The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[Candy_Kane54]

@Rustyoznail - don't pinch it too hard

I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and heated up the teapot. I'm having a nice cup of Earl Grey, enjoying having the time to finally get back to some writing. There are donuts on the counter along with some Ancho mole cookies.

I'll be sitting over in the corner trying to remember how to write since it's been so long since the last time I did. Hopefully, my Muse will pop in and give me some direction ...

 

[NotWise]

There's this cat. He's dashing back and forth around the house, hunting his toys and bringing them to me, and making his weird "hunting" sound the whole time. I used to think this was cute behavior, but right now the distraction annoys me.

I've been moving my retirement funds into a more conservative position. I've needed to do that for a while as I start to depend on them for income. Right now seemed like a good time to do it.

My most recent story wasn't a great success rating-wise, but the spin-off views and votes have reached deep into my catalog (except "Love is Enough," for some reason). The votes and comments have been great. User Stacnash left a long and very positive comment on "One Night in Gormaz," which is my darkest piece.

 

[dmallord]

It is March 1st, and there are only 305 days left in the year, 299 shopping days until Christmas, 244 days until Halloween, 125 days until the Fourth of July, and 64 days left for the Fourth of May celebration. The year is rushing by at breakneck speed and we must write or die. I'd like a cup of Irish Cream Coffee with a boost please.

Seems you have had a couple of those already!

Is there an app for that?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Nope, just a French Press and bottle of Jameson. And there is no cream in my Irish Cream Coffee (the beans were soaked in good Jameson) and I never add sugar or cream to my coffee.

Seems you have had a couple of those already!

Is there an app for that?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Nope, just a French Press and bottle of Jameson. And there is no cream in my Irish Cream Coffee (the beans were soaked in good Jameson) and I never add sugar or cream to my coffee.

Not a coffee person. Thankfully, Jack Daniels goes great with a nice hot cup of Earl Grey and some honey.

 

[Belegon]

Hello all! spending this evening at the keyboard. got stuff I need to write.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Random 1-star reviews are very annoying, especially early in a story's lifespan. Ah well. I have a nice cup of coffee and momentum on a (late) April Fools story.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@YmaOHyd - it's the random 5-star votes that I don't get. I have several multi-part stories and I'll get the occasional stand-alone vote on Part 2, 3, or 4 (never on Part 1 or the last part where I'd expect a lone vote for the whole story).

Another morning and despite the gray morning, it's above freezing so I can't complain too much. I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot. There are snacks on the counter (cookies, donuts, and scones).

For the first time is a while, I woke up thinking about the story I'm struggling with so I'll be over in the corner trying to put my thoughts to paper. If you hear any frustrated mutters, it's just me wondering why I torture myself like this.

 

[YmaOHyd]

@YmaOHyd - it's the random 5-star votes that I don't get. I have several multi-part stories and I'll get the occasional stand-alone vote on Part 2, 3, or 4 (never on Part 1 or the last part where I'd expect a lone vote for the whole story).

I know it's wildly unfair, but a random 5-star vote I'll just take as 'yeah, I really liked this part for whatever reason' (never mind that I only have one multi-part story and the third part just got released today). And if the story's been out for a while... fine! It just sucks releasing into a crowded category like EC and being at 4.1 instead of 4.8 because someone one-starred me without comment in the first two hours, just like's happened with almost everything else I've released. I think that's a difference significant enough to get a few bonus eyeballs.

 

[NotWise]

I know it's wildly unfair, but a random 5-star vote I'll just take as 'yeah, I really liked this part for whatever reason' (never mind that I only have one multi-part story and the third part just got released today). And if the story's been out for a while... fine! It just sucks releasing into a crowded category like EC and being at 4.1 instead of 4.8 because someone one-starred me without comment in the first two hours, just like's happened with almost everything else I've released. I think that's a difference significant enough to get a few bonus eyeballs.

You never know how it would work out in another reality. High scores invite criticism.

My highest scores are the product of the system's fraud detection process. Without the site's intervention, the ratings tend to be self-limiting to lower values.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Random 1-star reviews are very annoying, especially early in a story's lifespan. Ah well. I have a nice cup of coffee and momentum on a (late) April Fools story.

