Hell Within -- Afterword
Author's note.
Thank you for all your comments and critique. As always, I enjoy hearing from the readers rather than just watching the number of page views go up.
I would like to extend my gratitude to my commenters.
K. Carroll, I appreciate all the encouragement. Complements always serve to keep you grounded and take criticism better. It's also good to know that people are enjoying it.
A Buzzle author simply known as Sss asked me to read one of his stories and I did so and left a comment. (If there are any other Buzzle authors looking for a Devil’s Advocate kind of critique, feel free to ask. Critical reading helps keep writers sharp). I appreciate Debbi’s encouragement.
To Symond: This story actually wasn’t short at all. It is over 88,000, (well more than novel length) words which in page terms is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 in manuscript form. The fact that it read to you like a short story pleases me.
Ame Ombre: I feel vindicated that you seemed to have noticed the similarities between Ben and Mandy’s stories. I wonder if you were reading for theme, and if so, what was your conclusion.
To Ashley: Your comment was so cool that I had to share it with the rest of my family.
Jerry S.: Thanks for that! I have noticed this same problem with my fiction, and I’m not quite sure why I haven’t already done something about it. But I will give it a shot in future drafts.
WC Farm: Thanks for the comments. I hope to see your name on the comments board again with the next fiction.
As for what is to come, Hell Within is ground zero. Many different recurring characters were introduced. I hope you liked Dr. Ambrose. There are volumes more. Deputy-Sheriff Tommy Davis will have a starring role in the next work Saving Autumn. And you will see Mandy Green again in a story about how Dr. Ambrose came to be so old -- a semi-sequel.
Please feel free to leave any other comments. I had to fight the urge to do a poll on what you thought the theme of the story was. Once fiction leaves a writer's hands, it is no longer his own. It belongs to the audience.
But the little literature professor in me is curious. If you happen to be a critical reader, tell me what you got out of it. I would eat that crap up.
What is to come for Hell Within:
I’ve worked on this story for years. I’ve tried to publish it, but you can’t solicit a large publisher without an agent. You query an agent and the first thing he or she is going to ask is "Have you published anything?" When your answer is no, he or she will say, "Come back when you do."
To get an agent's attention, you have to first submit any of the following: A query letter, a plot synopsis, sample chapters. I'm a much better fiction writer than a query letter and synopsis writer.
I’m disgusted with that whole process.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying, but if it doesn’t work out, so what? Writing fiction is a part of my existence, and if I have to do it for free, I will.
Thanks for reading!
M. Cantrell.
I would like to extend my gratitude to my commenters.
K. Carroll, I appreciate all the encouragement. Complements always serve to keep you grounded and take criticism better. It's also good to know that people are enjoying it.
A Buzzle author simply known as Sss asked me to read one of his stories and I did so and left a comment. (If there are any other Buzzle authors looking for a Devil’s Advocate kind of critique, feel free to ask. Critical reading helps keep writers sharp). I appreciate Debbi’s encouragement.
To Symond: This story actually wasn’t short at all. It is over 88,000, (well more than novel length) words which in page terms is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 in manuscript form. The fact that it read to you like a short story pleases me.
Ame Ombre: I feel vindicated that you seemed to have noticed the similarities between Ben and Mandy’s stories. I wonder if you were reading for theme, and if so, what was your conclusion.
To Ashley: Your comment was so cool that I had to share it with the rest of my family.
Jerry S.: Thanks for that! I have noticed this same problem with my fiction, and I’m not quite sure why I haven’t already done something about it. But I will give it a shot in future drafts.
WC Farm: Thanks for the comments. I hope to see your name on the comments board again with the next fiction.
As for what is to come, Hell Within is ground zero. Many different recurring characters were introduced. I hope you liked Dr. Ambrose. There are volumes more. Deputy-Sheriff Tommy Davis will have a starring role in the next work Saving Autumn. And you will see Mandy Green again in a story about how Dr. Ambrose came to be so old -- a semi-sequel.
Please feel free to leave any other comments. I had to fight the urge to do a poll on what you thought the theme of the story was. Once fiction leaves a writer's hands, it is no longer his own. It belongs to the audience.
But the little literature professor in me is curious. If you happen to be a critical reader, tell me what you got out of it. I would eat that crap up.
What is to come for Hell Within:
I’ve worked on this story for years. I’ve tried to publish it, but you can’t solicit a large publisher without an agent. You query an agent and the first thing he or she is going to ask is "Have you published anything?" When your answer is no, he or she will say, "Come back when you do."
To get an agent's attention, you have to first submit any of the following: A query letter, a plot synopsis, sample chapters. I'm a much better fiction writer than a query letter and synopsis writer.
I’m disgusted with that whole process.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying, but if it doesn’t work out, so what? Writing fiction is a part of my existence, and if I have to do it for free, I will.
Thanks for reading!
M. Cantrell.
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