Luca E

Thanks for your comments, I'm working on it and will try to develop the characters more. They're fully developed in my head, but maybe not written out enough!

The second book is out, chapter one published, chapter two in moderation. The book is short and complete and will be published regularly. Although maybe not a same day, same time schedule, because I'm travelling. These books are short by design. It allows me to get a significant part of the story written, completed, and published. I have started book three.

Nice daemon, can't quite imagine what he looks like, except he's tall and big!

You are an author with many talents for different genres, Sci-fi, Fantasy, and now a physiological thriller. I'll be reading it!

Do you think you should publish a story if you have only a handful of readers? I ask because maybe the audience might be somewhere else, maybe there is no audience? It seems to me that to publish you do need a certain number of readers and if you don't have the numbers, the story has been rejected. A bit like if you send it to a publishing house. There is no harm or blame in this, it wouldn't stop me writing, but perhaps publishing should be for another different story. What do you think? Would you put out a story that's ranked so low it's invisible or would you wait to try again with a different writing project in the future?

I hope the pacing isn't too slow. Feel free to drop your thoughts. I'm basically just winging it. The pacing is slow ( in chapter 9 we learnt the death record of Charlie Kaufmann is absent due to investigation), not much happened other than this. There was character development because we learned more about Vanus and Bazlethorpe and even Jill. The story isn't planned ( seat of the pants writing is one approach) as you say it can be fun. Essentially you are developing the characters and the story plot together. You don't have a plot except as created by what you have written so far and a vague idea of where it's going and what the next chapter will be. That's fine, there is no criticism in writing like this. We are all engaged with both story and characters. Different readers are hoping for something they would like to see happen... Readers are also telling you they don't want the story abandoned... In summary there are no problems with your approach to writing an eventual plot, making it up as you go along is fine. There is only a risk that you stall or fail to deliver the expectations of the readers. You may lose some readers along the way, but as long as it's fun to write, it is fun also to read. I don't think it's too difficult to imagine and write it to an ending with a few twists and turns. After all, you have all the ingredients you only need it to cook and the end result will be an enjoyable meal! Thanks for writing it.

One film I hold as a great film which for subject matter has two young street hustlers (River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves) who ply their trade amongst gay customers is My Own Private Idaho https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Own_Private_Idaho It has no real happy ending, but is very well acted, great story, and then there is River Phoenix himself https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Phoenix He stared as a child In a number of good films including Stand By Me. His life despite critical acclaim as an actor was not a happy one. He moved to Venezuela from the US with his family who joined The Children of God. He was raped at four years old and died at twenty-three from a drugs overdose. My Own Private Idaho for me is a classic gay film, raw, and real, an example of the best of American cinema, even if it's over thirty years old.

No, not like you have to announce your sexuality, but if someone presumes maybe you have a girlfriend you might need to tell them he's a boyfriend. Or maybe if you're married you need to say to a man. That's correcting misunderstanding and presumptions. Not sure what you mean. If you mean the jerk who wants to know who does what, forget it. I got asked that once and replied what about you, who does what? Being honest and not denying who you are. That's where it comes from historically. All those gay guys who got married for... appearances, a quiet life. Can't easily understand that, but coming out represents being honest. Up to a point, saying you have a boyfriend not a girlfriend, but that's as far as it goes, unless you happen to be exchanging sexual experiences! PS. Not sure how I ended up here but thought you deserved an answer 😁

My mistake, the forum is so large, that's my excuse. Good to know you are fixing the problem 🤗

Not sure if this is the right thread, but chapter publishing does not work properly. I published chapter seven of my story today, this is what happened: PUBLISH NOW didn't work The advance date had the wrong date and time in it ( Maybe the date and time it was uploaded) Changed the date to today the time to plus one minute PUBLISH didn't work Then it said future publishing must be next day ( plus 24 hours) Changed the date to next day PUBLISH didn't work Now the date reverted to the US format (before it was in European format) Finally after ignoring the date and hitting PUBLISH it worked. It's a real mess (The publishing not the story 😅)

I think that's great! Also though, as @Carlos Hazday says, you don't need the word count the new story labelling has it all and is more friendly, imo.

There is a great facility on the site to search for stories by length, just like you can search by genre and or add tags. I wondered what people would think of labelling story lengths, it's the same as the present search by word count, but a little more user friendly to categorise by story length types. It could look something like this: Tome: 300,000 + words Epic Novel: 150,000 - 300,000 words Novel: 40,000 - 150,000 words Novella: 20,000-40,000 words Novelette: 10,000-20,000 words Short story: 1,000-10,000 words Flash fiction: 1,000 words

It was reminiscent of all those brief holiday encounters which are even more poignant when you are young. Charged with emotion these short episodes in our lives, the friendships, they may not endure for very long, but they are as beautiful as butterflies, colourful, and swept along in a summer breeze. However brief, you remember them all your life!

Vanus the orphan who hangs out in waterfront bars seeking rough manly sailors for company gets drunk and falls into bed with Hansel, a poor wretch of a boy who he would have preferred to avoid. It looks like he is about to leave his old life and dubious haunts and liaisons behind, as the lawyer revealed without too much detail he has come into a heritage. I am wondering who Vanus is and whether I like him or not? Guess I will have to read on to find out!

