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Ah, my favorite topic. Capitalization alone has probably added months to my writing over the past 12 years.

I questioned Gemini about this. It sees bus driver as merely a job, whereas it sees doctor, captain, astronaut, etc. as titles of respect. Of course, I'm sure there are plenty of cases where there would be no consensus as to whether to use titles of respect for given careers. I intentionally questioned it about astronaut and it says it should be capitalized in direct address ("Hello, Astronaut."). The latter is goofy since I've never heard of someone addressing an astronaut that way, although I suppose it's possible. Another case is someone with a master's degree vs. someone with a doctorate. Basically, no one calls me Master Dirk (except maybe if I had had a butler as a kid, lol), yet a friend of mine can be addressed as Dr. Lomow. Yet, if I'm a Jedi master or a mage, it would be Master Dirk.

If I had had hair over the past 12 years, I wouldn't anymore.

My mother despised the younger President Bush while she was still alive. Every time clips of him appeared on TV, she'd say she could just kick him in the face. :-)

She lived long enough to see Biden win in 2020 and probably thought, thank God that's over!

The period from 2016 through 2024 could never get made as a fictional TV movie because it's too far-fetched to be believed.

What kind of stories do you read/write?

It didn't previously, but I'll add it to the list of things it could be.
He's actually called that because I renamed the combat pit to rumble pit.

I'd create the group, but I'm at the limit (10). I'm the creator or sole moderator of most of the other groups, so, like Hotel California, I can never leave.

Feel free to create the group, though. We can always delete it later if it goes unused.

Welcome, LN.

There are definitely SFF readers/writers here who will most likely have a look-see, myself included. Many folks here, though, including published authors, often read/write other genres but will read the works of others regardless of genre. My Archangel Syndrome book (work in progress) has had quite a few members review it who normally fall outside SFF. They're experienced writers/reviewers, so their feedback is consistently excellent.

Have a look at another post in this forum for tips on how to maximize the number of reviews you can get. It's one of the posts pinned at the top of the forum.

Best advice is to dive in and start reviewing. Almost everyone here reciprocates. Be sure to click on their member name and check their profile to see when they were last online. If it's been more than a month, they may be offline for an extended period (people come and go as life and health dictate).

Try to avoid big monolithic posts like your first short story. It's harder for potential reviewers to find the time to dedicate to one long story. Many folks here prefer to review works (stories or chapters) in one sitting. You can split your stories in two (just name them to be obvious (e.g., -part 1 of 2, -part 2 of 2). I have chapters I've had to split in three to help keep my reviewers sane.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here in Premium. That's one of its main uses. Also, you can send me a connection request, if you like, so we can talk about members behind their backs.   I'm happy to help you get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Funny spelling isn't a problem. Plenty of Canadians here, myself included, although I'm primarily targeting a US audience, so I use their philistine spelling and quote marks. Also, at least one writer from Scotland, a land of great music, fast talkers, and optional punctuation. :-)

Dirk

Musk probably wants to play president. You know, the way Dick Cheney ran everything under Bush Jr.
The only good news I've heard recently is that Musk was born in South Africa and is a Canadian citizen. He can never run for president of the US!   The scary part is he can probably run for prime minister of Canada.  >:-(

The only reason the Canada-as-51st-state idiocy drives me nuts is that the media on both sides of the border keep covering the damn story, keeping the nonsense alive. Apparently, there aren't enough people suffering and dying around the world to keep the media entertained. In 2017, I told Google's news feed to stop showing me any stories about Trump. I'll do that again soon, but I just can't look away from the impending train wreck yet.

Y'all are welcome to seek refuge in Canada as needed.

It occurs to me that if Donald tells his legions that the vaccine contains the disinfectant he suggested people inject, far more folks would be vaccinated. Of course, then RFK Jr. would have come along and revealed to people that the manufacturers, all of whom are secretly working for the Chinese government, are leaving out the Lysol for batches of vaccine going to red states. But once they're wise to the conspiracy, MAGA will storm Costco locations throughout the blue states, looking for Lysol. And if they run out, they can inject the highest quality maple syrup imported from the Union's newest northern member state.

The South shall rise again!

Thanks, Alan.

Funny thing. I forgot that, in American English, a rumble usually involves gangs/groups. So now I'm trying to decide if I should keep the rumble/rumbly terminology. I'm leaning toward keeping it.

I'll go with Sir Remington (Rummy) Rumblebottom IV. It's unused. And that gives me Sir Rummy, which is perfect.

Sol,

The help documentation still refers users to support@thenextbigwriter.com rather than contact@thenextbigwriter.com. Also, last I checked, the site references the support email address when new users are trying to sign up and have to verify their email address. If they have an issue at that point, they won't be able to sign up, and we'll never know it.

At a minimum, is it possible for you to set up a simple forward of support emails to the contact email address, so that it's at least being monitored? The latter approach seems like it would involve less work.

However, the help documentation also still references the obsolete phone number, which should simply be deleted.

Thanks
Dirk