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Well crap...

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So, today I wound up doing something I reaaaaallly hate doing... I cut a rather sizable chunk of my story. In fact, I can honestly say this is the largest single consecutive piece of a story I've ever cut totaling a whopping 15,000+ words which sets me back to a little over 100,000 words. Ouch. It's rather depressing, but unfortunately it had to be done. The story was headed in a direction I did not like and the only way to back out was to take this rather significant hit. There are parts I may be able to reuse, but most of it is a complete wash.

Sorry had to vent...

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Men and Flirting

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I have said before that some outfits can improve a man's appearance, and last night at work I got a good example of it. One of my supervisors was wearing a western-style dress shirt that flattered him nicely, and once I finished berating myself for noticing, I decided to give myself a break on the subject.

But it did get me thinking about flirting with men, and having a man flirt with me.

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Seven Years

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In two weeks, it will have been seven years since Sephrina recruited me to come to this site. I was a right mess when I got here. Looking at the Calender, it must have been the night that I returned from the hospital because of suicidal ideation, and had just been told that on the next day, Christmas Eve, I was being thrown out and installed in my own apartment, thus ending abruptly a marriage of nearly 40 years. By the time the divorce was final, it would be 40 years, 4 months. What the hell, this was supposed to be for life !

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I am no longer able to cope. I don't know what to do.

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I need to vent:
5 months ago the transmision went. Had to go to my sister for help getting it replaced.
Last week motor blows a bearing; back to my sister for help

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Stary Stary Night.

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There is so much peace in driving out through the desert, but I have never been out there in the winter. Sometimes I see pictures with snow out in the sage brush and wonder how it got there. We used to go out in the desert to camp. I loved looking up at the stars at night. Sometimes I would lay there under the jewel bright heavens and doze. Once in a while I'd wake up and look at the stars and I would notice that the Milky Way had swiveled a little. I remember that sort of like a time lapse movie. The nights when the moon was gone were the best.

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Owie

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So I went to my regular Thursday dance class today and a two songs in my ankle started feeling really stiff and a bit sore. I tried dancing a couple more songs but it just kept getting worse and I was making mistakes. My teachers usually tell me I'm one of the best in the class and are actually thinking of having me in one of their shows. fourth song in I was making more mistakes because of the pain and discomfort and it was throwing off my balance so I quit for the day.

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What do you think?

Hello everone! I'm of need of some opinions here. My book Heroes of Justice has lingered in the backroom for ages. There're many reasons why, but mostly because of the lack of a cover. Yes, I do know that many has come forward with solutions, but for me it turned into a mountain of frustrations.

Finally, money problems has forced my hand, so ready or not.

This is a cover I've put together that I think looks half-way decent. My question is what do you my three fans think? What might improve it?
Hugs
Grover

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The future of storytelling

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https://iversity.org/courses/the-future-of-storytelling

this is a link to an online course my girlfriend found for me :p

I thought at least some of you might be interested.

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Whatever the future may hold

Some time back I was outed by one of my nephews, a particularly nasty and unthinking individual whose actions have unfortunately caused me multiple issues, not to mention the total polarization of my ex-wife's family. My ex-wife was the only person outside of my therapist and my friends here who actually new that I was transitioning - my plan being to address this with my sons in the spring of 2014. My three sons, who at the time my nephew decided to tell the world were aged 17, 22, and 25, unfortunately found out in a less than optimal fashion.

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Okay, so now I am confused

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Well, I had my ultrasound on my foot, and I am more confused as to what's going on than ever. I started to sweat when the technician called someone else to look at my results, and all this other person would tell me was there was a possibility it was "scar tissue" and gave a Latin name which meant nothing to me.

So now I have to wait for a MRI scan, which wont happen until May, and then see the specialist.

Our system is free, but it sure takes a long time to get anything done ...

Ah, well.

What's a life without pain?

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Fighting illness and injury.

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Since last weekend, that is, the weekend of Dec 1st, I had been fighting an abscess on the back of my shoulder. That Sunday I went into the emergency room to have the abscess lanced and drained, which they did, after some big time pain. I left with a large bandage on my shoulder, and not much else except a couple of pricey prescriptions which I couldn't afford.

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Nice round number.

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I'm beginning to get the impression that I could be doing something right either that or my eyes are playing up, because according to my kudos counter, I have 140,000 of the little darlin's.

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Worried about Jaci (Tels)

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I am really worried about Jaci. She seems really down over the rejection of her family, and it seems like its getting worse as the holiday approaches.

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I blame it all on Noah

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I have been in recent correspondence with another writer who wanted to know why I don't allow public comments on my stories. I said that one negative comment had far more affect on me than 20 positive ones, and I felt I didn't have to take criticism if I didn't want it.

