I'm spending a lot of time lately either hauling my Mom to and from doctor appointments or waiting for hours in doctors' offices. So please understand that I'm not able to give BC the nearly every hour attention I normally do.

Being the sort who tries to be precise about such things, I was looking for information about just when a full moon occurred on Halloween to set the date for "Turning the Tables."

Needless to say, our friends at NASA come through in spades.

NASA's listing of dates for phases of the moon from 2000BCE to 4000CE. The times are UTC (Greenwich Mean Time), so you may need to convert to local time.

well about time i started blogging somewhere i suppose (giggle), i am just taking a break from fighting with heaven can wait as its turning out to be a hard story to write. Not because I am trying to please people but like most of my stories it contains pieces from my past and how some things I wish I could of changed or avoided.

I suppose I write to examine myself and how I interact with others so it does make it harder to write fiction as always trying to dig away the harsh parts so it doesn't offend people and make it too dark too read.

I kept waiting for one of our more articulate members to post some meaningful comments on the incident at Virgina Tech on Monday, but as nobody else has spoken up, I feel compelled to do so.

I just queued up the next chapter in my self-indulgent, crappy story for a Friday morning release and it got me to thinking about all the helper monkey software that I use.

Chapter three of Being Christina Chase should be up. It's the first chapter that has any TG content. I talked it over with Holly, and she seems to think I sold the premise. Which is good, cause I went through a lot of trouble, and if you don't buy it, well, then I guess you just won't like the story too much. I think I've done a decent job of allowing the premise to happen. I buy the execution, though I'm not a crossdresser, nor am I transgendered. People are either going to take the leap with me or not at this point. I hope people like it. But, if they don't, well I dunno.

The title of Janet's blog post reminds me of another occasional role that editors/proofreaders may enjoy -- touting their authors' forthcoming stories. ;-)

From the mouths of babes. This gem was found on a blog post elsewhere.

Me: "It's about a DVD"

Child #1: "What gender is it?"

One thing that really burns my biscuits is Circumstantial Exposition. This is my name for when a sloppy writer wants his characters to act in a way that makes absolutely no sense, and they just drop in an explanation right along with the offending behavior.

For example:

And then, Billy decided to get into the car with the stranger. Did I mention that Billy was extremely trustful of strangers? Well he is. Cause he was raised in an orphanage in Ecuador where he lived with deaf mute monks. Since he couldn't speak with them, they were like strangers.

An owl called from outside my window this morning. You should understand that I am, by no means, an early riser and this was several hours after sunrise. I know that not all owls are nocturnal, but that sound should have been: she sounded so plaintive and lonely.

Thanks for the well wishes you sent Janet; she appreciated them.

Now another on-line friend, Itinerant/Nichole Harrison has had a hard time of it recently. Things finally got back to reasonably close to normal then another RL crissis hits.

Today, I went off to help at a bike-jumble held by my cycling club. Not something especially exciting to blog about, spending most of the morning with the other women in the kitchen, toasting tea cakes and washing plates. The men of course, were dribbling over assorted bike bits, brakes and derailleurs, cranks and handlebars; they were also eating most of the teacakes I was toasting - if ever I get fed up with healthcare, I could have found my vocation!

It's strange, I've posted over a hundred episodes of stories elsewhere, all fiction of course, but this is neither fiction nor a story, it's about me.

I have been conflicted for a long time about the appropriateness of commenting on authors' works for whom I don't 'work'. There is no question that I have a particular style and set of standards and it may not be compatible with every author.

Yet, I also want to help others grow in the craft and that can not happen without constructive criticism.

It seems, though, that some may have misunderstood my goals and intentions. I truly regret that.

Bob's Stardust First Anniversary Sci-Fi Story Contest is over, the votes have been tabulated by the esteemed accounting firm, Dewey, Fleecem and Howe and the awards ceremony is being prepared even as we type. I don't know who the guest presenters are going to be but I understand that the MC is going to be WFS, old Mr. Sincerity himself. :)

I have the first few pages of a new story started. I have had ideas float freely through my damaged brain for months, years even, but nothing concrete enough to actually take the time to type, though I did have an outline going on a science fiction type story, but I lost that and don't know where to look for it.

Anyway, this is mostly about the absurdity of real life and how it can so easily be way more weird than anything we could dream up if we tried.

Y'all have fun and I hope to have it finished soon

DD Weldons

Thanks for all of the good wishes during my absence. I needed some 'revision' surgery after my SRS. All worked well and I am home, albeit a bit sore.

Hi,

thought I'd try an entry.

Janet Nolan, a founding member of the Guild of Evil Blonde Proofreaders will be off-line for a few days for medical reasons.

I've been busy around the house. Though the bug to write something is nipping at my heels. I have late evenings and next weekend available to write, I do need to finish sewing up some more tops, trousers, tent sides and Rope standards for Palm Springs Ren Faire which is 23rd, 24th, and 25th of March (less than 2 weeks). Sew soing is going to come first over writing until I get back from faire and visiting my folks which will be around April fools day.

For those of you that love a lovely gown like I do, you've got to watch the PBS special "Celtic Woman - A New Journey". I loved the original special from two or so years ago and bought the DVD; so when I saw the new special on tonight I had to tune in.

Let me tell you, those women are wearing some of the most beautiful gowns I've seen in a long time! If you love to dress up, or dream about dressing up, you'll want to see these gowns! And the music these women perform is absolutely fantastic! Five singing angels and a beautiful blonde fiddle player, it's well worth the time.

