I agree 100%, Bimmy. IMO and FWIW, the new site was designed to Balkanize itself. I'm not that fond of the eye candy.
But at least the new in-line review format makes it so worthwhile! hahahahahahaha
I haven't been active on the "old" forums at all (in hindsight, that was probably a good thing! LOL). But bimmy made me think more about this disheartened/disconnected feelings around the forums of old. The biggest obstacle to me is I have to remember to go and look every now and again whether any new groups have been created that I would like to join - most of the time, I don't even bother. It's a pain, like many other things that worked on the old site and had no need to be changed and are now a royal pain to work around.
The new site launch combined with the holiday season also didn't help I guess. I just hope that everyone finds their comfort zone with the new site and we can carry on like always. *sigh*
Balkanize, njc has a knack for aptly summarising issues in one word! But that's what Sol wants.
Heya Janet - you're nearly at the top of my list. I'm slowly but surely getting there!!!!
I'll do! Thanks Philisha!
Exactly the reason I'm doing it Linda - I have a lot to learn about this writing business! Thanks!
Heh... we're around -20 atm. It's almost 100 degree difference
Hey, on average we're ok! 
If you're going to Washington State, consider going to the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. Oh...my...god...the...food! Post a picture to make me jealous! It's the only hotel on the ocean in the entire city, so it's pretty hard to miss.
Ah, a challenge. Where I get to eat nice food. I'll try!!! This is great advice!
Heh... I see Amy's on nightshift. I'm training a tech guy in India, so I'm up at ungodly hours too. Janet's in regular Janet-time so she can reply in real-time
Yep, the sun is shining over here. And it's a typical Perth summer's day today, 39 degrees in the shade (39 degrees C, for you guys it would be more like a 102). So we're staying out of the shade today! 
You're invited to dinner whenever you show up. Would love to talk shop and writing around a campfire! We'll see if we can get K to get a passport and get across the border. Unlikely, but maybe if there is free food...
Curious, how do you power your laptop or whatever device it is you use to write .... Or are you guys cheating and have all the luxuries of the 21st century still?!
Janet...
DOES THIS MEAN YOU GOT THE JOB? Huge news girl! Share!
Oh shit. I thought I've already mentioned that. I have, very happy excited busy. The visa application is still in progress, but the house (the brick and mortar one) had sold in less than 2 weeks. Living with the in-laws for the time being. It could be worse, although I can't think of anything worse right now LOL
It will be another 4-6 weeks, more 6 weeks due to all the holidays on that side of the world .... I'll try and do a better job to keep you posted from now on - should've known that you would care! 
janet reid wrote:If you kill your male MC half way through in a romance novel ... not so much. I'd say dissappointment is more like it.
Pfft... the male MC is easily replaced... there's a boy under pretty much every rock and shrub
Wilbur Smith has the same attitude. I haven't read Wilbur Smith since I've read fucking 800 pages all the way to the last page of the last book of his that I've read. True, the book was like 3 inches thick and then he killed the female MC - she jumps into a disused mine shaft for the stupidest reason you can think of in this world - she saw her boyfriend (boyfriend!!!!!!!!!!!!!) dance (dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) with an ex. Depending on what you pull out from under that rock for Catherine, it may or may not end well for you K. Just saying.
I went, yes! Amy is penta-lingual, but now I'm not so sure anymore. I've pretty mentioned all of that, except for the part where she was informed about the raid implicating Anthony. Would the difference be instead of Catherine fretting about it, it's "shown"? Because I can see a review coming where someone is going to say something like "start at the beginning" and that all those bits and pieces are not needed right from the start.
But tell you what. I haven't started with the revision yet because I was busy packing my house (not the brick and mortar, the contents) into a container. I'll see what I can do based on all your comments and suggestions. One thing I do know for sure, if I can pull this off, it'll be the stuff that wins writing competitions! LOL
I also have NO problem standing on the side line while K makes you guys suffer with his legendary approach! I'm more than happy with his reviews of NS so far.
Wow! This is taking it to the next level! And I'm so with your group - bread, pizza and cookies. You don't have to say anything more!
Too many personalities makes for a complicated plot. I imagine that K is the type of person who only cooks dishes with three or more ingredients for simplicity (water is an ingredient, btw.)
(Kiss)
And he'll still be a better cook than me, I'm sad to admit.
Final comment from me, then I'll leave it at that.
The changes Sol made to the regular review format on the new site made a huge difference. No more scrolling up and down all the time or having to find where you've been. If you have to go back to check something or include a new thought that had occurred in the mean time, both formats involve scrolling up and down - in-line will be slightly easier to get back to where you have left off, but only marginally, unless you only scroll away after you've made a comment/suggestion, otherwise you still have to re-read some text to pick it up again. Hope this makes sense.
And KHippolite also touched on a good point - it's easier to read other regular reviews than in-line reviews. I would be interested to know if everyone still read other reviews as much as they had on the old site.
Personally, I don't. I only read the regular reviews left by others and not so much in-line reviews left by others. Because of what KHippolite said - it's time consuming and in case you haven't noticed yet, I'm lazy and no fan of clicking a mouse all the time (and maybe old ). To me, it is/was part of my learning curve as a reviewer - to see what I have missed and how others do reviews. So I hope others are still doing it!
But, this is what Sol and the team got right with the new site IMO - we now have a choice and can choose which option works best for us - in-line or regular or both. It's a personal preference, and by saying that I like regular reviews more or that I find in-line reviews cumbersome, I'm not saying that that in-line reviews are crap. I'm only saying what works for me, and I think in-line reviews can still be improved and that it would not have swayed me personally to become a premium member which was the question posed way back when (or one of the questions).
