All Comments on 'Orchid Ch. 00'

Two sentences in I was hooked. Four sentences and I knew I was going to love this as much as all of your other stories. Thank you. :)

So much blah blah blah and so little action. I just fast-fowarded through waiting for something to happen.

Anonymous negative feedback and feedback so pedantic they clearly didn't even read it.

For my turn, I pity Pierce Hawthorne.

...And when did ya get the 'cuda? Never let 'em worry ya Doc. Always great ta see you writing again. Words... ahh, yeeess! Hi octane fuel for that little known sex organ that resides between the ears. Use them, follow them... build with them until they finally scream back, all on their own. Until they give even more than an orgasm... they can provide an experience. Ah... so sad, I pity Pierce as well dear friend, and the fools who never see the value of his diatribe, yet I rejoice at your lovely scribblings that provide such truly enlightening experiences. I'll be waiting on the corner. Cheers! --- Josie

and I paid no attention to the title till I started reading the comments. Just saw your name and started reading. Was never a Shakespeare fan anyway. Would have probably scared me off if I'd thought too much about it. What can I say, I always love your stories. I wouldn't care if there wasn't any sex in them at all. Just reading your stuff is enough to get my synapses firing. Apparently the same cannot be said for the comment trolls.

A) You guys are awesome to always leave such nice comments. It's so rewarding, and I'm glad you keep coming back.

B) Negative feedback 100% has a place here, and I don't begrudge anyone their opinion. I don't think either of those posters read the story, so it carries very little weight, but they're allowed to think whatever they want to think.

Loved your story and I couldn't stop reading... both characters are well formed and I relate very well.. Gill has expanded his life well beyond what he was stuck in before.. I hear that ! .. and I have a lot of Eve in me as well.. very good writing, please continue

I would like to see more of these characters. It also helps I'm a huge fan of Mopar Muscle. If you decide to write further on this story, I'd like to hear what's under the hood of the Cuda! :D

To Brenda and Jaded:

Thank you! It's always wonderful to see characters connect with readers. I do my best to give them depth and relatability, but it's always guess work during the writing. Having someone stand up afterwards and say "That strikes a chord with me." is very reassuring.

I also received a followup email from the anonymous poster above who seemed offended by the title. It said:

"That you would, in any manner, associate a poorly written, badly conceived story on a porn site to anything that Shakespeare wrote, is laughable. That you consider comments by anyone here to be narrow minded simply demonstrates a total lack of understanding as to who the audience is that you're pandering too. And at last look, AwkwardMD is just as anonymous as "Anonymous". It's just spelled differently."

A few points in response.

1) It's not poorly written. Admittedly, prose is not my strongest area, and it's the one I consequently feel like I have to work at the hardest. There are many authors on Lit whom I feel have much stronger style than I do, and there are many published authors whom I read and think "I'm better that that." On a scale from 1 to Perfect, I'm pretty good. I'm happy with that and the rate at which my style is evolving.

2) It's not badly conceived. I'm not really sure how to defend against this criticism. Inferring from interviews I've read with people who've seen it, The Day the Clown Cried is 'badly conceived'. It takes a wildly inappropriate approach to an extremely serious matter. I don't think there's anything inappropriate in this story.

Alternately, the complaint could be implying that I didn't do a very good job of thinking this story through. I don't -think- that's true. I was experimenting with doing less actual storytelling and more narration with this piece, so there's a lot of things going on in Eve's head that the story doesn't state explicitly. There's a lot of background for both characters that I tried to hint at as little as possible. Some things worked, and some didn't. I'm glad for the mistakes just as much as I am for the successes, because the next story will be better for them.

3) I didn't say comments were narrow minded. I said they were anonymous and pedantic (overly concerned with the minute detail of the title, specifically). I still think that's accurate.

4) I don't think I'm pandering (catering to or profiting from the weakness of others). I wrote a story about a crossdresser who successfully passes for female, and particularly eventful night she spends with a straight man with a lot on his mind. This story does cater to the Crossdressing and Transgendered readership, but it's only pandering if you truly believe that's a weakness. I think it's beautiful, and I hope that the story shows the respect I have for those who are willing to be as wonderful on the outside as they are on the inside. However...

I write as therapy. Other people journal to help themselves process their emotions and struggles, but I've never been able to do that. Every time I tried to journal, it always came out as a story, so now I just write stories. The stories I write serve, first and foremost, as outlets for stress. I suffer from Alphabet Soup (which is much easier to say than to list the litany of acronyms I've been diagnosed with over the years). I spend a few hours writing, almost every day, and I do it for me. I didn't write this story for anyone else. If the complaint is that I don't understand the audience, then my response is that you don't either.

I enjoy sharing my work because I'm proud of it, but I write for me. I've been writing for coming up on 16 years, and only started sharing any of it in the last year and a half. When the zombie apocalypse comes and the Internet (and subsequently, Literotica) goes away, I'll continue to write and be happy.

5) I am anonymous. It's true. If I have my way, no one from my real life will ever know about this side of me, and no one from this world will ever know who I really am. However, I do all of my work on this site within this account. I have no alts. I post comments on other peoples stories, I put my sobriquet on them, and I stand by them. I'm wearing a mask when I communicate on this site, but you and others can always find the mask. I can be reached.

