I’ve had very mixed reactions to Blink and Last Dance of a Black Widow (the latter being more a character study than an actual story). It’s funny, because most people enjoyed the two stories. But a good amount of readers who didn’t like them did not like them NOT because they were poorly written or because they were bad stories. In the case of Blink, which is 3,000 words, people wanted more and thought I was just teasing them with what they felt should have been a prologue for a longer book, not a stand alone short story. A lot of readers (despite the fact that the story was free) felt that they had been cheated in some way or another. As for Last Dance, also 3,000 words, many readers wanted the actual story of the main character’s life, not just the story of her death.

Again, as a writer, I have my stories to tell, and I told them. Both these stories, despite what readers wanted, told the stories I wanted to tel. Would I like to expand on Blink one day, write a creepy sci-fi thriller? Maybe Would I like to explore the life and times and Abbey Whistler? Sure. She intrigues me, and I created her! One day I hope to, but that would require writing full time because I already have a full slate of books to write, enough to fill several years only writing 1-2 hours a day.

Thanks again, off to bed, I have to do a root canal in a couple of hours

Thanks for your comment. It’s always enjoyable to have the opportunity to interact with an author so I appreciate you stopping by. You did a wonderful job of creating a story out of the “Vick” situation and I appreciate your effort.

As for the slow start, I’m not really advocating a more explosive beginning. Rather, some suspense and spookier events before the “unveil” of the ghost dogs would have been enjoyable for me personally, but I also understand that the story you wanted to tell was something a little different.

As for the typos, I’ve grown accustomed to seeing them in digital books and, in all honesty, “Dogs” wasn’t as bad as others I’ve seen in that department.

Again, thanks for stopping by. I also downloaded your short story “Blink” and look forward to reading it.

Clark

This story was always going to be about violence, about stoking anger in the reader. I wrote it years ago after the Michael Vick episode, and being a dog lover, it was my way of finding some closure, finding some sense of vengeance, in the whole despicable episode. I never wanted to flesh out the character of the bad guy. I wanted him to be nebulous. I wanted him to be the everyman. I wanted him to reflect the evil that is hiding everywhere without giving him a real face.

. I think part of the problem I have (aside from a grammatical error here and there) is that the audience I am writing for isn’t around anymore. We’re all guilty of it to one degree or another, a short attention span of sorts, where if we aren’t pulled into something right away we get bored quickly. Of course, give someone an author they know and love, they are more than happy to slog through a slow beginning. Give them a new author, and fighting through those first couple of pages can be a chore sometimes. I’m won’t lie; I’m the same way. Sometimes I wish I could start my novellas more explosively, but I make no apology for starting slowly. It’s what I do. “Fotoshop of the Gods” and “King of the Merge” are the same way, slow starters.

Okay, I’m done. Not trying defend myself because you were totally fair in your appraisal. Just wanted you to get into my head a little. Again, thanks for not only reading, but taking the time to write a little bit about “Dogs”.

You’re just one of many who have asked me about Bible translations. Most frequently, I am challenged by the “King James” only crowd who fail to recognize that the King James is merely a translation and not the original manuscript.

For study, I have about a dozen different Bibles at hand, a few in print and a bunch on my Kindle. Plus there are various websites I turn to from time to time.