TheDarkKnight: Blog

After my previous posts, there were a lot of downloads of "Spiders" this weekend. Unfortunately, the score went down by.3, which is a lot.

That'll teach me.

Maybe I need a new hobby.

I logged on this evening and found a bunch of replies to my plea for help about "Spiders". Gave me lots to think about and digest. Over the next couple of days, I will be responding to each of you individually.

Based on some of your comments, I wonder whether the cover might have scared some readers off. It gave me the creeps.

I have one story ("Spiders") that is a bit of a mystery to me, and I'm hoping some of you who enjoy my stories can help me understand what's going on. I originally wrote it for last year's Halloween contest, but decided to just go ahead and post it.

It has never been popular; even now, it has only 22 votes, and neither the vote count nor the score has changed in over a year. It still gets an occasional download, five this week, 666 since it was posted, which is disappointing, because I think it's one of my best efforts. I don't know why it is so unpopular, or maybe ignored is the better word.

I've assumed it's because, as a "No Sex", "Horror" story; it's way out of my normal lane, but if that's true, I feel frustrated, because I want to try others in that genre, but why bother if no one will read them.

Anyway, I'm not asking you to read it, just maybe glance at the story description and story codes to see what makes readers pass it by.

Maybe I should write a story about a team of vampire-hunter girls who play volleyball? They probably would have some great spikes.

And yes, before anyone asks, I would like some crackers with my whine.

It's done, finally. I never expected it to be this long when I started it, but I fell in love (or lust) with the characters.

Now, to take a few days off, then get to work on one or more of the dozen or so stories languishing in my WIP folder.

It's a quiet Sunday morning, and I should be working on the last chapter of "Volleyball Girls," and I will get to it later, I promise, but first I have to admit something.

Two years ago (can't believe it was that long ago), I posted a "confession," revealing a second ID I've used in the past. I won't repeat it here because I only submitted two stories under that name, and they aren't very good. However, as a cliché-heavy mystery writer might say, it's time to drop the other shoe.

There is a third ID I have used, and I'm kind of proud of the stories I've posted under that name. First, the reveal: my other alter ego is "Naughty Shayna," and that name has a backstory.

Several years ago, I discovered a subreddit called "Adultpenpals" (don't bother looking, it's gone away). The idea was that someone would post the beginning of an erotic story, or maybe just a character description, and other writers who liked the idea would reply. If they agreed to continue, a back-and-forth exchange would develop. It was like writing a story with a co-writer in almost real time, an interesting writing exercise.

After doing that for a while, I grew frustrated because I found it difficult to get many people to work with me. Then I realized that, like almost all erotic sites, 98% of the users were guys, so I created "Naughty Shayna", a "naughty 20-something high school teacher", and started posting under that name. Not long after I started using it, I could post a story idea, go away, log back in a few hours later, and have 30-40 guys eager to work with 'her'. I would pick a few of the more promising writing partners, and off we went. I don't think that any of my co-writers knew the truth about Shayna. My intent wasn't to fool anybody; I just enjoyed putting myself into her head.

I had been thinking about writing a few SOL stories from a female pov, so I brought Shayna here and started posting using her persona. It's been a lot of fun writing her stories. I even did one collaboration that might have begun as one of those Reddit efforts; I really can't remember. It's a bit on the naughty side, but I consider it some of my best writing, under any name.

Alas, I never seem to find time to write NS stories anymore. There are two incomplete "Naughty Shayna" stories here, one I intend to finish and one I'll probably abandon, but the way my mind works, I may get inspired to jump back into her world any day. We'll see.

Confession done. Now I can get off my knees and get back into "Volleyball Girls".