You cannot be reached. You refuse others even the avenue of a fake email address. If being anonymous like I am is cowardly, being anonymous like you are is cowardly^2.

I've said this in the comments sections of other stories, and it holds true here; I don't begrudge readers their opinions. I hope you'll see that I've copied yours faithfully from the private feedback you sent me. It would incredibly egotistical of me to think that every reader that stumbles across one of my stories would love it, and so I've accepted that readers will dislike things for a multitude of reasons. Obviously, you are entitled to your opinion.

I responded to your feedback the way that I did because I don't think that the feedback you've given is your opinion. I still don't think you read the story. It seems like you just picked on me because of the title, and used some hot button criticisms without bothering to see if there was any actual justification for them. I think that if you read the story, you would still have problems with it, but my guess is that those problems would stem from different sources. You didn't like my word choice in some areas, or the way I use sentence fragments in sex scenes, etc.

I think you leave negative feedback because you're a bully and not because you have a genuine interest in helping others improve their writing, and that's sad. It's sad commentary on you as a person that you have so little in your life that you would dive bomb other people's stories without any reason for doing so. I pity you.

because I would like the previous comments by Doc so hard!

Gr8 story.

I, too, expected something Shakespeare inspired from the title. Waited at first for Puck and sprites to appear. Instead, got a beautiful tale of two lonely strangers on a magical, life changing night. AwkwardMD, you're incredibly talented. I felt like I was right there with the characters, and understood everything they were feeling. I do have a question - when Gill is talking about his father and the new machine purchased for the shop, is the implication that his dad ignored what he'd like to do and made the investment assuming Gill'd continue working there? Or did his dad steal from him to help pay for it? It wasn't quite clear in my mind. Either way, wonderful story and looking forward to reading more of your work.

Terrific character development, rhythm, pacing. Seamless, easy command of the language, which can only be achieved with a lot of hard work. Congratulations

This story is HOT !!! More please

I'm not sure how many times I've read this story now but it is one i keep revisiting. There's just something about (how you've written) Eve, how in the shop revealing her past/who she is to Gill, making herself vulnerable, it's like that one act sets them both free, Gill learns a lot about himself in that moment & his acceptance of Eve allows her to do the same for herself.

Maybe I'm projecting a bit there but that's a testament to your writing. I know this story is a year old now but Eve & Gill have depth that could be further explored (if I've missed a follow up please tell me!), if that's not on the cards so be it, a story needs the Author's heart to be great. Like others I see your name & know I'm not going to be disappointed & will look forward to whatever you choose to share with us next.

Thank you. This comment came at exactly the right time. I cried.

Seriously. Thank you.

I really liked this. Short by word count, but a lot happened here.

One of the things I liked here - you had enough confidence in your readers NOT to spell out everything, to let us join some of the dots for ourselves.

I could say a lot more, but that sums it up; a story by a legit writer. Lots of people write, few are writers. DO NOT STOP. Whether it's here, there, or everywhere, keep writing. You've got it.

I love how the story straddles complex topics of acceptance and yet works as the events of one night. A bit said, a lot implied. Gill and Eve just work as characters.

Some authors can drag me down a road I have no interest in traveling and yet when I arrive, I find that the trip itself was worth it. This wasn't and probably still isn't my kink, but the universal appeal of being accepted and loved for who you are makes that a non-issue.

I came here from the forums after reading AwkwardMD's comments there and can feel the writer's love that makes characters come alive to the reader. Love this first story and will definitely read more.

Our future's have many paths, but our past has only one. I love to reminisce but I often forget I have somewhere else to go.

Your story is a picture painted with words and i could see my self in those buildings. I looked at your bio it doesn't seem like you will run out of material.

I look forward to reading more. Dont forget those who just started the Long haul.

I have never read a trans/crossdressing story before, but I was referred here by DeathAndTaxes and saw you recommended this as a first read. I was blown away by the writing and the characters--you're right, I have never read anyone like Eve before, and I loved every step Gill took into her world, from the moment he met her in the convenience store to their journey together through the abandoned grocery store and across the rooftops. I love how you are able to turn the everyday mundane into something magical and new. Can't wait to read more!

Such a beautifully told tale. Incredibly tender.

I have had you on my 'to read list' for too long—tonight that ended. Am I surprised at the quality I found? No. I expected nothing less than a professional technical execution of whatever story you had to tell. It was fun to peek inside your mind through your story and find some of what's hidden there. However, I'm not really surprised at the tender exploration of emotions you brought forth to share with us through this tale and thrilled that you choose to tackle the often complex emotions and difficulties of such characters this story portrayed. But, I must admit to my own tinge of jealously that I cannot do it so subtly. Your contributions to Literotica and it's members though your stories and shared advice is certainly appreciated by this fan!

I have, over the years, collected a lot of art (for this story and others). Be sure to check http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1496319 to see these characters and more!

This is like the first rise of an unknown roller coaster. I’ve got no idea if it’s going to be exhilarating or terrifying, but I’m so glad I’m gonna find out. And so far so good. I love both of the characters already.