and read your responses to the “reviews on CC” page. Every day.
I get far too hung up on the handful of people who dwell on the “non-commercial” aspects of the site, when what we really wanted, as several of you pointed out in response to that post, was to make it “feel” like us rather than a dedicatedly commercial site. I thank those of you who noted that aspect of the site with all my heart.
As Carolyn says, if you can’t tell it’s from us, how do you know you aren’t buying it from Barnes and Noble. Or Amazon. Or some other cookie cutter site.
This doesn’t mean that we won’t be changing the site and especially improving the navigation as time goes on. For instance, I did get the “window” on the splash page linked to the site. I thought I’d done that, first thing, and only realized it wasn’t when I was showing my old buddy, Dean Wesley Smith, the site on his phone this weekend at RadCon. He tapped the window…and nothing happened. Ooops. The individual buttons are pretty darned small on the phone! So…that should help. A lot.
Now…I’m gonna go watch the Olympics.
Thanks again, everybody.
My copy of “Ring of Lightning” downloaded and opened just fine. I don’t have much time to read, so I’m not very far into it, but it’s great so far! The artwork looks great too, and the Table of Contents menu works just fine. Thanks, I’m looking forward to reading all three of the stories!
As far as the additions/corrections/ideas for Closed Circle go… Years ago, Stan Freberg produced a funny album musical about the American Revolutionary War. It presents a series of fictional scenes, and in one of them George Washington visits Betsy Ross to pick up the flag she made. Upon seeing it, he complains about the colors being the same as those in the British flag. Cue a song, in which Betsy sings “…Everybody wants to be an art director, everybody wants to call the shots; everybody wants to be a flag dissector, changing all my stars to polka dots; everybody thinks that they’re the final word on what is strictly out and what is in…” (Apologies for any errors, this is from memory as it’s a frequent joke between Better Half and me – we usually agree on where we are going but less frequently on the best way to get there.)
All of which is a very roundabout way of saying, No one can please everyone…you and your partners are all bright and gifted people, and if you three think it’s good, then there’s a high probability that it’s a long sight better than most people could come up with! Enjoy the Olympics!
:D :D :D I found it, I found it, I found it…YouTube strikes again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUCe5OaKldM&feature=related
Oh…I needed that…only problem, Carolyn’s already gone to bed, so LOL isn’t an option.
Hi Jane, I just found the Closed Cirlce site last night and I’m so excited! You probably don’t remember me but you did me a great kindness back in 1999 when I ordered one of CJs books from her website. You emailed to say that there was room in the parcel for another purchase if I wanted one. Because pennies were tight and I had to get an international money order which was very costly in those days [before paypal or online debits etc] I had to say no thanks. Imagine my surprise when my parcel arrived along with an extra something “Just Because”. I’ve never forgotten your kindness and I look forward to supporting Closed Circle.
] Can’t wait to read ‘Faery Moon’ as ‘Faery in Shadow’ is one of my favourites.
I’ve already read the ‘Ring’ trilogy [snapped them up when I finally found them in a bookshop] but hope to read your ‘Net’ stories as soon as I have worked out the downloads and asked Hubby for his paypal details
I’ve been reading CJ’s books since I first purchased ‘Gate of Ivrel’ in 1977/8 [showing my age
Best of luck with the Closed Cirlce venture. Best wishes to you all.
Jenny [Jhirun]
Hey! Hi, there! I remember that. The box needed padding. ;D
Welcome welcome welcome!
I think you’ll like the changes to Faery. It’s nice, too, to have the original “Brothers” in there.
(Clearing her throat)
NOW HEAR THIS! NOW HEAR THIS! JANE, GO WRITE SOMETHING NEW FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE READ AND LOVED ALL YOUR STUFF AND ARE WAITING BREATHLESSLY FOR MORE!
Okay, seriously though, the website is beautiful and very functional, and I have a sneaking suspicion those who are complaining are just trying to sabotage the effect of CC (publishers, anyone?). It works, now let me give you the best compliment I know to give a writer: MORE, PLEASE!
