CL Mustafic

I didn’t want to ruin the story for anyone who was actually reading it but yeah, it’s for Mo and that’s hilarious, I might just use that!
But now you know the basic reason for why I need it to be some sort of modern day reason for the beam not to work since back when the first guy was taken there was no problem.  

It’s a good thing I’m quite a few chapters off from needing the specifics but at least you guys will keep me entertained while I figure it out.

I didn’t want to ruin the story for anyone who was actually reading it but yeah, it’s for Mo and that’s hilarious, I might just use that!
But now you know the basic reason for why I need it to be some sort of modern day reason for the beam not to work since back when the first guy was taken there was no problem.  

I’m assuming this is for Mohammed?
Only if so… it would be so much snarky fun if the matter transference beam looked like an endless pillar of salt…

It’s probably a good thing nobody who actually knows anything about the technology (not that we can beam people up or what have you but you know what I’m saying) will read this story but I don’t want people scratching their heads wondering if I have no idea how anything works. Seriously, it’s just going to be like a paragraph to explain why the aliens didn’t beam the MC up right away like they did the last guy.
And since this is just a silly idea from my head, I have no real enthusiasm for researching how this stuff works. I just don’t want to sound like I’m completely clueless.  But if need be, I’ll contact NASA right away and see what their thoughts are on this, just as soon as I finish doing some other things that don’t involve using my brain.

It’s probably a good thing nobody who actually knows anything about the technology (not that we can beam people up or what have you but you know what I’m saying) will read this story but I don’t want people scratching their heads wondering if I have no idea how anything works. Seriously, it’s just going to be like a paragraph to explain why the aliens didn’t beam the MC up right away like they did the last guy.
And since this is just a silly idea from my head, I have no real enthusiasm for researching how this stuff works. I just don’t want to sound like I’m completely clueless.  But if need be, I’ll contact NASA right away and see what their thoughts are on this, just as soon as I finish doing some other things that don’t involve using my brain.

Okay, I guess I should have specified a bit better. The aliens were “visiting” around 2000 years ago and they swung back around this way again, none of their technology is on the planet. They basically just screw with the humans and go away. It’s confusing I know.
 

Okay so I’m writing this story and I need a reason the aliens wouldn’t be able to “Beam” someone up until they are at a specific spot/general area. I have no idea about anything to do with aliens and spaceships or, well, just about anything that has to do with the science fiction genre (this story isn’t really sci/fi, it’s just got an ending that is a bit...strange, so don’t ask me why I’m writing something I have no idea about, thank you very much). I just need a sort of plausible explanation as to why it might not work in the modern age when it worked before, like around 2017 years before.
Thank you very much in advance for any ideas or help you might have. 
CL

Well, if it’s a transport beam of some kind, it would have to take into considerations things such as outside natural interference, like bad weather.  You don’t want to beam your crew into nasty situations, nor do you want to beam up something FROM a nasty situation, endangering your crew.

Or there’s always this:
ALIEN ONE: Something is throwing the beam off.
ALIEN TWO: What is that? Oh, man… they’ve gone and built a collider!
ALIEN ONE: Closest safe point is right… there!
ALIEN TWO: Right. Quick and beam him from there before they turn everything to grey goo… Idiots! I can’t believe they’ve got away with running it for this long... oh, man. They voted in Donald Trump too! We need to get out of here.

Maybe it’s a pre-arranged rendezvous point, like in the film ‘Starman’ and there is no way to contact each other to revise it?
Perhaps the discovery of electricity/radio waves/micro waves etc, means that only specific places are suitable for matter transference?
If you’re looking for something more involved and technical, perhaps you could look into axial precession, and/or the movement of the equatorial line on earth messing things up a bit. I mean, we are talking in thousands of years here. While it might not be noticeable (I have no idea!), it might throw delicate instrumentation off quite a bit.

I’m going to stop being so negative. I just realized that I have a shitty outlook on everything that has to do with anything I do. This was pointed out to me by my family while most of them were a little drunk which means it’s probably true.
I’m also going to get to work on that fallout shelter I’ve always wanted just in case things go the way I have a bad feeling they will. I’ve already got a couple of cases of wine so my stockpile is off to a good start.
Oh and I guess I might try to write some stuff too.
Happy New Year!

I’m going to stop being so negative. I just realized that I have a shitty outlook on everything that has to do with anything I do. This was pointed out to me by my family while most of them were a little drunk which means it’s probably true.
I’m also going to get to work on that fallout shelter I’ve always wanted just in case things go the way I have a bad feeling they will. I’ve already got a couple of cases of wine so my stockpile is off to a good start.
Oh and I guess I might try to write some stuff too.
Happy New Year!

I’m going to stop being so negative. I just realized that I have a shitty outlook on everything that has to do with anything I do. This was pointed out to me by my family while most of them were a little drunk which means it’s probably true.
I’m also going to get to work on that fallout shelter I’ve always wanted just in case things go the way I have a bad feeling they will. I’ve already got a couple of cases of wine so my stockpile is off to a good start.
Oh and I guess I might try to write some stuff too.
Happy New Year!

