The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[MrPixel]

Peach cobbler a la mode. Breakfast of champions. Thanks, CK!

9:00 a.m. and it's already 86°. The overnight "low" was 76 - possibly a highest-low record for the date - so the heat got one heckuva jump on the day. HX at this early hour is 96°, which means I'll be changing shirts several times if I do anything outside. Trying to avoid that. Just read an article reminding us that the #1 weather-related killer is heat, not hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme cold, tsunamis, or anything else. Be careful out there. @_Lynn_ , hoping your A/C is fixed pronto!

Hopefully I'm emerging from my writing funk. At least I'm thinking about it. Urge at the moment is to start another chapter, a little lighter than the darkness of the unfinished two-parter that's next in the timeline. Probably going to feature the hot weather. For some reason.

 

[GrantBricksly]

View attachment 2550480

Not quite the motivation I was hoping for....but I'll take it!

It's a new day, and as with most Tuesdays I'm sitting here watching/listening to my wife and friend recording their podcast. And getting ready to do some writing.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Well, I for one am elated. I've somehow managed to pound out the first bit of story after a months-long freeze. Hopefully this won't be a Charlie Brown streak.

 

[NotWise]

I got through the emotional climax of Zelda's story and the denouement is coming clear. It won't be as long as I feared.

Given time to reconsider it, I'll probably add a little of the climax to let Zelda get violent instead of just surprised and sarcastic.

 

[Rustyoznail]

For all you who are baking in the heat, not baking in the kitchen, we're being hit we an Antarctic blast of cold weather. Gale force winds, horizontal rain, and a wind chill that will slice you in half. It's freezing.

Bec wants to move to a house on the edge of town with more room for the pup to play. I'm not keen because the only heating is two wood heaters. I like getting up in the morning, pushing a button, and heat is there. I don't want to cut wood.

 

[NotWise]

Bec wants to move to a house on the edge of town with more room for the pup to play. I'm not keen because the only heating is two wood heaters. I like getting up in the morning, pushing a button, and heat is there. I don't want to cut wood.

Oh my God, no! You could kill yourself cutting wood for heat.

 

[NotWise]

Also for all those baking in the heat, it's 63F and raining in the desert.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

For all you who are baking in the heat, not baking in the kitchen, we're being hit we an Antarctic blast of cold weather. Gale force winds, horizontal rain, and a wind chill that will slice you in half. It's freezing.

Bec wants to move to a house on the edge of town with more room for the pup to play. I'm not keen because the only heating is two wood heaters. I like getting up in the morning, pushing a button, and heat is there. I don't want to cut wood.

Benjamin Franklin observed that wood warms you three times - once when you cut it, once when you split and stack it and once when you burn it.

 

[NotWise]

I done writ to the end of Zelda's story, but there's still work to do. There's a scene early in the story that needs to be revised. Elsewhere, there are a couple comments embedded in square brackets and one or two lines of dialog left blank. I don't feel like I ever got Zelda to talk quite like I wanted, but I might reread the thing and be happier with it than I am now.

And then there's that pesky short description.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I don’t think this merits its own thread, so I’ll ask about it here. In the Romance category, how much sex is too much? Also, how much sex act detail is too much?

The story I’m working on involves two young single Americans, one each male and female, cis-het. The sex acts they have together would be considered vanilla. They catch feelings for each other. As I see it, the only category prospects would be Erotic Couplings and Romance.

There’s plenty of sex in the story. In three of the scenes, the sex is described in detail by the third-person-omniscient narrator. There is, in my view, good reason for the story to be written this way. I prefer not to try to justify that here, nor to describe the plot.

What I’m hoping to work out is whether the story should go into Erratic Cufflinks, and vanish instantly, or maybe get a chance to be read in Romance. I see that what’s at the very top of the Romance top list are long reads, by my standard (20k+). I’ll do that research if I must, but I wouldn’t mind some anecdotal stuff from you folks on how your works have been received in the Romance category.

 

[filthytrancendence]

I don’t think this merits its own thread, so I’ll ask about it here. In the Romance category, how much sex is too much? Also, how much sex act detail is too much?

