1967
Just an odd and ends memory

Odd what memories can be brought up by an unrelated story, the year was 1967, neither Pete nor I had cars so I would use one of my dad's. Now he did not really care what a used car looked like just as long as it was in good condition and around six years old at the time he bought it. So... at the time he had a pink dodge station wagon and that is what we took our dates to that years prom in. Strangely I don't remember my date any longer but what happened later. We dropped our dates back at their homes and along with my sister we went joy riding in the newly cut roads in the farm fields north of the house. At one time there had been ponds for the stock in this field but over the grape and raspberry hedges I could see dump trucks driving through that area in the daytime so I gave it no thought that night as I drove better than 60mph on the new dirt roads, that is until too late I realized that they had doglegged around the pond temporarily. The next morning my dad asked where the car was. I told him that he should be able to see the top of it out the front window, about where the old farm pond is. Out of that one could build the rest of the story.

Outside of this comment are attached memories of the same event, Pete and I needed to wash this car before the prom, so over at his house I pulled up as close to the curb so that the hose would reach the driver's side of the car, well part of the car. To reach the rest of the car I had to back up. Now I was "real" close to the curb. As I backed up, the hex head of the curb side fire hydrant's hose connection cover sliced into the rear fender and rear passenger side door like a hot knife. As our attention was on the drivers side, we did not notice it till later. My karma was heading south.

Back to my splash down, after wading out of the pond, not too deep now but muddy, viscus mud at that, we woke up a neighbor to see if he would pull us out with his pick up. Now he is stuck too.

Back to my dad, the only time my mother heard him swear was when he accidentally laid his head open with a hammer, he just told me he wanted the car back, clean, by the time he came home from work. I rode my bicycle across town to Sahagan's towing and hired him to pull both vehicles out and deliver them to their homes. After I paid him he gave my my change from a cash box in the refrigerator. Of course I had to ask him why the refrigerator, he told me straight faced that he liked to deal in cold cash.

We never did fix the the slice in the side.

1990

between '89 and '93 I lived in Jackson Park Housing, which provides housing both for the naval station Bangor, and naval station and shipyard Bremerton, now called Naval Station Kitsap. About three miles from Bremerton, all up hill. Oyster bay was just one off shoot of the inland bays of Puget Sound and one could ride a bicycle along Shorewood Drive, from Kitsap Way, than along a bike/walking path to enter the housing area at the water front. The housing went up the hill side from there. One of two address I lived at while there was 33-c Wencker Way. I bought up the point of the sameness of the housing to each other, as a point of worry of finding the right unit, in real pea soup fog it is hard to tell where one is.

The scrap of memory of a sf short story about the fog in London is true. My story was written on a foggy night, two nights ago, while I was on patrol at a construction site in S/E Wisconsin, as the fog swirled, and eddied in the nearby street lights and hid from view, everything, yet the sky above was mostly clear. I again remembered to that scrap of a story and its broken dimensional boarders, I wish I could give the author proper credit. The story could have gone many ways and in the fog maybe it did.

Sorry nothing here

This space is for my use as I frame up portions of stories under construction for eg, building tables of contents or work on inserting illustrations.

A YouTube of Tom Swift's "Love Bites"

Scratch Pad, sorry nothing here - just a work page for me

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At this time I'm working on a rewrite of "All the Bar..."

01 Preamble to the show

Although I had grown up in a non smoking family, long years of being split between the commandments of family and the enticement of new and exciting relationships at school resulting in my smoking while in high school. Now I couldn’t shake it. If I was not asleep, I smoked. My sister had done the same, but one night she or her boy friend had let a live one fall unnoticed into the couch, he got out.

I had moved on, going to school at the University of Minnesota followed by a stretch in defense of the president’s right to determine how another country is ruled. Now I lived in Little Falls and worked as a ground support technician at the air field on Camp Ripley. It works out pretty well, I’m a member of the Minnesota National Guard one weekend a month and two weeks a year, and employed at the same location full time.

Camp Ripley is in the middle of nowhere. The terrain is mostly second generation forest and small farms. I know of one homestead only eight miles away that is all solar powered, even the local millwork runs on solar. Only the main county roads are paved roads with most roads being either packed dirt or gravel. Sign are mostly useless and the few you see are likely to be shot up and useless.

