Mindsight Forum: Hi... An Update

Hi... An Update Log Out | Topics | Search | Forgot Password?
Moderators | Edit Profile

Mindsight Forum » The Mindsight Forum » Hi... An Update

« Previous Next »

Closed: New threads not accepted on this page

Author

Message

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 66
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 02:40 pm:

Hi friends. It's been a while. Thought I would sign in and say hi. I think the last time I visited I had published a short story on Amazon. Now, I find it's as difficult getting it off Amazon as it is to get it accepted. Anyone with similar experience?

Now I'm more creative than I've been in years. Cranking out short stories and, well, a couple of poems. Has anyone heard of FanStory? I think I mentioned it here before. I've been a member there for about a year. Think of it as the world's largest writer's workshop. My last story, "What A Hundred'll Do" posted on a Friday. By Monday I had over 50 reviews, which, taken all together, massively helped me tighten it up and get it ready to send out to market (with the three piggies.) These reviews came from across the U.S. and as far away as England, Australia and Scotland. As I have with some of you, I've developed life-long friendships -- and one or two boats.

That's half of the story. The other half is reviewing. I call it critting (and have a whole series, in an ongoing book on FanStory, entitled "How This Critter Crits." You can pop on FanStory and sample it or any other writing.) But, the important thing to mention is how my discernment as a critter has improved by critting other writing there. And, that, of course, transfers over to my writing.

Hey, guys, it doesn't cost a penny to look and sample and (if you're anything like me) fall totally in love with their underlying philosophy of writer helping writer. Click on the whatayoucallit I pasted here to take a peek at it.

http://www.fanstory.com/index.jsp?rec=151767

So, talk to me. What do you think of that? Or anything else?

Joyce Scarbrough
Unity Member
Post Number: 1073
Registered: 03-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 05:57 pm:

Hey there, Jay! I've missed you and will make an effort to come check out your new playground!

~Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
True Blue Forever
ISBN 0-9722385-9-X
Different Roads
ISBN 0-9722385-3-0
Authors Ink Books
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com

Read the first chapters: http://www.authorsden.com/joycelscarbrough1
Waste time on Joyce's Blog: http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztz5e3XZeo

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 68
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 07:45 pm:

I can double-damn-guarantee you you'll love it, Joyce, or the next big orunge is on me.

Jay

Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number: 4450
Registered: 01-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 08:21 am:

Hi Jay. Glad to see you. I just started a new part time job last week so have been out of touch with everything. I'm happy to hear you are still writing. :-)

Laurel Johnson
http://laureljohnsonblogs.blogspot.com

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 69
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 10:41 am:

Thanks for the howdy, Laurel. Good luck on your new job. I hope it allows plenty of time for the real work!

Jay

Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 3599
Registered: 02-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 08:16 pm:

Howdy Jay...

Unfortunately, I barely have time enough to get my own work done, let alone review a lot of other work from everyone else. I generally try to go through things from friends (for the most part...I think I may be neglecting something of Gloria's at the moment...irk), but Fanstory seems like something I just wouldn't have the time or energy to do.

I will attempt to find some time over the weekend to check out your work over there...but you might need to bug the crap out of me.

Gloria obviously hasn't, and you see where that's led.

Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog

Gloria Marlow
Unity Member
Post Number: 1963
Registered: 04-2002

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 08:43 pm:

Hi, Jay.

Todd, please don't worry about that. It is undergoing a MAJOR rewrite -- including a new title, a new ending, as well as the addition and subtraction of major bits.

Gloria

Gloria
www.gloriamarlow.com
Flowers for Megan**Shades of Silence**The Butterfly Game

Tom Elkins
Wisdom Member
Post Number: 768
Registered: 01-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 - 07:59 am:

Hi, my friend. You know, of course, that you are ruining the stereotypical image of us old guys. You're supposed to turn into a curmudgeon (whatever that is...all I know is that Mencken was one, and I aspire to it). Good to hear from you.

Tom Elkins
NORTH of TEXAS
www.authorsden.com/tomelkins

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 70
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 05:06 pm:

Good hearing from both my other buddies, Tom and Todd. BTW, Todd, I'm not trying to get anyone to pop over there and look at my stuff. I'm just sold on the site, that's all. I have made hundreds of new friends there, but I kinda miss the input I got from my "old" (thanks Tom) friends. I went there out of curiosity about a year ago just to look at it, and I can say without reservation that my writing has improved a hundredfold since being active on the site. Why? Because of the unique combination of reviewing other writer's works and getting my own output reviewed by forty or fifty other writers.

I'm going to enter FanStory's Flashfiction contest next month. All their contests reward the winner (with the voting done by the memebers of FanStory) with a $100 Visa card. And, there are about 10 contests a month, ranging from poetry to short stories to scripts. In all cases the writer retains full rights to his/her work. You'd be lucky to get $100 if you sold your story to a magazine. The last one I sold to a mag I got $15 honorarium and a year's subscription.

If you do check it out and have any questions please let me know, either here or at my email addy.

Love ya'll

Jay

Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 3601
Registered: 02-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 05:27 pm:

"What a Hundred'll Do" was an interesting story. Confusing at points, but overall fun to read...

Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 71
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 - 10:17 pm:

Thank you, Todd, for going to FanStory. I meant it when I said I wasn't angling for you to read anything of mine. Pleased that you did, but my interest was just in turning people on to what I have found so helpful. I'm just a helpless turn on, I guess. Did you get to see what contests they offer? If you have any questions, shoot away.

Jay

Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 3602
Registered: 02-2003

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 - 02:42 am:

I consider myself a pretty smart guy, but it took me a while to navigate around Fanstory...their "search" feature looks to be little more than a link to yahoo's search engine, which was very annoying when I was attempting to put your name in to search (and it kept on changing the page over to Yahoo).

I still have no idea how I found my way to your story...but somehow though a series of clicks I saw your name at the top of a page. ;-)

Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 72
Registered: 04-2004

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Monday, May 28, 2007 - 12:13 pm:

Yeah, Todd, that would annoy me, too. Being a paid member of fanStory, when I access it I go right to the home screen. I assumed you would too. Tell you what I'm going to do. Without identifying you or Mindsight I'm going to bring this to the attention of the site "owner" (I guess that's what he is -- everyone calls him Tom) and see what's up. I want to see if you went in the back door or the front. We get answers there very quickly, so I'll get back with you on it.

Jay

Jay Squires
Hunger Member
Post Number: 73
Registered: 04-2004

Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!)

Posted on Monday, June 04, 2007 - 12:58 pm:

Todd n' all:

I reported my contact with Tom Ens, the CEO or whatever he is (important person) with FanStory. I cut and pasted the entire sequence of correspondence from Todd on this thread (without mention of names), along with my response as intermediary and Tom's comment. Somehow I couldn't get it to post here. I probably vacated the post after it showed what it would look like when posted --thinking the deed was done! Anyway, the bottom line of it all was that Tom apologized, saying he believed there was a server problem. All I can say, Todd, and anyone else reading this, is to urge you to work beyond the glitches to get to the meat of the program. What I would suggest you do is join it initially for one month (It's three bucks and change.) I promise if you pay the first month you won't have to be asked to pay the second. I promise because it's that good! I joined for two years at sixty-some dollars. I can't even put a price tag on what I learned there or how it energized the renewed excitment I feel for writing.

Jay

a1209520092155 (Unregistered Guest)
Work-in-progress guest
Posted From: 210.188.216.67

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 03:48 am:

Administration