Ron

Right! And didn't @Valkyrie mean to write 's***plow service' instead?

I would think that with all of the great strides being made in special effects that we maybe could see some other classic science fiction books become realized. How about Ringworld by Larry Niven, for which he won both a Hugo and Nebula award? That's a movie I would love to see done, and done well. Sadly, Ringworld might be difficult, though possibly not as difficult, as Dune to make sense of for a wide audience.

I’m interested to see this new interpretation of Dune. I could hope that the background music remains in the background but that’s most likely not being realistic.

I’m not sure what just happened.😬 My takeaway is don’t get caught between heaven and hell. You won’t get your house stunk up and no sweeping feathers off the floor. And, the whole impending mayhem and likely death thing can be avoided.

Thank you. That does seem to be the prevailing thought.

I’m very glad to know you liked this. Thank you.

A little math knowledge goes a long way and I’m glad my own didn’t subtract from your enjoyment of the story. Thank you.

With a comment like that you can read my writing any time you like. 😉 Thank you.

Intriguing. I’ll take that and the compliment with appreciation. Thank you.

With a response to Guest Prompt #2 from last week this puts me on the map as well. It's been too long since I have made a story contribution and so I've resurrected a years-long-unused platform with the idea of kicking myself in the derriere. For your consideration, a short - short story: No I But Me Edit: With regrets, I've had to change 'year-long-unused' to years-. That's plural ... so sad.

What are you hinting at, Myr?! Are you saying I need to work harder?! That I need to produce more and more well written stories? Oh, why! Oh, why are my measly efforts not enough?!🥺 Okay, I’m done now. You’re forgiven.🙃

Thank you. It has been awhile since I've posted anything with regularity and I need to get back in the saddle, so to speak.

@northie Thanks, that answers one question and begs another. Are you saying that if you post a story URL into a post it will automatically morph from a caterpillar into a butterfly?

I've been looking all over the place for information on how to create the promotional and visual story field that I see on some author's posts. The old way of including a story title and then linking the story to it works and that's the method I used recently. But, I believe, that's old-school. I know there was a thread dealing with my query but I can't find it. Would someone mind giving me a tutorial, please. Even a link to the original how-to would be great.

Thank you. Great minds think alike! You're right and I already have a direction to run with this beginning in mind. Unfortunately, I have no idea when anyone will get a chance to read it.

The coffee shop is packed. Despite a forecast of partly cloudy skies a drizzle of unexpected rain and a cool breeze forces those of us without umbrellas off the street and to scramble for cover, me included. As a consequence every table inside is occupied, people are standing close and rubbing elbows as they switch hot cups from hand to hand—no paper cozies; it figures. The odd synchronous behavior of hand-switching might be amusing another time, but damp clothes and a chilled body mean navi

I like Silversun Pickups, too, Wayne and I like this remake. I have everything from Pikul to Better Nature, but I find Brian Aubert's voice becomes wearing for me after about the half-way-mark on any given CD by the group.

Congratulations on your promotion, Wayne.

I am not an editor. There, I said it. But (you knew a but was coming) from my own self-editing, I use The Chicago Manual of Style and other resources for information, and having my better works edited further by others, I've learned a thing or two. To twist the meaning of the proverb 'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing' for my purpose means I know enough to get a bit peeved when reading various articles in local, national and world news sources; you know, the supposed professionals. My goodness, the errors in spelling and dropped words a person can run into in the news sources is astonishing. Have all the copy-editors been furloughed? Otherwise I'm often forgiving when reading online and that includes many of the works of authors publishing gay themed books for Kindle. Even when I do notice errors I fill in the blanks just as other forgiving people do. That and my mind automatically replaces the correct word for the one that shouldn't be there. I also don't mind an overused trope now and again, but that's just me. That was a good question being asked of the authors.

That is a word I have never heard before, possibly because Merriam Webster dates the word to the year 1596. Makes me wonder, when was the last time a person used that word in a spoken sentence.

Nice, I've got this one and five other books by Rob on my Kindle, and a few from other fellow GA authors in digital or paperback versions -- I'm fortunate enough to have a couple of them personalized. I like being able to support fellow GA authors every now and again by buying their published works after I've read them here, and when the writing really strikes me. Happy reading!

What?

If the content is integral to the story it cannot be considered 'bonus content' by any stretch of the imagination. It seems that you didn't fall for the ruse. It's possible the author will not care but you can certainly offer two-cents worth of opinion -- make a concise point against the author's manipulation and be done with the thing.

For those of you who may be Fiona Apple fans (I am), she has a new release out today called "Fetch the Bolt Cutters." Follow the link for a free-to-read review from the Boston Globe in which the reviewer speaks highly of the new work.

Love this, especially the 'Earn my tears..', which I take it to mean an author must emotionally manipulate the reader with words. What a novel concept! (pun intended) While I mostly agree, there are times when an inclusion of music can help propel a scene. Let me use the example of a character who might appear to be emotionally in control of themselves in appearance but just the opposite on the inside -- say that the character is in a car and turns on the radio and a song comes on that particularly suits the situation and is also meaningful to the character (how many times has that happened in real life) and their outward facade comes crumbling down -- is it then that the author should be looked at askance for using music in creating that type of scene? -- or, perhaps, for writing a cliche'd scene, because some readers look poorly on those, too, and I just used that example?! It's just that I have read stories here on GA that have used music and lyrics overly much and I have read stories that have used either example, sometimes both, to good effect. I've either powered through the poor examples or skipped through those scenes because I don't think an otherwise well written story needs to be written off due to the one small thing I am not fond of in that particular story. No one should ask me for specific examples as I don't keep a running list of either one. As for an author telling... well, some say an author should show not tell.