Chowhnd

Ken, Great overview of Castle Roland. I travel so much that I just found the Three Part Series. Thank for taking all the time you do to make Castle Roland a great story site. ChowHound

Azorf, Thank you finding my Three Finger Cove stories and spending all your time reading about Collin and Robert. Yes, Collin's story may feel like there is more action in it but that story took 150 chapters to tell. You are probablty only at chapter 51 in Robert's story and you have NO idea how many chapters are in his story, and what if any, hehe, action will be sure to come, LOL. I found as I write, and my mind wonders, I've caught my characters in situations I didn't intend, and thus I've had to figure out a way to 'fix' the problem or rewite the chapter. It is easier to 'fix' the problem I have enjoyed writing Three Finger Cove and I intend on telling the The Cove's story for as long as I can, or I get to the point I know it is time to end it. Keep watching for new chapters and while you're there keep reading the other wonderful stories found at Castle Roland and following authors who have much more writing experience and many more strories under their moniker. Thank you again for reading and telling me how much you are enjoying The Cove's story. ChowHound

Steve, I am glad your wish has come true... but wait there is more... much, much more and only time will tell what becomes of Mildred Johnston...

I wish there were three of him, so Kyle would have enough time to work on all of his awesome stories, at the same time. All of Kyle's stories tell wonderful tales of kids who are mature well beyond their years. Of all his writings, the O'Connell Grenadiers is the one that I wish there were more of. I once wrote Kyle that I felt this story could well be a movie as the characters are so well developed and the story line is one that both adults and youngsters could get involved in. I sure hope Kyle can find the time to work on this 'out of this world' story so we can all find out how they are going to rescue their fiends. Thank You, Kyle, for giving us such well thought out tales!

Steve, I wish I could tell you what's coming up but as they sometimes say, "If I tell ya ... I gotta ___ ya!" LOL. Just hang in there and everything will be revealed, oh, eventually. Thanks for writing and enjoying my story about Robert.

This is an interesting topic. I often wondered where the authors got their inspiration to write their wonderful stories. It was nice to read about their own formula and how they deal with the story. You all know I am a new author. I took over three years to totally write Three Finger Cove - Collin before I decided to have it published. The main reason I wrote my story, the way I did, was I didn't always have dedicated times that I could write since I was a full time care giver to my wheelchair bound wife. I'd write into the night when I could and while she was at dialysis. At times I'd have good inspiration while at other times I would be grasping for ideas. One thing about the entire process, for me, was the fact that the entire project was simulating and fun. What wasn't fun was rereading the previous chapters to make sure I didn't mess up the story line or get things out of order. That was when I knew I had to create a Characters Folder that contained their integrations with other characters and within the story. Once I did that, I was able to keep things more on an even keel. Most of you know my story about the series of dreams I had after viewing a Real Estate ad in Texas Monthly. The piece of property was so unique that after I'd seen the ad a few times the title of my story came to me. It was then I began having those dreams of Mr. Ken, Collin and now Robert. Many of my dreams were very detailed and because I was having them constantly I began to write Robert's story. You already know that I stopped writing Robert's story because I found myself referring back to Collin's story so much that I decided to focus my writing on Collin's story instead. Much of Collin's story came from my dreams but as I wrote I began to get ideas of where the story line should go. I always knew that Grammy would come into the story and cause havoc. What I didn't know was what the ending would be. I did play around with different scenarios for Collin's ending but in the end I knew that Collin had to go with Grammy so I could focus on the other dreams I had. You may remember the 'lost' chapter in Collin's story. Much of what you read there was in the main story originally but it was also that short piece that made me decide to end Collin as I did and then add the Epilogue. I finally decided to post the 'lost' chapter so you knew that Collin would always be in Mr. Ken's life and they would maintain their relationship in the future. When Collin's story finished I had about 25 chapters of Robert's story already completed but much of what I wrote in Collin was already revealed so I had to go back to Robert and rewrite much of that. Robert's story is now being posted but only one chapter at a time per week because I am still working on the story line. Once I have a chapter ready, it needs to be forwarded to a proofreader and editor to make sure the spelling is OK and the story progresses and stays true to form. For Collin and now Robert, Darryl the Radio Rancher is my main editor. I am very grateful he has accepted my request to help me with Robert's story. Darryl has his own writings to focus on as well as being the proofreader and editor for a few other authors and his taking time out from all of that to help me is awesome, to say the least. I still have my Character Folder and with Robert's story it has expanded tremendously due the many 'extra' people being introduced. These folders are of immense importance as they hold the impetus of the key interactions between characters and the story line. I now rarely have to reread chapters to see if I said one thing or another. Although I do reread chapters it mainly happens when I have been away from writing for some time and right now is one of those times. I have been traveling much of this summer and I know I need to get my mind wrapped around Robert's story line before I even try to add to it. Three Finger Cove - Robert is only my second story I've ever written and it is still a work in progress. I don't have those 'dreams' any longer but I still remember the main scenes and interactions and I just write to make them happen. Now that the summer is winding down I am sure I will find the time to write and get Robert's story out to you, my readers. Please write to me at chowhnd@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments or even ideas about the story. I usually respond to all emails within a day or two of receiving them. That is unless I am out traveling. ChowHound