Quick note…..(have to catch up on the Olympics)…..unless it has to do with how the site functions ignore all else. I have RETIRED from my day job…am looking forward to setting up my hard disk and therefor having a safe place to put CC books I order…..BTW hope you caught pairs…..love our skaters, but it’s wonderful to see the Chinese do so well…..and Yevgeny Plushenko
looks stronger and better than ever! 
OK, so, buying from you guys vs. buying from Amazon: no contest. Who cares that you can buy something from Amazon, when you can give your money straight to the writers? And: who cares if the site isn’t as slick as Amazon!? Personally, I find Amazon way creepy.
Keep it up, and don’t worry that there are whiners! I write software: THERE ARE ALWAYS WHINERS. They represent 1/10 of 1% of your audience, AT MOST, and they suck. They’re the people who want there to be a DWIM button (do what I mean), rather than having to THINK and EXPERIMENT their way through things. They have no creativity, and would complain that their lottery winnings didn’t come with iced cream on the side.
How about the men’s free last night. I was a little disappointed that Daisuke couldn’t pull it together. Evan deserved the gold because Yvgenie missed too many of the little things. I thought Johnny Weir was the only skater that was possibly less well marked than it appeared that he should have been. Stephane Lambiel broke my heart when he missed so many jumps… Nobunori Oda (sp?) performed the best he was capable of and should be proud.
It was very interesting. Poor Stephane. That was probably the low point because he’s SUCH a beautiful skater.
Evan did the program…literally program…perfectly. Like the competitive automaton he’s become. However, I saw real hope in his interview last night of a return of the Evan I used to love. It’s possible, without the judging involved, that he’ll be wonderful in Stars on Ice. Fingers crossed.
I WISH Daisuke had left the quad out. With that turned into one of his perfect triple-combos rather than a zero -point quad, he might well have won. His routine had all the heart Evan’s lacked, and his footwork is better…tho Evan managed a level four on his circular, which is really hard. But Daisuke’s footwork is generally 3, and frequently 4, and his spins are better.
I thought Plushy skated a stupid program. If he’d put just one of the early jumps post half-way point, he would have won, with the 10% upgrade. His footwork isn’t that strong, tho his edges are phenomenal. And his spins are downright boring. He really sells a program, and the judges reward him (as opposed to not rewarding Johnny) for that sales pitch.
Johnny also skated a stupid program, tho his was amazing…and got the only full standing O of the night! And well-deserved. But his spins are only level two because they don’t choreograph in enough rotations. That’s DUMB. He does the level changes. He can certainly do more. But he’s not given time for the number of rotations necessary. And his connecting footwork is too simple. He delivers what he does with more style than anybody else, but actual difficulty just isn’t there.
I blame Gallina, his coach. Totally. If you watch the JW special being shown on Sundance, he came into this season having worked with a choreographer to get programs he just loved doing. A choreographer who likely knows how to milk the system. By the time control-freak Gallina was finished “tweaking” there was, as Johnnie put it, only the costume left. Gallina has never had a champion under the new system, and Johnnie’s attitude toward the new system remains resentful, which I firmly believe reflects her attitude. Her job, as a coach, is to embrace it and use it…as Evan and his coach have done so very successfully.
Ah, well…what I will remember out of the night is Johnny’s smile. He needed a good Olympic experience and he got it. It was so cute when he was “shushing” the boos of the crowd! In his odd little brain, that’s probably worth more to him than a medal.
Well…maybe not more, but it was solid compensation!
And now…DANCE! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY
Evan definitely earned the gold…..seemed a bit more human in his interviews….also in explaining how he makes the system count for him….Yevgeny felt like he was above it all…..but I jusst adored Johnny Weir, even tho I thought his choreography short changed him…..you always know it’s Johnny skating……I wish more skaters put more of themselves out there. Loved the crown of roses and the way he hushed the crowd……
TANGO ! I love it…it’s not an easy dance on the floor let alone on skates…..would have liked to see more of the upper body language you see on the dance floor.
Time to watch Curling.