Significant News

[MoonCat]

So glad I found this thread, I would have been really upset if another site I enjoy poofed with no warning. I mostly lurk but I do enjoy reading the posts here. Hope something works out that we can keep this forum.

Another forum I'm on has a subscription option to help pay for it. Free members have limited forum access but paid members ($18 a year) have full forum access. Just an idea if paying for the site becomes an issue.

I could do that. I would also be willing to sponsor one other person who really couldn't afford to do it. It would have to be through PayPal, though, as I don't have a credit card and would rather not use my debit card online.

[MadMike]

There were also little perks like being able to have a custom title.

[Sandman]

Back in the Slugger days... there was a "free" and a "paid" membership. Differences were minor. Had a lot to do with search times, and priority when the site was under load. Also the amount of messages you could store at any given time.

[laborcat]

Another forum I'm on has a subscription option to help pay for it. Free members have limited forum access but paid members ($18 a year) have full forum access. Just an idea if paying for the site becomes an issue.

I'm certainly not overly blessed financially, and once this divorce gets rolling it'll surely get tighter, but even I could swing that much if it means keeping this place alive. I haven't been too chatty on here lately but your stories and advice have been my ability to hang on sometimes. Hopefully the current negotiations are successful.

[EricKei]

Have no fear, plans are afoot.

[blondescales]

So glad I found this thread, I would have been really upset if another site I enjoy poofed with no warning. I mostly lurk but I do enjoy reading the posts here. Hope something works out that we can keep this forum.

Another forum I'm on has a subscription option to help pay for it. Free members have limited forum access but paid members ($18 a year) have full forum access. Just an idea if paying for the site becomes an issue.

[MadMike]

PS, I don't want to be a mod. I'm crazy, but I'm not insane!

You don't have to be crazy to be a mod, but it helps.

[Slave to the Phone]

If I had the money, I would offer to take over the site. I have the skills, but not the immediate cash. I can only afford maybe a third of that.

I love this site, and have made so many wonderful friends. I hope someone also takes the time to save everything Plaidman posted.

Here's hoping whoever takes over will continue the forums.

I also can't afford to take the site over but I can pledge 10 bucks a month to help keep it going. How could we do this?

PS, I don't want to be a mod. I'm crazy, but I'm not insane!

[pudddykat]

I wish you the best Raps and have everything crossed things work out. "Don't hold your breath..." made me think of one of my favorite of my Grandmas sayings "Don't hold your hand on your ass/butt it my grow there" my other favorite is "Don't get a burr up your butt."

[peach2play]

We wish you well! Thanks for all the good times!

[Kogarashi]

So glad to hear things are looking up.

[OT] Do you recall the title of that book? Was it per chance the Crestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones? [/OT]

The book is actually Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson (and I was mistaken on the date, it's 1979, not early 80's, so I was off by a couple years). I'm not even sure how it was supposed to have ripped off Harry Potter in the first place, but it was clearly a case of "young reviewer has no clue what they're talking about and doesn't know how to pay attention to publication dates" rather than similar ideas.

[Mental_Mouse]

Two writers may have similar ideas, but that does not mean that one ripped off the other. There are so many books and so little time, it would be impossible to read everything ever published and make sure you're not copying someone else.

Indeed, it's a commonplace "proverb" within SF/F that "there are no new ideas, what matters is what you do with them". Of course, that's not literally true... once in a great while, a truly new idea comes along, but it's really not common. Surprisingly often, that idea that seems so unique to the latest bestseller, turns out to have made a prior appearance in Jules Verne or H.G. Wells, if not some medieval romance or even ancient mythology. In that vein, Ken McLeod has quipped that “History is the trade secret of science fiction”.

[morgana]

Thanks for the update, Raps. Got a whole box of candles lit . . .

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Just so everyone knows, I'm currently in discussion with someone who is interested in taking the place on as it is (no trimming) and capable of doing so. As long as this comes off, and I'm not interested in making promises here, things wouldn't change once the transfer takes place.

I have had several expressions of interest, and given the time scale so far that's quite pleasing, but this is currently my preferred option.

Holding your breath is not advised, but things are looking optimistic.

Rapscallion

Thanks for the update. Fingers crossed.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Isn't that always the way? Reminds me of when I was looking at reviews for a young adult novel I have and like, and at least one review accused the book of "ripping off Harry Potter." The book in question? Published in the early 1980's.

[OT] Do you recall the title of that book? Was it per chance the Crestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones? [/OT]