Quote by verbal
Colorado is closed today folks. Snowed yesterday, snowing now, and will snow most of the day. Fits my mood. At least I enjoy shoveling the drive and sidewalk, for some odd reason.
😲 You can keep it. Western Canada has snow, too, but it's been rather mild for November so far here. Waiting less than eagerly for the other shoe to drop.
scarfs another butter pecan cookie
Quote by Cora
Ironically I worked in a bakery as a teenager for a pastry chef from Switzerland.
LOL. My uncle is a retired Swiss pastry chef but I don't think he ever worked as one in his own country. He apprenticed in Vienna and then immigrated to Canada where he met my aunt. Worked in a hotel then at a private cricket and curling club. Grandad was a member so I suspect some mild nepotism.😉 We have been beneficiaries of his training many times.
Quote by Cora
Butter Pecan Cookies
Ape pounces "Butter Pecan" is like a magnet for me. And I shall have an organic chai with that, too.
Debating some possible thread topics to see what I can inject here. Writing and reading stuff would be ideal but, oddly for a writing site, those rarely get much attention. Oh well, I can try.
Lots of interesting themes as usual. Solarpunk conflicts, various horror riffs including reproductive horror, pagan songs and tales about "Fortune and Luck", high seas horror, and so much more. Lots are looking for particular minority or marginalized groups so do read carefully.
https://authorspublish.com/31-themed-submission-calls-and-contests-for-november-2024/
Speaking from the Land of the Maple Leaf, I love those maple leaf shortbreads. scarfs a couple
And coconut white tea? Hm. I'll try that.
Yeah, the US situation is not exactly the best we could hope for but vibes to the Americans. You'll need them, and probably would regardless of who won.
Too too many yummies around here. To go with them, I'll put on a pot of Kicking Horse Kick Ass coffee. For teas, how about some Red Rose and English Breakfast. Hot water is waiting if you want other teas or some hot chocolate.
One thing I will say positive is that Molly does an excellent job. Not sure if there are actually any other staff active right now. Meet the Team page shows Sherzahd as an admin and Gil and Rump as mods. But Rump is no longer active as far as I know and we have heard how Gil's life has been keeping her away. Not sure about Sherzahd.
And the second generation software is improving. There's more quirks than in other social software I have experience with and still some gaps, but has definitely improved of late.
Comps are a great promo and I look forward to them but for developing the site, they don't seem to be working. We get lots of drive by entries who are not otherwise active on the site, or at least drop by rarely outside comps. But, yes, keeping them going is a must for livening up the site for sure. Comps are one of the things about the site that I promote.
One of my songs of the year is probably going to be "Heavy Is The Crown", part of the surprise return of American rock greats Linkin Park. The band has always been hard to classify, with elements of alt-rock, metal, rap, and more, but their music is often powerful and dramatic.
New lead singer Emily Armstrong has been a bit of a surprise. Her previous band Dead Sara never came on my radar so my first experience of her was "The Emptiness Machine", the first new single. But it was the massive scream at around the 2 minute mark in "Heavy Is The Crown" that really sold me on Emily (it's at about 2:09 in this performance).
She's not a replacement for the late Chester Bennington, who was f-ing amazing in the band's noughties heyday, but kicks off a new era in the band's sound with rapper/vocalist Mike Shinoda and a couple other returning members providing continuity with the old era.
This is the song's live debut.
Good morning! Nice frosty, sunny Fall morning here in my world.
Putting on some Costa Rican medium roast coffee. Teas du jour are English Breakfast and Sunday Tea (black tea w. Bourbon vanilla). Hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate. Mini marshmallows are available for the latter, as always.
Continuing to plug away at a story. My mystery female character is, unfortunately, something of a mystery to the writer, too. Which is making it hard to get much further than I am. But I shall soldier in hopes that her secrets eventually come out.
Quote by JamesPBear
Writing and sites like this were a Godsend for me during the pandemic.
Me, too, really, though I had already been active here and there prior. I was probably at my most productive through 2020 and 2021 just because there wasn't much else going on so I had gaps to fill. Nowadays, life is back and it's harder to find the stretches of downtime I need for writing. Retirement will, of course, fix that but I am still not committed to a date.
