1 hour ago, 85davis said:

I along with a few others came over from the other site @Mrsgnomie mentioned because she wasn’t posting there. Our arms were twisted if we wanted to read her newest content. I think it’s been worth it. The content is superior and the way readers and authors can interact are far more engaging. It does not feel quite as divided. Im still learning the ropes but I’m finding myself venturing here more and more. And not just on Monday/Thursday

Then why haven’t you said hi?! 

@Mancunian I first learned about GA when @Sammy Blue started posting his story Gemini in a German gay community. Another user told me about Hidden Sunlight, a story by @Stellar who inspired his writing style—one I admire. I have to admit, I forgot about GA for a while, but when that community suffered from fewer and fewer contributions, I thought about alternatives. First, I didn't consider GA an alternative since English is not my mother tongue, and I wasn't sure if I could be good enough for readers to enjoy my scribbling. Users like you, Mancunian, really encouraged me (thank you!), to continue publishing after the first test chapter I felt so nervous about.

Have you considered collaborating with other authors on GA to combine each other's strengths and compensate each other's shortcomings?

40 minutes ago, Zuri said:

@Mancunian I first learned about GA when @Sammy Blue started posting his story Gemini in a German gay community. Another user told me about Hidden Sunlight, a story by @Stellar who inspired his writing style—one I admire. I have to admit, I forgot about GA for a while, but when that community suffered from fewer and fewer contributions, I thought about alternatives. First, I didn't consider GA an alternative since English is not my mother tongue, and I wasn't sure if I could be good enough for readers to enjoy my scribbling. Users like you, Mancunian, really encouraged me (thank you!), to continue publishing after the first test chapter I felt so nervous about.

Have you considered collaborating with other authors on GA to combine each other's strengths and compensate each other's shortcomings?

We all have had our own journey's to find GA, my own was when my father introduced me to it before he passed away, it's something that I will never forget and will always remember. I didn't come to GA to write, I came to read, the first stories I read were ones that I read to my father in his last days. After he'd passed something sparked and I posted a piece of work that was in my head one day when I awoke, since then I have continued to write. I had some encouragement from others and now I write about things that matter to my family and myself, who knows maybe it will make a small difference, I don't know but I will continue although that there a some that really would like me to just go away, but I refuse to.

I haven't considered collaborating with another author, mainly because I don't think I'm that good or that I could cope with doing that. There is one story that I could never write, it would need someone else to do it, but it's one that I don't feel I could trust anyone to tell so it will always be one that will never be told. I'm sure that a lot of us have a story that is in that category.

I will also say and unashamedly plug that I am currently writing and posting another addition to The Boot World with a new Lost Soul story featuring Ian and Kevin from the original story The Boot. I hope that it readers will enjoy it, other stories are still possible.

7 minutes ago, Mancunian said:

We all have had our own journey's to find GA, my own was when my father introduced me to it before he passed away, it's something that I will never forget and will always remember. I didn't come to GA to write, I came to read, the first stories I read were ones that I read to my father in his last days. After he'd passed something sparked and I posted a piece of work that was in my head one day when I awoke, since then I have continued to write. I had some encouragement from others and now I write about things that matter to my family and myself, who knows maybe it will make a small difference, I don't know but I will continue although that there a some that really would like me to just go away, but I refuse to.

I haven't considered collaborating with another author, mainly because I don't think I'm that good or that I could cope with doing that. There is one story that I could never write, it would need someone else to do it, but it's one that I don't feel I could trust anyone to tell so it will always be one that will never be told. I'm sure that a lot of us a story that is in that category.

So your father was queer, too? It must be awesome to be able to share the reading experience in a community like GA with your family 👍

5 minutes ago, Zuri said:

So your father was queer, too? It must be awesome to be able to share the reading experience in a community like GA with your family 👍

My father was a closeted gay man who came out in later life, unfortunately he is no longer with us but what he wrote can still be read if you look for cognac69. As for myself I am bi-sexual but I do lean more toward men.

I'll definitely check his work out! So he not only inherited his passion for reading on GA but also for writing and publishing to you—awesome 👍

@Stellar Thanks for your reply. I don't mind you hijacking this reply -- I kinda feel honoured. Are we talking about the same friend? The one that translates it into German? The new URL is https://forum.queerpoint.net. Unfortunately, changing the URL and the admins didn't really have a good effect on the community activitywise (yet). But I will sure forward your reply to him. Maybe, some of the stories there get translated to be published over here.

Yeah, you really do have your way with words! And so does he. You two are fascinating authors in that respect and fascinating to read therefore.

18 minutes ago, Zuri said:

@Stellar Thanks for your reply. I don't mind you hijacking this reply -- I kinda feel honoured. Are we talking about the same friend? The one that translates it into German? The new URL is https://forum.queerpoint.net. Unfortunately, changing the URL and the admins didn't really have a good effect on the community activitywise (yet). But I will sure forward your reply to him. Maybe, some of the stories there get translated to be published over here.

Yeah, you really do have your way with words! And so does he. You two are fascinating authors in that respect and fascinating to read therefore.

Yes, that would be Iroc. I appreciate you re-linking the forum, but I did manage to find it a while back on my own, and now have the appropriate forum thread bookmarked so I can return to it whenever I please. It was only a minor concern (at the time) that I wouldn't be able to keep track of the state of the translation since I didn't know where it had moved to -- and also that I couldn't satisfy my curiosity over how German readers would react to what they were reading. Selfish academic interests related to culture and perceptions, you might say.

Anyhow, thank you for your kindness. If I'm inspiring anybody's imagination and evoking emotion, then that's success for me as an author.

Yeah, when we took over the forum from its previous owner, there was a lot of work to do and it seems, we could have focussed a little more on advertising the new URL so that previous casual vistors and users could find us again.

16 minutes ago, Stellar said:

I couldn't satisfy my curiosity over how German readers would react to what they were reading. Selfish academic interests related to culture and perceptions, you might say.

It's the same with @Sammy Blue's Gemini. I enjoyed reading his English version over here. And yes, translating a story is fascinating on its own: It differs surprisingly much from how one would translate a non-fictional text in my opinion. In case of a story, one has to focus more on the meaning than on the word-by-word translation accuracy which makes one dive deep into the story's core and maybe learn this anf that more about the story.

21 minutes ago, Stellar said:

If I'm inspiring anybody's imagination and evoking emotion, then that's success for me as an author.

Thank you @Stellar for your comments and I'm sure that if others can feel the enthusiasm in your comments then you will inspire imagination in others and hopefully their own 'inner author'.

26 minutes ago, Zuri said:

In case of a story, one has to focus more on the meaning than on the word-by-word translation accuracy which makes one dive deep into the story's core and maybe learn this anf that more about the story.

This is true, because there are fundamental parts of the human experience that change expression between cultures and languages, and out of necessity they must be treated with care in translation, lest the soul of the text be lost. Without derailing the original topic of this blog post too much further, I will say that it has been educational for me to observe the process even through the imperfect medium of Google's translator. I admire that Iroc has the fortitude to attempt this, as I'm sure it can't be easy.

A lot remains superficially unchanged, but there is a different ambience, and in odd places, it feels distinctly new. Not only that, but some of the comments have both surprised and amused me -- yours included -- because I haven't seen anything similar from readers on GA.