Nowadays, I have the courage to publish stories with public comments disabled. (And there's certainly plenty of moral bullying to imply there's something wrong with you if you don't allow public comments.)

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Car accident

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So on Black Friday I bought myself a Prius. It was silver. Now it's denty. I hit a deer. Bumper no long bumps, hood no longer covers engine, radiator bleeding some weird red liquid. My neck and back hurt. No airbags deployed. Geico needs me to get a police report and I don't know who to contact for the Florida Highway Patrol. Not happy.

For animal lovers: The deer lived, but I hope it gets eaten by a hungry rabbit.

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On The Subject OF Christmas Songs

This is one that you will definitely not hear in shopping malls. Take note of my warnings.

www.youtube.com.sg/watch?v=tEe55NxFSSU

Otherwise, have a very Merry Christmas,

Joanne

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My first ever raffle - Win something today (well in a week)

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This is my very first giveaway and using Rafflecopter, so I hope it all goes well. In celebration of hitting 10,000 sales on Amazon I am giving away a hardcover autographed copy of God Bless the Child (the book that got this whole ball of fun rolling). Sign up today, let's have some fun. Only one winner this time, but more fun to come in the upcoming months.

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Gender Marker Changes

I am in the process of getting my gender marker changed and have been thinking about what is required. Here in Texas, there are no hard requirements, because there is no legal procedure to get it done. Clerks in Tarrent county where I live have been instructed not to take petitions for gender marker changes. Therefore I am filing in Dallas county. There they require a letter from the Doctor and one from a Therapist as set by one of the local Judges.

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Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

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I just saw Le Proces de Jeanne d'Arc (1962) (in French with English subtitles that are more or less adequate, as these things go) and was struck that the huge problem for the Holy Church of the time was Jeanne's cross-dressing. Evidently, hearing voices and seeing angels was more-or-less fine, but doing it whilst ‘dressed inappropriately’ was anathema. TMTC,tMTStS.

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Thank Kylie for the picture on my latest story

You can thank Kylie for the cool image that goes with my latest story "Scavenger"

Give her a round of applause, folks!

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Xmas Songs You'll Never Hear In Your Local Shopping Mall

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This year I was determined not to hear 'Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time' until the day itself. Sadly it first assaulted my ears on November 15th.

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Blogging site interview

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I have been picked up by a website that reviews and promotes LGBT literature. I must admit, some of their stuff is a bit raunchy for me, but each to their own. The site is called 'Bending the Bookshelf', and they intend to post a short interview of me tomorrow.

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Bonnie and Clyde, a personal anecdote on that pair.

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And no, I wasn't alive back then. My grandfather was, though. He made his living as a butcher back in the thirties, moving between Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri as the work was available. I also know, from personal experience, that he was one mean SOB if provoked and a sane person did not want to make him mad at them.

Back when the original Bonnie and Clyde movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out he once told me that he'd known Clyde Barrow. Who was a mean SOB (that coming from one) who grandad wouldn't turn his back on.

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Hey Sleethr! Great stuff!

Instead of placing this in a simple comment, I chose to place it in a blog entry so more can see it. I've just finished re-reading MAU and Whisper. In case you were wondering where the extra kudos came from, it was me.

I'm very impressed with your storytelling skills. Both stories held my attention and enthusiasm all the way through to the satisfying endings. Your characters were very well thought out and fleshed out, til they became more real people to me as opposed to characters in stories.

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Xmas Tunes Acronym Quiz

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So, as we're well into advent, it's time to roll out my infamous Christmas Tunes Acronym Quiz again. This year, I've bumped it up to 160 songs - most of which are either carols or secular seasonal pop songs (i.e. ones that actually mention winter / snow / Christmas, rather than just those that share nothing in common with the season other than release date), but there's a handful of secular songs considered traditional and the occasional novelty / parody track.

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Apologies To The Odd Reader

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I do apologise to those few readers who may have been waiting for another chapter of my last story "After The Ball". I have just not been able to come up with anything which satisfies me or seems to be a valid continuation and so I have retitled the previous post "Just For The Ball?" with very minor changes to make it a stand-alone. If anyone thinks that they can continue the tale please feel free to do so. Just run it past me before posting. Sorry,

Joanne

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Update on Athena's Wisdom

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With the stress of being jobless and potentially homeless gone, I can refocus and get Issue Two finished and posted this weekend.

I'm calling my chapters Issues to be more comicbook geeky. :)

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Windows 8, What?

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So, I keep hearing more and more about Windows 8. Is anyone using it? What do you think? My Computer is "OLD", like 2009 old. It has a Window Experience Index of 5.1, what ever that is. An Intel Core Quad CPU Q8300 2.5 Ghz, 6.0 GB memory, 64 bit OS, and one TB hard disk, about half full.

I'm using Firefox unless I have to get on the VA and then I use Chrome.

