Zen Master: Blog

Writers have a hard time seeing the mistakes in their own writing. We can read over our own work, but we know what we wrote so we don't see the typos. In our minds it's all correct. We have to have someone else read our work, to actually find the typos.
As of this moment, the 'Random story' is "Our First Time Together" by Mysteria27. The teaser/description is one line: "A guy and his girlfriend go a little further in there sexual exploration."
Now, does this author honestly not know the difference between 'there' and 'their' and 'they're'? Or does he not use a proofreader? Is it because he don't need no steenkeeng proofreader, he knows how to write? Or is it because he knows he needs one, but he can't find one? There's a huge list of them at "https://storiesonline.net/author/volunteer_editors.php"
To the best of my knowledge, every person on that list works for free, for the pleasure of helping a good story get better. And, of course to get to read a good story before it gets published.
At any rate, I've finished my chores for the day and I came to SOL for some entertainment. Since the first story on the list has such a blatant typo IN THE TEASER which the writer put there to attract readers, I know that the rest of the story will be even worse. I'll find something else to read.
-ZM

If you go look at my page, at the top (right under my name) you'll see several options. Email, Blog, Profile, Favorites. If you go to YOUR page, you'll see Blog, Profile, Favorites, Twitter. And I don't use Twitter. Why ask people questions when you have "let them answer" turned off?
-ZM

Today's SoL brings us a note from Ernest's son saying that his father passed away last night. If anyone reading this isn't familiar with Ernest's writing, he wrote action-adventure stories. Most of them have little to no sex, so to get readers here on SoL he had to make do with good plots and writing. His trials with Australia's legal system are described in his "Modern Day Which Hunt" which is NOT fiction.
We're going to miss him a lot.
-ZM

No updates on Code Monkey for, well, we just passed the 2-year mark.

I just asked Google for all hits on (title in quotes) in case he had simply moved to a different platform. Found one on .jp that may have been his but hosting has closed so we can't get at it. The best comment I saw was from someone who likes shorter stories:

"My take is that yard-bird took 1500 lines to move two characters across a bridge with minimal conversation. I don't believe they're going to meet up, because one of the participants (either me, the author, or the character) will die of old age before it happens."

I'm beginning to believe that it was the author.

-ZM

My "The First Command" doesn't tell the whole story. It was intended as the first half of a two-part story. The second half has been pretty much done for a few years, but the main character is Australian and I don't speak that language. I have asked for Australian proofreaders/translators several times, and many have volunteered. Unfortunately, I never seem to get anything back from them. Is there anyone here who speaks Australian and can help me translate a story from American English into Australian English?

-ZM