So. Raise your hand if you've tried to check the Statistics on one of your stories and nearly wound up Reporting yourself.

...just me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaC02yRFMCY

This was done by Goombasa ( http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Goombasa ) with my permission. (He asked me a few days ago.) Yes, I'm flattered. And, as I told him, slightly weirded out, but...

I'm about to give it a listen myself and have cross-posted the notice to the story's Commentary section.

Well, that was unexpected.

...is it possible to have a story get a four-digit number of readers without having any degree of war break out in the Comments section?

*sigh*

Okay, minor Writer's Workshop here where I try to figure out what my mental underlayers were doing, plus I just felt like being honest and putting this stuff down. You know the drill: on the count of three, everyone find a pillow and commence snoring.

Read More

One of the basic principles of marketing is 'When you find something people like, give them more of it.' Which sometimes results in a backlash as consumers discover that twenty ounces of that new drink per day is good for your health and sixty means your health is never going to be an issue again, but hey, as long as the corporation made more in profit than it's paying out in damages, that's America!

Read More

For those wondering where the next chapter on the main work is, I'm hoping tomorrow or Wednesday. I've been hit with a combination of insomnia and virus: between the two, I haven't attempted to write that much over the last few days because I need my head to be clear for the run.

Yes, I'm aware there are blog reader jokes to be inserted here.

Also, it seems I am now Pony Hitler. I'm not entirely sure what to do with that.

Read More

Imagine you're crossing an empty highway on foot. It was closed down by the state fifteen years ago and there hasn't been a vehicle on it since. You walk across it all the time without fear or notice: there's no one around to see you and the last thing which could have hit you is currently being scrapped in a junkyard. So you take your time. And then you hear the sound of a hundred eighteen-wheelers approaching. They're all doing 90 mph. And you didn't pick up on them until the first one

Read More

That's what I'm starting to call late revisits to chapters for minor error fixes -- because those errors are generally in her dialogue. It's one thing to decide on a system of word alterations which represent her accent, something to give the suggestion of it without having to spell everything out phonetically. It's another issue entirely to catch all of them. 'And', for instance. When AJ is speaking, it's written without the final letter: an'. Do you know how many times 'and' can

Read More

Dear Princess Celestia,

The act of writing and posting a new story will do absolutely nothing to promote the reading of any previously existing stories.

Go figure.

I've been wondering what I'm after in telling this story -- other than just hoping to complete it. What am I looking for? Well -- realistically...

...maybe a hundred readers getting all the way through the last chapter. Of course, given the potential number of chapters remaining and the rate at which I lose viewers from section to section, that means I'm going to need about 2500 unique readers on Chapter One. So -- probably not going to reach that goal.

Read More

In most cases, just about every writer will bring their own spin to established characters. I'm one of those who frequently feels more like I'm watching the action from a short distance away more than I'm making anything take place, but the little changes happen with me as much as anyone else. Eight chapters into the larger story and while I still think the known cast is recognizable as themselves -- at least to the point where open revolts could be minimal (oh, who am I kidding: at this

Read More