I cannot believe that the passing of Elmore Leonard has not been more widely announced - and grieved over!

Thanks to a friend of the site (they can name themselves if they want, I didn't want to presume) I have my very own website. That means I am not only an author, but a webpage as well.

I find it incomprehensible that some people can't be decent when commenting or blogging. Remember, when you WRITE something, there is nothing that indicates anything but the WORDS you use. There are no other indicators that could soften the impact of words that appear unkind or severely critical. Normally, when people communicate, there are visual and verbal cues that can soften the impact of words that might otherwise seem unkind. When you write, all there is, is the words.

Well, once again, I've managed to offend a writer.

I find that very frustrating. It's NOT my goal to discourage people or upset people. My posts aren't intended to be attacks.

Kick to the head, punch to the gut,

For those of you considering publishing or have published e-books, especially on Amazon, I have a little bit of advice; advertise.

For those of you that don't know of it or just not following it, this is a webcomic "Rain", about a MTF transsexual named Rain. She is trying to juggle her changing life, deal with friends both knowing and unknowing, attempting to live through a sort of RLT; all while attending high school. The page just posted, Rain p383, has a gay friend/sorta boyfriend, Rudy, sum up Rain's reality and why he loves her.

I don't believe in muses, writing is a cerebral thing and it's something I've always done. I've written Bike most days for the past six years to prove to myself it can be done without loads of drama, or special conditions - I just sit there for an hour/ ninety minutes and out pops the next episode. In some ways it's easier than writing from scratch because my characters are well established and I have plot lines I can continue or even pick up from a while back.

Has anyone heard or seen anything of my compatriots, Alys and Ceri?

The Getty Museum has begun scanning and placing their collection of artwork that is Public Domain online. That means there are a lot of neat pieces of art that may be used free without seeking permission from them to use it. They ask that you credit them for scanning it in your notes. I know a lot of individuals look for artwork for their stories here, so I thought I would share. You would definitely need to resize the images from their current size to use though (easy with Gimp or Photoshop). Anyway, here's the link to their press release, and a link to the gallery!

Today is our own Maggie Finson's Birthday! Happy B-Day Maggie and may all of your Birthday wishes come true!

And cake! Don't forget the cake! LOL
Hugs
Grover

I've posted a new story, Cynthia and the Solicitous Sisters-In-Law, Part 1. The story will be in three parts. I played with the idea of posting it all at once because it is quite short - only 14,500 words; however, decided to do it this way. The action picks up considerably in the next part. I think there may be a message in the story; however, at the moment, I'm not too sure what it is.

I am so happy and excited and I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the site and offer some encouragement to those who are thinking about publishing E-books. There is a market out there and it isn't as small as you may think. If you write good books with global appeal, it will do well. You need to work, you need to market, but it can be done. I'm not the only author on the site who is doing well on Amazon, and I think there are several others who might be wanting to join the ranks.

Bushels of thanks to whoever sorted out the problem with 'A Wild Sidey Ted'. I think I know what I did wrong, so I'm fairly sure it won't happen again.

I finally got around to publishing my WordPress Site. Still in it's infancy, but swing on by. Hope to see you there. http://gmshephard.wordpress.com

Having lived much of my life in the role of a Man, changing to the role of a woman has come as a great surprise to me and it has taken place over a several years. Service in the Military was interesting, but I never seemed to share the same interests as my "Band of Brothers", and by some miracle managed to serve out my term with no serious injuries, or battle trauma.

I never got to reading it, but I wanted to. The only thing I know of on the story is it was on this site and had a picture of a little girl in a field of flowers, arms stretched out and her back slightly arched. if I recall right, there were several chapters, but I can't recall the name

Now on amazon. A great weekend page turner with a positive transgender message. I hope you all enjoy.

Especially interesting because it's the number of kudos I appear to have in my account. So once again my thanks to all who've contributed, I do appreciate it and Whizz thinks they taste wonderful - go figure.

Hugs,

Angharad.

OK, I freely admit to the duality of my nature. On one hand, I am devout. On the other hand, were I married, things could go way over the top within the confines of our bedroom. It is probably a shock to some of you. In the time when I wished to kill my self, perhaps some will think I should have. Frankly I have an attachment to pain that I did not understand and felt considerable guilt over most of my life. I think only one or two of you actually do understand. I never acted on it they way I wished to.

I am wondering about about a story. the lead character becomes robin a fashion model. I cant remember title. also a story about a m to f who becomes a top tv news reporter. any help is appreciated.

I just wanted to say that I have recently had the opportunity to chat with Ms Bishop, via e-mail, and have found her to be,
as are her stories, highly intelligent, and yet warm and approachable.

Nothing better to do before this weekend (a music festival!) I sorted Cold Feet for Kindle. Go*gle 'Sussex Border Stories' to find most of my e-books. Sales are steady; I have almost made enough for that cup of tea!

Background : After the intro chapter describing current events in Hong Kong where michael awakes from a night of passion with a 'male' colleague the previous chapter gave the background of events leading up to his trip to Hong Kong. It explained how Michael was thrilled to be promoted and suddenly found that instead of taking on new responsibilities with financial benefit he was to be discarded and made redundant. Worse than that he was being passed over for Vanessa who he often baled out and who was taking advantage of the Company.