Quote by JamesPBear
It may be that sites have a natural lifespan.
It depends on the subject matter, but as someone who has been frequenting non-writing forums for nearly 20 years (joined my first web forum in 2005, I think, and was somewhat active on a BBS or two in the 90s), most definitely wax and wane. Just feels like this wane is a rather prolonged and severe one.
On a more cheerful note, there's some Tobermory Grotto coffee brewing. Teapots are filled to the tippy top with Yorkshire Gold and Peach White. Hot water is on standby if you're craving other teas or a hot chocolate.
Bit chilly where I am but at least the sun is out and there's only a slight chance of showers in the forecast. Raking is likely on the agenda this weekend, along with some housework. Next week I am off to the GTA (not Toronto proper, but surrounding communities) for a party and to visit some folks we haven't seen since before the pandemic.
Quote by Cora
I will continue being an active member.
I will, too, but likely only for shorter pieces and comp entries. If I am putting in the effort to write a longer work, as I increasingly seem to be doing, I want it to be read and SS readers just don't seem that interested in longer, more complex writing anymore.
Quote by verbal
Sorry about your disappointment, Ape. I’ve tried to be good about commenting on stories here but have probably been lax. I will strive to do better.
It's not the lack of comments on my story, though, it's how it reflects the general lack of life on this site. I mean, on the forums right now, there's me, you, Cora, and the odd visit from Da Bear and Gil (who has good reasons for being scarce but still pops up from time to time). Even Anna seems to be scarce anymore and she was a staple on here for the past few years. Red is MIA, too, but given his age and health that surprises me less. Maybe one or two who only post in one or two threads from time to time. There's some people posting stories who aren't active on the forums, but that still does not add too many more active bodies.
Oo, Cinnamon Cupcakes sounds delish. takes a cupcake and an Organic Chai
I made Top Authors again but I can't say I am overly happy. Top author had 2 likes (it appears). I had one in second. Third was for an author who last posted a story back in January. Short version: activity here is low, perhaps the lowest I have seen. In terms of comments, I got probably 6-8 in threads on my other sites (and no, not that one) where I posted links to the story, even had some discussion about it. Here, I have one. I could have posted it on a blog site and got the same result, maybe better.
Sorry for the downer but I am a bit bummed about this place and not sure what more I can do to help. I have links all over the place, I promote the comps on other sites where I know there are writers, I have been poking a couple poets I know on one of my social sites to consider posting here (the forum where they are posting it on that site isn't publicly accessible without joining). One of them put out a couple fantastic pieces in October and she's just a teen.
Anyhow, I have a new story on the go. I would need to tone it down for here (it's a clear X right now but could be toned down to an R without breaking the story) so I am not yet sure where it will go if I finish it. It is also going to be long, coming up on 8K words and still in the early phase of the story. I plan to just keep going until it is done, then look at breaking it down into chapters. When I tried writing in chapters from the start, it tended to lose momentum. Genre-wise, it is basically a romance but I am wrestling with whether it is a straightforward romance or whether there will be a fantasy element, pushing into the paranormal romance or even romantasy world. Mysterious woman with mysterious background and how I fill in that mystery kind of decides where this lands in terms of genre.
Wow, what a heap of Halloween goodies. I shall get a pot of dark roast coffee going to go with those. Some Orange Pekoe and English Breakfast tea as well. If you need something cold, sodas are stocked. And there's hot water ready if you prefer other teas or hot chocolate.
My Halloween mood is not happening this year. Not sure why. I could probably let the day just slip by were it not for work having a Halloween luncheon.
Quote by JaxRhapsody
I've got a sci-fi romance, that's rather soft on the sci-fi, and based in my city, so world building is rather simple and it takes place about thirty to forty years in the future, and not too far off from what it's like today, with things they're trying to do today, like androids and electric cars.
Yeah, my default city for contemporary stories is basically an amalgam of two of the three cities I have lived in, heavy on the current one.