Any ideas?

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Dickens? Seriously?

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I heard this comparison twice in the last two days and by two completely different unattached people talking about two different stories, one not even a member of the transgender community. I've heard this comparison before as well and I wonder if there is credence to it. I figured I would bring it up here and hopefully people will weigh in on the matter.

I have been, on occasion, compared to Charles Dickens.

There, I said it.

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Fragile, handle with care

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I find myself wondering why I feel so fragile. Is it that in taking of the male mask I am more vulnerable than I have ever been? Is it that I am now on hormones that equal what a teenage girl deals with? Is it that trying to deal with both my gender issues and my abuse I dont have a lot of emotional strength left for anything else?

I don't know, but the truth remains - I am more sensitive, more fragile now.

So be extra careful in handing me, okay?

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the worst accidental cliche

"Needless to say, the choice was oblivious."

I wanted to ,ry when i read this line in a story that Jasmine bought from amazon for $u

That and the 13 other typos made be set it for return

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Weather

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Weather in the Denver area interrupted power and connectivity to the server farm. They worked on the problem for quite a while then it took even longer to get all the servers rebooted. Looks like we are back online. :)

Hugs,
Erin

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I know this ground has been covered before

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How is it that readers can read something brilliant and not be motivated to click on the kudos button or leave a comment? The authors here, many of whom are exceptional, deserve our thanks! They work hard to post wonderful, well crafted, stories and we, for the most part, ignore them. It's not right! How much effort does it really take to click that button in thanks?

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Wish me luck *Update*

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I have a job interview this afternoon. It's for a job I'm way overqualified for. Can't find anything in my field, and this doesn't even pay decently. Working though, is better than not working.

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From Pixar: 22 Rules for Storytelling

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http://io9.com/5916970/the-22-rules-of-storytelling-accordin...

There aren't so much rules as bits of advice on how to tell stories, how to get ideas, and how to get unstuck.

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Under the knife in less than two weeks...

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One thing loosing my job has done, it has moved up my timetable on SRS. This is because SRS is covered on my old insurance, and part of my severance package was insurance for 11 weeks after I was laid off. I am prepared to buy COBRA if I have to if I need the insurance extended.

So, baring glitches, I will be going into an operating room and having what was supposed to be the final stage of my transition done. Like I said, it was moved up. I do not see myself ever being able to afford this on my own, and I qualify now (or will as of Dec. 16).

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Kindle News for Authors and Readers

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This concerns revisions and downloads. I just discovered that the copy of Reclamation that was offered in a 5-day free promotion is an older version. I updated all of my books in June of this year; all of the "Look Inside!" previews reflected that--yet the older version was sent out. Amazon is looking into it with me (several emails back and forth), because they're potentially liable if the book downloaded is not the book previewed!

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Ended my night at work in tears

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Well, things didn't go terribly well at work last night. I ended up actually sobbing from pain as my shoulder, my privates, my face, and my foot competed to see which one was gonna hurt the worst.

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New writer can someone proof read my story

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Dean wakes up in the middle of the night to find himself lying on the floor with blood covered over him. He is sluggish in his stance trying to get up because of the blood on the ground, he is trying to check his body for any wounds to see if he is the cause of the blood on the ground as he checks his self he notice there are no wounds or open cuts to his body and trying to figure out where did this blood come from.

Masks Dad's roasted veggies.

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This one's pretty basic really and you can feed a lot of people pretty well with big this one.

You'll need.

I tin foil roaster or standard kitchen one. Either will do.

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Looking for Story About Char Pretending to be Famous Friend's GF

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I'm looking for a story where the main character pretends to be famous/successful friend's girlfriend, and accompanies him to an awards night. Eventually the main character develops feelings for the guy and is distraught to find him one night with a prostitute.

I've tried various keywords but since I couldn't remember the title, I'm having a hard time.

Thanks!

Interesting video on gender identity

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Found an interesting documentary on gender identity and those who cross or blur the lines between the genders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIoVXMFI5Tw

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Yet another bl**dy birthday!

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As I fly towards my dotage at the speed of light, I seem to have gathered another anniversary of my emergence on this planet. All it seems to bring these days is another ache or pain somewhere new which seems an awful price to pay for a few birthday cards. Such is life (or my one appears to be).

Then again, I'm living the dream and have been for a very long time, so perhaps I shouldn't complain.

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Its not just us the Daily Wail hates

Given how many of us here from the UK have an issue with the misogynist prating of the likes of Richard Littlejohn you might enjoy taking a test to see how much the Daily Mail hates YOU personally

(And the test doesn't even mention TG)

Persephone

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Is being a girl a conscious choice?

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Had a long conversation with my brother and sister-in-law last night, and I am mulling over what my sister-in-law thinks of my transition.

