Comicality

That the next review for the "5 Chapter Book Club" is coming up TOMORROW!!! So remember to check out the first 5 chapters of dkstories's story, "Do Over", and I'll make a post for everyone to reply to so we can star discussions on Thursday. Cool? Seezya soon!

When writing a story, an author's job is to paint a picture and evoke a series of emotions that go along with it. They can bring out feelings of love, feelings of loss, feelings of rage, and feelings of nostalgia. But it's all in the pictures you create in the reader's mind. It's all about them being able to visualize what you put on the screen. But, what happens when the picture you're painting is one of extreme violence? What if the rape, the abuse, the blood, the gore...becomes too graphic and disturbing for your audience to read? Not just random, senseless, violence...but something that was purposely depicted in a harsh and negative way in order to create a reaction and further the story. How does an author know when he's gone too far? Have you ever read something that was a bit too dark, too violent, for you to enjoy what the the author was trying to do. Even if the negative impact was intentional...can there be too much? Let us know what you think!

Hehehe...hmmm....now I KNOW that there's gotta be a 'middle finger' button on this keyboard SOMEWHERE!!! ::Giggles::

Exactly.Start reading the story on the 'read' date, and then we 'review' on the seconddate, as westart the next story. Is that a bitmuch? Should we have a break in between? Let me know...

Hody folks! Let me just start off by saying that Chicago is absolutely BEAUTIFUL right now! I'm loving it! And have been getting a chance to enjoy it this year! So it's good times all around! Getting down to business... - There's a brand new "Billy Chase" up on the Library tonight! So be sure to check it out when you get a chance! - At long last, the Comicality Cafe has a monthly schedule set up for the "5 Chapter Book Club"!!! Where we read the first few chapters of a selected author's story, and review it the following week on the board! Suggestions are always welcome, and that includes your own work. We definitely want a variety of subjects and writing styles, so let me know what ya think! - July 2nd is only days away, and that marks the re-launch of the new "GFD: Blood Bank" website! Links will be posted this Friday, where you'll see some new features, a new design, a new vampire themed chatroom, and the beginning of a bunch of new "GFD" spinoff vamp stories that I'll be releasing specifically for the "Blood Bank" and NOWHERE else! So be sure to check it out! "Twilight"..........Psh! LOL! Just kidding, 'Twi-hards'! That's it for now! The mailing list is fixed, the "Blood Bank" is now in working order....and the next task on the list is EMAILS!!! So starting Monday, that's going to be my number one focus! Cool? MANY more stories to come for the Shack Summer Celebration! So I'll seezya soon!

Also, Agin, you mentioned a story called "Masquerade" but you didn't give a link or an author. I can't find it anywhere, so let me know so I can get started on August, cool?

=== '5 CHAPTER' BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE === "Do Over" By dkstories (Read: 7/1, Review: 7/8) "Matthew Figures It Out" By Ehman Penn (Read: 7/8, Review: 7/15) "Enigma" By Nephylim (Read: 7/15, Review 7/22) "When Will I See You" By LittleBuddhaTW (Read: 7/22, Review: 7/29) "Pastel Cowboy" By Carl Holiday (Read: 7/29, Review: 8/5) (*Remember that you are all more than welcome to read ahead if you finish early each week. But please keep any comments or spoilers quiet until the discussion, and always remember that it's only the first five chapters. Give everybody a chance to be surprised.)

I am definitely going to be enjoying a bit of Summer fun at the Tase of Chicago this week with some of my friends! Can't wait! But I haven't forgotten about you guys! At all! - The mailing list is now set up and operational! I've just gotta link up with Myriddian and have him give me a quick tutorial as to how it works. - The new "GFD: Blood Bank" is set to launch this FRIDAY! So look for many more vampire stories soon! And bonuses all around that might surprise you this coming weekend! - The mail order piece that I was waiting for came today! (Dances!!!) So I'm 100% back in working order here! And I'm loving it! - Look for the schedule for the next '5 Chapters' Book Club to go up on Thursday with next week's assignment! Cool? It will now be a weekly thing, so if you have any suggestions, PLEASE don't send them to my GA account! Send them to my Comicality@webtv.net account! Please please please! That's the BEST way to get anything to me! ANY kind of message you have for me, PLEASE send it there instead. K? And this week, I'm working on emails! So I hope to talk to a lot of you soon! Cool? Love you lots, and look for even MORE updates soon! The Summer celebraion is officially in full swing! Enjoy!

