Denise Anesidora Trask, wrote the story, The Last of the Fey. It's titled Book One. I wish I had met this amazing woman. Sadly the best I can do is to make a donation in her name. Erin, I've tossed a few coins into the collection pot. Already headed to the pot.

Okay. I know that Top Shelf and it's owners etc have nothing to do with it anymore, but I am having a problem with the sign-in process at The Crystal Hall.

I've tried changing my sign in name and password but the site won't allow it and I can't get signed in.

Anyone got a clue about this? Email me at cathy_t_99 At yahoo.com or message me here at Top Shelf.

Thanks in advance.

Catherine Linda Michel

What story was the precursor to Prudence Walker's Identikit? I remember the story, about a guy traveling cross country to find a job. He discovers a crashed spacecraft and finds some items on the ship that he takes with him. One is a laptop that changes his appearance and body. He runs into a woman named Prudence Walker and towards the end Bob Arnold. He spends a lot of time as a woman.

Paula

Being educated means that you know WHERE to go for the information you need. Take away for your own use a few of the writing tips offered here. I've quoted Victoria Waddle before and she continues to have useful resources and tips.

Just a short missive from Yorkshire today. Well on one of the best May BH Sundays ever (sunshine, blue skies, no wind or clouds - unheard of for a UK BH!) i'm pleased to relate that I completed the 2000+m of climbing squeezed into 129 Pennine kilometres in a time of 5hrs 30mins. Not too shabby for an old git and I didn't resort to walking anywhere despite grades in the high teens and low twenties (1 in 4 ish if you are old skool on these things.)

Hello all again, it's been a busy month but things are falling into a routine and I'm writing more again.

Bad news: the Twin Tails game is ending a bit abruptly thanks to difficulties the GM is having with the campaign structure. I'll try to tie off the story to give everyone closure but that'll be it for Amaya and Akiko for a while. I'm a bit saddened I'm not going to get to play them for a while, but I'll probably re-make them for a new game later on.

Well as i'll be out 'enjoying' a ride through the Yorkshire Dales tomorrow and I've scragged a bit of web time tonight you benefit by getting a Gaby chapter!

Yep, Science Mädchen is up now for your delectation and delight!

see you all soon and don't forget to let me know what you think about the Gaby Cyclefest.

toodlepip
Mads

well, I think I spoke too soon about my depression lifting. I'm in a bad place where the only relief I seem to get from sadness is just being numb.

Worse, my writing has dried up, leaving me without one of my major outlets for dealing with crap.

I'm sorry to have to ask, but all hugs, prayers, or positives about me are appreciated.

I saw your comment on Amazon about the “book” that I wrote. “Swifter, Higher, Stronger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CV4HFYJ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=...

You stated, “This is an excellent story by Angela that wastes a lot of potential by not giving us even more. We get vignettes of the protagonist's life when we could have had stories. What's here is very good. What's missing would have made this book gold medal quality.”

Good news and bad news:

Tried to upload a jpg file 1,013 kb with story. Receiving message file is too large to upload, need less than 2 MB
Okay, I'm less than the upload limit and the problem exists where?

So after missing most of April I've caught May early!

It's not easy to Awaken. It's even harder when Awakening as fey brings about miraculous, amazing, and frightening changes that alter your life forever. Where do you go? Whom can you trust? What kind of life is possible when you're so different from everyone else?

“Now you have four hours to decide if you want to join the Pretty Soldiers, Ensign Crawford,” Col. Chick Sanders went on, ignoring the giggles.

I will freely admit that I am one of those people for whom misspelled words can take me out of a story.

Having said that, I KNOW that no one is perfect, myself included. LOL.

So... I AM willing to help authors by proofreading their work, with the understanding that I do NOT edit. I only proofread for spelling and usage errors. I can and will even proof stories that have already been posted here at Top Shelf.

Good morning all -- Happy Sunday.

Those of you who follow my tales of Julina know now that she is about to interact heavily with characters created by Penny. My next chapter or two are in the final stages; they are outlined, the next one all but written completely, but not yet finalised and proofed, and so on. They will take us through another mad dash as the rains loom ever closer. A new Anthology (an increasingly obvious misnomer hanging over from the early chapters) shall cover events in the rains, and possibly after.

Christine Myr had written fourteen chapters of "Caught in Slips."
Her last chapter was five or six weeks ago.
I've PM'd her, but received no answer
Does anyone know her? Is she OK?

After a few months of not publishing anything new and now settled, (almost) in my new palatial residence I have posted a new book on Kindle. This is a collection of 2 novellas and a short story entitled Pennies, Charcoal and Latex and is available now at the kindle EBook store the link to which is on this page, right hand side.
In the near future I will also be publishing volume five of Footprints in the Sea, probably late May or June and in the Autumn I will have Vol 5 of Vesta’s Hearth and if there’s still time, a second trilogy before Christmas.

