I've been reading posts all day, debating whether I should say anything and if so, what should I say. I finally decided I will and what. A good bit of this will go over many heads, but some may understand.

Many people forget that in the 1800's - early 1900's it was the age of steam.

Sure there was great ships powered by steam.

Sawmills powered by steam.

But that wasn't all.

The greatest use of steam was for central heating. Many a city had boiler plants that made steam for hospitals, houses, businesses. All that steam, and there was a heck of a lot, was generally produced offsite at a large boiler plant.

A couple of people have been PMing me wondering if I've fallen into a hole or something, I just wanted to post this to let everyone know I'm ok. I've just been trying to figure things out creatively with a couple of stories of mine. i hate leaving things unfinished but more often then not, it seems to turn out that way. Especially with me as of late. It sucks too because things go so well and then I just can't seem to get the rest of it done :(.

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.

Yes sad news Today another fantastic Actor has passed away.
One of the Famous Men from U.N.C.L.E
A great person and wonderful Actor yet another Loss of great Talent.

R.I.P

Matt

I have a curious question that may develope into something more.

So let's say you're playing an MMO and you have made your character as a female (or male as you prefer) and you've been enjoying yourself. Suddenly you find yourself yanked into the world of the game, where you are not only the gender you chose in character creation but also the same class and race.

Would you want to leave? Would you try? What would you do in this new existence?

Good 80's tribute movie with some original music that fit right in and was lovely.

I feel like what "Across the Universe" did as an homage to the Beetles and the 60/70's this does for 80's Rock in general.

A theme here is the triangle of depression, eroticism, spirituality. The world lost someone who expressed it well.

Haha. I not only got called Ma'am on the phone today... the prick talked baby talk to me when telling me how to do something techie! I had a good giggle with the other woman in the conference when both of us gave him hell for being sexist and insulting in the same breath.

A good day. My respirologist said my sleep apnea was well controlled. A doubly good day.

Dayna

I've noted how many authors get discouraged about how readership drops off after the first chapter is posted. I did some research and discovered some interesting facts about the way the system does and doesn't count page views.

First of all we know a number of people open the first chapter and decided the story isn't their cup of tea and stop reading. Then there are others who read each chapter and open it up individually and while there is often continued dropoff it isn't as severe as from the first chapter to the second.

For those looking for a break from election coverage, Mercy chapter 14 is up.

I hope people like it!

The weather channel has decided to ignore the election. So if you are feeling both insomniac and apolitical tonight here is one safe channel.

:)

https://t.co/JC2lsKAlwf

Given the very tepid response to my most recent story in the Rachel Torres series I think I'm going to cease writing on that one. I write for my pleasure but also for the pleasure of the readers here and if I don't get any feedback and very little response in the way of views than I see no reason in continuing. I've noticed that the number of views I get for every new chapter of something drops rather sharply so it's time for me to think hard about continuing at all.

When I wrote my first blog entry, I went into it with the thought I would speak about three things. As time has gone on, I realized I haven’t done any of it. The first thing I was going to do was talk about my stories. For some reason my ego stops me from doing that. I don’t want to sound like I am bragging about my story,so I kind of shelved that idea. I will answer any questions that people have, but I don’t want to blow my own horn. The closest I have come to this is the mini story I added the other day as a companion piece to Alexa.

I've just completed a draft of a new story for Hatbox called "Aunt T's" and need beta readers.

The story involves the semi forced feminization of a late thirties male.

I need an unsullied eye to find those inconsistencies that invariably happen.

I don't get any of the Hatbox revenue . . . so consider any help you give me an ultimate gift to Erin. Hatbox usually attracts more subscriptions when new material is offered.

This story is a bit dark . . . but travels toward the sun.

In this age of Twitter and texting everything seems to get reduced to a few short letters or worse, an emoji. The beauty of words gets lost when reduced to a few short letters.

I am sure that it lends a certain verisimilitude to a story to drop in the current vernacular of acronyms but somehow LOL does not carry the same impact as imagining someone actually laughing out loud. In this attention deficit designed world I am sure there are many who assign their own meanings to common acronyms thus widening the breach of understanding rather than narrowing it.

Thank you commentator for finding the story I was looking for. To all that may be wondering it is called "prom changed everything". I have reread it and still find it a good story. It is on FM.

I have had a stressful week.

Issues regarding family (I cant go into details) have caused a great amount of sadness (and stress), Sharon has apparently injured herself and is currently not able to work, and two different news articles have really brought me down.

I am SO. FREAKING. BEHIND.

I think everyone here's seen just how dead my writing, or even reading on the site has been of late. I could make excuses, but there's really only one reason behind it all: I just can't seem to make myself do it.

PFH? 1/3 done. Phoenix Soars? 2/3. I have various other projects hovering between 1/4 and 3/4 done, and plans for oh so many more, but it seems like if I manage 500 words in a month any more I've pushed myself hard. It's just... ugh.

here is a gay joke I got from my niece's gay friend. Q--what do you call a gay dinosaur? A--dinosaur ass(dino sore ass). people have either really loved or hated this joke.

Today, I saw a tiny toddler decide to "help" clean up the store. She took a training potty that had fallen on the floor (the thing was almost as big as she was) and put it back on the others of the same color.

