LUMIERE stories begin....

Awesome! I just read it and it sent shivers down my spine (because of it being the beginning of the Lumiere stories, plus simply reading the kickass tale of Mr. Poxy).

Thanks you thank you thank you, Nick!!!!!

And they will all be great. Thank you Nick!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

That was suitibly creepy. Not as creepy as the last 30 minutes of chinatown, but creepy.

Wow, I'm really thrilled and honored to have the first Lumiere story! Hope you guys like it.

I really liked it, Poxy. Good work. I'm gonna have to remember that tree...

hehe
YAY!
nice one!

This bodes well for everyone's efforts.

very cool story

Great story, as always from the Poxmeister!

I read this earlier, Poxy. Nice job!

Re read it. Still effective.

Way NOT to give last names, Dick. Makes my job that much harder.

Loved it Poxy. You da MAN!!

That was a cool, creepy story, Poxy!

Nick: working on one for Hastur to persouse, edit, and send to ya.

I need to know two things, though...
A) Who's idea was this? Poxy's? (Poxy *is* Richard Dickson, right? Pardon my memory, I've been in training classes all day)
B)"Alvy Singer" suggested Lumiere as the name. I know we know "Alvy Singer" by another name before people started playing Guess The Chewer with their board names...who is it? Real name & board name? I'm trying to give credit in the write up.

A. Poxy was the one who suggested the original idea.

B. Alvy Singer, aka Devin Faraci, suggested the name. You might wanna check on the spelling of Faraci.

Yes, I suggested way back when that we do a "shared world" sort of thing. Everything from that point on was a group effort.

And yes, I'm also known as Richard Dickson.

This may sound stupid, but, what are these Lumiere stories? I know of the Lumiere Brothers camera, but what are these stories going to be about/centered around?

I just read your story Poxy, and thought it was great. Keep up the good work!

It's the fictional CHUD town that will be the focus of various fun writing assignments for CHUD Stories. The stories can be about anything, but will have to fit into whatever has gone before and whatever the current project is. For instance, the first batch had to be 500 words or less - something which scuppered me and my verbose ways.

The name was decided by a vote on these very boards, and it is named after the Lumiere brothers to reflect the cinematic slant of CHUDlife.

Are Lumiere stories limited to being stories that come from the writing challenges only, or can I just write a story set in Lumiere and submit it to whoever's in charge of submissions?

Just called Hastur at work on this:
"Technically they're assigntment only, but far-be-it-from-me to keep someone from writing."
In other words, no, it's not assignment only. But, at this point in time, bear in mind she's still going through a slew of 500 word assignments from Vol...er, from everybody, there may not be instant gratification, here. wink

In fact, I'm pretty sure she hasn't even gotten to my second story yet, as she hasn't hit me.

the operative word being YET there Coyote.

same with me, though i'm thinking i should just tell her to forget the 2nd story, since i have 2 other ones that need to go with it for it to make sence, and i couldn't get them in on time... so maybe ill just leave it at the first story and post all 4 on my own site, or if we do this again.

Who could this mysterious -- and obviously, dashingly handsome -- "Vol..." person be?

I don't know, but legend has it that he fights the forces of Evil with words as his weapons...

No problem there. I'm only at the idea stage at this point anyway. But I think it's a really good idea, so I'll keep it on the back burner, and when the next assignment comes around I'll see how I fit into the world of Lumiere, and go with it from there.

By the way, this is an absolutely amazing idea. I wish I'd paid enough attention to this forum to get in on the ground floor.

This IS the ground floor. We have a basement, but that's where we buried all the names of the town that didn't make it.

"so maybe ill just leave it at the first story and post all 4 on my own site, or if we do this again."

This is just the preface to the rest of the story, folks...this ain't a one-time deal. wink

Yes, but obviously all the other stories suck ...

Nick's huge update consisted of one story...he hasn't posted anything else Hastur has already set him. (the first half a dozen stories)

Correction: Nick sent back the word docs and said they were in the wrong format.
Hastur redid one awhile ago, sent it back for approval, and has yet to get an OK on it. Or a rejection. Or anything. At all.

Nick needs a secretary.

My stories are known to cause sudden spasmic outbursts of dancing the Boogie Woogie 2-Step while pinching a loaf. I'm currently suffering from voudon-inflicted pins on my ribs and left ankle.

sorry, didn't mean "If". What's the next phase of this thing anyways? Just more stories? Or do we do specific things to help expand the town?

Right now we've had a deadline pass, and I bet there are a couple dozen 500 word stories awaiting the editing/posting/reading phase. We'll await Claudia's direction on the next phase.

Read 'em as they come, keep notes of things that interest you from the other stories. This'll all be humming along nice and fine real soon.

