Friday 1 February 2013

The Imaginary Friend Bloghop

Welcome to my very first bloghop - I'm really excited to be hosting this today, alongside the fabulous Kyra Lennon.

We will be reading all of the posts, and giving a prize each to our favourite entries.

Kyra is offering a three chapter critique, and I'm giving a £10/$10 Amazon voucher (or £10 Waterstone's voucher, if you're in the UK and you prefer).



I never do anything by halves - I had twin imaginary friends called Iccance and Occance. I have no idea where they came from, or how long they stayed or how they came to be so called. They were neither boys nor girls but something entirely different.

And - boy! - they were very naughty.

They used to make my toys messy after I'd tidied them up, they used to smear my face with ice-cream when I was eating; and it was definitely them who pushed over our telly, right onto its screen and breaking it!

I'm certain that on more than one occasion they had to stand in the corner with their hands on their heads - separate corners, obviously, or they'd have got into even more trouble.

Beside that though, I can't remember much about them - so I went off to ask Mum. "There were two of them," she said incitefully.

"Yes, they were twins," I said.

"Oh, were they?" she replied, proving that poor memory runs in the family.

I thought I remembered teaching them how to read, with the help of my blackboard and pure academic skill, until Mum recalled that it was my baby sister I taught, so she doesn't really count.

So that's the poorly remembered (and now immortalised)
story of Iccance and Occance.
Now I'm off to read yours!




54 comments:

  1. Wow, you had real troublemakers lol!

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  2. Sounds like they were a handful :)

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  3. They obviously enjoyed making mischief! They sound like quite a pair.

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  4. They must have been fun in spite of the trouble making. :)

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    1. Oh yes, I remember lots of fun - and running around in fields.

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  5. Those are some unusual names, where did they come from? (The names, not the imaginary friends. :)

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    1. Well, that's how they introduced themselves - it would have been rude to change them lol!

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  6. I don't remember having any imaginary friends. I have a lot now though... including a set of twins.

    Cool blogfest!

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    1. Isn't it great that we can say that, as adults? I love being a writer :-)

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  7. Twins? That's the first time I ever heard of that. You have a very creative mind. Love it! Thanks for hosting this blog fest! I'm having a ball reading everyone's stories.

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    1. They first appeared when I was about 2, and I didn't even know any twins to get the idea from!

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  8. That's pretty awesome that you had TWIN imaginary friends! I had the same question as Suzi: Where did the names come from?

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    1. Like I said to Suzi, that was their names, I didn't question it lol

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  9. Quite the imagination you had! Wild names, I love it!

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    1. I seem to be the only person I know in real-life who had them - that's why this bloghop has been so fun!

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  10. Twin imaginary friends...that's just too fun! Congrats on this festive blog hop. I've sure had fun reading some of the entries already:)

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    1. Thanks MJ - after imaginary twins I'm really glad I didn't have real ones!

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  11. I never had an imaginary friend :-( so I can't join in with this - unless I imagine an imaginary friend for myself...

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    1. You've still got time to join in and create one - fictional stories are valid too. I've been surprised at the number of people who didn't have them - far less than I thought. Because I had them, I thought everyone did!

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  12. I love the story of these twins LOL. What nasty little monsters they were. :D

    Great hop!

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  13. Ha! I always wished I was a twin. I can see why that's appealing to children :)

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    1. The thing is, I never wanted to be a twin, I've always loved being uniquely me :-)

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  14. It's an awesome bloghop, Annalisa! I'm really curious how you came up with those names. My brother's imaginary friend was Corn, and he got us in a lot of trouble sometimes.

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    1. How great that your brother's imaginary friend got you into trouble! The names will always be a mystery to me :-)

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  15. My goodness, your imaginary friends got in a lot of trouble! lol
    Great post! :-)

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    1. They were bad, but with little twinkle in their eyes :-)

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  16. Your parents didn't buy your TV story? Bummer.

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    1. I know! My next gambit was blaming it on ghosts, but that'll be the subject of the next bloghop :-)

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  17. Twin imaginary friends? That means you were double trouble, I mean, they were double trouble. Not you at all. ;) Thanks so much for hosting this fun bloghop! I love reading all the stories.

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  18. Twin imaginary friends? That is definitely double the trouble. Thanks for co-hosting this great bloghop. You did a great job.

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    1. They were a lot of fun too. My parents might not have thought so though...

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  19. I had imaginary friends and pets. My daughter had a whole village of imaginary friends.. so you're definitely not alone!

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    1. A village? I love how some kids still have huge imaginations - it means technology isn't taking over just yet!

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  20. That is so funny!! And I feel for your mum. I always swore I wouldn't forget things like my mom does, but I do. I keep saying...one of you boys did such and such. It's true, children suck the brain cells out of your head!

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    1. I forget things now, and mine are only 13 and 8 - technically they're still living through the things I'm forgetting!!

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  21. Why do most people talk about imaginary friends in the past tense? I'm just as good friends with mine now as I was at seven.

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    1. You're lucky. I think I lost mine around the time we moved one year, or they went out to play and never came back :-(

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  22. I have to admit, that's a first. Twin imaginary friend! :)

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  23. LOL! Now YOU had a writer's imagination! Totally laughing. I love it, Annalisa. :D

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  24. I don't remember when I began with my imaginary friends. I suppose I was 5 or 6 but I know that by age 9-10, I had finally let them go. Don't let yours go! :D

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    1. It's funny how they suddenly arrive one day, isn't it?

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  25. Hi Annalisa,

    Oh my, double the imagination and an excellent way to have those twin friends of yours get up to 'their' mischief :)

    All these blog hogs and this is very clever. Yes a ghost type blog hop. I think I can see right through that one.

    Have a great remainder of the weekend and thank you for your thoughtful comment on my posting. Much appreciated.

    Gary

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Gary. My friends certainly inflicted a lot of chaos on our house :-)

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  26. Not the telly! Now that's taking things too far. Thanks for a fun Blog Hop! Been super busy and still making the rounds visiting every one.

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    1. Well, it was a strange 1970s telly on a pedestal - it was asking to be pushed over... ahem, I mean fall over... I mean, badly designed to fall over... :-)

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