I so wanted to give her a gold star and make her an honorary cleaner ...

Sad, sad case.

Chelsea Manning Tried Committing Suicide a Second Time in October

I have a question.

You know those symbols for male and female?

The ones that look like a circle with a cross below it (female) or a circle with an arrow pointing up at an angle (male)?

Does anybody know what they are actually called?

Well it's been nice knowing everyone, but since the Chicago Cubs have just won the World Series, the world should be ending soon.

Yay!

Any one fluent in Spanish hereabouts who'd be willing to do a little bit of proofing? I have a few lines of spoken dialogue in my story that are in Español, and I want to make sure I've translated them correctly.

Whoever offers their help will get a hole heaping pile of nothing, unless my undying gratitude and an honorable mention in my author's rant counts for something.

Everyone have a delightfully demented day,

D.A.W.

If I have this right today is my eleventh anniversary of discovering BC. Certainly have been a lot of changes - of style and people over time. The changes in style always making things better; the changes in people just part of life. I think I registered because I had a story to post, my first ever.

Question.

Do people have a preference for how soon a gender change occurs in a story especially if it is a long story?

I'm curious because I have stories where the gender change occurs quickly, and ones where it's not until almost the end that it takes place. I myself don't have a preference. Since I was thinking about how I feel about it, I started to wonder what other peeps prefer or think on this subject.

I have decided to do NaNoWriMo.
I even got my better half's blessing. I started a few days early because I'll be on a business trip this week and because of Thanksgiving
The good news is that I have 4 good chapters in the princess and the plague saga written and a path to go. one of the reasons I haven't written in a while is because princess and the jock was going to a dark place and I was trying to be too creative with it. I'd like to get a few more episodes written before I start posting.
Keep your eyes peeled.

A.A.

The Gods are Bastards by D.D. Webb is a sword-and-sorcery Western. There are two trans characters among a large and diverse cast.

Hi All,

First, I want to thank EVERYONE that is supporting the story and has commented on and/or 'liked' it.

Now, for this week... My 'normal' rhythm is now to post on Thursdays (I can't really go up against Lux on Fridays, now can I? LOL)... BUT, I am going to be on travel this coming week--and I have no idea if I will get a chance to post... SO, I am going to post early this week. The next posting WON'T be until NEXT Thursday, though... Sorry!

I hope you like the Chapter and continue to support the story!

HUGS!
Shauna

I'm just sitting here, having realized that if I hadn't sabotaged myself, I might have had totally transitioned by now.

By delaying my name change, I cost myself more than $ 4,000 which would have come in handy for paying off my car and putting myself in a position where even if i wasn't able to work for months after surgery I'd still be above water.

With early voting underway, I went and did just that. I made the mistake of posting who I voted for and why on fb. Two friends, both women, got into a Facebook war on my page for the better part of 2 hours.

I strongly encourage everyone to cast a ballot, no matter who it is that you support. Even if you hate all the candidates, please go vote for whomever you feel is the lesser evil. Too many men and women have fought and died for us to have that right.
Just dont post it on fb.....

I'm not sure how, what, when or even if this will happen but I hope it will. I guess like most if not all on this site I love writing stories. I've written a few bedtime stories for my kids probably pretty much like all parents. My eldest son was my biggest challenge and is pretty much the reason that I did this. You see he hated sad endings so when I told stories like the three little pigs I had to invent a happy ending for him. So, I guess it all went from there really.

So I've added more titles to the roster of Amazon print, Gaby books 11 to 15, if you prefer dead tree copies and Amazon is your preferred buying portal hop on over to my UK Amazon page or US Amazon page and order your copy now - or treat a friend! Buy through the BC portal and dosh goes straight into BC coffers

One of my favourite characters is a deep, loving man of fierce protectiveness and uncommon good sense. His name is Arwel Powell, and one of the best descriptions of him is as an iceberg, showing very little of the depth of his personality on the surface. He is based on a real person, a family member, and I found out today that the original for my character has just been given five months to live.

Words do fail me occasionally.

As before, these are notes which explain my thought processes and decisions while writing SEE, provided here as a service (or a warning!) to other writers.

These three chapters have only minor adjustments in general. The usual things like Capitalization and fixing typos. There are a few cases where I have changed "Yes" to "Aye" but in the main it will be difficult to spot most alterations. I have slightly changed one or two speeches but nothing that has any major significance.

I was watching VICE news last night on HBO, now that it airs 5 nights a week. And heard about the fact that there is a Trans-Woman running for one of the US Senate Seats for Utah as the candidate for the Democratic Party.

googleing for more information this is the frsrt web new link I found about it.

http://www.hcn.org/articles/say-hello-to-misty-snow

I applaud her courage to not only say who she is but to actually try and run for office.

For those of you who even care to read these blogs then watch and read as I explain what has happened over the last month and why I haven't been around as much as I'd like to be.

To start I guess I should mention a few things. First I was diagnosed with Parkinson's about a month ago. Secondly i'm mute(not deaf there is a difference) which means I can't talk. I lost my means of talking at 12 years old. This has been eating me up for a while and it drove me to the brink of suicide. It took a fellow BC'er talking me out of it to come to my senses.