I would like to send a big thank you to the Lush staff again, and so many other author's that have offered their assistance in my attempt at writing. Everyone that has written me has offered their assistance.
Again I find this extraodinary! You would think most would be competitive against each other.
You know, each one wanting to be the best writer.
But the opposite is true, at least with me. I find that very refreshing that so many would offer their assistance.
This time it is moderator JessicaX - That needs to be commended - She helped me a bunch. I must have sent her a half a dozen messages and she replied to everyone quite quickly I might add. She always had great solutions and great tips. Thank you so much JessicaX.
I feel it's only right to thank sweet_as_candy - Milik_Redman - that helped me so much a few months ago.
I wish I wouldn't have deleted the messages from so many authors that offered to help. I would have posted their names as well. But a big thank you to all.
Kathy (kathys_show)
I would think that all of the mods/verifiers are deserving of accolades. The time and effort they donate to keep this site at the quality level it currently is at is absolutely amazing, IMHO.
Want to spend some time wallowing in a Recommended Read? Pick one! Or two! Or seven!
I've been a moderator for, oh, maybe three years now. I was already fairly well known by the time I was asked to join and held more than my share of EP's. That sounds like bragging and I am proud, but the point was, it wasn't being a mod that got them for me. I truly dislike that implication.
What I wasn't was well read or very polished. I wasn't a good writer, I was just a really good story teller. That's when I met Buz. I was invited in and I quickly discovered a group that was as dedicated to improving writing skills as I was. Moreover, it was at that time that Nicola really decided she didn't want to accept stories of low quality. The effort that was put in was nothing short of Herculean. I helped but I spent more time learning from these incredibly talented people and today they are dear friends.
Those who haven't been behind the curtain simply cannot know how dedicated and hard working this team is. They work together with the forum mods, who are an equally dedicated group. For me, it became too much. I could no longer face having to send back fully 50-60% of the stories in the que over the same simple things the last was rejected for. I burned out, like many before me. Now, I'm an 'advisor' which basically mean I get to hang out and be in the way while the current group busts their collective asses.
What they do is amazing and I don't know how members like Buz or Coco keep going.
There have been so many mods that have interacted with me and gave me advice and even one that cut me down to size. Which I'm grateful for. You know who you are. Learning to not only listen to others opinions but respect them, even if I don't agree.
Nympwriter, Milk Redman, Lisa, Sprite (and her humor), Raven star, Dancing Doll, Sweet as candy, DanielleX, Buz, avrgblkgrl, Callisto, Poppet, ruthie, so many more. It is all possible because of Nicola.
It is and invidious task to pick out one particular moderator for special praise. I discussed the experience of being a moderator with Milik many months ago, and up until then I had not realised how difficult it was, having assumed that it was just a matter of checking grammar and spelling, but he soon disabused me of that idea, and also told me how much abuse he suffered from would-be authors who did not agree with his judgment.
This is addressed to all of you therefore - thank you for the wonderful job you do, and for your patience and forbearance with "know-it-alls" like me. And an especially big thank you to those who have moderated my recent stories and poems - MadameMolly, Ruthie, Echelon, KatieElizabeth, Sprite, Buz, Milik_Redman, Sitting, ChrissieLecker, Danielle_X and Wilful. I know there have been more, but that is as far as my records extend. I am constantly amazed at the alacrity with which they read and approve my stories, and for the kind comments that so many of them append as well. I would also like to thank you for the way you accept my antiquated British spelling and use of outmoded diphthongs, and my old-fashioned ideas about English grammar, which were honed by a variety of English teachers back in the 1950s and 1960s.
I would like to say final word about those boring and tendentious subjects, spelling and grammar. To younger readers and writers, I would remind you that back in the dark ages in England, to get into a Grammar School one had to pass an examination at age 11, in which English Comprehension played a major part; at the age of 16 one had to pass an examination on English Grammar to be able even to consider applying for a University place, and those of us who studied scientific subjects up to the age of 18 also had to take an extra examination on the Use of English. This was undoubtedly a chore for most students, who would have preferred to be doing something much more interesting, but in later years I have learned the value of these painfully acquired skills. A well written story is one in which the technicalities of spelling and grammar do not get in the way of the narrative, but actually contribute to clarity and comprehensibility; in other words the technical aspects of the story should be invisible.
As an aside though, one should not be afraid to break the rules sometimes - great writers of prose and poetry such as Shakespeare, Donne, and Lawrence all did, and Shakespeare invented new words when it suited his purpose - and some of the rules, such as the ones on splitting the infinitive, or not using a preposition to end a sentence, were invented by 17th and 18th Century pedants and scholars, such as John Dryden, who decided that if something could not be written in Latin, it should not be written in English.
In conclusion, I may not have the most exciting or vivid of erotic imaginations, and there are many authors who's stories are infinitely more arousing, but I do try to produce work which is technically good, not because that gives it special merit, but because it facilitates the reader's experience, which is why I write in the first place.
I can't pick a favourite. (I can say that it's a MUCH more democratic and collaborative process than you might imagine.) There is a Mod Forum where discussion takes place, opinion is sought from others, POLICY is decided...
Being a Mod is not JUST about being a good writer/editor; you also have to have a real love for other writers. And PATIENCE. And a thick skin.
I did it for years. MOSTLY I think I did it well, but not always. I'm NOT a HP Lovecraft fan, but I have friends who are. There's an RPG game based on the 'Call Of Cthulu' series where as you play the game you are driven insane. That's as close to illustrating the experience of being a Lush Mod as I can describe.
(And of course it doesn't drive EVERYONE nuts!!! Most Mods cope more than well. Me, not so much in the end!!!)
Maggie Rascal and Gypsy Moth mentored me. When I got GOOD at it I hung with Rachel, Millie, Principessa, Coco, Lisa, Buz... In turn, I MENTORED some new ones! (Then I went MENTAL!!!)
A lot of the newer ones I don't know at all. (I have no doubt they are as good as anyone I ever worked with...)
But they bust their arses to do a FUCKING tough job. And they do it with skill and considerable grace. Every one of them have my thanks and respect.
xx SF
I think of the Mods as a collective consciousness, like the Borg. I've used that line before, but it's kind of true. I think I've been edited by a different Mod every time, and they've all been helpful and supportive and knew grammar like a bird knows the sky (well, okay, I've disagreed with one edit, but it was a long time ago, and I made the edit, as asked). I don't even know who the Mods are; my friends keep casually mentioning they are Mods weeks and months into a friendship. I think most of my friends might actually be Mods, though I didn't know it at the time we became friends.
I went and looked it up, Liz edited my first story (Reflections, which wasn't very good) and my second story (Strangers, which was a little better). So thanks Liz!
I like to believe in all sincerity, that all mods are creative alike...the way it should. Like all 'lay writers' I have my complaints, but in truth I probably should remain reserved. It's not easy defining what is and what isn't passable writs...my eyes and emotions would be worn down. I have actually just begun to scratch my writing and wish to applaud mods that have stuck with my melodramatics when I'm pissed. THANK YOU.
