Paige Hawthorne: Blog

Better half-staff those flags, boys. A new Winter Jennings story is completed and the first chapter has already slunk its way past the mods.

Sorry, haters. Adding insult to insult, "Winter's Risk" is the longest story yet in this silly little endeavor. Around 80,000 words according to some thing on my thing that mysteriously keeps track of … um, things.

But look at the sunny side - there's more to execrate!

Paige

Several readers have alerted me - all of my Winter Jennings stories have been disappeared from the Clitorides Awards competition. Not that I'm the least bit interested in these types of contests.

So it's only in the interest of justice, that I've notified Interpol, the Yard, RCMP, and seven other international snoops about this blatant miscarriage of … decency.

Paige

PS I, personally, don't pay the slightest attention to reader scores. My actions in here are altruistic. Solely in the interests of the common weal.

Several readers recently told me that some of my Winter Jennings stories now have four votes in the Clitorides. Unless my son has figured out how to cast more than one ballot … well, welcome aboard, stranger!

Not that I pay the slightest attention to reader scores.

On that subject - so many of you boys have written to ask why I include that particular disclaimer in my reflections. Does the phrase 'tongue' when coupled with 'in' and appended to 'cheek' resonate? Just askin'.

Paige

Censorship!

Judging from the amount of letters I've received about what is and isn't allowed - sex-wise - in the SOL library of stories … well, there is considerable reader interest in the subject.

Here's where we stand:

SOL is based in a country where specific laws state that all fictional characters must be at least 14-years old to participate in sex.

In other words, SOL doesn't have an arbitrary moderator making capricious decisions. This site could be shut down for violations. It's the law, stupid.

Now, do some questionable scenes slip past? Possibly. Probably. Yes.

In addition … older stories, dating back to before the law was passed, are grandfathered into SOL. And they are also free from scrutiny by the lawmakers. Law enforcers.

Now some of the newer stories that have 'slipped past' are mine - those Winter Jennings stories. Not having the time to re-edit them, my solution was simply to have them deleted.

But, Thorny, Steve, and Mike, still masquerading as editors, volunteered to wade through hundreds of thousands of words to eliminate everything questionable. The SOL moderator graciously granted them a week to complete their work.

Remarkably, the editors succeeded. Hours and hours of reading, deleting, cross-checking with each other, re-proofing. Hours.

From This Day Forth … all Winter Jennings stories are now street legal.

That's my story and I'm … well, you know.

Paige

PS Thanks also to my three readers. So supportive. Two of them mentioned they wouldn't mind if the Winter Jennings stories survived in SOL.

For the first time ever, I nominated a story for the Clitorides. "Retribution" for Best MC (main character -- Linda).

This nomination is unusual for me because:

> I don't even vote for stories, let alone nominate them. This applies to my own work too.

> The author, Thornfoote, is one of my editors and has done irreparable harm to the Winter Jennings series.

> I'm both lazy and busy.

But, credit due.

Paige