Cia

Well, October has hit... and it's in the 70s and 80s here. Like, what a switcheroo. Where's my cool and rainy fall? Boo! Just like the character in this short story by Aditus was expecting one thing and got another in this horror-themed short, perfect for this month! It's an older story, so many of the members on this site may not have read it. I've been here for 17 years now, apparently, so I remember when this was posted and popular. Like a vampire, I also live FOREVER, muahahahah! (Nah, I'm just OLD and cranky now, lol) But you read on, get in the spooky season spirit, and may it bring on the appropriate Octoberness we all need (and I want!) Halloween Horror Themes 2013: From the Ashes Spring New Life by @Aditus Length: 3,541 Description: Skylar enjoys a quiet All Hallows Eve at home until he has an unexpected visitor. A reader said: Vampire in the mail, huh? What a clever tale you've woven, Aditus. ~ Ron (from Cia: Doesn't this comment just intrigue you???? Like... whhhut?) Don't forget to come back to comment on the Discussion day, Monday, September 26th!

Love back to you, yesterday was football day and I forgot that ended my weekend, BOO! And that I needed to do a blog for today. @Wildone was better at setting things up, see? LOL I'm a Leo, mid-August birthday, and my one rule in this house is "Mom doesn't cook!" I don't care about gifts, though I usually get nice things from the hubby and the handmade things (from barely edible breakfasts to colored cards) have switched to Amazon deliveries from my now kidult children who still live at home. We usually order in or go out to eat as a family. The rude thing? We now start school so early that I literally had to go back to work the day after my birthday this year. Like, WHAT? Summer birthdays mean SUMMER. That's the best part of working in education. 'twas nearly ruined!

Well, tis a cool day here in the end of September, though in the past it's been blazin hot. In this month's featured story from the first Monday's blog post, the past, present, and maybe even the future? weigh immeasurably on the main characters. Can they bear it? Could andy cannon bear my questions? Read on to find out the answers to all that! Share your thoughts on his story, The Tor, below in comments! Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? I’m a big fan. If you were an animal, what would you be? Probably a dog. What is one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you? I’m really three raccoons in a trench coat. What’s one location you’d love to go to research for a story? My bucket list countries, all fertile grounds for literature, are India (very possible), Cuba (less likely because of the expense) and Russia (probably not happening any time). Is there a literary character (in the whole universe of fiction) that you’ve read who you really identified with? Ignatius Reilly in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. What brought you to GA? I was looking for a new community of writers and readers and was incredibly lucky to stumble on this one. What’s the best part of being an author? The hardest part? The best part is seeing a story come to life on the page that I really enjoy reading. The hardest part is discovering that not everyone agrees with my assessment! Did you like to write in school? I wrote some ephemera in school, but none of it was worth the trees that died in the process. I have always liked looking at strangers and assigning them a more interesting backstory than ‘man drinking coffee’. Oddly, every attractive man subjected to my scrutiny turns out to have a secret gay alter ego. Weird. In The Tor, do you start with the plot idea or did the main character, Christopher, come to you first? I was thinking about the relationship between memory and grief in the wake of some deaths in my family, and the story grew as a kind of therapy. Do you have a favorite line or scene in the story to share with readers? Can you share something of your upcoming or current work with readers? I have a couple of projects that I will share before the end of the year. One is a toss at the currently popular genre of hockey romances, and the second is a dystopian Christmas fantasy with cynical nicotine-addicted elves and handsome studs who are shape-shifting reindeer. Don't forget to share your comments on the interview & his story, The Tor, below!

I love turtles of all kind, even tortoises. Something about that face! This guy came right up to the fence and looked so cranky there were boards blocking him from our side, and no one had more than the baby grass or dried bits he could find, lol!

Also, can I say I don't use recipes? I bake but even that I change. Everything is approximate and eyeballed and done with "that looks and tastes about right" or "oh, it smells done!" 😝

Chicken Pot Pie ala Cia. Plan ahead of time! This is a 1.5 to 4 hour process depending on how homemade you go. Rotisserie chicken, bagged cut potatoes, etc... can reduce time, but baking and cooking still takes a while. Alternatively you can increase the liquid, boil up some noodles, and make this a creamy soup too. If doing that I like to add some fresh like carrots and celery. Otherwise I cheat with frozen.

