The Top Read Paranormal Stories Since Deep Dive 9
Top 2 Most Read Paranormal - Cryptid
Features creatures from folklore, mythology, or cryptozoology, such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, or Chupacabra. The narrative often revolves around encounters with these mysterious beings.
A Night on Pine Ridge by Myr Complete
Lovesquatch: A Culinary Cryptid Romcom by Rafy Complete
Top 5 Most Read Paranormal - Cursed Objects
Focuses on objects with supernatural or
This week's Anthology Flashback brings back to the Summer of 2007 and for Endings and Beginnings.
As always, we thank all these authors once again for participating so long ago. If it is not too much trouble, would you be willing to write a review for these authors? Even if some of them are no longer around, I'm sure other readers will appreciate the effort. The authors are are still with us surely will.
So, normally today would be an Improve & Encourage feature, and while I do have one, I am extremely low on blog content, so that feature will continue next month so that I can get the word out about the various blog opportunities available to authors. I need at least one more "Favorite Self-Written Story" and then I'll have one of those features ready as well. I am also adding a story recommendation opportunity so that readers can send me their favorite stories without having to write a full
I thought I would talk this week about the use of quoting and mentions while you make posts and comments on the site. There is a certain etiquette to this to keep topics flowing smoothly without making a nuisance of yourself. So, first up, some definitions:
Quoting is when you press the "Quote" button and it pulls in the entire comment
Quote This is when you highlight a portion of text and a small "Quote This" box pops up that you then click. It functions the same as Quoting, bu
The CSR for the last 2 months were completely different from our usual format. Usually we feature a story, do an interview with the author, etc... but we had a few holiday blogs planned on the Mondays the CSR usually happens so we went with holiday stories--and we have a lot on GA! Did you read one over the last 2 months you loved? A feel-good holiday slice of sweetness? Or a bittersweet moment that resonated with you? Maybe it a new story released by the author this year or perhaps one of the f
Hiya all! Hope you all have had a great week! Before we get into this week's wrap up, I wanted to take a quick second to point you in the direction of a giveaway that we are doing on GA. We'll be providing a code in the next couple of newsletters that will let you enter to win 1 of 3 copies of Barbed Wire Cowboy. For more information, check out the thread in the announcement forum! Now, lets get to our weekly wrap up!
Contests
2018 Summer Nov
I hope everyone is having a great week! It's time for this weeks prompts, supplied by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Just a reminder, and for those who haven't worked with the prompts before: prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection.
Prompt 642 – Creative
Tag - The storm
On the way home from work you hear on the radio that a storm is building in intensity and due to hit your area in a few hours. You pick up a few things, especially some food fo
This week is all about the tags. Every part of the system uses them. I bet most people kind of gloss over them if they notice them at all. Buy why are tags important? The honest truth is that the tags are there to help you group like material together. For example, I tag all of these type of blogs posts with Tech Tuesday. if you click on a tag, it pulls up the search engine and shows you everything that is tagged with that item:
https://www.gayauthors.org/tags/tech tuesday/
Monday, Monday, Monday. What could we possibly have for you on a Monday? Oh yeah! We have a new featured story for you. This week, courtesy of Lisa, we are taking a look at Confide/ant by Sasha Distan. Remember, if you're reading a story (or have read one) that you'd like to see featured in the blog, simply write a review and send it to me!
Confide/ant
Sasha Distan
Reviewer: Lisa
Status: Complete
Word Count: 47,554
Hard to believe that another week is already over! I hope everyone has had a great week and a great weekend so far. Let's take a look at what happened in the blogs for this week.
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology: Summer - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall A
You know when I’m writing a blog it usually means that we need to discuss a direction the site is headed in or recent issues on-site.
First off, let me start by saying the site’s administrators and moderators are all personally very supportive of freedom of speech. The stories contained in our archive, for example, still run afoul of the laws in many countries where gay and erotic literature is deemed obscene and pornographic. But even a commitment on our part to free spe
Check out the Spring 2006 Anthology!
Be sure to read and review!
For Authors!
We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
Did you catch Monday's blog where we featured Rec's story, Jake's Hand? You can also download an image there for your signature if you want to share your enjoyment of the story and promote it to fellow readers! If you haven't read it yet, maybe this excerpt will help you decide to put it on your list!
