I've been working on a new story for months. I've pushed and shoved the plot and characters through several massive rewrites. Nothing seems to work. I know it will find its way out of me at some point and the effort is the joy/
Along the line I started to think about forced feminization stories. Is it possible those of us who have struggled with being transgender have tried to put a face on our compulsion through these stories? I know that my feminine compulsion has been the single most consistent driving force in my life. Nothing else comes close to matching it.
A thread about the need for a spell check before submitting stories reminded me of a learning experience.
I once read a story that was posted here and approached the author in a PM asking if she would like a private critique, to which she agreed. (What else could she say?)
I subsequently sent her five or six paragraphs of marvelous suggestions for "improving" her story.
She replied, "Or, I could sit on the beach with a glass of wine and enjoy life."
A few months ago it was announced that Harper Lee had decided to publish anther book.
I was so excited I signed up with Amazon for first day delivery, because To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all time favorites.
Before I had a chance to read the book I started to hear negatives remarks, but I was in no way prepared for the amateurish writing in Go Set a Watchman.
Either –
1.) Harper Lee was blessed with one hell of a good editor for Mockingbird, or,
2.) She didn’t write Watchman.
Last night was “one of those”. I had an unsettling nightmare that led to me tossing and turning in grim reflection of my life. At my age (67) and given the tumultuous and very public life I’ve had I had plenty to think about. After due consideration I was not surprised that each and every problem I’ve had in my life could be laid at the doorstep of my transgender nature.
Each flaw in my four children sprang from my cross-dressing.
Every set back in my business was due to me being less than 100% male.
For the many, many years I've been opening the door to this Big Closet I've been amazed at our communities ability to heap pain on one another. Maybe it's just what writers do.
My latest story just fell into the abyss (off the front page).
It was an average story for me, in that it took about two months to write with considerable research. It received what has become my normal reception, with 111 kudos, 6 comments and 2,966 hits.
I assume about half my hits are unique readers since the story ran over 15k words and isn't easily read in one casual sitting.
Last night, I read the first few chapters of J.K. Rowling's book, The Casual Vacancy. I know I'm three years late, but my stack of books to read is more ambitious than I am.
While I worked through the pages it occurred to me that the book had a LOT of characters and was written to appeal to someone who likes character-driven novels. Being character-driven restricts her audience from the majority who prefer plot-driven books.
It’s quite possible many of you are quite a bit younger than me. I’m the same age as Caitlyn Jenner and feel compelled to make a statement.
As a young athlete she was truly amazing. She was a American football player who became injured and had to switch sports. She made herself into a terrific athlete by putting in eight to tem hours a day in training. She supported herself during this time selling insurance at night.
A number of years ago Amelia R and I made the decision to donate Peaches to Erin to allow her to sell copies for the benefit of this site.
Peaches was a work of love. Both Amelia and I wanted to get out strong message of love and acceptance.
Today I noted the blog from Doppler Press regarding the top selling LGBT book on Amazon being a Doppler Book.
I went to Amazon to check out the book. As Amazon does, several other books were listed as being something I might want to buy. Much to my surprisse, one of them was Peaches.
The other day I had about an hour to relieve stress. I checked one of my favorite author’s old stories and found one with eleven chapters that was written several years ago.
You’re at lunch with Megan and Sandra, who both report to you in your department at Sales, Inc. You arranged the lunch because you know that their work has been suffering due to a conflict that the two seemingly haven’t been able to solve on their own.
I've had a head cold the last few days so I read the Hunger Games trilogy.
1.) What's with the present tense? The author evidently thought it would heighten our intimacy with the narrator. Has anyone ever verbally told you a story in present tense? I don't think so. After a bit my mind simply ignored it and changed everything to past tense.
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