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I have just finished my latest story and it will be my last. Right now it is on the way to the editor and I have to wait for a cover to be made. Like usual, I will publish on Kindle, etc. and then post the story here. Then I will take my leave and try to find other pursuits to occupy my time.
I don't really know why, but I feel as if I am shunned. I try to write good, complete stories, but constantly get told by people that they don't read my kind of stuff. I didn't know I had a kind of stuff because I am pretty all over the map with my things. My try at romance/erotica was a total flop and, to be honest, I'm too thin skinned for this line of work. I will never be popular, I will never sell well, and I will never be accepted. With that said, I'm taking my ball and going home.
Sometime next week you will see "The long ride home" it is a stream of consciousness piece that is only 20k words long and 10 chapters. I might add to it in the time being, but I really don't have the heart to write any more only to be pooped on later.
Also, if I figure out how to do it, I will post the entirety of "But I'm Not a Boy." I just don't know how to add the picture file, maybe Erin will help.
Hope everyone finds themselves blessed and at peace.
Comments
please do not stop writhing
please do not stop writhing please do not stop writhing please do not stop writhing please do not stop writhing please do not stop writhing
Think she's already writhing
Think she's already writhing so she should stop - writing however is another matter!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Not Winnie the Pooh!
Greetings Katie
Never mind the people who don't like your stories. They could always go and read Winnie The Pooh or some other story they do like.
Keep writing the stories you want to tell.
Brian
You have fans
"I don't really know why".. is an important phrase here. I don't either. Why would you feel that? I hope you change your mind and continue at some point to let out your words here. Of course there are people who don't read your kind of stuff. With the billions in this world there will be lots of them. I say the ones who matter are those who do.
I hope you find your own peace, in whatever you do
"Reach for the sun."
Say it's not so!
Katie you have so much to say so don't stop writing! Even my favorite authors have pieces I don't care for. That's a personal choice, but I don't rub their noses in it. Reach the ones you can and perhaps one day, the ones that say they don't read 'that' kind of stuff will give it a chance. Until then you obviously have those we does enjoy your stuff and look forward to what you come up with.
Believe in yourself and your heart.
hugs
Grover
Last Story :-(
I've been meaning to start posting comments for sometime but its always seemed like a big step. It meant admitting my preferences in a way that I would find hard to deny. I now feel compelled to post to thank you and all the other authors for all of your hard work. I feel guilty for not starting to comment sooner, as praise seems a small price for the entertainment that so many of the stories provide. I have also read some of the saddest and most emotional stories here that went far beyond just entertainment.
I value every author on this site, they have all done what I wish I could do. Yes some stories are not to my taste but I still thank the authors for posting them. I find it depressing when I realise that a story I've found was last updated years ago, so is unlikely ever to be finished. Perhaps if I had taken the time to leave a comment it might have been. Even worse some authors are no longer with us and I never told them how much their stories meant to me and now can't.
If you no longer enjoy writing then a new endeavour is your choice but its sad if your choice is being dictated by others.
Growing up I was always told if you can't say something positive, don't say anything at all.
So thank you for all you have already written and I hope you will continue. :-)
Regards EnKeira
Please don't stop writing and posting here
There are a numbers of writers who post here that I don't really 'get' and thus I don't read their stuff. Morpheus and Elrod are just two of those. That is not to say that they don't write well or have their own fans, they do.
People have different tastes. Not everyone who reads my stories gives me kudos or posts a reply. At the moment, none of my stores have reached the 100 kudos points level. It would be nice if one or two of them get there but it is not the be-all and end all of posting here.
Please keep writing about things that interest you. By all means post them here if they are suitable. I know that a good few of my stories are really not suitable for this site but that does not stop me from getting a lot of pleasure from letting my imagination rip and getting it down on on paper.
If you do decide to stop then I (along with many others) wish you well in whatever venture you pursue in the future.
You can’t please all the people all the time.
Hello, Katie
When I see you’re by line I rest assured of a very good read ahead.
How many ways can you say how much you enjoyed a story without it sounding hollow?
It’s very difficult for me to keep ongoing stories last episode in my head so I have to wait for the end and then read it all the way through.
Then I fail to give it the recognition it deserves, please forgive me.
You can’t please all the people all the time.
Please don’t give up spreading pleasure on account of a few narrow-minded people.
Huggs
Karmon
Cheer up
I moved "But I'm Not a Boy" back to the front page because you just added the pictures. Anybody who can write that has no business quitting.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Kindly don't quit!
Please don't quit writing stories that make you HAPPY because of people that don't like your style of writing! Instead, can I suggest taking a break of unknown length to allow you and your muse to heal from those negative comments. If you decide to stop writing make it for the right reason you don't want to anymore, NOT because some hack wannabe critic says that you can't write.
