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  • Aditus

    Talk Talk

    By Aditus

    Conversations. Sometimes it’s too much, sometimes too little, formal, informal, clumsy, artificial, with another word: difficult. Let’s practice, Shall we? #253 Someone is on the bus. The guy beside them fidgets the whole time with an irritating tinkling bangle while telling them, it seems, their entire life story, including very personal things. It’s time to pop in the earbuds. When it’s time to get off the bus, the talker has disappeared and the strange bangle is now on th
    • 0 comments
    • 30 views
  • Graeme

    GA's Newest Signature Author: kbois

    By Graeme

    Please join myself and the Author Promotion Team in congratulating kbois as GA's newest Signature Author! @kbois has been a member for 7 years and in that time she's developed from a relatively new author through to one that's reached the level of Signature Author. Her recent short stories Hide and Seek and Depth Perception are of particular note and we hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Congratulation, kbois!
    • 33 comments
    • 348 views
Background of the Bad Dog

Hungry

I must have been 6 when my mom asked me to knock on the door across the hall. Two marines answered. I dutifully repeated what my mom told me, that if they could spare a few bucks she would give them a home-cooked meal. I didn't understand the weight of what I said. I didn't understand then how life-changing their saying yes was. I didn't go to bed hungry again for 5 years. I was 15 when my school's football coach and SRO found drugs in my PE locker. You could tell it was my locker as one of
Kelevra

Kelevra in Background of the Bad Dog

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John Henry's Blogs

Style And Substance: My Writing Process (Thicker Than Water Adjacent)

Thus far, I haven't really gotten into my writing process.  I mean, I've touched on it, but I haven't gone over how I write a story from start to finish.  It's something that I do think about it, especially in the context of this blog, but then, I hastily dismiss it and move on to other things.  Like a lot of writers, I hold the superstition that if you talk about an unfinished work, you'll lose that spark of inspiration and never finish the story.  That's one of the reasons I'm a bit dismissive
John Henry

John Henry in John Henry's Blogs

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Book review

Book Review: Tales Of The City by Armistead Maupin

It is 1976 and Mary Ann Singleton changes her visit to San Francisco into a permanent move. Naïve from her sheltered live in Cleveland, she wants a new life in The City. She finds an apartment at 28 Barbary Lane, and gets drawn into the found family her landlady, Mrs Madrigal, has created from the other tenants there. There is bohemian Mona Ramsey, gay Michael "Mouse" Tolliver and womanising Brian Hawkins. Though we are introduced into this by Mary Ann, this isn’t her story alone. Soon we are fo
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in Book review

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John Henry's Blogs

...Aaaaand We're Back!

What a bloody nightmare! I don't know where to begin!  How about my stupidity for failing to remember passwords?  No, I think I'll be railing on that for too long, so how about giving credit where credit is due: Cia.  They have been amazing throughout this whole process.  They've been very patient, understanding and helpful in ways have made this transition possible. The second I realized that I only had access via my phone, I contacted them with the problem.  Not only did I forget the
John Henry

John Henry in John Henry's Blogs

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John Henry's Blogs

Difficulties in Life (Personal Update)

I lost almost everything. My computer crashed, wiping almost everything to the point, I lost my old email address, which I can't access because I don't remember the password and never established a backup account. I feel stupid and it's triggering a lot of emotions. Luckily, I have most things save to external drives, but it's the lack of access to accounts that's a problem, as I am not good at remembering passwords. As such, I will be trying to switch accounts on here, but that c
John Henry

John Henry in John Henry's Blogs

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Book review

Book Review: The Part-Time Job by PD James

This is a slim volume, just one short story, The Part-Time Job, and an essay, Murder Most Fowl, but it’s a perfect quick read as an eBook. The Part-Time Job is a story about revenge and murder. The unnamed narrator was bullied at school by Keith Manston-Green and at twelve vowed to kill him. The rest of the story is how he achieves this. As a motive for murder this might seem petty and trivial but to anyone whose school days were blighted by bullying will identify with this narrator’s actio
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in Book review

