Another newbie

Hi
I am a soon-to-be-retired Nuclear Power technician. My wife and I have (and actually read most of) a 15,000 volumn collection of books. I have been writing odds and end of fiction for about ten years and am currently tackling a tech-thriller and reviving a word-war two era historical fiction I started back when I was in the service in Germany, a looong time ago.

I am seeking critiques from people who do not have any interest in keeping me happy.

I have, among other thing, the original department of the Navy logs, reports etc. for the American revolution, Quasi war with France and the American Civil War in my collection, as published by the govermant printing office in the 1930's. I also have a great deal of reference on the navies of World War Two, should anyone need factually reliable information not available in most libraries.

I have set up a seperate e-mail account as chs@shawco.net if anyone wants to ask a question / pass information they prefer not to post. I do not promise to keep it going if it becomes too much of a hastle.

Looking forward to woking with you.

Chuck S.

Hi, chuckS.

Welcome to CWRG.

Thank you for joining our community. We are a group of writers with a common goal--to
become better at our craft. In order to maintain a creative, positive atmosphere we have some easily followed, common sense guidelines for membership. You can review them in our New Member Orientation.

You'll find that everyone here is friendly and helpful, so jump in and start posting!

If you have any questions or issues that aren't covered in the New Member Orientation, please feel free to contact me.

Have fun.

Gary.

Hey Chuck. Welcome to the forum!

While we do have an interest in "keeping you happy", we're also constructively critical. I found, on many sites before this one, that people like to have genital measuring contests when it comes to editing. We're just here to make your writing better, despite the size (or lack thereof) of certain male genitalia.

Take care.

-Bethany

We're just here to make your writing better, despite the size (or lack thereof) of certain male genitalia.

Oh, no she didn't!

All kidding aside, I think I know what Lady is referring to. Everyone has their own skill set and critiques from there. I've been in situations before when I've had my particular style ridiculed by someone "superior". When I first started, I focused on catching spelling errors because I'm very strong in that area, but very weak everywhere else. Wow, did I ever get blasted for that!

I believe that every opinion is valid, even if it appears to be bad. I've had stories that only got back responses like, "The title sucks! You give the whole thing away." And no one after that is able to move beyond the title to the structure of the story. I did make some improvements from those observations though. I've seen critters on other sites lambast new writers because they're, well...new, and don't have the skills yet but want to write.

Like Lady said, that stuff won't go on here. My vision for this site is to be a venue to help writers on their way to publication, and I would love nothing better than to see one of our members with publishing credits under their name.

Welcome Chuck.

I hope you get as much use out of this site like the rest of us have.

Nice to have you here. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work!

Willow

Welcome to our little family. I am looking forward to reading your material.

Yes, our small group welcomes you! A number of us have worn military rank at one time or another, to include myself. I was also stationed in Germany, Templehof AFB in Berlin to be precise, as a Slavic linguist in the late 80's and early 90's. Last of the Cold War kids.

Wow . . . after reading this thread, I'm a bit worried about my male genitalia. Better stop wearing spandex so it won't show! LOL

Couple of minor corrections -- first, I did not "retire" from the military. I simply served in Viet Nam and a second enlistment thereafter. Second, my current manuscripts include Palace Dawgs (VN war story), Kids Pancakes & Sunday Mornings (a cookbook) and two more novels, all of which I hope to have published by the end of this year.

Good luck with your WWII historical fiction. Such stories are fun to write. My VN war story is completely accurate from a historical perspective, yet the characters and plot are completely fiction. Weapons, chronological events, even monsoon patterns are faithfully recreated. In addition, I have personally been to every place that makes up the setting for the story. Even the tree leeches are accurate. Good luck with your story(ies).

NaCline
I never went to Southeast Asia (legallY), spending my whole enlistment with the 6th inf regiment in Illishheim FRG in Bavaria. I was triple slotted as a B co grenadier in the field and the Battalion s-4 NCO (acting) and the B company supply clerk and armorer, with a 6 week tour at Bad Toltz and points beyond.
Tree leaches suck, but they beat two steps anyday!
Drive On Bro

CS

Sorry-that last one was aimed at Wreybies, not NaCline. Cerebral gas overpressure release.

My WW2 novel, The Heyrich Years, Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1946, is not polished work, as most of my time has been on a different manuscript for the last year or so. I can post the first couple of chapters if anyone is interested, but the rest is first draft quality. I would prove my clear claim to welfare as a mentally challenged non-functional illiterate if I posted the rest in its present state.

CS

Hi and welcome, Chuck!

Just from reading this thread alone, I look forward to your work! I have zero military experience outside of that which the male members of my family discuss. My grandfather was and my father is a vet, and I have a brother who is a WWII enthusiast. Wow. It just sounds wrong when you say it that way. Better put: My brother is an enthusiastic student of WWII.

What I'm saying is, I look forward to reading your work, and hopefully we non-military folk can give a fresh perspective in reading your work!