Reluctant_Sir: Blog

First, for you other writers, have you ever come to the site and found one of your own stories in that top box labeled "Random story from the Archives"?

I just did for the first time I can remember and, believe it or not, I didn't recognize the story! I had to read it to refresh my memory. Of course I found a half-dozen little errors or places that needed tweak, but oh well. Good story too, if I am allowed to say that!

Anyway, that is not what this is about.

I do almost all of my reading these days in the kindle app. I like it because I can have the same app on each device including desktop. I have downloaded, as of this morning, 872 stories from SOL to read, and that doesn't count a few dozen I have just read online (serials and the like). What can I say, I like to read! I would rather re-read an old favorite for the fifteenth time than watch the television.

I have covered a fair spectrum of authors here, some I liked a lot and read everything, some I really didn't care for. One thing I am certain of, even after all those stories, is that I have not read all the good stuff!

So, what I would like from you, if you want to share, is your one go-to story if you had to recommend one. I mean, if you wanted to get someone hooked on SOL, which story would you have them read that would make them go... "Please sir, may I have some more?" in their best Oliver voice?

If you cannot think of any one story, which author?

Tell you what, to sweeten the pot:

If you would send your choice to me and give me a 1-10 score for that story or author, I will collate the answers I get and post an (anonymous) list of the stories and authors that get recommended and how many times each show up.

So how about it? Want to share?

Oh! Before I sign off, here is mine:

http://storiesonline.net/series/1080/stupid-boy

Not sure why these tickle me, but I have paid the fee to get the last few early and read them. Worth it to me! I give this whole series a cumulative 9 out of 10. Maybe the individual installments were not a 9, but for overall enjoyment that has lasted through six books, I think they deserve the score.

This is about etiquette, as much as anything.

When is it permissible to write in an existing universe, if it appears the universe has been abandoned?

I read a story in the MORFS universe and it was similar to George RR. Martin's Wildcards in that a widespread virus could cause people to radically change, even gaining superhuman powers. There were even a couple of authors I recognized from other universes.

An idea formed that would fit neatly with another, unpublished story I wrote, and I thought I would see if I could get a go-ahead to dip my toe in another Universe.

BUT...

There has not been a story posted (or update) on SOL in three years. I tracked down the Universe home page and the majority of the stories on there, even the ones marked as Canon already, are barely started or left unfinished. No updates there in years except a single update advertising MORFS stories on Amazon.

The wiki is the same, no updates.

A quick scan of the forum showed only two posts since 2016 and they were archeological in nature.

Every contact link is dead or otherwise non-functional (missing .js).

The primary email for the Universe website and submissions is not a valid email any longer, the domain is expired.

SO...

Is it ever permissible to write a story in a universe that is not yours, without getting the blessing from the creator of the universe?

Should I just set it aside and forget about it? I only have about 8500 words done, so it would not be a tragedy.

Just curious what you folks think.

I have made it a habit to read each new chapter as it is posted, mostly to see what the end reader sees. I look for formatting issues and errors I missed.

Wow. Either I was phoning it in or I posted the wrong version of this chapter because I found four errors in the first couple of paragraphs. I am taking a quick moment to let you know I see them. Let me find ALL the screw-ups and I will have an updated version online soon.

Sheesh... just when I think it is safe to relax ;) Complacency is a bitch!

Any of you who are following the blog postings know that I have been experimenting with posting frequency across several stories now.

I know, I know, you want the whole story right now. I get it, I really do. I hate waiting as much as the next inner child, but here's the thing.

This works. I am convinced that the current schedule is the best possible interval to keep everyone, if not happy, at least less miserable.

It's all about numbers. As a writer, I would like every person in the world to read my stories, but I will settle for a portion of the membership here.

My most downloaded and read story was originally posted here in 2015. It was posted in a couple of big chunks, not really serialized. It has been accessed 161,322 times. Keep in mind that the number doesn't mean 161K readers, unfortunately, just accessed that many times. . 3 years, 161K times.

My most recent story, Echo, has been up for a hair over three weeks, posting a chapter every other day, and has already been accessed 107,975 times. 3 WEEKS, 108K times!

While I don't expect every story to get do-over stats, that is a very popular and specific genre, I think it does demonstrate that a new chapter every other day is a viable schedule.

It was asked in the comments section so I thought I would address it here.

I have set up Dark Days on an every other day schedule just like Echo was. It seemed to be an effective compromise between exposure and reader satisfaction so I will continue with that schedule for this an any other releases.

You know, until something better comes along. :-)

Lots of comments and email about how dark the first chapter is, but I tried to warn folks!

It gets better, lighter and a lot more fun. There will be other dark spots, an event like that the MC went through can have far-reaching consequences and can shape life in unexpected ways, but hopefully you will enjoy the journey.