The story I’m working on involves two young single Americans, one each male and female, cis-het. The sex acts they have together would be considered vanilla. They catch feelings for each other. As I see it, the only category prospects would be Erotic Couplings and Romance.

There’s plenty of sex in the story. In three of the scenes, the sex is described in detail by the third-person-omniscient narrator. There is, in my view, good reason for the story to be written this way. I prefer not to try to justify that here, nor to describe the plot.

What I’m hoping to work out is whether the story should go into Erratic Cufflinks, and vanish instantly, or maybe get a chance to be read in Romance. I see that what’s at the very top of the Romance top list are long reads, by my standard (20k+). I’ll do that research if I must, but I wouldn’t mind some anecdotal stuff from you folks on how your works have been received in the Romance category.

I've published in both now (though far more extensively in Romance). From what you describe, it would probably be well-received in either.

EC's main disadvantage from a publishing perspective is it's a lot higher volume. You might get bumped off the first page on your first day, and that sucks when it happens. But there's also substantially more readers, so if it hits, it will probably hit harder. I've noticed significantly more 'residual' readership in EC too, for what it's worth.

Romance's main disadvantage is it's middling readership. They're generally very generous with ratings as long as you give them what they're looking for (sounds like you are).

It will probably end up with a higher rating and less views in Romance, and visa versa in EC. Dealer's choice.

Edit: I realize I forgot to answer your first question. I don't think they really care about amount/detail of sex. I've published a variety and that doesn't seem to be much of a factor in how it's received.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Romance readers seem to be after the HEA, or at least a nice resolution (eg the MC dying tragically). The amount of sex doesn't come into it. Personally, I'd go with romance. If people like it, you'll pick up a few followers too.

 

[Bamagan]

I just noticed that the Nonconsent/Reluctance category got renamed to Reluctance/Nonconsent, Incest/Taboo also got reversed, and Transgender/Crossdressing got 'divorced' into two categories. Anyone know when that happened? I doubt it's been that way for long, probably less than a month.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another beautiful morning before it gets hot, hot, hot. We may get pop up thunderstorms this afternoon and I hope one pops up over my place so I don't have to water.

I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is whistling a merry tune. The peach cobbler is gone but the blackberries are ripening so I'll have to get some and make a blackberry cobbler. I even found a patch of black raspberries and got some. They are sweeter than raspberries and really delicious.

I'll be over in the corner editing my two completed stories to get them ready for publication. I'll be starting on a new story soon and hope to have an entry for the 2025 Holiday Contest (although I have no hope of winning it).

 

[MrPixel]

the blackberries are ripening

Same here. C brought me one before the squirrels got it, and it was an 11 on the sweet-and-not-tart scale. Yum!

Another hot one here, but not quite as hot. That's good. I've discovered my tolerance threshold is an ambient of ~90°/60%, that is, an HX of 100°.

Back with writing. 3K+ words last night on the next-next-next chapter of the serial. A little lighter, although the troupe gangs-up on an outside lover and gently shows him the door for a "Rule #2" violation.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Oh, it's a scorcher out there today... 90...with a HX of 107 right now.....and it's supposed to get up to 94...so that HX will only go up from here...

I'm supposed to be going to the farmers market today.... to sell things....but I am seriously considering skipping it....

 

[_Lynn_]

Peach cobbler a la mode. Breakfast of champions. Thanks, CK!

9:00 a.m. and it's already 86°. The overnight "low" was 76 - possibly a highest-low record for the date - so the heat got one heckuva jump on the day. HX at this early hour is 96°, which means I'll be changing shirts several times if I do anything outside. Trying to avoid that. Just read an article reminding us that the #1 weather-related killer is heat, not hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme cold, tsunamis, or anything else. Be careful out there. @_Lynn_ , hoping your A/C is fixed pronto!

Hopefully I'm emerging from my writing funk. At least I'm thinking about it. Urge at the moment is to start another chapter, a little lighter than the darkness of the unfinished two-parter that's next in the timeline. Probably going to feature the hot weather. For some reason.

