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There is someone out there I have been waiting to hear from.

I will not mention her name in the interest of respecting her wish to remain as stealth as possible. Nevertheless, it's been more than two months since I last heard word one from her and, with the things that have happened to her in her life, it worries me that something bad might have happened.

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The Long Road Back

I could be talking about Somewhere Else Entirely, but this time I'm not.

Many of you are concerned, perhaps rightly, about my welfare, so I thought I'd bring you up to date.

And I hope that, unlike Garia and Keren, I don't suffer any more unexpected shocks and surprises along the way...

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Note; Watch e-mails

For Everyone! I open an email last night and got a bug downloaded to my computer. The email was titled Best Buy Cannot ship package without address correction? I've had several email like this but this last one has been the only one that have had problem with. So be Caution with opening emails unless you have ordered something from that store or not!

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Finishing up stories

In the next few days, like I have already done for Alexandra's Story is to put a summary of where I see the story going. In time, and if the inspiration returns to finish them then I will expand it. I want the readers to feel a sense of the ending.

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Christmas Spirit...

Sometimes it is easy to forget how blessed we are. I am flat on my back recovering from SRS. A really close pair of friends are allowing me to recover at their house, which I am greatful for. Lots of pain but it is normal. I can't wait for the tube to come out of my new tush, but no worries. Looking forward to doing more than hunt anf peck on this keyboard. Till then all my love.

Wendy

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Seasons Greetings

Well, it's just a few days away now, and while I have been in and out of here a bit I haven't posted a story in a while. So I will just use this blog to wish you one and all the very best wishes for the season. May whatever higher power you believe in keep you health,happy and whole. It's been a busy year for me and I hope to slow down a little next year so I can write more. My count is probably off, but I am pretty sure we lost two of our own this year so remember those families as well. Keep your nose clean even if it takes both shirt sleeves,(lol)

Joe

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Extra Time now on Kindle

As the title line says. If anyone does wish to buy my books, the easiest search term for them on Amazon is 'Sussex Border Stories'. I continue to work on Elaine's story, in 'Sisters', part 4 of which is up today.

Odd how it now feels almost like work, now that I am being paid for it...

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Heroes of Justice is on Kindle!

I did it! After a few bumps in the road I finally got my first novel up on Kindle. Heroes of Justice was one of the entries to Erin's 'What's So novel' contest. Do yourself a favor and look up the other entries! There's some real good stuff there!

As for my book, you'll have to input the whole name along with my author name to find it. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about marketing this thing when I wrote it. There's only about million titles that has Heroes and Justice in them.

'Heroes of Justice' Grover Young

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Any one living in around or is familiar with SW Alberta, CA?

On an impulse I decided to make a change and set a small portion of my latest work Battle for Earth in the region surrounding the Canadian Rockies specifically the particular stretch in the south-western corner of Alberta. Although I'm somewhat well traveled within the United States, my journeys have not yet taken me outside of our borders. So, I'm hoping someone here could help me with that particular deficiency.

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Update on my foot

Had an appointment with the doctor, and he wants to book me for surgery on my foot as soon as possible. He talked about it being a "fibroid mass", and mentioned the possibility of getting a biopsy on it once its removed to be sure its not cancer.

Now, why couldn't I get that on my male bits instead ?

Ah, well.

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A good Xmas story

A Great Christmas story with is my favorite worth the read at this time of the year is Santa Monica by Jennifer Brock .I strongly urge new readers to BCTS (and older readers) to go to search and look this story up . I read this every year and keep a couple of hankies close.
I wish all my friends at BCTS a very HAPPY HOLIDAY be safe in your travels .Here is to a good year in 2014
HUGS & KISSES RICHIE2

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Electra was a worthy foe...