Write something I can get paid for. Find a future that doesn’t involve street homelessness. Go to the local Labour party meeting and use the ‘thirty minute topic’ to explain to the right-wingers why they’re all twats. Watch the slowly approaching Brexit/War in Europe/US Presidency with a sense of creeping horror. Just the usual, really.
 

Review Replies for On the Third Day He Rose Again Chapter 1
Well, this went over just as well as I had expected it to, like a lead brick. Oh well, I find it amusing to write so I’ll just keep amusing myself and my two loyal readers.  
Things will get more lively, or deadly, in the next few chapters, I promise. 
Tahn: You always like the weird stuff.  But that’s why I love you!
pippychick: I always love your reviews even though I have to admit, I’m always a bit scared I’ll disappoint you by not living up to your expectations! I’m not sure how much the whole bisexual angle will come into play, so far there’s no indications that there will be any sex in this book (not ruling it out but so far it’s more of a comedy/drama than romance but you never know). And yes, Mo’s in for a few surprises when he wakes up. 
That’s all for now, thanks again to Tahn and Pippychick for the reviews. Chapter 2 is up now!
CL

So after almost exactly a year of trying, I finally have some news to report on Falling for Him. Today I signed a contract to publish it with NineStar Press who, not so coincidently, is also publishing a short story titled Satin Secrets which features Gavin and Lex in their upcoming Layers anthology. Anyway, just thought I would share this with you all and I’ll be sure to let everyone know when it comes out!
CL

So I just signed a contract to publish Backdoor Politics which of course means I’ll be removing it from AFF shortly. Fair warning if you are reading the story, you have about 22 hours to finish it. I plan to take it down tomorrow morning (that’s my tomorrow morning and I’m on CET).
Thanks to everyone who read the story (including at least 2 people I know who didn’t enjoy it, you know who you are) and a special big thanks to those of you who reviewed it! 
I’ll make sure I post a link in the Great Wall of… thread as to where you can purchase the book once it comes out.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.
CL

Thanks ladies! I’m finding myself in a tough spot now though. I forgot my mom is social media stalking me and she called me to find out what this new book is about.
Me: Um… a hitman that uh… does stuff? 
Her: Oh, sounds like something Ron (my brother) would like. You know he likes those thriller type books. And something about politics too, right? The name is Backdoor Politics? 
Me: Uh…
I don’t have the balls yet to tell her what it’s really about. I may have to tell her it’s only being published in Swahili or something.
 

OMG, this is the first Anime I’ve ever watched and if this person has a story to go in there, I just might have to read an Anime fanfic *gasp*

I have a sharp needle I use for regular deflation if you’d like you can borrow it.

I have a sharp needle I use for regular deflation if you’d like you can borrow it.

I have a sharp needle I use for regular deflation if you’d like you can borrow it.

I think all writers and artists feel this way from time to time, and I don't think it necessarily correlates with how many views and reviews, or how much validation you receive… Wait, hear me out
I mean, I got this way the other day myself, even though I have a small handful of wonderful consistent reviewers whom I adore. Similarly, I've listened and comforted people feeling like this who have hundreds and hundreds of reviews for their work.
Sometimes I wonder if Stephen King doesn't sit around in his house lamenting that people aren't responding very quickly to his latest novel, and if this means that all along he's been wasting his time. Then, like the rest of us, he wakes up and moves on from the feeling.
When JK Rowling released “The Casual Vacancy” under a pseudonym to see how she'd be received, I knew she wasn't in earnest. If she was, she would have ventured into fanfiction for an obscure fandom, where she might have been completely ignored. Only an idiot would court this feeling.
Writing is different to engaging in fandom, and different to networking or self-promotion. I really, truly think if Charles Dickens was reincarnated, and knew exactly who he was, and worked away at some Blake's Seven fanfic without engaging with anyone, no one would ever notice his work, no matter how concise and accurate a portrayal of societies’ ills it was.
I've seen too many frankly amazing stories, well beyond the standard usually published as novels, where the author had just a small handful of reviews. Similarly, I've seen atrocities typed in text speak garner hundreds. It's a popularity contest in the main, just like everything else in life. Talent is often overlooked and disregarded.
I have no idea what the answer is.
The only advice I can give is to wait it out. You will stop feeling like this in a day, or a week, maybe even a few hours. Then you can happily go back to writing again. I know saying that doesn't help when the feeling is upon you. It feels completely awful, and I'm sorry to see it in anyone.
Also, never write for reviewers, even if you're writing a request. Write for the characters, and you can't go far wrong.
Reviews will come, sooner or later.
Also… it’s worth noting that a couple of times people have indicated they were afraid to review me, like maybe I’d bite their head off or something, and I think that can be a factor too. Not all of us have english as a first language, and it takes a certain amount of confidence to show up on someone’s review board and actually give an opinion, especially if you don’t already know the author.
Sorry… I don’t know if any of that rambling has helped. I hope so.

Oh, self doubt is an ugly monster and believe me we all deal with it. I tend to compare myself with others far too much and usually, more often than not, find my own work lacking but there’s always room for improvement. I look at this (posting things here on AFF, lots of times before they’re really ready for public consumption) as a learning experience and a way to work on the things I do horribly wrong. 
Just remember, there’s always going to be someone who does thing better than you but then there are always going to be people who do them worse too and you can learn from both.
Good luck with your story!
CL