Camy

Cheesecake I love, leeks I hate ... go figure. Camy

Hey Nick, I'm speechless. Thank you so much. Camy

Many Happy Returns on your first score!

Thanks for commenting, and it's not impertinence at all. Life is very cruel and terribly unfair. The thing that bugs me is that we didn't get a chance to read the rules or instructions before we arrived ... still ... onwards and upwards. Camy

Cubby, one of Luc's kittens has died. Now I'm not going to start a diatribe on the cruelty of nature, and I'm sorry about Cubby, but are we, and by we I mean 'pet owners', out to lunch? I live with four cats I love much too much. They are wonderful distinct personalities, they bring me joy beyond any rational explanation, and I spend a fortune on feeding them ... when there are sentient human beings starving to death, being tortured by inhumane dictators, being bombed by arrogant western leaders less than fifteen hundred miles from where I sit dolling out cat milk ... What

Soft Drink, or by brand name. I prefer Pepsi to Coke anyway.

The news of Green and David's accident followed by Green's death and Chaz's suffering has me devastated, and I'm trying to work out why. I don't know them in real life, I hardly know them here. It's not as if we talked in live chat. I've only been here a short while and only know of them through blog and stories. I think it's because this is a site for fiction, and this is not the way the story was supposed to go. I'm very angry at how unfair life is, and very, very sad. ------ Lo! some we loved, the loveliest and best That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest, Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before, And one by one crept silently to Rest. 'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays: Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays, And one by one back in the Closet lays. The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it. - The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (translated by Edward FitzGerald)

16 Kittens! That's so wonderfully insane! You have my respect. Camy

Chaz, A few of us are going to be chanting for Green this afternoon. please try and keep positive. Camy

Kevin, a good entry ... in your blog You should have a word or phase of the day, like Tim (the slut) has song of the day. English is a wonderful written language. Spoken english is even wilder. Consider 'uh huh' depending on how you say it it can mean any number of things from genuine agreement to insinuation of bs. Or 'have a nice day'. You know that the person in McDonalds doesn't give a damn if you keel over and die, yet they all say it, and with a smile too. Or the differences in spelling: colour vs color, or use trunk(US) = boot(UK) Yup, good food for thought. Thanks. Camy

You are who you are, and who you are is Nickolasjames8. Stick with it. The road to moniker madness is paved with good intent Camy

YO! Have a great day Kurtie! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hitting the waiter is rude, hitting on the waiter is a different barrel of squid altogether So ... erm ... nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more: will you be eating there again? Camy

I'm intrigued by language, especially one as different as Chinese. When you speak in Chinese do you still think in English and translate? Are you going to release SOOTB in Chinese as well, and if you did would the story work as well? Good luck with the thesis and the mosquitoes - legs are miserable, but better than everywhere, and certainly better than there! Camy

We all feel inadequate from time to time, but you shouldn't feel that about your writing. I'm in agreement with Kevin. More importantly, now that's sorted out, how are the kittens? Camy

Fabulous bit of description! Camy

10am I was dragged from what I vaguely recollect being quite a nice dream by the damn telephone. I'd got to bed around 4am after being suckered into clicking on a pop up ad that took me to a site for laser eye surgery - facinating, but sleep would have been healthier. So I shamble to the phone and it's M my 'soul mate', you know, the one I want to shag senseless but am too frightened to ask. We were supposed to be at a car boot sale (English 'boot' = US 'trunk') at midday. This basically involved me in driving twenty miles, picking him and a load of old rubbish up and driving another twenty miles to a muddy field and selling said crap to strangers who probably wouldn't want it anyway. It was drizzling. I made feeble excuses and went back to bed. 4pm I wake up. Really depressed. I don't normally get depressed, and consequently don't handle it too well. I'm rude to all an sundry, and not even the cats aren't talking to me now. Oh well. Camy

Hey! Congratulations on the new additions! When's the Christening? I've found I drive so much better if my passengers aren't wetting themselves or digging their fingers into the dashboard (unless absolutely necessary) ... Have a great holiday Camy

Happy Birthday! Finally you get keys to the Universe Camy

Thanks! I'm a sucker for anything Cat, and that's cheered me up no end. Camy

Green + Chaz - Couch = Cool! Camy

I have to agree with Shadows and Kitty regarding consulting Chaz, though You are definitely doing the right thing, as I'm sure he knows. Good on you Green Camy

I am frankly amazed at how some authors produce huge quantities of quality writing week after week, so I googled and thought I'd post some facts from Lee Masterton's article: 'How long should should your story be' Short Story 1,000 - 7,500 words The 'regular' short story, usually found in periodicals or anthology collections. Most 'genre' zines will features works at this length. Novellette 7,500 - 20,000 words Often a novellette-length work is difficult to sell to a publisher. It is considered too long for most publishers to insert comfortably into a magazine, yet too short for a novel. Generally, authors will piece together three or four novellette-length works into a compilation novel. Novella 20,000 - 50,000 words Although most print publishers will balk at printing a novel this short, this is almost perfect for the electronic publishing market length. The online audience doesn't always have the time or the patience to sit through a 100,000 word novel. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non-fiction. Novel 50,000 -110,000 words Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends to give editors some pause. They need to be sure they can produce a product that won't over-extend their budget, but still be enticing enough to readers to be saleable. Imagine paying good money for a book less than a quarter-inch thick? Epics and Sequels Over 110,000 words If your story extends too far over the 110,000 mark, perhaps consider where you could either condense the story to only include relevant details, or lengthen it to span out into a sequel, or perhaps even a trilogy. (Unless, of course, you're Stephen King - then it doesn't matter what length your manuscript is - a publisher is a little more lenient with an established author who has a well-established readership) Page Counts In most cases, industry standard preferred length is 250 words per page... so a 400 page novel would be at about 100,000 words. If you want to see what size book is selling in your genre, take a look on the shelves. If the average length is 300 pages, you're looking at a 75,000 word manuscript (approximately) One reason it's harder for a new author to sell a 140,000 word manuscript is the size of the book. A 500+ page book is going to take up the space of almost two, 300 page books on the shelves. It's also going to cost more for the publishers to produce, so unless the author is well known, the book stores aren't going to stock that many copies of the 'door-stopper' novel as compared to the thinner novel. Remember, these word- and page-counts are only estimated guides. Use your own common sense, and, where possible, check the guidelines of the publication you intend to submit your work to. Most publishers accepting shorter works will post their maximum preferred lengths, and novels are generally considered on the strength of the story itself, not on how many words you have squeezed into each chapter. --- Camy