It helps to have a honest and civil discussion when there's a healthy amount of respect involved. Sometimes we forget about that on teh infernetz. 
My male characters are a means to an end.
Sometimes a way to write a little bit of myself into my fantasy.
But in the end mostly a catalyst for a good catfight.
I admire your ability to write in the first person feminine HC, we've discussed this before. I don't think I can do it justice although one time I should try just for the hell of it, but a lot of that is I like to write from more than one perspective, get into the heads of both my fighters, I think it helps to generate a little ambiguity and maybe a little sympathy for my losers - although sometimes they're just flat out mean bitches (Janice Conrad comes to mind).
also have no idea how you manage to be so damn prolific. I can't even keep up with everything you put out. lol. I just don't manage to write very fast.
I hope my style stands on it's own as fun and interesting regardless of my gender and it makes me very happy to know several ladies enjoy my work.
I never read petes thread,mostly because all my stories come fully formed and I didn't think it applied to me. Perhaps I'll have to go and read it. I try to give writers encouragement as much as I can, but I can't read every story here, and I feel bad about that, but I gotta get my own house in order sometimes and deal with my own. Obviously, I love feedback. lol. I always feel like I failed in a way if I put something out there and nobody comments on it. wonder if I somehow missed the mark and if so, how? so i can understand I suppose how people leave off their own stories if they don't get a response and feel encouraged. (assuming that was addressed in said thread)
But that's just me being me. I've always craved positive reinforcement.
Thank you for those kind words. As a fan of your work, you know I appreciate them. For me, Pete, Jonica, Laurie Breeze, you, Scribbler, Gemma Rox, Peccavi, Kayla, and Jessika are the most often replies to my work. I know there are a lot of other folks out there who do and I know I have a lot of fans (they've messaged me to let me know and the girls have ended up in my stories lol), but I can't think of everyone. But real life happens, and Gemma and Jonica, who pretty much ran this place when I returned, aren't around that much. I know there's a feeling that comes when you know you've done good work; you just know you have because there are certain things that we set out to achieve and display and if we've done that, we've won, regardless of who replies or who doesn't. Yes, it sucks and it's very annoying to bust your ass on a story and hardly get a wink from the people reading it, then get a message a month or two later about it lol. But I guess it's better than nothing.
I had a lot of time on my hands around this time last year; I'd be in my office and that department encourages you to write and hardly any students would come to visit me other than to suck up
. Not to mention, I don't really sleep well, so when I'm not sleeping, I'm thinking and if I'm thinking, I may as well be writing. This is common now more than ever because I may have one of my daughters come into our room and get on the bed or all three of them get in lol. There are some nights when the kids don't go to sleep until 3 am because they're so full of energy. Then, when they fall asleep, I can't sleep and I have be up in four hours lol, so I may write then.
I was trying to write myself back into shape and I pretty much figured that my time here was winding down because of so many other commitments. I'd start three stories at once and work on them depending on the mood I was in. I'd try for four pages an hour or at least two. I'd take simple scenarios or things that I'm familiar with and use them. I've had to deal with the racial stuff my entire life, so I have to go in that direction from time to time. I got so caught up in OPW stuff that there were stories I wanted to tell that I knew I'd have to tell.
The object is to stay motivated and keep expanding. Every character in my story has a story of her own and sometimes, I use that. Dynamite Quinn was just a girl sparring in a cage in "The Happy Punch" and I just decided to give her a story of her fookin' own lol. Sasha Dracula was just an antihero in "Angel of Death," but after watching "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," I decided to give her a nice, lengthy bio piece. Sometimes, you've got to work with the surplus rather than create new characters. Every girl Luxana faced has a story of her own, and many of them are dynamic and would explain what led them down that path and what happens afterward.
