aroslav: Blog

My dear old mom had a lot of oddball sayings, but one I remember her using often was when she said she was "tickled pink" about something. I did some lightweight investigation and discovered the term was known as far back as 1910 and seemed to be a variant of the much older term "tickled to death." This in turn may have dated back to the second half of the 18th century as the result of having something "tickle one's fancy."

In all three instances, "tickle" is used in the sense of finding something amusing, appealing to one's sense of humor or delight. None of them seem to refer to the common definition of lightly touching or prodding in a way that causes itching, squirming, and uncontrolled laughter.

That was an interesting etymology lesson for this beautiful, bright and sunny Sunday in Northern Idaho. I believe I was inspired to look all this up when I started thinking about how much I enjoy posting or releasing a new story-or even a new chapter of a story. It may sound weird, but I'm tickled pink to have started pre-release of my newest story, Team Manager: Swish! to patrons this morning. The really cool thing is that I'll be tickled pink when I have the public release on Tuesday May 25, 2021. That will include both the release of the first chapter of the book for serialization here on SOL, and the release of the eBook on Bookapy.

Woohoo!

I'm also very conscious of the quality of what I put out. I can't promise that every story will be appealing to every reader. I like to write all over the map when it comes to story genres. I look back at the most recent stories I've posted and find science fiction, romance, satire, do-over, occult fantasy, and (if I include stories by Wayzgoose) mystery and literary fiction.

But I do try to make each story a quality piece of writing. In order to get there, I currently have an alpha reader who basically looks over my shoulder as I write. I have beta readers, including a dozen or more patrons who look at and comment on works in progress. I have story editors who mark up content and suggest variants in how the story is written, where the story arc falls apart, where it is not consistent with the stated audience. Then there are line editors who look at sentence construction, consistency within the story, and places where confusion might set in. Finally, I have three incredible proofreaders who attack the story with gusto as they find missing quotation marks, homonyms, misspellings, variants, and bad punctuation.

Oops. I didn't mean "finally" as in the last shot. I personally re-read every draft, and don't simply "accept all" when an editor makes changes. And, since I do my own layout, I reread the story "one more time" in the format in which it will be published. Hence the past two days have been spent re-reading and correcting the three versions (SOL html, DevonLayne html, eBook) of Team Manager: Swish!

I found two things: 1) several dozen more errors that I corrected. 2) I enjoyed the story.

The author's recommendation doesn't necessarily mean you will enjoy the story, but I find that if I don't enjoy my own work, not many others will either.

Team Manager: Swish! is the first volume of what will definitely be two, probably three, and possibly more books about high school sophomore Dennis Enders, a myopic runt who finds acceptance, self-identity, courage, and love as the team manager for the girls' basketball team at Hugh Bartley High School in Bartley, Iowa. But the road is not easy for the abused teen nor his team, as bullies threatening kidnapping, rape, sex trafficking, drug dealing, and even murder stalk the team and its manager.

Add all that to the stress of high school, hormones, compromising situations, growth spurts, parents, and cliques, and you have the ingredients for a riveting tale. I believe you will be thoroughly hooked before you finish reading the third chapter.

According to one of my readers, this story is right in my sweet spot. Of another story he said, "Like a moth to the flame: a world where a protagonist ends up with a harem while challenging the status-quo. Irresistible, unavoidable."

Coming May 25, 2021

I intended to post my thanks and Beltane greetings yesterday and somehow got waylaid. I very much appreciate the recognition of fans in voting for Double Team as Best Do-Over Sex Story of 2020 in the Clitorides Awards. And thank you for the incredible honor of naming Living Next Door to Heaven as second place Classic Clitoride 2020. I certainly couldn't complain about being beaten by EzzyB's Rebecca Danced since that is one of my all-time favorites on SOL. I think I voted for it, too.

And a couple of days late:
Haroo, Hurray, the First of May,
Outdoor fucking starts today!
Or in my case, outdoor nudity as I've returned to my summer campground at the nudist park in Idaho. It's going to be a good summer here in nature.

Several people wrote to tell me the graphic org chart that should have been included in Chapter 18 of The Assassin was missing. The chapter has been revised and re-uploaded with the chart in a readable condition. I've also replaced the illustrations in Chapters 1, 2, and 7 with higher resolution graphics that can actually be seen in the story. Sorry it has taken so long for me to get that in place.

And just a bit of news. Editing and formatting of Team Manager 1: Swish! is nearly complete and I'll be working on the eBook this week. I'm already deep into writing Team Manager 2: Sprint! The serial is slated to start posting here on SOL on May 25, coinciding with the eBook release. It will end on October 1. Of course, my Advance Release Tier patrons will start getting it about 10 days sooner. I've been progressing at writing about a chapter a day and my Sausage Grinder Tier patrons are reading the rough draft at a rate of seven chapters a week!