"and I bet there are a couple dozen 500 word stories awaiting the editing/posting/reading phase."

from Voltes alone....

What can I say? I managed to somehow sedate my Writers' Blue Balls Syndrome, which, eventually led to my ejaculation of short story masterpieces.

Are you saying your stories are a load of old wank? wink

Well, from what I've heard, they certainly have alot of spunk.

...and with Nick gone to San Diego til next week, god knows when the rest of the stories will wind up posted, since once he gets back, he's going to have a ton of things to type up and catch up on.
This thing's getting pushed back more than Knockaround Guys.

Heh... spunk...
...... sorry

im scared to send Hastur my bio even, for fear her head might explode from so many e-mails.

Dammit, Dan! You easily read right through my supposedly undecipherable piece of phallic prose. I have miserably failed in covering up my shortcomings.

Somebody email me the LUMIERE premise, and what's gone on so far with this world/mythos/theme. I try and look on the main page and CHUDstories but it fights me...

email me: the_sewer_chewer@yahoo.com

Please do this POSTHASTE, as I have some writing time and want to add a creamy load to CHUD's jizzwall.

What everybody else knows:
<a href="http://www.chud.com/chudstories/stories/dangle.php3" target="_blank">http://www.chud.com/chudstories/stories/dangle.php3</a>

<a href="http://chud.nexcess.net/board/ubbhtml/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=67;t=000031" target="_blank">http://chud.nexcess.net/board/ubbhtml/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=67;t=000031</a>

<a href="http://www.chud.com/....oh," target="_blank">www.chud.com/....oh,</a> wait, Nick never used the synopis he requested we mail him about the place.

We've only got one story up. Hopefully, this will be rectified before everyone gives up on the project from sheer frustration, or at least before Nick starts on Viagra. The basic idea is this...it's a shared town, set in modern times, where weirdness galore happens.
The only canon right now is Poxy's story, because that's the only one that's been posted, although Hastur has about 6 bazillion stories which hopefully don't contradict each other.

You can really smell the frustration round here frown

I can taste it...bitter, and sometimes salty.

Actually, that's one of Voltes' spunky stories. Spit it out, you don't know where it's been...

...and I rushed my tale to meet the deadline...

What about the non-Lumiere stuff people have sent since the site opened? Is that even deeper in the "To Do" pile?

No "official" word yet? Please oh please don't make me beg. Oh wait I guess I am....
frown

I've been very patient through this whole thing. I've cut alot of slack.
I'm now laying this out on the table, so you know what's going on. This is not a bitch session, this is not about pointing fingers, this is because you guys deserve to know where all the delays and false starts are coming from. I don't want a lack of trust issue starting up because you guys are in the dark. Hastur and I are not taking this whole thing lightly, and I don't believe Nick is, either, although he's unintentionally frustrating the Holy Living Shit out of us.

A while back, I got more involved with the Sci-Fighter. It occured to me that the lack of science fiction and fantasy writing ops (and the lack of time that Butane had at that time for any new writing contests on the Creature Corner), plus the need for more content on the Sci-Fighter, could both be addressed by the same project. So I checked on the boards, both the Sci-Fighter Chewer & Admin boards, and everyone liked the idea.
We put out requests for cyberpunk stories.
We got them in. Hastur offered to help edit, since she likes doing that, and my sole motivation for all this was content and oppourtinity for other writers on the site, not the joy of editing. Meanwhile, I worked on things like graphics and promo, running a mini-contest for the name of the section, etc.
I sent the first story off to Shelby.
A few hours after this, Nick tells me he's working on a site for all of the CHUD Stories under one banner. While I like this idea, the timing could have been better, since it wasn't a secret I was telling everyone the stories were about to be posted (it wasn't like he had just decided this that very day), including the authors. Especially the authors. Now, there was going to be another delay of a month or so. Ok, not a huge deal, but he could have mentioned something earlier so I hadn't just tripped over my own two feet...I hate telling people something's going to happen and not following through. Normally, I have a reputation for delivering.
Nick asked if I wanted to be an editor on the site; I explained to him my motivations were merely focused on trying to get stories up and running again, but Hastur was REALLY interested (I was still interested, but Hastur was alot more intersted than I was, and had done all the editing work on the BackSpace cyberpunk stories...if it came down to me or her, it should be her. He wanted both of us.), which is how she got involved in CHUD Stories. Nick gave her the go-ahead to run the site when she voiced the desire, and away she went. Well, sorta...Hastur is organizer & head editor, but Nick's in charge of updates. It's not like Sci-Fighter & Creature Corner, where they also update the sites, although she'd like it to be. (And I get the impression that so does Nick, at some point.)
Now, note I'm not complaining about the site. It's beautiful, and several stories that never made it into the archives on CHUD have resurfaced and are available again. I'm not actually complaining about Nick, either, although it sounds like it. I meant what I said about him needing a secretary. CHUD is a great site, tons of great content, but he's been stretching himself a little thin, so that when certain things try to go running forward, we get caught in a choke collar...not because he's pulling back on the leash, but because he's got so many dogs he's walking, he hasn't really noticed we're turning blue over here.
Anyways....
Nick asks for our phone number to talk to us about everything. Never calls. He lost the number. Send it again. He never calls, but we manage to catch him in an IM session. Nick REALLY prefers to hammer things out in real time...which is fine, except when you can't catch each other live. Days turn to weeks, etc. Email could have been used in the meantime, but isn't. This isn't new to me...I'm used to getting no response from Nick over the years and usually chalk it up with being lost in the shuffle or not liking what I've done...but it's the first time Hastur's had to deal with it.
Anyways, we finally catch him in an IM session when we're all on. Hastur & he hammers some things out, Hastur is now in charge of the site as mentioned above. I'm sort of a lieutenant, a sounding board, rechecker, and person who prods her now and then. In short, her secretary.
Lumiere stories start.
Hastur, this is your cue.....