Did battle with her for two days her in southeastern Ny. 26 hours lated an extremely tired Talia emerged victorious! (Such is the life of a DOT snow plow truck driver). Of coarse though now I'm way behind in my reading so patients authors, comments forth coming soon. Loving Hugs All, Talia

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Had a flashback yesterday

Well, on Sunday after church, I had another session with my pastor's wife, and had a flashback during the session. In my flashback, I saw myself during the abuse being photographed by my rapist. A flash from a camera, going off again, and again.

Needless to say, I was a little upset about this.

But thinking about it this morning, I found myself being able to say "Screw my rapist. He doesn't own me. So he took pictures. I don't belong to him."

So maybe this flashback ends up being a step forward.

I can hope so, anyway.

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I'm how old?

Ever since I started my transition I've been very young at heart, in fact if you asked my ex wife she would say, every time, that I act like a thirteen or fourteen year old. I personally blame my second puberty. I'm afraid less, I get more out of life, I have goals, and I'm in touch with the real me. A friend of mine sent me an online test that tests your mental age so I thought I'd see if my ex was right. The test measures things like how emotional and mature you are and such, so it's a mental age test and not an intelligence test.

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My time has come.

Well, I get up around 4AM tomorrow, drive to the clinic with my boy, and go back to sleep under an anesthesiologist's care. 4-5 Hours later I will wake up with a new vagina. It is funny, I've been scared and nervous about this surgery once I knew it was going to happen, but no more. Waiting is the hard part, but now the waiting is over. I am excited about it, but mostly just want to get it over with.

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Busy Year!

Hi everyone, missed you. Wow I cant believe how far behind i am in my stories, not to mention reading others. Of course going on vacation, work and helping a friend through her illness does eat up ones writing time. Well, ill be posting soon so I hope everyone has a good holiday.

PS Some evil person got me reading Harry Potter fanfic, I cant believe how much of a time sink that's been reading on 600+ stories on fanfic site :)

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Did all my fans disappear?

I guess what little fan-base I have has given up on my writing. My last story "Somebody's knockin'" and my latest poem "Lie to me" both are lacking in comments. I know I'm not the wonderful author Tels or Bailey Summers or Drea (or almost anybody you can mention on this site) are, but still ...

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For my loyal readers

I was looking at my account details earlier today and I was shocked to discover that I have gotten over 5000 kudos in the year and a half or so that I have been on BCTS. It came as a bit of a shock to me with as much time as I've had to spend not writing since I started here due to health or computer issues. So I would like to take this time to thank all of my readers who comment, kudo, send me messages, patiently wait for new chapters when RL swallows me up, and generally make me feel like an author rather than a scribbler.

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Interesting song...

Since you've so far got over 70% of the tunes on my infernal acronym quiz without much difficulty (although I've noticed edits have dried up recently (Hint Hint)), I thought I'd search out some more obscure songs for the next iteration.

Among them, I discovered this ever-so-slightly tongue-in-cheek track, which for rather obvious reasons never makes it onto seasonal compilation albums... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xqvQOvE0vA

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Well crap...

So, today I wound up doing something I reaaaaallly hate doing... I cut a rather sizable chunk of my story. In fact, I can honestly say this is the largest single consecutive piece of a story I've ever cut totaling a whopping 15,000+ words which sets me back to a little over 100,000 words. Ouch. It's rather depressing, but unfortunately it had to be done. The story was headed in a direction I did not like and the only way to back out was to take this rather significant hit. There are parts I may be able to reuse, but most of it is a complete wash.

Sorry had to vent...

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Men and Flirting

I have said before that some outfits can improve a man's appearance, and last night at work I got a good example of it. One of my supervisors was wearing a western-style dress shirt that flattered him nicely, and once I finished berating myself for noticing, I decided to give myself a break on the subject.

But it did get me thinking about flirting with men, and having a man flirt with me.

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Seven Years

In two weeks, it will have been seven years since Sephrina recruited me to come to this site. I was a right mess when I got here. Looking at the Calender, it must have been the night that I returned from the hospital because of suicidal ideation, and had just been told that on the next day, Christmas Eve, I was being thrown out and installed in my own apartment, thus ending abruptly a marriage of nearly 40 years. By the time the divorce was final, it would be 40 years, 4 months. What the hell, this was supposed to be for life !

