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We're in Trouble -- Funds Needed

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Ad revenue down, book sales down, expenses up. The recent bot swarms have forced us to add more firewall protections and spin up more servers to keep us on line. Firewall services costs money, and the price of power has also gone up. We need more revenue. We've had to borrow money the last few months and we need to pay that back if we can. So revenue down $1000+ per month, expenses up $500+. This is unsustainable.

Remember, this site is pretty much a full-time occupation of 3+ people. As such, we depend a great deal on contributions from our community to meet the expenses of the site and things like internet access for each of us.

If you can help, please do. It's greatly appreciated.

Hugs,
Erin


Many thanks!

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Cat, Rasufelle and the rest of the crew

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Funds Low - Bills Due

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Money in the bank but new bills this new month. Please help if you can, it is greatly appreciated.

Hugs,
Erin

Thanks to everyone who has sent money, even when we weren't asking. We really depend on you, more than you know. :)

Thanks for any amount you can send. All contributions are very welcome. Thanks a great deal to all who have previously contributed here or paid for a membership at Patreon or Hatbox.


Many thanks!

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Jamie, Cat, Rasufelle and the rest of the crew

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2024 New Year's Contest

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If you click on 2024-01 January - New Year's Resolution Story Contest above, you will see a list of the entries.

Contest Closed for entries.

Please post your choices for top three stories and possibly win $50.

Start the New Year right by participating in Jill, Emma, and Joanne’s writing contest!

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Sledgehammer by me from DopplerPress on Amazon

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Sledgehammer on Kindle

  

This is the same story that's been in the Hatbox for some time, now released with new editing and a new cover on Amazon. The story of Jake and Cody, friends--and Freds--for a lifetime. See story for joke about the Freds.

Hugs,
Erin


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This story is 46 words long.

Hatbox funds needed - Today

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Cash contributions from our members are how we keep BigCloset operating.

Company account was down to basically $0

If bills hit, we will overdraft.

Amazon is supposed to pay us tonight, but my stomach is cramping now with anxiety about this.

Please, If you can help, it will be appreciated.

Paypal contributions come straight to our account.

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Jamie, Cat and the rest of the crew

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The Last Holidays - Kindle eBook by Grover Young

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Craig is one of Earth's bio-engineered soldiers in a war against an alien invasion. Unfortunately, when he uses his powers, he turns female. Now Halcyon has to deal with invaders and with Craig's girlfriend's preference for his female self! On top of that, Earth is losing the war.... There must be another way to deal with the conflict or the world will run out of holidays—forever!

The Last Holidays


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This story is 67 words long.

Full Cover Reveal: I Did Another Thing, Send Snacks

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Okay. Deep breath.

I’ve done another thing.

Actually, two things in one week. Which, frankly, feels dangerous. I may need supervision.

Behold: the full wraparound cover for Fractured Rune: The Aeldstorm Saga, Book One.

Click here to view on my website.

You’ve already met the front, that dramatic swirl of magic, waves, and general emotional turmoil, but now you get to see the whole thing.

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New Halloween story

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New Halloween story up from me. Its a continuation of two of my previous stories, Trick and Treated and Pomeggedon.
All three of them are in their own semi-universe, I've grouped them together under a subtitle called So Magic Is A Thing?.

https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/108360/lets-be-friends

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I Did the Thing. The Copyright Thing.

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So… I just filed the copyright for Fractured Rune: The Aeldstorm Saga, Book One.

That’s right. I officially handed my baby over to the U.S. government and said, “Here, please acknowledge my brainchild so no one else can legally steal it.” And the Copyright Office website said, “Cool, even though the government is shut down, give us sixty-five bucks and a PDF or else.”

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Cough cough cough

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Welp, after 5 and a half years, I have finally tested positive for Covid. In epic fashion- the 'test' line popped up immediately on the test when I dropped the liquid in. Like, five seconds tops. Between this and other health issues... yeah, my already-crap uploading schedule just got another hit.

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Experimental Fiction

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I'm changing my handle here to separate my previous work from what I'm going to be doing with a new name. I'll be experimenting with AI assisted fiction writing. I'm going to have a program help me with outlining and the inventory of characters and places. AI will keep an eye on continuity for me and help with spelling and grammar.