Now out here there are some great restaurants, and the bars also have a pretty good spread. Neither Judy nor I had learned to cook while growing up and now that we were “out of the nest” we would eat out more often than not, it was better than choosing to nuke a dinner from the freezer and great for socialization. Oh by the way, the only good TV reception around here is if you have satellite, all the public establishments do, so why should I shell a “C” note each month.

What is the problem? The PC types in government had passed a no smoking ban for both restaurants and bars and with it my diet and sociability both took a hit. If we don’t get out of the house soon, Judy and I might just start swinging at each other and that will be justifiably “all she wrote”.

As I ragged on my fellow sergeants at work (there’s no smoking on base either), John tried to get me to chill. He had an idea for all of us to take a weekend in St. Paul, get in some good food and cheer, and smoke while doing it! He had in his hand a section of an AP report that had come from the comm. room.

All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars ... a new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume and pronouncing them "actors."... the smoking ban, which the Legislature passed last year, allows actors to light up in character during theatrical performances as long as patrons are notified in advance. About 30 bars in Minnesota have been exploiting the loophole...

Well, John had taken it upon himself to locate several of these fine establishments and set up a charter event for us and our spouses. Wednesday night, all whom were interested, along with our significant others would meet in the drill hall and he would explain the details.

Come Wednesday the proposed weekend was explained to us. The Act II Bar and Grill had developed several programs that would involve patrons. Options included lunchtime theater weekend, a live local access TV program on Fridays as sports commentators covering local sports, or Saturday night improve. On Sunday morning we could participate in non denominational lay services but no alcohol would be served during services. As a memento the weekend would be recorded and edited with the final result presented to us on DVDs to enjoy again and again.

We had the option to participate in all, some or none, of the programs. Only those actively performing could use fired up tobacco products as props. The result is that every one signed up for the Friday Night Lights High School Sports Program. Each table was assigned a team and provided with a folio of information on both of the two teams and their schools that they would provide commentary on. The game highlights would be presented in sports center format with a countdown guide on the left side of the screen and a ten second warning light at each table to prompt the next group of commentators of their impending turn to smoke and indecently provide wisdom on the broadcasted battles. One problem, each table must have a one female commentator for every two to four male counterparts at the same table, no sharing.

Not everyone chose to sign up for the lunchtime theater weekend. In this program, patrons would be in an interactive play, and some would be onstage actors who, along with the bar’s staff actors, would facilitate parts of the weekend performance. The overall program was loosely scripted and could take many twists and turns, mostly unplanned. To make this program more interesting, we would draw numbers out of a box. These numbers would be markers for the characters we would play. Once we arrived at our hotel next to the Act II, we would be met by a staff member who hypnotized us and while hypnotized we would be informed about our character and provided with our costume. Now this is devious!

I am really looking forward to the Saturday night improve program, my father, god bless his soul, had enjoyed many an evening on a live stage with his well received wit. Miles from home, I expected to feel no backlash using my own growing up and family as source material. What I did not know then was that this would be an open show, the public was also welcome to attend as regular non smoking patrons, we would be the actors for their enjoyment. Also unknown to us a local community college’s communication arts program would be filming the weekend for a documentary on innovative responses to the new law.

As for the Sunday morning service, no signup required, but all who attended would participate, smoker or not.

Well as can be imagined there were many questions. The news spot had noted one example of an acting bar which was nothing more than a regular bar. Their example, a hard-rock and heavy-metal bar named AT The Rock, in St. Paul, where the "actors" do little more than sit around, drink, smoke and listen to the earsplitting music. Here a black stage curtain covers part of the entrance, and a sign next to it with an arrow reads "Stage Entrance." Along the opposite wall, below a "Props Dept." sign, there was a stack of the only props needed: black ashtrays. At the door is printed playbill for the program, with a list of names of people portraying bartenders and security guards. "Brian." Is playing the owner.

John explained that the state’s Health Department is threatening to bring the curtain down on the sham productions and had vowed this week to begin cracking down on theater nights, with fines of as much as $10,000. Besides, we were going to be spending the whole weekend, we might as well make it something to remember. The cost for the weekend would be one hundred fifty each but that was all inclusive, the rest would be covered by the base recreational services fund.
Well all said and done, forty eight of us agreed to go along. We signed drafts for the payment of our share of the expenses and were measured by a tailor and seamstress from the BX. Lastly, we drew numbers, what character this number represented we would not know until were met by the hypnotist and the people from wardrobe. My number? 13.
The bus would load at five Thursday night, after that, well the show must go on.

