Cia

The holidays can be hectic, crazy, wonderful times! I figured, why not show that off with a variety of short stories, from 1,852 words to 36,353 words. You may have read them before, or they might be new to you, but this is your chance to get into the spirit of the season through some great stories. Enjoy them now, and be ready for the Discussion day on Monday, December 28th. The authors have all agreed to pop in and respond to your questions and comments. Muscle Bear Santa by Carlos Hazday Length: 2,513 Description: Is it really Santa in those red Speedos? A slightly gay, night-before-Christmas story. A reader said: You had me grinning from beginning to end! ~ AlbertNothlit Penguin's Christmas Gift by Valkyrie Length: 1,852 Description: Sean thought that taking a cat sledding was nuts. At the end of the day, he was very glad he did. A reader said: Such a sweet little story. ~ Suvitar Rudolph's Tijuana Christmas by Mann Ramblings Length: 5,599 Description: After being at the center of a scandal that ruins Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has to find a new way in life. Will the streets of Las Vegas, a bar in Tijuana and a best selling book find him the happiness he so desperately needs? A reader said: OH MY GOD?!?!? What in the hell did I just read? ~ Comicfan Don't forget the Discussion day will take place on December 28th!

I had missed it, but you're very welcome! Now, I will say the initial Mr. I Don't Really Have Any Preferences was a total front, but I've worked with worse. I'm sure of it. Probably. Maybe. There's a chance. ;)

Congratulations!!!

Hey, gotta spread the love of GA, right?

