[DomLuka] Domluka's Extreme Hiatus

[Marco]

I guess that is why Vances story "One Moment" is listed as complete, when it's not. Protip: Know what you are saying before you apply your faulty logic to my right to express dissapointment in certain authors. That is why I have an issue with these people. You may be way to polite for some, but I feel that these authors lack "common decency" as stated in my previous post. People like you may defend them but I was brought up with better manners. Something which you seem to know nothing about.

 

Sorry, you just want to give these guys a free pass.

I am not so inclined.

[PrivateTim]

No Marco, you were not brought up with manners, nor do you have decency of any kind, common or otherwise.

 

No one disputes your right to say what you did. We just think you are an ass.

 

A person of manners would not complain about the free benefits they received, they would be grateful for they had been given. No author here owes you anything, especially when you have no idea why an author stops writing. Unless you are willing to share with us your extensive writings, show us your talent, show us you have an understanding of what it takes to write stories like these, then we really have no interest in your opinion. You can express it. No one will be listening.

Edited April 29, 2012 by PrivateTim

[Andrew Q Gordon]

Marco,

 

I too am saddened that stories I started and liked are not completed, but as a writer I can say sometimes it happens. Sad but true.

 

Now I get your gripe that it would be nice to have some answer - like - hey guys sorry, I'm not likely to ever finish this because. . . . I've seen that happen with a couple stories. Others the author has just disappeared without a trace. Yes Dom is one of those.

 

That said, and I know this is me making excuses for others, but as Tim and Gene said, this is a free site, free to read and free as in we who write don't get paid. Things have greatly changed since GA began. Once there was 1) find a publisher to accept and publish your work or 2) Post it for free on line here or on Nifty or some other place. Now however there is ePublish it yourself.

 

I know, you're saying, not shit sherlock, but my point is people's focus can change. Maybe they've decided to try their hand at getting published and have been devoting their time there. maybe, life just interrupted and this part has taken a back seat. It still doesn't prevent them from saying that, but it happens and like you, I am saddened, (though not disgusted).

 

My only suggestion is to move on to others who have completed their stories and if you're not too angry, sit tight and hope your old favorites come back and finish what they've started. Getting mad at them on here won't bring them back any sooner, and it might turn them off for good. I doubt Dom wants to poke his head into his forum and read people trashing him for taking a hiatus. It might just get him to say - whatever, who needs this.

 

Andy

[Daddydavek]

On the GA free portion of the site, we the consumers are getting the free pass. The only work we put into the story is to read it and maybe leaving a spur of the moment review.

 

If anyone thinks that authors who sweat their stories and provide them for free cannot or should not be offended by callous opinions or complaints that it's not enough etc are very much mistaken.

 

Does anyone remember stories by dkstories here on the free portion. They are gone because he has abandoned this site and the internet because he thought civility and reasonableness had left the site. While it is true he was mostly offended for being trashed for his liberal viewpoints, it is also true his stories and ability to express his viewpoints were subjected to ad hominem attacks.

 

There are rules for the site which can be found here: https://www.gayauthors.org/rules.html

 

Everyone has an opinion but if expressing it is only you trying to make yourself look better by making someone else look worse, then the smart thing to do is to keep it to yourself. Or, buy yourself entry into the soapbox where you can spout whatever. Even there attacking someone else is really gauche.

 

Quonus10's post above makes some good points as well.

 

I too hope Dom Luka writes some more for us as I really like most of his stories.

[NaperVic]

Marco, you've called these authors selfish, inconsiderate, with no common decency and you have no respect for them. Got it, loud and clear.

 

So if Dom returned and started writing again, perhaps finish With Trust, would you read? If Vance edited and posted those final chapters of 'One Moment', you'd avoid?

 

Being so disgusted with these authors, you'd think you wouldn't be coming back to check.

 

 

While I would LOVE Dom to finish his 3 incomplete stories, he doesn't owe me squat. He's provided way, WAY more to me than I've ever given him.

 

And I wouldn't want Dom to 'dial it in' and finish the stories just for the sake of completing them. I'd want them at the quality level I'm used to receiving from him. If he doesn't have the motivation or desire to complete them at this moment in time, I'll wait until the itch hits him. I'll know it will be fabulous that way.

[TrevorTime]

He's provided way, WAY more to me than I've ever given him.

 

Exactly. When I first came to this site, reading Desert Dropping was the first thing I ever did, back in 2010. I hadn't even made an account or entered the chat room yet. But I saw that Arizona flag on his website, and I knew right then it was something I just had to read.

