! I am so excited about it all. You certainly wonder what took so long. The book was basically finished two or three month ago. Well, life has been a bit of a struggle last year, hence the book. However, having no money wasn’t the main problem. Of course the Dedes live the life of their Artist. Recently they had a full Dede meeting to discuss what project should be next. Pig wanted to embark on a potato cookbook. Mouse wants to make a book on how to set up a garden in a small space and someone else suggested a book on the nutritious value of nuts, called The Artist is going nuts. Everyone was laughing, but Devil. Philosopher who is a good observer said, maybe the home economic books should be put aside for a while and the Dedes should make a book about workplace bullying. Now the room fell silent and no-one quite understood where this was coming from. It was very awkward. Devil’s eyes became watery and he said: “We have to do it, for the sake of everyone out there, who has to deal with it, but I don’t know if I am ready just yet.” Who would have thought that the Devil get’s bullied?