Did you have a chance to read Lilansui's A Rescued Life for our November CSR Featured story? We had a lot of time, so I hope readers enjoyed the 50k tale. If not, well maybe this interview and the reader comments below will help motivate you to check it out. Make sure you leave your comments and review for Lilansui, who promises to pop in throughout the day/night as possible. Single people often have more time to write. Are you single? Yes, I’m single. . It is a source of stress sometimes, but most days I enjoy it. On the more time to write, I think it depends on what is going on in my life. I have a full-time job that keeps me on the move. I often use the hours between office projects to write, or I write deep in the night while the world sleeps around me. If life events happen, the writing time suffers more than my job since I have to make a living…Moan…but otherwise that’s life as a single woman. When I’m shunning writing and responsibilities, you may find me procrastinating in pajamas, and lazing in bed having a really bad hair day listening to music. Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? I do make my bed in the morning. It’s great coming home to a neat home, so I do my best to make my bed every morning. Unless I’m not going anywhere all day, then I stay in the bed all day, and in that case, I don’t make the bed. (These lazing around days are hard to come by lately; I selfishly guard them when they happen.) What do you like to do when you’re not writing? When I’m not writing, I go out visiting friends and family, which can mean some extensive travel, as I am not always living close to them. When am home, I’ll bake, go swimming, or laze around the house doing absolutely nothing. There is peace in doing nothing too. What brought you to GA? I love reading as much as I write. So, some years back I was following Cia’s stories on another site, and when I had read through everything, and was reading Hypnotic she’d stopped updating for a long time. I wanted to know the ending and thought she might have posted elsewhere, so I searched online and found her work on GA. That is how I found the site. I was a non-participant at the start, reading without signing in, but I ended up registering. That is my ‘Found GA’ story, Cia’s stories brought me. I loved the community, and it gave me the courage to post my first story…it was harrowing making that choice to post, but I did it, and haven’t stopped posting since then. What’s the best part of being an author for you? I’ve always written. Coming up with characters in my head, and making them go through life…that’s always been second nature to me. However, as an individual who has known what it’s like to write alone, and what it’s like to share stories with people, I believe and feel the best part of being an author is getting a surprise email from a reader asking, “How are you doing? That story you’re writing, I love it, and when can you finish it?”. It doesn’t seem like much, but I find that simple connection is the best part of writing. Having someone, even if it is one person, read your work and encourage you to keep going, or even comment on what they find interesting or not. This kind of support is priceless and precious, so I am most grateful for my readers. Do you have any writing rituals? I have this corner in my house, right by the window in the living room. I have set up a desk there, and that’s where I write. I always get the best stuff written in that corner. Of course, good earphones, and music that inspires the muse are a must. I suppose that’s the ritual, listening to music and writing in that particular place. Did you find it more or less challenging writing a story set in the US? I will say it was both. It was more challenging because I had to research extensively…more than when my characters are people in cities I live in and know, going through cultures I know. I was nervous trying to portray a man living in the small town of Penn Yan, and was afraid readers would say ‘well, that’s not how we do things’. I rechecked facts, and freaked out when I had to write Jason’s scenes because of this fear. His scenes saw many rewrites. It was also less challenging in terms of writing Toshiro, the deposed gangster in New York; there were no rules, anything could happen. I could let Toshiro explode on paper and see what happened next. That was liberating. Many stories contain a scene or character aspect influenced by a real life person or event in the author’s life. Can you share one or more from your story? Hmm…on characters: there is Sakura. I have a friend who is tough like Sakura, not as unfeeling or cold, in fact, my friend is a very warm person, but she is also very tough because of her experiences. She can beat a guy up if he causes trouble for her…and I often admire her strength. . Of course, as I’ve said before, Mako, the final villain…was a mean girl in my school days. As for scenes influenced by a real life person…when I was writing this story, I went shopping with someone very close to me. We were walking down the aisle and I noticed this person putting all these things in the cart I preferred, and that just made me pause, that this person would know that without me saying anything, I think it is a very special thing. Usually you have to tell someone, oh not that peanut butter, I prefer this one because….hehehe so, I included it in this story. You give Toshiro a lot of challenges to overcome in his back story and in the story itself. How did you keep his character “real” to keep him from being too much of the turned-to-good hero facing his evil past cookie cutter type? Toshiro’s story starts with him left for dead, which to me felt like he was a man who didn’t have anything left to lose in life. At that point, he was beyond low, beyond…he just had nothing. To keep him real, I used this template in my mind. From that point, Toshiro’s sense of loyalty, his sense of gratitude, and even his thoughts on life would be different from someone who has always had a secure and comfortable life. The challenge now lay in discovering how this perspective would look like. I relied a lot on Jason as my compass to draw Toshiro from the grey area. Toshiro’s salvation would always lie in his relationship with Jason because anyone in Toshiro’s life would lead him deeper into the grey area. It was a challenging enterprise…and many deleted scenes, but I think it came together without him seeming like a hero. Do you have a favorite part of A Rescued Life? Why or why not? There are many favorites in this novel but if I were to choose two, they would be: The scene where Jason visits Toshiro in the hospital when he brings Toshiro newspapers. Jason takes off his silver chain to show Toshiro what he does, and Toshiro decides to keep the flawed silver chain because it is like him. The conversation they have there is my absolute favorite because it is the reason why Toshiro later comes back to Jason. The scene where Yuriko tells Toshiro his real name. I thought that moment would be profound for any mother who had lost their child as she did. Meeting this stranger she loves so much and not knowing what to say but the truth in her heart…I cried writing it. Runner-up would be the little getaway from the hospital coz it was fun to write. What other projects are you focused on now? I recently completed A Healing Heart which was the second project following A Rescued Life. Now I am focused on writing A Haunted Love, which is ongoing here on GA. I have also promised someone I consider my little brother …to post something new, so I have been writing a short story. I’m hoping it will go into the December GA ‘Blackout’ anthology. I hope I make the deadline, if not, I will post it on its own when it is ready. I am always writing, so if you come upon an unfinished story on my list, please know I will finish it. This year has been especially busy, so I’m struggling with the writing a lot, but I’m fighting through the logistics of real life and working to give the characters in my head time. Thank you for this feature. I actually didn't know I led Lilansui to find GA, but I'm glad I did! Okay readers, don't forget to leave your thoughts and comments below.

Welcome to GA! They don't automatically appear there. You need to edit your profile to show them. It's pretty easy, and I'd recommend poking around there to customize other notifications, etc... too. 1. Click the Edit my Profile button on your profile. This is automatically on the Settings tab. 2. Click on Stories in the blue bar that goes across the page, just above the profile customization area where you can change your photos, etc... 3. Check the boxes to show the stories and/or the authors you follow. 4. Save. Hope that helps!

