This enterprise, that of having one story written by 5 very different writers, is the most daunting, ambitious thing I've ever attempted, writing-wise. If the story succeeds, and I fervently hope it does, it is entirely due to the spirit of co-operation, and the willingness to share credit among all the writers involved.
All credit is due to them. Any blame for spelling, useage, continuity, any errors in posting, is entirely on me.
If you are liking the story, Please comment. Let us know what we're doing, right or wrong in the story. Those of you who write, know that comments are the lifeblood of writing for free, and on the internet.
We WANT to hear from you, the readers, and other writers!!! If you have a thought that might help make the story better, TELL US!
Thank all of you who have read and commented so far, and BIG thanks to all the writers who have generously donated their time and talents to make this a great tale.
Catherine Linda Michel
Comments
Okay...I'm loving it but-
It annoys me how every hero is a man or intersexed person is transformed into a woman. I know this is a tg site but find it a bit insulting that always heroes become women. I mean, surely there are transmen on this site who feel the same way.
I mean even the Retcon and Whatley universes have both way transformations. I ask you, Cathy and the authors can you do this? If this sort of thing continues the universe you have created will be unbalanced- which I am sure is one of the reasons that the observer is giving out the powers, to stop that imbalance. I'd love to add a story here but am busy with studies surely a male or males can be added here.
Cliff. I understand your point of view.
but since all the writers involved in this are volunteers, all of them very good at what they do, and all of them are M-F, that is the way they wanted their characters to be. I had nothing to do with the choice, but If any writer had come to me with a character who was a Transman, I would have welcomed them with open arms... but none did. There was never any restriction on what the writers were allowed to come up with, other than what I considered reasonable power restrictions, but nothing was ever said to anyone about whether they could only have a M-F character. there are, indeed, writers here at Top Shelf who DO write F-M stories and I;m certain they are as good as anyone who writes from the other POV. None of them, however, came forward when I asked for volunteers.
The writers who did volunteer to be part of this experiment are all Top Notch, and the first rule of writing is, "Write what you know." They are all doing that, and marvelously, if I do say so myself. They all happen to be M-F. "Write what you know." I cannot speak for them. For myself, I have no clue what it's like to WANT to be a male. SO it would be pointless and false of me to try to author a character who wanted to be male, or became one accidently.
There is no intent in this experiment to denigrate the Transmen out there, who are just as much a part of the TG fiction genre as the Transwomen are, and I don't believe that there will ever be any. If you feel offended or put off by the fact that the characters in this story happen to be all M-F, please accept my apologies, but the writers who stepped up, came up with, and wrote their own characters. I had nothing to do with any of that, not that I would have wanted to have anything to do with it.
This IS an experiment. It's purpose is to try to co-ordinate the efforts and different writing styles of more than two authors into a coherent, interesting story. Will it succeed? If the quality of the writers involved doesn't assure that it will, then it will be because of a lack of ability on MY part, not the fault of any of them. I'm sorry that it appears that you might not be a part of the readership, but as a wise man once said, "You can't please all of the people, all of the time."
All that said, I DO want to thank you for your thoughts. Please believe that I do not take them lightly, or dismiss them out of hand. I met many Transmen at the Southern Comfort Conference in 2009, and they had and have my utmost respect for recognizing who and what they are, and for living it the best way they know how... the same respect that I have for the Transwomen of whom I am one. I hope you will continue reading the story, but if you decide not to, please accept the thanks of all the writers involved for at least giving it a chance.
Hugs and love,
Catherine Linda Michel
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.