While the Wildone is away, you get Cia to play. Okay, so I'm totally not playing. Saturday was my day of getting stuff DONE. Chores, laundry, errands, kidult stuff, the hubby took his dad to a funeral 2 hours away and had my car, it's fall so I made homemade chicken pot pie and then there was a SPIDER on the CEILING and my son told me to get it. I almost had to kill him. It. I mean it. The spider. Then he did it like a good son who is NOT afraid of his mother. 😇 Sunday is for fun though. My daughter, also a kidult, invited me as a guest adult pass to the zoo since it's not supposed to rain. Will it be crazy with kids? Yes! But I don't have to tell any of them to walk, not run, and the weather is cool so more animals are out. What's your favorite animal? (FYI, Check out tomorrow's CSR blog to see if that was a question I asked andy cannon) Now let's see what other blogs you should have checked out (hint, it was lots of me!) Monday I featured Stellar's story Hidden Sunlight. Huge hit with scifi fans. Tuesday Myr did a Deep Dive into Horror *shivers* Not sure if you like scifi? Check out Wednesday's excerpt blog for Hidden Sunlight. Thursday Valkyrie whispered the Anthology deadline is creaking up on you and asked for feedback on blog features! Comment there! Friday, well... what twisted little tidbit did you try? Myr's Words of the Day were in alignment with the twisted theme, I think. Did you try saying any of them 5 times fast? I dare you! Double dare.... winsome sprezzatura tenebrous susurrus numinous psithurism effulgent Upcoming Writing Events 2026 Yearly Anthology "Horizons" & "Unspoken" - Due October 1, 2026 - Find all the information right here. ONLY 4 more days to make your intentions clear to @Valkyrie. Member Participation Blogs - Great way to promote yourself!! Ask an Author 3.0 If you have a author you want to get some answers from, write a PM to @astone2292 Author Guess Who Get our members to guess who you are and also let everyone know who you are. Also write a PM to @astone2292 Here is the look at the past week's postings on all our Authors and Poets! 1 Recently Updated 'Premium' Stories The Tainted Relic by Topher Lydon In Process 8 Recently Updated 'Signature Author' Stories Carter's Revolution by Topher Lydon In Process Carter's Hand by Topher Lydon Complete Take the Long Road Home by kbois In Process USS Zodiac by Topher Lydon In Process TRAVISTY by Mark Arbour In Process The Tainted Relic by Topher Lydon In Process Out of the Blue by Mark Ponyboy Peters In Process Roping the Moon by Headstall In Process 1 Recently Updated 'Classic Author' Stories Love on Trial by Ronyx In Process 2 Recently Updated 'Promising Author' Stories Blades of Ashes by lilansui In Process Bold Desire by lilansui In Process 45 Recently Updated 'Author' Stories Aethan's Reign by ValentineDavis21 In Process Safe Distance by Tony S. In Process Blades of Ashes by lilansui In Process The Impostor by vanalas In Process It’s All Baked Inn by Autumn Dream In Process Stingy Jack’s Last Trick — A Halloween Tale by Mark Paren In Process Robbie and Mark: Latest chaos by unilive In Process Another Role of a Lifetime by KKirk In Process From Maine To The Pentagon by Lee Wilson In Process Pompeii by Boy Mercury X Complete Worship Me by Littlelovestories In Process Supernova by Thightide45 In Process Dad's Helping Hand by M. Harding In Process A fruitless Deal by Celian In Process Bold Desire by lilansui In Process Barnaby and the Tomorrow Paradox by chris191070 Complete Cove of Quiet Things by Enoch Complete House of the Moon by Albert1434 In Process At Tempest Island by Grayson Rose In Process The Curse of Love by Yeoldebard Temporary Hold Heart of Teutonburg by Mark Paren In Process The Blood Between Us by mastershakeme Complete Brian & Gordon: Doing their Damnedest by Robert Hugill In Process All In Or In The Way by Thightide45 In Process Monstrum by Laura S. Fox In Process Blueblood 5.1: Red Alert!! by R. Eric Long-Term Hold Whispers in the Circuit by Enoch Complete The Lab Partner by KC Stone In Process The Mirror of Dreams by Lupus In Process Unraveled by jkwsquirrel In Process Fault Lines by sumtimesIwrite In Process In the Barb by Vcs In Process Between the Two by Grayson Rose In Process Beyond suspicion by Thomas Lindblad Complete Sapphire in the Stars by JujuTheDruid In Process The Prince and Ai by W_L In Process Draft Dodgers by Jonathan E In Process Seducing The Cambion by BendtedWreath In Process The Field of Love by Enoch Complete Beyond the Veil by Laura S. Fox In Process GFD 13: Fallen Angels by MrM In Process Boymom by Boy Mercury X Complete Breaking Masks by Josh Aterovis In Process Notice by AusGlitterati Complete What I Want by Paul Zhy In Process Read, Write, and REVIEW!!! (Don't forget to Recommend too!)