Cia says:
I picked this excerpt because it resonated with because I work with students. I know how many have to overcome the assumptions made about them, and how hard it can be
Writing reviews is hard. That's the honest truth. Writing the first review is even harder. Humans are social creatures and tend to have a herd mentality. Most people will wait for others to go first. It is part of human nature. However, writing those reviews is important for the same reason. A lot of people don't like to go and read something unless it's been reviewed. There are other factors people look to like number of views, number of likes, and number of follows when the reviews are
January is a new year, a fresh start, or maybe just another month in the calendar for you... but it's all about time. Jake's Hand is set in 1969, an era far removed from what you would find in the world today. Choices the characters make... well, you'll have to read the story to find out!
Jake's Hand
by Rec
Length: 80,964
Description: Two college men who have volunteered to tutor black kids for the 1969 summer in the South grow more and more
Hope everyone has had a great week so far. It's time for this weeks writing prompts. If you're stuck, or you're considering writing for the first time, these might be perfect for you. Don't forget that stories under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection.
Prompt 640 – Creative
Tag – Alien
Driving home you manage to get past dozens of cars that are pulled over or stopped to watch some sort of accident. You get home and just strip off, climbing into a hot shower a
Take some time to check out our Fairy Tales Anthology from Spring 2007
In no particular order:
Would you mind taking a few minutes to leave a review for our hardworking authors?
For Authors!
We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
201
This week's blog was triggered by the observation that some authors and members seem to be unaware of a built-in feature of our Stories system. This is the Series function. First, for the readers, you can find Series easiest by using the right-side menu on the main stories page. See below:
If the Longest Series is not your thing, you can easily adjust it by selecting "Sort By" and choosing a different option:
When you click on a Series Title, say "Gone From
We hope everyone had a great weekend! Today is a "review" day and to help you start your week off, the review team has put together a special review featuring some stories by our Classic Authors. If you haven't read these, hopefully these reviews will make you want to add them to your reading list. A huge thank you goes out to the review team for helping keep the blog supplied with reviews.
Sandy
Altimexis
Reviewer: Lisa
Status: Complete
Word Count: 11,123
We hope everyone has had a wonderful start of the new year. As always, it's been a busy week in the various news blogs, so let's take a look at what you might have missed!
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology: Summer - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology
Welcome to the New Year! We are wrapping up the last of the Writing Tips before launching our new weekly article feature. Be sure to check these out and let Comicality know what you think!
I hope everyone is having a great week! It's time for this weeks prompts, supplied by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Just a reminder, and for those who haven't worked with the prompts before: prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection.
Prompt 638 – Creative
Tag – The Holiday Party
You’ve been invited to your sister’s holiday party. When you arrive your brother-in-law apologizes, but before you can ask your sister rushes you into the kitchen to hel
Happy New Year! We are back and this month our blog entry focuses on poets. Figures my first themed entry would be about a subject I rarely understand and often avoid. However, I’m here to pass your questions along, not to editorialize on what I like. So let’s get to it.
• • • • •
This month’s first question is for asamvav111. Hailing from India, he’s an example of GA’s worldwide reach and membership. Don’t you all think GA should underwrite my travels so I can ask future questions in
Just the facts:
SANCTUARY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
SANCTUARY Synonyms: 53 Similar Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
SANCTUARIES Synonyms: 53 Similar Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
The concept of sanctuary in storytelling serves as an emotional and narrative anchor, providing characters with a safe haven to heal, strategize, and develop. It creates vital pacing, allowing audiences to rest between high-stakes conflicts, and acts as a crucible for authentic character growth and vulnerability.
Sanctuary plays several essential roles in narrative structure and theme:
The Calm Between the Storms: A haven (like the inn in a fantasy novel or a quiet safehouse in a t
The word sanctuary traces back to the Late Latin word sanctuarium ("a sacred place, shrine"), which stems from the Latin adjective sanctus meaning "holy" or "sacred", and -arium, a suffix denoting "a place for".
The earliest known use of the noun "sanctuary" in English is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as occurring before 1340. The word originated during the Middle English period (1150—1500) and was famously utilized in the religious and moral writings of the hermit and