A Shame
It is a shame that truly great writer are never recognized . Please don't stop you have been writing for so many years . All we all ask is to take time to think about it.
Leaving
Personally, I think it's your choice if you want to leave. That is, if you're intent on leaving. My suggestion, leave, go fishing or something, then come back. The moment that inspiration hits, you won't have much of a choice anyhow.
I myself left and came back many times. I started writing in my teens. I posted erotica on literotica. I got so many bad comments that I deleted everything and swore off writing. 6 years later, I wrote The Half-Lilin. I still go back and forth between writing and retiring, so far, it's not permanent.
So here's my suggestion. If you're really tired of this, go do something else first. One day, you will come back, maybe you won't be coming back to write stories for Bigcloset, but I'm sure you will write something somewhere.
All the best, whatever your choices are.
Sorry to be blunt Katie,
but what the hell are you thinking? Okay, not everyone is a fan of your style of work these days, most have a very specific genre or two that interests them and that's it. As writers we can't let that bother us since it's certain we will never be able to please everybody so we all play to our strengths. Me, I write Fantasy and Sci Fi because I like building imaginative worlds and complex plot lines and it seems to be what I'm good at.
You are great at writing real world type stories about characters who could be a person's neighbor, brother/sister, or best friend. I tried that once with Kisses From Romeo and while it was a good story it just didn't get the response of my other stories. But that is your thing and you are fantastic at it from what I've read. My stories are about helping people escape reality, yours are saying, 'this is reality and some things about it need to be changed' and that is so much more important than what I do. Okay so people seem to read a lot more genre stories than real world fiction, despite that you still have readership and you're going to get the occasional person who doesn't agree with you and writes a bad review or something. That just means people are reading your work and it's making them think about the world we live in, and some people don't like doing that.
In my work I'm protected by the shield of 'oh but that's just fantasy' I make people think but it's not shoving the flaws of the real world in their face. You do that, and it's something that needs to be done if we're ever to get acceptance in this world. And you're a good writer so if really has become too much for you and people don't read your type of work, try going outside your box and write something different, something you've never tried before to try and get your fire back.
DO NOT GIVE UP. Giving up is giving in to the masses and no trans person should ever do that in any of aspect of their life, it just leads to heartbreak and depression.
*big hugs*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
Yep, you're right!
Yep, you’re right – you ARE too thin-skinned. You’re never going to be able to please everybody, no matter what you write. Nobody can do that (ask John Grisham or Dan Brown or Clive Cussler or McCall Smith or . . .)! But when I look over the comments on some of your stories, I find the tone definitely positive! So what’s the beef?! Getting too few comments? Too few Kudos? I have the feeling that most of the others that write and post to BCTS feel the same. Especially with all the recent ups-and-downs, it’s par for the course. Everybody is in the same boat, so roll with it and just say “$hit happens!”
I don’t write, so you can say that what I think doesn’t matter, if you want. But I am one of your readers – one that really enjoys what you write, all that “stuff that’s all over the map”, as you put it. You have a talent. You’re versatile. You can write about emotions and bring them across. In short, you’re good. I say, when you have 10 praisers and one naysayer, look at the positive 10 and smile – as for the rest, I say “scroo ‘em”!
But if you want to “take your ball and go home”, that’s something that you have to decide for yourself. We’ll miss you.And your stories!
Seriously, don't stop!
Katie--
There's been lots of encouragement posted here--remember that you are loved, and your writing is loved!
But, me being me, I'm going to go a different direction. The injuries you've suffered through ignorance, through callous and hurtful remarks, or through the deafening silence of no reviews/no stars/nothing, are painful, indeed.
So, my idea is ... don't stop writing. Stop publishing. Hold on! Wait a minute! Let me explain!
I've got these people inside of me. I've got their stories inside of me. I've got to get them out, to watch the letters and sentences and paragraphs of their lives take form in front of me. I think you're like me; you couldn't feel so miserable otherwise. That sad, sick feeling is because somebody has rejected these people that you love, these bits of pieces of lives that are so important to you that you had to tell them, and had to share them.
The writing brings you joy. The publishing brings you unhappiness. So maybe think about a suspension. Continue to write. Continue to breathe life into your wonderful characters. Avoid Kindle and all the rest. Let things settle. We're all fighting for recognition for our writing and there's no shame in a time-out to regroup. Get recharged. Catch your breath. When you're strong enough, when there's a more enlightened market (hopefully soon!), you could fire up the KDP machinery and see what happens.
But please don't stop writing, Katie. It's not fair to the people inside of you and it's not fair to your soul.
Karin
You already know *my* feelings, Katie...
...so I won't reiterate them, but I daresay you won't find a person here who agrees with your decision.
I suppose you have to ask yourself, Katie, for whom are you writing? Not the trolls who feel it necessary to splatter their verbal excrement all over the Amazon review page, certainly. If you are writing for them, perhaps you ought to see someone about your masochistic tendencies.
