The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[filthytrancendence]

They still won't like it. And going live on Saturday? Not sure what to expect.

My fingers are crossed for you.

I've got one that's been sitting in drafts for nigh on 2 months now. I'm as close to 100% sure as I can be that most Lit readers would hate it. I thought better of publishing it and decided to sit on it for a while. I'm pretty sure Laruel was 'are you sure about this'-ing me, because it sat pending for much longer than usual.

I wasn't sure. So maybe thanks, Laurel. Or the random forces of the universe that appear like Laurel from my position in the unwashed masses. It definitely needs some TLC to get it ready for this audience. Maybe someday.

 

[NotWise]

My fingers are crossed for you.

I've got one that's been sitting in drafts for nigh on 2 months now. I'm as close to 100% sure as I can be that most Lit readers would hate it. I thought better of publishing it and decided to sit on it for a while. I'm pretty sure Laruel was 'are you sure about this'-ing me, because it sat pending for much longer than usual.

I wasn't sure. So maybe thanks, Laurel. Or the random forces of the universe that appear like Laurel from my position in the unwashed masses. It definitely needs some TLC to get it ready for this audience. Maybe someday.

Laurel saved me that way once. When I first started posting stories here I wanted to work on getting them short. My first story was about 3500 words. My second was about 1800. My third would have been about 940 words, and a bizarre mix of prose and poetry. Laurel held it long enough for me to realize just how much the readers would hate it, and that gave me a chance to withdraw the story.

It was probably actually delayed by the end of the Halloween contest, but I've always credited Laurel anyway.

 

[MrPixel]

I haven't heard back from HP, which is a worry.

That was three weeks ago, Russ. Any updates?

 

[Rustyoznail]

Not a word, unfortunately.

@BelleCanzuto is someone else who's been gone a while. I know she had other RL things going, though.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

We haven't heard from @Lori_the_Hoosier for some time, either.

It's going to be another hot muggy day with scattered severe storms this afternoon.

The coffee is hot and the teapot is whistling. There are donuts on the counter along with a peach cobbler. There's Vanilla ice cream in the freezer if you want to warm the cobbler up and put a scoop on top.

I'll be over in the corner working on my new story. It's going to be a humdinger by the time I get it done. The reception of my latest story was disappointing but I won't let it stop me ...

 

[NotWise]

We haven't heard from @Lori_the_Hoosier for some time, either.

It's going to be another hot muggy day with scattered severe storms this afternoon.

The coffee is hot and the teapot is whistling. There are donuts on the counter along with a peach cobbler. There's Vanilla ice cream in the freezer if you want to warm the cobbler up and put a scoop on top.

I'll be over in the corner working on my new story. It's going to be a humdinger by the time I get it done. The reception of my latest story was disappointing but I won't let it stop me ...

Lori's last post was on 3/30/22, and she sounded very optimistic about Will's state of mind. He posted stories in 2023, but has been silent since.

 

[NotWise]

So far (with just 12 votes) my story is doing what I expected. It is by far my lowest-rated story. That could change. We'll see. If not, then I'll just wear it as a badge because it isn't a bad story.

I was thinking about it while watching the votes not come and the only thing I regretted was that I hadn't described the "look and feel" of the street party scene very well. Then I remembered that one of my first comments to myself on the the story was on that scene, and it was "need more environment."

Sometimes I don't learn, even from myself.

 

[filthytrancendence]

If not, then I'll just wear it as a badge because it isn't a bad story.

I just finished it. It's quite a long way from a bad story. But I see what you mean about the street party scene, that did occur to me as I read it. Anyway, I liked it a lot.

I think my latest faced a very similar situation. I put it in Romance because that's as close as it gets, I guess, but much like yours, it doesn't exactly fit squarely into any category and goes quite a bit deeper into uncomfortable themes than a lot of people here are probably looking for. Spent most of the first day hovering around 4.0 and just didn't get much traction. But it's looking like it might be in danger of getting an H months later, I'm guessing because the only people reading it now for the most part are people who stumble on it after reading one of my more popular stories.

 

[NotWise]

I just finished it. It's quite a long way from a bad story. But I see what you mean about the street party scene, that did occur to me as I read it. Anyway, I liked it a lot.

I think my latest faced a very similar situation. I put it in Romance because that's as close as it gets, I guess, but much like yours, it doesn't exactly fit squarely into any category and goes quite a bit deeper into uncomfortable themes than a lot of people here are probably looking for. Spent most of the first day hovering around 4.0 and just didn't get much traction. But it's looking like it might be in danger of getting an H months later, I'm guessing because the only people reading it now for the most part are people who stumble on it after reading one of my more popular stories.

Thanks. The story did briefly go over 4, but for now it's safely in the 3's.

Y'all should be plenty tired of me going on about this story, so I posted a WIWAW essay to Reviews and Essays to get it off my chest. I worked a little this morning on my next story. I think it's a go.

 

[filthytrancendence]

WIWAW

Huh?

 

[NotWise]

Huh?

"What I Wrote And Why"

@StillStunned started a thread for such essays a few months ago and it moved into Reviews and Essays. I couldn't imagine adding anything to it at first, but it was what I needed.

 

[filthytrancendence]

"What I Wrote And Why"

@StillStunned started a thread for such essays a few months ago and it moved into Reviews and Essays. I couldn't imagine adding anything to it at first, but it was what I needed.

Gotchya. I googled it and didn't see an answer that made sense, lol. I look forward to reading that too, I admit I was curious about what you wrote and why.

