From: smccrory@calweb.com (Selma McCrory) Subject: Mistakes, 6/6 Date: 02 Sep 1996 21:50:35 -0800 I need to post this early, so I hope everyone doesn't mind... This is the last (huff) part (puff). For those of you joining us, part 0 has the important stuff like where to get back parts, disclaimers, and author's notes. Please ask me for it if you haven't already. Since this *is* the last part, it is time for my standard plea for comments. I know some of you are reading this, but I don't know how many as most of you comment after a story is finished. Since this is also the beginning of the school year, I know that many of you may not finish soon. Therefore, if you do manage to finish the piece, at whatever time, I would appreciate any comments, praise, etc. that you have about the story. I am especially interested in comments from people who read the related story, "Telepathic Ghosts". You can reach me at smccrory@calweb.com. ------ Mistakes by Selma McCrory copyright 1996 part 6 His head obviously hadn't cleared. I groaned inwardly, and then tried to get him to shut up. [Shh. Use telepathy. They can't hear us this way. Darn teleporting flashes....] He leaned back while I quickly tried to loosen the ropes. I had hoped that he would be awake enough to teleport with a little help, but obviously, that wasn't to be. I kept working at the bonds, hoping that no one would see me. * * * I nearly had the bonds undone. Oliver had woken up more, but he still didn't sound coherent enough to teleport. He was making a lot of sense, but every so often I knew he was feeling topsy-turvy. Why? He was projecting. Most of my kind can pick up feelings if they work on it, but at least one could project their feelings. I wondered if Theona would be able to train Oliver on their shared ability. Of course, I had to get him out of here alive and prevent Perrin from shooting him. [Why don't you teleport?] I asked Oliver. [I can't, I don't think. I think they drugged me. I'm not sure. Besides, they'd see you.] Yep, he wasn't thinking straight. But I was inclined to humor him. Maybe if I pointed out the obvious to him. [I can teleport too, you know.] [Keep working on those knots.] I rolled my eyes. I don't know where this kid's mind was going, but I hoped to be done before his feelings knocked me out of commission. [Okay. But any sign of trouble, I teleport you out. Why do you want me to untie you, anyway? I was just going to loosen them so that you could concentrate.] [I can't. I just want to feel free of these ties before we go. Besides, they'll just assume I escaped normally that way.] I wasn't going to win by arguing with him. I'd have to just untie him and hope we got away. Luckily, no one seemed to be around at the moment. [Wise idea,] I said finally. [We don't belong here.] As he spoke, I knew I'd projected that last comment. [Huh?] I ignored him to work on the bonds. * * * Some thugs had come in, but I'd retreated and Oliver was doing a very good imitation of a drugged kid. Which wasn't too hard. It looked like they were setting things up, but once they made sure Oliver was still there, they hadn't paid much attention to him. I scrambled back behind Oliver as a large, heavily-built, red-haired man who had to be some relation to the kid walked into the room. The boss of the thugs spoke. "Trevor. How nice to see you again. I see you've got a bit of grey." The big man, Trevor, growled. "What have you done with my son?" Oliver, I could tell, was excited. [Dad!] he told me. The man had to be his father. Trevor spoke again. "What do you want?" "Your death." The boss sounded pleased with himself. I wondered if I should have been watching gangster movies instead of all the science fiction. A second later, that proved moot. Another familiar voice spoke in my head. [Nellie!] Great. Adam Newman. And probably others of this time, as well. How many of them were there? I think it was five or six. I decided that I'd ask when we got back. Oliver, meanwhile, was getting rather agitated. [Dad! They're going to kill Dad! Please, Nellie, get Dad out of here!] [We've got to get you out first!] [No!] he replied urgently. I tried to figure out which one of them to save. And, just to make my life easier, I had to do all of this *and* get away from Adam and his bunch. And their lives were in danger too. [You've got to get out of here! You've got to get Mr. Tilton out of here! This is going all wrong!] I projected to Adam. If we weren't careful, Oliver would be dead, I would be dead, and Adam and anyone else would be dead. It would be an extreme foul-up, to put it mildly. [Get Oliver out of here!] Adam told me. [I'm trying! But you need