A good story is something that makes you want to turn the page. The everpresent 'what-happens-next' dilemna. Stephen King is a master at enthralling you with the spell of 'what-happens-next'. So is J.K. Rowling. There are many good authors with that spell in their toolchest. In a way, I hope to someday be one of them. That feeling of 'oh I'll just read a couple more pages before I go to bed,' or the 'I won't be late for work, so I can fit just a few more pages in,' . It's a feeling that I want to capture with my writing.

I welcome you, the 'constant reader', to join me on this journey :-)

--MeatLips

Update 01/03/2019: Man, it's been too long. I really want to get back to The IT Guy, but between work and my current romantic situation (just got engaged! go me!) it's been really hard to find time to work on it. I've been pecking away at Chapter 18 for over a year now. I still read and appreciate all reviews, negative and positive. My New Year's resolution is to finish this story within the next few months.

Update 07/08/2017: I feel like I owe you all lots of apologies. I've been so busy in my life and my muse has taken an extended vacation, leaving me trying to figure out how to finish up The IT Guy. I've been chipping away at chapter 18 and sometimes have little creative surges, but it has been incredibly slow going. I have a bunch of things I want to wrap up with this story and proceed to the sequel, currently titled "The IT Girl." Yes, at this point I feel like I should at least reveal the title. At any rate, I've been finally making some progress lately. I just am really annoyed that I haven't updated this story since February. I promise to do my damndest to get the next chapter out! So please, keep reading and reviewing and thank you for all the support!

Update 10/20/2016 : Ugh, I feel like I'm behind on a major project. But it's a fun project. I'm still working away at the next chapters but real life has been getting in the way of my fanfiction, dammit! At any rate, I hope to have it up soon. It may be a bit of a tear jerker, but I've been kicking around some cool ideas on how to liven it up. Yeah, Mark has been through hell and back and then to get a call like that from his sister... well shit. Raven is also going to discover some interesting things about her family background too. That I'm really looking forward to writing. I also have the sequel story simmering on the backburner and I'm excited about that as well. Anyway, keep on reading and reviewing! :-D

Update 09/13/2016 : Almost have the next chapter of "The IT Guy" ready to publish and it's a doozy clocking in at around 8 or 9 thousand words. I'm thinking likely within the next day or so. I'm really excited about it as it will hopefully wrap up this current arc. Just need to work out some details and finish connecting things together. Sometimes that's the hardest part, connecting things. But I believe this chapter will give some insight into Lucy's character as well as deal with Shade. I think there's definitely going to be one more arc before the epilogue. Then I start posting the sequel story, which I've already started writing. I will give this much of a hint about the sequel: Mark is definitely in it, but he ain't the star! :-D

Update 06/13/2016 : A good friend of mine pointed some things out about "The IT Guy" that made me re-think a number of aspects of the story. Mark was never intended to be any sort of self-insert, but apparently he reads that way, especially since there are too many aspects of my real personality in him. Which would make his relationship with Raven seem more like mental masturbation. This revelation did set me back a bit, so I've gone back and did some serious editing. Mostly around the excessive fluffiness that was making Raven veer dangerously towards becoming OOC. While I do foresee more edits in the future, I think I'm back on track and I've had some good ideas that I'm currently writing. It's a bit too late to completely remove the relationship bit, but I think I can bend it back in line with Raven's personality. Also, as a side note, I've discovered that I am way off about the identity of Kid Flash. I guess it's actually Bart Allen, not Wally West. So that may change in the future as well. I don't remember them ever referring to Kid Flash as any specific identity in either the 'Teen Titans Go!' comic or the tv show, so I had actually been taking a shot in the dark by assuming he was Wally West. Anyway, expect more chapters to "The IT Guy!"

Update 04/30/2016 : I feel like I've been having a creative renaissance lately. This new story I've been working on, "The IT Guy," feels refreshingly new to me and the words have been flowing! Also, the positive response I've gotten for that story has been very encouraging. I really became interested in writing that tale after reading a number of Teen Titans fanfics that had original characters. The delicate balance between a Mary Sue and a non-Mary Sue is a difficult thing to maintain and to be honest, most of the fanfics I read were completely turning me off. Except one. If you ever get a chance to read P0ST's epic "These Black Eyes" you would not be disappointed. He bashes himself a lot, but P0ST is brilliant. Anyway, I decided to swing in the entirely opposite direction and have an OC who is NOT a superhero, anti-hero, villain, or anything. Just a regular schlub. A chubby schlub too. So far, I'm very pleased with how it's going, and I look forward to writing more of Mark's story!