I've been waiting almost tw weeks, but there's a litle 'thingy' that I ordered online to get my laptop working! (Yes, I said 'laptop') And I've been tracking it through the mail, and it's CLOSE! So if I don't get it tomorrow, then I'll get it Monday for sure! Which will mean that I can operate at 100% again! ::Anxious:: AND....this coming Thursday (July 1st), not only will we have a new "5 Chapter Book Club" entry, but a schedule for the month of July! (Sorry..the laptop sees GA FINE, but the site...ESPECIALLY after the server update, wrecks havoc with the webtv. So even posting THIS is a pain sometimes) Anyway, happy to be back at full functionality... I'm HOPING that tomorrow, I get it...but if not, I'll have to wait until Monday. Torture. Arrrgh! But I'm feeling great regardless! I'm taking a weekend off to let folks catch up with the reading. I thought people would read them faster than that, hehehe! But it's ok, we'll start again on Monday. I've got more! MUCH more! I'll break all ten fingers and both wrists to finally give the readers what they've been complaining about for so long. I've got enough magic to go further than any amount of hate can reach! It's limitless, and I love it! And I love you all too! You make this all worthwhile! Seezya soon! It's the weekend! The Taste Of Chicago is starting, and I plan to go and enjoy it!! Sunshine...here I come!

The Shack's Summer Celebration continues....and today, a new chapter of "My Only Escape" is ready and waiting for you on the Library link! So check it out when you get a chance! Yes, there is more to come. This is what you all wanted from me, right? Well...you've got it. Enjoy! Take care...and I'll seeya soon with more.... Laters....

Here's the link: http://www.voy.com/17262/ Cool?

Yes...a new "Billy Chase" is waiting for ya on the Library as you read this! So check it out, and let me know what you think! And if you have some...'allergic reaction' to reading stuff on the Library, I'm sending a bunch of stuff to be posted on the site too. Hehehe! So you' can read it there later on, k? Just remember, it's almost always on the Library first. More to come? Of COURSE! It's a Summer Celebration! I wasn't kidding about that! I practically broke all ten fingers putting this together! So while you're reading..I'm out having fun! Yeah, baby!!! I can relax for like a MONTH now! So enjoy! Seezya soon! And I love ya lots!!! (Quotes For "Billy Chase") "I can't MAKE you love me...if you don't! I can't MAKE your heart feel something it won't! Here in the dark, in these final hours! I'll lay down my heart, and I'll feel the power....but you won't. No, you won't." -Bonnie Raitt, "I Can't Make You Love Me" "I...still light up like a candle, burning, when he calls me up! I still melt down like a candle, burning, every time we touch! Oh, say what you want! He does me wrong, and I should be gone! But I'm still...loving you, baby, and it's much too much!" -Macy Gray, "Still"<p>

Very quick... There's a brand new "Taryn's Song" chapter up in the Library right now! So check it out and let me know what you think! The beginning of Taryn's descent into darknesss begins tonight! And look for ALL of the other chapters to be re-edited and fixed very soon! Cool? Seezya soon!

A quickie to let you guys know that there is a brand NEW "New Kid In School" available on the Library right now!!! (The link is http://www.voy.com/17262/ You can find it there right NOW! Or...you can wait a bit until it appears on the site! Click on the link! It' right THERE. Within the parenthesis! Click it! Don't get lost on me!Hehehe!) ALSO.....you might notice that on the site...there are now CLEARLY MARKED notations by EVERY story on this site that is completed! Thanks to Myr for his hard work on this one! And it's not a star or a symbol....it actually SAYS 'completed'! K? So...if you have a super hard time reading something that's not finished and need closure that isn't ready yet...DON'T read *ANYTHING* that doesn't say 'completed' by it! K? Scratch that from your list of "Reasons Why Comicality Freaking SUCKS" list! It's up there now! Don't 'invest' time in reading a series that I'm still working on if it's only gonna piss you off and cause you to write me hate mail. Now you know! And knowing is half the battle! (G.I. JOE!!!!) Enjoy the new story, and I'll see you soon with more! K? Love ya lots! And thanks to those of you that wished the Shack a happy birthday! It means a lot! You have no idea! Those few typed words might as well be a 1000 page inspiation to keep going! I love knowing that you're out there, and I thank you for the support! ((Hugs))

A majority of stories usually follow a pattern of taking a reader from 'point A' to 'point B' in a beginning to end kind of fashion. Events happen in sequential, reach a climax, and then inevitably reach a conclusion. But what happens when an author gets confused, and over time, loses track of the time frames he's put in place to tell his story? How would you keep track of the passage of time and keep things accurate to make sure that nothing overlaps or falls out of place? Have you read other stories where the time line was out of whack to the point where you didn't know up from down anymore? And what happens when the time line jumps back and forth? Where it is actually a part of the story itself? For example, a story that is told through flashbacks, purposely delivered out of order, or possibly even told 'backwards' (if the author is ambitious enough). Then again, there are some stories where a visible 'time line' is taken out altogether. In "Billy Chase", I made sure to remove the time frame to give him an endless, holiday-less, weather-less, school year. An almost magical, never-ending, journey through school...and hoping that it wouldn't be distracting to know that he's never had so much as a Spring Break or a Christmas or anything like it. But ARE stories like that distracting? Would time lines help you keep thing in order in your mind? What do you guys think? As writers, or readers, how much importance do you put on time lines in stories...and what happens when you see one that isn't sticking to the plan like it's supposed to? Let us know!