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Stary Stary Night.

There is so much peace in driving out through the desert, but I have never been out there in the winter. Sometimes I see pictures with snow out in the sage brush and wonder how it got there. We used to go out in the desert to camp. I loved looking up at the stars at night. Sometimes I would lay there under the jewel bright heavens and doze. Once in a while I'd wake up and look at the stars and I would notice that the Milky Way had swiveled a little. I remember that sort of like a time lapse movie. The nights when the moon was gone were the best.

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Owie

So I went to my regular Thursday dance class today and a two songs in my ankle started feeling really stiff and a bit sore. I tried dancing a couple more songs but it just kept getting worse and I was making mistakes. My teachers usually tell me I'm one of the best in the class and are actually thinking of having me in one of their shows. fourth song in I was making more mistakes because of the pain and discomfort and it was throwing off my balance so I quit for the day.

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What do you think?

Hello everone! I'm of need of some opinions here. My book Heroes of Justice has lingered in the backroom for ages. There're many reasons why, but mostly because of the lack of a cover. Yes, I do know that many has come forward with solutions, but for me it turned into a mountain of frustrations.

Finally, money problems has forced my hand, so ready or not.

This is a cover I've put together that I think looks half-way decent. My question is what do you my three fans think? What might improve it?
Hugs
Grover

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Whatever the future may hold

Some time back I was outed by one of my nephews, a particularly nasty and unthinking individual whose actions have unfortunately caused me multiple issues, not to mention the total polarization of my ex-wife's family. My ex-wife was the only person outside of my therapist and my friends here who actually new that I was transitioning - my plan being to address this with my sons in the spring of 2014. My three sons, who at the time my nephew decided to tell the world were aged 17, 22, and 25, unfortunately found out in a less than optimal fashion.

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Okay, so now I am confused

Well, I had my ultrasound on my foot, and I am more confused as to what's going on than ever. I started to sweat when the technician called someone else to look at my results, and all this other person would tell me was there was a possibility it was "scar tissue" and gave a Latin name which meant nothing to me.

So now I have to wait for a MRI scan, which wont happen until May, and then see the specialist.

Our system is free, but it sure takes a long time to get anything done ...

Ah, well.

What's a life without pain?

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Fighting illness and injury.

Since last weekend, that is, the weekend of Dec 1st, I had been fighting an abscess on the back of my shoulder. That Sunday I went into the emergency room to have the abscess lanced and drained, which they did, after some big time pain. I left with a large bandage on my shoulder, and not much else except a couple of pricey prescriptions which I couldn't afford.

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I blame it all on Noah

I have been in recent correspondence with another writer who wanted to know why I don't allow public comments on my stories. I said that one negative comment had far more affect on me than 20 positive ones, and I felt I didn't have to take criticism if I didn't want it.

Nowadays, I have the courage to publish stories with public comments disabled. (And there's certainly plenty of moral bullying to imply there's something wrong with you if you don't allow public comments.)

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Car accident

So on Black Friday I bought myself a Prius. It was silver. Now it's denty. I hit a deer. Bumper no long bumps, hood no longer covers engine, radiator bleeding some weird red liquid. My neck and back hurt. No airbags deployed. Geico needs me to get a police report and I don't know who to contact for the Florida Highway Patrol. Not happy.

For animal lovers: The deer lived, but I hope it gets eaten by a hungry rabbit.

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On The Subject OF Christmas Songs

This is one that you will definitely not hear in shopping malls. Take note of my warnings.

www.youtube.com.sg/watch?v=tEe55NxFSSU

Otherwise, have a very Merry Christmas,

Joanne

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My first ever raffle - Win something today (well in a week)

This is my very first giveaway and using Rafflecopter, so I hope it all goes well. In celebration of hitting 10,000 sales on Amazon I am giving away a hardcover autographed copy of God Bless the Child (the book that got this whole ball of fun rolling). Sign up today, let's have some fun. Only one winner this time, but more fun to come in the upcoming months.

