A big, BIG thanks to you Don for this link!

You the Masta (Master) man!
...

 

I exist solely to serve my fellow man. Actually, DC gave it to me and I thought someone else might be interested. Love my Sony Reader.

 

Hence my quandary.

This is the author writing, i.e. A.P., through the C. Turner sock.

First, thank you.

In 2009 I acceded to the filthification (word?) of the first book, because I did not deem it to be marketable. I even participated, as I have stated above.

I left three sites in 2010. Not just this one. This might come as hard to believe, but it was not a calculated thing. I had distinct reasons for leaving each one. As for this site, no comment. I am being allowed to communicate here through C. Turner, tenuously at best, and I do not want to rock that boat. The point is, when I left those three sites, I also left a lot of readers in the lurch, a fact that to this day I find surprising, humbling, and disheartening. I did not intend to "take my ball and flee the schoolyard," but that is how it was taken by many.

I have wanted to abandon this whole writing business, because my time is heavily committed already. (I have been careful about my anonymity, because I am... conspicuous... in the Boston/Cambridge MA area, but I have a bio of sorts here on the forum, and while a lot of the truth is left out of it, it contains no untruths.) Yet it has been hard to abandon the writing. First off, I am a poet. Sure, it doesn't pay, but I love poetry nevertheless. Second, to this day I receive emails, well-wishes, and entreaties (such as the one above, from Greenchild, a "fan" whom I did not even know I had), begging me to come back.

So, my collaborators and I have spent thousands (literally close to $10K) over the past four months rewriting the original draft of Nascent, cutting a whole novel length to tighten it up, cleaning out all the S&M crap that we had thrown in to make it postable at bdsmlibrary, and putting on a full court press at publishing houses from New York and Alabama to San Francisco and Seattle.

Not a single bite, as of this writing. Too damned long. Because no one reads anymore, on average. And the book (teleologically speaking) is dead!

Have we given up? Heck, no. First, I have been putting feelers out here and elsewhere, to see if any of the readers are still around and would be receptive to a re-emergence. Second, we have reserved a web domain. Third, we have paid for a cover design. Fourth, we have begun to design a web site. Fifth, close to a dozen relatively impartial, "privileged readers" are doing a critical analytical review of the "clean" version of Nascent.

Later this winter, we will all converge below the Lake of the Clouds Hut, in the shadow of the Mt. Washington summit, to deliberate in tents over whether to post the book, and whether to publish it on Amazon or just release it for free and solicit donations. (The ten or eleven of you who have made it through the second book are perhaps chuckling right now, but I am absolutely serious!)

So, to Greenchild, SSalo, and the lurkers who (for whatever reason) will not post on this forum but who have been corresponding via email, thank you. The jury is out, as to whether the books will come back in some incarnation, but all of you have helped to fuel the deliberations.

Some parting comments:

1. My uses of the words "dirty" and "filth" are, of course, tongue in cheek. Before we even wrote the first draft into porn, I personally regarded Nascent as filth, because it is of no value to the market at large. Turning it into pornified filth, and collaborating in that project, conferred a vindictive glee. On some days I am tempted to repost the "dirty" versions, solely to thumb my nose at the ongoing dissolution of the publishing industry.

2. As a writer (of sorts), I have immense, unqualified respect for some of the contributors to this site. Indeed, back in 2009 I started the Story Reviews thread (a sticky to this day!) with the express purpose of making my sentiments known. True, there are some people here who are trying very hard yet hopefully have other means of gainful employment, and there are some others whose semi-autobriographical ramblings and unrequited fantasies, quite frankly, make my skin crawl. Yet this site also has more than its fair share of mainstream authors-in-hiding: writers who have solid chops and can spin a great yarn. I say this not to diminish the compliments I have been getting, or to demean the kind words of well-wishers, but just to... well, you know what I mean. It needed to be said.


I will continue to lurk here, and I will occasionally give updates, should readers of my work request them.

Best,
A.P.

 

A thoroughly lovely bump

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:excited:

 

Don, you have posted this bump before...

NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING ONE DAMN BIT!!!

 

Truthfully (at least as much as is appropriate), I did not know. I just find this picture to be so very beautiful. I'll try not to duplicate again.

View attachment

 

Tonight I attended a creative writing workshop at my local Barnes and Nobel. Some of the people there are published, some are in high school, and it is great. The leader gives us a topic and 10 minutes to write. It was great to get the juices flowing again. If you have a similar meeting available to you, I highly recommend it.

 

Am I sensing a pattern here or are these BUMPS clues to some proud impregnater's ego?

Don, you signature line says:
:XNXXOIAATILORAL IS ALMOST ALL THAT IS LEFT

Almost, may be the operative word here!
...

 

I'm just one of the many who think a gravid woman is the most beautiful sight in the world.

 

Gravid? I had to look that one up. I think they're beautiful, too!!!

grav·id

adj \ˈgra-vəd\
Definition of GRAVID

1
: pregnant

2
: distended with or full of eggs <a gravid fish>

Examples of GRAVID

1. <the patient is a gravid woman in her seventh month>

Origin of GRAVID

Latin gravidus, from gravis heavyFirst Known Use: 1597

 

I told you I was old.

 

I agree with don on this one I think Gravid women are quite nice to look at.

 

So much for my talking about writing.

 

Sorry, darling. Since I don't write, I don't talk about it. I love your posts, though, so don't give up.:rose::rose::rose::rose:

 

Why not? No one talks here anymore. I was really excited a couple days ago and wasn't even acknowledged. What's the point?

 

I thought you knew: we love you! I just hate it when you lose patience with me.:\'(

 

Sorry Ejls I was distracted by naked pregnant women... Writing... I have been dealing with a horrible case of writer's block lately... Soo... I really havn't produced anything of late.. But I think I'm though with it. And while I know that writing on a topic or for a title... is often helpful... Hmmm maybe we should have a writers topic of the day? we can make it go round robin like... Or a Running story?

 

I am supposed to be lurking. But no one is responding to my posts, either, so I will respond to some of yours.

Kudos on finding an illustrator. Publishers of childrens' books are generally not interested in receiving illustrated manuscripts, because they source their own house illustrators. But, if you plan on self-publishing that children's book, the onus is on you to get it illustrated. That can be an expensive proposition, unless you have a talented relative or can connect with a student or intern who will do it for nothing. Which you appear to have done.

The Barnes and Noble in my area sells more bric-a-brac than books. It had never occurred to me to wonder whether they would offer writing workshops.

At the moment I am chuckling. Wryly. Because I can empathize with your frustration. (This website does have a pix/video area, after all.) I usually only lurk as a public guest, so I typically only see URL's to attached images. I do, however, know what gravid means, and curiosity compelled me to look. Men are boys at any age, yes?

Colleen

 

I like it when you lurk here. You are (both) so incredibly talented.

I had dinner with a woman I haven't seen in over 8 years. She self-published a how-to book and said she can help me with that. A couple other ideas have been forwarded to me as far as where to market this.

My B&N has a calendar of events on line. The facilitator of the group is holding a session on writing query letters next month.

 

I wrote a peice called Triangle.... Years and years ago, and I submitted it to the usual rag publishers, it was a bit too much for them, which made me kinda sad I guess I was already too far gone to get properly published in a rag like that. Now, my wife and I look at the pictures but I really don't read the articles anymore mostly because they are found lacking.