Cia

Today I'm featuring an interview with Rob as part of his Signature feature. Btw, did you download your copy of the background yet? Now, Rob is a popular man, so we've featured interviews with him in the past, so I didn't want to go with the usual author questions. This time I asked him a different series of questions, so I hope you'll enjoy this insight into the flash group, writing Noah's New Plan, and Rob's future plans! What brought you to the Wednesday Briefers flash group? I was contacted by Julie Lynn Hayes, who runs the group. We knew of each other through another Wednesday Briefer, M. A. Church. I thought it would be a great way to practice my writing and to get something “out there” every week, during a time frame when I didn’t have any new books coming. Did you like having the prompts for the following week posted just 7 days in advance? Seven days works – it’s a perfect timeframe. If it was longer, I think you’d lose some of the spontaneity the briefs group inspires. Was writing in short bursts, just 500 to 1000 words each week, easier or harder than your normal method? Most weeks I didn’t have an issue with the word count, though several times I went over the 1000 limit by a few words. Having a deadline was definitely the worst part – I’ve found I just don’t write that way by default. I needed to have it ready before Wednesday each week, and there were plenty of times where I struggled with that. Did the inspiration for the characters or the plot of Noah’s New Plan come to you first? The character inspiration definitely came first. When I wrote the first chapter, all I really had was Noah’s backstory: a man who has to start over after a long-term relationship. Eli would come along to shake things up, breaking Noah out of the rigid shell he’d boxed himself into. Your story—as most of them are—is unashamedly sexual, but in this one that contrast was made far more marked by the lack of sex in the long-term relationship Noah got out of before he met Eli. Was that aspect written purposely or just part of the evolving changes in Noah as you wrote the story? Oh yes, that was an aspect of Noah’s life I knew in advance. Eli busted onto the scene and turned Noah’s world upside down. Noah didn’t realize that passion was missing from his life until he met Eli. Eli worked as a security guard and a bar bouncer… but he seems like a very multi-layered character. We don’t see any career aspirations outside of his current jobs, but is that something that might change, say in a sequel? It’s not fair for me to say Eli doesn’t have ambitions; he is just happy where he is. He’s a laid back kind of guy, but he knows what he wants and goes for it. And in this story, he decided he wanted Noah. By the end of the story, I’d say he has everything he needs. Do you have a favorite scene in the story? Noah’s New Plan had a great stopping point—which I won’t spoil for potential readers—but do you have any plans to go back and share more of Eli and Noah’s story? At this time I don’t really have plans to revisit Eli and Noah. I think they ended on a great point, as you said. I did continue the story in a sense, though. Rex, Eli’s friend and boss at the bar he works, gets his own story in “The Buckle” – part of the Stranded anthology of short stories, published by Wayward Ink Press. Eli makes a brief cameo at the beginning of the story. Can we expect a new Wednesday Briefs story from you? Yes! I plan on starting up a new short story for Halloween.

“Will, Teddy saw something he can’t unsee. I don’t think it’s safe to look for the bones of the ghost right now.” I sponged Teddy’s forehead with my damp handkerchief, but he still wasn’t responding. The young page nodded shakily. “I don’t need to be braver than Jesse anyway. He got an ear boxing yesterday from the cook and bawled like a baby.” Will peered at Teddy’s pasty face. “He really doesn’t look good.” “I think he just needs to get home and rest.” I rubbed Teddy’s back, urging him to st