Update 03/24/2016 : Seriously, who ever thought I would get back to any of my stories online? It's been 8 years! People probably thought I was dead. I can assure you, the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. In the time I was gone, I changed jobs, got married (again), got DIVORCED (again) and now here I am again. A lot of changes have happened in my life. With my current job gig, I've also gotten to travel the world. It's given me greater perspective that I hope will filter down into my writing. It all starts with this latest chapter of The Seneschal. So I encourage any of my ancient fans and even new readers to have a look and give me a critique. Reviews make it worthwhile to continue, you know. ;-)

Update 08/02/2009 : Wow, it's almost been a year since I last updated this profile and my story! Not for lack of working on it. My ideas are wicked cool, but hard to organize into a coherent storyline. If I could just get my crap together long enough to write an decent outline, I could continue with no problems. However I haven't given up! Lot of things have happened in the last year that partially contributed to my lacking organizational skills.

Update 08/09/2008 : So I finally published up a new chapter! w00t! Go me! Today is a special day for another reason as well. I'm officially on vacation until a week from Monday! I'm hoping that I'll experience another creative Renaissance like I did over my last vacation. Well, we'll see!

Update 05/14/2008 : I have to say that I'm somewhat disappointed in the lack of reviews so far. Granted I'm extremely pleased that this story has some seriously hardcore fans, but I was hoping for more. So far this awesome reader named Amiko-Gabriel has been practically on top of every update made to 'The Seneschal'. She's been the first to review these last few chapters, and I have to admit, without her reviews I'd probably would've given up hope. So please, for the love of whatever God you happen to worship, please drop me a review! Even if you just want to tell me that I totally suck ass, it still MEANS SOMETHING!

Update 05/11/2008 : So the tale continues and I've finally posted the next chapter. Still a little light on the reviews, but people are reading it... special thanks to all those that have reviewed me so far, especially those who have reviewed me multiple times. It's for you guys that I forge on with this tale.

Update 03/29/2008 : So I finally embarked upon what I suspect will be the longest story arc of The Seneschal, and I've even written an outline for this as well! It's wikked exciting. This next arc will be a chronicle of the fall of the Moon Kingdom. The first chapter is almost done, and I can't wait to publish it. I also finally was able to get my hands on a translated copy of Sailor V, and that's also proven to be an invaluable source of information. There is so many snippets of what happened during those last days of the Silver Millennium scattered throughout the manga. This is going to be so much fun tying them all together. Man, I'm such a nerd! I really need a woman in my life again! Anyways... Coming Soon: The Fall of the Moon Kingdom. Oh and thanks to those who have reviewed me so far!

Update 02/11/2008 : I've finally sat down and began the next chapter of The Seneschal. It's basically a continuation of the previous chapter, but I'm kind of excited about how it's coming along. I often find myself writing stuff like this in bursts, which is why a decent amount of time will often pass before I update. Oh, and I also removed that essay from my profile here. I simply published it on fictionpress instead. I'm also trying to get the next chapter of "Ghost Girl" up on there as well. There's so much I want to write, and not enough brain to dedicate to the task. Feh.

Update 12/23/2007 : I usually write original fiction. I like creating and using my own characters for my own stories. But this Sailor Moon tale just crawled up my spine and into my head and refuse to be dislodged until I started writing it. I was on vacation this past week, and the creative juices have been seriously overflowing. It seems as if all I've been doing lately is researching SM canon stuff, whether it be the manga or the anime. But I can't help it. With every new piece of information I find, more and more of this fanfic just clicks together. Granted it's not the most masculine feeling in the world when I think about the series that I'm writing a FANFIC for...

I can honestly say that I know how this story is going to end. But I'm not sure how long it will be before I get there. If you want to read some of my original work, go check it out on fictionpress dot com. I have one work up on there called "Ghost Girl" and its main character is somebody who's been playing a feature role in this fanfic. The stories are completely unrelated but the main character is nearly the same... well close enough :-)