Great imagery. Heartfelt and sad. There's a reason...nope. Things get better...nope. Sometimes the cruelest message is the denial that for some, it never works out.

dickensonfan- you know this is a humor piece. It 's what I do. Don't psychoanalyze it.

Cute pastiche of an old fable. It was a slave before it was a mouse. Anyway, Gellius's Androcles was a fable. As all fables, fiction with a point. Point being friendship offered in times of need and the benefits thereof. Your point? Anyone caring to enter a less advantaged culture with the aim of helping must be incredibly stupid? Probably not quite that. But the implication is that all cultures must be left untouched no matter how great the suffering. Unless, of course, there is profit to be made or wars to be fought.

Thanks. Pleasant thoughts for us old-timers. Well written.

Very well stated, my friend. And this is from a 67-year old.

lmao

Now all they have to worry about is her teaching the lion to drive the SUV. Make his hunting much easier.

I believe the expression is "Live and Learn."

Which is, of course, exactly what you did.

you're a cruel man, Mr Roble. why did she have to DIE?
sometimes your posts are like reading 'The Joke Bloke' in The Daily Star (an English tabloid) which are so short, yet sarcastic, but crazily funny. I think about them randomly throughout the day and pi*ss myself laughing for no apparent reason.

Great stuff, my friend.

Preachy or not, I really liked it. Heartfelt and personal. Thanks for the encouragement.

Profoundly deep and relatable. It expresses the demons within well. Very well written.

first paragraph was utter excellence; the embodiment of sarcasm (I'm, British, you know i KNOW those onions).

“Charlie, almost no one is working in a coal mine anymore. Where the Hell have you been?”

Great stuff, Don (as per).

Personally, I love clowns. I work with loads of them and, sadly, feel an affinity with them.
Probably why we're friend's, Don.

See y'in the man cave!

Excellent, and very true, observation.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." - Abraham Lincoln

Oh, wow! Defiance! Great job!

Nice job, as usual, Don. Poor Lonnie has made some lousy career choices.

I am a Vietnam vet. Now, you are treading on a very sensitive and touchy subject. It is a subject the Veteran's Administration is attempting to address. I suggest you talk to a vet who has been in Afghanistan or Iraq before you go any further.

That said, there is a lot of repetition in this writing. We call that "weedy words." Just as weeds clog up a garden, weedy words clog up a writing. Take a good, hard edit to this submission.

"She had short messy red hair which complemented her relaxed style of fashion which consisted of a tucked in white t-shirt, skinny jeans, and a set of red sneakers." This really doesn't work. Try "her red hair, which was a mess, complemented her ..." You have a bunch of sentences like this. Keep a thesaurus and a dictionary open when you write, and look for the proper word.

Now, here is a rule you consistently break. New dialog needs a new paragraph. For example: "“ What is taking Harry so long?” Amber asked. “I have no idea he should be here by now.” Jimmy said. This should look like:
“ What is taking Harry so long?” Amber asked.
“I have no idea he should be here by now.” Jimmy said. Get the idea?

Now, I have question. Is this a story about a post-Armageddon world or a high school football game?

You decide.

Very well done, feels like things are exactly the same in the UK. I love the 4th stanza especially, the frustration of knowing the country you love could and should be doing better. And like the last stanza says, we need to be talking and listening to each other more, especially with people we disagree with.

Assume piece, a really nice flow, write on.:

So nicely written and seems to flow so well. Greatly done.

Great piece of poetry. It definitely illustrates the fight against depression, but if I didn't know better, this could also be talking drug abuse or other addictions and the fight against them. Great work.

Dickensonfan pointed out the errors, nothing to add there, so I'll just say I really enjoyed this, I like your writing style, you managed to get a Brit excited about an American football game, which is an achievement ha. Looking forward to the rest.

You've got a couple of really interesting characters here, I'd like to see where you take this next.

This is really good, an interesting story, and you give us a good look into the situation the clowns are facing, there were some spelling errors but nothing major. I enjoyed it.

