steph

(thanks for the image, BeaStKid!)

Sorry, Steve! My mom had a mastectomy in December. She just finished her rounds of chemo, which didn't go over well, because her blood count kept dropping very low. Interestingly, she had breast cancer 5 years ago, too, but this past occurance was not a reoccurance --it was both a different type of cancer and on the other side. The first time she was diagnosed, my mom says that her guardian angel was watching out for her. She'd had to reschedule her mammogram for a couple months after her original appointment. If she had kept that appointment, the cancer would have been too small to catch, and she would have gone a whole 'nother year before her next mammogram. That cancer was the fast spreading kind, too, so she would've been in a pretty bad position after a year. Just thought I'd share/commiserate.

[quote name='Ar Pharaz

[quote name='Ar Pharaz

Congrats, you two! That's wonderful!

Comsie, what a wonderful chapter! I haven't read all of Billy Chase. I kinda started a couple months ago just reading the new chapters. It's very easy to figure out what's going on! But this latest chapter #144, I totally enjoyed myself with this one! He was just so funny, the way he'd write "then he was all..." and "I was like..." Nice job! I could really tell that he was frustrated and retelling a story to his diary. So, is Billy going to find his rabbit cooking on the stove at home?

Wahoo! Go, corvus!

The easiest way that I remember, because they do sound alike, is that affect is a verb and effect is a noun. You a ffect something. -- or -- You have a n effect on something. Now they both start with 'a'! ...course that won't help if you use 'the effect'. Anyway, effected is not a word!

Definitely off topic, but I liked it, too! Oh and razor, your definition of 'known' totally throws my vote out the window, but hey, it was fast for me! Met the guy on match.com, IM'ed one night and met for lunch the next day. I had to work that evening, but I so didn't want to go! After work, we IM'ed again and he came to meet me... 'nough said. so, less than 24 hrs, I guess. I still consider it sex on the first date, even though we were 'interrupted' when I went to work.

so, razor... what do you mean by "known"... met in person? talked over IM? might make a difference to some of us...

You guys do realize that you could've voted for more than one story... I voted for 3, I think... just about every story I've read, in fact!

You know what I find funny... I feel like I've read lots of Comsie's stuff, but when I look at this list, I've only read a few! But some of his series are way long, like GFD, which is great, because even though Comsie tends to babble a bit in his writing, he rarely ever repeats himself. So, don't expect his series to be quick reads -- excellent reads, but nice and long, too!

Yay for chapter 4! One thing I found interesting is that what Eli read aloud in class was not as emotional as your usual writing (like the writing for the rest of the chapter --I felt much more from that than from what 'Eli' wrote). Do you think that's because of the format for forced yourself to write in for that little bit? I mean, you have to admit, Comsie, that your writing definitely have a specific (and wonderful) voice. PS - I can't wait to find out how Eli handles Chris!

*sigh* Steve, you sound a lot like me. I'd love to live in the fantasy world of stories, because my life just never seems to go anywhere or if it is going somewhere I find some way to derail it. I think one of the hardest things to accept is that my life is as I've made it, that I'm responsible for where I am and where I'm going. ---That's the important part to remember, that we do write our own stories, just our "author" doesn't have a whole lot of control over the rest of the characters in the story!

Personally, if I were to ask someone, I would want to make it a big surprise -- a totally romantic but also totally out of the blue type of thing. Unfortunately, I'm horrible at keeping surprises. I have no poker face. I'd come home with the ring or whatever, be bouncing up and down saying, "Look what I got! Come see! Come see!" I guess it's a good thing I'm a girl and not expected to propose!

I can't answer from the perspective of an author, but I'm one of those shy readers who rarely comments on something that I've read online. I'm starting to get better at it. Partially, it's because I feel like 'I loved your story' is a hollow message that has to be backed up with whys. And if I do say anything negative, it usually comes out pretty harsh, so I just keep quiet instead. My first foray into leaving comments online was on AFF where I saw authors giving kudos to reviewers and answering questions at the beginning of every chapter, and I decided I wanted my 'name' up there with everyone else. I know it's hard for the busy author, but if you can make your reviewers feel special by writing them specifically, I think it helps to encourage more comments. You tend to be good about that, Comsie! Personally, I wish your stories were organized a little differently, so the new reader could find completed stories and genres more easily.

Well, I think there's a difference between a new plot upon which the story is based and a new story. I mean, technically, Star Wars was "just another epic a battle between good and evil," but the combination of the dialogue and the actors and the special effects (for the time) coupled with the complexity and detail of the AU, it's a classic.

If this were the whole of the story, uh, no, I wouldn't read it. But to me, it sounds like the ending hasn't been written yet, has it?

This is one of my main criteria. If the words don't flow, or the dialogue especially, then I might find the story stale, even if the situation is not. I'm curious to hear whether you all think that the publishing of pay stories (even the low-cost, downloadable ones) affects the quality of writing found on free sites like GA. When you think about it, the authors here are, in a sense, volunteering their time, just as much as Joe and Myr do, to keep the site running wth high quality stories.

I found the same thing when I got roped into reading Dom Luka's sequel In the Fish Bowl! Most of them do have a last updated date, which is nice, well, after the fact. I'm trying to do my part... I added 'completed' and 'in progress' to Krista's stories when I created her new author site. Some of the older sites need to be re-designed (code-wise), so hopefully we can add it there as well. I'd go through and add it to all of the sites, but I don't have access... yet... *hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge* Thanks, Steph

Make sure you get Ad-Aware by Lavasoft (where Gary's link points) and not a different program. I tried to get my dad to use Ad-Aware once and somehow he ended up with some piece of crap software called Adware.

Thanks for the update, Comsie! Good luck w/ everything!

So, I just read all 3 chapters of Between the Lines, and I can't wait for the next chapter! Devon seems like such a sweetie and Chris is such a jerk, or maybe just clueless, I don't know. From the very beginning, I could see that Chris wasn't right for Eli, but Eli's right that maybe Devon isn't right for him either. I still remember when I was in college that my grandmother told me that I shouldn't have a steady boyfriend, but should play the field. I didn't want to explain to her the reason I wasn't playing the field was because I wanted sex and I wouldn't be a slut if I slept with my boyfriend all the time. But there is some wisdom in what she said... how do you know who's right for you until you try a bunch out? But people still try to force their current interest into the label of the love of their life, huh? Is that just human nature?

I don't know if there's a rule behind it, but "one another" feels more intimate to me, maybe because the word is softer. For example, "We glared at each other from across the room." has a nice harsh sound to it. That's my two cents

Com, these look right! I tend to look at the parts of speech to remember which one to use. For example, "passed" is from the verb "pass" --Right now, I am passing him in the hallway. Yesterday, I passed him in the hallway. In the second sentence, "walk" is the verb and "past him" is a descriptive phrase telling you where he walked. So, I try to remember that "past" is never a verb (like in "the Ghost of Christmas Past"). I can totally see where this type of thinking would break your concentration. In fact, it's one of the reasons I have so much trouble writing and have a much easier time editing! But, hey, isn't that what an editor's for? BTW, Com, I just finished GFD and SM and you totally have me at the edge of my seat! Your grammar is fine, but lots of times you have letters missing from words --not spelling mistakes, but like missed keystrokes. A few times, I had to stop and figure out what word you meant, but otherwise it usually doesn't bother me. From you A/N, I take it that you won't be updating those any time soon?