I’ve said it before, but there is a sad tranche of readers here who to me seem like toddlers. Unable to build anything with blocks themselves, they take their pleasure by knocking down what others have built.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Well, no random votes of any kind yesterday so I'll count my blessings.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot. I'm having some Irish Breakfast this morning instead of my usual Earl Grey. There are some donuts on the counter as well as some monkey bread.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story , so yell if you need anything.

 

[MrPixel]

Demolition crew here this morning dealing with the collapsed fence remnants. Finally got some reasonable bids to replace, so here we go.

 

[YmaOHyd]

My wife and I buried our dog last night. She has a little spot by the corner of the garden where we hope she'll be able to see the blueberries grow, if they come up this year. She was 18.

 

[NotWise]

My wife and I buried our dog last night. She has a little spot by the corner of the garden where we hope she'll be able to see the blueberries grow, if they come up this year. She was 18.

I'm sorry for your loss. At 18 she had a good run.

We don't have dogs here, but we have so many cats buried around the yard that we've stopped burying them here. They mostly make it to about 17 unless a dog, car, or gun is involved. My oldest daughter has a cat she got as soon as she moved out of the house. The cat's 21 now, and my daughter is still the only person who can safely touch her.

 

[Rustyoznail]

That's sad, no matter the age. I hope she brought you years of happiness.

Our last dog died age 15 about 10 years ago. We still miss him.

The new pup has just decided he likes barking for attention. Distraction isn't working, so I think I'll need to get some better treats.

Unless that's his plan all along...

 

[YmaOHyd]

She was pretty wonderful, and we'll miss her.

He sounds smart, Rusty -- you should get him some treats. I think he deserves them.

 

[NotWise]

Unless that's his plan all along...

It's hard to say sometimes with pets whether you're training the animal, or the animal is training you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's hard to say sometimes with pets whether you're training the animal, or the animal is training you.

I thought you said you had cats. You don't know this by now?

 

[Rustyoznail]

She was pretty wonderful, and we'll miss her.

He sounds smart, Rusty -- you should get him some treats. I think he deserves them.

Actually just bought him a goat horn as a chew toy.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's been 31 years since I had a pet (other than fish in an aquarium) because It was too painful to outlive them any more. Maybe that's why my stories are so gloomy at times ...

Anyway, I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot for anyone who wants a cuppa. The monkey bread was very popular so I've got some more on the counter for those who want some.

Didn't get any writing done yesterday but I'll try again today. Oh, how I miss my Muse (not my writing one, the other one) ...

 

[yowser]

My offering for Sunday breakfast/brunch are homemade English Muffins, misleadingly named since I've never seen them outside the US (maybe Canada?)

They make a cameo appearance in my latest story.

 

[NotWise]

Welcome to Daylight Savings Time -- at least for those in the US. Neither mind nor body wanted to get started this morning. I'll probably enjoy it more this evening when the sun goes down an hour later than yesterday.

I discovered a bizarre programming problem with a shell script. Not a good way to start the day. The script ran a process that took nine hours when it worked right, but it never stopped. I had a mistake about half way through the script that left an asterisk as the first character on a line. I had to look up what that meant. It was translated by the shell into a list of the files in the current directory. The first file on the list was the running script, and that made the script launch another version of itself. It was a very slow-moving infinite loop that never finished its job. And it was hard to stop.

We had a cold morning. I haven't looked yet to see how much damage the frost did to the hyacinths, which were starting to bloom. On the other hand, the day should be warm enough for me to put the amaryllis out for some sun.

Now back to re-writing the closing scenes of "Escape from Cimarron."

 

[dmallord]

JoJo Thought He Was a Loner
And April Didn't Read Her Signs.
today in NonConsent/Reluctance Stories

Another one done. A mixture of categories. Let me know what you think.

 

[Duleigh]

Finally finished Alan Scarlett Best Two Out of Three - 125k words and next week when I start the Final Edit, that will probably go up another 20k. Lately I've been writing the story then adding the erotic scenes later.

Now what?

I have so much I WANT to write, and so much that I NEED to write, I don't know where to start... but at least Geek Pride is out of the way.

BTW - put 10 books up on Smashwords last week (First time on Smashwords) and someone already found me and marked me as a favorite.