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3 (wise) Christmas Stories on Kindle

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Now that we are in December I can announce that I have three Christmas stories available at Amazon for the Kindle - with a fourth coming feature Andrew Bryant from Unreachable.

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Working on Athena's Wisdom

One of the things I'm wondering about is if I'm making Archie a little too broken here in the beginning. I mean, yes part of writing fiction is torturing your characters for fun and profit. That said, I wonder if I'm being too hard on Archie too soon.

Things aren't going to get better anytime soon. Archie's story has some miles to go before it's done.

Just wondering...

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What do you write on?

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I have been wondering while writing my current story, what do people here use to write? I usually write on dreamweaver, i like the way it formats the htm, but the lack of an auto save can be a pain when it crashes (nearly lost an entire chapter from that). I have looked at word, but it seems to really mess up html, or at least over complicate it. I also seem to have a problem with conflicting spell checkers when it comes to us vs English spelling (color / colour etc.)

Lisa

A bit extra as i'm away for a couple of weeks

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A new book of short stories

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/kaleidoscope-ii/1...

only in print for now but will be ready for Kindle and PDF when I get back!

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And now, for the bad news.

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The bad news is that I am mourning the death of a very important member of my family...my computer, affectionately referred to as "the beast." He was an old laptop, 7 years aged, or 700 in computer years, and his presence will be missed.

What this means though, is that since I am basically borrowing pc's for the foreseeable future, updates will be spotty.

On a possibly related note, I've noticed many of the more experienced authors on here are also on kindle. How hard is that to achieve, really? I've been working on a little gem of a story for a bit over a month...it's nearing completion and I'm kind of hoping it'll pay for a new beast.

It sucks being poor.

This is some scary stuff for anyone to deal with

A story that my son emailed me about that is just now coming to light. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10486452/Child-taken-...

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Daily Mail: Humans are chimp/pig hybrids!

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The Daily Fail has scored yet another notch in the "WTF?" category with this article:

'Humans evolved after a female chimpanzee mated with a pig': Extraordinary claim made by American geneticist

  • Dr Eugene McCarthy points to features that distinguish us from primates
  • He says that the only animals which also have these features are pigs
  • Controversial hypothesis has been met by significant opposition

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A very real transgender story

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As most of you know, I am not TG in any respect, although I do seem to write a lot on the subject. I probably don't write as much, or as often as I should and my experience of TG matters comes from being on the outside, not the inside - which could be termed as a disadvantage.

My experience just got a little deeper recently however, and I would like to share that experience with you all with a little account here that I have just posted.

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‘The Other Side of the Wire’ is now on Kindle and Lulu.com

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The fourth work of fiction set in the Second World War depicts life in Nazi Germany from 1935 on. It was inspired by the life of Solomon Perel, a Jewish-German boy who at age ten escaped Nazi persecution in 1935 with his family by fleeing to Lodz, Poland. When captured by the Germans, he managed to conceal his identity from the Nazis and become a member of the Hitler Youth in the process. It was adeptly depicted in ‘Europa, Europa,’ a movie based on the book ‘I Was Hitler Youth Salomon’ an autobiography Perel wrote in 1991.

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Tis The Season - For Shopping!

A Holiday thought, Consider the following, "No one will even notice!"

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What do our stories say about us

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Ever since I sat down and decided that I was going to give being a published author a try, I have been very conscientious about the choices that I make and what I put down on paper. I know I am only a self published author using technology to my advantage, but certain questions should be raised.

What is transgender literature saying about the community as a whole?

Are you happy with the message?

How do you feel about terms like Sissy, Tranny, Shemale, Ladyboi, Slut, Bimbo?

Do you think the majority of stories accurately represent your struggles?

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Joe Bates and Sapphire's Place

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Just a shot in the dark, here, I decided to reread "The Joe Bates Saga" ay Sapphire's Place, after many years. I've gotten up to chapter 10 so far, except that the links for chapters 7 and 9 were broken. I don't know who, if anyone is responsible for the site, so I though that I would mention iy here. Does anyone know who I should contact?

TIA

Liz

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Fantasy Novel by a friend - Road of Leaves

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This book is written by a friend of mine from a local writer's group. It's a fantasy novel, no TG, but it is well-written and presents a very original idea. I helped with the editing. :

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A question about the Christmas contest

I have a question about the Christmas contest. I know its supposed to be about 3 wise men, but would 3 wise women be acceptable?

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I'm Insulted!!!

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I'm insulted. Yup, insulted! I went to Amazon and bought Katie's book "Unreachable" (wonderful story, recommend it to everyone) in Kindle format, downloaded the app for reading Kindle on a PC, and had a wonderful time reading yesterday. And then today...

Got an E-mail from kai(at)amazon.com, supposedly an "Account Specialist" with Amazon.com. Kai is concerned that

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