I really like this. How desperate the clown seems and is almost thrown down the path of wrestling. I personally have seen a lot of the backstage and 'real' interactions of wrestling, so I know the ending of this story is oh, so real. I think it's a good highlight of the clown's career/ life.
Good work!

Well written, serious subject, good character definition of Brock and Lester.

Excellent story, you do a great job in character development and getting the reader invested into your protagonist. I can't wait to see what's Brock's next move and how he reacts to more situations.

Thank you, Accident.

No pattern whatsoever, Kt. Instead of writing a rap song, I opted for the lazy option of parody.

Great story. Lots of material.
Intriguing ending. Keeps interest wondering what Grace intends for Harry and what Amber will do about it.

Some suggestions or thoughts:
*Perhaps some of the paragraphs need to be split up? And some of the sentences?
*Occasionally an accidental word is used. Like 'deliverance' instead of 'delivery'
*Sometimes the text skips a groove. Like "the ones that say pretty much change their tune to public opinion at the time" First groove was probably "the ones that say pretty much whatever the public wants to hear" The other groove was probably "the ones who change their tune to suit public opinion"
*There are some spelling errors, but very few.
*I hesitate to say that quite a few sentences have odd constructions which detract from the story. They still work, so I have no basis to object. But here is just one example: "She knocked on the door and no response." Normally this would be 'She knocked on the door but there was no response.' or 'There was no response when she knocked on the door.'
*Are you sure you want to take highschool fights to the point of hospitalization?
*Are you sure you want to use German smears as fuel for Blue team's smack talk?

I apologize in advance for being a smart aleck...but a world wide nuclear war would not end as depicted here. It's not the radiation that will drive people underground. Instead the obstruction of sunlight by the massive amounts of material thrown into the air will kill every bit of vegetation in land or sea and death will climb right up the food chain. And the resulting nuclear winter will freeze everything else. Radiation will be a minor nuisance by comparison. You can just ignore this but, since you portray Harry as having a better understanding of the outside, you might want to weave this into your story to further demonstrate his insightfulness.

I see what you mean and I failed to take that into mind when thinking that part up. I'm going to try and do some more research on that particular effect and see how works with the environment and how long it takes to dissipate. Thank you for pointing that out.

Very sad. Excellent imagery.

I am curious as to what rhythmic pattern you would use with this.

Quite good. It is a bit heavyweight for my taste, but, other than that, well written.

Excellent!

"No wonder wives often worry as that much ghee can put lots of flab all around."

What a marvelous line!

I will not rate this, as it is quite obvious English is not your first language.

Metaphysical satire? Well, allow me to say that you have succeeded, and succeeded with a great quantity of success! Write on!

You should be proud of this writing. It is very good.

It is also easily expandable. You can build on the adventure with the predator, adding at either the beginning or the end. There is a lot of potential in this story.

Oh wow. Very good. And very scary. You capture the debilitating feeling of Depression nicely.

Very good. Nicely put together, and the linear presentation used to describe insomnia works well.

Finally, I'm able to comment on your written works. For some reason, I haven't been able to post when I tap post comments. But please know I've read and really enjoyed your short story regarding the Bigfoot. I see you are quite good in poetry,
as well.

@dickensonfan
, @kt6550

Thank you! I truly appreciate the feedback. You were correct on both accounts. “The pull of a strong mountain breeze” indicates the influence of another person and “someone brand new” expresses being reborn. I was considering capitalizing ‘mountain’ to better express this and I would greatly appreciate your opinion. Thanks!

Nicely put together, well done, also recipe sounds easy to make, good job.

Nice, this definitely brought a smile to my face ha, well done.

Beautifully done.

'I shall build castles in the emptiness.
I will build an empire out of the void.'
I love this, the defiance in the face of the darkness. Really well done.

Thank you, people, so much. <3

You are right. For the buttoned up, 'I think therefore I exist'. But for the passionate, 'I feel'. Storm away. This was well expressed. I think this is a drive that will serve well for anyone, perhaps yourself, who needs to rage. I'm in a third camp. The nobodies. Like my heroine.

