Parasitic Love

Nico, it is indeed an interesting premise.  I am just getting started on the second chapter.  

The author has just posted the ninth chapter and indicates that it will be a while before another is ready.  Author's comments also suggest that the story is being created on the fly, rather than proceeding from a plot outline.  The story just underwent a major change in venue, dragging new characters into the mix.  If the author doesn't have at least a rough plan, this could be a very challenging transition.  Your caution is probably justified.  But if the story does eventually finish, and if I remember to do so, I'll post a message here. 

It appears that your skepticism was justified, Teddy.  After a good start, "Parasitic Love" started posting new chapters sporadically.  Then the author posted a new story about a week ago and has pushed up seven chapters pretty quickly.  "Parasitic Love" hasn't seen a new chapter in a month.  It may be completed someday, but I probably won't stick around long enough to find out and post the news to this forum. 

I'll often go to the last chapter and read the last sentence or two, trying to figure out if it ends or sounds like to continue. And if it does end, I hope those sentences don't reveal too much or that I won't really remember by the time I read to the end.

"Parasitic Love" had an interesting premise and was fairly well written. I hope the author does finish someday. Engaging ideas, great action and likeable characters are only so interesting if the story never offers the reader any sort of closure.

It's good that some sites are making an effort to work with authors to help keep readers engaged. Teddy's issue with authors that don't finish stories is frustrating for me, and for many others I suspect. IOMfAtS is a good site that is more than just a place for authors to dump product. Awesome Dude is another good site. This site seems pretty good about trying to build community to help both readers and authors. I'm sure there are others.

GA is a bit too large a community for my taste. There's so much going on there that I have a hard time finding good authors whose subject matter interests me. For some reason, I don't often visit there. I just happened to stumble across "Parasitic Love" because I was checking progress on another story. But I think that community, while there's certainly a lot of energy there, could benefit from some structure and focus. It isn't often that I wander through the front door of a building, look around, and feel lost. But that happens to me a lot at GA.

It's just an odd thought- and I have a lot of them- but I wonder if anyone has really given any thought to creating an environment that would help give many of the inexperienced authors some idea about what engages readers and how to direct their work toward building an audience. General forums are nice, but often lead to some pretty unfocused feedback. I wonder if there would be any interest in a place where authors could get serious feedback from readers. For many authors in the LGBT fiction community, writing seems to be little more than a form of catharsis. But I suspect that some may be interested- and some certainly are good enough to benefit from- an opportunity to receive constructive feedback not only on what they do, but on how they do it. Creative writing classes are certainly a good place to learn how to create effective stories. But I think it helps to hear directly from readers if an author wants to figure out how to build a base, or community, for their creative outlet.

You're going to love this suggestion, David, but the ideal person to provide the feedback to the authors that I'm talking about is you.  I know it's not the role you volunteered for when you set up and paid for this site.  But in many ways you have a role similar to those fabled old pulp fiction magazine editors from the '40s and '50s who read hundreds of unsolicited manuscripts, recognized real but unrefined talent among a number of their young would-be contributors, and took the time to guide the more promising writers with suggestions about how their work could be improved to better appeal to mass audiences.  Some of those smart contributors listened to the advice they received and are among some of the better known and respected authors that we grew up with in the '50s, '60s and '70s. 

From time to time I see authors in the LGBT fiction community who clearly have a talent, yet are still in need of polish, or perhaps are even still very rough.  It would be good for them if they had a place to go to, if they wanted, to get feedback that was more constructive than simply hearing what caught a reader's interest or what turned the reader off.  If authors had a place to go where they could dialogue around what they were trying to do and get feedback about how they might better achieve their objective, or hear a comprehensive perspective on their work, it would give them the opportunity to improve the quality of their work considerably.  I know it happens sometimes, as Solsticeman explains that his publication of "Shades of Gray" on IOMfAtS came with the provision that he significantly edit the original Nifty story to focus on its strengths and edit out the dross, but I don't think this is happening in any comprehensive manner across the community.  It seems rather hit-or-miss, with authors who show promise turning out work after work without marked improvement in their skills.  I guess the free, electronic mass distribution format doesn't lend itself well to that sort of author and editor relationship, but it seems like something could be done to support authors who have a real interest in improving their style and developing skills that make them more effective writers.  People rarely develop their skills in any field, writing included, without effective teachers or mentors. 

Anyway, that's just a rant of mine that bubbles to the surface unexpectedly on occasion.  I've been told that medication may help, but there's really no cure.  I do want you to know that I appreciate that you took the time to read and respond.

I think that's an interesting idea.  It may not amount to much, but I think it would be a good thing if authors and readers did make serious use of it.  Whatever the motives of an author, the relationship between author and reader is essentially a business transaction.  If the author isn't creating a product that readers appreciate and want, he or she is wasting their time, unless they really do derive a benefit from the writing process alone.

I offer constructive criticism to authors on occasion.  Some respond quite magnanimously and are open to considering what I say.  But like you, I've discovered that some authors simply aren't interested in using feedback to improve their writing skills.  Either they write for catharsis and aren't overly interested in working on skills, or perhaps they're simply too insecure in their work to hear anything critical without becoming defensive.  It's too bad, because I've run across a few amateur authors who I think really have something to offer if they could refine their writing and storytelling skill.

Anyway, thanks for taking my idea seriously.  It's good to know that my thoughts may have a chance to result in something productive.