Victor Echo: Blog

As an author here on SoL, I am presented with some statistics to help me gauge the reactions to my stories. I can tell how many times they have been read, what you, the reader think about them from a quality perspective, who might be reading them again and if I am good enough for other authors to read. It is, at least, a nice curiosity.

I have been posting stories since 2007. In the last decade, I have posted twenty-two stories. Like most authors, I think some of them are good, and some of them not so good. And you as readers have the same opinions. What I find interesting, based on the statistics are those stories that I think are good, that you, as readers do not, and, even more oddly, those that you think are good or not good, yet are more or less read. Let me explain.

Over the past month, I have been watching with interest as my story I Want You In My Mouth has jumped up the stack to be my fourth most read story and is quickly closing in on third place. As you might expect, Luci is my most read story to date, although it is not the first one I posted (that was Purple Silk). My second most read story is A Rainy Night in Paris, a pale second and, if the trend continues, I Want You In My Mouth will surpass it by the winter.

Now, here is what I find interesting. Both Luci and A Rainy Night in Paris are considered by you, the readers, to be good stories. They have solid votes. The third most read story Afternoon Delight makes me scratch my head. A large number of you have read the story, but you have indicated you have liked it so much you gave it a 1. For a story that has been so well read, it sits at number 20 in terms of score, or story quality. Now, I know the reason some folks gave it a 1. I have already commented on it. But if it is so disliked, why is it so frequently read?

It is things like this that go through my mind as I am editing stories. I want to make sure my stories are good and that you, the reader will enjoy them. I certainly hope you will continue to enjoy reading them. As long as you are, I will continue to write and post them.

I am working on a new series called The Red Soda series. The first stories should appear this month. This is more of a random series of events rather than a cohesive story. I also have to finish up a series I call The Gang of Six. There are a number of vignettes in it, and I am having fun writing it as well. Finally, a novel I wrote at the end of last year Craps is also being edited. It might be next year before I get it up. And I know you all want more Luci. I would like more Luci too, so if you see her, send her my way?

Thanks for reading.

I have been looking at the statistics for my stories. Unsurprisingly, Luci is my most read story, even though I feel that "A Rainy Night In Paris" is my first finished story (and it is a close second). I have a number of other scenes and stories out there. While Luci is a favorite, I like Charlie's Bar myself and Come Get Me holds a special place.

I have two book-length stories written. And I will get around to editing them and posting them, but I am going to take a bit of a pause to get my personal life in order.

For the better part of a decade, things have been...well...a mess. Such is life. I have written a number of stories. Some by myself, some with friends, some with lovers, some with lovers in mind. And as I put my life together, some of those stories hit a bit close to home. I am going to keep writing. Not all in the normal romance mode that I have written, but I will keep writing. And reviewing the stories I have written.

Thank you for your patience. If you have not read any of my other stories, take a look. You might be surprised.

And, as always, thanks for reading.

I have decided to repost Come Get Me. I have also added a disclaimer that it includes ass play and toys. I am unhappy that I need to include something like this, but notes such as You can't give us a story described with nothing but Ma/Fa, Consensual, and Romantic then put in some strap-ons and ass play. seem to demand that I do, despite the fact that the story is exactly that - romantic, M/F, and consensual. So I have added the toys, ass and a couple of other flags for those that have never experienced more than the missionary position before in their personal sex lives.

A New York Time's Best Selling author once wrote in the afterward of one of her books when discussing sex scenes, that it should be hot, messy, and visceral. And I know she did not include codes on the cover, in the forward, or in any of the advertising of her books. Strange that, eh?

As the Bard once pondered To post, or not to post, that is the question and it is a question foremost in my mind. I have completed another book-length story, making it my second this year, but given the poor feedback I have received of late to the contents of my stories, I am honestly not sure that I want to waste the time editing them for release. My latest story Come Get Me got so many 1 votes that I deleted it. It is only the second story that I have pulled from SOL. What I find odd, though, is that it also got a number of 8,9, and 10 votes. So I am left truly scratching my head as to what was wrong. One comment that I did receive was upset (extremely I should point out) that I did not include ass play in my tags. Yes, there was a pegging scene, but I have read numerous stories on SOL that are Ma/Fa where the guy fucks the girl’s ass and there is no tag calling out ass play. Is this some sort of double standard then? Or are there some that are afraid of the various levels of sex that can occur between consenting adults?

Perhaps it the assumptions some make based on the tags. If I find a story tagged Ma/Ma/Fa, I do not assume that the men are not going to touch each other, regardless of a lack of any other tag. That is just the nature of a threesome. It is pretty much assumed that if there is a Fa/Fa/Ma tag, then girls are going to play with each other, so why not make the same assumption with the Ma/Ma/Fa tags? Do I have to specifically include the Gay or BiSexual tags? Clearly, I have to, because others do not seem to make the same assumptions. Does pegging qualify as FemDom? Clearly again, some think so, even if the two involved do not consider it that way. At some point, the tagging becomes more complicated than the editing, and begin to detract from the story, as some then assume additional action implied that may or may not be in the story.

So the question still remains, and I am not sure I am any closer to the answer. Maybe I will just go and write another story and forget about posting.

For the three of you that have missed me, I am writing again. And I am going to start editing two of my larger stories, one that was written a decade ago, and one that was written during the winter. Both of these stories are multi-chapter novels and as promised, they are both finished. I will probably start posting in mid-August, depending on how the real world cooperates.

I am also dusting off other stories that have been started but never went more than a couple of paragraphs or a couple of chapters and I hope to finish them out this fall, if they are worth the effort. One of them is a follow-on to Luci, one is a follow-on to Paris, both are not what I would call ready for prime time nor do I promise they will ever be. But I will see what I can do.

As always, thanks for reading.