A To Z

[Defiance19]

Just read the last chapter... Did you hear me squeal.. It was loud. Have to wait till I get home to review, but this made me so very happy!! 

[Mikiesboy]

Just read the last chapter... Did you hear me squeal.. It was loud. Have to wait till I get home to review, but this made me so very happy!! 

oh.. was that what that was.... 

[Parker Owens]

Cool! I'm glad you're happy.  But why?

[Mikiesboy]

Cool! I'm glad you're happy.  But why?

You're gonna have to wait for the review I think, dude.

[spike382]

All been good chapters Parker. Was definitely glad to see that, I guess we're calling him Andy now, didn't wait as long to try again with rejoining society, in his own way I guess. It's interesting, it's like he keeps looking for a fresh start, but it doesn't seem to be a conscious decision, even him deciding to go to school wasn't exactly thought out much beforehand, and yet there he is trying to go to school. I'm sure he'll run into some problems, but I'm thinking not nearly the adversity he ran into at his old school. I think his mysterious nature and general anonymity might be giving him a shield from anyone else at this point. As if no one knows what to make of him. Obviously he's caught someone's eye, and that someone is very attracted to him, but I'm thinking any sort of interaction might be a ways off, Andy is keeping his walls up for the time being. Definitely interested in how he faces his current problems. I think using that lawyer's address was possibly a mistake. One thing he did wrong last time was claim relations with those other Andersons when he could have just said the name was coincidental. Claiming to be family with an actual person could cause trouble again. I guess we'll see what happens.

Edited November 18, 2015 by spikey582

[Parker Owens]

Thank you for your comments, as always. Andy - poor kid, he's had three names, so far - will keep up the walls for a long time. You're right about that. He's been through quite a lot, and probably believes firmly in Murphy's Law by now. Losing Eustace will remain with him for a long time.

 

For me, setting and geography have always been important. I've tried to describe things generically enough that a reader can imagine things as it suits. How have you imagined Blackburn? Or Eustace's farm, for that matter? Just curious how people see things.

[Timothy M.]

I'm getting seriously annoyed with Terry now. Fuck, I hate busybody, overly friendly, talkative girls / women who won't mind their own business and leave you alone - I did as a teen and I do now, too.

[Parker Owens]

Poor Terry. She just friendly, no? I've known lots of Terry's, too.  Are there Danish Terry's too?

[Timothy M.]

Are there Danish Terry's too?

 

Hmm, some, but perhaps not as many as in the US.

 

Scandinavian girls are a little peculiar.   (if you don't know this comic, I can explain.)

[Parker Owens]

I've seen the comic; you earned a snort of North American laughter. Question: is it too early in Denmark to hang a star in your window?  I'm thinking of hanging mine this week...

[Timothy M.]

Question: is it too early in Denmark to hang a star in your window?  I'm thinking of hanging mine this week...

 

I don't think we do that...

http://satwcomic.com/christmas-traditions

oh and http://satwcomic.com/late-december

http://satwcomic.com/christmas-kitten

Edited November 24, 2015 by Timothy M.

[Parker Owens]

Visited Sweden at Christmas last year - every building, every house had a white, multipointed star in the window. Nothing like the US and its garish lights...

[Puppilull]

In Sweden, we do hang stars in the windows. Every window if you are obsessed. The proper time to do it is this weekend, since it's four Sundays till Christmas on Sunday. We are getting to the more garish light stage here too, but so far not at all as in the US.

 

And yes, Scandinavian girls are peculiar...

[Parker Owens]

Oh, good! We never go to hang our star last year, as we came home with it after New Year's. Very much enjoyed our Christmas in Stockholm!

[Puppilull]

There was hardly any snow, though. I'm still a sucker for a white Christmas.

[Parker Owens]

We got another little frosting of snow last night. The world looked kind of like a cake.

[Parker Owens]

Have decided to ask Matt Damon to play Ambrose Whitley in the film version. Unless someone else has a better idea.

[Aythya]

I'm a few days old here on the forum and I'm looking for recommendations from anyone.

 

I read almost anything as long as there are no zombies or BDSM.

 

What say you?

[Parker Owens]

Try "Everybody's Wounded" by Duncan Ryder. 

