NOVEMBER 24th 21016

It is Thanksgiving afternoon and I am sitting at work waiting for the influx of belly aches that will cause me to warm up and use that CT scanner. What's more with the doc who is on tonight, all of those bellies will also need both oral and IV contrast! Yeah...

So hello everyone, or at least hello to anyone who may still pop by to see if a death notice has been put up.
It has been quite a long time since I have done any writing on this site, or any site for that matter. In the past calendar year I have - sold a house - got divorced, and -bought a new house! Holy crap! I'm going to need to find someone to do my taxes!
The last 18 months or so have been particularly grueling, but the kids and I came out the other side without too many scars.

The bad news is last October, that is a year ago last October my MacBook displayed a fatal error. When I turn it on the only thing you see is a black screen with an overly large icon of a file folder -center screen- with a big ? in the middle and it flashes on and off. Apparently that means my hard drive is fried. EVERYTHING, absolutely everything was on that machine! All of my notes on my unfinished stories!!! I have not had the time or the money to take it to an apple store and try to recover the data on the hard drive. I may get around to it some day, but in any case the data is most likely unrecoverable. That means I am going to have to actually read all of my unfinished stories and try to finish them from scratch!!

Life is just beginning to settle down a bit. I am still unpacking, but it feels fantastic to have my own place, my own space. The kids live with me, and only have to worry about spending every other weekend at their father's apartment. After a few months, my 16 year old said she would stop going to her dad's place. She is only going right now to help her little brother transition. He has to go because he is only 11. Emily does not have to go because she has reached the age of decision which for New York state is 16. My eldest is living with my sister and attending college, so all in all things are beginning to settle down.

There is an exciting project I have been working on in my spare time with my cousin. I am creating a Dungeons & Dragons world complete with a whole creation story for the universe, the world the characters live in and every species that lives in this world as well as who their Gods are and how they were created. The amount of work we are putting into a game that our players will run through is staggering, but enjoyable. Once the whole thing is crafted and we are ready to play, everything that happens within the game will be recorded and transcribed. This transcription will become the characters, actions and dialogue that will go into an adventure story based on the game play. How much fun does that sound like?

It may still be awhile before I finish any unfinished stories, but I may dabble at a couple of One-shots here and there. It depends on what Netflix series I am binge watching. I really like the show called ZOO. I may think about a quickie for that show. I also like Dark Matter, The 100, Person of Interest, etc... I still love all my old shows with the exception of Merlin. I am seriously pissed off about the way they decided to end that series.

10/2/15 - An update to anyone wondering about unfinished stories. Square Peg will be finished! I finally have what I need to do this. (thanks to a brain storming session with dHALL.) I promise I will get that rolling as soon as we have figured out where we are going to live. I am getting a divorce and the kids and I will need to 1. fix the house we live in to sell it, and 2. find a new place for just us. This effort takes a lot of times so, I have not forgotten my promise, it just may take a wee bit longer than I thought at the beginning of summer.

Thanks for your patience. (SEE NOTE ABOVE!!! MY LAPTOP DIED RIGHT AFTER I POSTED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Flames vs constructive criticism. I have updated my profile here so that there is no mistaking where I stand on these issues.

Don't forget to review the stories that you read because it really is what makes the authors want to keep writing. These stories are shared freely and without any sort of financial obligation on the part of the reader. If a story is not to your liking all you need do is stop reading. If you enjoyed a story, however, please take a minute of your time and let the author know what you thought. Most authors appreciate constructive comments as much as praise for their work. Besides it's cheaper than going to Barnes and Noble! LOL

Please do not leave meaningless flames on someone's story even if it is some of the worst writing that you have ever seen. No one forced you to read it. Some of these young writers have no idea what they are doing. If you feel you must say something; rather than leaving pointless disparaging remarks that have nothing to do with the story, point them in the right direction. Tell them they need help with their writing, point out ways for them to improve, give examples; heck send them to the writer's forum Calling All Authors, but don't flame. It shows a lack of intelligence and couth on the part of the reader and robs your opinion of credibility.

Added - April 2012
That being said - I will reiterate something. I recently was accused of flaming a story. This is, of course, untrue. I have stated very clearly what a flame is both here and on the forum Calling All Authors. If I come across a story that has potential but is poorly executed with multiple obvious problems I will tell the author. When I leave a constructive criticism it will be directed at the story and the problems within the story, not at the author themselves. Flame Rising used to call authors nasty names and tell them to jump off cliffs rather than to keep writing. That is a flame. To tell an author that they are a talentless hack with no imagination is a flame. To insult the author directly or to make disparaging remarks about the author or their intelligence is a flame.

I do not ever attack an author personally. I also do not gush over stories. I do not write reviews that say things like "OMG this story is soooooo good, please continue!" If I like a story I will tell the author what I like about the story. I will point out the strengths I see in the writing. Conversely, if I see a story that needs serious help I will point out what the story's weaknesses are and offer advice on what to do to improve.

If you ask for reviews and feedback then don't get upset when you get what you asked for. If you are the kind of author that only wants glowing reviews then please state that up front. State clearly that you do not want negative feedback, constructive criticism, or flames. If I give an honest opinion I will argue the point that it is NOT a flame. I did with the woman who was upset by a review I left on her story. She blew right past the fact that I told her that the story has potential, but she needed to go back to the drawing board on it. She ignored the points I made about grammar and typos, about unrealistic antagonists and poorly executed plot. She didn't ready herself when I stated up front that she was probably not going to like the review. I even said that I could get past the grammar and typos but there were other problems with the story as well, compelling me to leave the review. She has since blocked me. Frankly it is no skin off my nose. Her reaction was childish as were her PM's sent to me.

I have and will continue to stand up against flamers. I took on Flame Rising directly and guess what? I'm still here and he is gone. I stood toe to toe with the nastiest members of the LU and guess what? I'm still here and will continue to speak out against flamers and internet bullies. I will give any author an honest reply. I am not a fan of being politically correct. I will work with anyone who asks for assistance or advice. I will send them to people who can best answer their questions if I don't have the right answers. I will never personally attack them, but I will be truthful in what I write in a review and the review will always be about the story never about the author.

DEFINITION: A flame is generally a series of insults directed at the author themselves rather than the story. There are some cases where it is impossible to tell that a flamer has even read a piece of writing because nothing about the story is mentioned anywhere in the flame. Some flamers seem to think that their mission in life is to save the rest of us from bad literature. What I say to all flamers is this: Put your over-inflated dime store egos away. I don't need saving. If I think that something is a pile of rubbish I have the option to stop reading or at least give constructive criticism, emphasis on CONSTRUCTIVE.

Have a great day
Thanks,
Alice I