I enjoyed this poem very much. Sounds delicious, both as the flavors came togehter and for the images of its creation. It was fun. I also enjoyed looking up all the stuff I had never heard of before. Thanks for the poem and thanks for the cultural exposure. Sweet as jaggery.

Thanks for reading and your thoughts, Dickensonfan, I'm really proud of this piece! This is fantasy and "Odinseus" was just a name referring to Odysseus and Odin, just to give the impression of a legendary figure without suggesting this was taking place in reality. Not saying it's smart or works well, just how I did it, inspired by 'The Wheel of Time.'

As for melodrama...that was what I was going for. Even if it didn't jive with you, I'm glad it came across. Maybe the appearance of the wolf-beasts was too sudden, if I ever edit this I'll be sure to make it more telegraphed.

Odysseus is the usual spelling, but it has been spelled several other ways. I haven't seen the two operas so I am not sure how the allusion (if it is an allusion) works in this story. A couple of discriptors about what 'Divine Punishment' is might clear that up? It's up to you. Dante had Odysseus in one of hell's levels, but I'm guessing that's not your reference. And I would never want to see or read either of these girls falling to Anais' fate.
I think you made the unease tethered to the determination of the two friends work pretty well. Their antipathy towards, and competitiveness with, the boys was also great.
The mention of 'jumping over a fire' says a lot about these two.
The sly thoughts that you weave in are good. Like, 'Victoria did not think wolves played pretend'.
The introduction to the 'sharp yellow grin' and the 'paws bigger than her head' was a surprise. Quite a jarring shift in the narrative unless either she is completely imagining it or she is exaggerating or mis-reading the appearance of something in the forest.
My only nit (and I might well be wrong) is perhaps the descriptions are just a tad too melodramatic? For example: The trees looked to be leaning towards them now, looming, taunting, pushing them towards Kaylie's goal.
If the story continues (and they survive) it would be enjoyable to see them reach a point where they did not depend on 'boys' to motivate their adventures.

The poem is understandably painful. Been there. I have no good advice for it. I was just lucky to get through. Your poem speaks to all of us who know.

I can completely relate too, you've captured the frustration of this really well. Nicely done.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Honestly.. I've seen stupid UX decisions before but this takes the cake.



Today I learned that that very ambiguous delete button beside a post DOES NOT delete the post.. IT DELETES THE USER.

*slow clap* --- good job PHP-Fusion devs..

Honestly I cannot finish Version 5 fast enough.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Hey folks,

With v5 I am modernizing The Den to bring it up to snuff with the types of sites you use daily nowadays. I have thought of a number features to bring in, and I am wondering...

If you could have anything you wanted in the next version of The Den, what would it be?

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by bbcool36:

Hoping to meet another short story writer. I am pretty new to story writing, looking for someone who could critique stories for me and I could do the same in exchange. The story I have finished is about 8000 words, so it's a little longer. I have another in progress. Just let me know in the thread!!!

Forum: Help and Support

Last post on thread was by Routh:

I have applied a change to fix the file permissions. Avatars can be uploaded again.

I am also closing and locking this thread as it is ancient. Please open new threads if there is nothing withing the last 90 days about an issue, as it is likely far from relevant anymore. The previous instances have nothing to do with each other, nor does this one.

Forum: Help and Support

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Hi @luzzifer - Chapters will be a feature coming back in Version 5, which I am still working on perfecting. I was in version 4 but the implementation was very bad.

What I recommend you do is create a separate story post for each chapter and the same title. This way when someone looks at your profile they'll be able to see the chapters in order thanks to alphanumeric sorting.

Example:

This is My Great Story - Chapter 1

If you have a chapter title you can add it to the description in bold italics or to the top of the chapter body.