to get Oliver's Dad out of here! He won't go unless his Dad is safe.] I could tell he nodded. Good. Two birds with one stone. My kind are lovely at coming to the rescue. They'd get Mr. Tilton out of there, and I'd get Oliver. I saw him grab Mr. Tilton, and a brief image flashed in my mind. I nodded. * * * I teleported Oliver to the place that Adam had pictured for me. Actually, I think I homed in on him, and landed in the backyard. I laid Oliver down on the grass. [Rest,] I said. He nodded. I popped back to get Perrin. Perrin was more or less where I'd left him, except he'd abandoned the box. "It's time?" he said quietly, below the chaos that was the warehouse. I nodded. "Hold on," I said, grabbing him and shifting him to the backyard. We materialized a few feet away from where Oliver was resting. I flopped down on the grass. He was removing something from his waistband. "So, are you ready?" "To go home?" I asked. "Yes, but I need to talk to you about something first." "Well, we'll deal with the problem first, and then we'll talk," Perrin said gruffly. I looked up at him and gaped. And then I shut my mouth. "Put the gun down. You can't really kill him in cold blood, can you?" "I don't have a choice," Perrin said. He looked liked he was as tired as I felt. "He's standing in our way of getting back." "Yes, but have you considered an alternative?" "What?" "Removing him, not killing him." "I don't get it. You're the one that was so paranoid about the time stream. How are we going to get out of here if you keep messing it up? You said it yourself, he was going to die in that alley." I glared at him, unable to believe that he didn't understand me. "All right, I goofed. It still doesn't mean we have to kill him. We could take him with us, back home." "Are you crazy, Mellie? Why didn't you just let them kill him?" And he still couldn't understand. "I couldn't. I can't. Besides, we just have to take him out of here, so we don't mess history up." He lowered the gun a little, and I hoped he saw the light. But he put the gun back up again. "That's it. I'm going to shoot him. They can blame it on this mob boss or whatever." "No," I said firmly, standing between Perrin and Oliver. Perrin moved so that he could get a clear shot, but I moved with him. "Excuse me, who's the elder?" Actually, he was behaving more like an idiot. "Who was *not* stupid enough to get arrested in the middle of a cemetery for trespassing?" "Well, things have changed. And if you won't kill him, I will," Perrin said, pointing the gun loosely at Oliver. I moved to stand between the two once more. "Please reconsider, Perrin," I said, getting ready to activate the return button. "No," he said, and pulled the trigger. I wasn't figuring on him actually shooting me, but he managed to. And it hurt. Terribly. It was all I could do to press the button. I only hoped we'd get home, where he couldn't kill Oliver publicly. And then, the pain was too much. I think I fainted. * * * "Oooh..." I groaned. The ground felt remarkably soft. In fact, it felt like my bed. I wondered if I should open my eyes or not. Had I died? It didn't hurt anymore. "Are you sure she's going to be okay?" a voice came from one side. Dad. I felt warmth coming from nearby. Warm emotions, that is. "Dad healed her shoulder," a voice replied from the other side. "Dad? Theona?" I said, opening my eyes and hoping the light didn't hurt. I was, indeed, lying on my bed. Mom and Dad were sitting on one side, with Theona sitting on the other. I suppose she was there because she's a professional counselor. "Honey, you made it back," Dad said warmly. "I'll be in the other room if you need me, Michael, Elizabeth," Theona said to my parents, and walked out. "How long have I been out?" I asked Dad. "About two hours." "I guess the party's finished, then," I said weakly, shifting in the bed. Mom laughed. "Baby, the party finished last *week*. Vanessa's been down in the basement since then, and your Grandpa even came over to help. Greer's been having fits. Everybody's popped up at the house, hoping to lend a hand." The door to the room opened. "Marm!" He sat down on the edge of the bed, hugged me, and then kissed me gently. "Melinda. I missed you." I smiled at him. "I got back, didn't I?" I asked. "Yeah, wreaking havoc and destruction in your path!" he grinned. "It's a talent of mine. Speaking of havoc and destruction, how're Perrin and Oliver?" Mom and Dad looked at each other, and shrugged. Dad replied. "Oliver's fine. We bundled him up into a spare room and didn't tell him much, in case he needed to go back. Perrin's sitting around in the living room. I take it he knows about