On Fri, 23 Aug 1996, Greg Sandborn wrote:

    First of all, I was quite surprised to see such  luminary' names 
responding to this subject in the manner they did.  To learn that 
Caroline Seawright or John Biles (for-crying-out-loud) have the same 
problems as the rest of us  mere mortals' is a real eye-opener.  

Well, with all my other problems, I sure don't have to worry about my ego 
shrinking to death :)

    That leaves us with  maybe 25 people who are potential responders.  Now
we come to the rather tricky part of the numbers; how to respond.  From my
standpoint, virtually all the fanfics fall into two categories; those 
that are so good I feel almost embarrassed to soil them with my clumsy 
effort at praise, and those who I can't bring myself to comment on 
because they are so bad I don't know where to begin (And I *refuse* to 
say something stupid like: the whole idea is crap- give it up.)

I've only said that about ONE story...

Usually, I only comment on stories if I have:
1.  Read the whole thing or at least all that is available.  Otherwise, I 
end up making WRONG assumptions that render my points moot.

2.  Think the story needs picky commentary, because that's what I tend to 
do if I comment at all :)

3.  And have enough time to actually sit down and do it.  My average 
commentary takes a long time.  Some of my Mystery Fanfic Theatres have 
taken 5-7 hours to do.

    Sure, I'd love it if Caroline or John or one of the other well know 
writers would say something about my stories (anything, really), but I 
realize they have time problems just like the rest of us and have to 
restrict their ML activities to fit their schedules.  So, I take what I 
can get and try to be happy.   I know there are more than the dozen I've 
actually heard from out there reading my stuff.  And believe me, I'm 
thankful for each and every one of you.

Heh.  I only have time to read all of Caroline's stories because she 
chases me with a hammer until I do it :)



John Walter Biles :  MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas         
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu      bailesu@komodo.hacks.arizona.edu  
http://www.hacks.arizona.edu/~bailesu/falcon.html 
http://www.dhp.com/~wraven/john/index.html
"It's good to kill the King."  "I still think the Saxons should have 
put a higher price on our heads.  I'm more valuable than 25 librum."
--Frequent quotes from our PENDRAGON sessions.