Secret Author Stories-Discussion Here!!

[chris191070]

1 minute ago, Jeff Burton said:

Some of us literally have no lives.  Absolutely nothing.

I finish work at 2pm every day. So that's why I've managed to read them.

[Valkyrie]

10 minutes ago, Jeff Burton said:

Some of us literally have no lives.  Absolutely nothing.

Although I think I'm doing pretty well between working full-time and my GA duties. Plus, I had three evenings this week where I participated in an online continuing education conference.  Of course it had to start the same night the stories were published.   I'm about halfway through the stories so far and am looking forward to reading the rest.  I'm hoping to have read and commented on all of them by the weekend.  

[Valkyrie]

1 hour ago, Jack Poignet said:

I have officially given up on trying to guess .. but reading all these diverse stories makes me realize that I don‘t follow nearly enough authors on here. So, where is the list of participants? I wanna check out the stories of them all, learn their styles and preferences and only then will supersharp detective Jack try again to match list A to B…

@Cia will post the list of participants after the voting is finished.  Then the real guessing games begin!  

[Jeff Burton]

I have a lot of free time I have to fill. So I'm here doing this.

[CassieQ]

25 minutes ago, Jeff Burton said:

Some of us literally have no lives.  Absolutely nothing.

Working full time and right now prepping for a huge party for my parents that I'm hosting on Saturday.   The timing couldn't be worse, lol

[Lee Wilson]

52 minutes ago, CassieQ said:

I'm still trying to catch up on reading all of these, I don't know how you guys do it....

I still have 4 of the longest ones to go, so I'm probably only 2/3 done based on word count.

[Lee Wilson]

42 minutes ago, chris191070 said:

I finish work at 2pm every day. So that's why I've managed to read them.

I'm only awake for an hour most days by that time. Although, that's 9 AM here.

[Lee Wilson]

31 minutes ago, Jeff Burton said:

I have a lot of free time I have to fill. So I'm here doing this.

Got some for sale?

[chris191070]

Just now, Lee Wilson said:

I'm only awake for an hour most days by that time. Although, that's 9 AM here.

I'm up at 5am Mon-Fri as I start work at 7am. But come 2pm tomorrow, I'm finished work for 5 weeks.

[Jeff Burton]

1 minute ago, Lee Wilson said:

Got some for sale?

Man I wish. I've got doc files opened to update 3 stories and all I can do is type random conversations between 2 characters in the newest mess i've got I'm working on right now.  Crap like:

I glanced down at the navigational display for what had to be the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.

“We’re lost,” I muttered, eyes flicking to the starfield as we dropped into normal space.

“We are not lost,” Jonah said through clenched teeth, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

“I’m just saying, if we recalibrate the astrometric sensors for the gravitatio—”

“The sensors are fine,” he snapped, cutting me off mid-sentence.

I clamped my mouth shut, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. “We should stop at that resupply station showing on long-range and ask for directions.”

"We are not stopping."

“We’ve passed that station three times,” I said, voice tight. “There’s a gravitational anomaly affecting the nav system.”

“Do you want to take the helm?” he added, glancing at me sharply.

“I’m just say—”

“No, do you want to take the helm? You seem very invested in backseat navigation. Maybe you’d like to chart the course yourself.”

“Oh, I’d love to,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.  "At least then we'd finally, you know actually get somewhere."

[BendtedWreath]

Question: Why was The Sleeper in the Vale unpublished? It was an excellent read. If the writer pulled it, I hope they rest assured that it was gripping, compelling work. 

Since I was one of last year's winners, I hereby disqualify myself from the possibility of winning this year. 

That being said, as promised, I will share my investigative method (which has evolved from last year's methods by leaps due to time and experience):

Step 1-  Take a peek at last year's entries and keep them in the back of your mind. Not everyone might have participated again this year, but they were still good memories, nonetheless. 

Step 2-  Read all entries while taking notes on the side.

Step 3-  Start making comparative charts and create a hand-drawn web maps with possible suspects writers denoting their general collection of shared stories, keeping in mind always that some might choose to provide entries outside of their usual genres. For example:

Romance Writer Possibilities:

Everyone, really…but additionally…
@Krista@E K Stokes@astone2292(action/adventure, horror, paranormal adjacent)  +1 for Alltopia from last year, @Mawgrim@Headstall (basically everything adjacent), @Mikiesboy(basically everything adjacent) +1 for Behind the Walls from last year, @CassieQ(basically everything adjacent) +1 for Nox or Not? From last year, @drsawzall(action/adventure, thriller adjacent) +1 for For Ever Young from last year, etc. etc. etc.

Note* - At this stage, we don't even know the list of writers yet, so the possibilities are endless!!

--

I will continue to "reveal" my steps after I catch up on reading all of the entries today. 

 

[Gary L]

3 hours ago, chris191070 said:

I'm up at 5am Mon-Fri as I start work at 7am. But come 2pm tomorrow, I'm finished work for 5 weeks.

Have a good rest, Chris. Enjoy the summer.  