It is perhaps time to announce that my first story, Hamilton Gode, which has a couple of chapters to run is part of a series titled Quantum Shift. If you were expecting to know what's going on in the plot and have an outcome, I should apologise, because there is an outcome, but far from a resolution, and as to what's going on... I am writing book two now, it's titled Touma Shimizu. In book one you discovered Hamilton Gode, Zachary and Lowerstoff, so who is Touma Shimizu? That will very quickly become apparent in chapter one of the book, I can't say more. I do have a question for you. It's the summer holidays and shortly I shall be away on holiday. Book one will finish publishing before I go, but then I'm away for three weeks. The question: do you want chapter one of Book two posted before I go? Write me, comment, however you like, because there will be a pause however it goes.

Everyone reads between the lines, at least they do if they are like me, and that is the beauty of a story flow which is not spelt out but open to interpretation. Why would Reza yank his hand back as if it burned? A sudden prise of conscience, but why? It could be religion, even if he and his dad don't practise much. What else? A feeling of disgust with himself that he might jerk off thinking about a boy? Maybe he would see it as disloyal to his girlfriend. I have the impression (maybe just my imagination) he hasn't done much with his friend who is a girl? Don't you just love speculation!

Correct me if I am wrong, but before I joined the site as a member and used to just hang around reading stories I thought that when a new chapter published you could click the chapter and jump straight there. That has changed hasn't it? Because the new chapter links take you to the story and you then need to click the chapter, so of course the story page views will be increased with every new chapter published.

Otto is not held back or inhibited with his advances, by contrast Reza is caught on the back foot which is understandable because he has both the novelty of the situation to cope with and I can't help but think the weight of his religion which is represented by his father.

Something I don't understand. The stats on my story show 1332 views on the story (at the top where you have the title and description). On the chapters adding up the numbers it totals to about half that number of views. What does that mean? Does it mean six or seven hundred people clicked on the story, read the description, and didn't want to read it? I can understand that could be what's happening because the published story list gives only title, author, and chapter, so readers don't know what genre of story it is until they click. Maybe there should be more prominence given to the stories published, including genre, than the large amount of front page given to the forum or site blurb. Just my opinion, but when I come to a story site I like to see stories, not forum or other blurb, that ought to be background stuff?

Don't you just love the Germans, they reserve THEIR sunloungers by the pool and Otto's got the balls to flirt with Reza. I'm not sure Reza would do the same with the sisters he's got his eyes on. All of which makes for a comic juxtaposition.

It's a very hot mix, girls, boys, religion, and the Italian sunshine!

Brilliantly observed, both the landscape and the teenage discontentment, why are teens such a pain in the ass? Still Reza is not so bad and kinda knows to keep most of his comments to himself, plus his parents, well they're parents and after sixteen years are used to their son! Btw, I've read all your books, although I only recently joined here. If you didn't know it your reputation gets spread by word of mouth outside of this site.

That's three I was going to ask you what a asshat was, but looked it up instead: noun VULGAR SLANG•NORTH AMERICAN a stupid or contemptible person.

I noted every step with publishing my latest chapter. From green bar PUBLISH CHAPTER clicked button Clicked Publish Chapter tog (dismisses date) Publish Chapter tog highlights clicked Publish FAILED twice Closed and went to Chapter 4 (latest chapter I want to publish) Clicked SETTINGS icon (the cog) Clicked Publish Chapter FAILED Return to index Tried Publish again from there FAILED twice Tried with date - incorrect date Entered date for today time for plus 1 minute from actual time It published - message said published There must be a slight delay, because after it said published the button was still there to publish, clicking the button PUBLISH it said chapter could not be found. About two minutes after publishing, it published. So it published by entering a (correct) date and time, but with a delay of 2 or 3 minutes. The instant publish option didn't work. Hope this helps you investigate.

I'm wondering how you feel about endings? Making a sweeping statement, which of course, does not apply to every story/film, but American ones tend to finish well, happy ever after, good triumphs over bad, that sort of ending. European films can end badly, the good guy doesn't win, there is no moral righteousness. Those are two opposing types of ending, there are also the non-endings where a passage of time portrayed simply runs out. You might construe a kind of ending because perhaps the hero leaves, that kind of it was nice while it lasted, or it might be a look back in time. How important is the kind of ending a story has to you? I'm currently publishing a first story, which as it says in the intro, is a little surreal. Times, epochs, cross, the kind of multiverse scenario. Although I have not completed more than a first book, in my mind and imagination it is already a series. The different books cross over exactly like the timelines in the story. Now the first book finishes, but of course if it's a series it continues in another book, though perhaps not in a linear fashion. Is it important to you that there is an ending which wraps everything up or simply one which makes you think, what the... did I just read? I guess I'll find out when I finish my own story/series, but I wonder how you think about and deal with endings. I started writing when I had the story concept, then added the characters and pursued the theme. Some way into it, I wrote the ending and I haven't changed it much when I arrived there. Do you have an ending before you arrive there? If not, it kind of seems like making a journey to an unknown destination and you could arrive anywhere or even get lost. Can you get lost if you don't have a destination? And if you don't have a destination, can you ever arrive? Answers on a postcard to Luca E - I mean comments...