Lubrican: Blog

I'm posting what amounts to a three-chapter story. It has an epilogue but that is quite short.

This is a good example of the kind of thing I do when I just want a change of scenery, or when I'm waiting to get something back from Michelle (proofreader) or Andy (Editor). While I'm waiting I browse through the projects folder, which contains everything from just a raw plot idea to a mostly finished book or story.

If you're wondering why there would be a "mostly finished" book just sitting around, it's because sometimes, while I'm writing one thing, a different plot, or group of characters grab my attention and demand to be developed instantly. So the mostly finished project goes to the back burner while I work on the new idea. A good example of a situation like this is my book The Seventh Sense. I was working on something else when the whole book outline for a science fiction book burst into my mind. I had to get it written while my muse was still all excited. So The Seventh Sense is one that grabbed me like a rottweiler, and one of my favorite books.

This new story is one that got put on the back burner for some reason. When I found it I decided it was time for it to see the light of day.

It is called Mom is Sadie Hawkins and it's a Covid story. Please be sure to read the foreword, where I give credit for the idea to another author.

As always,
Thanks for reading.

I like to write coming of age stories. It's just what I like. I have lamented the fact that freedom of speech in the literary world has been hijacked by those who live in a fantasy world in which nobody has sex until they are adults. Publishers should be able to publish unvarnished coming of age stories without fear of legal harassment via tort, but that's just not the way things are.

So what is an author to do? Well, he can censor the original story by making all characters at least 18 years old. That makes the story read "stupid". I recently got a comment on a story that said if I wasn't going to put any effort into censoring a story (beyond changing ages to 18), so it made sense, then I should just remove the story.

That means I have to remove all my stories. There is no way to "rewrite" a junior in high school into a believable 18-year-old. I can say this person is so stupid they've been held back three or four times, but we all know that doesn't happen in today's educational system. And even if I did rewrite it that way, how is it that this idiot seems to be perfectly normal?

No. There are two reasons I post these fucked up, censored stories.

1. I know there are lots of you who like the coming of age concept, too, and who have good imaginations. Those people can overlook the "age" of the character and use the context of the scene to substitute a different age in their imagination.

2. I'm retired and I supplement my income with sales of my books. The books themselves have to be censored, too, but if a person sends me proof of purchase I'll happily send them, at no additional expense, the uncensored, original version of the book, which reads well and makes sense because the ages are "real".

Now I understand there are a lot of folks out there who don't want to pay for books of this sort. For years and years, if it wasn't free, I didn't read it. But I used my imagination to make reading whatever I found as much fun as possible. And I'm aware that lots of people live on fixed incomes, as I would be doing if it wasn't for book sales, and that they can't afford to buy books. I refer those people to number one, above. I generally don't put the free, posted version of the story behind the pay wall. I used to, but that was before every thing had to be censored. I'd let everybody read it as it was posted and then leave it up for a few weeks, so that people who can't afford a premium membership or to buy books, can still read it for free.

I also price my books very low, by comparison with other authors who write this kind of thing.

So I'm trying to do my part to make this work as well as the religious fanatics will let it work. That's all I can do, other than just stop writing.

And I'm not ready to just stop writing.

Bob

In a further exploration of the idea of a dad "tucking in" his daughters, I am posting a new story called The Farmers' Daughters. You may notice where the possessive apostrophe is located. It's not a mistake. There are two farmers, and each has at least one daughter. So the "farmers'" is the possessive of both farmers and their daughter(s).

Sorry. I don't mean to be pedantic. But experience has taught me that my readers are intelligent and astute, and that I will hear about any misuse of either prose or punctuation. This is not a complaint, by the way. My readers improve my writing with each notification that I have screwed something up.

Anyway, this is another coming of age story which has been censored in view of the (probably inevitable) situation in which SOL will have to be censored for age. You guys know me by now, so you know that there is an original, uncensored version of the story. If I post that, there is the possibility that it may disappear some day because Laz will be forced to remove such material. If you ever wondered why everything on Bookapy.com is 'family friendly', it's because he had to make it that way. Thankfully, he created zbookstore.com, where at least the only thing censored is age.

Anyway, I want you to know I'm not trying to hold anybody hostage with censored books, so I can charge people for the original. If you cannot afford to (or just don't want to) buy the book so you can request the original, then just use your imagination as you read what is posted. This is not a hard and fast rule, but think about it this way. If, for example in the story I'm posting now, the young people are presented as being between 18 and 21 years old, then translate that to being between 15 and eighteen or nineteen years of age. Just subtract three or so years and you'll probably be very close to what is in the original book.

Anyway, this new book is 5 chapters long, similar to the last one. This week I hope to be able to post regularly, without any interruptions.

Thank you for reading.
Bob

I am sorry I was unable to finish posting the story on time. An emergency pertaining to a friend required me to be away from my computer until today (5 Nov). I submitted the last chapter a few minutes ago (0155 hrs)and it should be available later today.
Thank you for your patience. I see six messages that I haven't read yet and I bet I know what most of them are about.
Bob

With the posting of my recent offering (Uncle's Beach House) the foreword has generated a lot of interest in getting an uncensored copy of the book. Usually, my forward reads, simply: This book was edited to comply with publisher standards. All persons and characters in this book are at least 18 years of age or older"
Then, at the end of the book, I put an afterword that reads something like this:
"If you enjoyed the book and would like to have a copy of the original, uncensored version, send a screen shot of your zbookstore library page to merely.bob@gmail.com and I'll send you the original version at no additional expense."

What this does is supply proof of purchase, which is all I want. If you buy the censored version, the least I can do is send you the uncensored version, too. I'm not a publisher, so the squeaky wheel can't hassle me. What you and I do when we exchange emails is private business. And, to ensure that nobody can accuse me of sending kiddy porn based on the cover, I make sure the cover of the uncensored one displays no sexual scenes.

That works for any of my books that you bought anywhere. Just give me some kind of proof of purchase and we're good to go. And, if the screen shot you send me has other censored books on it, I'll send you those, too.

So, that's how it works. I hope this clears up any confusion.

Bob