Sorry folks, I ran out of time trying to verify some stuff for the latest Bike. Hopefully I'll get it sorted tomorrow.

I also ended up with a boot full of mud and dirty water when I slipped into a ditch while out doing fieldwork with the RSPB. Took me ten minutes to get my sock clean enough to wash and my boot might be dry by Christmas! Oh the joys of fieldwork.

If you peeked at my latest story, and wondered what the heck was going on, let me take a moment to help explain things.

See, about 8 years ago, I found this site, and after lurking for a while, I took the plunge, became a member, and created my first story.

It's called "The Saga of E-Girl", and it was kind of a tribute to the Shazam stories I had loved as a kid.

I wont say its a bad story, but I will say I think my writing has improved since then, but despite that, I have a soft spot for that story, and have revisited the "E-Girl" universe a few times since.

A couple of people pointed out a small, but significant typo in my latest chapter...

To those that noticed and pointed it out, THANKS!

To those that noticed and glossed over it, be comforted that it is fixed.

To all else, thanks for reading it!

HUGS!
Shauna

In the nearly 10 years since my SRS, I have had many Urinary Tract Infections to the point that at my next Doctor's visit, I plan to talk about getting my Neo-Vagina removed. Because of my Amish conditioning perhaps, I have never gotten my head around having sex with a male outside of a lawful marriage, so it has had no use outside of my plastic bf. My hypothesis is that due to lack of use, germs build up in there and indirectly provide the source of the UTI germs.

I also plan to discuss the use of Lavage to perhaps keep that more clean.

I do not plan to live as a man.

I wrote my first story yesterday, because I had an idea stuck in my head for it. I thought it would get maybe ten or fifteen reads, but I was surprised and delighted that people cared about what I wrote. Not only did it get attention, but I found I liked it. That story was my first try at writing something outside of a assignment for school. I realized I loved writing that story, because it was something I cared about. I'm working on a second story and might continue my first. Writing also helps me pass time, I got lost writing earlier for two or three and felt so alive.

As the title says I need an editor for a story I'm writing. I have the first chapter complete but I need someone to go through it and see if I need to change anything as well as a grammar check. PM me if your willing to do this for me.

Phew.

Julina #73 is with the beta readers, then I will do one final polish and post it --- later this evening (it is 3 in the afternoon with me right now) or in the morning.

From my diaries, notes, and stored clippings and snippets (do we need a new combined word here, clippets???) I see that the first words in this episode were set down at the beginning of October - 2015!

I would never have believed that 14 months would whizz by before I got it to post stage.

But there we go.

RL distractions have sure taken their toll.

Awake at three in the morning. It's a contradiction of human existence, I guess.

I'm awake right now because I was having a weird dream. In the dream, Mel Brooks asks what if Buddha had been a nice Jewish boy from Queens?

Siddhartha the Buddha, or as his mother called him, Siddhartha the Bum.

She says to him, Sid, Sid, why don't you get a job? Your brother Marty has a nice job on Wall Street and what are you doing? Sitting under a tree eating plums!

I woke up laughing.

I tried to go back to sleep but Mrs. Gautama kept talking.

I want to ask if it bothers anyone else that you have to scroll to the end of a story to bookmark it? I have a lot of stories recommended to me. I usually bookmark them immediately and read them later. It has bothered me, on occasion that when I scroll to the end of the story, I accidentally read part of the ending. I am curious why the bookmark option is at the end of the story rather than the beginning of each story or chapter.

I've been working on the next Unaccounted Gains book for a while but needed a distraction, so another Tammy series has started.

Shiraz

For those of you in the U.S.--Happy Thanksgiving! (Well, for those of you NOT in the U.S., too, if you like! :) )

Because I am spending extra time with the family today (and had to help prep things this week), I won't get an Amadeus posting done today. I hope to get the next installment up this weekend.

HUGS!
Shauna

Just wanted to give a big "thank you" to all those who sent me a compliment.

All your positive vibes helped me overcome my negative self talk, so yay for team Dorothy, and huggles for all!

It seems, as the years go by, that the real message of this time of the year has faded to overstuffing oneself on turkey, or whatever passes for the holiday meal and vegging out in front of the TV or computer, engaging in whatever non-activity one prefers.

To me, the true meaning of this holiday, that of being grateful for what one has received in life, has faded into self indulgence and solitude from the scary world outside one's "safe place." In this post, I shall attempt to re-affirm what is truly important to me in my life.

So its been a little damp on this rock this week, 'Angus' doing his best to drown half the population and wash away the rest!

It does mean that I've not been tempted much beyond my front door for a few days which in turn means my editor has taken delivery of more new Gaby than I had anticipated, the first 6 of the new book are complete. This in turn means that with a following wind the first complete arc may be made available on Sunday! I've written so fast I don't even have a title yet.

I hadn't been able to do much writing for the last two months but I've discovered, or re-discovered, something. Writing energizes me.

