Two more chapters today, in hopes of making up for the initial slow pace of my story.
I said originally that I was expecting low ratings, especially of my early postings, and they've been generally about what I'd anticipated. Except. . . two readers chose to give my submission the lowest possible ranking of 1, which comes with the sneering subtitle, "you call this a story?" I've read comments from other authors complaining about the same thing with their stories. I suppose there are idiots out there who get their jollies by doing that sort of "Kilroy was here" graffiti, but isn't it pretty childish? Why simply dump on somebody's efforts without even troubling to read what they've written, which I can only assume is the case, since anyone who can form a complete sentence is surely worthy of more than a total dismissal? I know I join with many other authors in wishing that SOL membership could be freed from those who simply want to call attention to themselves with this sort of nonsense.
By the way, one reader chastised me for failing to address the cliffhanger of "your last chapter" and embarking instead on a new story line. I belatedly realized that another author has also been posting a continuing story with a similar title, "Castaway: Explorer." The two tales are entirely unrelated; the other author, who goes by an obvious pseudonym on SOL, isn't me under a cognomen. Sorry about the confusion, it's entirely coincidental. I chose my title several years ago when I first published Castaway on Amazon, and it's a direct follow-through on the subject matter, as readers will find in due course; indeed, when we get to the end, I'll defy any reader to suggest a better title. I'm sure the other author had similar reasons. It's just that our minds, and presumably our stories, ran in parallel directions. So, please, I hope readers can forgive the overlapping titles and keep our disparate submissions mentally separated.