The Official Authors' Hangout Winter Holidays 2017 Support Thread

No new stories today, it appears. Is that usual/unusual for the second day of the contest? It is a Saturday.

Totally unusual. Shockingly unusual.

Typically the Winter Holiday contest because of the wide range from winter sports (indoor and out door) to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even New Years, usually receives lots of interest and lots of stories.

I'm surprised that there were no entries today and with tomorrow Sunday, there probably won't be any contest stories posting tomorrow either.
 
Totally unusual. Shockingly unusual.

Typically the Winter Holiday contest because of the wide range from winter sports (indoor and out door) to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even New Years, usually receives lots of interest and lots of stories.

I'm surprised that there were no entries today and with tomorrow Sunday, there probably won't be any contest stories posting tomorrow either.

This thread is quiet too. I reckon people have learnt that anyone posting in the contest threads usually gets bombed - I certainly get hit with them - so, it's better to keep your head down*.

There's also the 'enter at the very last minute to minimise the bombs' tactic. And other ones that I can't recall.

I've not been around for a while though (too much personal stuff going on) so things may have changed.


*yes, I've still posted here. I'm bloody dumb.
 
This thread is quiet too. I reckon people have learnt that anyone posting in the contest threads usually gets bombed - I certainly get hit with them - so, it's better to keep your head down*.

There's also the 'enter at the very last minute to minimise the bombs' tactic. And other ones that I can't recall.

I've not been around for a while though (too much personal stuff going on) so things may have changed.


*yes, I've still posted here. I'm bloody dumb.

Being bombed comes with the territory of pouring your heart out on a public site. I love the ones who suspiciously joined today and somehow learned the ropes well enough to navigate the site to leave a negative comment. I only wish that more people would vote.

"You storey were so bad that I coudnt even get passed the fist paragaf."

These bashers can't even write one grammatically correct sentence and they're bashing my 20,000 word story. How dare they?

"Delete. Delete. Delete."

Besides, I don't write for scores. I write to make friends of fans who want me to write them a story for a small fee. Writing custom, personalized stories is how I earn my living.

Good luck in the contest. I hope you win.
 
I give up

I don't think that I'll finish on a Winter story this year. I had a couple well along, one new, one from last year, but as I posted earlier I lost all when I dumped a cup of tea on my laptop.

I tried to make a start on the one, but other stuff is going on. Not just a bad cold as I thought, my Doctor sent me for a chest X-ray and now a 'heart echo' - a sonogram of my heart. No word on the results yet.

I don't have a good heart, but things seem harder to do now. everything is harder. I've lost a LOT of weight all of a sudden, my wedding ring keeps falling off now.

I think I'll take it easy for a while, maybe get a valentines story. Christmas is a bust.

Yes, I'm winey and my head feels like it's. stuffed with fuzz. Tinnitus is still there though, louder than usual.

Yuck. being old sucks.
 
I submitted mine early in the morning on the tenth; it’s been pending ever since. That’s very sluggish by contest standards.
 
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Yuck. being old sucks.

Right? I freely admit I was never supposed to last this long. Unfortunately, I was just a little too good at lasting, but not good enough at taking care to try to. :p

Finally got a long, good sleep for the first time since early October. Woke up feeling bushy tailed and bright eyed. Read over what I had on the Turkey Tale and hit delete.

Starting over. AFTER I walk down to the store (a mile or mile and a half) and bring back some goodies for the pup and me. (If the cats want one, they can catch that mouse hiding under the stove.)

THIS is why I typically don't get mine in until the last minute. Because I'm too busy thinking it sucks and starting over until the time pressure makes me get over myself and submit something (which I typically still think could have been better).

The thing is, this one should be simple. The guy is a scrawny little runt with health problems, a genius IQ, and borderline Asperger's. The gal is a female power lifter who was born with black birthmarks liberally smattering her skin. Four days to get them together. Should be simple even with their psychological scars, right? I mean, it's not like I'm writing from the turkey's perspective or anything.

Ooh. Hang on a second...
 
I submitted mine early in the morning on the tenth; it’s been pending ever since. That’s very sluggish by contest standards.

That's been typical for a while. Anything submitted before the launch date posted on the launch date. Then for the next couple of days, the stories are gathered before posting again.
 
I think being old and susceptible to kick off unexpectedly for various reasons impels me to write and finish the stories that are gripping at me. Finished writing a novella yesterday, hoping for a breather day, but damned if my Muse didn't drop another story as I was waking up (it's usual attack time), and I'm already researching that. I think it may be the writing that's keeping me alive--not wanting to leave anything unfinished/unpublished.
 
I've just submitted my contest entry - as me - but with aka oggbashan in the disclaimer at the start.

That's 9169 words towards Og's NaNoWriMo total. Now he's getting back to his own Winter Holiday drafts.
 
That's been typical for a while. Anything submitted before the launch date posted on the launch date. Then for the next couple of days, the stories are gathered before posting again.

Huh.

I must have gotten lucky, then. The last time I put one in the day after the contest began, it was published before the sun went down that same day. I guess I’m just spoiled.

I’m not worried. Like SusanJill says, I don’t expect anything until Monday.
 
Huh.

