Writing Journal: I'm done drafting the first two installments of Book IV of The Adjusters, except for the sex scene at the end of #41, and it's showing me some things that seem to work and some that don't. And I've got about 3/4th of the story line for Book IV nailed down. I'm just not sure how it ends—well, I do know how it ends as far as setting up Book V and within the larger story line, but not so much the arc-specific threads.
So it's been almost three weeks now since I've posted the second half the last Charlie story—Charlie and the Convent of Oblivion—and a consensus seems to be emerging from the comments I've received so far. Basically, those that came to the story from the perspective of The Adjusters were a bit disappointed (possibly too strong a word) and felt that the story distracted from the main story line and that it might have been better to just get on with Jenn's adventures directly; while those that came to the story independently of the serial liked it better (when they got past the god-awful first section).
That's very good to know. Usually, I don't question too much how stories are received. Some work, some don't. I'm okay with stories not working when I've tried to do something different, and sometimes they don't work not because of anything I've done, but just because somehow, the story didn't quite come into the world at the right time or in the right place. I don't really lose sleep over it.
The Charlie stories are a bit different, though, because I would like to know whether I should continue with the idea. See, my original thought—before actually trying it out on the world—was for those stories to be a way to tease the reader, giving them a glimpse of what was coming down the pipe, but without actually revealing enough to spoil the story. But it's not quite working out as planned: the last story was a bit too long to serve as a teaser (it was freakin' 30000 words longs... Yes. I count them) and all in all it might just be too distracting to be effective. And I'm not basing this solely on readers' comments, but also on my own sensibilities looking back on it. Don't get me wrong: I like those stories. I'm just now sure they work as I intended them to work within the larger picture. So I don't know. Right now, I'm leaning towards not having further Charlie stories within the serial. (Thankfully, they're not actually required by the plot after the second one—I know, because I create the plot!)
On a different topic: last weekend, as you may have noticed, I've reposted the first book of The Adjusters in the new HTML format that I'm trying out for posting stories. Mostly, it's to get the UTF-8 encoding for quotes, em-dashes, and accents, and to get italics. No one's reported any problems, so I'm continuing to convert the rest of my stories as well the rest of The Adjusters.
Stories for this week? Nothing particularly caught my eye, but I did notice that Bluedragon seems to have a new entry in his An Ordinary Sex Life series: An Ordinary College Sex Life 3. I haven't started reading it yet, because it's a bit like getting into a new volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, namely you have to remember a boatload of backstory. But I feel I should let everyone know, since it is a pretty good series.
Showing posts with label Bluedragon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bluedragon. Show all posts
Monday, May 20, 2013
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Story Idea in the Back of my Head
Writer's journal: The end of the month is coming up fast. I'm editing The Adjusters #20, which I know many of you have been waiting for patiently. Which means that my back's to the wall and I have to decide on something I've been going back and forth over for the past month. Thankfully, it's not a large plot point. Meanwhile, I'm hacking away on #23, which is looking like another 10K+ words monstrosity. But I keep stealing time away from it to hack away on a later episode (a much later episode) that has caught my imaginative fancy and that I had to write parts of lest it disappears back into the fine mist where ideas live.
There's been a story in the back of my head that has been knocking over and over at the door of the conscious writing part of my brain, begging for attention. And unfortunately, I can't find a way to fit it in the Adjusters universe. Which usually means that if I cannot find a way to fit it in and I cannot get rid of it eventually, I will have to write it.
The idea is simple. In fact, it's not even a full-fledged idea. It's really just a bunch of characters. And it's the oldest story in the book: a high-school boy befriends the friendly and sexy single neighbor, who teaches him the ways of love. Need I say that the neighbor in question is a retired porn star? And that she turns him into an irresistible babe magnet? And that the mob comes knocking because of an old story between the neighbor and an infatuated boss that went wrong? I'm seeing Kayden Kross in the title role—my current porn crush. (I'm allowed to have porn crushes, right? That's not too weird?)
It doesn't take a psychologist to figure out where this is coming from. As I said in my last post, I've been re-reading a bunch of Vulgus stories, and one of them is 400mm of Mrs. Hanson, an ultimately rather disappointing story except for a couple of hot scenes, I'm sorry to say, but with a great character, the—wait for it!—sexy older neighbor who teaches the protagonist the ways of love, one lovely (and delightfully perverted) Cassidy Hanson.
And one of my favorite stories ever, as the lot of you well know, Bluedragon's An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life, starts out with the protagonist meeting up with his—yup—sexy older neighbor who teaches him the ways of love, the lovely and sexually enthusiastic Keira McNeil.