Did you catch Monday's feature to Stellar's story, Hidden Sunlight? It's well worth a read, but if the member's review didn't convince you, please check out this excerpt from chapter one! Want to read more? Click here!

Well, after a longer haitus than usual, we're back! This is a long, long story by an author many of us have enjoyed for years. Have you read this classic story? It's a go to favorite of mine when I'm looking for that apocalyptic style OMG WHAAAAT story, even though I know exactly what's going to happen, I still love it. Give it a try, especially if you love a LONG read! Length: 175,313 Description: Facing a life-changing medical procedure, 14 year old Shay approaches it with the same detachment, confusion and dread that has haunted his emotions for as long as he can recall. Yet what follows instead is something that he could not have anticipated in his craziest dreams, and everything he knows is about to change forever. A reader said: Although I read this story years ago, a recent note by the author compelled me to leave this review, so here goes. Content on GA, like most human endeavors, follows a Pareto distribution: only 20% of it is worth reading at all, only 20% of that is any good any only 20% of that is truly art. Hidden Sunlight falls into that last category. This book isn’t a great story by GA standards - it’s a great story by any standards. It ought to be published and read widely. From the first chapter until the nail-biting conclusion, the adventures of Shay and those he meets on Aspira draw you in. The world-building is first-rate, the science believable (I’m a physicist by training and my disbelief was suspended) and the characters made me care about them. I read this while it was being posted, with sometimes long gaps that only heightened my anticipation. If you like science fiction at all, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t stop what you’re doing and start reading this book right now. Stellar’s three books are all in my GA top 10 and I’ve been reading this site for 15 years. ~ Bill Corley If you want to spread the word about Stellar's story, download the graphic below and add it to your signature! Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see the excerpt I chose to share!

Welcome back to the CSR! Feels like it's been a while, and since it's a holiday weekend I was off by a day, whoops! But hey, then I figured I could feature another story about being off about time that recently showed up as complete. Have you read this slow-burn romance? The Tor by @andy cannon Length: 68,944 Description: Teacher Christopher Edwards believed his life began in the seaside town of Penmere. When memories return beneath the ancient Tor, he discovers another truth: he has lived before. Across two thousand years, he and one other soul have found each other again and again, only to be torn apart. At the heart of the mystery lies one act of unbearable grief, when a priest's desperate refusal to accept death transformed love into an endless cycle of remembrance. Christopher must decide whether the life he is living belongs to memory or to choice. For the first time in centuries, love may offer not a beginning, but an ending. A reader said: A subtle and sometimes intricate tale of nearly two thousand years of repeated rediscovery and loss, as two souls linked in love try to be together over the centuries, watched by a third whose role and intentions only gradually become clear. It is a search for happiness repeatedly thwarted by fate and a quest for a way to escape. Beautifully written, highly evocative, well judged. If you like urban fantasy you should definitely read it. If you're not so sure, this should convert you. ~Charles26 Don't forget to come back to comment on the Discussion day, Monday, September 28th!

Would I do that??? List a few in order?? No!! That's cheating! Next year, people might start wondering who is in order... if any! Thanks all, you were amazing!!