WOW!

Is this site Great or what!!!

I was reading about the Largo FL city manager who is being fired for being transsexual. Ignorance and bigotry strike again. The "so called" religious leaders who spoke against this person show they really do not understand religion or what they purport to teach. God is love not their petty and devil spawned bigotry. Pontious Pilate and Torquemada would be proud. No doubt Hitler and Stalin would be applauding them also.

Yours in disgust;

Sharonn

In an effort to prevent future database corruption, TopShelf will shut down each night at 12.59 A.M. to 1:20 A.M. Pacific Time for database maintenance. This is the very middle of the slowest time of the night so it shouldn't affect too many people too badly. People in Far Eastern timezones may be inconvenienced, a bit, sorry.

This is in additon to the 5 minute shut down at 3 AM Pacific for server maintenance.

- Erin

You may have to login again and any posts or new logins since midnight 07/02/21 are probably lost. Other than that, it may be okay. Hope, hope, hope.

- Erin

Probably no one much under fifty is going to get this one but I think it's funny and that's what's important, isn't it? :)

\- Erin

Just because things have been a bit depressing lately...

More and more stories are appearing now. Some have just blown me away and that is for sure!

I have managed to paint myself into a virtual corner, and I am unsure how to proceed. In addition to my novel for publication, I have a slew of stories currently in production for BigCloset. If I'm going to get anything posted, I need to focus on one of them at a time. The question I want to throw out there is for the folks who read my stuff -- what do you want to see first?

Here's what's I'm currently working on (not including my Stardust story contest entry):

Adult Babies! Crossdressers! Sex Advice!

For those of you who are fans of Dan Savage and his sex advice column, you've undoubtedly read it already, but I did want to give everyone a heads-up that this week's letters include one regarding a married Adult Baby and one regarding a married crossdresser

I've just posted Julie O's entry in Bob's Stardust Contest over at Stardust. Since one of the objectives of the Stardust contest is to increase readership *and comments* at Stardust, we will not be posting the story elsewhere until the close of the contest.

Please read and comment on all the contest entries at Stardust.

Amelia

While trying to find a book of Playboy magazine cartoons I turned up the following article on Salon.com from 1998. The title is "My Son, The Cross-dresser" By Lisa Stromberg.

I'm a terrible tease. :) But does anyone have any idea what this is?

It's...

There's only been one new story posted since the contest ended Sunday. We need more stories!

Hugs,
Erin

I was scoping out my favorite TG comics earlier this evening, one of which is Jade Gordon's Lean On Me. I've always found her artwork to be lovely, and since she's currently needing some commissions, I thought it might be time for me to get some drawings for my K&K series. Following some links in an effort to see if I could afford her, I went to Lulu.com to look at the book cover she did for a story titled Fool For Love by Lisa Lees. The Lulu page has a link to a preview of this story, and I was captivated immediately. This woman can write!

"Simply type or paste your text in the box below. Choose a genre and click submit for the results"

Gender Genie

I wonder if this is accurate :)

Since everyone but John is done, or almost done, with their Holiday Contest submissions is it time for another Chat Room Exercise?

It would be nice to get some of the readers to participate.

What do you think?

I see that my description of my pup's origins have garnered a lot of comment.

I really don't know what his pedigree is, though there has been a lot of speculation. He is definitely part chihuahua. He is petite and has the typical coloration (colouration for those who read English.)

Well, the clock has now passed midnight and the Valley of the Sun has welcomed the New Year.

It's been a quiet evening for me, watching movies with my 'boyfriend' (Skipper, the 3-year-old Saluki-Chihuahua mix I adopted from a rescue shelter in October), and finishing up proofing of another story from one of our premier authors.

A lot of the stories in the contest seem to have a theme of wishing. So on that theme:

Chapter One of "Genomorph 2: The More Things Change..." is up at Scott's Vault. Be warned, it has practically nothing to do with the overall plot of the story. It's like the little 'Opening Gambit' bits they used to do on MacGyver - the little mini adventure Mac would have before the credits ran.

I know what I said, but I was mistaken. I have been handed the perfect opportunity to get one more out (I hope) for the competition, which should be with you before Christmas.

I can't tell you anything about it - I want it to be a surprise. Anyway, it largely depends upon whether I can get an editor (proofreader - whatever) in time. Fingers crossed.

It seems rather strange to realise it is not 12 months since I first had a peek in the closet. Who knows, something might fit... and what do you know... some did.

Had a weird dream last night. Somehow I'd landed a job on a new movie starring Jim Carrey as Herman Munster, Meryl Streep as Lillie and Tim Curry as Grandpa with Mike Myers as the slimy villain. Actually sounds good while I'm awake!

I posted Surprise! over at Sapphire's Place, not realizing that somehow I had crossed a line I didn't know was there. While replying to a comment left by someone else, I said something about Jezzi that was not true. I thought I understood something about the nature of some of her stories, but I was very much mistaken. Jezzi, I am very, very, very sorry.

For anyone who has noticed, Fictionmania was temporarily down but should be accessible for everyone within a day or two.

- Erin

I'm up at my brother's in Northern California for a few days, Bob's helping me keep an eye on things and for that I'm thankful. :)

Hugs to all,
Erin

I finally have a home for some of the supplementary data and images that I've used in the writing of my stories. Some of the pictures for Amazon will become available when they won't be spoilers. I've started with the pictures that set the stages for "Ma'at" at