Lord Likely Redesign

Looks like Lord Likely spruced up his site. I'm digging the new look.

He's got a new url to go along with his new look too: http://lordlikely.co.uk/

September News Roundup

Some Interesting News Bits happening in the Blog Fiction World. Some old, some recent, all of it was news to me in the last month. I know I usually post this on the last or second to last day of the month, but my day job has been reaking havoc on my blogging and reading time.

GGR hiatus
Purhaps the saddest news of the month was the announcement that Giant Girl Rampages is going on hiatus until further notice.

We're not ruling out Melly's eventual return, but we're not making any promises either. We've been working behind the scenes to recruit a new team of writers/illustrators with the time and energy to pick up where we've left off, but dream teams are hard to come by.

New Blog Fiction sites:
There are 2 new sites in the blog fiction list that are still active. Time Traveler blog is one of them. The other is in french-so I THINK it's active.

Lord Likely gave me 500 credits
Three cheers for Lord Likely!!! (Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!) He was kind enough to give me 500 advertising credits for entrecard. If you have an entrecard please go to his site and drop it on him to thank him. (stop and read his site too - it's hilarious for anyone who deosn't mind the "adult" humor)

Muse's Success launch.
It looks like there is another alternative to Web Fiction Guide and Pages Unbound. Muse's Success is still pretty young, but it's mission is ambitious: "create a catalogue of each and every web based novel (or serial) available on the World Wide Web. In addition, we allow our visitors to review stories within our catalogue, and also provide a community in which authors and readers of web based novels can interact and communicate." I'll be watching it to see how it will differentiate itself from the other internet fiction rating sites.

Tech Babe and Jason X meet.
Some interesting developments over at The User Pool. For quite some time, the fictional characters Tech Babe and Jason X have existed quite separately in their own little worlds. They only conversed in the online world by leaving and responding to each other's comments. In recent postings the characters recounted meeting each other in real life. Could this mean there could be some future drama between the two? I don't know. It would be very interesting to see though.

Did I miss anything? Have your own September news? Let me know in the comments.

Review of Starts: Anonymous Lawyer; Lord Likely

[This is part of my series of reviews of blog fiction beginnings. Click here to read more about the importance of the beginning of story or about the criteria I use. This review is not a review of the entire blog fiction story or site, just the first post or two.]

For my first review, I would like to take a look at the beginning of The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely. The first post, titled An Amusing Incident, does not spend it's time explaining why he's taking up blogging, instead, it gets right to it. Here's the first paragraph:

Being a hard-working member of the aristocracy is tiresome fare indeed. When not deciding which hat to wear, or attending private functions, or stabbing a beggar, there's countless other tasks which all vie for my finite attention.

The post continues for another 10 paragraphs, but I think the first should already have you hooked as a reader. First to jump out at you should be the ironic statement of Lord Likely being "a hard-working member of the aristocracy". This sets the tone of Lord Likely's other "observations" in life as well as his condescending attitude. The next sentence sets the tone for Lord Likely's irreverence. The idea that "stabbing a beggar" is as common as "deciding which hat to wear" also reveals Likely's callousness. Overall this is a great beginning to a great Blog Fiction.

Now let's look at the first and second posts of Anonymous Lawyer. The first short post was like so many real blogs. A test message combined with why it's starting.

Just testing. I spend enough time reading what other people are writing that I may as well start my own page.

Kind of a gruff unfriendly start. Just like the character. The second post tells a story that ends with the character saying:

This is power. Making law students vomit. This is why I like being a lawyer.

The story definitely reveals something of the character writing the blog. It also sets the tone of "Anonymous Lawyer" constantly trying to make himself feel better by making others miserable. Another appropriate start to a great Blog Fiction.

If you're looking for good online fiction, check out both of these blogs. As you can see, you'll enjoy both of these right from the beginning. Let me know in the comments your own review of these two fictional blogs.