Goodbye


Ten years is a long time.

It's a long time for anyone to do anything.

I've been the webmaster here for ten years now. It's been a joyride like no other that I've ever had in my life. I've met some really cool people (and some I'd just as soon not met... the oldtimers know who they were) along the way, and I've learned more about webpages, writing, and graphic art than I ever wanted to know.

But all things come to an end.

I have a feeling this time has come for the Garden.

A great deal of what is (not) going on here has to do with the infrequent updates the place has had for the past couple of years. Granted, two of the key authors (myself and Jess Mercer) were having a lot of turmoil in our separate private lives during that time, but in retrospect, two people cannot carry a site of this magnitude alone. The few authors who still contribute their fine stories from time to time do so with little feedback and less encouragement.

Another big part of what is going on is the fact that devotees now know they are not alone. Ten years ago we were shocked and overjoyed that we had a meeting place on the net to share experience, pictures and stories. Now, it's taken for granted that there are devotees, just as everyone understands there are gay people. We are out of the closet; the secret is no more.

I think the true issue, however, is the sad fact that no one reads anymore. This saddens me more than any of the other issues. I feel that what I do is a lost art, unappreciated by the vast majority. Oh, I'm sure if I kept my stories to under 5000 words and had multiple instances of sexual intercourse and stump play graphically described along the way there would be readers, but these are not the kinds of stories I want to tell.

So, the time has come.

I will leave the site up as a repository of the great body of work it represents. I owe that to Jess and the others. I will continue to add anything that is sent to me, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time and art and passion on something that no one seems to value any more. I'm dumping the message boards and the galleries will probably (eventually) be moved over to Ampgfx. The bookstore is closing after the current orders are filled. In this way we leave the works accessable, but there is nothing that I will have to moderate.

I thank everyone who has supported the Garden over the years with their encouragement, their talents, and their gifts.

It's been a wild ride, and I'll never forget it.

I love you guys.

The Wiz