My nineteenth book has just hit the virtual shelves. It is, of course, the compilation of NYE competition stories from this site, with a few tweaks--surprisingly few, in fact.

April's here, and it's time for more

There seems to be a disconnect between various parts of the site. There have been no new comments registered for nearly 3 hours and 'Home' shows an entirely different hit and kudos count to 'My Stories'. Even logging in seems to make no difference.

I was very much surprised to find some of the works of my childhood, on Kindle. Right now I am reading Dragon Riders of Pern, and enjoying it greatly. I haven't re-sampled Andre Norton yet, but assuming I don't encounter my mortality, plan to. Quite fun.

Ahabidah

I can't even seem to muster righteous indignation let alone anger. Just sad and disappointed.

My story, Loving a Witch has appeared on Amazon

Can someone who read the longer version of _Unwanted Child_ in the anthology "Murder at the Shapeshifter's Ball" let me know what they thought of it?

I not only put more things I wanted in the longer version, I put some of the things from readers' comments about the shorter version.

This story was in my Internet History when I started my computer this afternoon. I have no recollection of reading it recently, so when I checked, I read 4 chapters of it a decade ago, even commenting. Then suddenly the author just stopped and there are no further entries in this story or blog. It was a good story. I would have enjoyed more.

Gwen

Just tried to post a new Short Story at about 5:00PM, 3/24/2024. I do not see it on the Home Page. I'll go check on some things and then attempt to post it ONE more time and then stop. I will try to see if I failed to do something or it is a site issue.

Gwen

Weather outside's been keeping me drowsy, but that's no excuse not to do another round of...

Has anybody heard from Sara UK more recently than 2018?

No.

I've heard a lot recently about the 'rise of AI'. I've heard a lot about how it might be harmful to creators in the long run. Well... as someone who can't draw for shit, it's actually kinda useful to me. A while ago I used a (very limited) program called Fuse to create images of my characters as a sort-of mental aide. The problem with these images is that it made all my characters look about as lifelike as background characters from Skyrim. So I investigated this 'AI art generator' people were talking about... And I am impressed with its output so far.

Just a quick update.

Gigi's life gets about as complicated as a real amnesiac orphan from another universe could be!

Story Prompt: trans person still in the egg encounters something that only effects either men or women*

Afterward: "Wait a minute . . ."

Randi has a date!

So thank you Erin and crew for getting the site back and running, it seems my last blog was very badly timed.

In an unrelated note...

A friend made me aware of this, but a content "creator" on youtube has taken one of my stories and claimed it as their own. The took my story "Facades" renamed it "Trauma Unleashes Power" and put it to audio.

The stolen story is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twXcovmr88U

And the original can be found here:

After an extended time-out for the site, how about another round 3 of...

I have just finished reading "Beast Master" by Andre Norton, "Tommy, The Trials and Tribulations of a Girl" by Teddy S. and wonder if the two authors are one and the same?
The protagonists in both stories are Navajo and use some Navajo language words. "Na Ta Hey" is one phrase that is common to both stories. The similarity ends there. One story uses gender change and Andre Norton's does not. Though Andre Norton used more than one pen name. When she first started writing she used a male name to overcome prejudice against female authors.

It is interesting to mull this over.

Are you ready? It's time for a second helping of...

Sometimes all it takes is one good sentence or paragraph to get you hooked on a story, and this time around, I want to see some recommendations of stories that do just that: stories that kick off with a bang, that grab you and rivet you to your seat and scream "read me!"

People may know me as that tiresome contributor who writes way too much and often produces stuff full of errors.
Which is why I need an editor when it comes to passing on my serious material to be turned into published works on Amazon through Doppler Press. Readers will know that Doppler revenues contribute to Big Closet Top Shelf so we all win if people buy my stories.
I have lost touch with Gabi and Bronwen is busy with other things. Eric is on standby for my more specialized collections but I am in need of an editor for the rest.

Below is the start of a multi-part, branching (aka Chose Your Own Adventure) story I've been struggling to write for a while now, so I thought I'd share what I have so far, and see if anyone could offer any advice.

The two main branches seem to be leading to either crossdressing, or romance. The crossdressing branch is a bit less difficult, but I'm still worried about it turning into something predictable and boring. The romantic branch is something I don't have a lot of experience writing, so I'm worried I'll completely mess it up.

Does anyone out there have any experience writing branching stories? I'd also appreciate any advice on avoiding crossdressing tropes, as well as writing romance that's believable and interesting without diving into ... sex stuff. If you have anything to share on these or other stuff, I'd love to hear it! :)

That's right, folks! We've been working on a new, updated version of Kelly girl, and it's live now!

If you've never read the book before, but are a fan of Wanda's stuff, then I highly recommend giving the book a shot. It's a fantastic story, with some great characters.

If you HAVE read the story before, but haven't picked up the ebook and it's been a few years... then now's the ideal time to give it a re-read.