I hope you had a lovely wedding day and have an even better first day of marriage!

I like that you had your lovers talking! So many authors use miscommunication as the main impetus behind their character conflict and it drives me nuts because anyone in a relationship knows you have to talk, talk, talk. I also like you featuring a 'bi' character with a 'gay' character so accepting. I did notice you had trouble with the dialogue punctuation; I struggled with that a lot when I was newer to writing. There's a pinned topic in the Writer's Corner for dialogue punctuation that really helped me. Check it out!

Happy Birthday, Mikie!

"It was a bit cheeky." *snorts* Understatement! The plagiarist's response is very common when it comes to photography and art, unfortunately. On a note that relates to authors here, this is something that is recently being emphasized by publishers and self-publishing authors in the know. You must, must, must read all copyright notices on art--even stock you purchase--to know if it's usable for what you intend it for. Not all models are willing to be portrayed on covers or promotional art for erotic content, gay or not, for example. And just swiping any photo off the internet that fits your needs when you're promoting your work is not legal either; it has to be purchased and used according to the copyright too. Even "free" online photos or artwork often have caveats under the creative commons licenses for non-derivative works allowed, proper attribution requirements, etc... Failing to do that can result in a lot of headaches if you have to take down the art or recreate it and can even result in lawsuits if it was used to garner income. In the end, it's always better safe than sorry!

That is a good point. If you publish, it does benefit you to know the conventions the publisher will use when you write or plan to edit an existing piece for submission. Sometimes you can successfully argue the point however, like with these two cases where the "rule" just doesn't exist. For instance, the two main editing standards I see used are Chicago Manual of Style and Blue Book of Grammar. Ending a sentence with a preposition: CMoS 5.176 states: The traditional caveat of yesteryear against ending sentences with prepositions is, for most writers, an unnecessary and pedantic restriction ... The “rule” prohibiting terminal prepositions was an ill-founded superstition. Blue Book of Grammar Prepositions Rule 1 states: One of the undying myths of English grammar is that you may not end a sentence with a preposition. Beginning a sentence with a conjunction: CMoS 5.206 states: There is a widespread belief—one with no historical or grammatical foundation—that it is an error to begin a sentence with a conjunction such as and, but, or so. (It also goes on to point, however, that it is important to be clear on when they should be used to complement or contrast the preceding statements) I don't actually have a copy of the Blue Book of Grammar, and this rule isn't in their online free use section. As always, editing standards are extremely fluid, but it's good to know the information currently in use so you know if you want agree, disagree, or just avoid the situation altogether.

Thanks, bundu_st! This is another story that could be expanded and/or revisited. And you don't have to comment on all my stories, though I certainly do appreciate it when you do!

Maybe I need to end these with: All know-it-all information compiled by Cia. Any corrections, comments, or critiques should be directed at her (especially corrections). No tomatoes, please.

This month we're featuring CJames' Circumnavigation with a whole new style of Signature features. Monday you probably saw the current ad banner running in Stories, as well as a signature banner fans can use to show their appreciation of his story. If you haven't, go check it out now and download your copy! We also featured several reviews of the story to whet your interest, if you haven't read the story. Now, usually authors will get to choose the excerpt we share on this feature post, the goat has been MIA for some time. I've decided to share the most important part of a story, imo... the initial hook! Circumnavigation Prologue May 15th, 1997 The dawn came as with a thunder, a fitting omen for the day. Fifteen miles northeast of Cocoa Beach, Florida, the catamaran Ares, a fifty-five foot charter boat, bobbed in the light northerly chop. The passengers didn’t mind. Not one bit. Their attention was elsewhere; on a structure just onshore to their northwest, which was a collection of pipes and gantries, topped by a lightning rod and holding a large orange tank astride two smaller white columns. At first glance, it looked like part of an oil refinery. It was, however, something far different: Launchpad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Watching through her binoculars, Captain Rachel Carlson told her passengers, “The orbiter access arm is retracting. Won’t be long now; about seven minutes.” Rachel tuned a portable radio to NASA’s PA channel, which called out the events leading up to launch. At twenty seconds, they began calling out the countdown, and Rachel smiled as her passengers held their collective breaths. Though it had occurred over ten years before, the Challenger Disaster was still a poignant memory.​ Read more here or go straight to the story!