When the new version comes out, you'll be able to 'bind' these individual chapters into a novel, poetry book or other book type.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by PseudoScribe:

so don I might not have explained it right but i think i may need ghost artists if such a thing exists. I want to write the story and have illustrations made to compliment it

Forum: Help and Support

Last post on thread was by XxDARKGHOSTZX9:

Sir i had an extremely awful day at that time. My spouse was in the hospital, and my family member passed away and my twin brother passed on all in the same month. I am truly sorry for the way that i acted . I am normally not prone to such reactions. The fault was mine and i responded in anger due to my own circumstances.. I apologize sincerely and will use this site as a means to portray future literary work. As it stands, before i noticed your reply i had already updated one work on my profile earlier today. Please forgive and if there is any format or situation. That i can help with i would be more then happy too.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

With the recent post flood that the site saw, I was made aware of some incorrect expectations of what specific pages are intended to be used for, and reminded of some of the issues on this version of the site.

Firstly, the intended place to see the latest posts is the 'Latest Activity Feed', now featured with the link 'Latest Activity' in the main menu to clarify it's use. This view shows the latest 50 posts or more, and will concatenate multiple posts by one user to a single entry. This is the best and only place you should be using to 'catch up' from your last visit.

The 'Newest' page in the Writings Archive (now renamed to Library) has been renamed to 'Newest to Oldest'. This page is a chronological archive view for searching through all posts by date, and it is not intended for users to use to catch up on posts. As such, post concatenation will never be used here. Not to mention that post concatenation is largely incompatible with pagination, and to try and do both cleanly and without error would make for a very slow page.

Now, on the topic of the post flood, which has been discussed before here. The new version of the site will introduce the Karma system, which will be a point based system that will give users points for commenting, posting forum posts and rating writings, and deduct points for posting writings. New users will start with enough points for 2 posts, and old users will earn a score based on their history. This is intended to solve the biggest issue The Den faces in the 'social' era of the Internet, where users have become rather anti-social and post content expecting comments without participating on the site by doing so themselves. To be clear though, if a user has enough posts to post 30 writings at once, the Karma system will not prevent this, and never will. This will be handled via post concatenation in the feeds, which will prevent other users posts from being pushed off the feeds by mass posting. The Library pages however will never concatenate posts.

Version 5 will also introduce the concept of 'following' a writer. So if you want to ensure you never miss posts by your favourite writers, you will be able to follow them and you will have a dedicated 'following' feed to just these users posts and activity.

Forum: Announcements

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Update:

I stand corrected, gender was part of v4 and not v3, and v3 did allow me to remove birthdate. So that field and all it's data have been removed from user profiles and the database.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Loothier:

About ten, maybe even fifteen years ago, when the Internet was still young, I chanced upon an amateur author's website. I spent many nights reading his stories about the ever-diminishing possibilities of science caused by more-dimensional beings squeezed into our world, and the immortal lady (created accidentally in some scientific experiment) struggling to keep the human race alive through the eons, storing knowledge in the roughest form possible as the universe kept loosing detail. Another story was about superheroes that got exponentially more powerful, and more deranged, each time a new one was turned, and the previous people who tried to stop the next ones. Around the tragic time I lost the bookmark, he was writing about magic (which worked like programming with math inside the mind) used to engineer some parts in a space shuttle that exploded. His website had yellow text on a dark gray blue background, if I remember correctly. He did occasional rant posts on science and programming subjects too.

I would very much like to read those stories again. Does someone on this forum know the author or his website? Or a better place to ask?

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by chancematthews01:

I am a new amateur writer. I have book one already posted. I would really like help with editing. Do a Search for "Chi Warrior Saga - Book 1"

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Phillip Cain:

Hello all. Subject is pretty straight forward. I have been considering a switch in majors at my local community college into creative writing or something close to it (not even fully aware of my options yet to be honest), but I would like to know how it happened for you. Was it an epiphany moment, something you fell into, or something that was always present in you.

edit: it really labels me an ink virgin lol, what a knee slapper

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Rob Kosy:

Now that's a proper critique and hard, fair and good advice.

The one draw back for me about E-books, Kindle & such is that 'anyone' can publish. For example there's a guy who puts out fabulous, professional covers and calls himself Stephen King. The type face is even similar, very much similar, in-fact. But he is not the Stephen King. a fact that is painfully evident once you start suffering......I mean reading.

There are also some excellent stories and ideas but the writing is not to the standard you would expect.

