Hello there, nice to see you ;)

I have recently started to run a campaign on this site against trolling and with this cause, any support is appreciated. Having suffered some trolls myself recently, I have to say, that though they are annoying little buggers, I am not all that bothered by them. I give them my piece of mind and that is that. Though, naturally, after a bad day, I also might occasionally think of leaving... - But nope, no worries, I won't. I won't let them win.

However, seeing that this kind of behaviour seems to constantly increase and that there are not only people posting here who are well capable in fending off this kind of rubbish but also many who suffer from mental or physical illness, problems at home they seek to escape by sharing their stories with us and also very young writers I think it's time to ask fanfiction.net to re-establish the option for us writers to turn off guest reviews instead of just moderating them, which, after all, means we as authors still have to deal with them. It used to be possible several years back, so why isn't it still? It's not too much to ask for, is it, to just give us a choice in order to protect ourselves?

Just think of all the good writers who have already left for good or have just discontinued their story...

Several people are already backing this and some great ideas have been brought forward as well, for example upon pressing the review-button to have a pop-up reminding people to stay courteous. Great idea I never would have thought of.

I have started to send messages around and also contacted fanfiction.net. Please feel free to just copy and paste my message in order to forward it to others. The more people we get on board, the more likely it is that the providers will react to this plea. If you haven't received a message yet, then that's only due to the fact that I have to eat and sleep on occasion - and also write, of course ;)

It is very unfortunate that most trolls remain anonymous, but having said that, most guest reviewers are great, lovely and highly supportive, so please, if you are one of the latter, don't feel offended. - But as with everything, it's the nasty few that have to spoil it for everyone and in my opinion, and obviously many agree, something should be done.

So, what to do? Contact support with the plea of establishing an option to turn off guest reviews. Hopefully, if there are enough of us, they will eventually react and do something.

Thank you for taking the time to read this -

Love

Nic

Phew, what is there to say? Not much really...

To my person: I am a woman of 40, am married and have a son (9). We live in a very small village in the middle of Germany. - Our alarm clock is a rooster, our lawnmowers have four legs and bleat, and our trees are the best hiding places for a little boy. I am currently studying law as I had to give up my former occupation due to health issues and I think that is pretty much all there is to say about me. - Oh yeah, of course: English is not my first language, but for a few years I have been living and working in England. My greatest struggle is with punctuation, and on occasion grammar, but I am working on both, promise.

Oh, by the way, people have been asking why I call myself 'headless-nic', the answer is quite simple, it is a nickname that was given to me at work years back, for I had (and still have) a tendency to appear somewhat absent when I do easy kind of work that requires not much thinking, so I was there with my body, while my head was somewhere else, so to say. But, it was usually then that I dreamed up my stories, so I thought the name quite fitting as a pen-name.

Pet peeves: Only one - using the word "okay" in a story with a historical setting.

As to my stories:

"A loose collection of various cases", has been dissolved and what was once a chapter, is now a one-shot. Eventually more one-shots will follow, but currently, I am quite busy with my ongoing projects, so it might be a while. - Unless, of course, a plotbunny should escape me and I have to chase after it...

"A case of high stakes" has now been worked over and even though I cannot guarantee for it to be completely devoid of mistakes, it should have improved a lot. By the way, in case you have been wondering, I never intended for Holmes to end up married (at least not long-term), and originally I had planned for Harriet to die at the end of the story. Two things, however, kept me from going through with it: 1. If Harriet was dead, how could she have written the chapters that Watson, due to his absence, could not write himself? (Funny I overlooked this in my initial planning of the story...); and 2. Harriet really grew on me and I put a lot of myself into her character, and on top of that, she got along so well with her husband, that I thought they deserved their happiness, and so I let her live. Watson's question about an annulment was intended as an alternative way out, but, as you know, Holmes refused point blank...

So, my current main project is "The adventures of Mr and Mrs Holmes", which will follow the couple through their first or so year of their marriage. So let's see what they are getting up to. They certainly don't do what I had expected them to do... - So now it is not just their first year of marriage I have to deal with, but also their first child, which is due somewhen in September (not IRL, but in the story, of course!) - and on top of that, Aldwin has smuggled himself into this series as well. Oh dear, these characters are really quite capable of driving an author to the brink of insanity, I tell you! At any rate, they are now onto their 11th case. Wow!

The same applies to little Sherlock Holmes in "The apple thief" who seems to have taken on a life of his own with his inquisitiveness and childish innocence. - Thanks to my son. There will also be an update sometime within the next couple of weeks, but as I have mentioned already, currently I am very busy, so let's see when I, at last, get to it. Probably only after I have finished writing and posting my latest P&P story... - Sorry.

The German translation will follow as I find the time. - Yeah, right! I have my state examinations coming up at the beginning of next year... Oh joy!

But anyway, I have actually two questions for you: 1. Would you like another story set during Holmes' hiatus, for even though it might take me several months or even years to get to it, I could start with a bit of research, in case you are interested?

And 2. Would you like to read about a teenage Sherlock? I have nothing planned as yet and it, too, will be a while but was thinking that perhaps eventually I should close the gap between Holmes' adult life and his childhood, for I think I will continue 'The apple thief' until Sherlock is about 12 and then close that series ( Meaning it'll be a long way off still, for I usually have four adventures for each year and currently he is seven, well almost eight - you do the maths...).

"The book with which it all began" and "Sister dearest" for a little change, are from the Pride and Prejudice genre, as is "An unpleasant sort of man". The former ones are more comedic while the latter is much more of a drama. Currently the latter is taken down but will be back by February 2019 in full for you to read. My current projects in this fandom are "Never mind" which is a comedic modern variation that has gone completely haywire and the other is a classical take again, titled "In search of happiness".

- "The book with which it all began is also available on Amazon as an e-book.

- "Sister dearest", as well, is available on Amazon, published under the title "A Nudge in the Right Direction" as is "An unpleasant sort of man".

Anyhow, I would greatly appreciate, if you could give me some feedback so I might be able to improve myself - or at least to make me smile. A little motivation never goes amiss, does it? But please, while doing so, stay courteous (never thought I would need to add this...)! - Thank you.

Love

Nic