us?" "Yeah. He does. He'll need a little help, Dad. Especially as soon as he realizes how much of a mess he could have made, since Oliver didn't need to die." "Why would poor Mr. Braxton need to kill Oliver? He disappeared, he didn't die," Mom said. Dad nodded. "Yeah. He and Nellie just disappeared. Last anything was heard of them was this postcard Nellie sent." Marm cleared his throat. "Speaking of postcards," he said, drawing a postcard in a plastic sleeve out of his pocket, "Greer wants to talk to you about this one." He handed me the postcard I'd sent, addressed to a G. Lewis in London. "Oliver and I are safe. We'll get back in touch as soon as we're able," I read. "Nellie. M.C.S." "Let me see that," Dad said, reaching out to look at it. "Your handwriting and initials?" "I didn't want anyone to worry," I said. "I remembered it worked in the movies." Marm shrugged. "They didn't," he said. "Greer says the postcard helped." "So, what's wrong?" Dad asked. "What's she upset about?" "Well," Marm replied, "Not really upset, but now that she knows that Nellie is Melinda, she's going to have to fix her records." I groaned. Greer and her records. Oh well. I could survive. "That's not the only thing that needs fixing. I'd say Vessie's little Way-Back machine needs a good sledgehammer taken to it." "Why?" Marm asked. "It's a long story. Needless to say, it's too easy to make mistakes in the past." Dad, Mom, and Marm looked at each other, and shrugged. "Whatever you say," Dad finally said. "I'll explain later, Dad," I said, sinking into the pillow. "But there's too much to do. Oliver's not going home, and he needs to talk to Theona, and -" "We'll get it straight later," Dad said. "Rest. You've earned it." "Thanks, Dad," I said quietly. Mom and Dad left. Marm lingered for a moment. "You're really okay?" "Yeah," I said. "Just tired. And happy. It's been a long day. Now, let me rest." And he did. =End Selma McCrory * smccrory@calweb.com * selmamc@aol.com "We're peaceful. We can't wage wars, and we can't kill. Not deliberately, anyway." -Carol, The Tomorrow People ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ladyslvr@sprynet.com Subject: ADMIN: TPFICT archive location Date: 08 Sep 1996 20:39:34 -0700 Come December I'm going to be losing my expert account, which is where the TPFICT archive is currently located. I'm thinking of moving it over to xmission (where the Galactic Fed page is, along with the lists). What I need to know is, how is xmission working out? Are people having trouble accessing it? When? If so, what browser are you using? I'm posting this now so people have a chance to think it over. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. ... W. Loraine ladyslvr@sprynet.com http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~ladyslvr Listowner, Tomorrow People Creative and Discussion lists Editor, ...ad infinitum Alternative Fiction Magazine http://www.xmission.com/~ladyslvr/magazine "I'm going to be Immortal until the day I die." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ladyslvr@sprynet.com Subject: Reunion 1/1 Date: 09 Sep 1996 15:35:46 -0700 I'm posting this for Amanda Ohlin, who is not on this list. Comments to her, please. Disclaimer: All TP characters and its premise are copyright Tetra Films, Thames TV, and Nickelodeon. I am only borrowing them for the purposes of my story. Anything unaccounted for is a product of my own warped imagination. Comments are after the story, to avoid spoilers. (This is a new series story. You just have to read it all.) Reunion By Amanda Ohlin kiarad@netgsi.com The late day sun was warm, its heat absorbed by the rocks and reflected back up to the girl that sat upon one, her blue eyes fixed on the sea. She was almost ten years old, and sitting with legs crossed and hands in her lap, she almost looked older. A gust of wind tossed her long, straight brown hair across her sun-browned, freckled face, and with it a bit of sea spray. She looked down the coastline towards the public beach below. Her friends from school were having the time of their lives, digging in the sand and frolicking in the surf. Unlike them, she didn't quite feel like having fun; that wasn't why she'd come. The hastily written note was gripped tightly in her hands. The sea was below, seemingly calm, peaceful, and blue. The sun shone down upon it, looking like a picture postcard. Perfect and happy. She wished she felt that way. To work out the soreness, she twisted her neck from side to side. Waiting always made her sore, especially long waiting. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and opened them again. This was no good; she needed to hug something. She reached for her hot pink backpack and searched through it frantically. Where was Harold? She'd only had him for a day! She couldn't have lost him now! "Looking for this?" The tall, thin young man smiled widely at her, his brown eyes shining as his brown hair fell across his face. She knew him instantly. With a cry of joy, she leapt up and barreled into him with a full-force hug. The force of the rush was so great that he stumbled backwards. "Hi, Tana." Her older brother hugged her back and handed her a plush stuffed teddy bear. "What's this?" "That's Harold. Dad got me him yesterday." Tana squinted up at him--something was different. "What happened to your hair?" His hand flew to the back of his neck. "Oh, that. It's been hot lately." Her brother paused. "Did you say Dad bought you that?" She hugged the bear to her chest possessively. "Yeah. He's real nice lately, even smiles all the time. Dad even buys me stuff now like Harold. I always used to get old stuff before this." She bit her lip. "Why did he always yell at you? You never did anything wrong." He sighed. "I wish I knew." Reaching over, he ruffled her hair, and she swatted him away. "I'm glad to know that he's not acting like that anymore." For a moment, Tana looked away, thinking about her parents. She never understood why her father had always yelled at her brother, no matter what. Neither had her brother, but once he was gone, the shouting and hitting had stopped. Her mother was okay, but she'd never done a thing about Tana's father. Whenever Tana went over to her other friends' houses, it seemed so different. Their parents didn't yell. They listened to them, seemed to care about their kids. Her own parents didn't seem to measure up. Now, though, her parents were like everyone else's. No yelling, no ignoring. They actually took her places, wanted to know how she felt, seemed to love her. It really felt like a real family. Tana burst into tears. She could feel his arm around her, trying to comfort her. Tana turned her head and sobbed into the fabric of his sleeve. "It's all right," he said softly. "No, it's not, it's not fair, I miss you, please come home," she gasped between sobs. Forget her parents. It had been so lonely without him. While some of her friends complained about their brothers, she adored hers--because he'd always stood by her. When she was starting grade school, he'd suffered more than one after-school black eye from any bully that tried to pick on her. He wasn't good at fighting, but he'd never quit. And now he'd left her. "It's all right, Tana," she heard him say again. "I'm here now." She stumbled to her feet and sniffled. "What about tomorrow?" At his frown, she continued. "And next week? And my birthday, next Monday since you probably forgot!" Tana knew she was yelling as he stood up, but she didn't care. "I want to see you again! Not like this, all the time! I don't want--" "Tana!" Her brother cut her off, taking her elbow. "I know quite well that it's your birthday. That's why I'm here." Surprised, she looked up. "Huh?" "I'm here to give you your birthday present." He knelt down so that his eyes were on a level with hers--she was short like her mother--and put his hands on her shoulders. "Do you remember last May? The sailing accident?" Tana nodded--she remembered it clearly. He'd managed to get out of the house with his friends, since one of them had a sailboat. They'd been gone for a few hours, and a big thunderstorm had come up. Then his friend Seth had showed up at the door with her brother's sopping backpack and an unhappy story. They'd searched for him for a couple of days, but nothing turned up. A few days later, he snuck back into the house one night and was packing up some of his clothes and camping stuff when she woke up and came into his room. He'd made her promise not to tell, saying that he was leaving so that Dad would behave. And he had left, and it had worked. From time to time, he'd showed up secretly, again asking her not to tell. She hadn't--her parents really didn't seem to care anyway. "Yeah," she said. "You swam home and packed up. Why?" He smiled at that. "Not exactly. I didn't swim home." "What d'you mean?" He swallowed, thinking before he spoke. "Tan, I want to show you something. I don't want you to get scared, but if I can show you this, I can visit you all the time." Tana's face broke into a grin. "Really?" "Really." He extended a hand. "But you'll have to trust me." She stared at him like he was kidding. "Why not?" Tana grabbed her brother's hand tightly, and he closed his eyes. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the world seemed to blur as the scene changed..... **** "Wow," was all Tana could say as they stood on the rocks again. The sun had dipped a bit lower in the sky behind them. "Wow," she said again, smiling. He squeezed her hand. "You promise you won't tell them?" "No way. They'd think I was nuts." Tana was bouncing up and down with excitement. "Can we go someplace else now? Can we?" "Not right now," he said with a laugh. "But I'll tell you what. If you leave me a note in the same place that you did today, you'll get me. And I'll check up on you when I can." Tana hugged him tightly. "I missed you so bad." "I missed you, too. And I'll always watch out for you." She looked up at him; his glance flitted towards town and back again. "Always?" Adam nodded. "Always." THE END Ok. This is less a story than my theory about Adam's past. Most people have implied that he lost his family, but I had a different idea. The thought of him having a sister developed into Tana, who changed ages and attitudes a few times before I got done with her. I might use her in further stories, and I might not. E-mail me if you want me to or would rather not see Tana again. I would love feedback on this fanfic. This is my first TP fanfic that I've written, and comments are definitely welcome. Tell me honestly what you think. Thanks to ade and Wendy Kelley for the great beta read comments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ladyslvr@sprynet.com Subject: ADMIN: TPFICT has moved Date: 23 Sep 1996 21:01:05 -0700 I officially moved the TPFICT archives today. The new address is http://www.xmission.com/~ladyslvr/tpfict.html The old address will link to the new until December. After that, the account disappears. ... W. Loraine ladyslvr@sprynet.com http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~ladyslvr Listowner, Tomorrow People Creative and Discussion lists Editor, ...ad infinitum Alternative Fiction Magazine http://www.xmission.com/~ladyslvr/magazine "I'm going to be Immortal until the day I die." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ladyslvr@sprynet.com Subject: Tips For Fanfic Authors 1/2 Date: 26 Sep 1996 15:30:49 -0700 Since we just extensively revised this, I'm posting it to the list. Tips for fanfic authors version 2.0 This document is intended to help authors improve the technical aspects of their writing, so readers can spend more time on the story. This document is divided into three parts. The first will focus on explanations and clarifications of some basic grammar rules. The second will focus on tips for formatting a story to be posted to the internet, with some additional suggestions for both authors and readers. The third will detail rules found on specific mailing lists concerning fan fiction. This document is available upon request. It can also be found at http://www.xmission.com/~ladyslvr/tips.html. Permission is granted to distribute this document freely in its entirety. Written by W. Loraine Kelley (ladyslvr@xmission.com) and Kyrie Daniels (kyrie@dnai.com). Last updated September 17, 1996. Suggestions, comments, and/or additions highly welcome and encouraged. I. Grammar i. Frequently misused homonyms ii. Frequently misspelled/misused words iii. Punctuation rules iv. Pluralization vs. Possessive II. Suggestions i. Formatting ii. Part 0, Disclaimers, and other notes iii. Additional suggestions III. Addendum i. TPFICT ii. SLFIC I. Always run your spell-check before posting. Lots of misspelled words are one of the biggest things that will cause a reader to delete the story before finishing it. Then, read it over once again to check for typos that a spell-checker would miss. Every word in the sentence "too bee ore knot too bee" is spelled correctly, yet is incorrect in the context. Also make sure that proper names, such as the names of characters are spelled correctly. i. Frequently misused homonyms: a) they're/their/there *"they're" is the contraction of "they are" They're going now. They are going now. *"their" is the possessive form of the pronoun "they" Their dog was barking all last night. *"there" is used to indicate a place The soup is over there. b) too/to/two *"too" has the same basic meaning as "also" I want to do that too. *"too" is also used in descriptive comparisons. The wait was too long. *"to" is the preposition We should go to the store. *"two" is the number He has two cats. c) hear/here *"hear" is the verb that relates to sound I hear you. *"here" is another word used to indicate place The cereal is here. d) it's/its *"it's" is the contraction of "it is" It's your turn to pay. *"its" is the possessive form of "it" The dog had finished its bone. ii. Frequently misspelled/misused words a) lose/loose *"lose" is the one with the "z" sound in it. He will lose the argument. *"loose" is the one with the "s" sound in it. The ropes came loose. b) alot/allright *Neither "alot" or "allright" are words. They are both two word phrases "a lot" and "all right". c) fewer/less *"fewer" is used with count nouns. On Saturdays fewer cars line the street. *"less" is used with mass nouns. There is less pollution now. (hint: if the word becomes plural by adding as "s" to the end, use the word "fewer".) d) than/then *"than" is used in comparisons We go out more than we used to. Her eyes are bluer than before. *"then" is used as an indicator of time. We went to dinner then to a movie. iii. There is such a thing as too much punctuation. Punctuation should be used to accent a point, not to make the point. a) Exclamation Points *Try to avoid the use of exclamation points all together, but if you must use them, limit yourself to one per sentence. Even better, limit yourself to one per every five pages of story. b) Ellipses *Three dots are used to indicate a sentence trailing off, like a person interrupted in speech. *Four dots is a sentence trailing off and ending. c) Quotation Marks *Dialogue should be enclosed within quotation marks, either single or double. *Punctuation for the sentence goes inside the marks. "What did you do yesterday?" *A comma is used to indicate that dialogue is starting or ending, unless other punctuation is used. -- She said, "We have to talk." -- "We have to talk," she said. -- He looked over her shoulder. "No." There is a common, and often neglected, grammar rule that says to start a new paragraph each time a new person speaks. Thus the following example is both incorrect and hard to understand: "We have to talk," she said. He looked over her shoulder. "No." "But there's something I need to tell you." "I don't care." It should be: "We have to talk," she said. He looked over her shoulder. "No." "But there's something I need to tell you." "I don't care." iv. Pluralization and Possessive both are marked similarly, but there is one major difference. a) Plural (more than one) is marked usually by putting an 's' at the end of the word. The dogs ---> more than one dog. b) Possessive (ownership) is marked with an apostrophe and 's' at the end of the possessor. *The 's' comes after the apostrophe when it's only one item doing the possessing. The dog's bone ---> the bone that belongs to the dog. *The 's' comes before the apostrophe when it's more than one item doing the possessing. The dogs' bone ---> the bone that belongs to many dogs. *Pronouns do not follow these rules. Note the example of "it's" vs "its" in the section on commonly misused homonyms. (cont.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ladyslvr@sprynet.com Subject: Tips For Fanfic Authors 2/2 Date: 26 Sep 1996 15:31:27 -0700 II. The Internet is a unique forum for the written word. Many styles of formatting that would work on paper simply do not work on the computer screen. i. Formatting *Either indent each new paragraph by four or five spaces if you want to write book style, or *Leave a blank line between paragraphs. Never send a document that isn't in plain ASCII text unless someone specifically asks you to. In the "Save As" menu of your word processor, there should be an option that lets you save a file at ".txt". This will put it in ASCII text. Documents should be uploaded directly into the body of the message instead of being sent as attached files. Many people's mailers can't accommodate attached files, which means they'll end up receiving 96K of garbage. Some online services can't handle messages over 5 pages (300 lines) in length effectively. If a message is longer than five pages, it's too long. Break it into parts of 5 pages or fewer. Don't forget to number the parts so people know what order to reassemble them in. Also, include something at the bottom of each post, even if it's only "to be continued" to let the reader know that the post has come through in its entirety. Don't use the tab key for indenting. Different word processors handle this different ways, some of which don't come out looking so pretty. Use the space bar instead. ii. Part 0, Disclaimers, and other notes When an author has something to say about their story that isn't the story itself use a Part 0. This part usually doesn't include any of the story, but is instead for disclaimers and anything else the author wants to say. Do not include any of the story in this part, as many people delete Part 0 without reading it. When using a universe or characters that weren't created by you, make sure to credit the proper owners. Using a universe