Just your average insane, hormonal teenage writer, trying to make her way in the world.
Reviews, reviews, my kingdom for reviews. Those sweet somethings will make my day, so be sure to leave at least a few lines of comments behind after reading my stories! I’m extremely, indescribably grateful to everyone who takes the time to read my humble work, let alone review said compositions, and I hope you enjoy (or at least put up with) what I post here. No flames please, but constructive, friendly criticism is much appreciated.

Furthermore, if you review my work, you have a 90 chance of being added to my Favorite Authors list for the furthering of your fame on FictionPress! That’s how much of an ingenuous little sop I am!*

Many huzzahs and a bottle of champagne!
xoxoxoxoxo
Damsel Under Stress

p.s.: As of 12/03/04, be sure to check out my account on FanFiction.Net if you're interested. I can't guarantee satisfaction of anything but your curiosity, but please visit the link below:

www.fanfiction.net/~blodeuedd

--ATTN--
August 11, 2004

Dear Readers, Fellow Writers, and Friends,

To be direct, the purpose of this letter is to alert you to the fact that as of today I am removing all my works of fiction from this site and will no longer be posting any further prose on FictionPress. The motives behind this decision are simple. Ever since I was nine years old, I have dreamed of becoming a professional, published author. While my experiences on FictionPress have been no less than magical, I have longed since youth for printed publication, or at the very least a platform I could build a career on. With the courage that FictionPress and its friendly populace have given me, I feel I am ready to move on and put my work out there for editors and publishing firms to see. I am taking my prose off this site to submit it to publishers with a "clean slate" of sorts. Fate willing, you may recognize "Rising to Meet the Morning," "Home Away From Home," "My Dearest Hamilton," "The Price of Honor," or "The Admiral's Daughter" someday in a book or magazine!!

However, not all of my ties to FictionPress will be severed with this choice. I love this site and the creative, helpful people I have met here far too much to let go entirely just yet. In the future, I will continue to post poems, reviews, and maybe even the occasional story on FictionPress. It is the least I can do for a site that has helped me discover and wield my ability as a writer and poet.

I am so grateful and amazed by everything on this site. At this time, I would like to sincerely, gratefully thank everyone who has taken the time to read my work. Your support makes up an enormous part of my uncommonly daring decision to expand my horizons. I am also deeply thankful for everyone listed under my Favorite Authors; their skill and eloquence is a gift that I was blessed enough to share with them through their stories and poems. You are all so fearless to bare your heart and soul to the world through your stirring, heartrendingly beautiful words, and your encouragement and inspiring work has been invaluable to my development as an author. When I started writing stories in the first grade, I used to be so self-doubting and insecure when it came to my writing. Each and every one of you here at FictionPress have helped me emerge from my shell and learn to use the wings writing has given me.

I hope you have enjoyed reading and reviewing my work as much I have enjoyed writing it for you. In parting, I wish all of you only the best. In my opinion, every author and poet here deserves the highest recognition and appreciation for their wondrous gifts, whether you decide to send your work to a publishing firm or not. To quote Madeleine L’Engle, ‘Being a writer does not necessarily mean being published. It’s very nice to be published. It’s what you want. . .But being a writer means writing. . .You can hardly say that van Gogh was not a painter because he sold one painting during his lifetime, and that to his brother. Van Gogh was painter because he painted, because he held true to his vision as he saw it.’

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this opportunity and the fond memories it has created. Thank you for sharing your stories with me and giving me confidence in myself. And, above all, thank you for writing. I hope to cross paths with each and every one of you in the future.

Love and many huzzahs,
xoxoxoxoxo
Damsel