You know, now that I think of it, I suspect there's an old leftover fantasy from my teenage years lurking, here...
Oh, before I leave, I should point out that I'm back on Twitter. After a long silence. Still not sure what I'm doing there, but from what I gather from the people I follow, neither do they, so I'm in good company. If you're in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by and say hi.
There's been a story in the back of my head that has been knocking over and over at the door of the conscious writing part of my brain, begging for attention. And unfortunately, I can't find a way to fit it in the Adjusters universe. Which usually means that if I cannot find a way to fit it in and I cannot get rid of it eventually, I will have to write it.
The idea is simple. In fact, it's not even a full-fledged idea. It's really just a bunch of characters. And it's the oldest story in the book: a high-school boy befriends the friendly and sexy single neighbor, who teaches him the ways of love. Need I say that the neighbor in question is a retired porn star? And that she turns him into an irresistible babe magnet? And that the mob comes knocking because of an old story between the neighbor and an infatuated boss that went wrong? I'm seeing Kayden Kross in the title role—my current porn crush. (I'm allowed to have porn crushes, right? That's not too weird?)
It doesn't take a psychologist to figure out where this is coming from. As I said in my last post, I've been re-reading a bunch of Vulgus stories, and one of them is 400mm of Mrs. Hanson, an ultimately rather disappointing story except for a couple of hot scenes, I'm sorry to say, but with a great character, the—wait for it!—sexy older neighbor who teaches the protagonist the ways of love, one lovely (and delightfully perverted) Cassidy Hanson.
And one of my favorite stories ever, as the lot of you well know, Bluedragon's An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life, starts out with the protagonist meeting up with his—yup—sexy older neighbor who teaches him the ways of love, the lovely and sexually enthusiastic Keira McNeil.
You know, now that I think of it, I suspect there's an old leftover fantasy from my teenage years lurking, here...
Oh, before I leave, I should point out that I'm back on Twitter. After a long silence. Still not sure what I'm doing there, but from what I gather from the people I follow, neither do they, so I'm in good company. If you're in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by and say hi.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A Few Submission Stories (And One Not So Much)
Happy Easter, if you celebrate it. If not, then Happy Fertility Day.
Slogging through revisions to The Adjusters #16. Both it and #17 are a bit different, as you'll see, and it makes it more difficult to get right. We'll see how it turns out. But let me just say for future reference: no more stories with umpteen thousand characters. Sheesh, what a mess.
Anyways... A few stories caught my attention this week. All of them on Storiesonline, so you'll need an account there if you don't already have one. (You should: it's free, and there are some amazing stories on there.)
First up, Diary of a Wife, by Hawthorne: "It takes years for a married couple to finally figure out that she needs to submit, and he wants to dominate. Once she reveals her past, he makes her is own... in every way." A submission story, very well done. I especially like the first chapter, where the wife reveals herself for what she really is. Some really hot stuff in there. Too bad that the story seems to have been abandoned.
Next up, Tarnished Innocence, by Shani 34: "The new employee seemed to be perfect, but Mike discovered that she wasn't all that she seemed. She had lied to him, and to previous employers, and when he challenges her she admits it. And she accepts punishment, and asks for more. Mike tries to give her the excitement she craves." Another submission story, clearly. Some nice scenes in there, and a good pace.
Last up, the biggie -- Conflicted, by Eldridge: "Damon, an 18 year old high school athlete, learns some startling, yet very interesting things about his cheerleader younger sister, and the things she does with her best friends. As he slowly gets involved with the group of girls, however, he begins to realize that there may be more to his newfound happiness than he first realized." As the author points out, a "slow building story with lots of plot and subplots, as well as lots of sex in the later chapters." No shit. I'm three quarters into it, and it's just phenomenal. Lots of sex, good characters, amazing dialogue, and even the psychology is not that far off. (Warning: some incest.) It reminds me a lot of An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life by Bluedragon -- which I've talked about before -- both in style and in content, and it holds up very well to the comparison. Read it, that's all I'm going to say about it.
Slogging through revisions to The Adjusters #16. Both it and #17 are a bit different, as you'll see, and it makes it more difficult to get right. We'll see how it turns out. But let me just say for future reference: no more stories with umpteen thousand characters. Sheesh, what a mess.
Anyways... A few stories caught my attention this week. All of them on Storiesonline, so you'll need an account there if you don't already have one. (You should: it's free, and there are some amazing stories on there.)
First up, Diary of a Wife, by Hawthorne: "It takes years for a married couple to finally figure out that she needs to submit, and he wants to dominate. Once she reveals her past, he makes her is own... in every way." A submission story, very well done. I especially like the first chapter, where the wife reveals herself for what she really is. Some really hot stuff in there. Too bad that the story seems to have been abandoned.