One of the reasons I wasn't writing was that I had so much else to do that it seemed wasteful of my time to write. And yet, I wasn't getting all that much of those tasks done either. Just staying even with the site was about all I could do.

I've been stewing for a couple of days over all the hate that has been spewed lately against several writers and enough is enough. Recently, Efindumb announced that they (I'm using a non-descriptive word for a reason) would be leaving BigCloset because of all the negativity that has been leveled against them in their writings. I made an initial comment about it on her blog, telling the author that I thought they should not leave, that the story the author is writing is not finished yet, and that I thought their Muse would drive the author insane if the story wasn't finished.

I'm looking for a story I read ages ago was about a ex space corp marine who's planet was attacked by space pirates, and thinking his family was killed he went looking for revenge. He was captured by pirates and put in a medical pod, an changed to a female, a cple things happened and the pirates were put in some and ended up being turned into young girls, who saw the older women as their mum. I remember that her sister was alive and she hired a governess who ended up opening a school. But that's about all I can remember I just don't know what it's called.

because some unthinking fool has given them grief has made me very angry! I've spent years here at Top Shelf and, while not every writer is one I read, their work is nontheless important to them and their fans. Writing is a way to deal with the anxiety and even pain that comes with being Transgender and being able to get those anxieties out in writing helps each and every writer to deal with those pains and anxieties.

So, yesterday afternoon I got a letter in the mail from the Department of Homeland Security.

It read:

Welcome To The United States Of America

This is to notify you that your application for permanent residence has been approved. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the permanent resident status in the United States.

Needless to say, I am very happy.

A long discussion with my brother about various longform fictions brought up some ideas I thought to share.

Story structure is key to almost all commercial and popular fiction, movies and television. What I'm talking about is what you might call the information flow of the story if you were an engineer (which both my brother and I have been). The segments below could be episodes or chapters or groups of episodes or chapters. In something as short as a novelette, they could be very short indeed.

From time to time Big Closet writers become upset by comments -- or even lack of comments.

I just read about Angharad’s decision to cease writing for BC. She has been worn down by what she considers to be negative remarks. What’s negative and what isn’t, is her decision . . . as is how she reacts.

She has proven her character through her diligence to her craft. BC would be a much different place without her involvement. I hope she reconsiders and keeps writing for BC.

that Grover and Understanding Spouse have arrived safely in Utah and are recovering from a trip fraught with danger. U.S. starts her new job Tuesday and Grover will be back in the groove writing as soon as they get settled into their new domicile.

They got waylaid by snow in Denver over Friday and part of Saturday and, being from much warmer climes, they didn't want to risk life and limb trying to navigate the icy roads. I can't say I blame them.

Anyway, alls well that ends well and I can breathe again, knowing that my family of the heart is safe at home.

I find it disturbing that major contributors like Angharad and Efindumb are choosing to stop posting. When a volunteer organization, starts burning out it's best workers, the end is generally not far away. This does not bode well for BC.

Found a web site where it is all put into my own kind of philosophy. There is nothing a few pills can do for anyone unless they are one of those very very few who have a reaction. From what I have read on the tests of those individuals, they were borderline in the female hormonal department. A pill pushed them over the line and they developed female breasts as any young adolescent female would.

I read Penny Lane's 'What Milsy Did.

Since they were working with a blast furnace, I decided to upload some pictures that I took at the ruins of an old blast furnace in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the shore of Lake Superior. That way, everyone can get somewhat of an idea of what the blast furnace looked like.

The first one is at: http://ray-d.deviantart.com/art/Bay-Furnace-01-646521107

Here's an idea I picked up from a friend of a friend on Facebook.

Write the happiest story you can, using only four words.

Awaiting your contributions with interest.

My new Facebook avatar

After two (more) heart attacks and several mini-strokes my absence from this site is hopefully over. I have pretty much retired from any form of writing but look forward to catching up with some of my favourite authors and their stories. I've missed doing that! Anne

Author's Commentary on Somewhere Else Entirely: Chapters 7 to 10

Edits to these chapters consist mostly of corrections to spelling and adjustments to style. There is one sequence which required further adjustment which I will note below.

Just to keep things on an even keel - this is written about the Donald Trump campaign (and the man), but it is by someone who supported Clinton. This is pretty darned apolitical, but is good information to keep on hand.

Mind you, in a few spots, I'm using 'apolitical' in the "Irish Neutral" sense, meaning attack EVERYONE equally.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/

I have seen this before and didn't write about it, but when I ran across it today I felt it was time.

Stack Exchange is a place I go a lot for programming and systems management help. One of the sites that Stack Exchange operates is one called "Worldbuilding".

From the site:

Hey peeps

As the more observant of you will have spotted Amazon have started an 'on demand' print service. I'm in the process of making all the Gaby series available, the Nena books are already up.

Amazingly there have been some hard copy sales already, so my query is, if you have bought an Amazon print book what do you think of them?