Forum: Help and Support

Last post on thread was by Kore-rupt Kay-os:

How do I post my writing?

Forum: Help and Support

Last post on thread was by Nurwanti:

I also have the same question, thanks for asking

Forum: Bug Reports and Site Issues

Last post on thread was by Routh:

This should not be an issue anymore.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

This short post has some quick and easy ways to improve your writing.

https://medium.com/an-idea-for-you/the-two-minutes-it-takes-to-read-this-will-improve-your-writing-forever-82a7d01441d1#.vr45txmxo

Forum: Off Topics

Last post on thread was by SirSludge:

It's been years and now it's back
we got the counting in the sack

Now in this fort
there is a court
but you do not sue
because it's 22!
.
.
.
No, that's not right!
The numbers aren't tight
I don't want to be a bore,
but I tell you, it's 54!

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by lichtyd:

I've been writing for several months. Started with fan fiction and have started my own, not very original, story. I'll try to be an active member here, but my writing takes most of my free time. My first story, The Farmer's Daughter, is rather simple and derivative. Heck the title is a cliche. Writing with a familiar plot allows me to focus on grammar, style, dialog and narrative. I like my characters and enjoy putting them into scenes and recording how they react.

lichtyd

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by enchantedpickles:

Is there a certain why to do this or does it matter how your writing style is?

I want to write dialog of someone talking on the phone but my narator can only hear the person she is with and not the person on the phone.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by pappz24:

I am new to writing.I like to pen the stories that come up in my mind but i always find difficult to get the right words.
Could someone please help me with the basics of writing.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by trubolotta:

Just a few suggestions from someone who has done a lot of technical writing but now wants to do SciFi writing.

1. 1. Set up a crib sheet of people (or entities), places and things with descriptions to help you be consistent throughout the story. You don't have to reveal all detail at one time, but being consistent over a period of time helps readers.
2. 2. I write a plot outline and sometimes three, four or five. Some interconnect, some do not. Some I dump and some I polish. It doesn't take long and can be very generalized using your own brand of shorthand.
3. 3. Work your chapters. I'll rewrite, chop and mince a chapter as much as necessary until it reads and fits the way I want it to read and fit. I've even scrapped entire chapters, salvaging only a few good parts and dropping the rest.
4. 4. Ideas sheet - its a document I always keep to paste in ideas I think were good but just in the wrong place in the story.
5. 5. Finally, don't take my word for it. I'm brand new at fiction writing and I'm sure more experienced writers can give you good advice.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

I will hopefully have this implemented before too long along with a new version of the site. It's currently a work in progress, about halfway done.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by flickeringfairy:

There have been some in the past and some that dabble in a little bit of everything.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Demonic:

I'd love to check it out. I'm kind of in the same boat as you, writing a story but don't have all of it worked out yet. I'll have to check out chapter one.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Kholm:

I read once that military folk are somewhere around 90% more likely to smoke then non military. Now don't mistake that for 90% of military people smoke, but there are a lot who do.

Sometimes there is more to smoking than just the physical effects or the buzz it gives you. As military, I can tell you that the social aspect of smoking (at least in military settings) is something that is very important. Its quite a tradeoff, your health for an abundance of rumours and information. The smoke deck is one of the most useful places to obtain information between divisions and get group collaberations.

Non smokers actually look to the smokers to see if they can "get any information on the smokedeck." While much of it is rumor, the senior smokers are pretty good at weeding out nonsense.

Now, enough of the specific social aspect that makes it seem acceptable to me.

Smoking is bad. Bad bad bad bad. There are tons of cancer causing bits, killing you slowly bits, and bits of well smoke. That crap doesnt need to be in your lungs one bit. But hey, its enjoyable to some extent. It does give you a little buzz, and it does fire off little feel goods in your brain. I am no scientest or doctor so I wont pretend to know what does what or why it is addictive.

It can be a money dump, health dump and give you chronically bad breath.

But for every evil, you just have to know how to properly keep yourself. If you smoke, maybe you should make sure to jog every day, brush your teeth twice as long, and eat a bit healthier. I know I do to try and offset the habit. plus I have to be in tip top shape for most of what I do.

