Lugh

This is a most excellent beginning... hope to see more soon. Home to Jude happy reading! Lugh

thank you Sharon... the links were helpful!

Research for a story. Lugh

and this has what to do with the question at hand? sighs I really need help.

Come on guys.. anyone who has done this at this point is an expert as far as I'm concerned.

happy b-day Vikki!!! yay for you! hugs, Lugh

ok I need some research info... what happens when a person is sky diving... yanno the steps from in the plane to on the ground. please? thank you! Lugh

confidence enables a person to accomplish things. ego causes them to brag about those accomplishments. the confidence does not end where the ego begins, however other people may not see it that way.

ok Kevin this is my try two since I got skipped earlier! Avatar: 9 yay pirates! Signature: 2 cause it is boring. Username: um.. this one is difficult... I'm going to go with um... 8... yeah that's it.. Overall: 7... you can change the sigline...

A good writer writes well. A good writer conveys their ideas to the reader in a manner which informs, educates, entertains, or any combonation thereof. A good writer does not conform to the supposed 'rules' of writing so rigidly that their writing suffers. A good writer knows when they have reached 'the end'. A good writer leaves you feeling satisfied, yet wanting more. A good writer is not too verbose. A good writer has a good handle on the language they are writing in. A good writer has a better than middling grasp on grammar and vocabulary. A good writer has the ability to vary their sentence structure, and the knowledge to know when they should not. A good writer knows how to form a paragraph, even in html. A good writer spell checks. A good writer studies their craft. A good writer has friends who are good writers. A good writer has a better editor. and I'm sure there are more....

Avatar: 9.0 - yay two boys kissing Signature: 6.0 - meh quotes not my thing Username: 6.0 - um that's your nameish Overall: 7.5 cause you're kewl

sorry but I have to laugh at this... DC went through a period of about a year where, I swear, he got daily spankings. But it was not the first option, nor the second. I just have an extreamly hard headed son. We had a chart. We made the chart together under the guidance of the therapist. DC picked most of the punishments 'so they would be relavent to him and so that he would not feel *I* was punishing him but that 'he was earning consequences for actions he preformed'. Granted at the top of the list was time out, sent to room, no telle, no bike, things of that nature. In the middle there were more severe punishments. But at the bottom was this line: "These are things my father will not tolerate: lying, stealing, and leaving without permission. If I do these things I will earn a spanking of not less than five spanks with the belt on my bottom." He knew it was there. He helped to put it there. He broke that one rule more often than any of the others. He would take his spanking and do it again the next day. I was frustrated. I told the therapist. The therapist talked to him. You know what he said? "Those things I know makes my dad mad, but I can't help it sometimes. So I put the one thing there that he could just 'get out of the way quickly' so that the punishment would be over and I could go out the next day." After that conversation that bottom rule changed. He would get 7 SUNNY days of house restriction for the first infraction and begin loosing other things with each consecutive infraction. In less than a week he was on a month's restriction and had lost everything in his room... did I mention the boy is hard-headed? Needless to say his behavior has now changed. I don't know what changed it. It surely wasn't my punishing him. Maybe part of it was maturity. A lesson learned. now on to the original topic: censorship I do not believe in censorship on any level. I do believe it is the parent's responsibilty to govern what their children watch, read, do on the internet. HOWEVER, I can understand why some people believe in censorship.. it's because parents are not doing their job. However some of it is rediculous. For example, we went to a public showing of "Grease"... yes the one with Sandra Dee and John Travolta. The guys showing the film stated that they had 'skipped one scene due to parental objection'. I was trying to figure out which scene had gotten skipped... I mean there was the coach's speech with 5 or 6 4 letter words, and the word "pussy wagon" in the song Grease Lightning... and then there was the word "virgin" in the Sandra Dee song... guess which one they clipped? heh... the Sandra Dee song... amazing that. Lugh

hum... is the visitation court ordered as in: he gets the child from 6 -8 on wednesday and every other saturday (kinda hard to do in jail) or is it that the custodial parent must bring the infant to the jail to see the non-custodial parent? could it be argued that jail is not a 'healthy environment' for a child? could the visitations (if enforced) be handled by a third party? could she get some sort of court order to keep him away from her thus making it so that she (and the baby) have no contact with the criminal? I'm not so sure I understand this plea thing... this was rape and other things I would think... bad things. Eight years is not long enough, not for the rape of a child. Hopefully he will not survive his prison term, then the problem will be solved. Hugs and prayers for your um.. client. Lugh

Reading is necessary for several reasons. First, as an author, you should read to learn... research anyone? Secondly, as an author, you should read to research... which type of books do which publishing houses print? What books were the agents/editors looking for in the last two years (yes there can be that much lead time from solicitation to publication). What do they have in common? How are they different? And, I think, most important, as an author, if you only write and do not read you become out of touch with your craft. This sounds odd but persons in most professions attend conferences and read professional publications. Why shouldn't authors? Finally, concerning dialogue... listening is a key to that. To determine if your dialogue is working, have it read to you. If it sounds weird, it probably is not real. Go to a public place (bar, mall, coffee house) and LISTEN to how people talk. Practice writing it down. Look at how the spoken language is different from the written language and figure out a way for the two to merge in your own writing. happily writing, Lugh

