Blogs

The Infographic Guide to Grammar

When I posted yesterday about Write Right!, I mentioned that we would be doing a new weekly blog feature focused on Grammar. Another book I'll be using for reference in that endeavor is the Infographic Guide to Grammar. If you are a visual person, this book is the one for you. It's colorful and straightforward. It's worth keeping around if you are the type to keep reference material on hand.

December 3, 2021

entry

Finding Love, Awkward Edition

I've decided to deflower this blog with a story, so you can get to know me a little. Perhaps some of you, especially the anxious gay youngsters still waiting for "the one," will even find it useful. It's the story of how I met the guy I suspect will end up being the love of my life. I should start off by saying that I'm awkward as hell. Some of you are no doubt thinking, "join the club," and remembering that one time your joke was greeted with silence, or that time you and a stranger had a

Z.A.N.M.A.T.O in entry

December 3, 2021

Write Right - For Grammar Reference

It seems lately that I've been doing an endless round of blogs, emails, and posts. When I haven't been doing that, I've been doing research. As is my habit, I've gone way overboard on the amount of reference material and writing books I've been sinking into. (Including being a super backer on Kickstarter now, having supported my 80th Kickstarter. Almost all of them on something world building related) But that brings to one of the many writing books I've zipped through recently. Write Ri

December 3, 2021

The end of one story...

Well, 'Threadfall' is almost at an end. It was originally intended as a short prequel to 'Gone Away, Gone Ahead' and has ended up far longer. There are a few more short stories to come in the 'Dragonriders of Pern' fanfic series and hopefully a longer third part, taking up from where 'Gone Away, Gone Ahead' finished. Finishing a story is always slightly sad, but it gives the mind an opportunity to start thinking about new ideas as well. Coming soon: 'Hidden Secrets' - A murder myst

October 31, 2021

Book review

Book Review: Arkansas by David Leavitt

Arkansas is a collection of three novellas that show David Leavitt at his best, exploring the lives and emotions of his characters. The first story is The Term Paper Artist, which is the closest he has come to writing a sex comedy. The narrator is a disgraced novelist who is hiding at the home of his professor father. He soon becomes involved in accepting sexual favours from jock-students in return for writing English literary essays for them. Soon, word spreads, and he has several jocks an

Drew Payne in Book review

September 14, 2021

General Blogs

What's been Happening? 5th September 2021

Well, it's been a few months since I've been back on Gay Authors, and I am now managing to upload much of my old content stored away on a dusty hard drive back to the site. I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of readers old and new who are reading my material. Some older members may have seen some of my old stuff return - re-edited, polished and extended, and I've also been pleased to bring some new content to my little area of the site. Writing-wise: Him in the Dust was my last title

James Matthews in General Blogs

September 6, 2021

Health

Writing Updates (and a bit about health, too)

Started new treatment last week after a couple of difficult weeks when I was in and out of hospital. I don't let it disrupt my writing schedule though. Pleased to say I averaged 1,500 words a day whether inside or back home. It's weird being in hospital. You get institutionalised so fast. The food is pretty dreadful, but thankfully the hospital near me has a Marks & Spencer food hall on site, so I was able to add some taste to the unappealing stodge with such goodies as feta and beetroot sal

Mawgrim in Health

August 14, 2021

Health

Schrödinger's Cat

Waiting for CT scan results is a bit like being the cat in the box. You aren't sure if it will be good or bad news, if indeed you will be pronounced alive or dead once the result comes through. Today, I got the news I - kind of - expected. Not for any particular reason except my usual cautious pessimism and the feeling things had gone too well for too long. You can tell by their tone of voice, even before they actually say anything. The lesions in my liver are spreading and there is a need

Mawgrim in Health

June 30, 2021

I'm Going to Do This.

Whoops! I missed my own GAnniversary last week... If I can just spout some words, joining this website has been a freakin' blast! I found a creative outlet and it's been a ride. I found a community of wonderful people that treasure the written word as much as I do. I found a place to call home. I can't stop. This website has ducktaped my foot to the gas pedal, and there are a lot of the community members who had a hand in laying down a strip. I asked to learn to be a better writer and

June 23, 2021

Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan

In my ongoing pursuit to bury myself in an avalanche of books, I picked up this gem. This is like a jack-of-all-trades toolbox. It has Character Traits, Character Names, plot ideas, action words, descriptive words, plot twist ideas, and a lot more. It is exactly the sort of thing you'd reach for when you're stuck and you want an idea. Or if you are horrible with names, picking a name from a list. Or maybe you want to spice something up. Or you want a prompt. I flagged a bunch of parts of

May 6, 2021

Movies

Midway - (2019)

This is a good movie that suffers from the comparison problem. It's a pretty high bar for those interested in world war II movies to leap over the original 1976 Midway. The original had Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Robert Michum, Robert Wagner amount others. The ensemble cast was a who's who of Hollywood legends. So, set that aside if you, like me, grew up with your dad watching the movie. The 2019 movie was well paced. The cast clicked pretty good. And Dennis Quaid and W

