Anthology month continues with the third installment of the 2026 Anthology. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all who have supported, read, commented, and reviewed all the stories that have been released so far. We've had 11 stories over the past couple of weeks, with 5 more today If you haven't checked out the first two installments, check out the banner at the top of the page, which will take you to the blogs listing the stories. Will there be a fourth installment? You'll have to be s
This week we talk about when to capitalize and when not to (in grammar, not in money).
Capitalization is when you place the first letter of the word in uppercase and the rest of the letters in lowercase.
✅DO - First word of a sentence and every first word after a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point
✅DO - Proper nouns like "Statue of Liberty" 🗽 but ❌DON'T capitalize "the" preceding the proper nouns like "the Statue of Liberty"
✅DO - days of the week
When I found out about my own homosexuality, I was thirteen. I didn’t want people to think, I was a certain way because of my attraction to other men. I insisted on being hetero-like (this concept is similar to cis passing for trans people, as far as I know). But as time went on, I realized that I realized that I had to stop worrying about what other people thought of me. Easier said than done, of course, but at least I took tiny steps in the right direction. Maybe, one day, I won't care about i
How's the month treated you? Can you believe we're already at almost halfway through 2022?! As my school year draws to a close, and I think about the changes my graduating senior and soon to be junior are going through, I know all the drama of teen stories is REAL! What did you think of this month's story? Share your thoughts below after you read Jacob's answers to the interview questions.
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Definitely vanilla! While chocolate is a good flavor, sometimes it can jus
Nick Nowak is back in three mysteries that follow directly on from the first book. It is the second half of 1981 and Nowak has three new cases to solve. Firstly, he is hired by a defence attorney whose client is refusing to help in his own defence. Next, he is hired to find the killer of a porn star. The last story sees Nowak searching for the only survivor of that most American of crimes, a serial killer.
These are tight and involving mysteries and on their own would be interesting reads,
So I heard this song early Saturday morning and here we are, early Sunday morning and it is still in my head. So I thought I'd share with all of you
Since it is early in the morning, in my time zone, let's wrap up the wrap up.
Monday, we had some pretty exciting news here at GA We got to introduce our newest Promising Author:
We gave Aaron his time in the spotlight until Myr dropped by with a Graeme Guide entry on Thursday:
Then our Prompt Team go
The question, of why one should come out in the first place, is probably as old as the coming out as such itself. Similarly, the question of why LGBT* people still need their pride parades and other events. Sure, one could argue, that there are still here and their attacks on queer people in the US or people are killed because of their sexual orientation in other countries of the world. But my answer focuses more on the individual that makes the very decision:
As privileged peop
Story Endings
“A part of the journey...is the end.” - Tony Stark
As I’ve been working more and more on finally bringing some of my longest running stories to their grand finale at last, I can say that I’ve actually been pretty proud of taking my time and pretty much taking my time and making sure that it was done right. Or, at least the way that I had originally imagined it from the very beginning, without having to really compromise in terms of how all of the events got wrapped up. Nat
Has anyone ever wondered why some stories make us emotional, you know what I mean it's when you feel choked up or the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, or maybe cloud your eyes with tears. That's not the only emotions that some stories make us feel emotions can be positive or negative, good or bad or any way you want to express the range of emotions.
I've just read a story that made me feel emotional, the truth is it actually made me cry. It sounds silly doesn't it and probably make
@AC Benus was kind enough to start off our guest prompts during National Poetry Writing Month with a couple of poetry prompts. Since the Prompt Team started, we've had a few members send us prompt suggestions, so we thought it was time we featured one of them. If you have any ideas for prompts, please feel free to send them to myself, Aditus, or Cole Matthews, and you may be featured in a future edition of the prompt blog. All types of prompts are welcome - creative, word lists, poetry, techni
We are going to do a really simple Grammar Guide this week. We're going to talk about the end of the sentence.
