Hi Vocal! So much has changed.

Hello Vocal. How are you.

Well, to be honest - and thank you so much for asking...I can barely hear myself think these days. So many people are grumbling, demanding and complaining...both on and off platform.

But has that not always been happening. Honestly, I cannot remember a time when someone was not unhappy about something or the other?

Ha ha. That is true. But it has seriously become a much noisier place on here and the world in general. Still I just keep operating on the premise as stated by Eleanor Roosevelt:

Do what you think in your heart is right for you. You'll be criticized anyway!

Ha ha ha. I totally agree. You cannot please everyone all of the time---so you know what - PLEASE YOURSELF - the rest will follow.

Very true. I am so thankful for the quiet ones who just write and stay very quiet while I calculate their creative worth. Although I love you all just the same. Sigh! But enough about me. How are you doing.

Oh...fair to ok. Thank YOU for asking. I don't have the energy to be as active as I once was here. Life gets in the way. But I see it in my readership and my reciprocated readership as well. It is down to an all time low. But that's ok. I much appreciate those who still read my work and I make the effort to read some of theirs. I make myself content with the knowledge that I am still able to write and enjoy my hobby in peace and quiet here. I so appreciate the lack of fuss here, and I am happy to not encounter the mind boggling convoluted hoops which other platforms ask me to navigate in order to create works.

I am sorry to hear that you are not as sprightly as before...but pleased to see you still writing. We try to keep things a simple as possible on the platform. It is best for everyone. Hopes for you feeling much better, quite soon.

It is great to have conversations with a creator from time to time. It let's me easier understand what is really happening in the belly of the beast that I am.

Thank you. But...Speaking of the beast...your word, not mine.

A lot of creators of my genre have gone MIA. I really do miss them, they were my reader base and I theirs. Many are on hiatus - watching to see changes to the system. Will there be changes. It certainly does not seem like it. And what is happening with Mikey and Marie, I hope it doesn't happen to me.

Sorry, that is something I cannot discuss, it is an ongoing investigation.

Ha ha ha. Sounds like a detective's cliched answer to a reporter's question which he or she doesn't want to answer.

Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't.

Ok. Ok. I am minding my own bizwax.

Sorry...did not mean to offend you, but it is a sticky topic, You understand.

Nope, but still, I hope it gets resolved soon.

Harrumph!

Righttttt!!! Moving on. Although...I am feeling a bit lost in translation on the platform, a feeling of displacement where I once was so comfortable. Maybe its just me - and I need to adjust my sails. Or maybe the entire world going bananas has something to do with it. Don't even get me started on our wonderful President T and his antics.

Believe me, the feeling is mutual all around. Sometimes I wonder if creators know that the people behind the scene are humans and not robots...well, maybe there are a few robot types, but mostly humans with feelings as well. Humans who are just as affected by the times as everyone else.

I admit, there are creators who believe you should work continuously, like the robots, and always tend to our needs, forgetting your needs completely. But...it's your show. So we keep moving on. You doing you and us doing us. The music plays on.

Ok, I'm gonna let you go now. I know how focused you are on keeping your deadlines. DON'T WANT ANY MORE RANTS AND RAVES IF YOU FALL BEHIND - DO WE. Just one more thing though:

How are the Vocal shares doing on the market or wherever it is?

Hello??????????Hello. Vocal...you there.

Yes. Just wondering why you want to add more stress to my day. I will get back to you on that. I thought that we were having a peaceful, no demands conversation.

We are. We were. It is just a query. Thank you. Have a great day.

You too. Thanks.

I don't think that went so well.

I can still hear you.

Oops. Sorry.

Ha ha . Its ok. Its all good.

Whooo...for a minute there, I though Mr. Vocal was mad at me