Whilst this isn't intended as a sales plug I would just like to remind you that if you are buying anything on Amazon if you log in through BC this site gets a 'royalty' - Gaby sales last month put $50 in the coffers in this way.

I hope you guys don't mind, but I would like to take you behind the scenes of Mercy for a moment.

A while back, I felt really stuck on this story. What I wanted to do was get Faith to a point where she had grown enough and learned enough that I could bring back Brand for a final confrontation, but I simply didn't know how to get there from where the story was at the time.

So realizing that conflict drives stories, I asked for help in creating an opponent for Faith.

Backups are a PITA so they often don't get done.
Just refer to the anguish that Maddy Bell had where her PC stopped working.
Now she's got no excuse for not backing up her work. {courtesy of yours truly}

I came upon this little ditty again today.

Yesterday,

All those backups seemed a waste of pay.

Now my database has gone away.

Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,

There's not half the files there used to be,

And there's a milestone hanging over me

The system crashed so suddenly.

Several of my friends put together a guide for transgender individuals who are trying to update their identity documents as quickly as possible, before Trump's administration takes over and puts much of this in jeopardy.

The annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20, 2016.

For my locality there is a rembrance service on Nov 19. It's quite an emotional experience. I urge everyone who can to check your local LGBT sites for local services. While heart wrenching, it's well worth the experience. Considering the potential political upheaval we all need to be aware.

Please... go if you can.

Trying to remember Author and Title

Not in order just how they are remembered

Alien artefact mistaken for Egyptian Sarcophagus and is displayed in a museum.

Artefact is either a stasis pod, or a regeneration pod, and also has powerful computer.

Protagonists gender is changed, and becomes host to the mind of the Alien.

Chase across the world to find another artefact.

Protagonist and Federal Agent fall for each other.

So first we've got this weeks chapter of Nena Four Star, Part 4.

Below, as promised yesterday, is the sample German translation followed by the original English text. I know its not perfect, I know it needs some tweaks here and there, what I need to know is whether its readable or just so rubbish its useless.

Cheers & thanks in advance
Mads

ps the text is from the latest Nena tale 'Remind Me Again'

I've had some drama in my life lately, and I could use a good action/adventure tg story to pick me up. On Stardust I read Grover's Dream of Dragon's and that was FUN, and i'd love something similar.

So can anyone point me in the direction of some fun adventure stories?

So, I poured coffee into my keyboard, a Blue Tooth one, that seems OK. Well, the keyboard still works, so I thought I'd tear it down and give it a bit of a flush out, since I have done it before numerous times on other ones.

My question? Is there a certain spray solvent to use?

Gwen

Hey Everyone.

I wanted apologize for the delay in getting the site back online today.

What happened is that one of our many elves happened to click a wrong button causing all of the "Author Taxonomy" to disappear. That may sound like an easy fix, of just rolling back the database, but in doing so we would have lost a couple new stories, and blogs that we didn't want to disappear.

Just back from the clinic and the pharmacy. I have cystitis! A week of antibiotics starts now. I have the greatest sympathy for anyone who suffers with this

Shiraz

I am very frustrated. After a pretty good day with only mild pain, I was heading home when I got a flashback while driving. Thankfully, I was able to keep control enough to make it home without getting into an accident, but it still bothers me that even after 6 years of working on this, I am still vulnerable to flashbacks without any obvious triggers.

Sighs ...

My husband and friends tease me that i'm such a bleeding heart. I'm a very forgiving person and I'm told i'm gentle, I don't even really express anger.

I also love to read, and for some reason I have a weird fascination with revenge/punishment stories. Perhaps because I was raised in a household where extreme punishment was the norm.

But this fascination has lead me to read a lot of stories that I regret reading because they eat at me inside. Has anyone else experienced this?

Our president elect has been making conciliatory remarks about working together and leading the whole country. This is hard to believe, after the campaign, but I think we should give him a chance. Perhaps the weight of the office will make him act more like a human being.

There used to be a tradition of giving the new president, a honeymoon period to hit the ground running (I don't think Obama was given one).
I think it is a tradition worth renewing.

On this, Remembrance Sunday I always find it difficult to watch the old soldiers on their march past the Cenotaph, it is they, not the politicians, who lay everything on the line for our freedom. They didn't all volunteer but they all played their part, today we honour them.

It is now 9 days since the latest Bike was posted.

Certainly an eventful 9 days both world-wise and personally.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am missing Cathy and Co.

Do we get together a petition to send to Ang? I hope her studies aren't preventing her from writing at all here.

J.

I have been very sick all day today, vomiting, the runs, no fun.

I hope this goes away soon ...

In a few hours we'll be hitting the road. Grover, Paula, and dog named Tink, but no cat much less one named Kalamazoo. Sorry, I get silly when tired!

This move has been hell. If someone can't help they should just say no they can't, not say yes with empty promises.

That said, everyone here at BC has been my personal miracle. Between GoFundMe and personal donations, you all made a difference. Perhaps more than any other our dear friend Cathy got the word out about our plight and made our move possible.