This month we begin a brand new feature to promote our Signature Authors. Instead of the computer background each month, we're going to promote the featured Signature author's story with an ad banner that will run in Stories. I'm also adding a banner that works for personal signatures on the site for the authors and their fans to use to help promote their feature! This month, we start off with C James! Length: 1,082,090 Description: Trevor, through little fault of his own, finds himself with few choices. Desperate and hunted, he decides that his best chance is to head out to sea on his boat, for a circumnavigation of the Earth. His boat, Atlantis, is a fifty-five foot cruising catamaran, bequeathed to him by his mother prior to her mysterious disappearance. Come along for the ride and explore with Trevor, as he discovers many things, not the least of which is himself. Story Reviews: Jess 30519 says... What an amazing adventure! What a great story! It is wonderful how you have managed to maintain the pace and energy throughout all 158 chapters. And I cannot imagine how many hours you must have spent in researching so many details, scientific, geographic, nautical and all the other aspects that make this such a compelling piece of writing. I have been a sailor all of my life, owning and chartering mostly monohulls but an occasional multihull, and at no time while reading "Circumnavigation" did I encounter a wrong note or false premise. Amazing! Thank you so very much for writing this story! I thoroughly enjoyed it and am kicking myself for putting off reading it for so long, but I'm glad I did wait for a time when I was able to enjoy it properly. Thanks again! Miles Long says... I had to thank you C James one last time for such a thrilling adventure ride. This was my second read, I enjoyed it so much the first time I couldn't stop to comment (it was too damn compelling) but I promised myself that I would go back, because a story this well thought out and researched deserves reviews aplenty and all the likes GA will allow me . Thanks again to you and your team. Melethen says... I am terribly sorry it took me so long to read this wonderful, suspense filled story. For several months I have been addicted to it and finally finished it today! Thanks for spinning this tale and sharing it with us. I know I am rather late since the story was written several years ago, but for some reason I put off reading it until now, I really can't thank you enough. NK says... I have read, and re-read all of your stories. I have enjoyed each one, but Circumnavigation is the best (in my not so humble opinion). I hope that you will continue to write, so that your readers can continue to enjoy your work!! Sandrewn says... CJames From the beginning to the end. Thank you ever so much. Sandrewn If you want to support CJames and share you love of this story, download this signature sized copy of his ad banner and share it on your profile now! I've included a link to the story, if you want to make your signature clickable!! https://www.gayauthors.org/story/c-james/circumnavigationCJ

There are so many different ways to get into writing, much less into genre specific material. It was fun to read what prompted others to find their voice in gay fiction.

Who else thinks this is a good month to curl up with a story and a hot/cold beverage? I do, I do!! This story has been called beautiful, fabulous, and wonderful, so I thought it could use some feature time. Check out this month's featured story, read it, then be ready to come back and share your thoughts on the discussion day at the end of the month! A Rescued Life by Lilansui Length: 53,313 Description: Stabbed and left for dead, Toshiro Shindo is at the end of the rope: no hope, no one to care, no reason to live. And then Jason rescues him, and shows him kindness and then love. When the man who stabbed him returns for him, Toshiro fights to keep the life Jason rescued. A Reader Said: You really amped it up at the end...it was great throughout, but you finished it with a bang. ~ Cannd ​ This month's ​discussion will take place on Monday, November 30th.

Update: After discussion and review of the situation with the author whose work was plagiarized, we determined the actual theft occurred after the author stopped posting on GA, which is why it wasn't in the story here. It's really sad his story had to be removed for what amount to a chapter or two's worth of content. However, a plagiarist is someone we don't want on the site in any case, so the story and author have been removed. Thank you to Reader1810 for bringing the situation to light when Drew was looking for more information. The reader community is an amazing resource to protect authors' rights, and I know we all appreciate it!

