Enjoying my break

I have enjoyed my break so far. I expect to be back soon. Looking forward to the GGR get together in March.

Still have to find a director for my theater group for June. Time is pressing.

need to type up the minutes.

need to review the chapters staring at me.

Need to kiss my mom as she is here with me as we "re-do" my bedroom. She redoes more bedrooms than Hilton. It will take several weeks and then she will be returning to Florida.

Tonight I finish My BFF. And send my comments to Ruth. lol I am such a bad person - I hate to comment because I never know what to say! lol But I shall learn from my own special readers.

off to watch some tv and fix dinner for my friend - it is monday.

gayle

Oh and somehow I joined facebook and I have no clue what to do! lol

Now it is done

Today I will finish responding to the comments I received and for one month I will take off. One full month. I will let the stories float in my head. I will play around with the plot. I will sleep with my men and my NEW characters. lol

I will not write again until the ides of March. By then I will have the plots resolved and research done and will be able to begin the process all over again.

Here are my stories:

A New World of Expectations (thanks to Jose for the title)
Wretched Beginnings and Turning Points - The complete story of Wickham and Darcy
In Search of Perfections (ISP)
Vaults

The only exception might be to put together a short story for the Jane Austen contest. I do have a plot bunny hopping in my head. Hippity Hop. It will be something new for me. A contest with some actual money. lol I am sure the winner will come from some professional, but it might be fun to try. But then I may be letting my readers' kind words go to my head. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained. May the best plot bunny win.

Till next month.

Gayle Messick
gayle.messick@gmail.com

I give my thanks to my Loyal Readers

Does a tree make a sound when it falls - yes if my loyal readers are there to read each action beat. And so, it goes. Without the reader, there is no reason to write. authors may say they do it for themselves but don't believe them. We do it for you. We want your love and adulation. We want you to come back and say wonderful and exciting and I can't wait until next week. It is the main course in a one course meal. And for me, I am so thankful a group of readers stuck by me week after week spoon feed this writing invalid. lol And when someone is new to this, as I am, every comment is appreciated and cherished. I never understood what impact comments have on the author. They do. Although I have always been a lurker in the past, I will do my best to comment everytime I read a chapter and try to join in some of the community topics. This is what my wonderful fans have taught me.

I especially wish to thank the ladies that have stuck by me from the beginning even though the angst was high at times and especially with Darcy and Elizabeth. First I must thank KarenA. My very first reader and from her excitement spurred me on to finish the story. Poor Karen had read only the rough draft and believe me many things were added afterwards. I am embarrassed now with the meager words since my polishing could add as much as 5000 words to a chapter. lol

I have held the hand of a few of the angst wimps, but that is OK. As you can see from the ending I really did not want to reveal who she choses since it was one of the major thrusts of the story. Hence, my reason for not telling. So all my angst wimp fans, you know who you are and I hope you are pleased with the ending and with the epilogue which I wrote a little romance just for you.

No one noticed I took down the spoiler after a while. Perhaps that is why my numbers were not as high as other stories, but then I had some people that new the answer (via PM) and still had to wait until the story was complete. It is OK. But I will always include angst in my stories. It is who I am.

Now I had readers that wanted more Elizabeth. sorry this is the man's pov. Austen did not give us the men's pov. I want to write a story that did. I understand men more than women.

Now there were my readers that wished to understand more about the chapter posted and they did their best to provide their analysis in thier comments. I discovered many holes in my story which I hurriedly found the future chapter and closed the hole. NOw everyone thinks I was so smart when really it was the combined effort of me and my readers. Now someone has just pointed out another issue which I will fix even if the story is finish, just in case someone reads it later. There were times several of my regular posters got it right when I did not want them too. LOl. And then no one guessed Blake would reject both alliances, although severa believed Darcy would do just that. Ah the minds of my readers was the most intriguing part of my posting the story. All of you deep thinkers know who you are too.

And then there were the fans that dropped a single line or two but they were just as important because I know, as a lurker, how hard it is to write something to an author. I am shy in that way too and if you read any of my comments I tend to be brief. So yes, I can appreciate just the quick word of encouragement.

speaking of lurkers - i always cherished the first time de-lurker. It said my story grabbed them and they broke through that invisible barrier to let me know.

Which comes to my last of the readers, the view count or lurkers. My numbers stayed much higher than I anticipated. It is always a risk to write a story that does not come from Elizabeth's POV or offer many, many paragraphs of romance or a storyline plotted to create angst and suspense and tension. Also, many people don't care about business matters and that is a drag on many. But that part is ok. I am pleased that many more than 100 people read and liked my story well enough to follow it through to the end.

speaking of ends.