The summer is looking like a very productive time for me, despite my making frequent trips to Seattle to prepare for my daughter's wedding in August. Never thought I'd see that day and I'm really stoked about it.

I'm also trading my fifth wheel trailer for a lower profile travel trailer about mid-summer. That one, I expect, will be my last retirement home. It has fewer steps up to the door and the interior is all on one level. Since I tend to stumble around in the dark several times at night, I'm looking forward to getting rid of the stairs to my bedroom. I've made a reservation to spend next winter in Las Vegas and feel like I will be almost far enough south to stay warm.

That's the news from sunny Idaho. Now it's time to go get my groceries. Enjoy!

This is the last week in which to cast your votes for the 2020 Clitoride Awards for the Best in Written Erotica. Voting is only open until April 30!

You might think you voted but didn't. If you cast a vote for your favorite story prior to March 1, you voted in the 'primary' but not in the 'final.' The voting during January and February was to determine who the nominees in each category would be. Voting for the awards is all done in March and April.

Do I have any candidates? Funny you should ask! Yes, Double Team is up for an award in the "Best Erotic Do-over" category. Wayzgoose's American Royalty is nominated for "Best Romantic Story." The nomination I'm most excited about is Living Next Door to Heaven, nominated for the "Classic Clitoride Award."

Remember that on SOL and many other story sites, authors receive payment in recognition. Please be sure to support your favorite authors and your favorite stories by voting in the Clitorides Awards.

In new writing news, I've about finished up the editing process on Team Manager 1: Swish! If I can get it all formatted, I predict posting to begin in four weeks. I've already begun working on Team Manager 2: Sprint! This story could be a very long series. I'm having a lot of fun with it, as my third tier patrons can tell you. Comments and responses to the rough draft have been positive.

I'm continuing to write Wayzgoose's A Place Among Peers and the story has developed some interesting excitement and subplots. Sadly, I've slowed development of Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain 2 as I've accelerated work on the other projects. It is still brewing, however, and we'll have more of that story by summer.

So the bits keep flying from my keyboard and I'm feeling good about the progress.

We had an interesting conversation on the Swarm Author list about the development of and difficulty learning the English language. Zen Master delivered an excellent treatise on how words and grammar were borrowed from many different languages and that Yoda spoke reasonably good ancient English. Or something like that. I ran across this apocryphal tidbit not long after.

Torpenhow Hill, England
When the Saxons arrived and asked the Welsh the name of that hill, the Welsh said "pen" which means "hill" in Welsh. So the Saxons used their word for hill, "tor," and called it Torpen (hill hill).
Then the Norse arrived and the same process added the their world for hill "Haugr". So now it was Torpen Haugr (Hill Hill Hill).
Later, the English called it Torpenhow Hill (Hill Hill Hill Hill)
Language is awesome.

I've left my winter campground in Port Townsend, Washington. This week, I'm sheltering in the Seattle area while my trailer gets some work done. I have a couple of Doctor appointments to keep and then plan to be back in Idaho at my summer campground by Saturday. I can hardly wait to shed these clothes and get skin to the wind at Sun Meadow.

I have a new campsite this year in preparation for receiving a home upgrade in the middle of the summer. The new trailer is no bigger than my current home, but is a lower profile and all on one level. Unfortunately, it also requires an upgrade in power service from 30 amp to 50 amp, hence the change in campsite. I'll miss my previous site where I've done a good bit of improvements over the past five years, but the new site promises to be just as nice. I'll post photos someplace when I have them.

And always remember the by-word of spring:

Haroo! Hurray! The first of May!
Outdoor fucking starts today!

I've been writing non-stop for the past three weeks. Three chapters each of Wayzgoose's A Place Among Peers and aroslav's Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain 2. Doesn't sound like a lot until you add in the 25 chapters and 83,000 words of Team Manager that I wrote in that time. I've started posting to my Tier 3 Patreon members with the first seven chapters and the response has been positive. Patron Karl said after the first three chapters: "Really enjoying the start of Team Manager. 'Overwhelm' us with as many chapters as you can!"

So, what is it about the timeless story of the reluctant hero who is always being picked on and shunned but finds the character and courage to stand up to the bullies and to protect his growing harem? It's a classic trope and I've picked a new direction for it as High School Sophomore Dennis Enders, the near-sighted shrimp who was abused as a manager for the JV basketball team, comes into his own as manager of the newly formed girls' basketball team. What's not to like about one shrimp geek with thick glasses tossed in with a dozen tall athletic girls at the peak of their teen hormones?