Smoking all comes down to where you are, who you are and how you choose to do it. Hell, it might be a cop-out as some people say when life gets a bit too stressful, but here I am in japan, right after a huge mess. I'm alive, and I've been working 14 hours a day to restore power to several buildings, and helping people in wreckage. Its hard, I'm stressed, and I'll be damned if you tell me I can't have a cig.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Rob Kosy:

Ah, but I'll bet you were only 6 when you invented this word-fuelled Porsche of a site. in many ways, Chris, I liken you to Matthew Broderick in the movie 'War Games'. Y'know, when he hacks the USA's national defence system and gets to ask Stephen Hawking's 'Speak & Spell' for a game of Thermo Nuclear War? No?
Ah, well, maybe there is too much 80's in this reply, even for you.
But, seriously, Chris, a great achievement, my friend: standards high, membership big and not to mention the atmosphere this place generates.
Here's to 19 more.

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by Dcouch87:

I'm sure this is a large response, but I'm new here having just joined. I'd have to agree with the comments I've read however. As you write and go back over things you have previously written, you'll reorganize certain things, edit some things out, and change as you go. Don't worry about surviving chapters early on. Write some, then go back and reread it after a little time. You'll find the appropriate pauses to divide into chapters then. I wrote nearly 15,000 words within 3 chapters. Then when I went back a few days later while typing it from my writing, I realized one chapter could actually be two separate ones.

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by Dcouch87:

So I'm writing a historical fiction that takes place during world war 2. It follows the younger of two brothers throughout the war during his search for his older brother that was shot down over Europe. The younger enlists several months after his older brother, just after pearl harbor. He gets sent to the Pacific where he is wounded, then he volunteers for the rangers after he learns of his brother being a pow. My question is, should I add a love interest in the younger brothers life? I have added a way to do so if I choose to, but not sure how to follow. He has just finished his ranger training and is home on leave before being sent to England.

Forum: Announcements

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Stage 1 of this update, deploying SSL has been completed. All pages should show secure in your browsers and Chrome should report that it is using a "modern cipher suite".

I believe I have found all instances of "mixed insecure content" which usually means an image is being loaded with HTTP instead of HTTPS. I may have missed one or two. Please notify me if you find any by replying to this post.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by msjhord:

My name is Jennifer and I live in the US. I think I have been in love with words since I was a tot, which is probably why I learned to read by age 4. Somewhere around age 8 or 9, my love of writing was awakened and, thanks to writing-happy public schoolteachers, I got plenty of practice in from then on. Fast forward to adulthood -- marriage, parenthood, child with special needs, family crises, family illness, semi-cross country move, blah blah blah. I haven't gotten as much writing practice going on as I used to. I had a brief spate of it a few years ago, but just wasn't in a good place to receive proper criticism, so I put it on hold. Got into other forms of art like painting, jewelry making, fleshing out my cooking skills. Those are going pretty well, but I still have this story in me that I am dying to tell. And maybe it's cliche, maybe it's not. But I want to tell it and tell it RIGHT! I could use some help. So . . . if you could, lemme know if I'm in the right place (I mean, this isn't a forum dedicated to ONLY one genre, right?) and we'll go forth with what's bouncing around in my head. I warn you in advance, though. I'm a little odd, and a little stubborn haha! thanks for the time!!

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Rob Kosy:

Mr Cushions, please receive my cyber hug along with a massive apology for such a delayed reply.
I myself am fine and hoping that you and yours are in a similar fettle.
Time is a meagre mistress at the moment and, would you believe, I have written nothing (accept cheques) since this post; lots of family stuff going on . My mam, though not ill, isn't in the best of conditions physically and requires a lot more help than just twelve months ago. Stick that in the pot with a new management regime at work, allow to simmer for twelve months and out comes the best time/stress sandwich you could ever hope to feast upon. At last count the number of unpaid, extra, hours I have bagged at my place of employ totals three weeks. Blimey, with 21 days of uninterrupted writing I could have finished 'the herrings' and cornered the weird/slightly uncomfortable comedy market.
But enough that, onward and upwards as pompous, upper class knobs like to say.
Many thanks for your response to my "Sir Terry" post. I really was gutted at his passing. But since we have our very own 'Savage Pratchet' here on the den, his style (unwittingly echoed by your talented self) shall live on.
As for the election, you were right, Mr Cushions. the herrings were secreting a few creative juices. However, I have been unable to absorb and act upon them because of said time constraints. having said that David Macaroon has enjoyed a few scribbled notes upon the back of work memos and wage slips. Though I call him David Car Moron, since he obviously a cap driver since we never see him........driving.
Blimey, this is the longest time I've spent on the den all year.
Merry Christmas, savage. I hope you and yours have an excellent one and enjoy a fantastic new year.

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by only71stitches:

I'm very new to writing and I didn't do so well in English and Grammar back in my school days... LOL

I have a question that I have not found an actual answer for... Everyone seems to have a different opinion on this...

My character's inner thoughts... I write them initialized... I get that... But when it's a question, what the right format?

Example:

How am I alive? he wonders.
How am I alive? He Wonders.
How am I alive, he wonders?

What's the right way to type that?

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by hobie roberts:

hey so i got an idea for a short story series and i kinda need help with like cover designs and stuff. my idea is for it to be a zombie book, but like through the zombies eyes, ive been thinking about it for a while and finally got some ideas for the actual plot of it, if any one would like to help with it ill give you my Skype, mostly i really need some one who can draw zombies pretty good for a cover of it, ill be printing it at my sisters work and making like short story's, plus my local book store said if they like it they can start to maby promote it there, ill also have it online to.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Found this on Google+ today. Its worth reading and putting into practice.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by mcglone:

Because I started off here and have deep respect for this website, I am writing this here.

I have finished my book (finally) but I need an outside view to check if everything is up to scratch. This only just dawned on me when I set my book up on Amazon as a pre-order title.

So, if anyone is willing to help I'd be greatful and I will even give you a complimentary copy of the the final book!

I hope you guys don't mind me posting this here.

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by mcglone:

Because I started off here and have deep respect for this website, I am writing this here.

I have finished my book (finally) but I need an outside view to check if everything is up to scratch. This only just dawned on me when I set my book up on Amazon as a pre-order title.

So, if anyone is willing to help I'd be greatful and I will even give you a complimentary copy of the the final book!

I hope you guys don't mind me posting this here.

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by Routh:

Heads up for those of you publishing to Amazon. Amazon is looking to change their pay model so you only get paid for pages read.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology...-read.html

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by LawMatheson:

(DOSCO Spoiler Warning) I have been doing my research, it doesn't seem like there is much venue for GOOD gay literature (other than whiny 'coming out' stories from New York Times Best Sellers, where that is the ONLY focus of the novel), so I have been talking to some friends (other gay writers) from Brazil and Spain, both friends of mine. Together, we are thinking of banding together, gathering our friends/family/followers into one web site, offering things the other gay publishing house websites don't offer (I drew up a 30 page business proposal yesterday, so I have the research), market in three languages, sell in three countries (and help one another out shipping the others books when it is cheaper for them), and use the website as a platform to blast our books. We could then branch out to other gay writers from around the world, and publish for them if they are in a 'closed' country and they can't.

Does anyone have any advice on this? This is a large dream of mine, one I am just discovering, but one that is coming together. Advice and criticism is always helpful (just know that 'impossible' is my fuel).

I'm a dreamer; Even if I die with unfulfilled dreams, I will know I have done everything I could to chase after them; Rather than live 'comfortably' suppressing those aspirations.

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by Vollkrasser:

Hi,

I made a script/plot for new cases in the traditional style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle"™s stories of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. That script is the basis for a non-commercial online adventure game version.