[BendtedWreath]

Step 4: After going over your notes and going with your gut on most of the entries, start making guesses on the side and wait patiently for the list of authors to be revealed to better mix and match. 🤣

There are maybe five out of the 23 I have a strong gut feeling for. The rest started to blur together because we're all inspired by each other on a regular basis and sometimes it sneaks into our shared work. And quite a few writers enjoy SciFi/Paranormal/Fantasy/Thriller/Romance... and every blend in-between.

Oh, man! It looks like I’ll have to make another chart again for deciding on which story to vote for. I had so many favorites, I’m once again forced to deduce which story felt more “revealing of the truth” themed to me, when more than one had so many "reveal the truth" layers. 

Let me express that I feel there was no weak link in this year's entries. Each entry did its best to "Reveal the Truth," and it SHOWS.

When it comes to my own personal tastes and enjoyment of certain genres, however, my favorites this season (in no particular order) are:

Fledgling
Liminal
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr
The Reunion
Family Secret
A Chorus Dilemma
Angel Keeps a Secret
The Case of the Scallopini-ed Mayor
No Doubt About It
Adrift
Well, This Happened
Can I Tell Ya a Secret?
Busted
What it Takes
Green Lightning

My personal TOP FIVE, as they felt more "revelations of truth" than "surprising twists," to me (though some contained both fused together!) are:

What it Takes
Well, This Happened
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr 
Family Secret
Green Lightning

If I go by the main character(s) uncovering the truth(s) for themselves, it's:

My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr 
Family Secret
Green Lightning

If I go by the main character(s) actually going through the motions of revealing their personal truth(s) to us readers, it's:

What it Takes
Well, This Happened

And, as the theme, down to the grit is "Reveal the Truth," between the two aforementioned, the one character that really gave the most bang for buck (for me personally) is the one in:

What it Takes

...which is why that one is my "chosen one" this season. 

 

Note*: In all honesty, every single entry worked the hell out of the theme this season. We can't go wrong, no matter which story is chosen. 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2025 by BendtedWreath

[Jeff Burton]

5 hours ago, BendtedWreath said:

Step 4: After going over your notes and going with your gut on most of the entries, start making guesses on the side and wait patiently for the list of authors to be revealed to better mix and match. 🤣

There are maybe five out of the 23 I have a strong gut feeling for. The rest started to blur together because we're all inspired by each other on a regular basis and sometimes it sneaks into our shared work. And quite a few writers enjoy SciFi/Paranormal/Fantasy/Thriller/Romance... and every blend in-between.

Oh, man! It looks like I’ll have to make another chart again for deciding on which story to vote for. I had so many favorites, I’m once again forced to deduce which story felt more “revealing of the truth” themed to me, when more than one had so many "reveal the truth" layers. 

Let me express that I feel there was no weak link in this year's entries. Each entry did its best to "Reveal the Truth," and it SHOWS.

When it comes to my own personal tastes and enjoyment of certain genres, however, my favorites this season (in no particular order) are:

Fledgling
Liminal
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr
The Reunion
Family Secret
A Chorus Dilemma
Angel Keeps a Secret
The Case of the Scallopini-ed Mayor
No Doubt About It
Adrift
Well, This Happened
Can I Tell Ya a Secret?
Busted
What it Takes
Green Lightning

My personal TOP FIVE, as they felt more "revelations of truth" than "surprising twists," to me (though some contained both fused together!) are:

What it Takes
Well, This Happened
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr 
Family Secret
Green Lightning

If I go by the main character(s) uncovering the truth(s) for themselves, it's:

My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr 
Family Secret
Green Lightning

If I go by the main character(s) actually going through the motions of revealing their personal truth(s) to us readers, it's:

What it Takes
Well, This Happened

And, as the theme, down to the grit is "Reveal the Truth," between the two aforementioned, the one character that really gave the most bang for buck (for me personally) is the one in:

What it Takes

...which is why that one is my "chosen one" this season. 

 

Note*: In all honesty, every single entry worked the hell out of the theme this season. We can't go wrong, no matter which story is chosen. 

 

 

 

That's a pretty well done break down.  I'm having trouble narrowing it down past five because there were too many that touched me in different ways, and a couple that totally took me apart and put me back together again (those are always the best.)

I know at some point I'm going to have to choose one for the vote but what a decision that's going to be.

[CassieQ]

Secret Author almost made me late to my vet appointment because I was so engrossed with reading.  I'm determined to get through all of them!

[Thirdly]

Idid it! I read them all. 

Well done, everyone! So many startling truths and revelations. I'm gonna need a minute.