This is not going to be stories written by AI. I will be writing detailed chapter summaries, the AI will produce prose, then I will do an intense job of editing and rewriting so the end result will be mostly me.

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Too Many

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Opinion:

I'm obviously still working on Wildcats Fall

But I guess I had this other idea and decided to run with it.

Is this a mistake for the reader?

It's therapeutic for me, and these days, maybe we all need more distractions.

What do think?

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Love and pom poms

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I was at my local library looking for more reading material, and came across a graphic novel called "love and pom poms" its about 2 girls in high school. they once had been close, but drifted apart as the one became more of a computer nerd while the other joined the cheerleader squad.

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Has anyone heard anything from Daring Diane?

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The last I heard from her she was working on a new book in her Cheerleader series, but it has been quite a while since she published anything. I am more than a little concerned about her. Too many authors have simply disappeared over the past few years.

Too many simply slip away, never to be heard from again. Too much talent is lost to the world when it happens, and those of us left behind can only wonder why, only wonder what happened.

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Not posting anything today

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I did a reptile survey yesterday, and the combination of rough ground with gorse and heather, which are real trip hazards plus the awful weather, wind and rain, meant I have been tired all day today and only part-written something. I'll get it finished as soon as I can. But apologies to both my readers.

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Funds needed - End of month

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Sales of ebooks are WAY down, we're going to be very short this month..

This site is pretty much a full-time occupation of 3+ people. As such, we depend a great deal on contributions from our community to meet the expenses of the site and things like internet access for each of us.

If you can help, please do. It's greatly appreciated.

Hugs,
Erin


Many thanks!

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Cat, Rasufelle and the rest of the crew

Below are versions of the PayPal links.

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3 Stories today - don't expect it every week.

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I discovered half a story on my hard disk of Principal Boy, I don't know why I didn't finish it. I have done so this week, I also include an episode of the Recoverer and Bike. I was just in a mood to write this week, next week I may not, so enjoy it while it lasts. Having problems with my fridge-freezer which alternately freezing stuff in the fridge and then defrosting it. So far I have lost at least £10 worth of food, meat as well as green stuff. I have bought another one but it doesn't come until Wednesday.

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Hello, World!

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Well, I'm back. Like a bad penny, I suppose. :-D

I'm a CNA -- Certified Nurse's Assistant, and I care for two people in my own home, which means, I don't get time off. The only time I'm off duty is when my clients go to bed, or I do, and even then, I'm not really off duty. So the beginning of this year I reached total burn out. In early April, I took a week away, just me and my Emotional Support Dog, Mya, in a motel.

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Perhaps an 'across the pond issue?

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Let me start off saying this is not a complaint, just curiosity.

I really enjoy QUEEN'S GAMBIT by Maeryn! However there is one area that tweaks my sensibility. It is VERY minor but I thought to question it and in no way means an insult or complaint. I simply want to know if this is an "across the pond" difference.

Namely using head movement to denote YES or NO.

In my American experience, I learned that to shake one's head means moving it side to side to denote NO. To denote YES, one nods their head.

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A Heart of Crystal

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“A Heart of Crystal” will continue.

Donnie’s mind was “transwaved” into a lab-grown body of a teenage girl, Donna, with a heart of crystal. This crystal that will detonate, as part of a Vesuvius plot, taking the world with it. An unnamed Martian saves her from exploding on Earth, but both soon learn Donna’s heart is now the most-wanted weapon of mass destruction within our galaxy.

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Writing emotional story segments

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It is days like this that I'm so glad I'm 11 chapters ahead of what I've published.

I've been pretty good, with a chapter a week but I'm sat here in tears. I'm writing something emotional and everytime I try to write it, I sit here sobbing. I'm not crying due to frustration, I'm crying in empathy with the situation.

No, I'm not killing off a character.

Can anyone give advice on how to get around this. Or do I just have to grit my teeth and get it down?

Karen Page

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To everything there is a season.

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To everything – Kern, Kern, Kern
There is a season - Kern, Kern, Kern
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything – Kern, Kern, Kern
There is a season - Kern, Kern, Kern
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

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Mental images of characters

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As you may or may not know, for about the last year I've 'punctuated' my stories with AI-generated images of my characters that I've uploaded to my deviantart page- https://www.deviantart.com/debsxxxx . I reckon I've 'created' about 150 different characters- including characters from stories not yet released, that number's up to over 200.