 

And boy was I hooked right from that first chapter. The angst. The pathos. I was literally blown away that something this good could be totally free on the internet. And I wanted to "be" Rory Norick. I had never identified so closely with a gay fictional character until then.

 

As to Dom's whereabouts, it's possible that he just ran out of ideas or time to write. But he left behind a wonderful legacy.

[naaz]

sadly enough, 'extreme' seems to be the understatement of the decade.

[JayMahal]

You guys have said it all!

 

Miss you Dom

[Drewbie]

Marco, you've called these authors selfish, inconsiderate, with no common decency and you have no respect for them. Got it, loud and clear.

 

So if Dom returned and started writing again, perhaps finish With Trust, would you read? If Vance edited and posted those final chapters of 'One Moment', you'd avoid?

 

Being so disgusted with these authors, you'd think you wouldn't be coming back to check.

 

 

While I would LOVE Dom to finish his 3 incomplete stories, he doesn't owe me squat. He's provided way, WAY more to me than I've ever given him.

 

And I wouldn't want Dom to 'dial it in' and finish the stories just for the sake of completing them. I'd want them at the quality level I'm used to receiving from him. If he doesn't have the motivation or desire to complete them at this moment in time, I'll wait until the itch hits him. I'll know it will be fabulous that way.

 

I agree, even though i'd love if don would finish with trust, he brought me many happy years of me reading his wonderful stories.

[Sympathia]

I agree, even though i'd love if don would finish with trust, he brought me many happy years of me reading his wonderful stories.

 

Amen to that! Thank you Dom, for your wonderful stories, they opened my eyes to a whole new genre. Now get off that lazy bum of yours and finish With Trust! xD

 

XOXO

Sym

[Krista]

Instead of putting in so much energy bitching about the authors that aren't here - for what ever reason (probably a good enough reason or they would still be here) - you could actually attempt to read the other authors on the internet. Although, if all readers were as inconsiderate and unreasonable as you - I'd likely hang up my writing too - thankfully this topic also shows us that people can be patient and can be grateful for the words we put together and call a story. So, although there is bitching and indecency being expressed by some, it is nice to know there is the other side of the spectrum still out there. Hopeful for his return, sad/disappointed that he isn't here, but grateful for all the written work he does post as well as others.

 

So I'll try not to be disgusted with the - seemingly few - ungrateful people that gives GA two seconds out of their year to check and groan over one or two authors being absent and continue to put my words together as best I can.

[TetRefine]

I just started re-reading The Ordinary Us. I started reading it way back when I first joined GA, but sort of forgot about it. I recently picked it back up. People bitching about authors just disappearing isn't going to motivate them to write another word. I can't even convince my own boyfriend to continue writing The Perks of Loving You. I've resigned myself to the fact that he will pick it back up when he regains the passion to continue writing it. That may never happen, and so be it. If they want to, they will. If they don't, they won't. I've accepted it as just something that happens on a FREE online writing site.

[mickey1952]

Dom is absolutely one of my all-time favorite writers. His stories are what brought me into the GA fold. I'm sad that he's taken a break, but like others have stated before me, most of his stories are posted on the free content part of GA, so those of you who are angry at him have no real right to be so. Maybe he's met someone, maybe he's burned out, maybe he's got a tremendous case of writer's block. Let's just hope that's all it is. God forbid, it could be something far worse. Personally, I have faith that one day he'll return and once again share his talents with us. I recently began subscribing to the Premium Content section, so I have even more reason to hope he returns so I can look forward to the continuation of his Premium material as well. But I don't feel cheated even here. I simply appreciate everything Dom has shared with all of us to date, and wish him well with whatever direction his life is heading. Thanks again, Dom; and remember, true Domaholics will always be with you.

[Guest Spyder]

I've resigned myself to the fact that he will pick it back up when he regains the passion to continue writing it. That may never happen, and so be it. If they want to, they will. If they don't, they won't. I've accepted it as just something that happens on a FREE online writing site.

 

Was checking to see if there was anything new on Dom and saw your post. Sadly, you've hit the nail on the head - and not just for free online stories. Ask George RR Martin where the rest of his Game of Thrones work is... A Feast for Crows came out in 2005. Because it was such a massive book, he split it into 2 stories - and because it was mostly done, he announced that A Dance for Dragons (the second half) would follow shortly thereafter. It came out in 2011. The Winds of Winter will hopefully be out by 2020. A Dream of Spring? Maybe 2030 at this rate.

 

When an author loses the passion for a story, it takes as long as it takes for them to come back to it. And if you still have the passion for the story, there's not many options left except to just keep on checking every couple of months... just in case. And of course, re-reading the old favourites.