 

[Thirdly]

Ok, so here are my initial thoughts:

Busted - Short, anime influence... obviously written by W_L
Exposing My Reality - Bill W is my guess here, though Mark Arbour also comes to mind for some reason
Thirteen - The Thirdly from another era
Unmasked - Headstall, CassieQ even
Fledgling - Dark Thirdly
A Chorus Dilemma  - A sleepwalking Thirdly
The Reunion - Thirdly from the future, or kbois
The Case of the Scallopini-ed Mayor - E K Stokes, lawfulneutralmage
Four Hours - Thirdly's Dissociation
Angel Keeps a Secret - Adoptive Thirdly
No Doubt About It- Jack Poignet, Mikiesboy, Thirdly on caffeine
Can I Tell Ya a Secret? - Obviously, the Thirdly from another dimension
Adrift - Sailor Thirdly
Well, This Happened - Blogger Thirdly
The Rainbow’s Unicorn - British thirdly
Liminal - European Thirdly
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr - Thirdly's subconscious
Septima’s Potential - Thirdly's dreams
Family Secret - Thirdly wishes she wrote this
Thetis- Thirdly on vacation watching telenovelas
Green Lightning- Astone2292, Thirdly after watching one too many Black Mirror episodes
What it Takes- Thirdly's Evil subconscious 
Carpe Veritas- Jeff Burton, Inkognito

Edited July 26, 2025 by Thirdly

[wildone]

3 hours ago, Thirdly said:

Ok, so here are my initial thoughts:

Busted - Short, anime influence... obviously written by W_L
Exposing My Reality - Bill W is my guess here, though Mark Arbour also comes to mind for some reason
Thirteen - The Thirdly from another era
Unmasked - Headstall, CassieQ even
Fledgling - Dark Thirdly
A Chorus Dilemma  - A sleepwalking Thirdly
The Reunion - Thirdly from the future, or kbois
The Case of the Scallopini-ed Mayor - E K Stokes, lawfulneutralmage
Four Hours - Thirdly's Dissociation
Angel Keeps a Secret - Adoptive Thirdly
No Doubt About It- Jack Poignet, Mikiesboy, Thirdly on caffeine
Can I Tell Ya a Secret? - Obviously, the Thirdly from another dimension
Adrift - Sailor Thirdly
Well, This Happened - Blogger Thirdly
The Rainbow’s Unicorn - British thirdly
Liminal - European Thirdly
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr - Thirdly's subconscious
Septima’s Potential - Thirdly's dreams
Family Secret - Thirdly wishes she wrote this
Thetis- Thirdly on vacation watching telenovelas
Green Lightning- Astone2292, Thirdly after watching one too many Black Mirror episodes
What it Takes- Thirdly's Evil subconscious 
Carpe Veritas- Jeff Burton, Inkognito

Just tell me you are seeing a professional for multiple personality disorderS

😛 

[Mark Arbour]

On 7/22/2025 at 6:29 AM, Jack Poignet said:

I‘m going to take another guess. Adrift. Short, easy to read sentences (still, great writing). Historical setting. Mark Arbour.

If only I spoke Italian.  😀

[Lee Wilson]

4 minutes ago, Mark Arbour said:

If only I spoke Italian.  😀

Google does!

[lawfulneutralmage]

Phew, took ages, but I am through too. Some gems there.

[Mark Arbour]

5 hours ago, Thirdly said:

Ok, so here are my initial thoughts:

Busted - Short, anime influence... obviously written by W_L
Exposing My Reality - Bill W is my guess here, though Mark Arbour also comes to mind for some reason
Thirteen - The Thirdly from another era
Unmasked - Headstall, CassieQ even
Fledgling - Dark Thirdly
A Chorus Dilemma  - A sleepwalking Thirdly
The Reunion - Thirdly from the future, or kbois
The Case of the Scallopini-ed Mayor - E K Stokes, lawfulneutralmage
Four Hours - Thirdly's Dissociation
Angel Keeps a Secret - Adoptive Thirdly
No Doubt About It- Jack Poignet, Mikiesboy, Thirdly on caffeine
Can I Tell Ya a Secret? - Obviously, the Thirdly from another dimension
Adrift - Sailor Thirdly
Well, This Happened - Blogger Thirdly
The Rainbow’s Unicorn - British thirdly
Liminal - European Thirdly
My Dead Ex is Haunting Me Through Grindr - Thirdly's subconscious
Septima’s Potential - Thirdly's dreams
Family Secret - Thirdly wishes she wrote this
Thetis- Thirdly on vacation watching telenovelas
Green Lightning- Astone2292, Thirdly after watching one too many Black Mirror episodes
What it Takes- Thirdly's Evil subconscious 
Carpe Veritas- Jeff Burton, Inkognito

That's a really good guess.  I never write anything that's less than 5000 words, so that ticks the box. 

[chris191070]

I'm pretty sure I've worked out who a few of the author's possibly are. But I need to reread a few stories to confirm my guesses.

 

[Jack Poignet]

If I actually took part in an event like this I’d make sure that the story is recognizably me. Maybe I could interest sone new readers who haven’t read my work yet … Anyone here with similar thoughts? Or do you use the opportunity to write something completely different?

[Jeff Burton]

1 minute ago, Jack Poignet said:

If I actually took part in an event like this I’d make sure that the story is recognizably me. Maybe I could interest sone new readers who haven’t read my work yet … Anyone here with similar thoughts? Or do you use the opportunity to write something completely different?

That’s pretty much the thought I had as well. I mean if I participated that’s what I’d try to do.  

I mean I’ve read a few things from this that were amazing and I don’t feel like I can recognize the author so I feel like I’m missing out on some work they’ve done that I’d like.