From: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.bondage,alt.sex.bestiality,alt.sex.stories,alt.sex.stories.d,alt.prose
Subject: The Journal Entries FAQ
Date: 18 Nov 1993 22:45:57 -0800
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
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Distribution: world
Message-ID: <2chq35$rpo@nwfocus.wa.com>
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1.  What are The Journal Entries?

     "The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al.,
and Related Tales," is now a 132 or so story-long chronicle of the 
life and loves of Ken Shardik, whose actual job would be almost 
impossible to explain.  It is set in a science fiction universe not 
unlike our own, and spans at this point a period in time from 
approximately Terran 1883 to Terran 3030.

     The stories are mine (Elf's) and I write them for the fun of it.
If you don't like them, that's fine; if you have trouble figuring them
out, stick with 'em and they might become clearer.  Never know.  I've
been writing them as a series for three years now, although the orignal
Entries date as far back as November 1983.

2.  What do those numbers mean in the title?  Like "028 / 0812?"

     The date!  The first number is the number of days since the New
Year, and the second number is the year itself.  I keep my archives in a
YYYY.DDD format.

3.  Is there any clear explanation for all of this?

        No.  The stories speak for themselves.

4.  Are there any FTP sites for The Journal Entries?

        Actually, yes, there a few nowadays.  FTP.SPC.EDU keeps a 
relatively complete set in the directory pendor.dir.  AVATAR.SNC.EDU 
also has a complete set as one gigantic .LZH file.  And, much to my 
stunned surprise, you can get them through gopher, although I've not 
yet worked out the details.  I found them using veronica (keyword: 
Shardik), and was pleasantly suprised to see them come up.

5.  One of these is called "The Last Journal Entry."  Does that 
    mean you've stopped writing them?

        No.  Real life has intruded in a most ugly fashion and forced 
me to slow down, but I haven't stopped writing them.  "The Last 
Journal Entry" was written just because it was a good idea... a story 
set at the end of the universe.  It's a little hard to imagine 
anything happening after that, hence the title.  It's also a bit of a 
tribute, in it's own way, to Issac Asimov, who passed away shortly 
before it was written.

6.  Could you mail me story <X>?

        No, I can't.  I really wish I had the time, personally, to 
administer to the needs of everyone who wanted a copy of story <X>, 
but if I did, I wouldn't have time to write, time that is very 
precious indeed these days.  There are FTP sites, GOPHER sites... 
there's probably a mail server somewhere, and at last resort you can 
ask alt.sex.storied.d (note d!!!!).

7.  What about a glossary of terms?

        I've been tempted to put one together (if only for my 
benefit!) but I'm afraid that it's a secondary consideration to 
actual writing, so I've not created anything like that.

8.  Is it true that Larry Niven hates you?

        Yes, it's true.  The story that aroused his ire no longer 
exists, as I deleted it and all references to it a long, long time 
ago, but every once in a while I see it reposted.  Even though I have 
separated myself from the story a LONG time ago, it's hard to kill 
something once it's been released onto the 'net.  :-)

     Very Serious Administrivia.

     These stories often feature very non-vanilla scenes.  Homosexual
sex, Sadmasochism/Sexmagic, and alien partners abound in these stories.
Quite often in the past I have been chastised for posting bondage, gay,
or more "bestial" scenes to alt.sex when there are "appropriate"
newsgroups for them.

     I enjoy much of what I write about; some I have only witnessed,
much I have participated in.  It is all sexual; it all belongs in
alt.sex.  I will not ghetto my stories to one audience, or one
newsgroup, because someone out there thinks it's inappropriate.  So
anyone who was concerned last time need not be; _all_ the Journal
Entries _will_ be posted to alt.sex.

     Comments and questions are encouraged; I don't get paid for this, I
do it for fun.  The only way I know if I'm doing well is to get feedback
from my audience.  So write!

                Elf !!!
--
   All you have to do is act like normal people, and they can't tell the
difference.  You just talk with them about the dull things they're 
interested in, and they eat it up.  It's no trick at all to imitate
them.  -- J.A. Meyer, "Brick Wall," Sept, 1951