©08 The Media Desk
All stories mentioned property of The Desk.
http://themediadesk.com
That was the question a friend asked the Desk when it sent out a link to its newest offering- "300 Kilometers -or- The Monkey". links below
They knew about a couple of the other more recent works including "Legacy Project: CANCELED", the Howard Hughes story, the story in three times- "...Oliphant Furnace", and they had read "Serious Cave". But the idea that there was a freshly written Brand New Story evidently seemed odd to them.
Then they said something along the lines of "I didn't know you wrote like that."
Well... Yeah. The Desk writes.... 'like that' ... whatever that means.
Then they asked this article's title question...."How many stories have you written?"
And the Desk couldn't begin to answer.
It had no idea.
It started to think about it, and confused itself.
So it decided to look. And Count.
Then it realized there will have to be several categories. And since the question was about 'stories' that implies fiction, so we won't count the look at the Camelot legend, or the political stuff, Metaphysics, or 'current events' coverage such as the Desk's Virtual World tech article, or the or any of the other NON-Fiction and the Photo Essays, or even when the Desk wrote about Writing.
That takes a lot of work off the table, but it does narrow things down and gives us our categories.
Let's hit one category right off the bat, then move on and keep track.
[NOTE: Quick definition for genres as used by the Desk. Science Fiction: use of settings or technology not available today, examples: lunar base, warp drive. Science Possible: settings and technology currently available, includes maximum application of existing technology. Example: microwave weapons, land subsidence, new species. ]Adult subject stories on the 'Adult side of the Desk' on another website is in an of itself a massive amount of work, some ranging well into novel length including one of eleven chapters, and "Leatherwings" which is a remarkable piece if the Desk has to say so itself, and it has been around now for... dang, nine years. A quick count comes up with about Seventy Five fiction stories online at this time, with more 'floating' (inside joke) around on various discs and memory sticks waiting to be posted, and a couple more in production. If you're interested, email the Desk for the link and prove you're an 'adult'.
For individual stories: Title, description, linked URL if online, genre, (rating)
For Novel Length Works, which includes what the Desk thinks is one of its better efforts: "Kada", there is "Power at the Mall" which was being re-edited to PG-13 standards (right now it is NC-17), but that project has since stalled due to reasons we won't go into here. and the Desk is thinking about now just posting online and being done with it. There are also three books called "Other Men's.... Daughters. Wives. Families" which is a Trilogy of Christian novels centered around several young women in a church. A thing by the working title of "dragon war" which was written some time ago, and may be re-written to be a stand alone work. Then there is the soap opera - "A Tale of Two Dorms" -which is online, over 600 pages by itself, and unfinished. (If you want to buy any of these... contact the Desk at Dr_Leftover{~at~}themediadesk{~d0t~}com (email scrambled to screw with spammer robots).)
OFFICIAL COUNT. 75 plus 7 equals 82
Christian Fiction Shorts based on Biblical Stories. A world unto itself totaling twenty three stories posted and a couple more that never made it online. the Christian Fiction Index Page (G)
COUNT 82 plus 23 equals 105
TheHunter series, which is the easiest to count at FIFTY TWO numbered episodes... but does it count as ONE or as FIFTY TWO? Which is why TheHunter is a category unto himself. But since the episodes can stand alone... we'll go with 52. themediadesk.com/hunt/hunter.htm Adventure fiction. (G to PG-13)
COUNT 105 plus 52 equals 157
Fan Fiction (for the record, and those easily confused, these are NOT TV Series Character Based Stories (no Captain Kirks to be blunt)), of which 'Star Trek' is the vast majority, but there is also a jog around the Chapa'ai in the 'Stargate' story "The City-State of Eros". Plus the four on the IFT site. And the Novel Length work....
