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News 10/31/09:

Happy Halloween, folks, and welcome to Shining Monthly #44! This issue features chapters 33 and 34 of Hope for the Nations, and a new Shining Rave of the Month. In these chapters, we at last return to the Cypressians as they reflect on their new imprisonment. Halron gets a new perspective, Dawn comes up with a theory, and Varmo faces his greatest test. Plus more Ian and his siblings, Mayfair discusses Nick with both herself and Muriel, and Jengh comes face-to-face with Leifo.

By the by, for anyone who thought I might be bringing you the grand finale of Hope for the Nations as a Christmas present, well, I am now sure that ain't happening. I'm finishing up chapter 37, and I can safely say that there are three chapters left at the absolute least, plus the epilogue. So the earliest I can possibly bring you the conclusion is January 31... and I'm thinking of pushing it back to February 28. Why? Well, it's been over a year and eight months since the world saw a new Shining the Holy Ark fic, and for a while I've had in mind a story of Melody and Forte's first meeting with Arthur, so I'm thinking that might make a good Christmas treat. What do you think? Vote in the poll!

And now, a Shining Rave that I've wanted to do for years:

SHINING RAVE OF THE MONTH: Shining Legacy by Demonic Weasel

The longest and by far the best of the three Shining novels currently in existence, Shining Legacy is a grand soap opera, incorporating characters from all the Camelot games except Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force 3(through the power of AU, natch) in an epic of good vs.evil. Treachery, deception, love triangles, and friendships all cross between members of the vast yet well-handled cast. Certainly a darker style than the Shining series itself, but it's a realistic dark, not the dark for the sake of being dark, "Look, I can make characters from the fandom evil and kill them off!" dark that afflicts many writers. +

The other two are Shining Force II: Return of the Devil King and Behind the Screen, though arguably Return of the Devil King doesn't count, since it lacks any resolution; only the author's having labeled it "complete" differentiates it from yet another unfinished fanfic.

Coming in Shining Monthly #45(out on November 30): This is where things REALLY start cooking with Hope for the Nations! The dark forces in Emild make their moves on Cypress and on the Emild royal family itself! Theo and Lana make a decision that will irrevocably affect their lives! Mayfair has a frank discussion with Muriel about her relationship to Nick! Jengh confronts the mysterious creature who Leifo reports to! All this and more! Can you handle the excitement!? If not, don't show your face here in 30 days!

News 9/30/09:

Welcome to Shining Monthly #43! This issue presents the sensational return of Hope for the Nations! And also... (timpani beats)... the return of Shining Rave of the Month! For those who have come aboard in the 21 months since Shining Rave of the Month was discontinued(or who simply can't remember what was written on this page that long ago), Shining Rave consists of short(under 100 words) overviews of the best Shining fanfics out there. I've read 90 percent of the Shining fanfics out there, so it makes sense for me to offer recommendations to those fans who don't want to slog through the whole archive in search of those few precious gems that make reading Shining fan fiction such a joy.

For this month, I would like to feature a story which, despite being based on one of the least well-covered games in the series, has received an appalling lack of interest. I'm the only one to review it, and I haven't even played the game in question, leaving me less than fully qualified to criticize it. It's high time the fans of this game started reviewing, and here's my bit towards making that happen:

SHINING RAVE OF THE MONTH: "Little Healer Boy" by Silverblue-Sakura

There are only two decent fics based on Shining Force Exa thus far, and one of them has inexplicably been deleted. This is the other. For that reason alone, anyone who enjoyed Exa should read this very short fic. Add on the solid quality of the writing and most especially the natural way the characters talk and relate to each other, and there really is no excuse for missing this. The way the author captures the beautiful closeness between Toma and his new family is alone worth the price of admi- Wait a second, everything on this site is free. +

When you're done checking out "Little Healer Boy", I hope you'll head back to Hope for the Nations to enjoy the first two chapters of the climactic Part 3! Word of Lady Sarah's imprisonment has reached Castle Cypress, and Nick will be forced to make a desperate decision. And don't miss Natasha and Rohde's little chit-chat with Brehen!

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To Anyone Who has had their Fiction Reviewed by Me:

1.If you updated your story a while ago and still haven't received a review from me on the new chapter(s), don't be afraid to nudge me with a little PM. Unless I specifically said in my last review that I may not be continuing to read your fic, then I do want to read and review that new chapter. I sometimes lose track of the stories I'm reading here, so every now and then a reminder may be in order.

2.If you're here to thank me for giving your story constructive criticism, please go ahead and drop me a PM. Also, take heart: I've noticed that every writer who has thanked me for my criticism has continuously improved in their quality of writing. And no, it's not because of my criticism (though that does help a little bit). It's because they're open to the idea that aspects of their writing can be improved.

3.If you're here to defend against a criticism that I left for your story, feel free to drop me a PM. However, be forewarned that generally I make criticisms for good reasons, and am quite capable of debating their validity. So if you realize your story has a problem and just want to explain how it happened, or if you think I'm wrong about your story having a problem but are willing to consider that I might be right, go ahead and write me that PM. Heck, even if you're dead certain that I'm wrong, write me that PM if you want; just be advised that I can probably still argue back. I have no problem with people wanting to defend their work, so long as they are respectful of the fact that I gave my honest opinion. I often defend my own stories. However, read #4.

4.If you're here to complain about the fact that I gave your story constructive criticism, buzz off. I don't force you to read my reviews (though it would be nice if you did, considering that I took all that time to read your story and explain where improvement is needed). And frankly, if you're not willing to improve your work, you probably shouldn't be posting it in the first place. Every writer starts out writing stuff at the quality level of cat vomit, so if you never even accept the possibility that your work isn't sheer brilliance, then everything you ever write will be at that cat vomit level.

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Hello there, and welcome to Martin III's web page, home of Shining Monthly! (Sorry, but something about a web page for my writing brings out the showman in me.) Every month we bring you a fresh new installment in the Shining saga, ripe with revealing characterizations, devastating tragedies, uplifting triumphs, teary-eyed romance, and even a bit of sword-swinging action on occasion. Each of the Shining tales may be read and enjoyed independently, but as many of the characters appear in multiple tales, there are rewards for reading them all. We sincerely hope that we have caught your interest... if so, move your pointer to the tale of your choice and click... a rich literary experience awaits...

Now leaving showman mode: In general, this is my home for writing video game fanfics. I have many other interests, of course, but video games are the best basis for fanfics. (I'll never understand what would make a person write a fanfic based upon a novel or series of novels or shorts. The prose is already there, for crying out loud!)

As mentioned during showman mode, my main output here is Shining fanfics. I tend to keep my stories strongly connected, so here's a quick guide to the order in which my stories take place relative to each other and to the games. The games are listed in bracers; all the others are my stories. "U" indicates that the two tales take place at the same time.

Cypress saga: "Loyalties", "Not Important", Shining Force CD Book 1/Shining Force Gaiden I, "The King's Friends", "Deanna and Natasha"(chapters 1-6), "Deanna and Natasha"(chapters 7-21) U "While You Guys Were Out" U Shining Force CD Book 2/Shining Force: Sword of Hajya, "Hope for the Nations"(chapters 1-3), Shining Force CD Books 3 and 4, "The Proposal", "Hope for the Nations"(chapters 4-up)

Let me know if you like my work, and (of course) I'll be motivated to write more.