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[mare]

After the interesting debate that went on in the NC-17 thread yesterday I thought i'd post this thread to let people see what has been chosen so far as featured story of the month. I will keep adding onto this list as it grows.

1. Ground Zero by Chaos (February 2007)
2. Love of a Child by Shrinking Violet and Anastacia (March 2007)
3. Under My Skin by Mellzbellz (April 2007)
4. Children Like Me by Mersey (May 2007)
5. Not Your Average Cinderella Story by Honey (June 2007)
6. Pandora's Box by Nicksgal (July 2007)
7. By My Side by Julie (August 2007)
8. Proving Them Wrong by Starbeamz (September 2007)
9. Hawk and a Handsaw by Julilly (October 2007)
10. Somewhere I Belong by Teri (November 2007)
11. Yesterday's Blue Skies by Just Marina (December 2007)
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12. Just Another Day by Rose (January 2008)
13. Learning to Trust by Sweet_18_2003 (February 2008)
14. Prevailing Fate by Nijntje and ARok Obsession (March 2008)
15. Nothing Gold Can Stay by Maggie and Louise (April 2008)
16. A Forgotten Nightmare by LenniluvsBrian (May 2008)
17. Why I'd do it all Again by Mare (June 2008)
18. If Tomorrow Never Comes by MonkeyAbu (July 2008)
19. In Pieces by Sakabelle (August 2008)
20. Any Other Way by Tri (September 2008)
21. Satan's Playground by rebellious_one (October 2008)
22. Inner Hell by Jenna (November 2008)
23. If You Can't Say No by Cecilia (December 2008)
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24. Life According to Baylee by alota_cookin (January 2009)
25. Casual by cabybakes (February 2009)
26. Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon by DaniGiggles (March 2009)
27. A Different Man by Guitargurl (April 2009)
28. All Hail the Heartbreaker by Tantilisinteas er (May 2009)
29. Sinister Devotion by Kevmylove (June 2009)
30. Unexpected Love by AjsKellyMouse (July 2009)
31. Someone's Miracle by Kentuckychickr k (August 2009)
32. A Write Kind of Love by Gravity 721 (September 2009)
33. My Mind's Eye by your_ill_july (October 2009)
34. If Tomorrow Never Comes by Carter-Orange (November 2009)
35. Can You Feel Me by Danielle (December 2009)
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36. True Love Never Dies by Sinara (January 2010)
37. Beautiful Stranger by Hilda Warren (February 2010)
38. I'm With You by Felikia2009 (March 2010)
39. On the Rails by Filiklepto (April 2010)
40. Measure of a Man by goneplatinum (May 2010)
41. Illusions of Deceit by Frick24x (June 2010)
42. With the Band by evergreenwrite r83 (July 2010)
43. Beautiful Lie by BiLittrell (August 2010)
44. Fearful Renegade by Scoobiegang (September 2010)
45. Song for the Undead by Rose and Julie (October 2010)
46. Ray of Hope by Kevmylove (November 2010)
47. Last Christmas by Rebellious_one (December 2010)
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48. Something Beautiful by Pengi (January 2011)
49. Shades of Gray by Summer (February 2011)
50. Life by colorguard_div a (March 2011)
51. Curtain Call by Julie (April 2011)
52. The Great Divide by evergreenwrite r83 (May 2011)
53. Figured You Out by DelphinaCarter (June 2011)
54. Straight Through My Heart by ResaD (July 2011)
55. The Frick and Frack Switch by ForeverFrick (August 2011)
56. Love This Pain by myconfession (September 2011)
57. Chronos Project by Purpura Lipstick (October 2011)
58. Design Divas by tiggerc128 (November 2011)
59. Joyful Heart by Sapphire (December 2011)
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60. Save a Prayer by Carter-Orange (January 2012)
61. Garden by Louise (February 2012)
62. Just Between You and Me by Simple Sue (March 2012)
63. The Other Side of Nick Carter by Ritz (April 2012)
64. Remember Me This Way by Rose (May 2012)
65. What LurksAround the Corner by Mare (June 2012)
66. Time Has a Way by Tri (July 2012)
67. Fight Me by kevmylove (August 2012)
68. Running Up That Hill by Sakabelle (September 2012)
69. Twisted by BiLittrell (October 2012)
70. Have a Little Faith in Me by kentuckychickr k (November 2012)
71. Future Boy by carterkid (December 2012)
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72. Monster in the Closet by starbeamz2 (January 2013)
73. Heart Bandit by summer03 (February 2013)
74. Launch by Pengi (March 2013)
75. Ella Rose by tiggerc128 (April 2013)
76. 5 Backstreet Boys in Search of a Plot by Mersey and friends (May 2013)
77. 30 Days by Julilly (June 2013)
78. Prodigal by Dascreenwriter 21 (July 2013)
79. First Impressions by Kyrie (August 2013)
80. Run by emily_michele (September 2013)
81. Battle Born by mammogirl (October 2013)
82. Finding Carter by Delphinacarter (November 2013)
83. Love Can Save by Jamlet (December 2013)
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84. Falling Down by Rosalie (January 2014)
85. Everything, but Mine by Kelsie_Lynn (February 2014)
86. All of Your Life by carter (March 2014)
87.Tradewinds by shadesmaclean (April 2014)
88. The New Guy by freedomwriter (May 2014)
89. Brothers by jess20 (June 2014)
90. Dodging the Daylight by KeepThisSecret (July 2014)
91. On Nightingale Hill by Filiklepto (August 2014)
92. Trapped by Jenna (September 2014)
93. Time of Your Life by evergreenwrite r83 (October 2014)
94. Forever Like This by Sakabelle (November 2014)
95. Fear of Flying by Pengi (December 2014)
______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ____

