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Stary Stary Night.

There is so much peace in driving out through the desert, but I have never been out there in the winter. Sometimes I see pictures with snow out in the sage brush and wonder how it got there. We used to go out in the desert to camp. I loved looking up at the stars at night. Sometimes I would lay there under the jewel bright heavens and doze. Once in a while I'd wake up and look at the stars and I would notice that the Milky Way had swiveled a little. I remember that sort of like a time lapse movie. The nights when the moon was gone were the best.

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Owie

So I went to my regular Thursday dance class today and a two songs in my ankle started feeling really stiff and a bit sore. I tried dancing a couple more songs but it just kept getting worse and I was making mistakes. My teachers usually tell me I'm one of the best in the class and are actually thinking of having me in one of their shows. fourth song in I was making more mistakes because of the pain and discomfort and it was throwing off my balance so I quit for the day.

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What do you think?

Hello everone! I'm of need of some opinions here. My book Heroes of Justice has lingered in the backroom for ages. There're many reasons why, but mostly because of the lack of a cover. Yes, I do know that many has come forward with solutions, but for me it turned into a mountain of frustrations.

Finally, money problems has forced my hand, so ready or not.

This is a cover I've put together that I think looks half-way decent. My question is what do you my three fans think? What might improve it?
Hugs
Grover

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Whatever the future may hold

Some time back I was outed by one of my nephews, a particularly nasty and unthinking individual whose actions have unfortunately caused me multiple issues, not to mention the total polarization of my ex-wife's family. My ex-wife was the only person outside of my therapist and my friends here who actually new that I was transitioning - my plan being to address this with my sons in the spring of 2014. My three sons, who at the time my nephew decided to tell the world were aged 17, 22, and 25, unfortunately found out in a less than optimal fashion.

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Okay, so now I am confused

Well, I had my ultrasound on my foot, and I am more confused as to what's going on than ever. I started to sweat when the technician called someone else to look at my results, and all this other person would tell me was there was a possibility it was "scar tissue" and gave a Latin name which meant nothing to me.

So now I have to wait for a MRI scan, which wont happen until May, and then see the specialist.

Our system is free, but it sure takes a long time to get anything done ...

Ah, well.

What's a life without pain?

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Fighting illness and injury.

Since last weekend, that is, the weekend of Dec 1st, I had been fighting an abscess on the back of my shoulder. That Sunday I went into the emergency room to have the abscess lanced and drained, which they did, after some big time pain. I left with a large bandage on my shoulder, and not much else except a couple of pricey prescriptions which I couldn't afford.

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I blame it all on Noah

I have been in recent correspondence with another writer who wanted to know why I don't allow public comments on my stories. I said that one negative comment had far more affect on me than 20 positive ones, and I felt I didn't have to take criticism if I didn't want it.

Nowadays, I have the courage to publish stories with public comments disabled. (And there's certainly plenty of moral bullying to imply there's something wrong with you if you don't allow public comments.)

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Car accident

So on Black Friday I bought myself a Prius. It was silver. Now it's denty. I hit a deer. Bumper no long bumps, hood no longer covers engine, radiator bleeding some weird red liquid. My neck and back hurt. No airbags deployed. Geico needs me to get a police report and I don't know who to contact for the Florida Highway Patrol. Not happy.

For animal lovers: The deer lived, but I hope it gets eaten by a hungry rabbit.

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On The Subject OF Christmas Songs

This is one that you will definitely not hear in shopping malls. Take note of my warnings.

www.youtube.com.sg/watch?v=tEe55NxFSSU

Otherwise, have a very Merry Christmas,

Joanne

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My first ever raffle - Win something today (well in a week)

This is my very first giveaway and using Rafflecopter, so I hope it all goes well. In celebration of hitting 10,000 sales on Amazon I am giving away a hardcover autographed copy of God Bless the Child (the book that got this whole ball of fun rolling). Sign up today, let's have some fun. Only one winner this time, but more fun to come in the upcoming months.