This is a tricky genre to peddle to the mainstream--believe me, I know, having attempted to do so myself years ago. I firmly believe, however, that they'll eventually catch on, because your stories are about so much more than the transgender stuff--they're almost all about personal growth, and that's something a mainstream audience can relate to. Please reconsider this decision.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel
Here is why
Last review of GBTC:
This story goes from bad to worse. I kept reading to see if it got better, but no chance. The adoptive parents needed therapy as much as the child. A child that has lived four years of abuse needs extensive therapy, not surgery. The whole point of this story was to push the agenda of "transgender, find your inner sexual identity, I'm a boy/girl trapped in a boy/girl body crap". Abuse causes mental problems that can be resolved with counseling and therapy and a lot of love. A four year old who's parents dress him like a girl and call him a girl will be confused and surgically altering his body is a mistake. God help the child.
Last reviews of Wrestling Against Myself:
This is one of the worse books I've ever suffered through. It's very demeaning to the sport of wrestling and there was so many questions left unanswered at the end. I wish I could have the hours back I spent reading this garbage.
poor writing, poor plot, couldn't finish it. Don't waste your money nor your time. I did and I'm sorry. Period.
Not to mention the other review that Amazon pulled on Growing Up Jenny that accused me of being a pedophile. Its bad enough that I get harassed for what I am, I'm tired of being harassed for something I am not.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
Having never read your work,
Having never read your work, I can't say one way or the other if this is accurate, but I can say this:
Obviously this person has some issues with your writing. And face facts, you will never be an author who will have fans everywhere. Someone will always find your work pathetic, of no use, or whatever. That's the top 10%. The bottom 10% will be those who love all your writing even without having seen it or read it. You must discount both groups.
The top you won't ever please, the bottom won't ever give you a good critique. The middle 80%, where most people fall, will like you sometimes, and not like you others. That's what is supposed to happen and if you can rope in 30% of those people, you are doing very well.
Some people want the "I'm having a hard life and I'm going to kill myself" stories, and others want the "I'm Mary Sue and everything I do is perfect and my life couldn't be more wonderful if I tried, I hate me boo hoo" stories and if either of them are presented with the other side they will do everything they can to discredit and revile your work. Do not let it get to you. There's stories that my favorite authors write that I can't stand, there's stories I write that my most hard core fans can't stand. It all comes out in the wash.
Just know that if someone reads you, likes what you write, if it moves them and if they take some component away from it that helps them be a better them, then that is all you can reasonably expect and you should be jumping up and down for joy, because that's what this is all about.
I`ve read nearly all of your Books
I can`t see how sombody who read GBTC or WwmS can write a comment like this.
Because both are written with so much heart and deep thought to bring the Characters into Life. It´s shows your writing Skill to give all the figures the Charaters do make them real. Espeacially Jenny and her Family showing that the commentor either can`t really understand the plot or isn`t willing to accept the Idea.
Also by Wrestling with my self shows the Character to come to terms with his feeling, not like a easy yeah thats right, but a Soulsearching expiriance. Maybee this commentor to this one should do some soulsearching on his own.
But what i Wanted really say is, don`t feel bad about them, you can`t make it right for Everybody.
I would really miss you here as an Author because you are one of my favorites here.But do what you think Is right for you. And please continue writing even when you don´t publish it.
Keep well
Your Fan SHH12
The internet is full of trolls
The internet is full of trolls, troglodytes, and fools who all seek to make themselves feel better by putting others' works down. If they don't want to read what you write, then they should do what I did five years ago, shut the hell up, and write what THEY'D want to read. :-)
I tried writing for others for awhile, and you know what happened? I got burned out, found that I couldn't please everyone, got myself a crazy internet stalker, and just had to stop posting stories for awhile.
Now Ashly and I have, literally, a hundred different stories, all sitting on Google Drive because we jump between working on different things depending on what strikes our fancy.
Eventually we'll finish something and post it, but when we feel like doing so because we write what we'd want to read now and forever more.
My advice is this: take every comment you get like that, and make a note of the number, and then go back and make a note of the number of positive comments.
And, if someone really starts to get under your skin, either talk to Erin about it, or place them on ignore and block PMs - or both. You're allowed to do that too. You don't have to have a doormat policy *hugs*
Take a break if you need to, but don't stop writing just because some people have a brain-to-mouth malfunction! :-)
Become a Patron for early access ♥
I don't read your stories
but I suspect the world would be a poorer place without them. Don't let the negative thinkers win, if you believe in yourself does it matter what the others say?
Angharad
Giving up
Stop publishing your stories if it feels like the emotional negatives outweigh the positives for you, but never stop writing.
quit writing
Katie please don't stop writing because of a few ding dings. maybe BC can sit up something so authors can sell their books here and not on any other sites. your stories keep me going girl.