Steve, it is funny you should mention nuns. I attended a catholic grade school for 8 years and had the 'pleasure' of dealing with the intricacies of their 'sisterhood'. I am glad you can put a face to the character. That makes the story more 'alive' for you as you read along. I would like to tell everyone that I do not mirror or mimic anyone that I know nor anyone that may be well known. My characters are strictly from my imagination. I do have my own ideas of what my characters look like and I see their faces as I write about them. You are going to find a lot more characters in TFC - Robert than you did with Collin's story so my imagination is having to work overtime for this story. I am very happy that so many of you are already enjoying Robert's story. Remember, you can email me at Chowhnd@gmail.com with your comments, concerns, ideas, or where I may have messed up. It is always nice to get an email from those of you reading my story. Take Care!!

I'm sorry for not replying to my messages as I was first away camping and then I went on a cruise. Yes, I am back but I will be leaving soon for another camping trip and will not return until 16 August. I do seem to travel quite a lot and I thoroughly enjoy getting away from the every day humdrum. Being retired does allow me that luxury Robert's story is moving along and he is getting more and more settled in at Three Finger Cove. He and Eric are fast becoming Best friends and they surely will share a few adventures together. One thing I want you to know is that my chapters are about 10 pages long (Word 2013) when I send them to be published. I thought they would look bigger/longer when they got posted but they sure don't look to be that big when the chapter gets posted. I have NO idea why that is. I want to thank all of you who have emailed me directly (chowhnd@gmail.com) and I will reply to your email when I open that inbox. Thanks again for reading and enjoying my second story, TFC - Robert. Later... ChowHound

I hope all of you are enjoying my Second Story, Three Finger Cove - Robert. As you know the story line begins about 17 months after Collin is made to go live with his Grammy. Mr. Ken never figured he'd ever get another lad to 'foster' and is pleasantly surprised he gets to with Robert. Robert has already met up with Mildred Johnston and there is NO love lost between them. Robert is still getting used to living at The Cove and there is a lot more to come for this lad. Some of you asked me about posting three chapters a week as I did with Collin's story. I wish I could but with Collin's story I had been witting it for almost three years before I asked TSL to post it. By the time I began posting Collin's story on Castle Roland, TSL had already posted about 100 chapters, and with the story finished and waiting, it was easy to post three chapters at a time on Castle Roland. With Robert's story, I am still working on the story line and trying to write three chapters for each posting would be virtually impossible. Darryl the Radio Rancher was my proofreader and Editor for Collin and is also doing the honors for Robert. I greatly appreciate his time and efforts in doing that for me as it take his time away from his writing his many stories. If any of you have the wherewithal and time and understanding of being a proofreader and/or editor please let the Admin at Castle Roland know you are interested and they could possibly find an author you could work with. It could possibly even be me. Also, if you find something I did wrong with the story line please drop me a line and I'll make the fix. There are so many things you have to keep straight and be aware of that things can easily go astray when you are writing. Remember, the ONLY pay any author gets is when you write him, or her, and acknowledge their writing. Plus, we enjoy hearing from our readers. ChowHound