96. Rewind by Carter-Orange (January 2015)
97. Here We Stand by Rose (February 2015)
98. It's Complicated by Julilly (March 2015)
99. Broken by RokofAges75 (April 2015)
100. Hope Is The Last Thing Ever Lost by Mare (May 2015)
101. Old Wounds by Kyrie (June 2015)

You can find the links to all of these stories on this board by scrolling down and reading each thread. It's never too late to comment on these so feel free to do so. I'm sure the authors will appreciate it.

[mare]

This will also be a question and answer thread although it will remain closed. You can PM me any questions you have about this feature and I will be happy to answer you in this thread.

What is featured story of the month?

It's a story that is chosen to be discussed each month. I used to have a fanfic of the month club where we would pick a story to be discussed each month. It worked like a book club where we would all read along and ask the author questions about plot lines and motivation etc... It was a huge success except that after awhile people stopped being interested, especially once they had their own month. So FFF came to an end.

This is another off shoot to that.


How do you choose what gets featured?

I try to be as fair as possible. Most of the stories featured come as recommendation s from posters. I see the story being discussed all over the place or hear raves about it on the forum. I also asked for recommendation s when the forum was first made and many of the first stories being featured are coming from that list. I do not pick from my own tastes personally. Some of these stories happen to be favorites of mine but for the most part, they are your favorites and not mine.

Do you read all the featured stories?

I try, but like everything else in life, sometimes I just don't have the time or sometimes I just lose interest. Doesn't mean it's a bad story by any stretch of the imagination, just not my thing. I'm pretty good about keeping a dialogue going throughout the month either way. 

Do you have to post on the forum to be considered as featured author?

No, but it does help. If I have a choice between two people for a month and one always posts on the forum and discusses things and one doesn't, i'll go with the poster because odds are they will be more active when it comes time to discuss their stories.

[mare]

I decided to make this a sticky so anyone who had the audacity to think I just picked people I am good friends with for featured authors can actually look at the long list of people on here since I started this.

Remember if you feel that someone should be featured or you should be featured, there is a thread somewhere on this board where you can let us know. You probably have to scroll down a bit to find it, but it's there.

Pretty much the only way you wouldn't be featured is if you only have one story and only about 15 chapters up. To be able to discuss something, there should be enough written to keep a dialogue going for an entire month. Also if all you do is collaborate (Not that there's anything wrong with that) and all of your collaborators have had a month, chances are slim you'd get your own unless you fly solo or collaborate with someone who hasn't been featured.

Eventually people will get more than one turn but there are so many writers on AC it'll be awhile lol

Thanks guys! And don't forget to take the time to go into those threads and tell the authors what you think. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

[mare]

I just unlocked this thread so this way if you have any questions you can ask them in here or you can also recommend fics in here. Just try not to turn it into a chat thread. Thanks!

[RokofAges75]

I don't know if you've heard complaints or what, but I can't imagine why anyone would complain about your choices for this.  If you look back over the authors chosen for this in the last two years, basically every regular on this board who writes their own stories has had a featured story.  And I'm sure anyone who hasn't is on your schedule to be featured this year.  I know you have it planned out way in advance, or at least you used to.

[mare]

I am not as planned out as I used to be but yup, I am generally at least three months ahead of myself with picking these out.

No one complains to my face so to speak.... lol but yes, i've heard rumblings here and there. Not a big deal, but I just wanted everyone to know it's not a popularity contest or anything. If enough people talk about it, it'll be featured.

