Paige Hawthorne: Blog

For you Huskies still in this lonely Iditarod ...

Chapter Five of "Winter's Secret" is posted and it's a departure. The first four chapters were, mostly, background. Background leading toward enemy engagement. A clash between good and evil. Well, if not good, then … decent.

The pace picks up.

Paige

Yes, the day Winter-haters have been waiting for. You can now low-score "Winter's Secret" as soon as you wish. Not that I pay the slightest attention to reader scores. I write for the scholarly pleasure, for the intellectual satisfaction.

As a reader service, here are some other ways to voice your displeasure with the Winter series:

> Negative Comments at the end of the latest chapter.

> Internal emails to me.

> External emails.

> Voting for other writers in the Clitorides horserace.

> Writing a nasty review of whichever story you dislike most.

Hope this helps those of you with anger issues.

Cheerfully,

Paige

I invited readers to leave comments for "Winter's Secret", but some have written that the section hasn't been activated. Not for the first time, I'm asking how the fuck to turn Comments on.

Thanks,

Paige

Public Service Announcement: Another Winter Jennings story has been posted. There's still time to flee the site before you accidentally click on "Winter's Secret".

As usual, it's been mishandled by three editors - Thorny, Steve, and Mike. I enjoy twitting them in public, but have told them not to confuse fondness with respect.

As an experiment, I will wait until the fourth chapter is posted to turn on the reader voting mechanism. Not that I pay the slightest attention to my scores.

Proceed at your own risk.

Paige

I'm posting another story - "Winter's Secret" - starting tomorrow. Many of you will do anything possible, everything possible, to avoid being exposed to it. (I apologize to SOL for those readers who resign their memberships to evade accidental cross-contamination.)

Now, a warning wrapped in a warning.

"Secret" touches on American politics. The third rail for many readers. I tried to keep the subject in context, but no matter how it's broached, it will annoy a healthy percentage of you.

Unfortunately, I'm not a talented enough writer to present a thoughtful, evenhanded analysis of the current national scene. But even if I were, I wouldn't because it would slow the story down to the point of yawning.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Paige