Next up, Tarnished Innocence, by Shani 34: "The new employee seemed to be perfect, but Mike discovered that she wasn't all that she seemed. She had lied to him, and to previous employers, and when he challenges her she admits it. And she accepts punishment, and asks for more. Mike tries to give her the excitement she craves." Another submission story, clearly. Some nice scenes in there, and a good pace.
Last up, the biggie -- Conflicted, by Eldridge: "Damon, an 18 year old high school athlete, learns some startling, yet very interesting things about his cheerleader younger sister, and the things she does with her best friends. As he slowly gets involved with the group of girls, however, he begins to realize that there may be more to his newfound happiness than he first realized." As the author points out, a "slow building story with lots of plot and subplots, as well as lots of sex in the later chapters." No shit. I'm three quarters into it, and it's just phenomenal. Lots of sex, good characters, amazing dialogue, and even the psychology is not that far off. (Warning: some incest.) It reminds me a lot of An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life by Bluedragon -- which I've talked about before -- both in style and in content, and it holds up very well to the comparison. Read it, that's all I'm going to say about it.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A New Story by Bluedragon
The usual writing update: still hacking on The Adjusters #19. I'm writing two scenes in parallel for that episode, one with Kyra, one with Jenn, and it's a bit disconcerting because they're so different. I'm going to have to work hard on editing to make sure that the difference comes out clearly.
I saw over the weekend that Bluedragon has started posting a new story to Storiesonline, An Ordinary College Sex Life 2: "The continuation of An Ordinary College Sex Life. Ben, Dawn, roommates, classmates, sisters, sorority girls, strippers, and even a teacher."
Bluedragon is the king of long and sometimes sprawling stories with lots and lots of sex. And once in a while, his stuff manages to touch me the way smut rarely does.
His current story is his eighth story in the "An Ordinary Sex Life" series -- the title a nice tongue-in-cheek jab at the fact that the sex life of the main character in the series, Ben, is all but ordinary. It's a nice series, with some amazing characters (Keira the neighbor, Adrienne, Dayna...), and some incredible scenes. Warning: there's some incest in there. If that's not your cup of tea, skip this and head down to the next paragraph. Otherwise, start with An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life, then An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life 2, then An Ordinary College Sex Life, and then you're caught up for the story I pointed you to at the top there. You'll thank me.
Now, Bluedragon has another series that I think I actually prefer to "An Ordinary Sex Life", and that's his "John Billionaire" series. The story of John, who runs into a massive inheritance that completely throws his life upside down. Oh, and brings him lots and lots of sex. Did I mention that? Again, some fantastic characters -- Taylor Brynn, need I say more? -- and hot sex all around. Go ahead: start with John Billionaire, then Jeff Thousandaire, then A Billionaire's Life, then Tom Billionaire.
For what it's worth, his stories are what convinced me to try my hand at a long series of my own. His stuff is somewhat less dark than mine, though. Different strokes, right?
I saw over the weekend that Bluedragon has started posting a new story to Storiesonline, An Ordinary College Sex Life 2: "The continuation of An Ordinary College Sex Life. Ben, Dawn, roommates, classmates, sisters, sorority girls, strippers, and even a teacher."
Bluedragon is the king of long and sometimes sprawling stories with lots and lots of sex. And once in a while, his stuff manages to touch me the way smut rarely does.
His current story is his eighth story in the "An Ordinary Sex Life" series -- the title a nice tongue-in-cheek jab at the fact that the sex life of the main character in the series, Ben, is all but ordinary. It's a nice series, with some amazing characters (Keira the neighbor, Adrienne, Dayna...), and some incredible scenes. Warning: there's some incest in there. If that's not your cup of tea, skip this and head down to the next paragraph. Otherwise, start with An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life, then An Ordinary Teenage Sex Life 2, then An Ordinary College Sex Life, and then you're caught up for the story I pointed you to at the top there. You'll thank me.
Now, Bluedragon has another series that I think I actually prefer to "An Ordinary Sex Life", and that's his "John Billionaire" series. The story of John, who runs into a massive inheritance that completely throws his life upside down. Oh, and brings him lots and lots of sex. Did I mention that? Again, some fantastic characters -- Taylor Brynn, need I say more? -- and hot sex all around. Go ahead: start with John Billionaire, then Jeff Thousandaire, then A Billionaire's Life, then Tom Billionaire.
For what it's worth, his stories are what convinced me to try my hand at a long series of my own. His stuff is somewhat less dark than mine, though. Different strokes, right?
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