[mare]

Hey guys, I have one more story in line for featured and that's it, so now's the time to start recommending stories you would like to see featured. if you read the first post in this thread, it lists all the stories that have been featured up to date. There have been a lot and no one has had a second turn.

Things that qualify:

~ The story should be near completion or updated frquently enough to discuss

~ Good Grammar and writing should be important

~ It can be an older story, it doesn't have to be one that is new

~ It doesn't have to be a BSB story. All stories as long as they are posted on AC are eligible

~ It shouldn't be a short story (no one shots)

~ I would prefer the author to be a part of the forum so they can actively participate in the discussions of their work, but if they aren't, that's okay too.

~ If you recommend, I would hope when the time came for this story to be featured, you would participate in the questions and discussions for that month.


So, leave your suggestions in this thread for me.

Thanks!

[Mariah]

I don't know if you've heard complaints or what, but I can't imagine why anyone would complain about your choices for this.  If you look back over the authors chosen for this in the last two years, basically every regular on this board who writes their own stories has had a featured story.  And I'm sure anyone who hasn't is on your schedule to be featured this year.  I know you have it planned out way in advance, or at least you used to.

No, not every regular.

[julilly]

Most of them have. When you consider there are only 10 months of features (Felix best authors take up two) there's only so many. So if you go to the members page and sort by posts you will see the regulars. The majority of those people if they write have been featured or are on the list.

[Mariah]

So ok, was just confused. Its only nominees at the Felix awards, not based on regulars on the forum? Either that or its a favorites thing.

[RokofAges75]

So ok, was just confused. Its only nominees at the Felix awards, not based on regulars on the forum? Either that or its a favorites thing.

No, they mean regulars on the forum.  What Julilly was saying is that the writers who win Best Author and Best New Author at the Felix Awards each get a featured month as part of their title, so that takes up two months of the year.  That only leaves ten spots to be filled with featured stories each year.

Like Julilly said, if you take a look at the members list on the forum and sort by number of posts, you'll see that just about all of the regulars who write and have stories that fit the criteria Mare has posted above have been featured.  If they're newer writers that haven't been featured yet, they might be on the waiting list for this year.

[alota_cookin]

Best Author and Best New author each automatically get a month with one of their stories featured. The other 10 months are "up for grabs", if you will. I believe Mare is the main one who selects the featured story...and she selects them based on a lot of factors, actually.

The comment made about "most of the regulars have been featured" was just pointing out that most (but not all) of the people that are regular contributors on the forum, have been featured at one point....and the ones that haven't are probably on the waiting list for a future month.

Selecting a featured story is only partly based on the person's activity on the forum board...and that's only because a featured story thread would be boring if the author wasn't on here. Overall, the stories are selected based on the quality of the story, the creativity of a plot line, how well it's written, if it captures reader interest or...in my personal case, she selected it because she heard various people talking about the story and how much they enjoyed it.

Mare...correct me if I'm wrong, LOL.

And Mariah...does that help you understand it any better?

[alota_cookin]

LMFAO....it helps if I reviewed the whole thread...maybe I would have remembered that Mare actually posted the criteria! *face palm*

[RokofAges75]

LOL yeah, this thread is actually really old!  My comment about most of the regulars being featured was made two years ago.  Although when I look at the first page of members, sorted by number of posts, it's still true that most of them who write have had a month.  And like you said, Kristal, I know Mare takes into account recommendation s and stories that are getting a lot of buzz from readers... obviously, she wants to choose stories that people are going to want to talk about.

[mare]

LOL it's so weird that all these old threads are suddenly being posted in again.

If you notice the features story list you will see since Feb of 2007 every month we have featured a new story. I can't believe we've already had 48 stories featured! Go us for never giving up on this!

I am the one who picks the Featured story every month and like both Kristal and Julie said, I go by a criteria. There is also a thread where if you want to be considered or have another author you want to bring to my attention, you can post in that thread and viola! It's really as easy as that. lol

Since doing this, I find that the best months come from people who are active on the forum, otherwise the thread just kind of remains stagnant and where's the fun in that? Although I have featured plenty of people who do not post on the forum and will continue to do so on occasion.

I do not pick stories just based on whether or not I like them. In fact, i'll admit that most of the stories on the list I haven't even actually read myself but based on other people's reccomendation s, fan reviews and overall writing ability, they are the perfect fit for a feature.

The Felix thing is new within the last two years. The best author and best new author will get their own month and usually one month is devoted to an oldie (usually during a month where i'm too busy to be Oprah) lol Other than that, I am trying to give everyone a chance.

Hope that answered all your questions and i'm always looking for more recs so go to that thread and rec away.