There are three common ways to end a sentence. A period. An exclamation point! A question mark?
First up, the round dot at the end of your sentence is the period. A period is used when the sentence states a fact or makes a command. Each sentence in this paragraph ends in a period.
Next up, the question mark: ❓
Sentences that ask a question or display doubt e
Harry Starks is the quintessential 1960s London gangster, an Eastender, thuggish, violent, sharply dressed and homosexual, but he also loves Ethel Merman, Judy Garland and opera music. This novel tells his story from the 1960s until the early 1980s, portraying the changing face of London’s organised crime. In the 1960s he’s a racketeer, running cons and criminal corruption, but he has a pathetic desire for respectability too, first through his nightclub, at the wrong end of Soho, and then throug
Please join myself and the Author Promotion Team in congratulating @astone2292 in becoming GA's newest Promising Author. Aaron has only been a member at GA for just under two years, but in that time he has posted over 600,000 words across eight stories. Writing mainly paranormal romances, he's the author of the popular Cerrunnos shifter story as well as his current novel Death in the Shadows, the third in his In the Shadows series.
You can find all of Aaron's stories on his author pag
Just the facts:
CAVIL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
CAVIL Synonyms: 103 Similar and Opposite Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
cavil
/ˈkav(ə)l/
Cavil means to make trivial, petty, or unnecessary objections and complaints about things that do not matter.
You can find more detailed lexical breakdowns on Merriam-Webster or the Cambridge Dictionary.
Part of Speech and Usage
Verb: To raise mino
Cavil—the act of raising petty, frivolous, or trivial objections—plays a vital role in storytelling by driving character development, grounding the narrative reality, and creating micro-tension. While "caviling" is often seen as a negative trait in real life, a writer can use a pedantic or nitpicking character to enhance a story in several specific ways:
Grounding Realism and Audience Proxy: When a character points out trivial flaws or questions minor details in a plan, it mirrors the na
The word cavil originates from the Latin verb cavillārī (to jeer, mock, scoff, or argue scoffingly), which is derived from the noun cavilla (jesting, banter, or raillery). It passed into French as caviller (to carp or raise trivial objections) and then into Middle English.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word cavil first entered English in the 16th century, with different first-use dates depending on whether it is used as a verb or a noun. The earliest known use of
In storytelling, "brackish" serves as a powerful metaphor from transitional spaces, moral ambiguity, and the collision of opposing worlds. Because brackish water is the literal mixing of fresh river water and salty ocean water, writers use it to represent characters, settings, and themes that refuse to be purely one thing or another.
Here is why brackish spaces and concepts are so valuable in narrative craft:
Setting the Scene for Cultural and Social Tension:
Brackish
The word brackish comes from the Middle Dutch word brak, meaning "salty" or "worthless," combined with the English adjectival suffix -ish. The Dutch root entered English in the 1530s from Scottish or Middle Dutch brak (or brac), meaning "salty". Related forms exist in Middle Low German, German Low German (brack), Danish (brak), and Swedish (bräck). The suffix -ish derives from Old English -isc and Proto-Germanic *-iska-, meaning "somewhat" or "having the character of". Over time, the term ex
Brackish is a standard English adjective—not a formal slang term—that means slightly salty, unpalatable, or repulsive.
Primary Meaning
Literal definition: Water that is a mix of fresh water and salt water, such as in a river estuary where it meets the sea.
Extended / Descriptive definition: Something that tastes or smells unpleasant, stale, or harsh (like old, bitter office coffee or muddy pond water). It can also describe a harsh, unpleasant personality o
Just the facts:
BRACKISH Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
BRACKISH Synonyms: 56 Similar and Opposite Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
brackish
/ˈbrakiSH/
Brackish is an adjective that primarily describes water that is slightly or moderately salty because it is a mixture of fresh water and seawater.
Key Definitions
Literal Meaning (Water): Refers to water that is saltier than a fresh stream or river, bu