I must have gotten lucky, then. The last time I put one in the day after the contest began, it was published before the sun went down that same day. I guess I’m just spoiled.

And yet you're the one who posted that it hasn't happened for you this time. :rolleyes:
 
And yet you're the one who posted that it hasn't happened for you this time. :rolleyes:

One might say I’m generalizing from a small sample.

Though I wasn’t the one that brought up the sluggishness. Just an observation.
 
I've already pushed off the Les Lumens idea I had for this one until Valentine's. It's still in the musing phase, and there's no way I have time to finish it. If the initial setup isn't "on paper" at least a couple of weeks before the contest starts, it's pretty much a lost cause for me so far as more involved stories go.

If I don't pull it off by Valentine's, it's into the next year folder with it. It needs Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Valentine's to work, and I don't release seasonal stories outside the season even if there isn't a contest involved.

I've got something else that's manageable, ( simple setup sibling incest stroke fare with a punny title ) but it's still a toss-up whether I make it, because it's looking to be a 10-15k word story. That puts it outside my norms as RR, so it may get assigned to Les if I finish it. Then again, I may just go ahead and let RR's range expand, as I've broken those norms twice now, and the readership isn't balking.

I'm trying to wrap up a second new chapter of SOTM as Dark and get ( at least ) a third well underway by the first of the year, and that has priority. Otherwise, I'd be leaning toward "likely" rather than "iffy" on getting this idea done for the contest. The longer submission period for this one helps.

Just have to see. I'd like to get a new Earth Day Magic of the Wood story out next year and get back on track. I'd need to have that started in January to have any hope of pulling it off, so that's another consideration.

Everything else just gets squeezed in between SOTM and MOTW or comes through when I need a break from them to clear my head.
 
Many hugs to everyone feeling their age. I hope you manage to sort out your maladies.
I turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. On a good day, I can walk out of the house and to the shop 20 yards away. I've not had many good days recently. Combination of joint problems and a bout of vertigo, which has worsened the depression I'm already battling/letting rule me.

Greg - please keep chasing yours up. Sudden weight loss is not a good sign. x

Besides, I don't write for scores. I write to make friends of fans who want me to write them a story for a small fee. Writing custom, personalized stories is how I earn my living.

Good luck in the contest. I hope you win. [/SIZE][/FONT]

Thanks, good luck to you too.

I posted Big Boys to get some feedback, in the hope that the impetus will help inspire me for other stories. My late mother kept me going, and since she passed, I've lost my way somewhat.

(I was expecting some hate mail from 'It's a Wonderful Life' fans, but I think I could've been a little too discreet!)

On a cheerier note, the sun is trying to come out and I think I'm going to take the dogs for a wander. They were my mother's - I kept them and they are marvellous company. I can't walk, so I stick them on leads and ride my bike alongside. They love it.
 
Still only five entries listed?

I submitted mine on the 9th and it was up on the 10th. There's at least two of you who've submitted over 24 hours ago and they've not popped up yet. Weird.
 
Still only five entries listed?

I submitted mine on the 9th and it was up on the 10th. There's at least two of you who've submitted over 24 hours ago and they've not popped up yet. Weird.

Sunday.

If mine's not up by Tuesday, along with a probable slew of others, I’ll be surprised.
 
jeanne_d_artois' story is listed as being posted tomorrow, 13th November.

I expect that other entries will be.
 
jeanne_d_artois' story is listed as being posted tomorrow, 13th November.

I expect that other entries will be.

Oh. Cool. I didn’t know you could check on the publication date before it actually posted. Neat trick, ogg.

Thank Jeanne for me.
 
Oh. Cool. I didn’t know you could check on the publication date before it actually posted. Neat trick, ogg.

Thank Jeanne for me.

On the old member's page look at the date of last submission.

The pending changes from blue to grey when it has been approved.

So jeanne's latest submission is 13 Nov and the pending is now grey = posted tomorrow.
 
Up to 12 entries. I'll give them a read when I can.

Busy week ahead (sorting out a move) so I'll pop back when I can.

Btw, how does everyone submit nowadays? I didn't know about the new page, so I used the old system as I had it bookmarked, c&ping and adding italics after.
Does anyone use the new 'My' thing? Any useful tools there?
 
Up to 12 entries. I'll give them a read when I can.

Busy week ahead (sorting out a move) so I'll pop back when I can.

Btw, how does everyone submit nowadays? I didn't know about the new page, so I used the old system as I had it bookmarked, c&ping and adding italics after.
Does anyone use the new 'My' thing? Any useful tools there?

I use the new one now. I don’t like it, but then I didn’t like the old one either; I suppose the new one at least looks better. I haven’t explored all the features yet. I just go there, submit my stuff, and then bounce. I check back about once a week to ensure no trolls have come and told Laurel to take my stories down.
 
If by chance I manage to finish a story intime, it won't be until the very rnd if the context. December 7 seems early.
 
If by chance I manage to finish a story intime, it won't be until the very rnd if the context. December 7 seems early.

Race you to the end. Last time I got mine in with 20 minutes to spare. Want to have a competition to see who can cut it closest?
 
Well I submitted a Holiday contest story Sunday and it's up Monday morning. No complaints here. Good luck all.
 
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