Now that I have thanked my fans I feel the best reward is to give them the final post of Expectations.

gayle

Thank you, I am so honored you have shared your thoughts.

PatM
66
realelegance
64
tuyen le
60
alienor4
53
melda
50
krishub
48
Kathy
43
Lisette
38
Mischa
37
Geri
34
lucy6526
34
RuthO
34
EmilynW
28
jean_genie
26
darcyfan_71
25
KJ62
24
dandiefan
22
marliz
21
fcmejias
20
foxchild
20
sadieo
20
sadriani
19
Bfly
17
school librarian
16
kayenne
15
Meg_Evenstar
13
Kathy Taylor
13
taryn
9
Lise
8
ballpoint202
8
Karen A
7
tac
7
Chica
6
Kara M
6
anushca
5
Sandra Leonie
5
tripandfall06
5
josephine
4
ophelia
4
Genevieve
3
barbara s
3
Lydia
3
happyeverafter
3
MAB
3
pmca
3
karasings
2
sdzechman
2
Moushele
2
Mo
2
Amy Z
2
terie
2
LoriP
1
alberni
1
milhistbuff1
1
AbigailR
1
Evie
1
pianobarb
1
lsa
1
stevieb
1
aylag
1
Calani
1
CourtneyA
1
hwashih
1
Paija
1
SandyW
1
teapot50
1
StephanieB
1
mommakittie
1
tJean
1
ErinMcW
1
DebraAnne

My thanks to HeatherF

today, I wish to thank HeatherF, who was my inspiration for writing. Heather has helped me through each and every chapter, keeping me correct in all things British (ground floor instead of first floor) as well as pointing out every single rare and unusual name for 1811 I chose: Gerald, Victoria, Eveyly -Evelina.

When I found the Jane Austen fan sites I also discovered Heather's In Loving Memory. It was the very story in which I took the chance and posted a comment. Heather will recall I was the first one to guess who the almond shaped eyes belonged too. You see even back then I liked a puzzle, a bit of suspense, and some surprises.

Heather is one of the writers that draws you in, wraps her beautiful prose around your heart and makes you eagerly wish for another chapter with every visit to a posting site. I admire how she interprets a scene, the flow of the words and even the rhythm of the sentences.

When Heather took a break in the story and HG went down and AHA was not at its apex as it is now, I decided to try my hand at writing. I have never written a line a dialogue in my life. I had no training of any kind, especially of putting together a story. I just had a desire to create a rival for Darcy (much like Heather did - she left me wanting more) Here is her paragraph that inspired me:

After a few brief minutes of solitude, she sensed rather than heard someone in the shadows behind her and turned towards the far end of the terrace. She could vaguely make out a dark shape sitting against the wall; whoever was there, she was determined to leave them in peace. Elizabeth had only taken two steps towards the door before the stranger unfurled slowly from the bench like a stretching cat, causing her to pause. He sauntered towards her; his straw blonde hair shining in the light from the ballroom windows. The man paused a respectful distance away and executed a perfect bow.

"My Lady." He addressed her with a confident smile.

Wonderfully written and it sent my mind into a place it had never been before. I loved Lord Cresswell. I loved that Darcy had a rival and that he was such an interesting person.

But the words in the paragraph is what captured my imagination. She drew a picture in my mind and I just wanted more. I was hopelessly hooked on the business of writing. I admired how so few words conjured up so many thoughts in my mind.

With no ILM to read, no other stories at HG, I sought to write my own rivalry. But I also wished to look at the Regency era from the mens' viewpoint. And I found that one paragraph written by Heather made me wish to create the suspense as she had done. I wrote a horrible first chapter, posted it in Coming Attractions and then waited. Very nice comments, but something was missing. Well, no beautiful prose, no sense of timing, everything in a telling mode. Nothing resembling the wonderful paragraph of Heather's.

I was aided by Amanda (Palabra) in how to structure a chapter in a story and how to show not tell. Wonderful help and got me on the right path. But still I lacked the flow of the sentences, the easy feel of the words.

Somehow I was able to secure Heather's help. I know not how but I must say I was blessed to be given her as one of my beta's. With the excellent help from DebraAnne on grammar, punctuation and all things of that nature - verb tense - Heather could focus on the feel of a chapter.

and when she needed to tell me I should redo something it was with the gentleness of touches. she helped me understand titles, etiquette of the times, and even how to curse properly. No Damn Bloody Charm. lol

If my story had some charm of its own, then I thank Heather for it. And the suspense and tension and mystery. She is my ideal of the best of writers for this field and I was honored by her help and support.

Thank you Heather. Thank you very much.

gayle