Gary, There are a lot of things involved with selling a book to an agent / editor. Have you done your home work? I think the key issue here is to find the right publishing house/ agent. Who publishes stories like yours? How often do they publish a book like yours? Do they solicit novels from the public or do you need an agent? When is their 'open season'? Which agent represent stories like yours? How many books have they had published? What are their submission guidelines? Once you can answer those questions then you have to be prepared to pitch your novel to the person you chose this usually involves a short (no more than 2 page) letter with the 'hook' (usually not more than a couple paragraphs). (The synopsis you include in the story IS NOT A HOOK... in fact I wouldn't read the story based on the synopsis alone... if you want to know why ask privately.) Conversely, it may involve a cover letter and the first 3 chapters, or it may involve a cover letter and the entire novel. Obviously the key is the cover letter, because if they never read that then they WILL NOT read your story, period the end. Finally, most publishers generally will not touch any story that has been (1) self-published, (2) electronically published in its final form, (3) previously sold in any manner, shape, or form. Therefore by self publishing on lulu and giving away full copies on your website to the general public you are telling the editors / publishing houses that you are not interested in financial reward for your hard work. I'm sorry to inform you that they do not have a problem... you do... by not doing your homework first if your intention was to eventually sell "The Green Room". Lugh

heh maybe YOU are... but there are several people on this site who, if they submitted their work to the right publishing house, would be snatched up in a heartbeat, not to mention the one or three authors who are already published (not counting the several who use vanity/self-publishing).

meh my chapters have ranged from 99 words to more than 10000 words (pages dependant on font size) and the only complaint that I usually get is "when is the next one coming out?", which I guess technically isn't a complaint come to think of it... anyway when I go to read a story chapter length isn't even in the top things I look for... the top three: basic grammar, spelling, use of paragraphs with out those it is generally unreadable... after that: is it interesting? are the characters believable? can I connect with them? does the author know how to convey his/her ideas? is the author beating me over the head with his/her own agenda? all those (and more) are more importiant to me than... is the chapter 4 pages or 24? Lugh

hahahaha yer old now too!!! happy b-day twin mine!

oy! would you believe these writing styles actually have names? Linear writing is what those who post weekly serials usually do. They write the story from front to back with little to no diversions (unless they get stuck then they may skip ahead somewhat) This can involve an outline.. or not. (Those two types have other names!) Organic writing is when the author writes all the scenes, but in a random order. (Another author calls this "candy bar" writing because most new writers tend to write the 'good scenes' then skimp on the connections, so reading it is like eating a series of candy bars... not quite sure I totally understand that philosophy) Now the other two writing styles are determined by if you plot or not... If you do plot... you are a plotter (duh!) If you do not... you are pantser (from the term 'flying by the seat of your pants') Personally, I'm an organic pantser... which explains why I rarely finish things, eh?

hum I guess I might come up with something for this one.. mebbe.

I'm a ZERO! sighs... Angles Your score: 15 out of 20 Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20 Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20 Spot the difference Your score: 43% Average score for men: 39% Average score for women: 46% Hands You said your left thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together. Left thumb on top: This suggests the right half of your brain is dominant. Some studies theorise that as a right brain dominant person, you may excel in visual, spatial and intuitive processes. Empathising Your empathy score is: 3 out of 20 Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20 Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20 Systemising Your systemising score is: 7 out of 20 Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20 Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20 Eyes Your score: 4 out of 10 Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10 Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10 Fingers Right Hand: 1.05 Left Hand: 1.02 Average ratio for men: 0.982 Average ratio for women: 0.991 Faces Your choices suggest you prefer more masculine faces. 3D shapes Your score: 10 out of 12 Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12 Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12 Words Your score: you associated 13 word(s) with A and you named 6 word(s) that mean B. Average score for men: 11.4 words total Average score for women: 12.4 words total hum this is interesting....

LOL You are soo silly! So you liked it eh? Good. More to come. Lugh

ok for those who care I've updated this story.... go HERE (best viewed NOT in IE)

hum well let me see... Andy is a teenager. Andy is in therapy. Andy is apparently starting to think on his own. I can see how he would snap/turn on his mother. Then again I live with a tweenager who has done the EXACT same thing to me for less reason. As for his friend, well, it's possible. Think about high school for a moment and the drama that happened there every day. Teens turn on teens for no reason at all. It seems to me that Andy might have had a reason, especially if he linked Brian's behavior with that of his mother and snapping at him was, quite possibly in his mind, a way of snapping at her.

Happy Birthday Dahrling I wish you many happy returns and much cuddles... Walk Proud and Love Freely. Lugh