I've met, well read the stories of and messaged with, many wonderful authors here at BCTS. One of them in particular had a large impact on me. Her name is Elsbeth.
Elsbeth wrote a number of stories. The three that I love the most are Harry Potter - Season of Change, Freyja's Daughter and The Lost Queen. I have read and re-read these stories so many times. There were a number of us here that were particularly excited about The Lost Queen. We had a group chat going where we talked about how awesome this story is and speculated on what the background to the story was and what might happen next.
Elsbeth was logging in almost every day and was publishing a chapter for Freja's Daughter or The Lost Queen every week or two. She posted Freyja's Daughters Chapter 7 on April 8th, 2020. On April 9th, 2020 she said in the comments that she is "stupidly busy" but safe.
This was the last day we heard from Elsbeth. One year ago today. Not on BCTS. Not on Discord. Not elsewhere. Her abrupt disappearance with no explanation in the middle of all of these posts from and about her have left many of us heart broken.
Elsbeth's last few story chapter postings are as follows:
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/35158/elsbeth
2020/02/06 - Freyja's Daughters - Chapter 5
2020/02/14 - The Lost Queen Vol 2 Ch7
2020/03/01 - The Lost Queen Vol 2 Ch8
2020/03/12 - Freyja's Daughters - Chapter 6
2020/03/27 - The Lost Queen Vol 3 Ch1
2020/04/08 - Freyja's Daughters - Chapter 7
Elsbeth's last 3 posts were on 2020/04/09 in comments to Freyja's Daughters Ch 7 and The Lost Queen Vol 3 Ch 1, just a few weeks after the COVID pandemic started affecting her part of the world.
"Yea, i'm just stupidly busy. But I am safe as I can be. Fresh air is nice, mixed about it as too but way too many people going to state parks. Or worse taking the whole family to the market, really. Sigh, anyway be well."
Elsbeth, we hope you are OK. And that we hear from you again some day.
Blessed be. Willow Dancer.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog-entry/86436/does-anyone-...
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog-entry/88723/missing-frie...
Comments
The same as you read it read it read it...
My own stories are locked in limbo. Can not complete any of them. Thus I'm left with reading stories posted here. Elsbeth and The Lost Queen has helped me through countless sleepless nights as I'm transported back into her world again and again. When Elsbeth returns I'll never let her know how severely I have edited her story. I made a few more minor changes this morning improving the strength of a couple sentences, and a minor spelling..
Thank you for posting about her absence Willow. I think about her almost everyday praying she's safe and it's only circumstances keeping her away.
Barb
Life is a gift, don't waste it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
I've been worried too
No word from her in a year and given the current situation that the world is in that really concerns me. She's such a wonderful writer and a sweet person too, I only hope that it's not something serious keeping her from posting or making her presence known in some other way.
*big hugs to you and to her, wherever she is*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
It’s nice to know........
That I am not the only one worried about her.
I have done everything I can to reach out to her, to check on her, to help her if I can. But there is no joy in Mudville tonight; the Mighty Casey has struck out. I have exhausted every means I can think of, all with no success.
There are a handful of authors here that I truly admire and crave more of their work. Elsbeth is one of them, as are several other of the ladies on this particular string. I can only hope that she is OK, and that someday soon I will wake up to find that she has posted another chapter. It would be a true shame to lose her talent - and it would be a crime to lose her at all.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Worried
I’ve been really worried about her too, we need to have a buddy system where someone one her can let everyone know if something happens to you.
hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna
I hope she's OK
Elsbeth is among the top of the list of my favorite contributors to this site. I still think about and reread the Always & Forever series of stories from time to time. I would be ecstatic to see new stories from her but I'd be almost as happy to hear she's doing well.
As for me
I am here and active because my sister's health is somewhat iffy. Her doctors ad concerned about her heart, but the money isn't there for major surgery right now.
But she doesn't just want to drop off the radar, so if something happens I'll be able to notify everybody. I've got all her passwords and unfinished material and hopefully I can do what is necessary.
This brings me to my point. Have you people, especially the writers, made any provisions for if something happens to you? You could be killed in a car accident tomorrow and who online would know? Think about it.
They know they can survive
Really hope
Really hope she's okay. :/
It's a weird thing with the Internet - so many people we care about we only know through such narrow channels: forums like these, mmorpgs, or discord servers etc. Even when you meet them in person they likely live so far away and may never meet your other family or local friends. For those still 'in the closet', telling close family about here in case something happens may sadly not be an option. Breaks the heart to think about...
I hope so too
I hope she is OK too.
There seem to be a couple others who have stopped posting over the past year or so, I hope they are all OK. Having been a longtime denizen of the Internet VR & MMOs etc., every once in a while I stop to spare a thought for missing friends I never really met. And hope that where ever they are that life has treated them well. Over the years my list has grown fairly long. One can't but help wonder.
*sends a prayer out for all of them*
~Hypatia
Maybe a gamer will write a fanfic
Not a gamer and I had no concept of many of the locations, descriptions, and actions Elsbeth wrote into her story. Morpheus wrote a story using the heart stones as a basis so evidently there is a game with that in existence. It wouldn't be an Elsbeth story but maybe a fanfic along the same lines. Elsbeth seemed to be doing that herself with a couple of her stories.
I tried to write a story that would fit in the Whately universe but found it too structured. The rules for stories in that setting have been abused somewhat over the years since it's inception but I still couldn't find a fit. Thus The Huntress was born and began her own saga. The story of a banished princess began after reading Elsbeth's Lost Queen. It's not even close to being a fanfic except the setting in a different universe and ancient times. Oh well, I have never claimed to be a writer nor do I have any idea of where any of my stories are going to go. My only job is to transpose them to paper and ink as they are provided to me.
Life is interesting.
Hugs people
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl