By the end of today, the blog announcing the New Year’s Resolution Writing Contest will have received over three thousand hits. That level of activity has resulted in thirty-seven new stories published on BC.

We don’t have comparative statistics, but it appears the level of comment activity is up.

A new author is among those who have posted a story entry.

Given that the contest opened for submissions less than a week ago -- we’re pleased with the initial results.

Hi everyone! Jill here. Just thought we’d make things a bit more interesting for our 2024 New Year’s Writing Contest. Because, you know, it can always be even more interesting.

A lot of fairly nonsensical things were stated by the Republican presidential candidates in last night’s debate. Some were hateful, that concerned our community.

Recently a story was published with a rape scene.

The story was tagged “explicit content.” Beyond that, the story unfolded logically and gave plenty of notice to the reader that a rape would occur. Further, the story was written by an author who writes femdom stories and has published them here for two decades.

I wouldn’t have read the story if the controversy had not occurred and been chronicled in other blogs. I assume several other readers read the story for the same reason.

I've written a new novella called Andy and Dawn.

The story involves a young man, in 1960, who is discovered by a Hollywood talent agent while washing cars. Of course, through a series of events the young man comes to question his/her gender identity. The story is populated with pop culture figures of that era.

As usual, it is my intent to give this book to Doppler Press. All proceeds will go to supporting this site. Rasufelle is already working on the cover art.

Time brings perspective. My writing process has remained consistent over the years. Once I have a decent manuscript, I set it aside to give me the perspective of a reader when I do a final edit.

In early May, things on BC seemingly became toxic for me. I had lost my rudder and needed a change in perspective. So – I took a time out.

Nothing about BC had changed to elicit the feelings I was experiencing. The fault rested with me.

Just over forty years ago I was sitting in a Palm Springs hotel bar when Reggie Jackson came in and sat on the stool next to me.

I asked Mr. October what time it was just so I could tell people Reggie had given me the time of day.

That was a good day for me.

So was today. Teflon Don finally was held accountable. All the Trump wannabees should have learned today that doubling down until you win or the clock runs out doesn't always work.

Walt Disney can be controversial. He was a man of his times, which means that if judged by current standards he could be considered racist, misogynist, and anti-Semitic.

My opinion of Disney films is based on what I saw through my children’s eyes. For the most part, they’re captivating and highly entertaining.

The soundtracks for Disney films often exceeded the quality of the story or the animation. Disney has managed to work with some of the most talented songwriters and performers of our time.

These are my favorites:

Food is important to me. I grew up on a farm. We didn’t have any money, so we grew everything we ate, plus we hunted year-round. Nothing quite so tasty as ill-gotten venison. We had cattle, hogs, chickens, and ducks.

A number of years ago I became a pescatarian. It was an answer for high blood pressure, heart disease, and environmental concerns. It was quite a while before I had a name for it. I just cut out meat. As a guest -- I’ll eat what is served and I’ll split a hamburger with my spouse about every other month. But – mostly I eat fruit, nuts, and fish.

I have lived in the world of numbers (insurance) for decades.

I have great respect for the law of large numbers. It states that if you repeat an experiment independently a large number of times and average the result, what you obtain should be close to the expected value.

One of the best features of Big Closet is the ignore list.

People come to Big Closet for various reasons. Simply put -- some are readers and others are writers. . .some are both.

But beyond that distinction are the needs people seek to fulfill.

Entertainment – BC is a great place to be entertained. Readers can be amused by a dozen different TG genres. Writers can find readers and be entertained by their feedback. The BC library is vast. The quality of the writing is surprisingly good.

I just finished reading Spare by Prince Harry.

As I’ve stated before on BC, I was a big fan of Meghan in Suits.

My impression of Prince Harry for years has been that he’s a spoiled, pampered fool.

After reading this book I can easily believe that Rupert Murdock and his ilk have shaped that opinion. It would seem that, at least in that regard, I’m no better than those who have allowed Fox News to convince them that hating trans people is a fulfillment of Biblical instructions.

Thirty-seven years ago I had just finished a vigorous workout at my club. A friend mentioned that he'd just had lunch with a mutual friend neither of us had seen in several years. That friend had been out of work for over a year and was going back to school to complete his PHD.

This site needs more revenue. Traffic is at the heart of revenue both in selling ads and in donations.

Erin is working on a Google Ads program to bring in more traffic. This has worked in the past.

I'm donating an additional $100 this month above my normal contribution. Emma Anne Tate is also throwing in an additional $100.

Will you please join us in this effort?

Traffic is a long-term solution to the funding problem.

Jill