Not on hiatus! Writing is slow going, but I'm back.

A few things, and only a few, since I hate incredibly long profiles:

I am probably older than you, and arguably older than dirt. Please don't come at me like I'm some dippy little teenager. It won't end well for you.

That said, I do love to talk to my readers. I don't always respond to every review with a PM, but I am a conversational person. If you message me, chances are I will respond. It might take a few days, but I'll get there.

I'm slow with reviews. It doesn't mean I won't reciprocate the love - I will, believe me - but it does mean that you might end up waiting a while before you see me get back to you. When I review, I try to leave in-depth, detailed reviews of the work you've created.

That doesn't mean you owe me a rendition of the Gutenberg Bible when/if you review me. Reviews don't have to be epic, long, huge things. "Nice job, write more!" is GREATLY appreciated. I love feedback. Hell, we ALL love feedback, or there wouldn't be a "Leave Review" option on the website. Alternately, I enjoy constructive feedback. FEEDBACK, not flames. If you really hate something I'm doing, find I've been offensive, or find I've made an egregious error, have a polite, adult discussion with me.

I don't take requests.

I also don't take kindly to, "I love your chapter, you should totally write your next chapter like THIS, so that THIS person and THAT person do THESE things! Write it like THIS!" If you want to read a story that specific, go look for it - chances are, it's been written - or, go write it! If you've got such a well developed idea in your head that you can picture it THAT clearly, try out your skills and abilities, and try to put it together on your own. Chances are, you're able to write. Test out your own talents, and create the picture and story you want to see. You might surprise yourself.

And, one last thing, to beginning writers - if you find yourself wanting to test out those skills, abilities, and talents, and you write a story, GREAT! But - don't ask your best friend for help, or ask if you wrote something that's good. Don't ask your mom, or your neighbor. Don't ask your BFF on FFnet. Those people don't want to hurt your feelings, so they WILL tell you it's good. That will probably be a lie, because here's the thing - EVERYONE is a HORRIBLE writer when they start trying to write.

EVERYONE.

Don't* (see below!) ask someone who's got a bunch of reviews on here, because a lot of reviews doesn't necessarily mean they're a great writer, only that they've managed to get a lot of people to read their smut, or they write in a popular category, or they write about a popular person/topic, or they have reciprocal review agreements with a LOT of people. Don't even necessarily find someone who says, "I'm a beta reader!" because on here, that only means they wrote a long story - and long doesn't mean good, it just means LONG.

Instead, find someone with good grammar and spelling. Find someone who updates regularly - they take time to write, edit, and care for their work - but who doesn't spam across the site 400 times a week. Find someone who writes reviews that really analyze other people's writing. Find someone who writes the type of material you want to write, in the category you want to write in. And then, DON'T ask them for help.

No, really, that's obnoxious! You don't even know them! Instead, read what they've written. See what they do well, what they could do better (We ALL can do stuff better.) Try to be friendly with them. Try to talk to them, to get to know them, and if, after you have an actual understanding of what they do, how they do it, and you talk to them somewhat regularly, THEN ask them if they wouldn't mind talking about writing with you.

Because while you've been going through that WHOLE process above, you've ALSO still been working on your writing, on your own.

Right? Right. Now write!

Disclaimer: Having a high number of reviews doesn't mean someone's a putz, necessarily...but look at the CONTENT of the reviews, see what the readers are saying. A bunch of reviews that only say, "Nice work/Great job/Keep going," doesn't meant anyone's taken the time to REALLY read it, just that they've scratched out the bare minimum in response to publication. The work didn't grab anyone and pull them in. If people are writing, "Couldn't put it down, you really pulled me in, I love the way you..." then you're getting somewhere - the author did something that spoke to the reader.