There are a few very gifted authors that for some reason have stopped posting their story. I have enjoyed their contribution to Big Closet and wish them good health. I am wondering if they will continue to post or if their story should be considered in hiatus or in permanent limbo. I am sue that you know of the authors that I am speaking of, if anybody knows about the absent authors, please let them know that they are missed.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Comments
Not Really
Who are we talking about??
Hugs
Alexis
Jane Austen,
Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie oh and Admiral Krunch. Did I miss anyone?
Angharad
Angharad
Me?
LOL
Missing authors
Last I heard from Maddie Valasek, her life was busy, and her muse was on the run....she was having problems getting the rest of Changing of the Guard together. Karen E Lea was busy, and she was having problems getting Educating Danielle where she wanted it to go. We all know about Wendy J and her health and her political tirade and pulling her Midnight Downloads story (which I have), and when I chatted with L Rochelle a couple of years ago, she had hopes then of her problems improving and she hoped to get back to Making Lemonade....no show so far. The author of Soccer Queen, Andrew, told me he had given up on the story as he could no longer deal with the details of the day to day type story he had going, so it is pretty dead. The author of Tails had vanished, but a new author had agreed to take on the story....we got one or two chapters and then it stopped again. I saw the Captain around on chat once or twice, but no word on his story either. Many of the others are doing multiple stories, so updates of old favorites are few and far between, but there is new hope for some new Planetary Agents in the future. No idea at all about Marina 12 and some of her work, like The Last Frontier. Becky Stewart died and her story stopped, although someone was working to put her notes together to finish it....nothing yet. Still hoping to read more about the Gynamorph also.I'm sure there are more out there.
Becky Stewart ...
I've lost touch with Ricky. Last time I knew he too had some form of cancer so he may have passed on. I have some of Becky's computerized notes but the handwritten stuff I never got copies of to try to finish her story. I'm afraid that it's one story that will never have an ending.
Bob Arnold
Becky
I know there were many that cried when we received word she had died. She sure seemd like a super person, and I relished her story. My wife actually made a dress for a friend of Becky's and she came to the house to pick it up.. It needed some alteration and my wife's stroke removed that ability, but it was pretty anyway.
Missing Authors
I wondered what happen to "Hot Crossing" a great story. And the lost of Darla Strawberry was another great author with several great stories unfinished. Richard
Richard
Becky Stewart
http://www.ralabs.com/rebecca/ and thanks for the update on Ricky, I had not heard any of that
As far as Admiral Krunch, I have no idea
My last couple of emails have gone unanswered, and I just sent another one a few minutes before I came here and saw this blog question. My own research has pretty much borne out Stacy's comments.
As to someone finishing Hot Crossings, yes, it was Ricky. Unfortunately, the news there makes it unlikely the sotry will be finished.
I was in a Yahoo conference with Maggie the Kitten, Prue Walker and others the one time I met Ricky, who was also fighting the BIG C.
Ricky had just returned from some heavy Chemo and a stay in the hospital, and came home to find that his spouse had erased the hard drive with all of the unfinished chapters and notes.
Worse, though Ricky gave us an email address, none of us have ever heard from Ricky again, and that was over 2 years ago.
Holly
One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness.
It usually comes back to you.
Holly
I Still See the Admiral Listed as an Online User Periodically
I saw his name listed for a while yesterday evening. I've seen him listed in the Online Users list several times since he last posted "Being Christina Chase".
I hust heard from Admiral Krunch
Life has been complicated, but Krunch has full intentions of completing the story. But working 2 jobs, and 7 days between them has meant no time for writing.
But Krunch promises, Being Christina Chase will return!!!!!
Holly
One of the most difficult things to give away is kindness.
It usually comes back to you.
Holly
Have you tried emailing them
I have on a couple ocasions sent emails to authors telling them how much I enjoy their work or if they haven't posted in a while ask if they plan to return to writing .Amy
Authors
All the ones I mentioned have given me that info, or they have passed on. So I do email them periodically. I hate to be the "fan from hell"
It Is Sad When An Author Dies
I know that Becky Stewart died and Darla Raspberry. For them I mourn. But these others that have given up writing their stories I would hope would give permission to somebody to finish their works.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Perhaps the Administrator(s)
Perhaps the Administrator(s) of this site could check to see what stories have not been kept up to date, and give us the information about the author's intentions.
We would like to know if the author has, regretably, passed away, or is having issues that have posponed their posting.
If a story has truly been abandoned, then posibily, someone else would want to finish it.
Not likely
Erin, the boss lady here, simply has too many more important things to do than check on the status of each story and author.
As for somebody "finishing" another's story, the simple answer there is "no". Unless granted permission by the original author (or their heirs), or if working in an open universe (like Whateley), I believe that would be a violation of copyright law. Fanfics, such as those written in the "Startrek" universe, clearly violate copyright law. They are allowed to exist by the people that own the rights, or at least tolerated. I feel that it is wrong to presume to write in somebody else's stories without permission, even if they are not being actively updated.
As for myself, I hate to admit I am currently mentally gridlocked on my "Kari" tale. I know where I want to go, but can't seem to put words down. It's not a complete loss, as the following story is 90% complete, and about 40% of the final story is done. I won't make this mistake again, both stories will be complete before I start posting any of the chapters.
Anyway, that's my thoughts.
Karen J.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Karen tells the truth
I've seen much of her unpublished *Kari* stuff and she does mean to finish it, just muse and RL interfere.
I'll keep kicking her backside to 'get with it' as she will do the same to me.