or characters without permission is technically a copyright violation. In the case of fan fiction, many creators are willing to look the other direction, but they do deserve credit for their inventions. If you're writing/posting a story that contains questionable material (homoerotica, excessive vulgarity and/or violence, pornography, etc), include a warning in your Part 0 *AND* at the beginning of every part containing the questionable material, so that readers who don't wish to read it aren't taken by surprise. In some cases, it may be wise to post a 'cleaned up' version of that section as well, so that readers aren't forced to miss the entire story or some potentially important plot point. iii. Additional suggestions Keep copies of your own work. If you don't deem it worth hanging on to, why should anyone else? On a more practical note, many people don't decide to read a story until half of it has been posted. Then they want to track down back parts, so they go to the author. If you don't have it, they can't read it. Finish your story before posting it. Or, at least, get the entire story plotted out. Then, if you hit a plotting snag you can just go back and fix it without anyone being the wiser. This also saves you the embarrassment of deciding you don't want to continue a story being posted, for whatever reason. If you ask for feedback, be prepared to accept it. Not everyone is going to like everything you write. Some may even tell you so. If someone takes the time to gives you honest criticism, even if it's harsh, then they have obviously seen something worth improving. Disagreement does not equal flame. Likewise, if you enjoy something by another author, write and tell them so. If you don't like something, write, tell them so, then offer suggestions for improvement. Flaming does not equal criticism. Authors can not be expected to know what they're doing wrong until they are told. They also can not be expected to know what they're doing right until they are told. Beta-readers are invaluable. If you don't have one or more, get some. They have the task of reading your story before everyone else does. Their job is to help you smooth out problems, catch nitpick type errors, and check for overall coherency. They may even be willing to help with plotting, grammar, spelling, character invention, etc. Authors have a nasty tendency of getting so close to their work that they can't see the story for the words. Beta-readers will help you see your story through new eyes. III. Addendum i. These rules apply only to posting to TPFICT and for stories to be posted directly to the TPFICT archives. *Do not repost a story or story part to TPFICT for any reason. If a post comes through mangled, or fails to come through within 24 hours from being sent, contact the list owner to clear reposting. *Erotica (X-Rated) is not permitted to be posted to the list. *Do not use angled brackets <> in stories, as stories are put into html format for posting on the web page, and html coding wants to use the angled brackets for other purposes. The popular method for indicating telepathic thought is with the use of square brackets [], although parentheses (), asterisks *, and other notations have been used. *Be careful of the slang used when writing characters. The characters (especially new series) come from all over the world, and will use different slang words and phrases. *If you read a story, take a few minutes to write the author and tell them what you thought. *The TPFICT archives are located at http://www.xmission.com/~ladyslvr/tpfict.html ii. These rules apply only to posting to SLFIC and for stories to be posted directly to the SLFIC archives. *Do not repost a story or story part to SLFIC for any reason. If a post comes through mangled, or fails to come through within 24 hours from being sent, contact the list owner to clear reposting. *For a story posted to the list to be archived, it must have a correct subject line. The format is: SLFIC: Title, Part ##/## (additional information) ex. SLFIC: White Rose, Part 01/15 (LANGUAGE) *Do not use angled brackets <> in stories, as stories are put into html format for posting on the web page, and html coding wants to use the angled brackets for other purposes. *If you read a story, take a few minutes to write the author and tell them what you thought. *Be sure to spell all the characters' names correctly. Imagine how you'd feel if someone wrote a story about you and spelled your name incorrectly throughout. --Quinn Mallory --Rembrandt Brown --Maxmillian Arturo --Wade Welles *The SLFIC archives are located at http://www.dnai.com/~kyrie/SLFIC/Sliders.html the end, for now