Maddy Bell posted her update as usual with a new chapter from Book 7 on Wednesday, along with the following statement.... "On the writing front I'm suffering not so much from writers block but rather from lethargy! I have started more Jamie but I really need to get to grips with some Nena and Gaby but I must admit that there seems little interest out there in reader land for me to continue with either, maybe they have run their course?
I know we have had lots of trouble with the Gaby Zone in the past and followers slowly dropped away and away. Maddy started another site which can be found at the following. If you would like to drop her a note, one way or the other, you can go here.....
http://gabychat.freeforums.org/index.php?sid=53553711c75cb94...
Comments
yeah
well i have already read and own all the nena books so am waiting for more nena and as for gabby i am reading it just not much i can say that i have no said before i do though get a little confused and gaby is still good just right now trying to work as much as i can just to make ends meet causes me to have very little time to comment usually what with schol and work not mch free time and by the end of the day my brians fried lol but maddy should keep writing as i am still waiting for more nena and peaches along with a new book of gaby
with hugs from sarav
Well same here
Gaby is still in her pattern of getting into weird situations and she is slowly shedding Drew, with Drew kicking and screaming the whole way. However, the progression is VERY slow. In "TG storyline progression", his edging over into feeling better and better about being Gaby and less and less being Drew and the tension thereof is very slow, so yeah, comments are going to be repetitive as she makes her way through the trans-angst.
If I can quantify how fast she is progressing versus say a typical number of chapters of a TG serial on big closet I would guess for such a progression ratio would be for every chapter in a lot of TG serials, it takes 15 chapters to do on Gaby or maybe even a little more.
I am NOT however saying it is not something I want to go away, I buy the Gaby downloads and dead tree when I can afford it but I apologize for not actively participating in the forums.
Kim
New Nena anytime soon?
I really liked the Nena stories, but I have already read them all at the Gaby site. I was hoping to read more new tales of Nena some day.
Making sense
I really enjoyed reading Book 1 thru Book 4. As Ms. Bell started posting the chapters for Book 5, they were obviously out of order. She posted a note saying that she would fix it later.
The "fix" didn't seem to fix much, other than the the page order (follow the links) seems to follow the chapter number at the top of the page. But, even at that, the chapters still seem to be out of order. At least it seems very disjointed, leaving me confused.
I didn't enjoy reading the story. I still can't make sense of it. I haven't tried reading the next books as I don't care to go through more of the same. Don't know.
Perhaps this might be why readership has dropped off, dropped away??
Sorry
Fluffy
Take a look...
In all fairness to Maddy, take a look at books 6 & 7. Unlike Book 5, the chapters have an order to them.
PB
As an explanation
When she was posting Book 5, she did it as an exercise. She posted a chapter as she finished it, in no particular order, She left it to the readers to assemble it in their mind and fill in the details. There was a great hue and cry throughout the land over it, so a couple of readers posted what they felt was the best order to read it. Their listing disagreed with Maddy's idea in only a couple of chapters. In order to make it totally right, Maddy would have to take the whole story down, and do all the re-working of chapter headers and graphics and re-post them one by one, and I don't believe she was interested in spending all that time and effort. What she did was put them in what she felt was the best order. Ignore the chapter number order and read them from her site in the order listed and it makes a lot more sense. What I did was take them in order and make them an .rtf file and read it that way. That way you aree not constantly going back and forth to the main page and then to a chapter, and it does make it easier.
So what is the order her book 5 dead tree
one is in? Is it in the corrected order, or is it in the messed up order? \
Kim
order of reading
They are posted in Maddy's suggested order of reading, but not in order of release. Just as an example, if you go to the mini-site for Gaby, and open the first link A&E, it actually shows as Chapter 8. Re: a dead tree book, I don't have the faintest. As much as I enjoy the Gaby series, I don't have the spare funds to get the hard copies. Sorry. Maybe another reader can answer this. I will post her a note asking for clarification. But it might be a while before she can respond, as she still doesn't have reliable access to internet hook up.
Book 5 order
I just got an answer from Maddy. Book 5 is in the re-ordered sequence.
Choices
I am in incredible awe of Maddy, both for her immense skills as a writer, and for her drive which produces so much work that it leaves most others in the shade. I just wonder how she manages to fit her writing into the number of hours in a day.
But every writer needs the inspiration to keep on writing, and for many that partly comes from the number of people who read and enjoy their work. Maddy continues to have a readership which leaves most of us envious, but if it is declining, it is really down to her to decide how to react.
The obvious choices are to carry on regardless, or to bring current work to a natural ending and start on something new and completely different. The latter may be a risk, since it may not be appreciated as much as her current work, but I believe that risk inspires many artists to produce their very best.
I wish her the very best, whichever route she decides to take.
Gaby
I can not speak for others but I love your gaby saga. I just read the story this year and am in constant excitement for each new adition. I can't wait to read the story and her journey. Thank you for a wonderful story Maddy.