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It's been an exciting ride, but like all good things it has come to an end for me. There are two reasons why, the first and most important is that I can fly now and it's time for me to leave the nest. Six years ago when I found TNBW I didn't even own a computer. All I owned was a vague desire to write, to tell a story and to connect with someone out there. I have accomplished that goal thanks to TNBW. I still can't spell for crap, but I have Spell Check so I slide by in that department.

What I do have is a natural ability to tell a story. What I have learned through TNBW is how to perfect that ability and for that I am very grateful. After six years and one hundred and seven short stories published by more than twelve E-Magazines on the net, Miranda Magazine, Green Silk Journal, Bewildering Stories, Feather Tale, The Long Short Story, Boston Literary Magazine, Fictionville, King's River Life Magazine, etc.,  Two Novellas, a book of short stories and a book of poems all  published on Amazon, now it's just a matter of doing.

I will also add something important here. I have been very lucky in finding publishers who saw brilliance in my writing, not perfection, far from it, but a talent that spoke to them, made them remember me and publish me. I have learned the hard way that one story does not fit all publishers. You have  to find the right publisher for the right story. In the beginning when I received a rejection on a story, I thought it was dead. Then one day I decided to submit a story for a second time and believe it or not it was accepted immediately and over forty more have been published by that editor over the years. Lesson learned, keep dancing until you find the right partner.

As I mentioned in the beginning, there is a second reason that I am signing off. To be quite honest, I don't fit with the new Next Big Writer site. I'm not a computer whiz, truth be told I'm not very bright in that department and I dearly miss the uncluttered simplicity of the old site, without the added  bells and whistles. I understood it and used the hell out of it, writing and posting almost three hundred stories. I learned from  other writers without wondering what 'groups, or contacts, or book shelves, were.

I met talented people who made me laugh, cry and occasionally hold my nose with their writing.  But most importantly I LEARNED. The system works. 

Good luck to everyone and thank you for your help.  I've got a novel in here somewhere, I think it's time I wrote it. God bless you all.     

                                      Ron Van Sweringen      RLVS

Don't know how it happened, but it did!  Thanks SOL, the body of my story, MARTHA WILLIS AND THE WALNUT TREE, (part two) suddenly appeared in the empty book cover of the same name that had appeared. I have figured out how it got away from me, but it is too complicated to explain. I don't believe I will make the same mistake again, HOWEVER, I'm still walking on thin ice around here. Thanks again.  Ron VS

I  have to say in my opinion this site is much more complicated and showy than is necessary. I am not a computer whiz or do I wish to be. I find the book cover option a bit of overkill. I come to this site to write, not design book covers. True enough I can sidestep it, but that requires an extra effort on my part as I cannot continue to publishing without dealing with it. The GROUPS conception is confusing and time consuming to me. I liked the old system much better, IT WORKED AND WORKED FAST, this one does not. It is flashy and showy and I'm assuming UPDATED, but the most important fact to me is that it does not make my writing easier and to me that's the name of the game.  I just lost a short story that I worked very hard on because I am unskilled enough to manage this system, yet I flew through the old TNBW hurdles and had over 107 short stories published on the net. That tells me something, I'm seriously wondering if I belong here?  Ron Van Sweringen