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Gender Marker Changes

I am in the process of getting my gender marker changed and have been thinking about what is required. Here in Texas, there are no hard requirements, because there is no legal procedure to get it done. Clerks in Tarrent county where I live have been instructed not to take petitions for gender marker changes. Therefore I am filing in Dallas county. There they require a letter from the Doctor and one from a Therapist as set by one of the local Judges.

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Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

I just saw Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962) (in French with English subtitles that are more or less adequate, as these things go) and was struck that the huge problem for the Holy Church of the time was Jeanne's cross-dressing. Evidently, hearing voices and seeing angels was more-or-less fine, but doing it whilst ‘dressed inappropriately’ was anathema. TMTC,tMTStS.

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Blogging site interview

I have been picked up by a website that reviews and promotes LGBT literature. I must admit, some of their stuff is a bit raunchy for me, but each to their own. The site is called 'Bending the Bookshelf', and they intend to post a short interview of me tomorrow.

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Bonnie and Clyde, a personal anecdote on that pair.

And no, I wasn't alive back then. My grandfather was, though. He made his living as a butcher back in the thirties, moving between Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri as the work was available. I also know, from personal experience, that he was one mean SOB if provoked and a sane person did not want to make him mad at them.

Back when the original Bonnie and Clyde movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out he once told me that he'd known Clyde Barrow. Who was a mean SOB (that coming from one) who grandad wouldn't turn his back on.

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Hey Sleethr! Great stuff!

Instead of placing this in a simple comment, I chose to place it in a blog entry so more can see it. I've just finished re-reading MAU and Whisper. In case you were wondering where the extra kudos came from, it was me.

I'm very impressed with your storytelling skills. Both stories held my attention and enthusiasm all the way through to the satisfying endings. Your characters were very well thought out and fleshed out, til they became more real people to me as opposed to characters in stories.

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Xmas Tunes Acronym Quiz

So, as we're well into advent, it's time to roll out my infamous Christmas Tunes Acronym Quiz again. This year, I've bumped it up to 160 songs - most of which are either carols or secular seasonal pop songs (i.e. ones that actually mention winter / snow / Christmas, rather than just those that share nothing in common with the season other than release date), but there's a handful of secular songs considered traditional and the occasional novelty / parody track.

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Apologies To The Odd Reader

I do apologise to those few readers who may have been waiting for another chapter of my last story "After The Ball". I have just not been able to come up with anything which satisfies me or seems to be a valid continuation and so I have retitled the previous post "Just For The Ball?" with very minor changes to make it a stand-alone. If anyone thinks that they can continue the tale please feel free to do so. Just run it past me before posting. Sorry,

Joanne

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Windows 8, What?

So, I keep hearing more and more about Windows 8. Is anyone using it? What do you think? My Computer is "OLD", like 2009 old. It has a Window Experience Index of 5.1, what ever that is. An Intel Core Quad CPU Q8300 2.5 Ghz, 6.0 GB memory, 64 bit OS, and one TB hard disk, about half full.

I'm using Firefox unless I have to get on the VA and then I use Chrome.

Any ideas?

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Dickens? Seriously?

I heard this comparison twice in the last two days and by two completely different unattached people talking about two different stories, one not even a member of the transgender community. I've heard this comparison before as well and I wonder if there is credence to it. I figured I would bring it up here and hopefully people will weigh in on the matter.

I have been, on occasion, compared to Charles Dickens.

There, I said it.

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Fragile, handle with care

I find myself wondering why I feel so fragile. Is it that in taking of the male mask I am more vulnerable than I have ever been? Is it that I am now on hormones that equal what a teenage girl deals with? Is it that trying to deal with both my gender issues and my abuse I dont have a lot of emotional strength left for anything else?

I don't know, but the truth remains - I am more sensitive, more fragile now.