This author has not been active for some time on GA, and no one notified us of the situation, but we are researching the story now to see if it is indeed plagiarized. If so, it will be removed from the site. In the future, if any reader/member suspects a story is plagiarized, feel free to send me a PM as well, so we can make sure we check it out.

Epilogue “Wildman was here last night. It’s soup without bread for lunch until we can get some more, but he left a gift.” The basket where we usually kept the bread was filled with bits and pieces, metal and gears, cogs and wires. “He always finds the best stuff.” I rifled through the mess. “You know, you’re a much better inventor than your father ever was.” “What he did didn’t interest me.” I shrugged. “This is different. Everything out here is different.” Living at the edge of an ancient c

'Tis the witching week! Perfect timing to talk about the three short stories we featured this month by GA authors, Gee Whillickers, Cynus, and Bill W. Did you make time to read them? They're only about 5k each, so if you haven't, check out the announcement blog post with links to each one. If you did, now's the time to add your comments and reviews! First, of course, I have a great interview with each author to share. Cynus: What’s your favorite Halloween memory or tradition? This memory starts off really sad, but it has a happy ending. My first boyfriend, and my best friend, died in the spring. He was killed in a motorcycle accident when we were sixteen. Over the next few months, I lost nearly all of my friendships because of the resulting depression. I simply couldn't be around people, and the kids I knew just didn't understand. I did have one friend who stood by me, and as we entered fall he started inviting me over to his house. I was still so entrenched in my depression that I didn't take his invite, but a week before Halloween we were walking home together, and he suddenly grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward his house at the point where we normally said goodbye to each other. I resisted, but he kept pulling, and so I pulled back harder. He eventually gave up and went his way, but I could tell he was hurt by how I was acting. Over the next week, I kept thinking about what had happened. I knew he was going out trick-or-treating with his younger brother on Halloween, and I decided I was going to ambush him and then follow him back to his house, surprising him for Halloween. It worked, and I ended up spending the night at his house. Our friendship grew from there, and we're still best friends today, and have been roommates for almost seven years now. I credit that night with the beginning of the friendship which saved my life, and it happened on Halloween. The spooky season often inspires new twists based on old tales. Did that come into play with your story? Can't say that it did. If I did pull from some other story I knew, then I definitely don't remember which story it was. I've always been fond of scarecrows, and martial artists, and pagan gods, and cute kids with mohawks... I just threw them all together. Oh, there is this one episode of Supernatural which influenced it a bit, so I suppose there's a connection there. Why did you pick your particular creepy critter? A love of ghosts? A desire to tell your own vampire schtick? A fascination with the living dead? There's something about scarecrows which I've always found fascinating. I don't really know why, other than perhaps the thought of a guardian over the harvest sparks my pagan brain moving in awesome directions. Which is probably why I chose to make Jack a god as well. Do you have a favorite part of the story? A character or scene? The big reveal, when Jack jumps off his pole and advances toward Jordan. Don't know how well I conveyed it in the writing, but that part played like a movie in my head over and over again. Jack's monstrous and magical appearance, and the look of horror on Jordan's face... I loved every moment of fear the bully experienced. Do you have other Halloween/horroresque story that you want to share with readers? It can be your own or one you really enjoy. (include links if you want, and I’ll add those) Halloween is actually what started me writing online. My first story I ever released was part of a Halloween collection at Awesomedude.com, but it's also hosted here now. The Drawbacks of Being a Monster is one of my favorites, and you can read it here: http://www.gayauthor...ofbeingamonster. I also have a new story which will be released for this Halloween. I don't plan on releasing it until Monday, as it's entered into a blind contest on another website where people are to vote without knowing who the authors are, but I'll surely advertise it once it posts. One of my favorite authors at AwesomeDude, Lil' Octopus, released this little gem last year, and I found it as exhilarating as most of his work. It's title is "Lost in the Woods", and you can find it here: http://awesomedude.c...n-the-woods.htm Gee Whillickers: What’s your favorite Halloween memory or tradition? Halloween movie marathons. When I was a teen a couple of friends and myself would rent two three Halloween themed movies, the cornier the better, and on the weekend nearest to Halloween we'd get together and watch these until all hours. Afterwards, we'd get into these weird half serious, half ridiculous existential discussions about the 'deeper meaning' of the movies. Eventually this always got sillier and stupider until we were imagining all kinds of things from hidden messages about alien invasions to political critiques on the organization and design of suburban neighbourhoods. Yeah, we were a weird bunch. But I remember those nights, and the fun we had. The spooky season often inspires new twists based on old tales. Did that come into play with your story? Absolutely! The story was a pretty generic teen boy-meets-boy tale, but the boys' zombie costumes gave me a way to have some fun with the too-often used tropes of these kinds of stories. One of the things Halloween stories in our genre can often do is play with the idea of hiding, wearing costumes, playing a role, something that strikes a chord with many of us depending on the challenges we faced growing up and often still face when we become adults. Why did you pick your particular creepy critter? A love of ghosts? A desire to tell your own vampire schtick? A fascination with the living dead? There's something about zombies that I find fun. Even before the current zombie craze with The Walking Dead and World War Z and the like. You can do so much with the idea, it's not quite as limited as the rule set around Dracula, or Werewolves, and they seem to strike a real deep primal fear in us when its done right. Do you have a favorite part of the story? A character or scene? Absolutely. The climax, when Val and Danny end up kissing with their friends all yelling about zombie rights. The whole 'they can't help being undead' and 'if they're eating each other's brains then they won't go after yours' stuff was just a blast to play around with. Do you have other Halloween/horroresque story that you want to share with readers? It can be your own or one you really enjoy. There's so many good ones. 'The Halloween from Hell' by Cole Parker is great, if a bit dark. http://awesomedude.c...n-from-hell.htm One of mine from a few years ago that I had a lot of fun with is 'The Costume' http://awesomedude.c...whillickers.htm I'm also writing a new Halloween story that I hope to have finished and edited within a short period of time. Look for it! Bill W: ​ What’s your favorite Halloween memory or tradition? I grew up in the country, so I couldn't go trick-or-treating by yourself until I was a teenager. Out of all of the neighbors' houses I'd be taken too, I remember one place most of all. It was an elderly woman who lived alone and made some extra money by making cookies and selling them at her little roadside stand throughout the year. At Halloween, she'd give us one of those cookies when we stopped by. They were as large as a bread plate and the most delicious cookies I think I've even eaten. We had the choice of a sugar, chocolate chip, peanut butter or molasses cookie, but she always let me take two. I also remember some of the pranks I was part of as a teen, although I'll skip going into detail about those, in case there was no statute of limitations on our activities. lol The spooky season often inspires new twists based on old tales. Did that come into play with your story? Actually, mine started out being based on a news report I'd once heard, where the coroner started to perform an autopsy on a man and discovered he wasn't dead after all. Adding that to my fear of what it must be like being trapped in your body and not being able to communicate, the story just grew from there. Why did you pick your particular creepy critter? A love of ghosts? A desire to tell your own vampire schtick? A fascination with the living dead? Although this story isn't quite the same, I think it grew out of my morbid fascination throughout my youth about the stories of people who'd been buried alive. Again, being trapped in their own bodies, although I'm not sure if any of them ever realized what was happening at the time, especially when they were being buried. Do you have a favorite part of the story? A character or scene? I like the part where you can hear his thoughts about what he wants to do, but he's unable to put them into action or communicate with anyone that he's not really dead. I also like the very end, when he finally figures out what actually saved him. Bill didn't want to toot his own horn, but I will say he has several other Halloween stories to choose from, such as A Halloween Nightmare, From Beyond the Grave, Role Reversal... and more! You can find them here.