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Homelessness

Respect

Respect is something that we all try to show to others, and hope that others will treat us with respect. There is nothing wrong with that and it is something that we are taught from an early age One way in which we show respect is how we treat others, i.e. opening doors for those older than us or giving up our seat on a crowded bus for an elderly person or someone who has a physical disability. If you were taught this and practice it great, you are doing the right thing, thank you. Another
Mancunian

Mancunian in Homelessness

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John Henry's Blogs

Queerbating? (Thicker Than Water Chapters 3 & 4)

If we ever met in person, odds are you'd never know I was gay.  I have don't exhibit any of the stereotypical characteristics associated with gay men.  In fact, I have been accused of being a homophobe and queerbating.  Some of these resulted in several arguments.  I just don't present as "gay."  I don't even engage in "gay activities."  I don't watch Drag Race.  I don't care for most musicals.  I don't listen to Lady Ga Ga.  And, most scandalous of all, I want go to most PRIDE events.  The only
John Henry

John Henry in John Henry's Blogs

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soundtrack

On The Outside

Soundtrack   Track List Fine On The Outside (Priscilla Ahn) - Drew’s Theme On My Mind (CD Ghost) - The Longing Of Hidden Hearts Nowhere (CD Ghost) - Lost Between In And Out If Only (CD Ghost) - If Only We Could Be Ourselves When Will I Belong? (Geographer, Savoir Adore) - Drew’s Lament Voices Carry (Emmett Kai’s Cover of ‘Til Tuesday) - Drew Struggles With Ethan’s Fears What About Love (‘Til Tuesday) - Balancing Fear And Love
MrM

MrM in soundtrack

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John Henry's Blogs

A Comedy of Errors (Thicker Than Water Chapter 3)

Comedy is the hardest literary form to write.  Humor is extremely subjective and can very subtle and nuanced to the point where the joke is missed.  Humor can also be offensive to some while enjoyed by others.  There are many times of comedy from puns (the lowest form of humor, in my opinion) to dark humor (the kind that's so shocking and offensive, you don't know if the person is laughing because they genuinely find it funny, or they're just extremely uncomfortable and don't know what else to d
Review

'The dangerous kingdom of love' by Neil Blackmore

The dangerous kingdom of love by Neil Blackmore My rating: 5 out of 5 stars How do you like your Bacon? Francis Bacon is an important cog in early seventeenth-century Jacobean royal circles - not titled, not a favourite, but he has the ear of the king nonetheless. James I (and VI) has been transplanted from Scotland to the English court. Bacon's role as administrator, facilitator, maybe procurer, to the crown means he's a man to be watched. James is different from old Queen Elizab
northie

northie in Review

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Book review

Book Review: The Clothes They Stood Up in by Alan Bennett

The Ransomes, a middle-aged, middle-class couple living in North London, return home to their mansion flat, from a night at the opera, and discover they have been burgled. But this is no ordinary burglary. Every single thing in their home has been taken. They are greeted with only bare floor boards and walls. All the possessions they are left with, in the world, are the clothes they are wearing. In this novella, Alan Bennett strips this middle-class couple of all their belongings and theref
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in Book review

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John Henry's Blogs

Allow Me to Digress, Again.... (Thicker Than Water Chapter 2)

I'm currently running into the problem I knew I'd have writing this blog:  Rambling.  I've already taken four swings at this only to delete it after I've caught myself going off topic on many tangents.  Granted, they provided a lot of insight and exposition into the story, but it's just too much and not necessarily needed.  So, allow me to digress, again. This is not the first story I've ever written.  I think that's pretty clear.  I also think everyone knows (or can find out) that this is
John Henry's Blogs

What the Hell I Was Thinking (Thicker That Water Chapter 1)

Titles.  They're the worst.  I'm not good with names or titles.  Often, I'll come up with the a place holder and write a few pages to get a feel for the story before settling on something to call the story.  I'm never satisfied with my titles, either.  When I was a kid, I'd name my stories after song titles, even if the song had nothing to do with what I was writing.  I found it easier than trying to think of something catchy.  Titles should grab your reader's attention, while giving some kind o
blog post

My LinkedIn Profile Was Stolen, a Cautionary Tale

“ERIN SMITH IS A LIAR!!” I went to log onto my LinkedIn profile, to post a link to my latest blog, but I was locked out of it. There was a message saying my account had been locked because of “suspicious activity”. But all I had been posting on it were links to my writing. I checked my emails and found ones from LinkedIn, several of the many emails from them telling me someone had messaged me, someone had viewed my profile, someone had posted another notification, but the recent ones w
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in blog post

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Life and Writing

Moving on.