I just completed my draft of my latest story, The Return of Dragons. Now I’m editing it and hope to post it by the end of the week.

This is a story about a young man that discovers his ancestor was Maeve the Dragon Slayer and that her blood still runs through his veins. When dragons suddenly appear, magic is restored to earth and he finds himself transformed.

Will he, now a she, become a dragon slayer, or will she take a new path?

I'm retired on a fixed income and even a small donation runs the risk of stretching my budget. I'd like to do something for BCTS; so here's my idea.

Trying to remember a story, m2f gets job as nanny in Italy. Has multiple homes in UK and ends up marrying the man after he buys her home in UK. 2 kids and the ex wife is nuts and burns the house down

"Writers must recognize the stop signs in their…"

I recently read a blog by a writer on our site that was looking for help with their story... which caused me to take note of this in today's paper.

I found this article on the importance of knowing WHEN to end your story; the importance of knowing when to say 'when'. The first half of this article is insightful. Towards the end of this article famous authors opening words are compared to their ending words; both are equally important.

Just a quick note or two.

Well my best laid plans have fallen by the way side as my internet access so far this trip has been sketchy at best and non existent most of the time.

Anyhow, we've had a great trip so far, a mostly mill pond North Sea crossing and wall to wall blue skies and sunshine ever since. Gab has. Been enjoying herself with visits to Hameln of rat fame and the windmill museum up at Luneberg Heide. Maybe the other windmill visits were a bit more 'if we must' but we've some great stuff planned for the way back.

Many years ago, yes we were publishers then, the NYT listed a book title as a NYT Best Seller. It hadn't even been written yet. I believe everyone in the publishing business knew the NYT was a Wine and Dine list. Those publishers who could wine and dine the owner, editors, and writers of the NYT were assured of selling hundreds of thousands more books if they made the list. It was a very exclusive club bought and paid for with lots of free food, women, lavish trips, and exotic holidays.

Just when I thought my muse had decided to go find a more fun host, she brought me a new story to share with you all ...

https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/74072/pathfinder-trio...

If you are on a Windows 10 machine, follow these instructions.

Go to: https://www.skype.com/en/

Click on Downloads

Click the down arrow to the right of Get Skype from Store

Click Get classic Skype from the drop down menu.

Run the installer after it finishes downloading.

Make sure you UNCHECK optional features such as make BING your default search.

Login using your Skype name or Microsoft Account.

After my prediction that I intended to advance the "Hala" "story um Universe", if you will allow me to call it that, I realize that "I've Got A Fine Kettle Of Fish" here and nothing is going to work as I intended.

In my defence, When I wrote the first two Hala episodes, I had no idea that it would rewrite itself into a minor epic, or that is what it thinks it is.

I just finished reviewing Hala's Snow Day, and substantially rewriting Cowgirl Hala. The process added over 1000 words to it. Then, I discovered that I had actually published Cowgirl Hala back in 2016.

Do you guys remember the dancing frog from the Warner Brother's cartoons?

Well, I've been having blood pressure spikes that seem to be doing the same thing - I see it at home, but they disappear as soon as my doctor checks me.

So my doctor has ordered a special bp test, to see if we can figure out what the heck is going on ...

If you're thinking about downloading the new version of Skype, be careful. more than a few people have lost either voice, video, or contact lists after starting it.

Right now, Beverly Taff, in the U.K. is having a deuce of a time trying to get the voice part of it to work and she just today manage to retrieve her contact list. Persephone, also in the U.K. has had similar problems.

Skype is still urging me to download the newest version but I have been and will continue to resist it.

Catherine Linda Michel

Hi all,

well that's one fortnight gone that I am unlikely to forget.

But first off, let me assure you that Julina is not far away --- just one, maybe two, more scenarios to add in (blame this on needing things to think about whilst driving on French motorways) and the next episode will be complete. It currently sits at 6235 words, before revision and proofing, and therefore I hope to have it posted by the weekend.

We now have a house in the middle of the glorious Kent countryside and in which we have (tested and working) Broadband, Telephone and TV connections.

Harry Anderson, best known for playing the judge on the TV show "Night Court" has apparently passed away at age 65.

I loved the show, and it had one of the earliest sympathetic portrayals of a trans person on network television.

I hope he's doing goofy magic tricks in Heaven.

Devil dogs all over the world shed a tear

We just lost our 'gunny'..... R. Lee Ermey

Semper Fi!

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/r-lee-erm...acket-was-74-1102863

Whew! Like my old baseball hero, Mickey Mantle, said: "If I'd known I was gonna get this old, I'da taken better care of myself!"

