My book(s) have developed a life I never intended.
Right now I find myself energized after a long, hard illness.
The current book I'm posting actually pushed the original Book 13 out of the way. Without a doubt Book Fourteen is coming because its mostly written.
What say you authors?
Is fourteen too many?
Is fourteen too many?
I've had your Book 1 on my "to read" list for a long time mostly because of the blurb, but haven't quite gotten to it yet so I don't know what you've found to say for thirteen going on fourteen books. But in my view that doesn't matter. How would anyone other than the author know when the story is finished?
bb
The multi-year writing project has been good. I retired from publishing almost twenty years ago and hated how religiously publishers enforced, "The Rules."
It seemed like good manuscripts were tossed without a second glance because of a set of out o date, old, tired rules, that limited sales, stifled creativity, and held back good authors.
That's why I decided to write an insane story, violate every single stupid literary rule, have fun, and the devil take the rest.
I used to get very sarcastic email from literary religionists who would attack me for pages about the rules I broke.
One day the acid in an email was so toxic, that I wrote back, which is something I never do. However, after reminding the disturbed author that I had more downloads in the last week than he had in his entire stay on Stories On-Line, and that his total was for ALL his works, he stopped attacking me. SO that was good.
That's why I decided to write an insane story, violate every single stupid literary rule, have fun, and the devil take the rest.
I think you answered your own question, as did Capt Zapp.
bb
Is fourteen too many?
Never! As long as you feel there is more to the story, you should write it. After all, Asimov's Foundation 'Trilogy' ended up consisting of 15 books and Piers Anthony's Xanth series, which I believe he claimed started as a trilogy, is currently at 41 books!
ETA
As CW said:
...the total number of volumes will likely intimidate any new readers...
Perhaps you would consider breaking it into individually posted 'books' instead of a single volume.
Piers Anthony's Xanth series, which I believe he claimed started as a trilogy, is currently at 41 books!
And the last 30 or so are fucking terrible. Not knowing when to quit may be Piers Anthony's biggest flaw as a writer. Several of his series start off pretty good but get progressively worse as they go, and they just keep going.
And the last 30 or so are fucking terrible.
I don't know. I find them quite enjoyable.
Besides, if they are so terrible, why do you continue to read them? I would have thought you would have stopped if they didn't improve to your standards after 4 or 5 books.
Besides, if they are so terrible, why do you continue to read them?
I don't, actually. I think the last one I read was Isle of View, which was about the point that the author's obsession with prepubescent girls' undergarments got just too fucking creepy. (He actually published one literally entitled The Color of Her Panties a couple books later.)
Word from acquaintances who held out longer than I did is that they did not get better after that.
the author's obsession with prepubescent girls' undergarments got just too fucking creepy.
I guess it's all in what you enjoy and what squicks you. I happen to like "girls' undergarments" - especially ones with characters or animals. :D
I've seen the ":D" used before. What does it mean?
"LOL" in old-fashioned text-emojis.
I've seen the ":D" used before. What does it mean?
It was ๐ or ๐ before it became part of the standard charcterset. ๐จ๐๐
๐ก๐ฅโยฎยฉโข๐ค
It was ๐ or ๐ before it became part of the standard charcter set. ๐จ๐๐
A few of us old fogies have our own variations, like my 'D (chuckles) or my sad face :(, for when my ideas don't work out.
For the forums, it's a handy way of saying "nothing serious", "just kidding" or "please don't flame me, bro!".
He actually published one literally entitled The Color of Her Panties a couple books later
Fun story: when I was in my Xanth phase, I was reading that book the first day of school (instead of paying attention to the teacher). I was called out on it, and the teacher asked: "what book are you reading?"
Not really realizing the impropriety, I said that title, and teacher was immediately like "uh...let me see that." I dutifully brought it up, and he flipped through it, realized that it was not what he probably thought it was, then handed it back and admonished me not to read in class.
The book itself was as unremarkable as most of the xanth novels I read, except that the main character was a girl instead of a boy.
Perhaps you would consider breaking it into individually posted 'books' instead of a single volume.
This is something I too would prefer.
Only you know when to call it a day. I've noticed you seem to be in an escalation cycle, where each crisis is bigger and badder than before. Don't let that trap you and leave you with nowhere to go, as it has so many authors before you.
If you keep writing and the quality doesn't drop off, I'll keep reading. Thank you for what you're written and shared so far.
AJ
Piers Anthony's Xanth series, which I believe he claimed started as a trilogy, is currently at 41 books!
To be fair, he's basically written the same book over and over again with a little variation, there. I once read the first dozen or so voraciously, then left it alone, and came back around number 30 or so, and was disappointed when it was entirely predictable and felt like a rehash of what I'd read before.
Yes please "break up" the books. I'd like to vote for them on the Clitorides Awards.
Perhaps you would consider breaking it into individually posted 'books' instead of a single volume.
I agree that only the author can answer whether there's any more story left to tell, but 14 is getting a bit long in the tooth. You say you've got good downloads, because at this point, the total number of volumes will likely intimidate any new readers, meaning you're basically preaching to the choirโwriting for you existing fans, rather than reaching out to new fans and expanding your base.
It's a bit like those newbie writers who set out to write an opus, resulting in one story that goes on for more than 150 chapters. At some point, you need to sit back and think 'Where the fuck is this going?'. Too often, authors are mostly writing for themselves, and if they revised the work, they'd end up dumping a lot of the content as extraneous to the essential plot.
