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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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 Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 12:23 pm Post subject: Boy, did I goof! |
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Guys, I really pulled a prize screw-up when I posted Hog Heaven in Original Sci-Fi Novels and Short Stories.
The members who tried to read it must have thought I'd posted it before it was finished! But actually the story IS finished . . . and I did post all of it.
Unfortunately I forgot about the fact that the Phpbb software that All Sci-Fi uses includes a 52,000 word limit on each post! And the strange thing is that you won't know you've exceeded the limit while you're edited it, because the composition window has no such limit. even when you hit "preview" to check your work.
In other words, the preview feature will show the whole post, so you don't realize that a big chunk of it will be gone when you hit "submit". The software only accepts the first 52,000 words . . . and ignores the rest. 
Hog Heaven is 88,861 words, so when I finally hit "submit" I didn't realize that only about 3/4 of the story actually displayed! The rest was gone. 
Today I was shocked when I discovered my error. So I posted the missing 1/4 by putting it in a reply below my initial post. I had to do the same thing with some of the chapters of The Wishbone Express to get around that pesky word limit.
Ladies and gentlemen, please accept my apology for the mistake I made. I would be honored if you folks would read (and comment on) Hog Heaven — now that I've restored the complete story.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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trekriffic
Starship Navigator
Joined: 19 Feb 2015
Posts: 593
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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So you mean there were sections at the end of The Wishbone Express that we’re missing too? I’ll have to go back and finish reading it now!  |
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 10:41 am Post subject: |
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| trekriffic wrote: | | So you mean there were sections at the end of The Wishbone Express that we’re missing too? I’ll have to go back and finish reading it now! |
Thankfully, no, nothing has ever been missing from The Wishbone Express since I first posted the longest chapter (number six or seven, I think) and immediately discovered that it had been clipped off by the word count limit.
I hadn't even known about the word count limit prior to that. But I realized the problem was easily solved by putting the missing part in a reply right below the initial post.
From then on, I checked the word count of each chapter after I was ready to post it, and I made sure it was complete after being submitted. Whenever a chapter was too long, I'd just add a reply that took care of the part that was beyond the 52,000 word count limit.
The Wishbone Express was posted five years ago, back in early 2015. But I'd forgotten about the word-count limit when I posted Hog Heaven! I read and re-read the preview of the short story many times (trying to minimize my infamous typos as much as I could), but I neglected to check the final submitted version to see if it was complete, because I'd plumb forgotten about the word count limit!
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the story, along with the illustrations I created. I couldn't think of a way to add very many of those to a story like that one, but the few I did manage to create help the story a bit.
The illustration I'm most proud of is the first one with the farmhouse and the title. I had a specific idea of what I wanted, but I had to create it by assembling the illustration using several different images I found online.
I had to combine a picture of a farmhouse, a picture of a barn, a section of bare ground between the buildings, and a picture of a beautiful blue sky with clouds! (The sky in the original picture of the farmhouse was just a uniform off-white.)
I even had to stretch out the landscape on each side of the house to create enough room for the barn, and to make the image a bit more "panoramic".
I'm rather pleased the the final results. 
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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trekriffic
Starship Navigator
Joined: 19 Feb 2015
Posts: 593
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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| The farmhouse and barn scene is wonderful. Never would have guessed you had to piece it together. |
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you, sir!
I think it's a classic example of what the Greek philosopher Aristotle said (back when hot air balloons would be considered science fiction).
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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UPDATE! March 15, 2020
Gord, I spent a few hours today revising Hog Heaven and attempting to "punch up" the story in my efforts to address the concerns you have with it.
I also found nine zillion typos that needed to be fixed. (Wow . . . I'm really bad about those, ain't I?) 
Anyway, take another look at the story in a day or so and see if it reads better. I've only revised it to the point where Lester first offers to help the alien while he and the alien are in the woods, so please wait until I announce that my revisions are finished (for now . . . ).
_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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