many of you may know of my love for statistics, being a maths graduate and all. Earlier today I ran the statistics for my stories again (a fairly time-consuming process but usually done in well under half an hour). What's interesting is comparing them to the last time I did the stats, which was May 13 2023.

In that time (17 months and 13 days) I've only posted 12 additional chapters (amusingly, I have sixteen in my backlog right now*) increasing from 258 to 270. However, on my existing chapters:

of a pauper writer!

I've just posted a (very) short piece on Patreon for those that follow me there. It's my first bit of fiction writing for months, its the intro to what could be a longer, stand alone tale.

Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid

Broke. We have $80 in business accounts and bills due with about $1000 due personally (mobile home registration).

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who has sent money. We really depend on you, more than you know. :)

Thanks for any amount you can send. All contributions are very welcome. Thanks a great deal to all who have previously contributed here or paid for a membership at Patreon or Hatbox.

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Jamie, Cat, Ashly, Rasufelle and the rest of the crew

Below are versions of the PayPal links.

If you like “slice of life” stories, you might want to take a look the series Standing Up To Life by Tiffany Shar. The first book has already earned the “----------=BigCloset Retro Classic!=----------” status.

Wanted to drop a quick note, as the draft for Book 6 Hope's Light was completed not five minutes ago! In fact I'm still processing the (rather strong) emotions from the final scene. Whee?

Mom squinted at me. “Cute outfit, but don’t you think that skirt is a bit short?”

Poison
19. Arcade
by Melanie Brown
Read on Patreon

Thanks to a recent story chapter post by Tiffany Shar I started re-reading her previous contributions and got a serious blast from the past! After re-reading Suddenly Royal from a contest in 2020 in order to establish context for the sequel that Tiffany just recently started to post here on BigCloset TopShelf.

Dear Readers and Writers,

How many pages should a novel have?

(And please don’t say when it’s finished! Unfortunately, the Wildcat tales never end.)

I do not know how many on here are like me. I am here to read, and say very little. I do not think I have anything worth saying. I have stories in my head, but I would never be able to put them on paper the way some of these phenomenal authors do.
My question for the authors. Other than the kudos or buying the books from Amazon, what is there that a reader can do to encourage you. I am thinking especially of times when an author is struggling to think through what to write or how to continue a story. How can I as a reader be an encouragement to the authors.

"Am I truly that beautiful?"

The Dagger of Heaven at the End of Time
Chapter 8 - Sunshowers
by SammyC
Read on Patreon

In the last few weeks I've gotten warnings from Amazon Kindle about "Problems with my payment". I've checked my bank balance and there should be no issue. No certain author. It makes me feel reluctant to use Kindle. In the past, Kindle has been my GO TO resource.

This reminds me of a REM hit, "It's the end of the world as we know it".

Don't be afraid to tell the simple story.

Joanne's latest story "Partners" is an elegant classic.

Jill

Just came up with this little snippet of a story and wanted to share.

The Encounter
My guest had gone to clean up, so I went to the kitchen to make us some food, but before I could finish, I heard a scream coming from the bathroom.

I walked over to it, and when there was another scream, I tried the door.

Fortunately, my guest had not locked it, so I went in to find her cowering in a corner, naked, and pointing at the shower.

As soon as I complete the final chapter for "I Don't Like You" I will work to complete "Whataholiday" before the holiday season starts.

Thank you to the readers of Nicole's journeys.

So a little while ago, I decided to do some AI work on the characters of The Arctic Fox. Specifically, Arctic Fox 3, but of course, some of the characters are in the other books as well. Having pictures of the characters allows me to keep a picture of the in my mind so any descriptions of them are consistent.

Since I had the pictures available, I decided to put them in a blog, so if anyone wants a reference to what the people look like when you’re reading the stories, you have it.

I was hit on four times before the lunch bell!

Poison -15-
by Melanie Brown
Read on Patreon

Sorry to make my first blog post a request for help but I'm a bit lost.

I've posted two chapters for a story so far, and I can't seem to edit them or link them together.
I also don't have a way to get to them quickly, I have to go to Free Stories and scroll down the page, which I don't think is supposed to happen.

Any have an idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you!

So, I'm doing something that I've never done before. I'm putting out an S.O.S. You see, once, long ago, back when I haunted all of the Harvest Moon Roleplay Forums that seemed to everywhere, and the many slice of life Roleplay Forums that were always popular, I was known for my moving, emotionally backed Christmas stories. And when I started writing on D.A (Devient Art) I would go all for my yearly Christmas story, I would commission an artist for the cover-art and pull out of the stops.

How long can Rani maintain the illusion of being a teen-age princess?

I've been without a computer and the drive to write anything for the past two weeks...just felt what I write is inferior sometimes and that I've lost the heart and soul of why I write to begin with.

I've been working on a few of my current projects in hopes to finish them:

"I Don't Like You" (2 chapters remain)
"Circle in the Sand" (3 chapters remain, plus a COMPLETE rewrite of the current one posted)
"When You Close Your Eyes (2 chapters remain)

Hey ladies :-)

Since my last post showing off some of the AI art I've created of my characters, I've been... well, we need a better word than 'busy.' :-) Don't worry, I'm still writing too, faster than ever in fact (I have a full thirteen chapters in my backlog that I need to get to editing). But here are some of my favourite images I've created. Here's Laura, a bit older than she was in her story:

Who knew being a beautiful princess on a mission to save the world could be so dangerous?