Sorry about this, I created this clipboard to allow me to try out ideas and formatting changes so that I can see how they work out with out damaging what I have already written.

What is the difference between an editor and a proof reader? How does an editor help, and to what degree do they influence story development? At some time in the past I had noticed a list of potential editors at Story Site, is there such a list here? and other questions I have not thought of yet...

I have found that I may need to cloth a character in one of my stories, this character has no relatives with clothing to borrow, and will be "shopping".

To start I would need shoes, I found a link that mentioned that the average person's feet are 15% of a person's height. Yes that is average and real life can go either way. foot size in inches = (15 x height in inches)/100. This will work in metric also, either way one would than enter the result in to a shoe sizing chart of the proper units. info on ratio was from Wiki Answers. Also noted was that this formula worked best on fully grown adults.

I than went to Zappos and used their chart to convert the size in inches to the shoe size. Another site, mentioned that one should go up a size for closed toe shoes and heels.

In October of 2008, Kyrie Hobson wrote Honeymoon Inn at Fictionmania. In October of 2011 Kyrie followed up with Honeymoon Inn: The Senator's Wife, also at Fictionmania.

In December of 2011 Kyrie released Honeymoon Inn Factsheet, a factsheet/bible for authors who wish to write stories based in the Honeymoon Inn universe.

Just in case the Factsheet link fails in the future I'm repeating Kyrie's factsheet below.

The two stories that I have read were well written and enjoyable, and I hope that Kyrie will pen more in the series, but I am also glad that this Universe has been declared open.

Notice: The Honeymoon Inn setting and all characters are copyright 2008 by Kyrie Hobson.

Permission is hereby given to use the setting and haracters so long as the following notice is included with all
publications using them: "The Honeymoon Inn and associated characters are copyright 2008 by Kyrie Hobson. Used with permission."

Location:

The Honeymoon Inn is located in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas, a small distance from Hot Springs. The Inn sits in a valley that descends northeast to southwest for five miles between two mountain peaks; the valley is about two miles wide at its widest point. The northwestern slope is crowned with a series of interconnected bluffs ranging in height from five to sixty-five feet; below them, this slope is mostly gentle and smooth. The southeastern slope is steep and heavily forested; with the exception of the Inn's access road, which descends from the ridge crest in a series of long, slow switchbacks, this slope has few paths or roads used by humans. A small stream has cut a ravine along the base of the valley splitting it along its length and ends in a small lake at the southwestern end of the valley before seeping out through a hidden cave system. The main access crosses the ravine at the approximate center of the valley; two smaller foot bridges cross about a mile and a half above and below the main bridge, forming a loop trail along either side of the ravine. The northwest slope of the valley is crossed by a number of trails and paths of scenic and natural
interest.

The Inn itself is located on a knoll on the northwestern slope, just beneath the largest bluff, a cliff some fifty feet high at the center of the ridge. Access to the inn is provided by a well-maintained road that descends into the valley from a county road on the southeast ridge, crosses the creek, then climbs up the northwest ridge to a small parking
lot in the inn's yard. Although the proprietors own the entire valley and allow guests the privilege of wandering its many trails and byways, the main campus of the inn is composed of the Inn itself, four small cabins that curl around the parking lot to the southwest of the main building, and a number of functional outbuildings between the Inn and the bluff. The Inn has a number of gardens in and around the main campus, including a formal garden with a gazebo directly behind the main building, a wildflower garden in the cul de sac at the cabins, an herb garden, and a large vegetable garden that supplies most of the inn's fresh produce for the season.

The Main Building:

The main building of the Inn as a large structure similar to many Inns and small hotels built around the turn of the 20th century. A sitting porch spans the entire front of the building with gingerbread accents marking the roof line and disguising the stiles of the railing. The front doors open on a ten-by-ten mud room, equipped with benches and
stools for removing outerwear and hooks and shelves for storing these items.

This room leads (turning left) into the main lobby, a wide (30' x 30')day room with a two-story ceiling. Standing in the doorway from the mud room, one can see two doors on the opposite wall. The door on the left marks the Women's Day Room (sewing room, reading room), the door on the right leads to the Smoking Room (Men's room--at this time, smoking is
illegal in all indoor public spaces in Arkansas, this would not be the case during the Inn's original life). To the right, an rounded archway leads under a wide staircase into the dining room. The staircase descends along the northwest wall to a small landing, then turns along the mudroom wall and descends a short flight to the lobby floor. A small desk in the corner of the stairway is the only evidence that this is a business lobby and not a living room.

