Oh Nick, you do deserve all the nominations. Congratulations , and I hope you win many of them.

I say go for it, try a new style. No sex - no problem. As long as there are true emotions and characters, I am sure the readers will love the story.

Good luck ,

Michael.

Pretty much what Graeme said in his 2nd, 3rd and 4th paragraphs, really. My fault for getting here so late

Camy

Hey, Nick, you have talent for story writing and for poetry, so don't second guess yourself. You've gotten comments from varied readers who've really liked what you write.

To me, story writing is largely about the characters, and that means their personalities and their relationships. There doesn't have to be sex directly in a story to tell you about those characters' feelings and sex lives. On the other hand, if it's there in the story, it needs to be there for a good reason to serve the story, to show something important, story-wise, to the readers. It's the "less is more" rule: let the readers use their imaginations to fill in the blanks. That's the reason given for bikinis and speedos, too, lol.

On writing an older character, or another character type, when you aren't that type or that age, it's a matter of writing what you know, what you've seen about that kind of person. I'm nowhere near my grandmother's age (and a lot of other differences) but I know what she's like, on almost anything. I'm not a teen, but I know what the teens I know are like and what my friends and I were like as teens, albeit filtered through my current self. Imagine yourself as that character, inside that character. Pretend. And use what you know of that type of person. It'll probably come easier than you think. -- Being a teen today is way different than when I was a teen, but a lot of the feelings and situations are still the same, just by being human. The same goes for being an adult: When I was 18, I never would've expected my life to have some of the changes I've had. I imagined a very different "me" then than I turned out to be. But I am still very much like that younger "me," despite all the changes. I'm basically the same guy as I was; but a "me" who's added or changed a lot onto that original self.

Bottom line: Imagine; pretend; get in character; know who he/she is and what he/she is like and what his/her history has been. -- Look, you'll do fine. You've just amped up the volume on the imagination.

Enjoy writing... geezer-boy.

When it comes to writing, I don't write "gay" stories. I write stories in which some characters may or may not be gay. I would hope that anyone, regardless of gender or orientation could read one of my stories.

Sex in a story for the sake of sex doesn't make a good story. The traditional elements make a good story: characterization, scene, plot, setting, craft and so on. NO- I'm not anti-sex. Sex occassionally does belong in a story but there's a big difference in doing a play-by-play and a more subtle approach which leaves the messy details up to the readers imagination.

Too many writers of "gay-fiction" have sex driving the plot rather than being a logical part of it. Nifty is full of that sort of writing but how much of it do you really remember two weeks after reading it?

Just my 2 cents,

JS

Is it a little dark? Yes, but then again life isn't always a bed of roses. Is it emotional? Yes, I didn't have dry eye's by the time I got to the end of the first chapter. Am I giving anything away? No, I would not do that.

The story does have potential and I don't think anyone will be disappointed in it.

Jan

You're such a tease, Jan! Like the guy with the super deep voice who does the trailer ad's for big movies.

I want to read it now!

Camy

ps how about a sneak peak Nick?