Saturday, December 8, 2012

Broken Promises

I take my word very seriously. It's my opinion that honor is something we don't value highly enough anymore. I suppose it's a throwback to my incessant participation in roleplaying games and the amount of time I've spent pretending to be a member of societies many centuries older than the one I actually live in, but that whole "my word is my bond" thing really appeals to me. I do believe that when somebody gives their word or makes a promise, it's important to keep it. Empty promises or broken promises are vile, rotten things that tear down the foundations of relationships of all kinds.

That said, there are - seldomly - legitimate reasons to break a promise. Sometimes it's simply just not possible to follow through on something. When the consequences of keeping your word are injury or damage to your spirit, or harm to other people, it's far better to face the stigma of breaking your word. Loyalty is never worth being stupid.

And this is where I find myself with Literotica. Nearly a year ago when the site experienced copyright violations and story thefts, I pulled the majority of my work to protect myself. I left the Dust & Ash series up, first because I own the copyright and could sue anybody who attempted to profit from its theft and sale, and second, because it wasn't finished. I figured it was way too much work for the losers who were plagiarizing Literotica to go to the bother of stealing an incomplete series. I promised when I pulled my work that I would complete that series on Lit.

At this time, I find myself unable to keep that promise.

Please understand that none of this is easy for me to admit, and I'm not blogging about this in a bid for sympathy or comments or anything more than explanation to my readers, most of whom will no doubt not read this until I direct them to it. However the last year of chapter postings on Lit has been awful. Every single time I've posted a new chapter I've been email bombed with hate mail. I don't know what I did to garner such devoted attention from a Dolores Claiborne, but I have at least one, who has at least a dozen email accounts. My devoted partner R filters my email and deletes the hate mail so that I don't have to deal with it. But it's happened every single time I post. I've posted less than six times this entire year, but that's six too many for my devoted fan.

The latest indiscretion on the site involves a posting problem with my most recent chapter. Literotica inserted a nonconsent scene from another author - a heterosexual, anal noncon scene, complete with terrible grammar I might add - at the beginning of my chapter. Then they screwed up my page views when they pulled it to fix it.

I didn't even get a message apologizing for the error.

Literotica is impersonal. The site is unwieldy. The wait between submission & posting (usually at least 5 days) is ridiculous. The readers - save for a precious few - are rude, and fickle.

Because of all of that, I won't be posting any further chapters of Dust & Ash to the site.

The re-edits ofo the series are still being posted every Monday on Gay Authors under my name, TMcCallahan.

Assuming my publisher has no objection, the final chapters will be previewed here on my blog. I'll send out notifications letting people know when they're going up, with teasers so that they still get a 24 hr jump on the story.

I truly hate breaking my word - I know I said I'd put the full story on Lit. But I simply can't continue to do it. It's putting too much strain on me, and if anybody's read my poor partner's comment on chapter 12, then you know it's putting a strain now on the people I love and live with as well.

That's all. Thanks to all my readers and fans who've followed the story dilligently. If' you'd like to receive notifications you can email wickedwendydru@aol.com to be placed on the list.

16 comments:

  1. I think you've done the right thing. Your amazing writing is still going to exist, just in a place--where you are in control. I for one enjoy this format much more than Lit. Blogs are very personal. We get to see stories, but we also get to know you by your blog entries, such as this one. So follow your gut and do what's best for you. Your loyal readers will always find you.

    Thanks for your words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I completely understand and support your decision to stop posting Dust and Ash on Literotica. I think you're one of the only authors left on Lit that I read as most of the others have been posting only on their blogs.

    You definitely should not have to deal with hate mail every single time you post a chapter. It's ridiculous and rude and just wrong.

    I don't understand how anyone can have the time and energy to put into such negative and useless endeavors. It's not serving anyone.

    I am very happy that you're doing what's healthy for you and your family and not subjecting yourself to such stupidity. It's not worth your or your partners time.

    I very much appreciate you sharing your writing with us and I sincerely hope that by your not posting on Lit you will no longer receive such hateful e-mails and comments.

    I love your stories! They are always captivating and dynamic. It takes a lot of work to put something together of that caliber and again I really appreciate and enjoy it :)

    I wish you and your partner Happy Holidays!
    Uchena

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so sorry to hear that this has been happening. Since I started reading on Lit, I've always loved your work. It's the most refreshing writing that I've ever, literally EVER, read in the romance genre. Gay or straight. I've always gotten annoyed with the predictable happy ending, and that's probably why I'm so in love with Dust & Ash. I love conflict, I guess.

    Thank you for sharing what you have, and I'll definitely keep with you on GA and on here.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, thanks for letting me know not to look there for your work. I love all your pieces and Dust & Ash is by far one of my favs from any writer. Now I can only think of ONE author that's still on Lit, and she posts once every 4-6 months. I'll keep reading the polish on GA, and I would like to read it in work on your blog, if the publisher allows it. I'm sorry you and your partner had to endure such abuse from a most likely jealous and insecure being.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You do what you have to do. I'll follow, read and enjoy.

