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Hi all!
Today is Friday. And as I said I would publish a chapter this week, here is chapter 5 of “Whispers in the Forest.”
I will post chapter 6 on Sunday as I have an early appointment on Monday and Monday is going to be chaos with the Terrorists at home. LOL!!!!
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Hi all!
Now the feedback on the picture dilemma was very insightful. I received a lot of emails and all of them was positive. The main theme was “Keep the pictures!” The reasons given were from “...giving a picture of a country I can never visit,” to “... the pictures show the beauty of a country that I will never see...” and “It enhance the story by showing the scene described.”
There was one or two that said that they just skip past the pictures BUT keep the pictures.” (I know from experience that I also, when reading certain stories, “skip past certain paragraphs”... LOL!) We all do it.
So, the conclusion: I will keep the pictures but maybe just limit it to three or four and focus more on the landscape.
One reader went into a discussion of how he downloads the stories, so he just gets the story. His way was to download a text file and then convert it to his e-reader software. Well, that is one way of doing it.
While I am writing this, in the background, I am rendering a full HD picture for chapter 4 with Lena asking Ruan: “How do we fly from here, hmm… genius?” The expression on her face is sort of sarcastic. The picture is 88% complete and took 35 minutes 36 seconds so far...
In the meantime, I have finished the story to the satisfaction of the advice from my editors. There is now 17 chapters. I want to upload it as soon as possible, but there is one little snag. In two weeks, we are going down to the KZN South Coast for a two-week holiday and with the “terrorists” home and “Honey, did you get...” commands/requests, time to get the chapters ready for posting are a little limited.
But don’t worry. I will keep to my Monday schedule and where I can, I will upload a chapter during the week.
Here is chapter 4 of “Whispers in the Forest” for your enjoyment.
Until Monday next week...
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
Hi all!
I have a little dilemma. A few readers had emailed me about the fact that the pictures in the stories detracts from the story and that they don’t like it. More emails have come to light that the pictures DO contribute to the story and that it is welcome.
Now what to do? Drop the pictures? Or carry on with it as more readers like the pictures than those who don’t like them?
Well, I’ve come to notice that there are many ways to download a story. I also found that some of my visual impaired readers use screen readers that explain the pictures when it is encountered by the screen reader.
I also found that the “zip” file download, the “epub” and the “Kindle” downloads do drop the pictures into the download, while the “TXT” downloads just ignore the pictures.
So, it boils down to the choice of the reader. Please let me know what will work for you.
Here is chapter 3 of “Whispers in the Forest” for your enjoyment.
Until Monday next week... or sooner... Let’s see how the survey of the “picture dilemma” goes.
There seems to be no objection to Mat Twassel’s pictures. Just look at his story “ASP” as an example, here on SOL. (BTW: Both Mat and I use the same software for the pictures.)
All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
To all my readers and loyal followers on StoriesOnline.net,
As the New Year begins, I want to take a moment to say thank you. Your support, comments, messages, and quiet presence as readers mean more to me than I can easily put into words.
Knowing that my stories have found a place in your lives is both humbling and deeply motivating.
This past year reminded me that stories are more than words on a page—they’re shared moments, escapes, connections, and sometimes even comfort. I’m grateful to each and every one of you who chose to spend some of your time in the worlds I create.
I look forward to the year ahead, with new ideas, new stories, and many more moments to share together.
May the coming year bring you good health, peace, inspiration, and plenty of reasons to smile.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
Warmest wishes for a happy and fulfilling New Year to each and everyone!
Jody.
Hi all!
Thank you for the responses to chapter 1 of “Whispers in the Forest”. I appreciate each and every one of them! The comments and the emails are all welcome.
Thank you also for all the Festive Season messages and good wishes.
I am also smiling as there were four 6 votes and eleven 7 votes. LOL. Nevertheless the 7, 8, and 10 votes out ran them and for a first chapter the overall score is at this moment 7.84. That is an indication that 71% of the readers are happy with the way the chapter went.
Hold on tight! Things are going at Mach 1! I have already completed chapter 13 and my one editor said NO when I wrote at the end of the chapter “THE END”. He said there is still one “Big Bad Wolf” to take care of... So, chapters 14, 15 and maybe 16, are on the drawing board! LOL!!!
Until Monday next week... All the best and God bless!
Bye 4 now!
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