It's been a while since I've done any intensive Shameless Plugging, so it's time for me to get back on that horse. In deciding WHAT to plug, I realized it was pointless to plug a certain story with 379 views, "favorited" 9 times, and commented upon 41 times. So I looked at my 11 stories that to date have received fewer than 100 views apiece (a common fate of older stories that date back to the "Bottom Lines" days), to see what may have been overlooked by readers.
The choice to me was obvious. "Dem Bones" was one of my own favorites when I wrote it a dozen or so years ago, a favorite when it got loaded on Bottom Lines, and is still a favorite today. It's sexy, romantic, a bit funny, with well-deserved spanking. Yet, with only 90 views, it is my third least-viewed story.
What stands out (to me) about those 90 views, however, is that those 90 views have produced 4 "favorites," at a rate of 4.4% of the views. That may not seem like much, but the two most favorited stories here in the Library, two very fine tales by ChardT ("A Deal's a Deal" and "The Talk"), with their 900 views each, have percentages of 3.4% and 3.1% respectively. I'm not saying that "Dem Bones" is a better story than either - shear numbers have to mean SOMEthing - but the 4.4% favorited rate has to mean something as well.
In an earlier Shameless Plug post, I mentioned the 'unfortunate title' for "Dem Bones," so a few comments in explanation are in order, as follows: 1) It's a double entendre 2) A song I used to sing in church camp as a kid had the refrain of "Dem bones gonna rise again." 3) The setting of the story is a paleontological dig 4) The story is rather sexy 5) Connect the dots
And so, folks in order to humor me, or at least shut me up, please consider reading "Dem Bones" and telling me what you think.
- Rick Marlowe |