Finally, I get a chance to speak my mind on this story! I want to start out by saying that I was really intrigued by "Against The Machine". I can honestly say that I've never read anything like it before. It was a shock to the system. The idea of the Machine, horrifying as it is, seems to really be submerged in this really sick sense of social 'logic', where it really doesn't seem all that far fetched from the reality that we have today. With the exception of the technology, I wouldn't be surprised if these experiments were actually going on somewhere in secret right NOW. I do agree that the idea of someone being so 'numb' to the idea of what he was doing to the 12 members of his group, is frightening. I think it adds to the overall theme and vibe of the story. The role of the Administrator is delivered to the reader with a certain cold precision in terms of his duties...but it is not without some level of sympathy. I really liked the idea that he was 'conditioned' to see his memories and his job as something mundane and typical. Even trying to beat his average record of 15 minutes. It makes him a dark character, but not one that you would want to 'hate' or 'despise'. He's simply doing a job and carrying out the will of the majority. (How many times have we seen THAT happen in our society) One technique that I really enjoyed was the use of the Administrator's monitoring of his subject in the machine. You're first dropped into the middle of a somewhat desperate situation, and given details to imagine this horrible monster of a mechanical device in a dark room...wires and 'umbilicals' and couches and stirrups...patients shaved and exposed, humiliated...and then the story is pushed forward by moving from patient to patient. Like...I can really visualize this in my mind. Each character, from Noah, to Ben and Nathan, to Jack...all of them, they all have their own back stories and reasons for being there. And I can see the story moving from person to person flawlessly to give the reader that back story without becoming confusing or ever once straying from the main theme of the story. The fact that Riley can do this without losing focus on his first story ever, is amazing. That's definitely a natural talent at work. I do have to admit that I think the whole circumcision thing felt like it was a bit forced. It doesn't detract from the overall feel of the story, but yes, the 'medical background' you mentioned is evident. I can understand the need for it in the beginning, but after that first chapter, I think a bit more subtlety concerning the penis descriptions might keep any readers from feeling like they're being bombarded with it. Also, I'm not sure what the rule is on parentheses...but I personally try to avoid using them as much as possible. On some of the occasions that they were used here, I think a comma would have been fine. (That's my nit picky stuff) I had someone recently say that I used too many exclamation points in one of my stories when I was describing a scene. And I tried to let him know that it was because the descriptions were being told from the point of view of the main character, which was, at that time, trapped in a desperate and hostile situation. In your story however, I feel like your narration is delivered more from the point of view from the 'divine observer'. And I noticed that you did use exclamation points in your narration a lot as well. (I did this a lot in my earlier stories too. They're all over the place! Hehehe!) But, with the style you're using, I think the narration should be a bit less involved. Meaning that the emotion isn't as evident. In fact, I'd think it would be even MORE frightening for the entire process to maintain that cold, precise, emotionless, vibe...and have the emotion be displayed through your characters alone, and not through the descriptions of the narrator. It makes for a really creepy setting. Anyway, like I said, that's nit picky stuff. That's what I saw as I was reading it. I'm definitely going to keep reading until the end, or at least to what you have written so far. I'm extremely curious about the Machine, how it came to be, and what the people plan to do about it. If anything. Cultures change, and come to just 'accept' certain things without question. I mean...if you told me 10 years ago that I'd have to take off my belt and shoes at the airport, AND have a full electronic body scan, *AND* my friends and family couldn't even park outside the airport...much less see me off at the gate...I would have thought you were CRAZY! But that's just how things are done nowadays. Who's to say that The Machine wouldn't be accepted and put into use in the exact same way? The credibility of the idea is something that can easily give you the chills while you're reading. Now that Noah is going back to his life...what will that mean? And what will it mean for Jack? And what about Ben and Nathan? Could it be possible that their love for one another could maybe push past the blocks and barricades put up by the Machine? And what of the administrator? Is he completely cut off from the horror of what he's doing to these people? Or is there something about them that might one day stir some random memory within him that will cause him to re-think his loyalty to the system. Personally, I think that's where the potential of the story is the strongest. In what might 'change' with this particular group of subjects (or victims) in the story. What will ultimately make them different from the many many people who have been through this process before. And what significance will it have in the end? I'm excited to read more, and that's exactly what an author is supposed to do! Get people excited to read more. Overall, a dark, but highly entertaining story. I'm definitely into it! Awesome job, Riley! And bonus points for it being your first time out too! Great sci fi to deflower your literary cherry with!

