Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report

Roll up, roll up for the Grand Opening!

That is an outstandingly efficient opening, rich in atmosphere and managing to establish the character bonds and explain their personalities in no time at all! And the premier chapterette is exceptionally small, too! I imagine the average word count per submission will be climbing over the course of the uploading, but so far I'm both thankful for the bite-sizedness of the chapter files, and in awe of how much you manage to tell in those small windows!

Then there was that smooth spotlight delivery by Claire, captivating to read despite the meticulousness of detail! Could just be my relation to con-goers on the Polymer Clay Sculpture Track, but it read very easy while also getting across the down-to-carpet nerdiness.

(And offering helpful advice to those interested while it's at it!)

Having vivid flashbacks to the times of your panda-suited vampire lady and her consensually captive con-going companion.

Sadly, I'm currently cresting the monthly peak of activity at work, so a more thorough reading and the typo safari (came back mostly empty-handed so far) would have to wait until the weekend.

Excited as can be to see the beginning of the uploading conga line, though! Thank you for sharing your formidable skill and inspired vision with us!

Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report

Thanks! I think cons are a fun location; it's just a challenge to convey some of the feeling of it to someone who hasn't been. I remember reading Dresden Files book with a con setting after I'd been to a couple, and I couldn't recognize it at all (though it was still a vivid setting). Hopefully this will get a little bit of it across, even if the whole story doesn't happen there.

Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report

The red-eyed, mini-meritocratic, haphazardly gregarious feel of the aspiring creator branch of a pop culture fandom setting comes through very vividly in the opening chapter, in my view, like a sort of a modern day sewing circle/tinker workshop incarnation with all the associated crowded pettiness, resource-starved improvising and compassionate solidarity.

Even if the story strays from the cons themselves, conveying the con atmosphere is perfect way to introduce the social stratus that the protagonist is confined in -- unless the story strays far from that, as well, and Claire ends up becoming a Senator or something.

Have heard lots of good things about Dresden Files, but can't claim a closer familiarity than that, unfortunately; having some old, settled knowledge become recontextualized by acquiring pertinent new experiences is a great feeling, though!

Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report

Yes! There was some thing of a sewing circle thread, actually, but I cut it for length and relevance. I'm glad some of the feel of it remained, though!

Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report

A toast to all the creative work that has ever gotten slashed to make the parent project smoother!

Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report

Also, regarding length - right now chapters are ranging between 2k and 5k words, but I'm going to see if there's a good place to split up the longer chapters, maybe even make a cliffhanger or two along the way. :)

Posted by Astronommy 4 years ago Report

That sounds wonderful, provided you are comfortable with this method of uploading, and not pandering to the preferences of a vocal minority of your audience!

Posted by Bitter 4 years ago Report

This made me think back to "32", and the viewpoint character's fixation on Maleficent. Your stories have a grounding in the real that I appreciate-- there's a sense of the actual lived experience that they're being spun out of.

Posted by 4ofSwords 4 years ago Report

Thanks! There's a convention I don't understand to avoid allusions to real touchstones - politicians, social movements, or whatever, unless it's some kind of orgy of appreciation like Ready, Player One. I don't think my stories are in real danger of being dated (or rather, suffering due to being dated), so I figure there's not much to lose! It's great to hear it works to their benefit sometimes. :)

Posted by Sauvegarde 3 years ago Report

"What smelled cravable in a moment of weakness invariably was sour a few minutes later"

Alright, I'm convinced. Let's see where it goes.

Posted by 4ofSwords 3 years ago Report

Enjoy!