So be extra careful in handing me, okay?

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I know this ground has been covered before

How is it that readers can read something brilliant and not be motivated to click on the kudos button or leave a comment? The authors here, many of whom are exceptional, deserve our thanks! They work hard to post wonderful, well crafted, stories and we, for the most part, ignore them. It's not right! How much effort does it really take to click that button in thanks?

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Under the knife in less than two weeks...

One thing loosing my job has done, it has moved up my timetable on SRS. This is because SRS is covered on my old insurance, and part of my severance package was insurance for 11 weeks after I was laid off. I am prepared to buy COBRA if I have to if I need the insurance extended.

So, baring glitches, I will be going into an operating room and having what was supposed to be the final stage of my transition done. Like I said, it was moved up. I do not see myself ever being able to afford this on my own, and I qualify now (or will as of Dec. 16).

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Kindle News for Authors and Readers

This concerns revisions and downloads. I just discovered that the copy of Reclamation that was offered in a 5-day free promotion is an older version. I updated all of my books in June of this year; all of the "Look Inside!" previews reflected that--yet the older version was sent out. Amazon is looking into it with me (several emails back and forth), because they're potentially liable if the book downloaded is not the book previewed!

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New writer can someone proof read my story

Dean wakes up in the middle of the night to find himself lying on the floor with blood covered over him. He is sluggish in his stance trying to get up because of the blood on the ground, he is trying to check his body for any wounds to see if he is the cause of the blood on the ground as he checks his self he notice there are no wounds or open cuts to his body and trying to figure out where did this blood come from.

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Looking for Story About Char Pretending to be Famous Friend's GF

I'm looking for a story where the main character pretends to be famous/successful friend's girlfriend, and accompanies him to an awards night. Eventually the main character develops feelings for the guy and is distraught to find him one night with a prostitute.

I've tried various keywords but since I couldn't remember the title, I'm having a hard time.

Thanks!

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Yet another bl**dy birthday!

As I fly towards my dotage at the speed of light, I seem to have gathered another anniversary of my emergence on this planet. All it seems to bring these days is another ache or pain somewhere new which seems an awful price to pay for a few birthday cards. Such is life (or my one appears to be).

Then again, I'm living the dream and have been for a very long time, so perhaps I shouldn't complain.

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Its not just us the Daily Wail hates

Given how many of us here from the UK have an issue with the misogynist prating of the likes of Richard Littlejohn you might enjoy taking a test to see how much the Daily Mail hates YOU personally

(And the test doesn't even mention TG)

Persephone

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Working on Athena's Wisdom

One of the things I'm wondering about is if I'm making Archie a little too broken here in the beginning. I mean, yes part of writing fiction is torturing your characters for fun and profit. That said, I wonder if I'm being too hard on Archie too soon.

Things aren't going to get better anytime soon. Archie's story has some miles to go before it's done.

Just wondering...

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What do you write on?

I have been wondering while writing my current story, what do people here use to write? I usually write on dreamweaver, i like the way it formats the htm, but the lack of an auto save can be a pain when it crashes (nearly lost an entire chapter from that). I have looked at word, but it seems to really mess up html, or at least over complicate it. I also seem to have a problem with conflicting spell checkers when it comes to us vs English spelling (color / colour etc.)

Lisa

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And now, for the bad news.

The bad news is that I am mourning the death of a very important member of my family...my computer, affectionately referred to as "the beast." He was an old laptop, 7 years aged, or 700 in computer years, and his presence will be missed.

What this means though, is that since I am basically borrowing pc's for the foreseeable future, updates will be spotty.

On a possibly related note, I've noticed many of the more experienced authors on here are also on kindle. How hard is that to achieve, really? I've been working on a little gem of a story for a bit over a month...it's nearing completion and I'm kind of hoping it'll pay for a new beast.

It sucks being poor.

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Daily Mail: Humans are chimp/pig hybrids!