Somewhere under 'Fan Fiction' we have to pile the ten USS RAVEN stories and the related story of what happens when our fictional crew encounters The Patrol from the novel. You tell the Desk how to label that one for a total of 11. themediadesk.com/files/ravenindex.htm (G)
COUNT "...so that's 157 plus eleven is 168 plus the four there and the four here... carry the one...."
And Stuff Written for 'The Midnight Lady'. Three sold so far, one series still in production, which should be finished... eventually. Email the Desk for the link so you can BUY THE BOOKS! (PG-13)
And Now the basic Short Stories.
Let's check that running count first ....
COUNT "and then you total..." 180??? "Or something that way."
Now, to be honest, there are two which were recently finished which are sort of in limbo. One was written for Mrs. Desk as her first attempt as the Desk's official agent. The other will be posted online in the near future. Stay Tuned.
COUNT .... 182 right?
Starting Online with the Newest First. [As part of this count the Desk had a chance to update and correct the Desk site's Fiction Page!]
So what was the total? No idea... the Desk's calculator's battery died somewhere between Sand Mountain and Pine Tree Creek.
But... DANG... that's a LOT of writing!!! Don't believe it? The estimated word count on "Power at the Mall" is about 80,000 or so.
Again. Just about everything listed is FOR SALE BY AUTHOR. Contact the Desk if you are interested in buying it lunch and talking about it.
Enough commercial.
Let's talk about where these things come from and how the Desk writes them. OK?
Edgar Allan Poe tried to explain his own creative process several times with decidedly mixed results. However, most who have read both his writings and his "Philosophy of Composition" and other articles wonder if he was trying to diagnose his own personal weirdness in them. Poe's writings are all over the place, his style is best described as 'his style' and left at that. How he wrote such works as the"Tell Tale Heart" we may be better off not knowing.
Not that the Desk is in any way comparing itself to the master, it was simply using that as an example of why the examination of the creative process is a futile exercise.
There is no explanation for it. Which was essentially the point of the Desk's Artistic Statement. Yes the Desk has an Artistic Statement.
Where do these ideas for stories ranging from straight up Christian themed 'family' things like "Lord's Lunatic" and "Other Men's...." all the way through high adventure, drama, and excitement as with "TheHunter" and "Waiting the Storm Out" on to .... whatever.
Sometimes the Desk will get an idea and it turns into a story of its own accord. Like the story fell out of the Desk's head onto the keyboard. Such was the case with "The Adventure on Pine Tree Creek" and a few others.
At other times the story tells itself once it gets started, even when it is based on a rather vague idea. Which is exactly the case with "the Monkey".
Another case is when there is a half baked idea that, through some research and some actual work, turns into something more than it was, and the characters and events drive the story. "Serious Cave" is one of those.
And then there is when the Desk starts a story, and has to finish it simply because it wants to know what's going to happen. "Sand Mountain" is one of those.
Then there are things that there are no explanation for. The plot, the characters, the events, simply happen. For these the Desk is a passenger watching it go by. It's like the story has already happened, and the Desk is just recording it as a reporter. "Subsidence" was one of those.
The worst ones to write are the ones that are work to write. The ones we just discussed are a pleasure to write, they're fun, the research is interesting and the characters are almost real people that could be your friends. Then there are the ones that almost don't want to be written and sometimes fight back. "The Magician" was one of those. That thing was a chore to get done.
"KADA" is a catagory unto itself because of the main character... go check out the intro for more on that.
Now, as to whether any of these ends up making a better story when it is all said and done, who knows?
Selah
Footnote: Selah- Hebrew word of uncertain meaning. Used in Old Testement esp. Psalms as either a term for Peace or a Musical Rest. The Desk uses it as Both.
[NOTE: This was a somewhat self serving stock taking of everything written by the Desk in the last few years under the general heading of FICTION. Links were working as of the date of posting. For material NOT linked above, email the Desk- at: Dr_Leftover{~at~}themediadesk{~d0t~}com (email scrambled to screw with spammer robots) Thank you]
http://themediadesk.com