I went back to review the "New Job" story to see if I'd looked at it and I believe I had. I didn't continue reading that far into it, though, because of a number of factors. I *am* a rather prudish person, not to mention almost asexual as well, so a lot of sexuality does tend to alienate me... but I don't generally mind it. What bothered me about the New Job story was the fact that there was apparently a heavy dominance/blackmail theme going on (at the beginning, at any rate - I didn't read the entire story since it wasn't initially matching my tastes). The fact that the main character had also fallen into the role of an abuser (with those in the office) killed any sympathy I'd have for him as well. Still, some people are into those kinds of plots and some aren't. Your writing was fine. I generally won't leave a review if I haven't read an entire story, though.

As far as the question about froth... I think a lot of people do like that sort of story to an extent. But I firmly believe that anyone is apt to get more enjoyment out of a story if that story contains grim, dark situations along with moments of victory and triumph. To me, if a story lacks moments of dismay to equal the moments of jubilation then it's too one-dimensional. People *do* like the moments of triumph, though... it's just that such moments are sweetened considerably if they're contrasted against darker moments of conflict and whatnot.

So I wouldn't shift your writing to be more saccharine if I were you. Then again, I know I'm probably not representative of the majority in my views, so who knows.

Wow Kelly, I know Show Me is froth, but I like writing it, and it's fun to read. The funny thing about Show Me is that it gets comments like crazy and over a thousand reads every time a chapter is posted. Personally I think some of my other stories are better, and one of my favorites only got two comments after monthes of writing, but like they say, ho hum. Don't take things so personally and your story was posted some time ago on FM. I've found new works tend to get more comments on this site than FM, which is why I post Show Me here and then at FM. When I started the series I found that there weren't many comments, but I was posting it first at FM. I wanted to see how many reads the chapters were getting so I moved the first posts here. By doing that I could see the increase in readers from the first chapters, and could tell that many of the readers went back and forth between the sites. Don't lose heart, and continue to write, and do it for yourself, and if other people like what you've written, then so much the better. The only reason I started writing was that I couldn't find the stories I liked so I wrote ones that appealed to me. When I did, I found that I liked writing. I know my stories will never be published, but it's fun just the same. Getting comments is a plus and it's good for the ego, but I doubt I would quit writing because no one commented on my stories. Once it's in your blood it's hard to quit. Arecee