Life: I start a new job on Monday. I haven’t had a new job in ten years, mostly because I was happy at my old one. Good hours, good money, good people… Yeah, pretty content. Not gonna lie. But then another opportunity came up, and I thought, “Hey, why not?” The new job still has all the things: schedule, pay, autonomy, etc.  You know what’s shocking? All the people -- at the old company -- flabbergasted at my decision. Why would I leave if nothing was wrong? Am I not scared?
John Henry's Blogs

Welcome to My Blog about Thicker Than Water

This is always an awkward situation, never knowing how to start a conversation that may very well be just to yourself that others may end up reading.  To start, I guess, I hate first person narratives.  You can tell a good writer from a bad writer based on how they use this perspective.  A good writer using first person will give some insight into the mind of the lead character, such as suspicions, theories and point of view, which is used to drive the plot.  A bad writer will focus more on the
blog post

London Pride 2023: A Long Wait or Another Broken Promise?

They were dotted throughout the London Pride march. On all different types of banners and placards, some very professionally produced and others homemade but often more pithy. All of them demanding the same thing: BAN CONVERSION THERAPY! Every time I saw one, I would smile, partly to show my support and gratitude to the person carrying the banner, and partly to myself. To see the dangerous threat of conversion therapy so openly denounced by the LGBTQ community was so reassuring. I
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in blog post

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Book review

Book Review: A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French

This is a story of modern family life, told through the diaries of three different members of a family. Mo, the mother and child psychologist, who is rapidly approaching fifty and stuck in a rut, and her two teenage children, Dora, who may have finally found a man worthy of her affections, but she has never met him, and Peter, who now wants to be known as “Oscar” after his idol, Oscar Wilde. The mother is the most well-drawn character in this story and she falls into the far too well treade
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in Book review

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Life and Writing

Gonna Write Me A Book

Life: Had a conversation with my sister-in-law last week at our 4th of July picnic. It went like this: Cass: I’ve got the most amazing idea for a book. Me: Nice.  Cass: How would I go about getting it published? Me: First step? Cass: Yeah. Me: You have to write it.  Cass: Oh, well…yeah. Cart before the horse, much? Writing: Some thoughts on editing, because this is a supportive and cohesive community and things like peer editing are a happy reality here. W
With Pride

London Pride 2023: We’ve Come a Long Way

It was London Pride last weekend and again we attended it. It has been a tradition in my life ever since I first moved to London. It is “our day” when LGBTQ people can celebrate out and openly on London’s streets. This year again I noticed a trend that I first saw at last year’s London Pride, the teenager attending their first Pride, but they aren’t alone. I saw fourteen, fifteen and sixteen year olds so obviously on their first Pride and accompanied by their mothers. The mother was dressed
Drew Payne

Drew Payne in With Pride

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Life and Writing

Make Me Feel Good

Life:  Here’s a conversation from my vacation… Sister: Try this book. I loved it.  Me: What’s it about? Sis: It’s dark and screwed up. Right up your alley. Me: Thanks? Sis: It’s a two-parter. The sequel’s supposed to come out early next year.  Me: What if it doesn’t? Sis: It will. The author says it will.  Me: I’ll wait. So I can read it all at once.  Sis: Haven’t you ever heard of delayed gratification? Me: Never been a huge fan.  Sis: Oh, I realize. I’ve known you
Life and Writing

Home, Sweet Home

Life: We arrived home last night after a two-week vacation. It was a working vacation, but still. I feel that two weeks is too long to be away. I missed my dogs, my bed, my morning coffee on the back deck… all the things. I don’t mind travel, even for work, but I’m always happy to come home. I didn’t always feel this way. I used to wander all over the place and was famous for taking off for faraway places without a passing thought to an itinerary. So I guess people do change.    W
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