Merry Christmas

Well, it looks as if I may just manage to get one new story under my belt by December 31, bringing the annual total to 2, so it won't have been a totally wasted year. Part of the reason for my lack of productivity is that I've been involved in an unrelated non-web project which has been eating into more of my spare time than I thought it would. I may be doing less of that next year, and if so I'll have more time to write.

I'm also hoping to finish Ketrin Part 9, if not by the end of the year then at least by mid-January.

Oh, boy, Ketrin. Is it me, or does it seem slightly ludicrous to spend nine years writing a novel and only manage to complete 10,000 words a year? I keep telling myself to hurry up and finish the damn thing, but as usual it just crawls along at its own pace. Believe it or not, I do have an ending planned which will make some kind of logical sense and give satisfactory closure to the various character arcs,* and nobody will be happier than me if I manage to complete it before the ice caps melt.**

The thing is, I've always considered Ketrin to be my baby. I've lavished what I hope is some good prose and plotting on it, and I've always tried to make the characters and their environments as varied and interesting as possible. Unfortunately, that means anyone who wants to read it just for the porn is going to be disappointed by all the non-erotic material, and anyone who just wants an adventure story may be put off by the sex.

Or am I just over-analysing here? The last thing I want to do is come across like Dan Shive, bless him, who spends an entire page analysing the minutiae of each six-panel strip.

I did post a link to Ketrin on Pages Unbound, where it received glowing praise for its prose and some useful criticism over other points. But apart from that solicited opinion, I've had little or no feedback about the story. (No, Marc, I'm not talking about you.) I supose I shouldn't complain too much - this is the internet, after all, where anything can happen and very seldom does, and when it does it's often with glacial sloth.** All I'm saying is, if there is anyone out there who's actually reading and enjoying my stories then please, please, please let me know about it. There's the link, right over there.

Have a great Christmas and I'll try to update more frequently n 2009.

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*Note: I've never liked the term "arc" because it implies something that goes up and then comes crashing back down again. I'd prefer a word that suggests continuous progress instead, but apparently there isn't one in common usage.

**I believe these two references constitute a mixed metaphor of sorts. If the ice caps melt there won't be any glaciers either.

Wow, no updates for over a year

Checking my site stats, I notice that I had a couple of visits from the link on Blogmalion, which reminded me that it's been over a year since I updated. I originally set up this blog to talk about all of the exciting projects related to my site... except that there haven't really been that many at all. Shamefully it's been well over a year since I wrote a female story (Flora and Fauna), and over six months since I posted my last male story (part 8 of Ketrin). Most of the updates over the past few months have been related to other people's work, most notably the Taral Wayne gallery, but when it comes to writing my own fiction the muse seems to be taking an extended vacation right now, although I have been slowly working on Ketrin Parts 9 and 10. Believe it or not, I do have an ending planned for Ketrin, although at the rate I'm going it'll be years before anyone gets to read it, and I'm as depressed about that as anybody.

Meanwhile, some stupid mother****** went and spammed out the Pygmalion Yahoo! Group, but I'm less pissed off about the spammer than about Yahoo!'s apparent indifference to the problem. Abandoned groups are sprouting spam like weeds and Yahoo! does nothing about it. Does anyone have a physical address for the Yahoo! Groups HQ, preferably with a large window through which some heavy blunt object might hypothetically be thrown???

Anyway, this is just to let everybody know that I'm not quite ready to drop dead yet, and neither is this blog. As always feedback, criticism and/or advice would be appreciated.... anybody? Hello?

How stupid do they think I am?

Here's an e-mail I received today:

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It's nice to know that my site is "adeptly designed and rich with content", but why do I get the feeling that they haven't even read the fucking thing?

Meet the new year... same as the old year?

Good grief, look at the time. It's already halfway through January, one twenty-fourth of the year has gone already, and what have I got to show for it?

Well, I have spent some time working on a new female story and I've been plotting the next instalment of Ketrin. In addition, I've been looking for some of the missing images on the Medusa Realm Statue Art Pages.

Last year I managed to complete 7 new stories. That's pretty good - I only managed to beat that once, with 8 stories in 2004. I'd love to match or exceed that total this year, but I'm juggling several other projects at the moment, not all of them related to the site, and sadly none of them involving money.

Anyway, given that not all I'm doing is related to the site I've decided that not all of my blog post will be related to it either. Stay tuned for some of my crappy opinions on all and sundry.

MX Missive

A Merry Christmas and a Happy 2007 to all my thousands of demented fans.

Um, sorry, that was meant to read "devoted". I think.

Next year I hope to turn this into a real blog where I post more than once every three months. All I need to do is find something to say every week or two. That should be easy, I mean, what about... um...

Sigh.

See you in the New Year.

I ate'nt dead

Ever had several of those months when you just can't think of anything to say?

Misfortunecity resolved

Well, the domain is safe, at least until next renewal time rolls around. I finally convinced Fortunecity's stupid software to accept my money. I'd be dancing for joy if I wasn't about ready to collapse from nervous exhaustion.