The lobby is furnished with a large Edwardian Sofa more or less centered in the room, with matching chairs, end and coffee tables. This conversation pit faces a large fireplace on the northeast wall, between the mudroom door and the stairs. A large chandelier hangs above the lobby.

The dining room is almost as large as the lobby and is equipped with a main table with seating for ten, four smaller tables with seating for two each, and a variety of sideboards and china and linen cabinets. A large window on the back (northwest) wall provides a view of the gardens and gazebo. Near the back of the northeast wall, a swinging door provides access to the kitchen.

The kitchen is a moderately-sized professional kitchen with some non-standard equipment. Besides the normal stoves, ovens and appliances, the kitchen is also equipped with a meat-grinder and an electric grain mill. Doors on the southeast wall lead into the large pantry and down to the root/wine cellar. A door on the northeast wall provides access, via a narrow hallway, to the laundry room and the staff sleeping rooms. A final door, on the northwest wall (abutting the northeast wall) opens to the back yard, allowing access to the herb garden and shed, smokehouse, animal pens, and other outbuildings and yards.

All guest rooms are upstairs, which can be accessed either by the main staircase in the lobby or a small spiral staircase in the staff area. The inn has 8 rooms and two suites. The rooms share four bathrooms, and are fairly small in comparison to the public rooms (12' x 12'). They are each furnished with a full-sized bed, a dresser, and armoire, and a small desk and chair. He suites are slightly larger and differ from the rooms only by having a private bathroom and a small conversation nook.

The entire inn has been retrofitted for electricity, hot-and-cold running water, and zone-based heating and cooling. Where possible, the owners have preserved the Edwardian feeling of the old house, but necessary modifications to conform to codes and laws are occasionally apparent.

The cabins are small single-story dwellings, each with a small porch that leads into a 10 by 10 living/day room. To the left is a small kitchen/dining room area, and to the right, a door leads into a small bedroom similar to the rooms in the inn but smaller.

The garden can be accessed by a long winding path from the front porch or by a more direct path from the kitchen door (through a high hedge that masks the working yard from the dining room). The dominating feature of the formal garden is a large gazebo with three small tables for taking tea. Behind the garden, a short path leads to the graves of the Inn's original owners.

Three nature walks lead away from the Inn: two leading northeast and one southwest. The southwest path is a little over a mile and a half long and ends at a pleasant park where the valley stream widens into a small lake before leaving the valley. The higher of the two northeast paths climbs above the lower bluffs and rises to a scenic overlook with
a small bench. The lower path descends through the grassy slope of the valley to meet the loop trail beneath a massive three-hundred-year-old live oak (this tree is rumored to be inhabited by a dryad). A small sitting area at the trail junction provides a beautiful view along the lower slopes of the valley.

The Magic:

The Valley's magic is slow but pervasive, altering every aspect of those affected in subtle but significant ways. One must remember that the valley does not punish people. The valley seeks, in its single-minded way, to make visitors happy and fulfilled within stable, sustainable relationships. Whether these are same-sex, intersex, or polyamorous
relationships, is up to the perceptions and needs of the subjects.

This is not to say that those affected may not feel like they are being punished, if the circumstances of their arrival in the valley lead one to expect punishment. The over-all effect, however should be a happier person providing a sustainable role in a long-term loving couple.

A bit of history may help in understanding the workings of the magic in the valley. Now while it is likely that the valley was always a place of power, it never really gained a reputation for specific magic until the 1830's. The legend goes that a small tribe of the Choctaw Nation was trapped in the valley in late 1831 and they all died of exposure.
One of the members of that tribe was betrothed to a young member of another tribe, a nascent shaman, who backtrailed to find his beloved, and, finding the few sad survivors, learned from them of his love's heroic assistance and unflagging faith in her betrothed. Wracked by sorrow and hopelessness, he cast a wild spell, gathering all of the power in the valley to a single purpose: that no one who entered the valley with hope of love would leave it bereft and alone. His spell was a costly one, and he paid with his life, somehow drawing the spirits of those lost (but not the straggling survivors) into its web and binding them and the natural power of the valley to his purpose.