Myr in Movies

May 5, 2021

Plot Gardening by Chris Fox

I am on a bit of a roll this past weekend. I managed to get through a couple of things in my backlog stack of many things. I picked this up and it was a quick, easy read. I'm old fashioned, surprisingly, as I still love the feel of paper and a bookshelf I can go do when the power's out, so I have this in paperback. I also put a lot of Post-it Flags on various pages of interest. This book talks about a topic and then shows how it is done in a handful of movies that you have probably seen

May 3, 2021

Working on something new

Over the past week, I've started working on another story. Several years ago I took part in NaNoWriMo when I was suffering from writer's block. It certainly did the trick, as I managed to write 52,000 words during the month of November. The story I'd planned out had lots of my favourite elements in it; cinemas, the supernatural, a mystery and romance. As I was writing it at a rate of about 1000-2000 words a day, it was rough in places and the ending was a bit rushed as I wanted to finish a compl

April 29, 2021

Writing Books - Dazzling Dialog

I picked up this book recently in my never ending quest to improve my writing skill set. It's a short book that is a very quick read. I'd recommend it as it targets a weakness that a lot of stories have and it gives practical tips on how to spot the problems and how to fix them Definitely worth the read. It's available on Kindle as well if you like to keep your library digital.

April 24, 2021

Distance is Different

Noah is off with his new job and it is taking time to get used to it. He accepted a job as an assistant project manager for remodeling, closing, and opening various stores across the country. While he isn't too far from home during this first job assignment, it is distant enough to bring me back to our dating days. When we first started dating, we were several hours away from each other for the majority of our relationship prior to him moving in with me. We've reverted back to our dating t

March 16, 2021

Productivity Feels...Weird

I've had a love-hate relationship with the word, 'productivity.' With my occupation, it is highly encouraged to be as productive as possible, but it feels strange to see myself being the only one performing. My shift ended several hours ago, but I still can't shake my distaste for how few cares my fellow coworkers give. Seeing how the pandemic is still going on, and a lot of people are finally understanding the lasting power it can hold on human life, workers are feeling fatigued. My fellow stoc

February 15, 2021

Revisions

I was reading a blog entry by @Comicality the other day concerning revisions of old stories. It struck a note (and has an awesome example of revision in an iconic scene from 'Star Wars') as I have lately been digging out some of my old stories and re-reading them. Some of these things are so old they were printed out on a dot matrix printer (don't ask, kids) or even typewritten, complete with Tipp-Ex corrections. It's always interesting to read back your own work. Sometimes it makes you wince; c

February 9, 2021

Time to write

I've been spending quite a lot of time over the past few weeks making sure I am several chapters ahead of posting. There are now only two more chapters left of 'Gone Away, Gone Ahead' before reaching the end. I have had a few comments asking if there’s going to be a sequel and over the past few days I’ve been seriously considering that. I'm still working on the prequel, 'Threadfall', and estimate there's probably another 20-30,000 words to go on that. If someone had said to me that I would manag

February 4, 2021

Drained

I am exhausted. Purely and utterly exhausted. Work has been a nightmare. Currently enduring an eight day workday streak, and my night off on Thursday can't come fast enough. And if Rona and her hold over people wanting to buy more groceries isn't bad enough, our store has been plagued with a monumental challenge. If y'all read the newest entry for Dear, Grocery Shoppers, the new process of how our store's stock crew is to perform their job is truly kicking our spirits down. It's been a whi

February 2, 2021

Things are Happening!

Well. Yep. Things are certainly happening! A lot has happened in a week. I started a new story, and it's been going well. I now have an awesome editor. And Noah's been busy with his own work, both on Gay Authors, and with his little podcast project he's been wanting to start. For some reason, after having a weekend off, working a singular shift, and now having another evening off tonight, I'm pooped! Bushwacked. Exhausted! I should be going to bed, but my fingers are dancing and I can't mak

January 26, 2021

Silent Night

It may be a tad late to let you all know, but my favorite Christmas song is Silent Night. The tone, the pace, and the words all echo in my head. And I had a beautiful silent night. As an overnight worker, my days off work have become silent nights. Noah soundly asleep, along with my neighboring Kentucky residents, and I just wind down. My muscles get a good relaxing rest. No stocking of groceries, no lifting pallets onto stacks, no loud cardboard balers screeching from the back-dock. Pure

January 22, 2021

My Whole World Is a Mess!

Folks...y'all...I'm just the worst. My ADHD has caught up to me. My world is crumbling around me as I know it. I am having two completely devastating crises at the same time, and I'm stuggle-bussing at the moment. I blame one on myself, and the other on Noah. So...I'm blaming Noah...for the loss of essential information that I, supposedly learned in elementary school. I couldn't tell if I was just having one of my blonde moments, or if I have legitimately lost some of my memory, but