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Revamped website is up!

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I’ve just finished a major revamp of my website, and I’m excited to finally share the updated version:

https://danielawolfe.com/

The new site is cleaner, more organized, and better aligned with where I’m heading as a writer. It’s now the central hub for my work, my projects, and updates going forward.

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The Mars Glider

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It's 1 AM and I am up to my typical foolishness and read about the ridiculous density of the Martian atmosphere, which is less than 1% of Earths. Not being an Engineer of any sort, I simply rely on my vivid imagination.

Were it even possible, a plane or a glider capable of any sort of flight there. Hmmm. Perhaps an angel capable of living on dusty carbon dioxide.

Just a thought. It might be a fun read if someone were able ....

Gwen Brown

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Tomorrow, tomorrow

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Kern will come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be Kern!

Just thinking about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

Kern will come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may

Tomorrow!
Tomorrow!
I love ya
Tomorrow!

Kern is just a day away

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I've done an episode of Bike.

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I haven't had time to do the Recoverer this week, last week's efforts took quite a bit out of me. It's been a nice day and as rain is possible tomorrow I stripped and washed my bedding and put it back on the bed. It gets harder and harder, the stroke really reduced my strength and stamina. I have, however, started sorting out my wifi, so my phone is on it and also a newer computer using windows 11. It's very different and is taking up my valuable time.

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Stroke number 3

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I regret I have not posted anything for the past two weeks but I sustained stroke number three on Saturday which took me out of action.
It will take a few days for me to get back into the right state of mind to continue with my projects.

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For Writers

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I subscribe to Bookbub a free service that sends me a daily email with bargains on ebooks based on broad categories I picked. Most of the time there are a couple of free books on a subject I like.

Today, one of the free books is geared to help authors in writing and avoiding some common pitfalls. The book’s title is “Dear Writer, You’re Doing It Wrong” it is by Becca Syme and I thought it might be something that might prove useful. The book is currently offered for free by Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books and Kobo for a limited time.

Anyway, I hope this helps you!

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I have been reading Bike.

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I read until the last one I posted, with a view to perhaps writing some more. The reason I haven't is that things have changed so much in the UK with the ruling of the corrupt Supreme Court against trans people, this was obviously a politicised decision, with money coming from that stupid but very rich woman author and pressure from TERFS. I now have no belief in the UK Justice system, parliamentary system or UK based multinationals.

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Errorc 404 - insperation not found.

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I don't know. Maybe I'm depressed or maybe just tired. I have three stories going as Works In Progress. In each case, when I reach a point where I needed to work out how to reach the next plot point I usually put that to the back of my mind to let my subconscious work it out. So as to keep the creative juices flowing I then pick up one of the other stories and find that my subconscious has a handle on how to proceed. I've been making great progress on all three stories

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Test Drive Series

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I want to thank everyone who has read the “Test Drive” series.
The stories are written with assistance from the Novel.AI application with a lot of editing to take out repetitive lines and add more of my own voice,
The name is from the game series “Test Drive”, originally by Accolade software
I listen to multiple versions of the theme to “The Duel” as I write.

The character focus are as follows:

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Some years back I read EE Nalley’s Belle Of The Ball story……

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And thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been trying to locate it for some time now, a d all I get are references to it being posted on either Sapphire’s Place or Stardust. Unfortunately, I am not able to open either site.

Does anyone know where the story can be found?

Thanks!

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How To Publish...

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My use of MS Word seems to be blocked. I have refused to use the "Cloud" because things seem to go missing from there. :( Perhaps another choice would be to use the BCTS utility to write but I have not done that before. I have not tried to write on MS Word, and scan that into BCTS.

I spent 5 hours + trying to go to their place of business. That was frustrating and I failed.

So far.... I feel that I am too ignorant to use something other than MS Word.

Working on it.

Ahabidah, Gwen Brown or what ever...

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Seven Levels of Fantasy

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The ol' YouTube algorithm offered up a vid during tonight's random sojourns across the Internet which I rather enjoyed, so figured to share so our authors and readers could also partake and either agree or disagree with this guy's assessment of "The Seven Levels of Fantasy":

The Seven Levels of Fantasy

Hope you also enjoy!! :)

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