I was looking over the reviews for 'Game On' and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who's voted, or left a review or comment on the story. I truly appreciate all the support from everyone -- even the guys who don't seem to like the story all that much -- for taking the time to read the work and then offer their personal insight and feedback on the story.

One reader in particular, I'd like to offer heartfelt thanks to, for giving me a review that truly made me smile:

gnarleytreeman Wrote: Absolutely aweful 20/08/16 By gnarlytreeman

Overall Score: 1 star

Style Score: 1 star

Story Score: 2 star

Grammar Score: 1/2 star

Character Score: 1/2 star

There were spelling mistakes in the first paragraph, this thing has not been proofread at all, it is noticable.

The style, is meh,it is a clone of 8th day, written by someone who is a pervert. There is a place for sex in stories, but this author just can’t do it right.

2 stars for the rest of the plot, even though its gotten popular lately.

All of the characters are complete shit, very limited back story, created solely for the authors whim as a powermongering sexfest.

Read to chapter 30. Characters need to have character, not be stripped of all clothing and exist as fantasy dolls.

Now, some people reading this might take it as being a bad review. Personally, I don't. I take this to be one of the most endorsing reviews that a person could give the story. WHY?

Let's break it down bit by bit:

1) spelling mistakes and the story has not been proofread at all. (Which I freely admit to, as I do that when I go back later and edit the story. I won't argue one bit over this assessment.)

2) the style is a clone of The 8th Day... (Again, what's to argue over? This *is* the rebooted version of that theme for me, and I even announced it as the spiritual successor of The 8th Day.)

3) apparently I'm a pervert. What my moral character has to do with anything, I don't know, but I've been called much worse. I won't argue.

4) there's a place for sex in stories, but I do it wrong. (Fair enough. Not everyone has to like the sex in the story, or my way of handling it.)

5) 2 stars for the rest of the plot, even though its gotten popular lately. (Here, I must admit, I'm a little confused. Does it only get 2 stars because its popular? This statement is a little vague and gnarly should hopefully expand upon it some.)

6) All of the characters are complete shit, very limited back story, created solely for the authors whim as a powermongering sexfest. (So all the characters are shit and the story must be erotica?)

And the ratings given tell us that gnarleytreeman absolutely HATES the work. There's not much worse that it could get in his eyes. The spelling sucks. The grammer sucks. The plot sucks. The characters suck. This is a sucky, sucky story...

"Read to chapter 30."

... that he couldn't put down and walk away from until he'd read every word written and shared on the site here so far! O_o!

When your writing is so mesmerizing that a person who hates it can't put it down and stop reading it, you're doing something right!

I know I've personally found stories with grammar so bad, I'd have to rate them 1/2 stars, and I never waste my time or effort in trying to stick with them past the first few pages. When the characters are so bad that I rate them 1/2 a star, I drop the work. When the style is so terrible I rate it that low, I drop it. Same with the plot.

And yet...

Here is someone who apparently hates 'Game On' and everything about it, and yet they couldn't put it down and stop reading it until they'd consumed every word written!

And to me, as an author, that's the greatest compliment someone can give. "Your work sucks, but it mesmerized me and I couldn't stop reading it."

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I have an odd way of looking at things -- but it's true: Reviews like this one absolutely bolster my confidence and encourage me to keep going.

Many thanks gnarleytreeman! I'll look back on your review whenever I start to doubt myself and remember the power my words had to force you to keep coming back chapter after chapter to read them. If the people who *don't* like my work can't put it down, then how could I ever give up and let down the people who *do* like it?

One little thing for the irony police though, which I just have to point out because it made it laugh when I noticed it:

Quote:Absolutely aweful

There were spelling mistakes in the first paragraph, this thing has not been proofread at all, it is noticable.

For someone who was so concerned about spelling mistakes in the first paragraph, I have to point out a few things:

1) Aweful is misspelled in your title. You don't even wait to get to the first paragraph. It's AWFUL

2) In your first paragraph, the last word is spelled incorrectly. it's NOTICEABLE, not noticable.

3) If we're actually talking about the first paragraph of the story, there's no misspellings there:

Quote:“Come on class, everyone settle down please. The bell’s already rang.”

This is inside quotes and denotes speech. Not every person speaks in perfect grammar, and this is 100% how the teacher in the classroom would talk. (Some folks would say the bell has already RUNG as proper grammar, but character's don't need to speak in proper grammar.)

Perhaps he's viewing the "bell's" as being a spelling mistake, but it's not. "bell's", as it's being used here, is an improper spoken form for "The bell has already rang." It's a common contracted form of verbal communication, with "bell's" being used as the contraction for "bell has".

So in a rather amusing twist of irony (at least I see it as such), the person complaining about the spelling and grammar in the story is apparently unable to spell or use grammar properly...

I dunno. Maybe it's just the fact that I've been up the last 48+ hours without sleep, but somehow gnarleytreeman's review hit me as extremely flattering and amusing. Yesterday my wife went to the hospital for bronchitis and how it was affecting her asthma, and I haven't had a drop of sleep in days. I was wore down, tired, and ready to just flop over for a week...

... and then the review just hit me the right way and bolstered me, while making me laugh.

And, I'm thankful for that. Many thanks treeman; you truly are gnarley! :D