For all you reader's of Three Finger Cove - Collin, COMING SOON there is a surprise in store for you. Watch for the announcement!! That's all I will reveal. ChowHound

Thank You, everyone, for reading Three Finger Cove-Collin. As you know, it was my first-ever attempt at writing and I didn't realize how much time something like this takes. I now have a FULL appreciation and admiration for those authors who write prolifically and post all the time. The question has been asked, by many, if there would be a sequel. Well, if you had read an earlier post of mine you'd know that I did begin writing Three Finger Cove-Robert before I focused on Collin's story. I found myself constantly referring back to Collin so much I figured it would be best to write his story first. I did have to rewrite those beginning chapters of TFC-Robert and I am now well into writing Robert's story which begins about 17 months after Collin departed Three Finger Cove for the last time. I must admit that the recent Holidays and a few camping trips and a cruise did hinder me from writing on TFC-Robert. A trip that I didn't count on was the most recent one to a hospital that I only returned from yesterday. I promise to get back to writing Robert's story as I settle back into as 'normal' a routine again as I can get. I hope to begin posting later this Spring but I will NOT be posting the 3 Chapters a week that I did with Collin. Collin's story was complete when TSL began posting it and we needed to get those reader's who hadn't known about Collin the opportunity to get caught up, which was why 3 Chapters at a time was established. I hope I answered the Question about a sequel but, additionally, if anyone has other questions about TFC-Collin or knows where I may have messed up with names or timelines or anything else I would greatly appreciate it if you'd email me at chowhnd@gmail.com I want to Thank again all the readers of Three Finger Cove-Collin and especially all of those who took the time to write me words of encouragement. As you all know the ONLY payment an Author ever gets is the feedback you give him or her, so Please don't hold back when you like or even dislike something. For example, many readers greatly disliked Grammy and they sure let me know it. LOL! Continue to read the awesome stories on Castle Roland and soon enough Three Finger Cove-Robert will be 'live' amongst Castle Roland's many fantastic authors. Until then, Take Care!! ChowHound

Using Past Tense is also way to easy to fall into using. The verb 'to be' and all its uses (I a,; You are; he/she/it is) tends to make the sentence Passive voice. I am not an English major or even an English teacher but am someone who wrote loads and loads of reports, justifications, and citation over a very long time (30 years). All of my writings were reviewed by my bosses and they pointed out the 'errors of my ways' as I used the verb 'to be' (is, was, has been, etc.) all over the place. It took time for me to get used to writing without using those words but when I didn't use them the sentence structure became ACTIVE voice and the writings became alive and to the point. I will admit it is virtually impossible to write your story without using that verb but anyone who is writing, when you go back and reread what you wrote, try to get rid of the verb 'to be'. It will take some doing and you may not be able to get rid of it entirely but when you do I believe you will be (yikes) very happy with the end results. Try it! What do you have to lose? And YES, my story has that verb in it, but I did my best to eliminate it where I could. Take care! ChowHound

I miss all of your stories I found at the Padded Room and I am glad to know you are looking to keep those stories alive. I hope you can soon rejoin all of your stories and bring them all here to Castle Roland. ChowHnd (Three Finger Cove)

I did write a Synopsis of Three Finger Cove-Collin and submitted it but my guess it got lost in the setting up of my story. I've recently resubmitted it and now it is up to David, or someone else, to review it to ensure it meets the requirements and post it or send it back with corrections/suggestions. At least I tried. BTW, if you haven't begun reading Three Finger Cove-Collin, I ask you to give it a chance. It might be a bit 'rough' in the beginning, since it is my 'first' story, but I am sure you will enjoy the story of the trials Collin must endure as he recovers from his loss and kidnapping while finding both the older and younger brothers he always wanted. ChowHnd (ChowHound) chowhnd@gmail.com