So what was the sting in the story? Well Mr Canine is an old and
trusted friend of mine. When I started my reviews in ASSD I
teased him (unadvisedly) that I would review one of his texts.
After a little thought he came back and asked me to review
'spacehounds'. Which, as you see I duly did. If you haven't
read it go and do so now.

Did you spot it? Well if you did you are more observant than I.
Each paragraph begins with a a new letter of the alphabet. Now
one would think that words like 'Zounds & Zither' would alert
you, well not in my case! I wrote the statement under
'mechanics' that says 'To me as a reader this was masterly, a
technically 'well' written story'. Little did I realise at the
time *how* well written it was :-)

Now we see what a wily old dog STC is. Not only was he having
fun with me he was sending me a polite message with a little
nip on the ankles. The sheepdog, reminding the sheep who is
master. The messages from the nip?

1) The reviewer is never the creative partner in the exercise,
no story, no review!

2) Even when reviewing, not all the nuances in the writers mind
or style are obvious.

3) Any critique is subject to review itself!

4) Know your enemies, but know your friends better.

I'm sure if I stray too far from the flock, or start to think of
myself too highly STC will be watching ;-)