Everything is fleeting. Even what is on this board is fleeting. Kiva’s offhand comment above about probably only being around on this board for a limited time filled me with sadness, but also reminded me of how impermanent things can be. I will miss Kiva’s excellent writing when she eventually goes away, just as I now miss several writers who are no longer on this board but contributed wonderful stories in our past.
We have lost Diana the Valkyrie’s venerable story website this year. Other sites will eventually go the same way. Just a reminder-DOWNLOAD any story that you find enjoyable. There is no guarantee that any story will still be on the internet 5 or 10 years from now. There are several stories that I really enjoyed and were on this site, but they have disappeared for various reasons. I remember other stories on different sites that I did not download but now wish I had. If you like it, make sure you keep it.
And please give thanks and praise to all of the authors who you enjoy, preferably directly via a reply post to their stories or even direct messages. They write not only for their own pleasure, but for yours. Let them know they are appreciated.
Turning to the question of this post, I will point out three older running series that are from authors who no longer frequent this board (at least in the past year, if not more). Note that I have mentioned several writers in past posts that I really enjoy, and those that I did not mention below but have mentioned other times are still favorites of mine.
Harpua13—The Luxana stories: The author has done a fair variety of excellent stories, but the five stories he did with Luxana were his best. They were a lot of fun, with brutal fights and insight into a wonderful, quirky character. Start with Indecent Catprosal, then move to Luxana and the Glass Ceiling (my favorite), Luxana Does the Cat-Walk, Luxana in the Motherland, and lastly Luxurious Parts 1 and 2. If you want to get into the character better, perhaps even start with Glass Ceiling and then backtrack to Indecent as the “origin story”. I just went back and read some of this series last weekend-it was really entertaining.
Anna the Marine Chick—the spy stories: Anna started with a series of a few stories around her family relationships, especially her mother and sister and the battles they had. She has several other stories as her life as a private eye type and others of her adventures as a Marine. But she eventually moved to her spy series, with Anna being a rogue mercenary battling various evil foes. That series have excellent world-building and storytelling. Start with Tales of the Marine Chick-Code Name Redvixen, and keep going. But you cannot go wrong with pretty much anything she wrote.
Braveheart—The Sandbridge stories: This is a sad one. Braveheart came late to writing, but he built a world in the Sandbridge stories that was relatable yet fantastic. Sandbridge is a fictional California town in the 1980s where the women fight amongst themselves a lot. A Hollywood writer named Nick comes to the town regarding the rumors of how much catfighting goes on, and winds up staying. The characters are all fun, with flaw and strengths. For those who lived during the 1980s, the references will bring back a strong sense of nostalgia. Over a couple years, he generated over 50 stories which were scattered here and on another (since disappeared) site. Unfortunately, he went absent, and it was later found out that he had passed away suddenly. But his stories live on, and the first group of them can be found under Welcome to Sandbridge on this site.
As some extra mentions, Coffeemug still writes occasionally, but his old series Swampland is still a great read. His more recent series The Pride of Galloway was an excellent fantasy and period piece, and he has now begun a new series, Mad Women, which is very enjoyable as well. Also, I have mentioned in the past how great some of the writers from around the 2010 period were. Authors like Jonica, Gemma Rox, Laurie Breeze and many others were both prolific and talented during that period-go find their stories and give them a read as well. More recent but now largely inactive writers such as Heidikillerkat and AndrewScott have excellent series that are also worth noting. Current writers like FyreCracka and Kiva of course are wonderful ongoing reads. This list can go on and on-the point is that a reader should never get bored on this site, with its treasure trove of hundreds and hundreds of stories. If one story is not to your taste, move on and find another that is more to your liking. Use the search engine on this site and enjoy.
As always, an enormous THANK YOU to all of the authors on this board.