Fifty-one years later, a small-time grifter name Felicity Merriam entered with her guide, Thaddeus Barclay. Felicity, who had spent time with members of the Golden Dawn, had no belief in magic, except as a means of separating the credulous from their money. When she and Barclay found themselves trapped in the valley, however, she felt its
power drive them ever closer to one another, until they became inseparable lovers. Recognizing the valley as a place of true magic, Felicity adapted a few rituals she had learned while with the Golden Dawn, and further focused the magic in undefined ways.

A full-body transformation, with attendant alterations to perception and history takes about three days. The changes are gradual in that time period, and noticeable only in retrospect. Just as you can't watch the minute hand of a quality clock moving, the development of a full-body change cannot be directly seen, but the effects of several hours of
changes are unavoidable.

Mental changes are perceived only by those with a strong sense of self, or a firmly-rooted self-image. Kevin Bell (in the original story) recognized the alterations being made to his perception of events because he saw his mind as his key asset and was aware of everything that happened in it. Sara (nee Soren) Jorgens became aware of the changes because his/her self-image conflicted with the self that the valley was creating for him/her. Alice (nee Alex) Bell could have
undergone the full transformation without noticing, had her friend Soren not called Alex's attention to what was happening. In many ways, it is like an optical illusion: only a few people notice it without help, but once it's called to your attention, you can't help but see it. The less direct affect the valley has on one's mind, the less likely that person is to notice any particular changes. Persons not actually within the valley are unaware of any change and simply accept the new reality (although paradoxes and jarring conflicts may cause some confusion--in "The Senator's Wife", Terrence Cowpens is referred to the Inn by Margeret Cornwall, whose marital trouble following a series of
miscarriages was solved by making her able to carry to term, a jarring conflict that Terrence only notes as odd in retrospect).

The full capabilities of the valley's magic are as yet undefined. A complete sexual transformation involves, not only altering the subject's sex, but altering perceptions (or reality) so the person was always of that sex. More subtly, Leonard Delco, in "The Senator's Wife" was mentally altered from a man having a loving affair with Stephanie Bradley to an adherent who platonically loved and was fiercely loyal to Stephen Bradley, the man she became.

As each person enters the valley, they are drawn into the valley's magic, and their sadness (if any) is measured and the best way to help that person to happiness is determined. As Terrence Cowpens describes it in "The Senator's Wife", "I felt as if I was being studied; not in a piercing or distant way, but in almost a loving way, turned and coddled
in a mother's arms that just wanted to find the source of my pain and make it better."

Children before puberty and undergoing its throes (younger than 16 for girls and 17 for boys) are immune from the valley's effects.

Permanent Characters:

Feel free to use the Bells and the Parks in any stories, but if you plan to make them major characters or inject serious changes in their lives or character, please ask first.

Alice Bell--is in her early thirties, small (5'2") and slender, muscular without being hard, handsome rather than pretty with wavy, strawberry blonde hair that falls just below shoulder length. She is pragmatic, but considerate and generally sympathetic to the problems and feelings of others. Alice is the inn's general manager and maintains the
internal operations and care. She also manages the kitchen staff, cooking many meals personally.

Sara Parks--is also in her thirties, but appears younger, due mostly to her large brown eyes and small round face. She is slightly taller than Alice, at 5'4" but appears shorter due to her short waist and softer curves. Sara is generally shy around strangers, but has deep empathy and will usually speak out when a situation calls for it. She loves
animals and cares for the chickens and small goat herd the Inn keeps for food. She also cares for the gardens.

Kevin Bell--Alice's husband is the CEO of MagnaSof, a large productivity software company that bought out the Inn-owners old company. Kevin took a job at MagnaSof as part of the merger agreement, and quickly worked his way up the food chain. He is tall and moderately handsome with dark brown hair that he keeps short. He is an avid outdoorsman, enjoying
hunting and fishing as much for the long hours of walking and communing with nature as for the excitement of the kill. He is decisive but not pushy, and generally allows people to have their say before making a decision. Once decided, however, he is generally immovable. He's smart enough to leave the running of the Inn and the Bells' small family to
Alice.

Eisenhower (Ike) Parks--Sara's husband is a solid counterpoint both for his wife and for his friend and partner, Kevin. He is more diplomatic than Kevin and tends to be more inquisitive than decisive. He dotes on Sara and does his best to protect her from the heartbreaking realities of their life (such as when a hen must be killed for dinner).