Mind you her backside is soo cute. Ghod those Texas girls are sexy. And they get better with age.
Karen, stop shooting at me!!!! I gave you a compliment.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
IANAL, but
If you're writing your own story using characters someone else created, and you're posting that story on a free site like this one, and the work yours is based on was also on a free site like this one, it probably would count as fair use and not violate a copyright. You should still acknowledge the original source so as to avoid plagiarism or fraud, however.
If the thing you're spinning off of is a commercial work, they could make the claim that your story is impacting their future sales for something similar (Like JK Rowling's recent court battle with a lexicon.) Furthermore, if your story uses trademarked characters, it's definitely not legal.
I do think it's rude to use someone's story without their permission, but that's a question of ethics, not laws.
Copyright
The law on copyrights does not make any distinction between free and paid works, AFAIK. "Fair use" is a slippery subject, and Erin has already commented on copyright vs. trademark. I've seen cases go either way.
I hestiated to make any kind of comment on what would be moral and ethical, for obvious reasons.
Karen J.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Abandoned Serials
Actualy, the administrator(s) should have this information available to her already.
They should know what serials are compleat, still in progress, and those not posted to in a long time.
In the last instance, it would be doing the reader a service to inform them if the author has passed away and CAN'T finish the story.
It would also be a service to let us know if there will be a very long delay of further chapters.
Some authors write for multiple sites and forget to update their work and might need a reminder.
And finaly, if the story has truly been abondoned, to find out if it can be finished (author's permission of course) by someone else or removed from the site all together.
What good is part of a story that will never be compleated?
A simple notation on the serials page after the title could alert any reader of a problem.
Time
There is one person, Erin. She has other websites, and also a life of her own. Is she supposed to give up sleeping, eating, or shopping to make the time needed to contact the authors of these so-called "abandoned serials", some of whom either changed their email address or are not responding. And what would give Erin the authority or right to violate the author's copyrights on these works and give permission to somebody else to continue them.
I suppose she could delete any incomplete story that hasn't been updated within some arbitrary time frame. But until the copyright on a work expires that is about all she could do.
I don't like unfinished serials either, but you have to be realistic. We aren't being paid for our efforts except in comments posted, so if one of us decides to quit writing that is our right. And just because one of us decides to stop writing doesn't mean we want somebody else continuing in our place. Even if that stop ends up being permanent. I speak only for myself, but some of the people in my stories are a tribute to the real person for whom the character is named and based. I would not want anybody who wouldn't know what those people mean to me to write about them.
Karen J.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Self-posting
This site doesn't work like the others, except Stardust; authors post their own stories here--I don't necessarily know anything about the story unless I read it. So the information you're talking about is just as available to you as it is to me. I've made it possible for authors to mark stories as complete, few do.
I've never heard of anyone posting here and then forgetting about BC. They may decide not to come back but posting a story and seeing it appear in seconds is memorable. :)
It's pretty simple to check the last post of a story and see if it has a continued at the end or is marked Final Chapter or Complete, one of the tags I include for authors--so, I'm not going to knock myself out about this desired feature. The stories are here, the authors have written them and I keep the site functioning. The readers' job is to decide which stories they want to read and then read them. :) Not that hard.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
clearing out the dead wood
It's a shame Big Closet is littered with all these untidy unfinished works,
and something needs to be done about it. But why stop at BCTS?
The following is a list of unfinished junk that needs to go:
The Canterbury Tales- Chaucer
8th Symphony- Schubert
The Last Tycoon- Fitzgerald
The Mysterious Stranger- Twain
Requiem- Mozart
The Adoration of the Magi- Da Vinci
Star Trek (they never completed their 5 year mission)
Arcosanti- Paolo Solari
The Garden of Eden- Hemingway
The Entombment- Michelangelo
The Brooklyn Bridge (stone facings never completed)
Sorry if this is an incomplete list...
~~~hugs, LAIKA
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
Laika, what a terrible memory you have
They never finished Mount Rushmore.
And what of the Al Franken decade or the Al Franken Mellenia?
Please turn in all contributions to any unfinished masterpeices to me, John in Wauwatosa, particualry if they arer really hot girls with big boobies. Hubba hubba!
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
WOW, WHAT A CAN OF WORMS I OPENED!
Please forgive me if I upset you.
I only ment to make a sugestion that would make it easer on the readers to decide if they wanted start a story.
My sugestion about removing or finishing abandonded stories hinged on the AUTHORS APROVAL of doing so.
Since my whip and lion tamers chair are being refurbished, I had no intention of making Erin folow my commands.
It was only a sugestion for HER consideration.
Laika
Laika
As a new reader to this site I would like to see all :)
That includes those unfinished stories you are discussing.
Now if they were very short I might agree.
but then again, perhaps those too would set my imagination free.
Looking at how the site sort the Authors works though gives me some headache.
It could be me taking the wrong approach here too.
I 'click' on 'stories' and then after they came up I choose f ex 'science fiction'
But there I find chapter after chapter from the same 'book' spread out over four or more pages?
It's a frustrating experience :)
Perhaps there is some better way to see the material?
Cheers
Yoron.
Serials
There is a link at the bottom of the page -- "serials" that takes you to a listing of stories by title page, one title page per story, with links on it for each part of a story.
technoklutzery
As a total techno-klutz I'm the wrong person to ask about this stuff.
I like series' when they have the link-thingy between chapters,
when they don't I hit the BACK arrow and then enter the next
installment. Not much help there, I guess. ANYONE?
~~hugs, LAIKA
(Oh, thanx Edeyn!)
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.