The Daily Fail has scored yet another notch in the "WTF?" category with this article:

'Humans evolved after a female chimpanzee mated with a pig': Extraordinary claim made by American geneticist

  • Dr Eugene McCarthy points to features that distinguish us from primates
  • He says that the only animals which also have these features are pigs
  • Controversial hypothesis has been met by significant opposition

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A very real transgender story

As most of you know, I am not TG in any respect, although I do seem to write a lot on the subject. I probably don't write as much, or as often as I should and my experience of TG matters comes from being on the outside, not the inside - which could be termed as a disadvantage.

My experience just got a little deeper recently however, and I would like to share that experience with you all with a little account here that I have just posted.

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‘The Other Side of the Wire’ is now on Kindle and Lulu.com

The fourth work of fiction set in the Second World War depicts life in Nazi Germany from 1935 on. It was inspired by the life of Solomon Perel, a Jewish-German boy who at age ten escaped Nazi persecution in 1935 with his family by fleeing to Lodz, Poland. When captured by the Germans, he managed to conceal his identity from the Nazis and become a member of the Hitler Youth in the process. It was adeptly depicted in ‘Europa, Europa,’ a movie based on the book ‘I Was Hitler Youth Salomon’ an autobiography Perel wrote in 1991.

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What do our stories say about us

Ever since I sat down and decided that I was going to give being a published author a try, I have been very conscientious about the choices that I make and what I put down on paper. I know I am only a self published author using technology to my advantage, but certain questions should be raised.

What is transgender literature saying about the community as a whole?

Are you happy with the message?

How do you feel about terms like Sissy, Tranny, Shemale, Ladyboi, Slut, Bimbo?

Do you think the majority of stories accurately represent your struggles?

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Joe Bates and Sapphire's Place

Just a shot in the dark, here, I decided to reread "The Joe Bates Saga" ay Sapphire's Place, after many years. I've gotten up to chapter 10 so far, except that the links for chapters 7 and 9 were broken. I don't know who, if anyone is responsible for the site, so I though that I would mention iy here. Does anyone know who I should contact?

TIA

Liz

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I'm Insulted!!!

I'm insulted. Yup, insulted! I went to Amazon and bought Katie's book "Unreachable" (wonderful story, recommend it to everyone) in Kindle format, downloaded the app for reading Kindle on a PC, and had a wonderful time reading yesterday. And then today...

Got an E-mail from kai(at)amazon.com, supposedly an "Account Specialist" with Amazon.com. Kai is concerned that

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Bad Writing

I used to be a regular subscriber to a British magazine called SFX. Rather annoyingly, the front page was always designed so that the 'F' was slightly obscured, giving everyone the impression that you were buying a magazine called SEX, but that's by the by.

The best feature was always right at the end, where considerable space was given to reviewing recent SF and Fantasy fiction. The reviews were often uncompromising. I remember one comment to the effect that any writer who uses the phrase 'in actual fact' should be hung, drawn and quartered.

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T-Giving Tradition

If somebody has already posted this I apologize, but listening to this has become a Thanksgiving tradition for me. So without further adieu, follow this link to hear Alice's Restaurant Masacree by Arlo Guthrie, with the lyrics as video.

Alice's Restaurant

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Happy Thanksgiving

First of all, I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all the American members of Big Closet. I hope all of you are having a great day with friends and family. For everyone else in other countries, I hope you're having a great Thursday.

I'm about to have a giant feel sorry for myself moment. So, if you don't want to read that, you've been warned.

***

Another holiday, and another one spent alone. I was supposed to have a house full of friends today. All of them canceled for one reason or another.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish all of my friends here at BCTS a most wonderful Thanksgiving. BCTS, the owners, editors, admins, writers, and readers have all made my life so much easier by providing a safe place to learn and grow. I appreciate all of y'all and wish the best for everyone.

Bright Blessings!
Cassie Ellen

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