If one good thing has come from my Year O' Challenges, so far it seems to be Henry Harrelson's Custom Fit Boots.
I've been following the comments on all the stories, and I've seen that a number of people seem quite interested in seeing more stories in this particular universe.
It has recently come to my attention that someone has been cross posting their entries to my Ultimate Writer's Challenge at other sites. While I wouldn't do anything to stop this (even if I could,) I would like to ask that if you're going to do this you wait at least until the challenge is over.
Part of the entire point of the challenge is to draw authors out into posting, and readers into responding. By cross-posting stories to other sites, that somewhat undermines the second goal by splitting the potential readers between sites.
I'm working on both PFH Book 2 right now and Switcheroo heavily, with another few projects getting worked on here and there. I'm not going to make any changes to the way I'm doing PFH, since it's into the second book already, but I am thinking about making a subtle change in how I do postings of Switcheroo. Specifically, I was thinking about going from two chapters per post to one, so that I could potentially post more often.
What do I need help with, you ask? Well, to start with, in writing the second semester of "Princess For Hire" I've decided that there's no better way to do it than to as for suggestions of what you, the readers might want. Do you like a particular secondary character and would like them to play a larger role? Or perhaps you'd like more information on a portion of the school or program that you don't think I've been forthcoming enough with? Let me know! The more suggestions, the longer the second semester will be, and the more rich for it.
Seeing the other authors who have posted their "Thanks" blogs reminded me just how much thanks I owe the community here as well.
In the past few years, I've gone through a lot of drama, most of which I've ended up posting about here. In all this time, no one has ever, EVER, been anything but supportive of me. Through all my ups and downs, Big Closet, and the many wonderful readers and writers therein, have always been there for me.
There is no way that I can thank you all enough, but I can try.
But seriously, I had an idea that I want people's help with.
A while back I started posting challenges under the "Writer's Challenge" section of the site. For a little bit, they were going well, with people trying them and (hopefully) having fun with them. Then, like most everything else I do, I slowed down on posting them, and when people stopped doing them I eventually stopped adding new ones altogether.
Well, I'm thinking of trying it again, but this time a bit different.
Well, the good news is that in the past week I have regained my will to write!
The bad news?
All I've managed to turn out is a potential Halloween contest story that isn't good enough to see the light of day (though I might post it anyway, who knows?) and three chapters of Princess For Hire.
Okay, so I'm even a day behind letting you know, but I still thought it best to say it -- there won't be a Princess For Hire for, well, technically last week, and there is a slim possibility I might not have time to get one ready this week either.
I'm sorry about this, but between training a new backup auditor, thinking over the whole "possibly moving home" thing, and getting ready for the windows of my apartment being replaced (moving things away from windows when every outer wall has a window is a pain) I've been a little busy lately.
This is a followup blog to my last one, "I Dunno What I'm Gonna Do."
Well, I'm trying to get a week of vacation time organized at work near the end of October to go home for a week. While there, me and my parents will sit down and talk through the advantages and disadvantages of moving back to see what can be done, and I'll come out to my dad, since that HAS to be done -- and him if not okay with it then at least accepting of it -- before I'll really consider moving back.
And so we finally have the delayed chapter 13 of Princess For Hire! With, at its end, a mysterious pseudo-cliffhanger, WOOoooOOOOooo *ghosty sounds*
So, here comes the User Recommendation part. You, yes, YOU, have a say in what happens in the story. Does Beck's dad decide to come up and stay with Sarah's family in Persistence? Or does Beck go home with his dad, meet the mysterious voice on the other end of the phone, and have whatever adventures I can come up with there?
And no, I don't have that good of an excuse. I could go on about how I'm having trouble figuring out exactly how to write the next part (which is true,) or about how I've been so exhausted after working on server issues and redoing several days' worth of hotel paperwork and all of that in the middle of a nine-day stretch at work (which is also true,) but really, those aren't the biggest reason I'm running behind.
I realize that some people like them, and I also realize that it takes a lot of work to set one up, but I have requested this before.
I do not want an author page that has general links to my stories.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that someone would go to the trouble of working on one, but I have said that I didn't want one before, and unfortunately that still stands.
Parents' Day has been passed, and now it's time to start working on what comes next.
Which leads me to the question presented in this blog: do readers want to experience Beck's Thanksgiving break at Sarah's, including some more fun times around the town of Persistence, or would you rather me move right on to the buildup to Christmas?
I had been saying that I was going to rework the last post of "Princess For Hire," but for now I've decided to leave it as is and move on, working until I finish the story. After that, I'll go back and fix things, but if I get caught up reworking everything I've already done I'm never gonna finish the story... and I don't think people want that.
Another busy week... don't they all seem to be, any more?
I'm working on the next part of PFH, hopefully I'll have it ready some time this afternoon. I've found that writing while watching Ranma 1/2 serves to both distract me and inspire me at the same time, so that's what I'm doing right now :P
Anyhow, I'll make sure to have the next part posted as soon as possible, and maybe this next week I'll be able to get more done, and faster, so I don't have to worry about delays like this again!
Welcome to the third volume of my now semi-weekly blog of Princess For Hire User Recommendations!
In a recent comment on the story, one "PB" recommended that I should consider doing profiles of each of the Princesses so that readers have a better grasp on what each one's motivations and feelings are concerning the program.
Is this something that other readers would be interested in seeing? And if so, what characters would you like to see the most?
Are you curious about what Amos/Amanda's favorite nail polish color is?
Alright, for various reasons I have been a bit slow preparing the next section of "Princess For Hire" for posting, so here's the scoop. Would you rather:
A) have a short posting (two chapters) today, with another short short (single chapter) within the next two days? Or
B) wait until tomorrow and get all three chapters, with a normal update on Sunday as well?
So, "Princess For Hire" seems to be doing well, no? Well, one thing I'm hoping to make a regular thing as I write this story is asking for reader input. While I know where it's going, there's still plenty of room to add in things people might be interested to see, and if it helps me flesh out the story a little more, well that's all the better!
So, to start with, I've got a couple of requests myself.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