So, in honor of the title, and the general theme of Rob's story, Noah's New Plan, I decided to do something a little different this month for the review of the Signature Feature story. Instead of one reviewer giving us their take on the story, I asked a series of readers the same questions and asked them to pick a few to answer (and some picked all of them, lol). I hope you'll enjoy this new feature format, and don't forget to download your copy of the signature background for this month if you haven't yet! Plus for Wednesday's feature I asked Rob a few questions to answer about the story too! Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton Signature Author Length: 32,356 Status: Complete What was your original impression of Eli: The same as Noah's, based on his description, or were you into his rugged looks from the beginning? Mann Ramblings: I was into Eli from the start. Rob has some eerie psychic connection to my preferences for top characters. I've yet to find one I didn't want to push the bottom aside and steal for myself. Clochette: I was not really into Eli's looks and as the story is being told from Noah point of view, even if it's not at the first person, my view of Eli was obviously a bit influence by how Noah was seeing/describing him (a big bald man with a beard and a gun at his hip). So, yes Eli not looking like the type of person you imagine walking into a library every day, even could pass as kinda scary my thoughts were "What is he doing here? what could he possibly want? is he going to be troubles for Noah (for who I already had a soft spot)?" Valkyrie: A man in a wet uniform clinging to his bulging muscles, with a beard and tattoos...what's not to like? Noah and Eli's first "not-a-date" was pretty awkward at first and then smoothed out when they started to talk honestly. Did you relate to that scene in any particular way? Did it make you enjoy the chapter more? Timothy M: To be honest most of that chapter made me cringe. But I did laugh about Eli’s backwards compliment on Noah looking young. And Eli was quick to understand ‘what a prick’ Noah’s ex is. Headstall: I loved the 'not a date' scene, especially when Noah actually laughed out loud at the thought of having cake with ice cream. I think that revealed a helluva lot to Eli. When Eli took it upon himself to order chocolate cake a la mode--with two forks--I was all in. It was amusing that Noah thought of this date as practice for a real one. So naive lol. I fooled myself the same way one time as well, so I did relate. Sometimes we don't see it coming... and in Noah's case, Eli sneaked (I want to use 'snuck', but the red lines, you know) up on him without our librarian realizing it. Noah jumped from a prudish, quiet book-lover to geek chic wildman in bed. How believable was that transition over the course of the story? Puppilull: I didn't find his transformation strange at all. He went from a relationship where his partner liked an idea of him that wasn't really Noah. When Eli set him free so to speak and actually loved Noah, his true self could come out. No fear of not being loved or respected. Headstall: I didn't look at Noah as having a transformation as a lover, so much as he was finally with a partner that let him be his true self. He wasn't restricted anymore by what Derek considered acceptable or proper. For me, his sexual development with Eli rang true at every step. I loved that he was able to finally ask for what he wanted. We saw the real Noah rising (no pun intended) when he said to Eli, "That sounds like a challenge. I do love a challenge." Another 'nutshell' moment, I think. Did you have a favorite chapter or scene? Why did you like it? Mann Ramblings: My favorite was the scene where Derek interrupts Eli and Noah after sex and Noah holds him at gunpoint before shaming Derek's lack of familiarity with Eli's pleasure noises. I think Derek is the perfect example of every shady, slimy guy I've ever met. Watching him fail to gain the upper hand is balm to my soul. Timothy M: Apart from all the hilarious scenes with Noah’s coworkers, and the moment where I think my favorite scene may be in ch. 18: Derek's face went red and he pointed his finger at Noah's face. "I don't want you seeing him!" "Well, I didn't want you screwing what's-his-face while we were still together. I guess neither of us gets what we want." I enjoyed seeing Noah not only stand up to Derek, but to put him in his place with a few sarcastic sentences. Just perfect. I like shy, but intelligent guys with a dry wit. Headstall: Favorite scene or chapter? Too difficult to pick only one, but I will say one of my favorite chapters was Chapter 6. Possibly the best line in the whole story was in the scene with the cab driver. "Like he was going to take advice from a woman in a mullet." I laughed my ass off because this was so Noah at that point. I went from laughing to feeling sad for Noah when he took her advice and went to 'Rainbow' instead of 'The Buckle'. The harsh reality of the twink bar made me feel so sorry for our hero. When he got up the nerve to go to 'The Buckle', I mentally cheered, and when Eli told Crane, the pushy muscle/bear guy to "get his hands off his boy", I cheered again. Another note: In Chapter 7, when they kissed for the first time at the door check at 'Buckle', and Noah waved a guy through, saying "You're good", I thought it captured the moment perfectly. It was hilarious, and nothing mattered but the kiss. Did you like the posting style of flash chapters between 500 words and 1000, but a guaranteed update almost every week? Why or why not? Puppilull: I know a lot of people complain about short chapters like these (I might have done that myself on occasion...), but to get updates at such regular intervals and so often make up for that. I find it more annoying to wait months and months for an update of a story I like, even if I truly understand that inspiration and time are sometimes rare commodities for writers. A particularly greedy reader could exercise restraint and "collect" a few chapters and read every other week. But that would mean putting a leash on your curiosity.... Valkyrie: Yes. This was the first story I read that's a part of the Wednesday Briefers, and I am currently following two more. I like the frequent updates. The short chapters, while frustrating at times, allow the author to convey a lot of information in few words. It's a great exercise in creativity, and difficult to do well. Where would you like to see Noah and Eli's story go from the ending? Clochette: The story ended with the two of them living together happily, so maybe seeing what kind of life they build for themselves after that would be nice. But we already had a happy ending so for me it was a good ending for the story. Timothy M: Normally I’m all for sequels and ‘More!’ but in this case I think the story ended at the right place.