[mitchelll]

I agree "Everybody's Wounded" is excellent, and I liked the sequel "How the Light Gets In" even better.  I also really liked "Noah's New Plan" by Rob Colton; it's relatively rare in that one of the main characters is in his 40's.  I also really liked "Hello, My Name is...." by Naptown Girl which has a hero with amnesia, and  "The House Always Wins" by Andr0gene is good if you like a story that is a fun, well written take on a gay Pretty Woman idea, and finally I liked "Team Building" by EBWilson--though, to be honest, this last one is tagged BDSM, but I don't honestly remember any BDSM scenes at all;  it certainly isn't a component in the main relationship.
"

[spike382]

I enjoyed Everybody's Wounded quite a bit but somehow have avoided the sequel cause I heard it gets a little soap opera-y, not sure how true that is. Now I definitely LOVED Team Building and there was no bdsm, it's not even that kind of a story. If anything it would have had to be in an early chapter. But seriously Aythya read Team Building. If you don't mind teenage protagonists anything by DomLuka is excellent. My three favorites being "Desert Dropping", "The Long Way", and "The Ordinary Us". Sadly a lot of his stuff has gone unfinished and he stopped writing. It's crazy I've read a ton of stories on here and loved several of them but can't think of titles right now. But you've definitely got some good recommendations here.

[Timothy M.]

Another way of finding good stories is to go to profiles of authors you like or GA members who follow the same stories, you do, and check out which stories they have a favorites. You can also go here and read reviews of stories and see if the descriptions appea to you.

[Parker Owens]

I enjoyed Everybody's Wounded quite a bit but somehow have avoided the sequel cause I heard it gets a little soap opera-y, not sure how true that is. Now I definitely LOVED Team Building and there was no bdsm, it's not even that kind of a story. If anything it would have had to be in an early chapter. But seriously Aythya read Team Building. If you don't mind teenage protagonists anything by DomLuka is excellent. My three favorites being "Desert Dropping", "The Long Way", and "The Ordinary Us". Sadly a lot of his stuff has gone unfinished and he stopped writing. It's crazy I've read a ton of stories on here and loved several of them but can't think of titles right now. But you've definitely got some good recommendations here.

I enjoyed the sequel to "Everybody's Wounded" - "How the Light Gets In" very much. However, I felt it was hastily resolved at its end. I second Spikey's remarks on DomLuka's works.

[spike382]

Speaking of good stories, I'm totally enjoying your latest chapters of A to Z Parker. Things are definitely picking up with Andy's current situation. I can't decide if Andy skipping the party was altogether the "right" decision or not. On the one hand I don't think he would have had a repeat of his Independence Day debacle, but on the other hand I don't see how he would have gotten back to his shelter at the school. One thing that's kinda sad is he was obviously missed by his friends. They all wanted him there. What's funny is the total misunderstanding involved, they thought his invitation was implied, they planned the entire party in his presence, but Andy having been downtrodden all his life needs to be directly told that he's invited and wanted. He could really use some positive reenforcement from his friends. To be told how much they like him and want him around. The poor kid is in desperate need of that. I think running with Kaz is really good for him. Zander obviously is crushing on Andy hard, I'm wondering, has he come out to any of his friends yet? Cause it would be cool if he could tell Andy. Let's see, what else... Oh movies should be interesting, and I continued to feel bad for Andy that he struggles so hard to relate to what people are talking about. Also a little concerned with him leaving his shelter on Saturday night. Hope he's not sleeping under bushes again. I'm also wondering if he can find some part time work somewhere for the winter so he's not struggling the whole time.

[Parker Owens]

Speaking of good stories, I'm totally enjoying your latest chapters of A to Z Parker. Things are definitely picking up with Andy's current situation. I can't decide if Andy skipping the party was altogether the "right" decision or not. On the one hand I don't think he would have had a repeat of his Independence Day debacle, but on the other hand I don't see how he would have gotten back to his shelter at the school. One thing that's kinda sad is he was obviously missed by his friends. They all wanted him there. What's funny is the total misunderstanding involved, they thought his invitation was implied, they planned the entire party in his presence, but Andy having been downtrodden all his life needs to be directly told that he's invited and wanted. He could really use some positive reenforcement from his friends. To be told how much they like him and want him around. The poor kid is in desperate need of that. I think running with Kaz is really good for him. Zander obviously is crushing on Andy hard, I'm wondering, has he come out to any of his friends yet? Cause it would be cool if he could tell Andy. Let's see, what else... Oh movies should be interesting, and I continued to feel bad for Andy that he struggles so hard to relate to what people are talking about. Also a little concerned with him leaving his shelter on Saturday night. Hope he's not sleeping under bushes again. I'm also wondering if he can find some part time work somewhere for the winter so he's not struggling the whole time.

So much good stuff to think about here. Running with Kaz is such a good thing for Andy - it's one on one, so less threatening, and it lets him get out with Kaz, who he's warming up to. And as you say, the invitation is very specific.  Besides, it's good exercise, and Kaz is really encouraging. Thanks for your kind words - these were fun chapters to write; and as you suggest, there was so much to think about that I had a hard time deciding what might go into the journal. As it happens, chapters (and Andy's journal entries) are about to get longer. This may mean an extra day between postings, so we can all digest the journal...