Horror Sensation/HORROR.iso/stories/13.txt

Text File | 1980-11-27 | 7.0 KB | 145 lines

@ DARK PORTAL - THE STORY SO FAR


\ In the beginning

 The Dark Portal disk was first announced in "Shadows" - a slideshow/
animation/game PD production I coded in late 1993. It was revealed in
the form of an advertisement consisting of an IFF graphic and a small
`begging letter' for contributors. Of course, after the release of
that disk I didn't get any letters or contributions at all.

 Although "Shadows" hasn't been reviewed in the glossy magazines, it
has proved rather popular with the PD libraries and diskmags (the
recently deceased Amy PD rated it a juicy 4/5, and NBS PD kindly
pointed out the Dark Portal advertisement contained within). Still, I
wasn't put off - the first edition did come out and contained mainly
my own stories.

 When you post off a PD or Shareware disk there's an initial feeling
of having worked your arse off for absolutely no reason. Imagine the
utter loss I experienced when I let almost two years of story-writing
slip away into the freely-distributable world of PD. Diskmags aren't
the most popular PD titles to be featured anywhere - and Dark Portal
wasn't even a proper diskmag! Oh dear...


\ At last some response

 Releasing the first edition of Dark Portal has at last given me some
satisfaction. NBS kindly advertised the production in their paper mag
"Domaination" (even if they did warp the facts a bit) and several
people have written to me about the written content.

 Carl Read of Cybercraft praised the disk highly and gave it a
splendid review (4/5) in his new, excellent "Shareworld" diskmag
(check out the advertisements section for more information on this
cool disk!). Carl has kindly supported my writing and encouraged me
more than anyone to produce this sequel.

 Paul Gumsley, creator of the mega "Whitby Amos Club" (WAC) diskmag
also gave me some extremely nice comments regarding Dark Portal. He
seemed to find the content more amusing than shocking but I guess
everyone experiences fiction in their own way... Many thanks Paul for
your kind words. I hope you like this disk just as much!

 14-year-old Christopher Bamber (yes, brother of Lee - ace AMOS
coder!) apparently spent many evenings reading the stories in Dark
Portal and wrote asking for the concluding chapters of Bestial Influx!
Of course I sent them promptly along with a lot more of my material
and he said he greatly enjoyed it. Many thanks to Chris for taking the
time to write.

 I am informed by my good friend Carl Read that Dark Portal has been
in the hands of Ivan Millett, author of three epic on-disk novels!
Listen up Ivan - I would be honoured if you would get in touch with me
sometime if you like this disk! I'll certainly plug your novels for
you - even include a chapter or so if you like - and I have a lengthy
story of my own I'd be willing to let you read. Best wishes to you.

 Near the end of July this year, musician Mike Richmond kindly wrote
to me in response to my advert found in F1 Licenceware's excellent
Amoszine (issue #2 - a great mag! Get a copy!). Now the composer for
the music of Black Dragon's future titles, Mike praised a preview of
this issue which I sent to him very highly: "Dark Portal 2 is a great
read and I REALLY enjoyed it (and I aren't just shooting bull, I mean
it.) I have never come across this kind of thing before and I really
think it could do very well." Many thanks Mike for your comments and
for everything else you've sent through the post!

 Most of my other friends and contacts are said to have enjoyed the
diskmag though they had read most of the material before. All their
comments have been taken on board.

 Several months ago I enrolled on a short-story course with I.C.S
(International Correspondence Schools) because they were offering
certain courses at half-price. So, after a few days wondering whether
or not it would be worth forking out cash for some decent tutorial
advice, I took the plunge. Months later, I actually got around to
doing the first assignment (the main part of which was basically
"submit your first attempt at a short story, no longer than 1500
words". My first attempt? Christ, I've written over 100 stories since
I first started back in 1990!

 Unable to think of a plot which would fit inside this horribly
ristrictive word-limit, I extracted "The Blue Clock" from Dark Portal
edition one and chopped it down a bit (okay, so I massacred it and
posted off the bloodied remains). Keeping my tutor's name a secret for
no particular reason (she's unlikely to ever get her mits on this
disk), here are her comments:

# "Your story is intriguing. Your writing is strong, easy to read and
#the story is good. It's one of the better ones to arrive today. Nit
#picks, Bill and George make it sound as if these people are elderly
#or middle-age, is that your intention? Children are variably known
#by their full names, so it would be William, James or Tyler or
#something modern."

 Fair enough criticism I suppose, despite the fact that I probably
know more about kids than she does. The comment about childrens names
seems strikingly obvious (even so, I went to school with a Bill and a
George and that was in the late 80's. What's wrong with names that
aren't typical of todays youth...?)

# "I would suggest that if your stories are over 2000 words that you
#are (as in this one) over writing to some degree. This is something
#we can tackle in the course..."

 Too right missus, but it'll be me who does the tackling - Rugby
style! How can you possibly say 2000 words is over-writing?! Yes, the
shorter the piece the broader the magazine market but when you've got
a lot of situations to cover, when you want to actually HOOK the
reader and take them on a journey rather than make them snigger during
their lunch break, you tend to consume more wordage. Right? And I've
asked three people which version of "The Blue Clock" they think is
best - the shortened one which I sent to you (1500 words) or the
longer one (2300-ish). In all three cases it was the longer one that
they prefered! Argh! You ain't heard the last of this either! (cue the
SLAM! of a door).

# "You have a good way of expressing yourself which will benefit you
#in the future. This first work carries a C+ grade for good work, I do
#hope you can keep that standard going."

 Yeah, and I'll give your comments a D+, missus. You've given me a
well written letter, plenty of criticism (half of which I disagree
with) and told me that all writers should write stories under 2000
words for magazines.

 Christ, "The Blue Clock" is childs' play! I wonder what my tutor
would make of "Barn Lane"? (snigger, snigger - Mr Dark).


\ "No rules to protect you" (yikes)

 All that's left for me to say is keep reading and get writing to me!
I need contributions, letters, feedback, everything! If you enjoy the
stories why not write and encourage me to do more? If you dislike them
tell me WHY and WHAT you'd like to see. Each letter I receive will be
answered promptly and personally.

 That's it for the introduction then - read the text ads then settle
down and get ready to be shocked. Through the Portal there are no
rules to protect you...