 

[NotWise]

Gotchya. I googled it and didn't see an answer that made sense, lol. I look forward to reading that too, I admit I was curious about what you wrote and why.

I submitted the essay minutes before I answered your comment up thread. The title I wanted was "WIWAW: Mom, Sex, Guns, and Rock-n-Roll" which is too long for the box, so I put a note to the editor saying how I wanted it titled.

I went back to my author's page after I answered what "WIWAW" meant, and found that it was already successfully submitted, with the long title that only Laurel could add. So I checked. It's already schedule to post on Monday.

Thanks, @Laurel, for all you do.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another cloudy morning and some sprinkles. The forecasted storms never showed up but we did get about five minutes of rain from a passing pop up storm that missed us by two streets.

I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is ready. There are donuts on the counter and the peach cobbler disappeared so fast, I had to check to make sure I had actually put it out.

I'll be over in the corner working on my latest story. It's going well and I hope to have it ready in time. I had trouble sleeping last night, thinking about my mortality and wondering what will happen in those last moments ...

 

[NotWise]

I'll be over in the corner working on my latest story. It's going well and I hope to have it ready in time. I had trouble sleeping last night, thinking about my mortality and wondering what will happen in those last moments ...

It's hard to find people who can share the experience.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I've tried to raise Will and Lori last year. No response.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I'm almost out of my hot chocolate mix, and the store keeps being sold out of non-dairy creamer so I dunno when I'll be able to make more.

 

[NotWise]

I've tried to raise Will and Lori last year. No response.

It was always my impression that they disengaged intentionally, so I'm not surprised.

I'm almost out of my hot chocolate mix, and the store keeps being sold out of non-dairy creamer so I dunno when I'll be able to make more.

That seems like an odd thing for a grocery store to let run out. I think my grocer would run out of non-dairy creamer about the same time they ran out of coffee, which will probably never happen.

 

[NuclearFairy]

That seems like an odd thing for a grocery store to let run out. I think my grocer would run out of non-dairy creamer about the same time they ran out of coffee, which will probably never happen.

Yeah they've been running out of that too.

Well technically they still have both, but only the very expensive brands. My SO is having to ration his coffee and is using half and half instead of creamer. We'll check again next time we go to the store, maybe they'll've restocked by then.

 

[NotWise]

There's a distinct pattern on my new story. I don't think this has as much to do with the story itself as it does with low traffic.

I had almost as many votes between midnight and 8 AM this morning as I had in the first 8 hours that the story was published. Also, they story had one new favorite between midnight and 8 AM this morning, while it had ~8 in the same period the day it was published.

I think that means that most of the readers between midnight to 8 AM this morning are either readers who bookmarked the story yesterday, or my followers. They're less likely to bookmark it again.

 

[filthytrancendence]

between midnight to 8 AM

Edit: nevermind, I got that backwards and now I feel silly.

Anyway, might have to do with geography and time zone and where more of your followers are located.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

This was new and different, for me. My new story is listed in the second spot on the New page. Never been that high before, except maybe with a contest story, because they always get top placement. I gather that, this time, the placement was the luck of the draw.

I won't link it here. Years ago I realized that I was being needy in these fora, and I've tried to dial that back. I put a plug for the story in the New Story Announcements sticky in Story Feedback, and it's linked there. That's a little less needy. And maybe unnecessary because, you know, second spot.

 

[NotWise]

This was new and different, for me. My new story is listed in the second spot on the New page. Never been that high before, except maybe with a contest story, because they always get top placement. I gather that, this time, the placement was the luck of the draw.

I won't link it here. Years ago I realized that I was being needy in these fora, and I've tried to dial that back. I put a plug for the story in the New Story Announcements sticky in Story Feedback, and it's linked there. That's a little less needy. And maybe unnecessary because, you know, second spot.

Enviable positioning. When I checked this morning, there were 223 stories posted today. You get to be in the top 1%.

I know some about what determines the bottom of the New list. I have no clue (aside from contests) what determines the top of the list.

 

[MrPixel]

I never concern myself with the top lists. First, as said many times I write the story that's in my head, in no way pandering to an amorphous readership. Second, I write in a category with low voting if not low readership. It's a couple of years before reaching the thresholds. Third, I have a hater, apparently a fellow AH denizen, a "follower" who whenever he or she logs in makes it a point to ding the score of whatever I have newly posted with a 2-bomb. I have no idea of how I offended them; it is what it is.

Depression has taken over of late. The "state of the world" has me doomscrolling, which obviously doesn't help. C is concerned since I don't have interest in anything other than sitting at the computer reading news about things like the Texas flash floods and all the lives lost, particularly the young innocents. For all the well-meaning and obviously wonderful people the camp operators were, they made bad, very bad decisions about appealing and winning their cases about constructing facilities in a defined flood zone. There are lots of culpabilities to be spread, including the county commissioner who pushed so hard against the idea of spending money on a warning system.

Writing is taking a back seat at the moment. I finished the incomplete second section about the neighbors voyeuring the main characters' swinger parties, so that and two more chapters are in the can ready to upload. Current project is a crossover between my two series, and it's at an awkward point where I might have to backtrack into a different segue.

Other than all that, things are peachy at the moment as I enjoy the afterglow of the margarita that accompanied lunch, a very tasty casserole-type dish. Don't know how "genuine" it is, but it's really good and something with lots of veggies that tickles the "healthy" bone, an antidote of sorts to the tequila beverage.

 

[NotWise]

Is your doom scrolling the cause, or the symptom?