They're here putting in an entire new unit. Thankfully today is bearable but I'm looking forward to having the place under 80 degrees again.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Oh, and I finally figured out what the delay on my story was...the one I've been waiting on since the 4th.... It finally got rejected this morning. Flagged for AI, even though no AI was used...lol so that's fun for me. But, not to worry, I will press on. I've resubmitted with a note. And on the off chance it still gets rejected, I am now looking for an editor to help me out, and see what i can do..

On another fun note...I am about to finish Chapter 5!! And then I will move on to chapter 6...

 

[NotWise]

I'm really terrible at titles and short descriptions, so I'm asking for your input. You don't need to know anything about the story to have a perfectly valid opinion.

My long-standing title for my WIP is Mom, Sex, Guns, and Rock-n-Roll.

I figure that's attention-getting enough to grab eyes, but I had trouble coming up with a short description. I started with Blood and Money and stopped, because it seemed like a good title, while my original title seems like a good short description.

I've burned myself this way before. Blood and Money is from Zelda's belief that blood and money are the only foundations for long-term relationships, so maybe it's meaning isn't obvious. It also isn't sexual.

So what do you think is a better option? Blood and Money as a title and Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as short description, or Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as a title and Blood and Money (probably with more added) as the short description?

 

[GrantBricksly]

I'm really terrible at titles and short descriptions, so I'm asking for your input. You don't need to know anything about the story to have a perfectly valid opinion.

My long-standing title for my WIP is Mom, Sex, Guns, and Rock-n-Roll.

I figure that's attention-getting enough to grab eyes, but I had trouble coming up with a short description. I started with Blood and Money and stopped, because it seemed like a good title, while my original title seems like a good short description.

I've burned myself this way before. Blood and Money is from Zelda's belief that blood and money are the only foundations for long-term relationships, so maybe it's meaning isn't obvious. It also isn't sexual.

So what do you think is a better option? Blood and Money as a title and Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as short description, or Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as a title and Blood and Money (probably with more added) as the short description?

Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock and Roll is the better title.

But for the description, you need more.
Something like "Zelda tests her belief that blood and money are all she needs for a good relationship"

 

[Fatdog25]

I'm really terrible at titles and short descriptions, so I'm asking for your input. You don't need to know anything about the story to have a perfectly valid opinion.

My long-standing title for my WIP is Mom, Sex, Guns, and Rock-n-Roll.

I figure that's attention-getting enough to grab eyes, but I had trouble coming up with a short description. I started with Blood and Money and stopped, because it seemed like a good title, while my original title seems like a good short description.

I've burned myself this way before. Blood and Money is from Zelda's belief that blood and money are the only foundations for long-term relationships, so maybe it's meaning isn't obvious. It also isn't sexual.

So what do you think is a better option? Blood and Money as a title and Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as short description, or Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock-n-Roll as a title and Blood and Money (probably with more added) as the short description?

From an I/T POV:

I like Blood and Money for the title with "Sex, guns, rock-n-roll...and Mom." as the teaser.

Me being me, I'd throw in something like "Lawyers optional." at the end. The indirect Warren Zevon reference may not work for you or your story, of course. Just my two cents.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Well, it's official: I have written five full chapters of my story!!

Only one is published so far. Chapter 2-3 got rejected, but I am working on that. And hopefully, on Friday, I will begin work on Chapter 6.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I just noticed that the Nonconsent/Reluctance category got renamed to Reluctance/Nonconsent, Incest/Taboo also got reversed, and Transgender/Crossdressing got 'divorced' into two categories. Anyone know when that happened? I doubt it's been that way for long, probably less than a month.

That's interesting. My old stories are still listed as I/T. Wonder why the change.

 

[NotWise]

Mom, Sex, Guns and Rock and Roll is the better title.

But for the description, you need more.
Something like "Zelda tests her belief that blood and money are all she needs for a good relationship"

This is the direction I'm leaning. I have some long-standing advice from yukonnights that the short description should capsulize the main themes of the story. I've had some luck doing that, but its hard to find a snappy way to do it in the available space.

 

[GrantBricksly]

This is the direction I'm leaning. I have some long-standing advice from yukonnights that the short description should capsulize the main themes of the story. I've had some luck doing that, but its hard to find a snappy way to do it in the available space.

It can be tough to find the right words with the limited space we are given..