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Gender Marker Changes

I am in the process of getting my gender marker changed and have been thinking about what is required. Here in Texas, there are no hard requirements, because there is no legal procedure to get it done. Clerks in Tarrent county where I live have been instructed not to take petitions for gender marker changes. Therefore I am filing in Dallas county. There they require a letter from the Doctor and one from a Therapist as set by one of the local Judges.

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Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

I just saw Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962) (in French with English subtitles that are more or less adequate, as these things go) and was struck that the huge problem for the Holy Church of the time was Jeanne's cross-dressing. Evidently, hearing voices and seeing angels was more-or-less fine, but doing it whilst ‘dressed inappropriately’ was anathema. TMTC,tMTStS.

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Blogging site interview

I have been picked up by a website that reviews and promotes LGBT literature. I must admit, some of their stuff is a bit raunchy for me, but each to their own. The site is called 'Bending the Bookshelf', and they intend to post a short interview of me tomorrow.

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Bonnie and Clyde, a personal anecdote on that pair.

And no, I wasn't alive back then. My grandfather was, though. He made his living as a butcher back in the thirties, moving between Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri as the work was available. I also know, from personal experience, that he was one mean SOB if provoked and a sane person did not want to make him mad at them.

Back when the original Bonnie and Clyde movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out he once told me that he'd known Clyde Barrow. Who was a mean SOB (that coming from one) who grandad wouldn't turn his back on.

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Hey Sleethr! Great stuff!

Instead of placing this in a simple comment, I chose to place it in a blog entry so more can see it. I've just finished re-reading MAU and Whisper. In case you were wondering where the extra kudos came from, it was me.

I'm very impressed with your storytelling skills. Both stories held my attention and enthusiasm all the way through to the satisfying endings. Your characters were very well thought out and fleshed out, til they became more real people to me as opposed to characters in stories.

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Xmas Tunes Acronym Quiz

So, as we're well into advent, it's time to roll out my infamous Christmas Tunes Acronym Quiz again. This year, I've bumped it up to 160 songs - most of which are either carols or secular seasonal pop songs (i.e. ones that actually mention winter / snow / Christmas, rather than just those that share nothing in common with the season other than release date), but there's a handful of secular songs considered traditional and the occasional novelty / parody track.

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Apologies To The Odd Reader

I do apologise to those few readers who may have been waiting for another chapter of my last story "After The Ball". I have just not been able to come up with anything which satisfies me or seems to be a valid continuation and so I have retitled the previous post "Just For The Ball?" with very minor changes to make it a stand-alone. If anyone thinks that they can continue the tale please feel free to do so. Just run it past me before posting. Sorry,

Joanne

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Windows 8, What?

So, I keep hearing more and more about Windows 8. Is anyone using it? What do you think? My Computer is "OLD", like 2009 old. It has a Window Experience Index of 5.1, what ever that is. An Intel Core Quad CPU Q8300 2.5 Ghz, 6.0 GB memory, 64 bit OS, and one TB hard disk, about half full.

I'm using Firefox unless I have to get on the VA and then I use Chrome.

Any ideas?

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Dickens? Seriously?

I heard this comparison twice in the last two days and by two completely different unattached people talking about two different stories, one not even a member of the transgender community. I've heard this comparison before as well and I wonder if there is credence to it. I figured I would bring it up here and hopefully people will weigh in on the matter.

I have been, on occasion, compared to Charles Dickens.

There, I said it.

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Fragile, handle with care

I find myself wondering why I feel so fragile. Is it that in taking of the male mask I am more vulnerable than I have ever been? Is it that I am now on hormones that equal what a teenage girl deals with? Is it that trying to deal with both my gender issues and my abuse I dont have a lot of emotional strength left for anything else?

I don't know, but the truth remains - I am more sensitive, more fragile now.

So be extra careful in handing me, okay?

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