So here it is, what you have really been waiting for! Which story did you vote as your favorite use of the "Forbidden Knowledge" theme for this year's event? Ahh, did you think there is more to this reveal? Of course there is! You'll also find out who wrote the story with the favorite use of the theme! And all the other stories, too. This is always one of readers' favorite parts, getting to know just how right you were (or wrong!) Favorite Use of the Theme Winner! Emptying the Library 2026 Secret Author Contest - Forbidden Knowledge The Ledger of the Howling Void by chris191070 The Ledger by drsawzall Wrong Window by Topher Lydon Subtle Signs by Thirdly Coffee with Supervision by Mikiesboy Sweet Sour Paradox Logic by Kileoli Just the Facts, Man by Lee Wilson Murder At 9th and Tom by astone2292 No Official Reason by Myr Undeliverable by Ieshwar Gemma by CassieQ Peeping Tom by kbois The Ivory Fig Ceremony by BendtedWreath Emptying the Library by Gary L Unexpected Discovery by Bill W How many did you get???? I'll be returning all the stories back to their authors so they can reply to comments and reviews today, but I hope you've enjoyed this year's event and games! Make sure you share your final count below on your Story/Author match ups. And, if you haven't had time to like, comment, and review on your favorites this year, take time to do that! I forgot to say, THANK YOU! to everyone who took part this year, sharing stories, playing the games, reading, commenting, etc... This event wouldn't be fun if you didn't take part!

I never tell a lie. 😇

I'll be posting the reveal next Monday and attributing all the stories back to the authors so they can respond to comments/reviews. As that's my first day back to "work officially" sadly the event must end. I sort of die the first week back to school!

Guess as much as you want!! At some point you will have to have a "Final Answer" though, lol.

Woohoo! It's what all of you have been waiting for! That's right, the grand reveal of... just the author's names. That's right, we have another game because where's the fun in just TELLING you who wrote your favorite story? Right now there is a 3 way tie between who used the theme in readers' favorite way, but with just 3 votes each, we can do better! Vote here on your favorite use of the Forbidden Knowledge theme. Now, for your match up fun! I've listed in numerical order, all the authors who took part in this year's event in NO particular order. You might be surprised at some of these names, but maybe not. Maybe it was not Forbidden to YOU, and you figured it all out. Can you figure out which story they match up with, also shared below? Authors in the 2026 Forbidden Knowledge Contest Topher Lydon CassieQ Myr chris191070 Mikiesboy Lee Wilson Ieshwar drsawzall astone2292 Thirdly BendtedWreath Bill W Kileoli GaryL kbois Stories in the 2026 Forbidden Knowledge Contest The Ledger of the Howling Void The Ledger Wrong Window Subtle Signs Coffee with Supervision Sweet Sour Paradox Logic Just the Facts, Man Murder At 9th and Tom No Official Reason Undeliverable Gemma Peeping Tom The Ivory Fig Ceremony Emptying the Library Unexpected Discovery

Ha! Did you think it was time to share the stories and authors? No!! Total clickbait. Heehee! That's right, time to vote on your favorite! Now, to be fair, it would be ideal to have read ALL the stories. Can you vote without having read them? YES! Because this is about your favorite use of our theme of Forbidden Knowledge that you read in this year's Secret Author Forbidden Knowledge stories. Pick a SINGLE title, this isn't your top three. It doesn't even have to be your favorite overall story... just how did the author use the theme in a creative and/or twisted way that made it into the story. Make sure you share why it's your favorite use of the theme in a comment, because inquiring minds want to know! That's not forbidden!

Reason why?

So today's blog leads to a double feature on the main forum page (have you read Graeme's story, Heart of the Tree? Check it out here, it's not forbidden!) but the theme of today's blog is there can be only one! That's right, which ONE character from the Secret Author Forbidden Knowledge stories have you read would you LOOOOOOVE to meet in real life? Share your favorite character to meet in a comment below (and why!). Seems simple, right? As with all discussions on GA, muahahahahaha! You guys always make things interesting I can't wait to find out more.

Thanks all! Since this has proved to be a very popular event and is relatively easy to plan for authors, I hope to keep doing it year after year, but we have to keep it fresh! That's why I've expanded the games this year. I wanted to give our speedy readers some new games and also hint around in various ways, but not give away too much for the members who take a bit more time or digest stories slower because life is busy or something comes up (we all know about that!) This way the Secret Author event isn't going too fast or too slow, and everyone gets to go at their own speed while enjoying the event. It makes me happy it seems we're walking the line just right so far. Next week there's a bit more of the usual sort of guessing/voting, and then reveals (because the evils of day-to-day work is coming for me!) so keep having fun at whatever pace you're going.

