Writing is still awesome, I just have less time to do is than I did before. :) ADL is now completely finished, but unfortunately SSS is closed for good. For those of you who want a summary of what the end of the story would've looked like, email me at my listed address and I'll get that out to you as soon as I can. Apparently, the supposed rules about not posting replies in the chapters was total bunk, I think they just get upset if your chapter is more review replies than actual story line itself.

CB

It is with a heavy heart that with the ending of ADL I make my goodbye as a novel-length fanfiction writer. There are a few shortfics on the back burner that have been waiting patiently for me to find time to finish them, but they are going to be exactly that: short. I don't have the time to write another 300,000 word monster, so don't ask. Thank you!

I had someone ask me recently why I don't write fanfiction anymore. So, here is a compiled list that is probably not complete but at least outlines the main bulk of why I am no longer devoting any time to this site.

#1- It doesn't pay the bills. This is just plain old practicality here people, I have a family that needs feeding, a house that needs paying for, a car that needs gas, and lifestyle that includes occasional trips the movie or new books for me to read. And writing fanficiton does not help support any of these things.

#2- The amount of effort I put into this vs how much I get back from my 'fans'. I literally spend a good 20-25 hours on each chapter, if you add in the initial hours putting the world/characters/storyline/etc together, then the rough drafts, second rough drafts, typed drafts, first read through, second read through and finally something starting to approach the final form. If a chapter gets all the attention I want it to have before I post it, I literally read each word at least 10 times to try and makes sure the spelling is right, the characters are right, and I've fleshed out the story as much as possible. One chapter, 20-25 hours of work. And on some of my stories I have more than 100 people who consider this story a 'favorite' of theirs, and yet only an average of 15-20 reviews a chapter. Only 20% of my fans or less feel like they need to tell me how they liked the chapter I just posted. And that's just people who bothered to favorite it, this month alone I've had over 500 views and 3000 visitors, and I haven't received a single review the entire month. I'm sorry guys, but if you want people to want to do more work, especially work that I put so many hours into, you need to give them more than a single review (if any at all!) for a whole story. I do know there are those out there who are good reviewers, and if you're one of them I've probably already thanked you for that more than once. Keep it up please, maybe because of your efforts more authors won't quit the writing game because of a lack of reader-response!

#3- The stories I have left in my head are monsters, and my 5 month old baby is way too cute to spend hours devoted to something that (points to the top two reasons) well you get the picture. Being a parent is very time-consuming, and I'm not shorting my adorable child for something that isn't going to pay for his college or a nice vacation to Disney world.

#4- I want to be published for my stories that aren't fanfiction someday, and to do that I can't keep devoting whatever little time I do have to write to things that can't be published. Tis' sad but true. There are only 24 hours in a day, and I can't squeeze in what I don't have time for.

So there you have it, the reasons I am no longer writing fanfiction. To those of you who continue on with incredible stories despite the overwhelming odds, good for you! I wish you luck and many good reviews!

CB