About "Awakenings" Interactives

I stumbled across Stories.com through a link on another writer's website about a year ago and was fascinated by the interactive story format. At first I just read some of the stories, then decided to post a few chapters to one I particularly liked called "Technophobic", an interactive created by "White Night". (This was back in the early days of Stories.com, before you even had to register to post.)

Time went on and I got busy with other things in my life, and pretty much forgot about this website. Then I was cleaning out some bookmarks on my browser back in January when I ran across Stories.com again. I was surprised at how much it had grown up since I last visited! Not much had been added to "Technophobic" though, which made me feel kinda sad, so I decided to register and add on to some of my old threads there. (I know it sounds strange, but I wanted to see what would happen to my characters!)

After a while I was getting to a point when I wanted to be able to edit some of my chapters for clarity and continuity, but since I wasn't the author of "Technophobic", I couldn't. And the threads I was creating were starting to go in different directions, some were comical in a quirky sort of way, others were more tragic, describing the darker side of life. I felt that they were geting a little too twisted, they needed to be separated out and pruned a little, given some room to grow. (If that makes any sense.)

Finally I decided to bite the bullet and take my chapters out of "Technophobic" and use them to create the "Awakenings" stories. As for where I get the ideas for the chapters, I try to just let my imagination flow, I look at the interactives as a kind of therapy. As with any other writer, more than a little of my own life shows through in the characters. A note on some of the darker stuff I write: Although I wasn't raised in an abusive home environment (my parents are still together, and neither of them has a problem with drugs or alcohol), I have seen the effect that abuse and addiction have had on people close to me, and struggled with my own demons when I was younger.

To wrap things up here, I hope you enjoy the stories. And if you have the inclination, please add a chapter or two to help me out. If you can, add a few chapters in a row to develop your own thread. And if you have plans to add more to one of your threads, e-mail me to let me know. I'll try to keep it open for you.

Note: Although most of what I write is probably at a PG or PG13 level, I have given the "Awakenings" series an "R" rating to allow for more artisic freedom. If you add a chapter with strong language or sexual situations that is relevant to the story line, it is acceptable. If you cross the line and write something overly descriptive or explicit that sounds like it belongs in "Hustler" or "Gynecology Today", it will be deleted.

In closing, I know you've heard it before, but if you read it, rate it, please, and this applies to anything you read at Stories.com. It only takes a few seconds to click on the rating block. And it offers encouragement, something every author needs.

Peace, Out. (do you kids still say that?)

- Cy