The first previews of the game are"¦

...here in video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGY4thv8wG0

...here pics with the final lightning, scroll down in the forum, the last post on page 1 forum

...here is the first scene playable online (graphics there are just placeholdeers and will be replaced):
http://textadventures.co.uk/games/vie...n-of-sheba

The game ought to be in British English, best would be the old Victorian style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I"™m not a native English speaker, and it would be a sacrilege to have even the slightest foreign accent for this. That would be German in my case, which is reserved for the villains already ;-)

So I"™m looking for a writer, who would like to take part in this project for free as I also do.
The workflow would be that he/she starts from my bad English script and writes a nice round story out of it that can then be the novel part of the adventure. Think of it as a bit like Dr. Watson did with the bare facts of Holmes: he made entertaining and exciting stories out of it. It would be similar with our cooperation for the adventure.

Best would be if the writer speaks a bit german, but it"™s not a must.
The final game will be free and online playable by everybody even without registration on the above platform.

The game is afoot!

If youre interested, just contact me via e-mail, which is described in 2 parts (to avoid-auto spam crawlers):
the first part is
reinarassa
the second part is
@googlemail.com
combine the two and you have the valid e-mail.

Best regards from germany/Bavaria!

Vollkrasser

Forum: The Editor's Desk

Last post on thread was by Routh:

This latest question should be posted into a new topic. Please use one thread per topic. Multiple topics in one thread is too difficult for people to follow and destroys a thread.

Forum: Bug Reports and Site Issues

Last post on thread was by Routh:

NovaCops writing has been fixed.

Thats all the reported work for now, please report any others.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by EvilUncleEarnie:

Thanks again for the suggestions... I have written poems and short stories, but something this involved is a challenge. Thanks again...

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by LawMatheson:

I get what you mean when you say you get caught up in a story, for me, it's almost like 'The DOSCO Files' are writing themselves. I have One chapter posted here, but I have three books worth of material. I am just going back and smoothing things out. I am struggling with word count and pages in a chapter, so this post was helpful.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by pirate60:

lol.

Forum: Storyteller's Fire

Last post on thread was by blue_veined_hatred:

I was busy doing the usual, laying back inside my cruiser and helping myself to more doughnuts every now and then, with an eye on the street. For most of the cops back at the station passing the night in a cruiser is something they would skip as often as they can manage. I was not most of the cops. Most of the cops do not have a marriage on the verge of dissolving into the most sour taste.
Rankton was as quite at that hour of the night. Quite enough for the rapidly approaching engine noise of a car revving up the road. I tossed back the half eaten doughnut into it's box and fumbled up to a feasible position.
I hardly recognized the brand of the car which fleetingly shot past the street but I clearly recognized the situation: a speeding case deep at night. This mght range from some adventure hungry delinquent to some high profile hit and run. Just at that moment, my radio cackled out:
"All units in the vicinity. A possible hit and run suspect has been seen going East found down Rosewood Boulevard. Suspect is driving a black Classic Ford Mustang. Requesting reports on visual."
"This is Z3005.I have a visual of a possible suspect. On pursuit."
I turned on the ignition and the on the lights, wailed the siren and zoomed out of the alley. Tonight is going to be a bumpy.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by Rob Kosy:

It has been pointed out on a few occasions that summer is slow, and it's true.

I'm not getting a lot of time to visit at the moment either (though I wish it was because I was strolling & having fun outdoors, rather than being hemmed in at work; the holiday season, eh?).

kt, without disparaging Verm, Kerri & co I would say that you are the den's most consistent & revered critic. A 'good one' from yourself is an all day high. But the den without kt (at least in my time here) is akin to tea without water.

Looking forward to the resolution of your posting troubles.

Forum: General Discussion

Last post on thread was by tjwell01:

I agree e-publishing is tricky--I was just pointing out the cool feature about the site. Plus, I'm always on the look out for the new writing community.

Forum: Suggestions and Feature Requests

Last post on thread was by flickeringfairy:

I was wondering if it would be possible to not only search for type, but order them as well. In other words search "Poems" and then order from newest to oldest.

Just a thought,
FlickeringFairy

Forum: Poet's Corner

Last post on thread was by tjwell01:

Poetry becomes a different animal when read aloud. It takes shape and new meaning before your eyes. SAY IT!