I can't believe it's the end of September already! This month has flown by, unlike the 56 weeks it took for Renee to write her 1k a week Wednesday Briefers flash fiction story, Thwarted. Did you read it? Make sure you share your comments below, but first my interview with her! 
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate
What's your favorite room in your house? Do you plot or write there?
My favorite room in the house is my craft room. I don’t really plot or write there though, partly because that room is honestly disorganized chaos. It definitely needs an in depth cleaning. I do mostly sewing in that room, as well as crafts for my at home craft business.
What is your favorite book?
It’s been so long since I’ve been able to do any reading, that I honestly couldn’t pick a favorite book. And many of the books that I read now are the books that I read to my little man. And while I cherish being able to read to him, I wouldn’t say any of his little books would be my favorite.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
My favorite things to do are camping, fishing, just being outdoors. Lately I do a lot of crafting, and playing with my little guy, but for the most part I love to share my love of the outdoors. We haven’t got to do much camping the last couple of years, for various reasons, but hopefully soon our summers and fall will  be back to spending time at the lake or in the mountains. Ironically, camping is always where I seemed to do my best writing.
It’s been a while since you had time to write. What’s the best part of being an author you miss?
Losing myself in the story. I used to be able to sit down and write and everything else just fell away. It let me get whatever I was feeling out, and at the same time allowed me to focus on something other than whatever was going on in life. I tend to bottle things up and for some reason, when I would be really into a story, everything just kind of melted away. I miss the release I got from writing, but I’m still hopeful that I’ll get back to it. The stories are there, I just struggle to get them out since I can’t stay up until all hours of the night, which is when I did most of my writing.
If you could give advice to yourself when you first started writing, what would it be?
The first one would be not to post until something is finished, with the exception of these 1K chapter stories. It puts too much pressure I think and trying to rush it in order to post can affect the story. The other thing is to not worry about it being perfect, just get the story out, as it can always be edited to fix major mistakes.
What is the best part of writing a 1k a week story? The hardest challenge?
The best part is that a 1K chapter is easily doable in a week, so it helps to keep an author writing. In fact, if I ever manage to get back to writing, I may very well start with flash stories just to get back into the groove of it. The hardest part is keeping chapters to the 1K word limit and have smooth transitions. In fact, while I really stuck to the 1K format for the first half or so of the story, in later chapters I have many that are a bit longer.
Did you connect more with Mark or Trey when you wrote the story?
I honestly can’t even remember. But that being said, I will say this. When I write, I have to have a good connection with all the main characters, or the story doesn’t get written. I’ve had stories before that I completely changed one of the characters because they were just not someone I could connect with. That wasn’t the case with Thwarted. I stayed connected with both Mark and Trey throughout and their characters never strayed from who they were to begin with.
It’s been nearly 10 years since you wrote Thwarted. Would you change anything about it now?
I don’t think I’d change anything about the storyline, but I would like to go back into it and smooth things out a bit. Maybe combine chapters and provide better transitions.
Do you have a favorite scene or line from the story?
It’s been so long since I wrote Thwarted that I really can’t remember any specific favorite scenes or lines. But, if pressed I’d have to choose the first prompt line, which was “Count sheep? I’d rather count…” mainly because it was the prompt that started it all, and I really think that scene kind of set the tone for Mark’s relationship with Jackie and Brent.

It's not me, I'm in disguise! 🥸 🤡 😜 In the absence of your usual wrapper, you get me... sorry, I'm simply not nearly as entertaining. Well, unless you watch me stumble around the classroom trying to to kill myself on all the student's things strewn about. That's hilarious. 😒 Last weekend Wildone said he was older than dirt and this week I'm a clown in disguise. I certainly entertain the students enough. Fortunately, we have one more day of weekend to enjoy. Why don't we take a look at what was shared this week in case you missed that!
 
Myr made some BIG updates to Stories. What were they? Spoilers, a death knell for readers! Follow his blog, or click below to read all about it.
 
Did you get started on your anthology story yet? It's coming soon!
 
All week long Myr posts words of the day. Some features this week are wyvern, veridical, nidus, and will-o'-the-wisp. Which words do you know, and which ones are new to you? Check out all his Word of the Day blogs through this gif link: 

 
Monday I brought you this month's Classic Author feature, Topher Lydon's Sigil of the Wolf. Now, this SOUNDS like it would be maybe medieval or perhaps paranormal. If you just go by the title, not the genre, that is. But it's a pretty compelling sci-fi story. (psst, keep reading for more about the importance on genres at GA from Myr)
 
Wednesday I tempted readers with a snippet of story. I do so live spacey stories, and these are long and... well, what genre would you put them in? 
 
Thursday Renee Stevens whet your anthology appetite with a revisit to Wombat Bill's story. 
 
Saturday Myr revealed survey results that are driving a new format that will help authors and readers sift through the genres on GA to really drill down into both what is wanted for reading and what authors like to write (or wish to explore). Please check out the amazing information he collected and ideas on how to move forward!
 
How did we do with our goals so far this week? Down to just one red bar. Let's get that fixed!

Upcoming Anthology
2021 Anthology #2 Top Theme 1 - A Winding Path - October 31st, 2021 2021 Anthology #2 Top Theme 2- An Unconventional Gift - October 31st, 2021 2021 Anthology #2 Pot Luck Themes - October 31st, 2021   
 
Anthology 101 - In the Anthology Forum. Everything you need to know about GA Anthologies
Ask an Author
Ask an Author 3.0 - Submit a story you like and 3 questions you would like to ask the author about. Send them to @astone2292 or @Renee Stevens **Please submit so Aaron can have a  bank of stories and questions**
Blog Opportunities
Guess the Author: Open to all GA authors. PM @Renee Stevensor @wildone to participate
Story Review: Send it in to @Renee Stevens or @Timothy M. 
 
Now, let's look at new stories and chapters posted this week!
Premium Updates:
On Fire by Cia *Premium*
Classic Updates:
Bloom by Dabeagle
Stuff People Do by Ronyx
The Brilliant Boy Billionaire by Altimexis
Signature Updates:
Ancalagon by Cia
Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens
Larkspur: A Sidewinder Tale by Headstall
My Only Escape by Comicality
On Fire by Cia
The Great Mirror of Same-Sex Love - Poetry by AC Benus
The Great Mirror of Same-Sex Love - Prose by AC Benus
Promising Updates:
Never Too Late To Believe by northie
Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!! (and Recommend with a share to the forum topic!)