[option]

1) the unfinished stories need to have their status changed to 'on hold' if theyre not being regularly updated

 

2) if an author has got professionally published, why dont they come back to let people know? theres an existing audience here, why not recognise that?

 

3) i dont know if GA does this or not, but do authors get a regular update sent to them about their stories, an email say every month that gives them the number of views/likes/follows/ratings/reviews etc. that would at least show authors what level of readership they have.

[Mark Arbour]

I noticed that there was a change to With Trust. Did Dom do it?

[Gene Splicer PHD]

A wild stab: it looks like Cia edited it, and its gone from "in process" to "on hold", so there's that.

[Mark Arbour]

Damn.

[MikeL]

So, it's official now?

[pfox25]

almost gave me a heart attack  
would've made my day...

[Marco]

1. One year and a half later, has anyone seen a single chapter added to any of their stories ? NO !
2. One year and a half later, have we heard one peep from any of them ? NO
3. Some of the authors here have taken issue with my observations and comments and they turned out to be just as bad finishing a story.

HI Vance, HI Dom, ( waves furiously ) , 1.5 years later, no reply.

 

EH !!!!

[Mark Arbour]

 

1. Some of the authors here have taken issue with my observations and comments and they turned out to be just as bad finishing a story.

 

Some, but not all.  I'm sorry you didn't get what you felt Dom owed you. 

[Ron]

Marco, I began a thread in The Lounge titled 'Missing Authors' on July 12, this year. Therefore, I too find some dissatisfaction with authors suddenly disappearing. Although my post was more in the form of a request for information, most of the answers (appreciated) were less than satisfying. After noting your post today and reading through and then noting some very similar responses (disregarding the subject and tone of a couple of them) to your initial post in this thread, I will say that I am still a somewhat disgruntled reader as well. You mentioned 'common decency', which I take that you meant 'common courtesy', and it is clear that you feel the same on the subject as I do. Before anyone gets his or her panties in a twist once again, let me explain my reasoning.

 

Some writers write for their own purposes, diaries, journals, etc., but a writer who publishes not so much. A writer publishes due to any number of various reasons but ultimately the finished product, whether you have purchased it or find it free, is a shared venture. It is the act of sharing that creates the bind between the author and the reader. If you do not enjoy an author’s writing you move on and rightly so. If you make a connection with the writing, an emotional investment is most likely going to happen at some point. The expression of the investment manifests in many ways. Perhaps you like the setting of the story or the character(s) in it (love or hate) and perhaps something the author has written resonates so strongly that you identify with it. Whatever the reason, there is now a connection between the author and the reader; it has now become a two-way relationship. Any author who has a following and ignores this aspect needs to examine why they are writing/publishing in the first place.

 

Is it any wonder that folks become concerned, sad, disappointed, frustrated or even angry when an author up and disappears without explanation? I do not believe that it matters whether the writing is ‘free’ or not. In any sudden break-up there are certain expectations and if we are honest the biggest is being an explanation of why. When an author runs away, they are essentially breaking up with their readers. Is it surprising to want an explanation?

 

My writing my not be so very important to anyone but me and it may very well never amount to much either but in a great show of courage I put it out there to share it with everyone who will read it. If I should ever decide to leave GA and/or stop writing and posting, I may not share the exact motive but I will say that you should not expect anything further from me. For those who read what I write, a response is the courteous thing to do.

 

Please do note. If you should find that I have disappeared without a trace, it probably means I am in a coma, dead or on a remote mountain top with no way down.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Ron

[mickey1952]

I have to admit that I'm such a Domaholic that I would probably forgive Dom for such a long hiatus, no matter what the reason. And as I and others have mentioned in earlier posts, there are many reasons he might be absent. I just can't imagine, knowing of all the fans who followed his stories, that he would have disappeared for so long without explanation unless there was a more serious reason than writer's block. Would it soothe the hurt feelings of some of you if we were to find out he had an aneurism and has been a vegetable for the past few years? How about if we found out he'd been in a horrible accident and his body was resting in a nice little cemetary somewhere? The longer he's absent, the more I fear that it's something more dire than simply losing his passion. And even if it isn't, he still doesn't owe any of us a damned thing.

[Mark Arbour]

The bond between reader and author can be pretty intense.  I think that what we, as authors, owe to our readers, is an explanation when we plan to be absent for a period of time.  I'm not throwing rocks at Dom, because I love his writing.  In fact, he's the reason I'm at GA.  But having him vanish like this made me realize that if life deals me a hand such that I can't write anymore, I owe it to my readers to tell them that.