Anne N. Mouse: Blog

Or rather did you rate the last story you read? I admit I've failed to rate a few that I've read recently, but I try to do so.
Next question: When is the last time you sent a note to your favorite author telling them how much you appreciated their work? I am fairly good at doing this, though I unfortunately sent some to dead authors... :(
Which has me considering how to start a sort of memorial wall, I don't know how Laz would maintain such a thing but I'd like to see an ongoing project to make sure we do know when one of our compatriots (for those of us who write) has passed beyond the veil.
Well it seems that the only productive writing I'm doing is here and baiting various people on certain comment boards...
Ah well, just wish I could get paid for either!

I'm not a terribly productive writer. Indeed there are weeks when something like the two flash stories that I posted recently are all I get out for the whole week. Worse there have been months when I produced less than what is in those two pieces. So in my life I discover the first gatekeeper is myself.
That might seem counter intuitive but really it is true that the first obstacles we have to overcome are those that we place on ourselves. So what else could stand in my way?
Regulation. I have several stories started that feature people that would be under the age that is allowed to be in a fictional sex setting.
But we must protect the children, is the cry that fueled those rules. But do those laws really do that?
Maybe, but if I were trying to make a living at this it certainly would constrain me from going to the press with those stories (and like Aroslav pointed out such rules can keep you from having your work available. Sometimes you can't even find out the 'rule' that you have violated. You are just told that you have vaguely violated a rule...)to the point that I can't give them away here and frankly I'm frightened to give them away at ASSTR.org.
Why would I be frightened to give my work away? Because like some people have stated, they fear that ASSTR has become a 'honey pot', by which I suppose they mean that they believe that it is being kept in place by govt regulators (gatekeepers) who are just waiting for you to post obscenity there.
But that is not the only area in my life that gatekeepers have made difficult. I hoped to make my living as a proofreader, yet for some reason there seems to be either a formal or informal rule in place that you must have a PHD to do that work. A PHD to proofread? Other than a math or science text where I had to actually check the accuracy of the equations or the accuracy of the research, I can see absolutely no reason that such a requirement should be in place. Literally it seems to me that people who have higher degrees have gotten into places where they are protecting their almamater and providing 'work' for their fellow certificate holders.
I'm fairly sure that for even the most technical work there ought to be a few people who get on the team to say, hey you've gone over everyone's head....
I actually have been looking into the possibility of getting a commercial driver's license, but for various reasons (some of my own making I admit) I've not done that yet...
But it is hard to wonder if I'll end up homeless because I can't find work. Hard to keep away from the superblues, to not look over at that bottle of vicoden and say, there is a cure for my pain, a permanent cure, after all everyone thinks I'm useless and worthless...

I expect low scores when I post something that is short... Though I am pleased to say that my poetry actually has better scores than I might expect on a site like this. I also expect low scores when I post Mm or MM type of stories.
I can get good scores and high downloads from 'dog on woman' fiction. Heck even 'Man on female dog' fiction gets good downloads and scores. But those aren't the stories that have buzzed around my head lately. Instead I have a nonpunishable story (Post Apocalyptic...) that I've started, though I doubt I'll ever finish it, and these bits and pieces about the teen cross dressing boy in a trap... Why? I don't ask the muse why, I just take dictation when she decides to push something to the fore.

I'd just discovered Xalir's work and now to learn he has passed from this mortal coil... We all must pass 'tis true, but sad to hear the news at any time.
Farewell, though I knew you not, I would that we'd met in life, but your work lives on to inspire.
T

It seems to me from being frustrated with my own writing, and with the writing of other authors here that one of the hardest things to do for an author is to build that bridge into the world you are imagining. I don't very often go much past a couple of paragraphs in a story before I've decided that it either isn't ('cause I can't seem to get past the 'info dump') interesting, or it has captured my attention and I am going to read through to the end no matter how long it keeps me up...
Anyway, I do wish I knew what makes the difference between a story that captures an audience (called the 'hook') and what turns one off in my own writing. I know I'm interested in what I write, but is anyone else interested?
I suppose so, I have a lot of my stuff in other people's libraries.... Even if the 77 fans (as in they must be fanatic) who put The Adventures of Cocksocket into their library are the same for all the other stories that I've put out then I have a few people who can get past my info dumps... :P