REP: Blog

Today I posted A Reader's Guide to the D-Hopping Universe and the Introduction and first chapter of Opening Earth. I will be posting a new chapter of Opening Earth every Tuesday.

A Reader's Guide to the D-Hopping Universe is not a story. It is a reference document that contains information about the Fourth Dimension, D-Hopping, and the Multiverse. The document provides detailed information on topics that are mentioned or briefly addressed in Opening Earth and in other stories that I will write in the future.


Opening Earth is my first story about Doug Smith, who is a citizen of the Known Multiverse. The story's premise is that there are multiple universes (the Multiverse), and they are connected by the Fourth Dimension's energy fields.

A small percentage of the people born in the Home Universe, Dimension Hoppers (D-Hoppers), have the ability to move themselves and freight through space using the Fourth Dimension's energy fields. The majority of the D-Hoppers are engaged in trade between the planets of many explored universes, which are governed by the Multiverse Government. The planets governed by the government occupy a region of space that is referred to as the Known Multiverse. There are a small number of D-Hoppers who explore the Multiverse looking for a world that will provide the D-Hopper with lucrative trade opportunities.

When such a world is found, the D-Hopper begins to open the new world to trade with the Multiverse. While opening the planet, the D-Hopper purchases merchandise on the new planet or on a Multiverse planet at a very low price and then sells it at a very high price at the other location. The D-Hopper can accrue an immense personal fortune while opening a profitable new world. The normal future for a new world is for the world to join the Multiverse.

Doug has located a profitable new world, Earth, and he is in the process of opening it to trade. Opening Earth is the story of how Doug Smith places Earth on the path to becoming a member world of the Multiverse, and his personal and professional experiences along the way.

The main conflicts in the story are caused by cultural differences between Earth and the Multiverse. For example, slavery is legal and socially acceptable practice in the Multiverse. However, Multiverse slavery is more in line with Earth's indentured servant practices. Doug is trying to settle on Earth, so he obtains some slaves and bring them to Earth to serve him as his domestic staff and mistresses. Living on Earth with his ladies makes life interesting for while he does not broadcast the fact that they are his slaves, he does not hide or lie about their relationship.

Doug's life on Earth becomes exceptionally complex and tumultuous when the Multiverse appoints him to be their Ambassador on Earth. It is now Doug's job to guide and shape the attitudes and culture of Earth's population so they will be willing to request membership in the Multiverse. Considering Earth's xenophobic attitude to space aliens, sense of independence, and cultural differences, this seems to be an impossible task. But Doug has a plan and a few allies.

I recently had the experience of a story, Opening Earth, coming alive as I wrote it; in this case, it came alive as I was finalizing it.

I was finishing Chapter 8 and thought I would conclude the story in about two more chapters. Then I had a good idea, which led to a second idea, and so on. I am now working on Chapter 19 and think three more chapters will finalize this part of the story. The story will not be 'finalized' for I will leave a number of incomplete subplots and I have several more 'good ideas', but I decided to cut off the story now. Depending on how it is received by SOL readers, I may write the remainder of the story.

However, I have also posted two stories as Part 1 of multipart stories. Once I finish Opening Earth, I will return to those stories and write the Part 2 of each. There will be no Part 3 for Chocolateen. Ancient Abilities has the potential for several more parts, but I will have to see where I take Part 2 before I decide if I want to continue the storyline.

I wish to thank the many readers who pointed out omitted words, misspellings, and other grammatical errors to me. I will be posting updated chapters today to correct those errors. The content has not changed. My most commented on error appears to be the use of 'intern' instead of 'inter'. I have evidently mispronounced the word for years, and being a phonetic speller, I oops'd.

I am currently trying to finalize a new story, but it seems to have taken on a life of its own for it just keeps growing. The first problem I had with the story was that the story is about a man from a fictional society, his activities here on Earth, and the interaction between the two societies. The problem was I needed to define and describe the new society within the story, and it dragged so much that the details killed the story. I realized that I would most likely evolve the story into either a series of stories or a story universe. I solved the problem by stripping the detailed information from the story and incorporated it into a Reader's Guide. I then expanded the culture's description, and the guide is now over 44 pages in length; but it still needs review and editing, so it may grow some more. Now I will be able to reference the Reader's Guide to explain aspects of the fictional culture that are too extensive to define in a story.

What this means for Ancient Abilities, Part 2 is that continuation of the story will be delayed.

Once again, thank you for your many comments.
REP

Dear Reader,

Part 1 of Ancient Abilities is now complete. I thank you for remaining with me to the end of the first story, and I hope you enjoyed this part of Jim, Cathy, and Sam's saga.

Part 2 of the saga is nothing more than a broad outline in my mind. During Part 2, Jim, Cathy, and Sam will be engaged in carrying out the Guidance Council's plan. Cathy and Sam will be busy finding harem members for Jim, and Jim will be busy fathering the future members of the Core Group of the Organization he will create.

During the past month or so, a number of my readers have offered suggestions and ideas as to the direction I should take Part 1 of the story. Many of these suggestions were excellent, but I had already planned and written the Chapter 6 twist to the story line and the final two chapters of the story. If you go back and analyze the story, you will see that until Chapter 8 the story line did not have a clear plot. It sort of wandered along like a typical love story.

I have a few ideas for Jim, Cathy, and Sam's future activities, but mostly I have not developed any specific activities. The activities I will develop shall fall within the broad outline of the four Tasks Jim agreed to perform, but that leaves me with a very wide scope of possibilities.

Should any of you have ideas for how Jim fulfills the four tasks, I will be happy to consider them. One of my readers, Steve, gave me his take on where the story would head after I posted Chapter 2. Part of his scenario had John, the injured fireman, taking on the role of Jim's father figure. At that point, John was just a bit player. However, I liked the idea and decided to bring John back and develop his role such that he becomes either a supporting or a main character; I haven't worked that out.

If you do provide me with input all I ask is:

1) The idea fall in the scope of Jim's mission as defined in Chapter 8.

2) My writing style for sex scenes is mostly what I consider erotic writing, so if you have ideas for a sex scene, I hope they will fit into that writing style.

To expand on that concept, I evaluate sex scenes using a scale. At one end of the scale is the Erotic style of writing and at the other end is the Pornographic style of writing. Most writers fall between these two extremes. I don't consider either style inappropriate; it is just that we each have our personal preferences. My personal definition of the two styles is that in the Erotic style, the writer focuses on the participant's emotions and feelings to arouse the reader, and in the Pornographic style, the writer focuses on the mechanics of the sex act to arouse the reader.

Once again, I hope you enjoyed the story. I need to start on the next installment of the saga, however, I currently have a couple of new stories approaching the point of completion, so I will be working on those first.

REP

I just posted Chapter 7.

Thanks for all the feedback, even that which expressed anger and disappointment.

I understand and expected that reaction from many readers. My only surprise is that I received acceptance from far more readers than I expected.

REP