However, you're writing this for you. Like you, I started writing because I missed the types of story that publishers no longer are willing to publish, so I'm unconcerned with whether they sell or not, or whether I've got a large or niche following. I write for myself and my muses.
Since you're essentially retired, this is likely a form of therapy for you, so don't worry about the length. Yet, if you've got this much creative energy, you needn't spend it all on the same story. You could just as well have written another twelve stories which all reach additional readers. Just something to consider.
Is fourteen too many?
since my story count is 107 with most of them as novel length I'm not sure what i should say to you other than - keep writing. Mind you, when I went to look at what your stories were I couldn't find an author listed as writernumber7 and the one listed as Number 7 has only 1 book listed not 12 or 13.
I couldn't find an author listed as writernumber7 and the one listed as Number 7 has only 1 book listed not 12 or 13.
If indeed he IS Number 7 then his "one" story is indeed at present 13 "chapters" or, as he puts it "books". This is a multiplicity of DoOver stories. In fact if you read it there are so far 13 stories involving the same person in different guises after coming to life in hospital after being killed in every other "chapter".
IF there is a difficulty then it is that it would be difficult understanding the start of each "chapter" unless you had read the end of another, preferably the first. (In a few cases, for example the Senate Page/POTUS pair it is useful to read the earlier book first). For this reason, keeping it all as a single item makes sense.
However writernumber7 has indicated that he is deliberately breaking all the rules. So what? Are we going to be like the stuffies he writes about here?
If indeed he IS Number 7 then his "one" story is indeed at present 13 "chapters" or, as he puts it "books".
Thanks for that info. I was looking for 13 stories not a long story with 13 parts.
Keep writing. Heinlein said you have to write a million words before the good stuff comes. Clearly all the down loaders are happy, or they would quit. You might post somewhere where new readers should start, unless it is book one, chapter one.
I'd like to recommend a compodium of quotes I found searching for the Heinlein quote I begin with. (I didn't find the quote, I found one where he said writing isn't anything to be ashamed of, but to wash your hands afterwards.) Quotable Quotes on Writers and Writing.
Heinlein said you have to write a million words before the good stuff comes.
I tried looking it up, as I've got a fairly extensive collection of epigraphs. However, after a HD death, where I learned I hadn't been backing up my epigraphs, I've restored many of them, but apparently this wasn't one of them. :(
Clearly I need to find out how to give better addresses.
Do you mean how do you use the "link" function of the forum editor?
I just created And It Looks Like This
My steps to create that were:
1. Cntl+C to copy that long link from your last post
2. Highlight my words 'And It Looks Like This'
3. Clink on the "link" button
4. Cntl+V to paste when the link screen appears
5. Click on "OK"
The editor then displayed a lot of gobbledygook but what it will look like after I hit "Post" is at the end, inside
>And It Looks Like This
The editor then displayed a lot of gobbledygook but what it will look like after I hit "Post" is at the end, inside
>And It Looks Like This
You can also edit the < a href=""> command yourself, making it much neater, getting it the way you want from the get-go. But then, not everyone here is familiar with html.
Too many for what?
That reminds of an exchange on the British TV show Jonathon Creek. Two people are discussing the duties performed by the agent/business manager of a professional magician.
A: His main job is checking that the young women he allows backstage have not had too many.
B: Too many to drink?
A: No. Birthdays!
Is fourteen too many?
A Well-Lived Life is 19 books long...and will be at least 20. And there may be a third 10-book series. We'll see. :-)
We'll see.
As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger, "What do you mean 'We', White Man?
I may be too old to be interested when its done. Or alive.
As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger, "What do you mean 'We', White Man?
I may be too old to be interested when its done. Or alive.
The first eighteen books were written over a two-year period. Even if it goes to thirty, that's only another two years at most. :-)
I guess the answer is the question.
The current book is a deliberate descalation from the previous ones to see how people like the characters without the never ending drama.
So far the mail is quite positive and I like the direction it's going.
The next book is going back in time about seventy years as a change of pace and to indulge my appreciation for those days.
I was online before the advent of forum-specific emote icons, or Emojis as they seem to be called now. ๐๐๐ด๐ป
I was online before the advent of forum-specific emote icons, or Emojis as they seem to be called now.
I (we) were online long before anyone even considered text emojis, or even knew WTF an "emoji" was! (Some Japanese trivia just isn't worth knowing.)
I (we) were online long before anyone even considered text emojis
Wow! That's impressive! Given:
The first ASCII emoticons, :-) and :-(, were written by Scott Fahlman in 1982, but emoticons actually originated on the PLATO IV computer system in 1972.
You must have been online well before 'online' was available here.
PLATO IV computer system
I remember using this system back in '78-'79 for tech school when I was in the military. The computer lab was dark except for the orange glow of the screens.
You must have been online well before 'online' was available here.
I never worked on the PLATO IV system, but I was working with computers (in college) at the time (PDP-11s). Rather than putting smiling faces into text, since we were punching tape, we instead punched smiling faces into the tape itself (along with more than a few dicks). 'D
That's seriously the only thing anyone ever uses the eggplant/aubergine emoji for.
'Cept, the eggplant emoji is circumcized, while the ASCII penis is all natural. 'D
Why else would ANYONE post an eggplant emoji. Aside from the Chinese, few people eat eggplants very often.
'Cept, the eggplant emoji is circumcized
Also, purple and green. I would see a doctor.
Also, purple and green. I would see a doctor.
If it's purple and green, it's probably too late for a doctor. Wait a week, it will fall off on it's own. :)