I’ve been avoiding this because I really hate confrontation unless it’s me confronting someone because the other one is a complete moron. But this has been building for a while, and I’m posting because I need to say this.

Here’s the thing guys: I suck at meeting deadlines, but will meet them when I have solid feedback. It’s kind of like I hate working but since I have a job where they like me and want me to succeed, I love my job. Keep that in mind, please.

I started a contest thingy, with the idea of getting a batch of stories posted, and then another batch, and then a third. The idea being that the first batch would inspire the rest to post. We now have one Chud Stories story posted. This of the half dozen or so from the original mailings.

I was told that I needed to re-format the stories or something, as the final versions were coming across mangled. No problem. I sent Nick a series of e-mails where I sent the same story in a different format in each mail until I exhausted format ideas. All he has to do is tell me which ones worked, and I’ll convert to that format. I still haven’t heard back about it. (The problems probably come from my using XP, but it still can adjust to other formats).

I sent the description of what our town was so that it could be posted as a section, like the Creature Corner Killings and Backspace. It has not been posted.

I have put the non-fiction ideas on hold because I’m not getting any feedback. I’m avoiding these boards, because I’m not getting any feedback (told you I didn’t like confrontation). I’ve been editing on the bazillion stories that Vol….I mean everyone sent me (there were more than just him, but he’s fun to tease), but it’s hard to do something when your heart isn’t really in it because it seems like nothing is going to happen no matter what.

Now then, this is not a blame thing, and I KNOW that Nick is busier than the proverbial one-armed-paper-hanger (whatever that is). He has CHUD to run, CNN to work with, a real life, boards galore, at least fifty different people trying to get his attention from as many different directions, and a real life.

Nick: GET A SECRETARY! Even if it involves getting Jeffrey Combs to cook up some glow in the dark antifreeze and play Dr. West. You are brilliant, and definitely have created some amazing stuff here. But now you need to let more people help you make it as brilliant as you can. You are only one person, and one person can only do so much until he changes his entire brain structure and resonates into multiple people…..never mind. You have your other updaters for the main site, but you do so much on top of that....
My life isn’t half as hectic as his and I need a secretary. Wait a minute, I am one – never mind. My point is that he needs help.
The problem is, that until he can either find someone he trusts to work with the Chud Stories boards, or, he himself can find more time to work on them, we are stuck in this bloody holding pattern, and I’m not the one to fight it.
Our only other option is to have a place where we can temporarily store the stories, until something happens here. Any volunteers? We could link off of the board, so that you guys could at least get a chance to read them. I’m tempted to offer my own Roadrunner space, if we can work it out...problem is, my HTML skills are the best in the world. (Better than mine- Coyote)
Anybody willing to host these stories until everything gets straightened out over here?
hastur@houston.rr.com, if so.

Just wanted to pipe up with some support. I'd hate for CHUD Stories to stall before it got started, simply because I've had a blast writing stuff for it, and an even bigger blast reading other people's contributions (damn talented bastards...).

But I haven't put finger to keyboard for a few weeks now, simply because I'm worried that the more stuff we send, the more clogged up things will get. It's obviously nobody's fault. I think the idea has just proved to be more popular (and therefore more work) than anybody suspected.

But we've got the beginnings of something really special here. There's definitely a hardcore of writers on this board who want to see it continue, so there's no reason it shouldn't. I can't code HTML to save my life, and I have no webspace to call my own, but I have got ten years experience as an editor so if there's anything I can do to ease the workload, just let me know.