I have come to realize that being the first person to enter a contest has a drawback - after a bit, the story gets lost in the shuffle of all the new ones put out.

so unless you deliberately seek it out, you wont see it, and it probably wont get any more comments or kudos.

ah, well.

I dunno, but it seems most of those i have left are essentially digital.

What with all the recent talk about writer's block, I have posted a story about a helpful publisher sending around the solution.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/103557/unblocked
Perhaps Doppler needs to consider recruiting this kind of helper?
Maryanne

I’m wearing a bikini, for God’s sake. A bikini! Can you imagine?

"I was lying in a burned-out basement, with the full Moon in my eyes," said Aaron, quietly. "I was hoping my relief would arrive soon, so I could go get something to eat. Suddenly, a parachute flare lit up the entire scene."

Tasteful Transgender Tales Amazon Book Club

Can Rani save Malcolm from justice?

The Dagger of Heaven at the End of Time -10-
by SammyC
Read on Patreon

many of you may know of my love for statistics, being a maths graduate and all. Earlier today I ran the statistics for my stories again (a fairly time-consuming process but usually done in well under half an hour). What's interesting is comparing them to the last time I did the stats, which was May 13 2023.

In that time (17 months and 13 days) I've only posted 12 additional chapters (amusingly, I have sixteen in my backlog right now*) increasing from 258 to 270. However, on my existing chapters:

of a pauper writer!

I've just posted a (very) short piece on Patreon for those that follow me there. It's my first bit of fiction writing for months, its the intro to what could be a longer, stand alone tale.

Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid

Broke. We have $80 in business accounts and bills due with about $1000 due personally (mobile home registration).

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who has sent money. We really depend on you, more than you know. :)

Thanks for any amount you can send. All contributions are very welcome. Thanks a great deal to all who have previously contributed here or paid for a membership at Patreon or Hatbox.

Hugs,
Erin, Piper, Jamie, Cat, Ashly, Rasufelle and the rest of the crew

Below are versions of the PayPal links.

If you like “slice of life” stories, you might want to take a look the series Standing Up To Life by Tiffany Shar. The first book has already earned the “----------=BigCloset Retro Classic!=----------” status.

Wanted to drop a quick note, as the draft for Book 6 Hope's Light was completed not five minutes ago! In fact I'm still processing the (rather strong) emotions from the final scene. Whee?

Mom squinted at me. “Cute outfit, but don’t you think that skirt is a bit short?”

Poison
19. Arcade
by Melanie Brown
Read on Patreon

Thanks to a recent story chapter post by Tiffany Shar I started re-reading her previous contributions and got a serious blast from the past! After re-reading Suddenly Royal from a contest in 2020 in order to establish context for the sequel that Tiffany just recently started to post here on BigCloset TopShelf.

Dear Readers and Writers,

How many pages should a novel have?

(And please don’t say when it’s finished! Unfortunately, the Wildcat tales never end.)

I do not know how many on here are like me. I am here to read, and say very little. I do not think I have anything worth saying. I have stories in my head, but I would never be able to put them on paper the way some of these phenomenal authors do.
My question for the authors. Other than the kudos or buying the books from Amazon, what is there that a reader can do to encourage you. I am thinking especially of times when an author is struggling to think through what to write or how to continue a story. How can I as a reader be an encouragement to the authors.

"Am I truly that beautiful?"

The Dagger of Heaven at the End of Time
Chapter 8 - Sunshowers
by SammyC
Read on Patreon

In the last few weeks I've gotten warnings from Amazon Kindle about "Problems with my payment". I've checked my bank balance and there should be no issue. No certain author. It makes me feel reluctant to use Kindle. In the past, Kindle has been my GO TO resource.

This reminds me of a REM hit, "It's the end of the world as we know it".