Cheers Janet
I don't really kill off characters per se. I just cull the herd.
In Rocket Baby, I'm heading into Chapter 17 with only 7 named characters surviving / standing. That's so hot. (It's also a record low for me - though I had to cheat by not naming the dean and the chancellor).
If you kill your male MC half way through in a romance novel ... not so much. I'd say dissappointment is more like it.
bimmy wrote:To hard to please?!?! Khippolite HAS reviewed you right? right?
Heh... I haven't made poor Janet suffer through my detailed reviews where I'm running charts, diagrams, and statistical analysis on the story.
I'd be upset, but I'm too grateful! (I think)
Re being on my side, much appreciated! But I meant the other "on my side" - where you just agree with everything I say and do! *looks over shoulder, phew, K's not around, so I'm safe and all is good*
Thanks for the support and kind words too! *blushes prettily*
Last round!
Isn't "normal" boring to start with? And you can bring the normal in as the story develops? In any case, I'll see what I can do to show more of Catherine before she gets shot. So we're good I think?!
Thanks!!!!
no prob, Janet Reid. I think I finally figured out what is really being addressed which is changes to the inline with the drop down boxes. Some find those annoying. Am I correct?
one author stated he felt the changes allowed/encouraged reviewers to leave poor reviews. LOL I say those who are going to do a poor job reviewing will no matter what is set in place, just as those who will give a well thought out review will too.
I am just now making my first edits from an inline review. I pulled up two screens one with the review the other with my to be edited chapter and I have to say I LOVE THE CHANGES. It takes me half the time it used to and I no longer am left guessing which passage a reviewer is commenting on.
As someone else said, it's all subjective and each has their own preference but this girl couldn't be more happy be she the reviewer or the author
I'm not sure what Sol has in mind for the in-line boxes, but he fixed a big one by increasing the number of characters to 1000. If he can move the box out of the way and reduce the clicking (you have to click in the box first to leave a comment which seems unnecessary - this would help reviewers - and by displaying the comments without having to click on them - this would help writers), I don't think even I would be able to whinge about it!
You've also touched on one of the other strengths of in-line reviews, you do know now exactly where you have to edit things!
Well, it's not as if 50 words are going to encourage better reviews either! So only in-line reviews can't be blamed for that, I think. If there are any reviewers out there just to get the points and not add value, they're a minority luckily IMO. For most, I think the overall intent around TNBW is to help, suggest and improve - and where a reviewer thinks they can't do that (yet), they tend to support. As a writer, all of this is invaluable, so I appreciate each and every review the same.
He likes killing off characters. That way, they don't complicate his plot. Truth.
You say this as if there's another way of getting around difficult characters ..... (edit) even if they are loyal and trustworthy and on a wonderful quest
I don't care if you have more or less local vocab. I just need to be initiated to it with more/better context clues. Hobblers wasn't bad. I figured it just meant horse.
Nah, you've done well! But keep me on my toes when the context isn't sufficient to support the meaning of the word (as if I need to ask! pft)
To hard to please?!?! Khippolite HAS reviewed you right? right?
lol
You're still new and I'm still working on getting you "on my side" (submissive is the word I want to use, but in the context of romance novels, it will just give everyone the wrong idea! hahahahahaha)
Handbrake turn, fellow knights in dull and smudged armour. All bimmy meant was that I gave too much attention to the raid and injury, and not enough to Catherine and her motivation for being there in the first place - given that Catherine is trying to get Anthony out of trouble AND making sure Matthew doesn't get killed either, who wouldn't like/connect with her even though neither Anthony or Matthew is cute and fluffy (except bimmy of course LOL).
I think it's a much easier fix to bring her motivation up a level/to the fore than having her being told by Isaac about the raid while she delivers a baby and save the mother's life, jumps on her horse, save a little lamb from drowning on the way (there are no more wolves in England by this time, otherwise it would've been the go) while she chews her favourite cereal and to boot, help an old woman carry her fire-wood back to her cottage.
And in any case, you guys are now interfering with the heroine of the second book, so I really can't go down the cute and fluffy baby animals route.
But now I have another question - if I change the first chapter POV to Matthew (amy's idea which I like for a number of reasons) and if I can do it (not sure I have enough exciting stuff for a whole chapter as Catherine will be shot at the end of the first chapter in this version), would this be a problem? I don't think so, because then readers will connect with Matthew who is on his way in less than 30mins to help his neighbour? Usually romance novels are written in the female POV and or start with the female POV, but I'm not fussed, have read enough romance novels where the male POV is given the same plot space as well as to start the novel.
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you - things are this close ---> <---- to back-to-normal!
I posted another short story about my son. Low effort and only one page long. Any thoughts?
Working my way to it as we speak!
In other words, how to hit each other with sticks and cook for 150 of your closest friends over a campfire.
I must have misplaced my invite to the bonfire party over at your place ....... Surely I've made the top 150?!
ps - the link doesn't work for me 
bimmy
Make sense - the rewrite will hopefully fix that by default when I try and focus a bit more M and C instead of everything and everyone else. It's not going to be easy given the situation as you'd hope that Matthew wouldn't go into a raid all by himself ...
Just in case, a barmekin wall is just that, a wall. Specifically a wall around a border tower house. But I see what you did there - now to see if I can do it without making it obvious to the reader I'm spoon feeding them! LOL You're giving me great advice and are picking up things that haven't been picked up - no mean feat given the number of reviewers that already went through the first chapters!!!
I'll let you know when I've posted the revised chapters - I'll do it somehow without messing up the rest of stuff and to make sure all previous reviewers will get points again if they review again. Guess my learning curve on this new site is going to go up!