The Bell's have a son, Kevin, Jr., born a month after the Inn opened and a daughter, Maeve, born four years later. The Parks have a daughter, Christina, born three years after the Inn's opening.

During the Season (March to Mid-November) the Inn maintains a day staff of about ten (4 housekeeping, 3 kitchen, 2 maintenance and grounds, and 1 driver). Most live off-site in nearby towns. Most locals know the reputation that the Inn and the valley have.

Any questions or requests can be made to [email protected]

I found an interesting story universe idea posted at The AR Archive, titled Madam Verde’s Mystic Costumes. Within the story’s description is permission by the author, Steven, to use this story idea as long as it retains the story line outlined in the Prologue of Madam Verde’s Mystic Costumes: Daughter's Choice, which he created on October 25th, 2009.

I quote here from his posting on 2009-10-25 "A daughter chooses a costume for her mother that has an effect on her. I give permission to use Madam Verde's in your stories as long as you keep it within the story line of the prolgue."

Prologue by Steven

In a small town in New England, called Lewisville, something strange came to town many years ago and since then the town has never been the same. The strangeness began with a small shop that mysteriously appeared one cool October night. No one knew where it came from or how it suddenly appeared by the next morning. On the banner that was displayed above the door was written, 'Madam Verde’s Mystic Costumes’. The owner appeared to be a gypsy, age unknown, from Europe with olive colored skin and raven dark hair. Why her age is unknown is because every year she seemed to change in appearance, one time she looked as if she was in her fifties, and another time in her early twenties. No one knew what to expect when they walked into the shop that year. What spooked a few people the first time was her strange purple colored eyes and the fact that she knew everyone who came into the shop by name.

Every year the shop would appear two weeks before Halloween and every year it would vanish after twelve 'o clock midnight on Halloween. All of this was strange enough, but it was the costumes themselves that topped the list for weirdness. All of Madam Verde’s costumes held special powers that worked on Halloween. And when the clock strikes twelve on Halloween night all her costumes vanish along with the shop. This special power is what at first scared the people of Lewisville, but who eventually came to love and cherish. For them it made the town special and unique.

Why would the town’s people come to cherish of power of Madam Verde’s costumes you ask? Well for one, with her costumes, every adult or teen could relive their childhoods for one special night of the year. For you see, the power of the costumes, when activated, changed the person holding them to the age the costume was meant for and for those daring enough also their gender. All a person had to do was hold the costume and say the words, “Is est meus sumptus”, and that person would age or regress, or change gender, to the age printed on the tag. But for every power comes a price. To change back to your correct age, or gender, you must remove the costume and say the words, “laxo is veneficus”, and this must be done before midnight on Halloween or else you would be stuck at that age, or gender, until Madam Verde’s shop reappears the next year. Then to change back you would have to pick a costume that matches your real age and gender. It was also discovered that your mind set and emotions changed with your age, but you kept your memories.

This has caused problems for some of the residents of Lewisville, when they failed to say the words and remove the magic of the costumes in time. In an effort to control some of the chaos associated with this magic, the town issued rulings for those who become stuck. Foster parents are picked for those who become twelve years old or younger. They felt that if an adult became a teenager, they could still take care of themselves at home. Even then, you would still have to go to school for that age you became. This was to keep everything as normal as possible. For those adults who became stuck as children, their jobs, and marriages, would be put on hold and their house taken care of by the town until they returned to their correct ages. Also they would have to take the last names of their new foster parents, which included new birth certificates. They did this to hide the town’s secrets from the government or other prying eyes. In some rare cases, those stuck at younger ages, refused to return to their right age and chose to grow up again.

There are many stories in this town that deal with the magic of Madam Verde’s. All you have to do is ask the local’s, but that’s only if you can get them to talked about it.

Madam's Verde's Mystic Costumes: Daughter's Choice by Steven
1 - Prologue
2 - Daughter's Choice
3 - Anticipation
4 - Transformation
5 - Trick or Treating
6 - Consequences

I was looking around for a icon or picture I could use in creating a title page in more than one book

as noted in a recent blog. The item I looked for is a book image and my search engine found me "Open Book Icon clip art" at Clker.com and after reading the terms of use, this looks like a useful source.

