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I read about an interesting study from 2012 that found that psychopaths had observable differences in their brains, with less grey matter in those areas related to empathy, self-control, fear of punishment, etc. In other words, stuff that would stop a normal human from commiting atrocious acts, especially violence. They distinguished people with anti-social personality disorders ("hot-headed") from psychopaths ("cold-hearted"). Unless they're also psychotic, psychopaths generally meet the criteria for sanity in the U.S. (they know right from wrong), but they're incapable of giving a damn. If one doesn't have the ability to stop a negative impulse, that seems like a damn good case of mental illness to me. It's too soon to know if there can even be a treatment for people with such brains (e.g., early intervention or medication). And jurors are afraid to put them in psychiatric hospitals, fearing doctors will let them out too soon. It's easier to declare them evil. Interestingly enough, people locked up in hospitals usually spend more time incarcerated than do their jailed counterparts for the same crime. And since prisons are notoriously bad at treating the menally ill, the jailed offenders get out sooner, and with virtually no psychiatric support. Duh!

Ideally, JP's style of list should be available at the click of one button (at most) located near the top of the home page, rather than the bottom. Scrolling for it is annoying. The button at the bottom that Cobber is referring to takes me to a listing of all books in my groups, not all writing. I'm not sure if that's specific to me. And the pictures on those pages are so large, it takes forever to scroll through them. The old site managed to get it down to one line per published work, which was great for scanning at a glance, like a spreadsheet. If the pictures are a must-have, use the small ones, like on the home page.

Vern, how do you do that. I typically click on the link that shows up under Visit Your Groups on the home page. That takes me to the first page of the thread. I then have to click to get to the last page and then scroll down to get to the end. Is there a better way?

The email notifications/links telling me that there is something new to read on the site always go directly to the most recent unread post. I'm not sure why the links from the home page don't work that way. That might address Mike's needs.

Thanks
Dirk

Goodness you're quick. Nice dragon pic, BTW. My only feedback about the summary is that, as written, it seems like two separate stories (the girls and the dragons). I suggest adding something about what ties them all together.

It couldn't hurt to get early feedback. It may give you some ideas for how to write a more complete draft without having to start from scratch. You can always use the system's version control to publish another version of the same chapter. Most people then make the older version inactive. Don't delete the inactive version until you're sure you're done with it, since I think the reviews are deleted along with it.

On a seperate note, be sure to join the Medieval/Fantasy Magic group and start a thread there for ongoing feedback and discussions about your book, unless you prefer to keep it here. I actually write sci-fi but most of my reviewers are into fantasy, so I spend most of my time in that group's forum.

A third option is to provide a button on the home page that takes you to All Works. Obviously, that still requires an extra click, so I'm not sure if it would make things easier.

Impressive. Most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well.

One factor to consider is your target audience. I write sci-fi, which is largely a male audience. As a result, my two MCs are male, each partially based on me. However, I created a few very strong female characters to balance that out (e.g., a female monarch on a male-dominated world, a fearless fleet admiral, and an empress who can be very dangerous when her son is threatened). Admittedly, I also have a few female characters who are doormats, but I plan to address that in my next draft.

Just post it. No worries. Amy's going to rewrite it anyway.

Two grades better than PhD.