I half expected Anna to put guards on us, but when we ventured out of our room to look for something to eat, there was no one obviously waiting outside our doors and everyone in the hall appeared to be on their way to or from somewhere, not lingering suspiciously. “Well that makes things easier,” I muttered. “What?” Teddy asked. “Turn right here.” “Oh, just that you remember where the kitchens are. I want to stop by wherever their medical staff hides out. You need a new sling, and I want someo

Ready for more Halloween fun? This month we're featuring KC for the Signature background with his story A Grim Fairytale. Have you read it yet? You can check out my review of his story here. What about his themed desktop background? It's spookily fitting for this time of year! But first, you can't miss this interview where KC shares a little information of the... naughty variety. What’s your favorite Halloween tradition? With a name like Grim, Halloween has to be my favorite Holiday! Growing up, Halloween was a big event in our house. Our entire neighborhood was always decked out with lots of creepy crawly things and my family had a huge costume party that everyone came to. It was THE party of the year! If you missed it, you’d hear about it for weeks. Ever been on the wrong side of an egging? The right side? I plead the Fifth! LOL Oh yeah, as a kid we did it all. Egging houses, toilet papering trees, ding-dong-ditch, flaming bags of poop….you name it, we did it and now that I have a teenager I’m getting payback for all my years as a hellion. We’ve only had our house egged once (knock-on-wood) but we live really far out in the country so it’s a lot harder to pull those pranks than when I was a kid growing up in the city. Do you have a favorite ghost, ghoul, or gruesome creature? Or do you prefer cuddly creatures? There’s enough time to be cute and cuddly the rest of the year. Halloween is for ghouls!! The scarier the better. I love special effects make-up. The entire month of October I work at a local Haunted House called Shocktober and I’ve gotten really good at torn flesh, bloody gashes, and faces being ripped off. It’s so much fun scaring people. What inspired you to write the story A Grim Fairytale? This story was written as a birthday gift for a very dear friend of mine. He loved it ((and I saved money on wrapping paper! )) I’ve always wanted to write my own twisted fairytale and this story was so much fun to create. I tried to keep in the style of the Brothers Grimm, but of course with my own Grim flair. Do you have a favorite scene or static image from the plot? There are so many scenes I like, but my favorite is when Magda kills the piglet and Marcus brings it back to life. Even at a young age, it’s clear that Marcus is a pure soul and his mother can’t tarnish who he really is inside, no matter how much she tries. Magda means ‘maiden’ and Marcus is ‘dedicated to Mars’, the Roman god of fertility. Given how Marcus was conceived, were those name chosen as a subtle tweak of the characters for the storyline? I always put way too much thought into character development. Even if it’s a short story and I’m just scratching the surface on paper, I always have a complete backstory, even if only for myself. Not only do the names need to fit the character, I want it to feel like they have morphed into the personification of who they were made to be. Your story brings into a question of the duality of good and evil—how does each come into being and do they exist only with or without each other? How do you view that aspect of the A Grim Fairytale? I’m a big believer of the duality of good and evil, yin and yang, light and dark. You can’t have one without the other. My favorite lines from the story: “Everyone knows the tales of All Hallows Eve. On this night, the boundary between our world and the spirit world thins. For one night alone, demons can pass through to our realm. Yet as dark and terrifying as this night might be, out of the deepest darkest blackness comes the purest light.” Magda’s dark heart is balanced by Marcus’s wholesomeness. Do you have any other holiday-themed stories you’d like to mention, maybe ones that go beyond the spooky season? Yes! I have a Christmas story floating around out there called, “Mistletoe and Handgrenades.” It’s a flash fiction story about what happens after your life explodes and you now have to pick-up the pieces. It is a happy holiday treat. Check it out.

“Hello, William. I am glad you’re all right, and that we could save you before you were returned to the city. How’s your neck?” “It’ll be fine.” The raw weals stung, but were so far down on my list of things to care about, it wasn’t even humorous. I snapped my mouth shut on the words I wanted to say about their supposed rescue. “Teddy was hurt when we destroyed Shvesla’s machine. He has a damaged shoulder, and he’s recovering mentally. He can’t walk on his own.” Anna gestured to two men who fa

Happy Birthday!!!