I honestly can't thank you all enough for all of the amazing thoughts you've shared on this story. Wow! There won't ever be a time where I don't worry that I haven't done a good enough job on a story to get the message across...and reading your replies has truly been helpful in relieving that anxiety. ((Hugz)) Thank you all! Soooo much! You have no idea how much it means to me to know that you guys appreciated the story! ((hugs))

Sweet! Thanks so much! And did you check the site? Because I just updated "GFD" this past weekend. Hehehe, 'forever'??? Unh unh....waiting for a new 'Star Wars' trilogy from the time I was 10 until I was 24 years old....THAT was 'forever'! Waiting 7 years for a Nine Inch Nails album is 'forever'! Waiting for a new "Savage Moon" is a CAKE WALK in comparison! Hell...not even the "Harry Potter", "Twilight", or "Matrix" movies can top me on availability of new material! So you won't catch me with THAT one! I just spoiled ya, that's all! Hehehe! BUT...you'll be happy to know that...Wait a sec...huh? Oh...I see. I can't tell ya. You'll just have to hold tight. ::Nods:: Hehehe!

I really liked the trial run so far! (Still have to post my thoughts on it. I have the day off today, so it's the perfect time for it. The main delay with it all just comes from the fact that I had gotten messages with a few suggestions that I, unfortunately, can't get to at the moment. But I definitely want to set up an actual 'schedule' with at least four stories a month on it, so the second someone finishes one story, they can get a jump start on the next one. And there won't be a break in between. Hmmm....I've got TONS of 'Comsie-Work' to do today, but I'll see if I can gather up some extra brain power and put something together by tomorrow. I'm forcing myself to be uber productive today, hehehe! No rest for the wicked! :: Demonic Grin ::

Just a quickie today, as this is actually a notice that I didn't get a chance to put up YESTERDAY! Wanted to let everybody know that "Billy Chase" went up on schedule yesterday! So be sure to go check it out, and let me know what ya think! More to come? Hehehe, definitely! Seezya 'soon'! (Quotes For "Billy Chase") "Everything's not gonna be the way you think it ought to be. It seems like every time I try to make it right, it all comes down on me. Please say, HONESTLY, you won't give up on me....and I shall believe. I shall believe" -Sheryl Crow "Now I sit...all alone...wishing all my feeling was gone. I gave my best to you, nothing for me to do...but have one last cry. One last cry...before I leave it all behind. I've gotta put you out o my mind for the very last time. Stop living a lie. I guess I'm down to my last cry." -Brian McKnight.

Hello folks! And welcome back to the Shack's Summer Celebration! I took a bit of time off to focus on writing a GA Anthology story called, "Light Reaches Earth", and I can't thank you all enough for the comments and compliments on it! ((Hugz)) You guys are awesome! Be sure to read all of the others as well, and give your favorite authors some feedback as well! I'm trying to find time to read a bit more and give some feedback of my own. I should definitely practice what I preach more in that particular aspect. So I'm straightening up. This weekend is a special week for us! June 19th marks the Shack's *TWELFTH* anniversary! That's TWELVE YEARS online, people! Major thanks to everybody who has supported me over the years and kept the site going strong through good times and bad! Anyway, before I start babbling, let's get to the heart of things here! There's a brand new chapter of "Gone From Daylight: Blood Ties" on the Library right now! And it's picking up right where it left off! So enjoy! And I'll seezya soon! (Quotes For "GFD: BT") "*I* am the rocks that lie on the eternal shore! Crash against me...and be BROKEN!" -Apocalypse, "X-Men"<p> "The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.

I've still got 2 chapters to go, but I'm reading! Loving it so far! So I'll definitely post my thoughts this weekend!

((Hugz All Around)) Thanks so much, you guys! I love you too! :: Smooches ::

Hehehe, are you guys being SHY now? No comments? Somebody start us off! I'm dying to hear what you thought!

When you're constantly stretching your creativity, the muse can strike you at any time without warning. And sometimes, those ideas can seem like pure genius upon your first imaginings of how things are going to go. Plots and characters and themes that have never been done before. You can truly get the calling to write something truly beautiful...and the ambition to pull it off can be intense. But, the ambition doesn't always match the inspiration. Meaning that sometimes, taking on such an ambitious project can be an intimidating experience. What happens if it doesn't turn out the way you imagined it? What if you get to a point and get stuck? What if your readers don't like it? What if the whole project falls apart before you even finish? What if it just plain sucks? The thoughts can bully you into a corner and you might find yourself lost for ideas, simply because nothing can possibly live up to your own expectations at this point. What happens to inspiration when thought has to become deed? The question this week is...do you ever feel 'intimidated' by your own stories? Where you really want something to be this magnificent work of art, but your expectations are so high that you worry about not doing it 'justice'? Let us know what you think!