Bastion Grammar Jr: Blog

First, I want to thank everyone for their over-whelming response to my last entry. Many of you have written me and have scored my story very highly to make up for the 1's. I'm humbled and I appreciate everyone's efforts.

I feel bad now, though, because I feel I was pandering for votes and that wasn't what I was trying to do.

I have some goals for this story. One, I have to like what I write. Two, I hope to get e-mails from people who've read it. Three, I want to become a better writer through writing the story.

My last entry was meant for number three. Honestly, I don't mind getting a 1 or 2 or 3 if you feel I deserve it. I know I'm an amateur and there are going to be some people who really hate what I've written. What I was trying to get was some honest responses from one or more people who hated what I wrote so that I could use their criticism to become a better writer (they can even send me e-mail anonymously!).

Many e-mails pointed out that the scores could be political as well to make one story score higher than another. It's sad if that is the case but I can understand. I just want to be a better writer.

I'm not certain how the statistics SOL uses works but I'd like to thank all of you who've voted. The story is far from perfect but I find it interesting and, in the end, I'm really the only one I have to please because I know that I can't please everyone and I don't expect to.

I am curious about some of the '1' votes that have been cast, though. From what I understand, a '1' means that you hated it. Honestly, I'm fine with that; I guess it hurts my ego a bit but I'm okay. It's not going to make me stop writing or posting the story. I do want to know why you hated it, however. I'm hoping it will make me a better writer. So, please, if you've given the story a '1' or plan to give the story a '1' please write me an anonymous e-mail to let me know why you hated it.

Thanks for reading!

I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Rob_3324 who has graciously volunteered to proof read my drivel (at least for the foreseeable future; I'm sure he reserves the right to change his mind at any time). If any of Chapter 3 moving forward is legible, he deserves the credit. Otherwise, you'd all be reading through a bunch of punctuation-less words in all caps.

I can't keep up this pace. I'm going to continue to write this wherever I can and put up chapters as I finish them but it's not going to be every day like it is now. One, I've got a job and family so they're going to take up time. Second...well, I just can't write this that fast. So, I hope you will all forgive me if this torrid pace of writing slows a bit. My goal is maybe a chapter a week but if I finish something sooner, I'll throw it up.

I've posted a new story called Traveller. I've read many time-travel/do-over stories on SOL over the years and, for the most part, I really liked them. There were a few things, though, that I just didn't like. Things like the emotional toll going back in time would have on a person. Most of the stories I've read just have the person accepting the time travel immediately. Some, which come with powers such as telepathy or what have you, have the character accepting not only the change in his life but the ability to do strange things. They were great stories but hardly realistic. I wanted to try my hand at this and make it as real and compelling as I could. The result is...Traveller.

I first had to come up with a mythos for a do-over. What and how would he go back in time. I'm a comic book buff and one of the coolest stories I've read is when Barry Allen - the Flash - races for a neutrino to stop some disaster. He runs so fast, he becomes pure energy and 'loops back' to the lightning bolt which gave him his powers in the first place. I thought that was an interesting plot device -- so I've used it here. Alex was hit by lightning when he was 7, I think. Chance was electrocuted in his bath tub. I don't think I'm giving anything away by pointing out the connection -- if you read the story, I think I made it much more obvious than I originally intended. Electricity, it isn't just for powering light bulbs any more.

There will be sex in this story. A metric ton of it. I just haven't got there yet. Sex should fit in a story instead of be the story. The former is good for reading. The latter is good for masturbation. I'm not against masturbation - I really LOVE masturbation, it's the fourth or fifth best type of sex you can have, after vaginal, oral, anal, armpit, titty-fuck, dry humping...okay, maybe it's the eighth or ninth best type of sex...somewhere in there - I just want to write a good story.

The prologue and Chapter 1 are posted and I'm writing chapter 2 now...well, no, I'm writing this blog now but...well...you know what I mean. I'll post Chapter 2 as soon as I finish it...probably tomorrow, if I get time to finish it. If not, sometime later. It'll be more of Alex coping with the change so, still no sex yet. If you read it, the sex will come (or cum)...