I don't want anyone to get the idea that I don't want to see lots of comments after the recent blowups. We go along for months with lots of good comments then one of these brushfires breaks out and fo a while it seems people are afraid to comment.

Hello everyone! I have finally posted my entry for StarDust's contest. You can find it of course at StarDust! Strange Happenings in Ragnorak County was my third try at a entry since the first two started going way way over 10K words. Many thanks to Holly Logan, H.E.R, Paula, and special thanks to Angel for their help. Enjoy!
Hugs!
grover

You may have to login again and any posts or new logins since midnight 07/02/21 are probably lost. Other than that, it may be okay. Hope, hope, hope.

- Erin

Probably no one much under fifty is going to get this one but I think it's funny and that's what's important, isn't it? :)

\- Erin

Just because things have been a bit depressing lately...

I took the site down today for a cool down. Things had suddenly gone from a few posts trading mostly civil comments to five or more hot flames in half an hour then five in five minutes. I had to leave for a bit and didn't feel it would be wise to leave the site open to comments that might stay up for hours and inflame more passions, so I shut things down. I'm back, but later tonight I'll be going to sleep and tomorrow I will be occupied with taking my mother to see the cancer doctor. Let's all try to be nice to one another.

Hugs,
Erin

More and more stories are appearing now. Some have just blown me away and that is for sure!

I have managed to paint myself into a virtual corner, and I am unsure how to proceed. In addition to my novel for publication, I have a slew of stories currently in production for BigCloset. If I'm going to get anything posted, I need to focus on one of them at a time. The question I want to throw out there is for the folks who read my stuff -- what do you want to see first?

Here's what's I'm currently working on (not including my Stardust story contest entry):

I haven't finished Part 2 yet; it currently stands at just over 30,000 words with a fair bit of action to go. However, I'm going to start releasing it.

I've posted some additional information. For Ma'at - A pointer to some pictures of the Temple of Ma'at that is located in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, and a link to an article about the mummy of Hatshepsut being found.

For Amazon, there are pictures of Nicole's "Journey" earrings and pendant, a layout of the apartment she shares with Angela Ogle, and pictures of the Tanner's house.

All this, and a kitten going postal, at http://itinerant.fictioneer.org

While trying to find a book of Playboy magazine cartoons I turned up the following article on Salon.com from 1998. The title is "My Son, The Cross-dresser" By Lisa Stromberg.

The longest time for a page request I've seen in the new software, other than during a file upload, was 6 seconds, normally it is 2 or less. Compared to an average of 12 to 18 seconds and as high as 30+ for OTS. And I don't even have caching or the other speed enhancements turned on. :)

- Erin

There's only been one new story posted since the contest ended Sunday. We need more stories!

Hugs,
Erin

From November 15, 2006 through through January 7, 2007, original holiday-themed stories posted to BigCloset TopShelf will be eligible for cash prizes!

I found this poem a year or so ago, and it moved me very deeply. I came across it again while doing some online research and thought I would share it here.

The following musings are not specific to this particular site, but to all sites of the genre. Actually, it has more to do with a discussion I was part of in a chatroom, said discussion having left me a bit irritated and in need of a soapbox to publicly expound upon. This, then, is my first blog entry.

I thought it might be a good time to tell you the background for my handle/id.

I have been a life long fan of animation. In my extensive collection I have examples ranging from the 1920s to the latest CG stuff.

Taralynn's Desk now has Chapter 3 of "Crew Shift" posted. Shamelessly I point out that I helped out on the artwork, but she did the "inking" of the sickbay scene! Taralynn has a site worth visiting and features her stories Raven and Crew Shift. The link is at http://taralynn.sincomics.com/.

Well, the clock has now passed midnight and the Valley of the Sun has welcomed the New Year.

It's been a quiet evening for me, watching movies with my 'boyfriend' (Skipper, the 3-year-old Saluki-Chihuahua mix I adopted from a rescue shelter in October), and finishing up proofing of another story from one of our premier authors.

Today I went to professional author Wen Spencers Blog located at http://wen-spencer.livejournal.com/69789.html to look for an article about how to go about getting your writing published. Her Blog has some really good information, because she detailed her own struggle. Todays entry was good for it talked about her and her husband playing on-line games. The funny part was Wen was playing a male character and her husband playing a female. People was making the mistake that he really was female and he couldn't convince them otherwise! A case of virtual TG? LOL!

Ok all, first a Very Merry Christmas or Holiday season (being politically correct) and a Happy New year to all.

I can't take credit for this, because my Brother inlaw, who is a Luthern Minister, told me these two things, so I'm just relaying it to you. I thought they were cute.

I have enjoyed the wonderful stories presented here for Erin's Christmas Contest! The new writers, myself among them, have posted some very good and heartwarming tales. It's going to be very tough for the judges to make a ruling on these because they are all good.

Hi there to you all and Merry Christmas!

I'd just like to say a really big thank you to all who are involved with BC from the people who run it to the people who just like to read from it, you've all been very generous in the reviews you have given my stories. This is by far and away the best site of this type on the net and it pains me to have to take this rather enforced break from being able to read from and add to it.

Had a weird dream last night. Somehow I'd landed a job on a new movie starring Jim Carrey as Herman Munster, Meryl Streep as Lillie and Tim Curry as Grandpa with Mike Myers as the slimy villain. Actually sounds good while I'm awake!

I posted Surprise! over at Sapphire's Place, not realizing that somehow I had crossed a line I didn't know was there. While replying to a comment left by someone else, I said something about Jezzi that was not true. I thought I understood something about the nature of some of her stories, but I was very much mistaken. Jezzi, I am very, very, very sorry.

Today is Thanksgiving Day, and I'd like to take a moment to count the blessings I have been given.

First off is my health. Some very dedicated doctors have kept me going far longer than even the most optimistic projections when I was a baby. Now, there are some who might argue that it's not that good a thing, but I'm not complaining! So Thank You, Dr. Lawrence, Dr. Miller, and especially Dr. Rebecca, my current physician. I suppose I should also thank the various pharmaceutical companies, but my substantial cash "donations" should take care of that! ;-)

I've got some software setup on the new server to help create a community of authors and readers. Each member would have their own homepage, free, with quite a bit of control of how it looks, who can add to it and what appears there. I'd like to test this out before opening it up to everyone so if you are interested in trying it, send me a PM at Erin and I'll send you back the web address for trying this out.

Bob Arnold and I (or at least one of us) will be in the chatroom this Sunday for at least two hours. What should we talk about?

I've got some suggested topics:

Dear friends;

My alter ego is spending all of next week attending some work related training, some place called Kalamazoo MI.

Of course, I have to go along for the ride. It shouldn't be too bad, because I like flying, especially when someone else is paying for it, hee hee. Also, I get to have the evenings to do some writing or sight seeing.

I think that sometimes we tend to get just a little too serious. Here's a little something to brighten your day and put a smile on your face.

* * * ^ ^ * * *

Have a laugh on me!

Life