Two Truths & A Lie! So... we all know the theme of this year's Secret Author contest was Forbidden Knowledge. In order to "help" you figure out who wrote which story, I've asked authors to share 2 Truths & a Lie about their story writing process, the story itself, or... you know, stuff you should or shouldn't know. Will it help you? Maaaaybe. Let's get on with it, shall we? These are shared in no particular order, so have fun! Story Title: Undeliverable I wanted to write something different from my current stories, something more lived-in and introspective. That's what led me to the idea of present versus past. One title I seriously considered was 'You Won't Read This'. I scrapped it because I didn't want to jinx the story. The ending was the easiest part to write. I had the final scene in my head long before I wrote the opening sentence. Story Title: Gemma The entire story was written in under a week. The story was originally written in third person POV. The story was inspired by a YouTube video. Story Title: Subtle Signs Based on a true story. Written in less than an hour. Inspired by TikTok videos featuring men singing in bathroom stalls. Story Title: The Empty Library The story is inspired by a visit to Berlin as a student One of my hobbies is reading World War II historical books I love a good romance Story Title: Coffee With Supervision The concept originated from a television program in which the protagonist awoke beside a stranger. Having written the opening line, the narrative progressed naturally in a supernatural direction. This represents my first attempt at writing within the supernatural genre, and I found the experience of exploring a new style enjoyable. Story Title: Murder at 9th & Tom I firmly believe everyone and everything has some sort of way to tell their story. I love cats. I have never written about a murder before. Story Title: The Ledger I've always had a fascination with the Civil War and its ramifications. Also, a case of what-ifs: how history is a sequence of random events leading to life-changing encounters The most difficult issue in writing was dealing with the bisexuality of the main character and his fear of leaving his safe, comfortable existence. Story Title: Peeping Tom I love cats. I don't love cats. Animals are better than people. Story Title: No Official Reason I loved reading the boyband collection in the celebrity section on Nifty and wanted to try writing my own. I love the drama created by being closeted and wanted to weave it into the story. I have never written a romance story before without some speculative element involved, so I was determined to write one this time. Story Title: The Ivory Fig Ceremony I was hankering for for fig newtons. It was fig season. I was eating buckwheat crisps. Story Title: Wrong Window The story came from a song title I found randomly on Spotify The story came to me while listening to someone brag about a weird night. I was getting Pork dumplings and saw a fire escape in Hong Kong and thought that's a great setting. Story Title: Just The Facts, Man I remembered reading about this a few months before the secret author topic came out. ChatGPT didn’t like translating about a crime. https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-greatest-mysteries-in-history ranks this as #1 on their list of history’s 19 greatest mysteries. Story Title: The Ledger of The Howling Void The story idea came to me whilst in the library at school This is my 100th story on GA I have a huge presence on GA and have written many genre of story using prompts. Story Title: Sweet Sour Paradox Logic While I was cooking sweet sour chicken got the idea with the sauce. I like mixing random leftovers to cook, so Caden did the same. Running through the Golden Gate park showed the best place for the boys to meet. Story Title: Unexpected Discovery The setting was an area I was familiar with in real life. The idea for the story evolved from a true story that I fictionalized. Part of the story was based on personal experience. All right... which are the truths? Which is the lie? Can you decide and do any of these little tidbits help reveal the author of the story(s) to you? Share your guesses below!

Hey, I thought that "Help...." was inspired. Set the tone right off.

Did you expect me to make things easy??? It's like you don't know me at all!

Who wants to play a game? For those who want to hit an easy button, check out the spoiler below. You'll find the list of attributions for the quotes in this list from the great stories from the our Secret Author Forbidden Knowledge category. Click the picture banner if you still need to read these great stories, catch up, or want to pair up the quotes yourself! Then come back to play the first of this week's games! Remember as you read, you're also trying to figure out which character you'd most like to meet for later voting. Now, ready to play? If you want a challenge, try to remember who said which quote below or find them on your own! Story Quotes "Help…" 'You didn't stop' “I am, in truth, right sorry.” “Now we have all the time in the world.” “If you were carrying something that large around, it would affect the way you walked.” “Come on up to my lair,” “Enough. Give me facts, not funerals.” "But I can tell you I don't have to give him a spanking about it.” Truths don't like to be locked away. "You were my monster," He dropped like a college kid’s laundry bag after a month away from home.” “I always knew!” "I've had dozens of girlfriends," “I don’t have any money to play poker,” “The ghost of the chicken is strong in that one.” Quote Attributions - Click below to open spoiler

Monday!