    Lori

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am happy you are pulling from Lit and coming to your blog. Lit has been very disappointing over the last year or so. I follow very few authors there anymore. Most of my faves have taken to their blogs and, as a reader, it's wonderful!
    I will continue to enjoy the rewrite on GA, but will love to see the future chapters of D&A on here along with any for '..Hero' that you care to grace us with???? (Hope, hope, hope)
    Take care and you all enjoy the season

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow. I had no idea it had gotten so bad for you. I'm forever shocked and appalled at how people treat each other online. There are some seriously unhappy folks who make it their life's mission to ensure everyone within their reach is as miserable as they are. Do what you have to do. We'll follow.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll continue to follow wherever you post! Love your work!
    Maybe it's time to post the addys of the "dolores claiborne" and let your fans let her know what we think of that bullshit! If he/she doesn't like it, then don't read it! It's pointless to send hatemail like that, and I'm sorry you and your partner have to deal with that. Don't let them get to you-you know lots of us luv ya!
    Scottie

    ReplyDelete
  9. We'll support you no matter where you post. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. My Beauty,

    Quite frankly, I am proud of you for making it past Chapter 10 over there. Everytime you have tried to post anything over there it has caused nothing but unhappiness and frustration for you. Your happiness is way more important. I will be honnest. That drible that was posted before your story was rather scary. I guess its a to each his own situation but that type of crap is what Lit has been lately. It is dirty porn. ( There are 3 authors over there that I still read,) The first thing that came to my mind was this." What the fuck is this? Tucker is way better with toys than this!" The horrid grammar through me off too.
    We will eventually advance to this part of Dust and Ash on Gayauthors, which is a site that deserves to be read unlike Skeevesville, that should be buried in a shallow grave. I enjoyed the last two chapters and reading them makes me very proud to be digital friends with you. One day, I will get to buy a copy of Dust and Ash of my very own. I will put it in plastic to keep the pages from getting sticky. Until then, I will support you wherever you need it. :o)

    So, all that being said. I do not consider this breaking your word. I think this is merely changing paths in order to make life better. That is a good thing. The last chapter where it talks about converging paths really got me thinking. So much that I went to Google to try to learn more about it. Everyday is a learning experience and I am trying to be a better human. Learning about life paths was a pretty neat start. Anywho, thats enough babble out of me. Tootles!
    Carrie Marie

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, just read R's comment. I remember only one other time he got so fired up.

    You know what my thoughts are on this subject, so we'll leave it at that. Also know I care for you and the guys. :)

    Luv ya my Wicked one.
    ~M

    ReplyDelete
  12. As a faithful reader, I support you 100%. As stated before, it's not breaking your word, it's protecting your work and yourself. I know there have been lots of problems with Literotica and see that they are losing their best writers. I look forward to reading the rest of D & A, especially where the story ended.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am thoroughly dismayed at the state of affairs at Lit. It was extremely disheartening to read of the thefts of stories. That is one thing. But it is a whole new low to let an author's work be debased with another author's inferior and incompetent work and even worse yet to not apologize to both author and readers.
    When I started reading at Lit I was very impressed with the general quality of of stories. There have been some incredible authors to emerge---I would put their work up against the best in any other genre. You WickedWendiDru, aka Tucker McCallahan, are most certainly in that group.

    Certainly the quality of stories there seems to have degenerated into thinly disguised porn and,insult to injury, badly written both in structure and grammar. There are about two authors (there were three ;) until ur post) that I am still folowing. My interest in the site is fast waning.

    I do not consider what you have done as breaking a promise (not finishing D&A would be breaking ur promise); you are still posting and keeping in touch with your readers. The promise lives on in a different, and so much better location(s).

    Do not be discouraged, your readers will follow. You (and your family) will feel so much better out of the toxic environment.

    I have enjoyed each story I 've read of yours, each eliciting a different mixture of emotions, which I won't go into here.
    Hope D&A have their HEA; can't wait for the next chap.
    Can't wait for 'Heroes'---I was so pleasantly surprised to see that. It is one of my favorites.
    Have a good evening
    Starnite Owl


    ReplyDelete
  14. I am so sorry it's gotten so bad, but I can totally understand your feelings. Whatever you need to do to protect your work, your emotional health and your family is important. The readers on Lit can be a really tough crowd, and some of them don't seem to care that they are getting free reading material and treat the authors like crap. We'll be gratefully waiting for the rest of the story.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I agree completely with Cliffgirl. I love your work and am happy to read whatever you write wherever you choose to post it. I've started re-reading D & A over on GA and I'm loving your edits, everything feels so much more fleshed out (which doesn't mean I didn't love the original too!).

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have a question you might have answered before. I know about D&A on Gay Authors and am following it faithfully but what about your other stories? Are they going to be posted or are they being held for publication at some point? I like to re-read stories and yours were a favorite. Just curious. Thank you and Happy and Healthy New Year.

    ReplyDelete