Omachuck: Blog

Chapters 20 & 21 are in the queue and should magically appear after 7 PM tonight.

When we last saw Michael his plans to make Carole head bitch were rudely cancelled when she scored a sponsor level CAP. What will they do?

We also see Michael's ladies starting to assert themselves even more, and both Sam and the Confederacy AIs feel they may have been snookered. Oh well.

Folks, the final two chapters will post on Sunday. It has been a fun run, and your feedback has been very helpful.

There was a nice little jump in my score since Tuesday's posting, and I almost regret submitting the two chapters together. I couldn't tell if it was the significant change Michael negotiated in his contract, or his ladies' confrontation with the butter bar that tickled your fancy.

Your thoughts would be appreciated, but it might be good to wait until after tonight's offering, as there is more of the same coming. If you choose to write, and I hope you do, please be specific about what you like and do not. The sequel, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, is well under weigh, and every little bit helps.

Chapters 18 & 19 are in the queue for tomorrow - same time, same channel. I messed with the queue and two more chapters will load Friday and the final two on Sunday. It has been a fun ride.

Soooo.... It turns out that the Office of Targeted Extractions really, really wants Michael and his ladies. The question is - do they want to go? Negotiations ensue. Our Pixie surprises a butter bar. It is never dull around our little band.

Chapter 17 is in the upload queue.

Our little band, now somewhat larger, continues on and reaches Valentine. They meet some new folks and prepare to make some decisions.

The Sunshine of Your Smile met with a slightly less warm reception that my first two stories. That wasn't a surprise. I would be interested in a note from any of you why you did or did not like it as well.

I promised to edit/proof someone else's story, then I plan to get back and finish Girls Just Wanna Have Fun so there will not be too large a time gap when this story winds up and I am able to upload Girls.

Sunshine is in the queue to post tomorrow. I assume sometime after 7PM, but I thought today's revised chapter would post earlier. I was fooled.

Sunshine is a very short story - a vignette even - about one of the trials of working with an AI. Like with my other two Swarm stories, it is really a good idea to read other Swarm Cycle stories first.

For those of you wondering about my revision to eliminate the word 'fellows,' I uploaded the change today, along with a few small changes to chapter 16. So many of you suggested changes that were similar, I am dumbfounded that I couldn't come up with it on my own. The following is a synthesizes of different suggestions.

"I want you to know that nothing that has happened during your captivity was your fault. Your job was, and still is, to survive and to help each other survive..."

Chapter 16 Should be up early today. I found a typo (darned auto correction!) and put the corrected version in the queue. No point in letting an error go up when it can be corrected.

The rescued captives arrive at Hannah's home and are greeted by Baby. Relief sets in, an extended slumber party ensues, and we are introduced to some very resilient ladies.

Let me thank you all for the thoughtful responses to my earlier request. It is gratifying to know how closely you folks follow these stories. My particular thanks to Douglas, who at my request, supplied detailed reactions both to Times and to the short story that will upload tomorrow. Another shout out to Fred, who in addition to responding with his own reactions, had his wife read the cited passage and included her opinion. Most valuable indeed!

I don't think I've told you folks this: In addition to these three stories being my first posted to SOL, they are the first three fiction stories that I've ever written. I'm experimenting with styles to see if I can communicate what I intend. Your feedback is very valuable. Sometimes you provoke ideas for future stories. For me, more important, your feedback tells me how I need to write in order to communicate what I intend. This is much like firing a rifle - I know where I aimed, but if I can't see the target, there is no knowing where or even if I hit it. This is the same for all the SOL authors.

In short, you folks have the potential to be far better teachers than found in any English literature class.

Again - My thanks!