Zen Master: Blog

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

...But I forgot.
SOL allows you to serialize stories. You can post chapter 1 today, then chapter 2 next Monday, and then chapter 3 after you finish writing it.
However, There Are Rules. One rule, which I knew but forgot about, is that "You can only 'Continue' a story which exists."
Sure, that makes sense. Only....
I'm posting a story that I didn't write, because the writer gave it to us and we can't get ahold of him. I put in a "Forward" to warn people, of course. I'm posting it but I didn't write it.
So...the forward should go first, right? Before the actual story? So, I told the submission system that I'm posting a new story, and gave it my "Forward" file. So far, so good.
Then, I went back into the system to add the actual story to this, and my new story isn't on the list of options. Because, you know, it doesn't really exist. It's just a file that I submitted for posting. Once the forward gets posted in all its glory for everyone to read, then the new story will be on the list of stories I can add to. And y'all will actually get the story.
Sorry about that. I knew, but I forgot.

-ZM