There is a near future s-f version of the city in a story on another site but it's dystopic and the story ends with the characters fleeing as a revolution sets the city ablaze.
Good morning, folks! Sunny, cool fall weather continues in my world.
Putting on some Deathwish Dark Roast coffee. Teas are Yorkshire Gold and Earl Grey. Washed up the pitchers and put them away. No one seems to be drinking iced tea and lemonade anymore. There's our usual selection of sodas if you need something cold. Fall shipment of hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows is in so I've got got hot water if you want that or other teas.
How goes it?
My new metal obsession is Nordic supergroup Cemetary Skyline. Their title of their debut album, Nordic Gothic, pretty much says it all. The band all come from Nordic death and black metal but here they deliver a dark but beautiful collection of gothic metal. Lead singer is Swede Mikael Stanne, whose regular gig is in melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. Here, he puts his powerful growls aside and focuses instead on his remarkably smooth baritone clean voice. The results are magnificent and this is challenging a lot of bigger name albums for my "album of the year".
Sunny but a bit chilly in my world. How's things out in the rest of the world?
I'll put on some La Chicas Dark Roast Nicaraguan coffee. For teas, I'll put on some Buddha's Blend and Sencha.
Working on a new story. It will be a long one but I'm going to do it in one big file and then break up into chapters later. I found trying to work in chapters was a distraction and might be part of why my other chapter pieces are flailing.
Basic plot is that a mystery woman is shipwrecked (well, boatwrecked) on the private island of a playboy tech billionaire. She's a biologist doing research in the area and convinces him to let her do research on the island. That opens the door to a relationship but her mysterious past eventually intrudes...😨 Right now, there's a scene early on that is too explicit for SS but I'll see if I want to stay on that track or tone it down to something R-rated so I can use this site. The scene just establishes the billionaire's cred as a "playboy" so could work without the sexy details. Genrewise I am thinking romance with a bit of a thriller element or maybe, depending on where I go with the mystery past, paranormal romance.
Quote by verbal
Dodgers-Yankees tonight (sorry Red). A classic American matchup! Who are you rooting for?
Really, neither. Baseball isn't my thing. But with a series like that, might be best to just flip a coin and then enjoy the fun unless you're a hardcore fan of one of them.
Goooooooooooooooooooooooood Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooorning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another week is winding to a close. Fallish weather is back in my world with some frost risk looming on the weekend. And things get spooky in the coming week. Very scary, kids!
For some seasonal caffeine, we've got Dragon's Lair Dark Roast from Bones Coffee. Ooooooo.
Tea wise, we've got some Pumpkin Spice Chai (not my groove but it's seasonal) and Raspberry Royale.
Pitchers are washed up and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Soda stock looks good.
How's things? Plans for the weekend?
Ankor are based in Spain but have a (fantastic) English lead singer and (absolutely amazing) Greek drummer. It's a great band that I came across maybe a year or two ago. Metalcore base with other musical influences layered around it. New album is out today. This is the title track.
Quote by verbal
The sure outcome is it is gonna take at least a week to figure out who won, maybe longer.
I'll be shocked if there's a clear winner by Inauguration Day at the rate things are going. Sad to see an election in the "world's greatest democracy" probably settled by judges rather than votes. Vibes, Americans. You'll need them.
Quote by JamesPBear
I also recommended StoriesSpace as a place where they could work on writing their own stories.
I do this from time to time but, yeah, it doesn't seem to get much action out. Oh well, at least you tried. Need to get a copy of the book downloaded. Just be warned that my patience for actually reading fiction is a bit low right now. At least I have some motivation for reading this one.
Good morning! Take warning! The coffee is hot and in the pot! So's the tea for me and thee!
How's things, everyone. Back to more seasonal weather after a nice warm spell. Overall, it has been a fairly nice October. Trees around my yard haven't even dropped much save a couple that always come down early.
Good afternoon! Long meeting this morning and I now feel like crap. Son and d-i-l are in town for a few days, so at least I get to see them this week.
Quote by verbal
11 days until the election.
Vibes for you and the other Americans. I hope this turns out better than it appears it will and you end up with a proper, peaceful transition of power.
