Hello All,
I am Maximillian Excaliber and before the story I would like to tell you the importance of leaving feedback.
As a writer, it is important to know how well or not well received a work is by received the target audience. Unlike movie and TV studios, we can not rely on focus groups to tell us how our work is being accepted.
On this site, the mechanisms some of us writers rely upon, especially the new ones like myself, are feedback and ratings.
A given work may have been read by 8000 people in three days, but if only 10 or 20 people take the time to rate it and only 2 to leave feedback it is impossible for us and you to tell how popular the story actually is and it is difficult for us, as writers, to know what may need improvement.
While feedback is important to improvement, ratings are the best gauge of how popular a story is but they are only reliable if enough people do so.
For those of you who don't know, a "Hot" story is one that has an average of 4.5 after 10 or more votes. They will have a little red "H" beside their names in the lists displays but some of the best stories have poor ratings because only a few people have taken the time to rate them while literally thousands have actually read them. And so, unless you stumble across them by accident, you may never know about them.
Feedback can always be left anonymously and ratings are always anonymous so please, even if you do not wish to leave feedback, take the time to rate the story.
Unfortunately, I submitted the novel to the editor I started using about three months ago but he is quite busy and does not have the time to edit the novel. I have decided to post it here so I can go on to other projects. Finally, I have made every attempt to make this novel error free that I can, I am sure there are errors in it that, despite my attempts, have slipped past my editing process. Should you find any, please notify me by email and I will correct them. When posting your comments, please try to keep this in mind: I do not represent this as a professional quality work, but it is the best I can do.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and Happy Reading.
MMB - The Great Hippocrates Robberies
By Maximillian_Excaliber
Introduction
When I started writing some months back, it was with the intention of developing my skills sufficiently so that, with confidence, I could begin writing more conventional fiction. Each story I write is a learning experience for me as I attempt to sharpen my technical skills and story telling techniques.
You will find my stories are becoming longer than the previous ones as I attempt to weave more plot and character development into them.
I hope this is an improvement and you enjoy them.
And now for a word about this particular set of stories.
A few years back I received a couple of rotator cuff injuries that, until recently, had remained undiagnosed. Between that and some other medical problems I will not go into right now, I unfortunately found myself spending more time than I wanted to in medical offices. One good thing has come out of it though; all that time waiting gave me a few ideas for a couple of stories.
This series is the first one of those ideas I have put to words.
As you read these, I think you'll find it amazing what can be running through one's mind while they are in a waiting room.
When next you go to the doctor or dentist, think back on these stories and try to imagine what the other people in the waiting room are daydreaming about as they wait alone with you. I think you'll find it an interesting way to pass the time.
When I started writing this storyline, it was with the intent of writing a single short story. However, as I was reaching the end of what would eventually become part one, it occurred to me that the Matchmaker Bandits had never failed to acquire their objectives before.
The idea of infallibility has never set well with me so I decided to make them just a little more human, and once in a while, let someone else get the best of them. I already had begun to get other ideas for expanding the story floating through my mind when I decided to write what would eventually become Part Two. By the time I was finished with it, my imagination was running full out and I decided to see just how far I could take the storyline.
Please keep in mind the following when you get to Part Four:
One of the two main characters, Lyle Cunningham, describes a medical history including attempts to treat a condition that affected him while he was in college.
While you are reading part four, as outrageous as the medical history described may seem, it is based on actual events in my life.
The main differences between the medical history depicted in the story and what actually happened to me are that I saw far more doctors than does did the character in the story before being properly diagnosed and my gallbladder problems went on for over four years. Also, I am now a type-2 diabetic. The end results of the gallstone being left in too long are that I now have a damaged spleen, pancreas, and liver.
Yes as unbelievable as it sounds, it really does happen.
I want to stress that this is a work of fiction. While some places actually exist, the small town of Magnolia, in Part Five, is a complete construction of my imagination. All characters and events are fictitious and any similarity between the characters and events in the novel and actual people or events is purely in the imagination of you, the reader.
Also, I'd like to thank "Jaily Ember" for taking the time to edit this massive undertaking of mine.
Finally, whether you like it, hate it or are totally indifferent, please take the time to rate it and leave feedback. Also, when doing so, try and remember that the works on this site are mostly done by amateurs such as myself and are edited by volunteers. While every effort has been made to ensure that it is as error free as possible, some minor errors should be expected. Please send me an email and I will correct them in a future reposting of the story. It is very import for the feedback and rating system to be viable that you rate and leave feedback for each posting only once.
Without further ado, please enjoy this, the first Matchmaker Bandit Novel.
Maximillian Excaliber