I've sent the first batch of chapters to my editors and cei_mel sent me a note this morning that said, "Your other readers are right--I was hooked at page 50. This story has wide appeal."

Of course, to me, that means I need to read and beef up pages 1-10 so it doesn't take so long the get my readers hooked on the story. 50 pages is the first three chapters. But I'd like you hooked in the first chapter.

I think my brain took that as permission to think about this story all the time and write at every possible moment. So, since I've already written twice as much on Team Manager in three weeks as I have on Dark Side 2 in two months plus, it will probably be the next story I post here on SOL, probably starting in early May. As always, I don't post here until I've finished a story--or at least a completed segment (like I did with the Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins series). And yes, that means I expect there will be more than one segment to this story as we follow my nearsighted geek through the remainder of his high school career and beyond.

Well, my alpha reader basically looks over my shoulder as I'm writing and makes comments. His included: "Just read the latest chapter. Still great stuff! Keep it coming! This is one of your best in recent memory!"

With encouragement like that, I guess I'll quit blogging for the day and get back to writing. I have an acute case of writer-brain at the moment.

I've never served on a jury before, but I've been ordered to appear in Superior Court for jury selection tomorrow. I'll treat it like research and be looking for new characters or storylines. I could probably describe my circumstances in such a way as to get out of it, but there really isn't a valid excuse. We'll just wait and see what happens.

There are 28 'groups' who got summons. the first seven can check in via zoom. The next 15 (including me) have to appear in person. The remaining six don't have to check in until Tuesday. They didn't say how many were in a group, but it's too large a summons to all fit in the courthouse for selection and still maintain social distancing. We're required to report to the casino conference center the next block over!

I'm feeling less endangered by the group since I got my second dose of vaccine this week, but I'll be cautious nonetheless. So, I'm on the mainland instead of the peninsula, ready to do my civic duty.

I mentioned last week having an idea that was born fully grown from the head of Zeus, as it were. Writing on that idea is progressing apace--in fact, I've got a draft of well over 55,000 words already in two weeks of development. The story is practically writing itself. Yesterday on the ferry to the mainland, my characters were so noisy in my head that as soon as I got to my abode, I had to start writing and completed another chapter.

Today, I've started exposing it to my "Sausage Grinder" patrons on Patreon who like to read the raw unedited version of my stories as I write them. I hope someone comments on it so I can tell if it is as good an idea as it feels to me.

Told from an omnipotent third person point of view, Team Manager watches a new girls' basketball team form in a small school in Iowa. But within this microcosm, we see the "Four-Eyed Runt" of the sophomore class, Dennis, an abused boy who thought he couldn't go back to managing a team after last year's horrid experience, become the beloved team manager for the girls.

Of course, that means some romance is going to slip into the story, and with romance some hanky-panky, as we discover the former cheerleader Brenda, who decides to play basketball instead of cheer and becomes a kind of mother figure to Dennis. What do mother's do for their little babies?

Then there is the tall ace basketball player, fellow-sophomore Natalie, on whom Dennis has always had a crush. They aren't old enough to date, but they can pretend to. And pretend to hold hands. And pretend to kiss...

The story couldn't be complete without the small and rapidly maturing cutie from the freshman class who just happens to be the little sister of the local drug dealer--one of the bullies who tormented Dennis last year.

There is moonshine involved, attempted kidnapping, snowstorms, sleepovers, and teens being teens as their parents attempt to cope with the changes they are seeing and protect their kids from an abundance of bad guys. Join me for the ride on Patreon. I'm writing fast, but I'll only post three or four chapters a week there--at least for a while.

A helpful reader of my blog contacted me last week and told me there was a story in the NIS universe running that also featured a boy becoming team manager for the girls. I don't normally read in that universe and have advised him that I will definitely avoid that story. Story ideas often develop in parallel with other authors and there is no reason not to give my version of one. I'll just avoid being unduly influenced by the other story until I've finished this one.

And, my development of both Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain 2 and A Place Among Peers is moving forward--perhaps not as quickly, but more deliberately than Team Manager.

So, like I said, there is plenty of excitement in my little world. But no matter how many things run afoul in my life, they aren't at the scale of a 400-meter container ship getting sideways in the Suez Canal and holding up $9billion in oil shipments and $10billion in other cargo shipments every day! Of course, that's all Biden's fault. Not sure how, but I'm sure the spin is coming.

Read on and enjoy! Life in a book at least has chapter breaks.