In November of 2011, Enemyoffun Posted The Dark Realms Universe here at Bigcloset TopShelf.

For more information please go to The DarkRealms Universe for information and rules.

In December of 2011 Dr. Bender posted on Bigcloset TopShelf the Witchery Universe Reference Document.

As of December 26th it was posted as Fiction, not a Universe Page and the author noted that this was Version 1.0 and that they are considering some revisions. This means that the above link may break, if so PM me and I'll update this note, if I can at the time.

As I performed my normal look over at Fictionmania for what stories and chapters were new today I noted that Danielle J and/or Elrod W posted MAU - Rules and Author's Notes in which they give the backstory, the rules, and some FAQs about the Morphic Adaptation Units, Mark V, for the MAU universe, along with some final notes about 'reserved' characters.

I would think that this should be used, to replace Mr. Ram's re post, of Elrod's MAU (Morphic Adaptation Unit) Universe Rules, placed on the Story Universe Rules section of Forums.

You can also place a link around a image, once that image is created in the "body block".
For example the following line will create a image of a book with the words ENTER HERE under it. (note: changed in part to reflect suggestion by DAW in first comment)

<div align="center"><img src="/topshelf/system/files/u4007/Book.png" alt="Book.png" /></div>
<div align="center">ENTER HERE</div>

You copy this line of text into a title page on your author page, create the link by highlighting the whole line and than using the MAKE LINK ICON Than add the URL for the destination and hit OK, the end result is a book that you can click on and send the reader there, for example to a similar title page within a universe. (see Listing a Story in more than one Book, a work around?)

The "Book" below will send you to a little story called Killer Heels, go ahead click on the book.

Killer Heels by Dreammaker

I wished that my reader could just go to a URL or link of something that had been already posted on the internet.

At first I would just type the URL and it would self change into a hyperlink that would work. For example the URL

Of course some URLs get real unwieldy and seem to drag on forever and one time I used one of these. One of the site administrators or another friendly soul with edit access corrected my entry by replacing it with a linked word. Using the same example as above I would now have the link in the form of the story title, Blue Moon

Naturally I had to see how this was done and Erin kindly explained it to me. You just type the text you want to link, highlight it, click the make-link button, (in the tools icons above the body block you write or paste in)

fill (or paste) in the URL in the space provided (and an optional title the bottom box if you choose) and it just works. And indeed, it works just fine.

There are times when I wanted to have a comment block show a YouTube video. It turned out to be quite easy.

I find it best to have two tabs open when I do this, one tab is the story that you will comment on, the second tab is the selected YouTube.

Now start your comment, when in the body block you just type the text that describes your link, highlight it, click the make-link button, (in the tools icons above the body block you write or paste in)

Now click over to the second tab and your selected YouTube. With the selection up (and showing?) find the box (sometimes above the picture screen some times below) that says [share] and click it.

Next click on the box that states [imbed], some highlighted text will appear to the left and also some check boxes below that text. first UN-check the box that asks "Show suggested videos when the video finishes", how re-highlight the text and "copy" it.

Go back to the tab you were working your comment in. A box had formed when you had clicked on the "make link" icon, where it says "link URL", left click, then right click and "paste". The imbed code should fill the URL box. Now click on "OK".

Finish your comment, preview and then save. (to test link in preview use a right click and open either in a new tab or new page.)

When the link is clicked on it will do a full screen of the YouTube with the play triangle in the center. It works just fine and needs no extra code etc.

As an example, the following PBS program on the death of the Zeppelin Hindenburg (about an hour long).

About a month ago, I had asked if there was a way to list a story in more than one place, perhaps some feature in outline. Sad to say the answer was no, but like a cat with a new ball I just can't let the idea go and I would like to suggest something a bit different.

Create two title pages, one in the Universe Book, for example "the Dark Realms Universe" and the other in your book, outlined to your author page. See "One of These Days, Let's Get Organized!"

Pick one and outline all the chapters to that book and in the other, place just one linked word, ENTER or OPEN or what not, and link it to the title page with the chapters. See "Creating a Hypertext linked Word in Your Writing".

Now a reader will find your work both by your Book and/or the Dark Realms Book and each will show up in their own right hand margin listing.

Some useful aids are:
Puddintane's blog family titled "On Writing"
Roberta J. Cabot's downloadable book "Topshelf For Dumdums"