Well, I'm not old... compared to trees, or mountains, right?

I hope everyone has a great day, and thanks all for your comments and friendship. Also, thanks to Princess Chelsea for the skype Birthday greeting.

Catherine Linda Michel

The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #93: Work has gotten in the way - but Danny #7 still under construction To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Hi, everyone!.

Work has, as usual, gotten in the way.

By now I'm sure that all of you are sick of me banging on the donation drum... but here I go again.

We have X (I use the X in deference to Erin who hasn't given me permission to use the exact number) numbers of members on the site. If each of them just gave ONE DOLLAR A MONTH, it would more than cover the monthly operating costs and generate funds to pay off loans and keep Erin out of the poorhouse!

ONE DOLLAR! You can't even get a decent cup of coffee, a soft drink, a candy bar, or even a newspaper for a buck any more, but you CAN help save a site!

How are new readers and authors attracted to Big Closet?

Maybe the financial problems could be solved through an increased user base? It would seem likely that the more users BC has the more contributions Erin would receive.

I came to BC many years ago (probably over two decades ago) when Erin sent me an invitation to post here after reading one of my stories on FM.

How did you find BC?

Do you have ideas for attracting more readers and authors?

Is social media being used to attract readers?

Please comment.

Jill

I had a really unusual dream last night. I dreamed that I was back in university, but this time I was Dorothy. Not only that, I had this ... confidence about stuff I dont normally have in real life. Even people who reacted negatively to me were dismissed in my mind except to report them to a university official.

Not sure what that means ...

This site means so much to me and others. I know many out there are really stressed financially, but please do what you can do to keep this refuge open. I've donated $200 this month. Yes, I'm getting some advertising for my books; however, that's not really important. What really is important is keeping BCTS and the other functions of this organization going. Please do whatever you can. It does matter.

Its a good question.

Now I've got your attention and confusion, its time to get on

Same Old is the next Gaby chapter here, up to mischief again of course.

Does anyone else get sick of the constant pressure to donate to this site?

It seems like at least once a month we are faced with a plea for more people to step forward to contribute, or for the same people to contribute more.

These pleas are usually accompanied by a sad recital of need due to ongoing expense or emergencies.

It’s tedious.

The only thing that would be more tedious would be to have to ask for these donations.

Obviously, Erin asks because she needs the money. Obviously, asking works -- because the site continues to fiscally limp along.

Hey there

Before I come to the main point of this blog post I'd like to note that I've not forgotten my existing story "When among Dragons...", and I'd like to continue it sometime, but currently its stagnating. More on that below, for those that are interested in the reason.

ps: Just got the news, I'm a grandparent to Nathan George!
doing the happy dance!
 
Mads

Howdy, dudey folks!

Time for a new Gaby Chapter, A Rose by any other name is now up for your entertainment.

And I've sorted the pics issue so here goes, a few images from tilting at windmills last week with Gaby!

I'm on the Algarve (Portugal for non-Europeans) and trying to get a tan.

I brought a few e-books with me and I'm currently chortling through the first EAFOAB book. I've (from memory) read it thrice from the beginning beforehand but it still makes me smile - thank you Angharad for the perfect holiday read.

Starting at 8:00 AM PST, April 7 the fourth book in A California Saga series, "Who Is Sylvia?", will be on sale for $0.99 in the eBook format for one week.

Just a quick heads-up to any fans I might have out there. I just completed and published a sequel to A Princess of Jupiter. The sequel, called, A Slave of Jupiter, is a bit of an independent sequel in that our old friends Caelen and Aristea are still around, but the story focuses on none other than myself on a journey to Jupiter and all that life on Jupiter entails.

Lots of action, inner reflection, and love.

Now I just have to find a real way of teleporting myself into one of my stories...

Enjoy!

Casey Brooke

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the late blog about the late chapter!

Okay, I was hoping things were settled last week but a few things have been lingering on and slowing me up to an annoying degree. I suspect Arista or Winlyn's evil corporate comment control officers are at work, unfortunately :3

Good News is: Hopefully the new chapter will be up today at some point.

This news story came up for me on Yahoo today, and I wanted to share it with everyone here.

It's a good piece about a T-girl who began her transition in middle school, and the positive things that occurred with her new beginnings.

Of course I remind you to not read the comments, simply out of intelligent caution. I did not nor will I read the comments section. Too many 'idjits' out there that I don't want to hear from.

I was wondering if anyone has heard from Snowfall about any new chapters to her stories or even new stories by her? I am not on here as often as I would like so have not seen her on here recently, I do hope she will publish some new chapters of Road Phantoms maybe or even a new story line.

Charlotte