Would I do that to you? Okay, yes, yes I would. LOL They're alive... but in what shape? For how long? What might they still face in their quest to right some wrongs and live in peace? More next week!

Yessss!!!

The metal gears on the machine ground to a halt with a grating screech. The metal rods crashed down, clanging against the stone flagging. Sparks flew where they bounced and then rolled. I hoped Wildman was okay, but I couldn’t look away from Teddy. The steam flowed around us, strangely cold against my skin. It obscured his face for a moment, and I panicked. “Teddy!” I strained against the cage, and the flare cut through the steam, but it also sent another surge of power from me through Teddy,

The weather has turned, and it's rainy... which reminded me of a story from a past anthology I really enjoyed. Renee has announced a special anthology redo for 2016 allowing members to pick any--or all--past anthologies they didn't participate in to feature a new story. One of the older anthologies I really enjoyed was "Worth Fighting For" and my favorite story of that series was this one, so I hope you'll enjoy it too! The Rainy Day by Graeme Length: 7,598 A Reader Said: What I liked best about this story was the juxtaposition between Brat's behavior and attitude and his "doing the right thing". That's far from easy to do, and Graeme did it very well indeed. ~ C James The CSR Discussion Day will take place on Monday, September 28th!

His dissociative behavior definitely has cause. Don't worry, the cliffy will be answered next week!

Wildman darted between me and the guard. “Stop!” My yell was strangled. I had to lower the gun; I’d almost pulled the trigger when he moved. My heart raced and sweat dripped down my back. “Get me out of this thing,” Teddy said. He was straining at the bars of the cage. Wildman had the guard on the floor, savagely beating him. He wasn’t moving, except with the blows that rained down with a strength that seemed to defy Wildman’s size and had everything to do with his fury. “Just wait.” I holst

Happy Birthday, hun!!!

He does, doesn't he? But he's so hard to read, there's no telling what secrets he's hiding... or why he's so determined to stay away from everyone.

I hope you liked the next chapter to answer these questions! Wildman is my fav character in this story, I think.

“We shouldn’t split up,” Teddy said. “I agree, but which way do we go? We don’t have an unlimited amount of time. At least we won’t get lost.” Our footprints left a clear path behind us in the layer of dust. “This way.” Wildman didn’t even wait for us to discuss it, he just plunged ahead down the right corridor. “Does this seem like the right way?” I whispered to Teddy as we trailed him. “Right way,” Wildman said. Teddy shrugged. “I don’t know where we are under the palace, but we’re defini

The only caveat is that you ensure the story is predominately in English. Using the non-English phrases with a character that has English as a 2nd language, and possibly having difficulty with speaking it, or setting the story in a country that has another language as their official language is fine as part of the authenticity of the story, but we do need most of the content to be English.

That is a somewhat subjective editing element. Technically, both instances that can be removed without affecting the meaning of the sentence, but I agree, with the 2nd one I'd be more inclined to leave it in.

Happy Birthday, JoAnn!!

I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with Teddy, but that wasn’t going to happen. We dressed in dark clothing, saying nothing until I noticed Teddy left his sling off. “You need to wear that.” “Will, we’re sneaking into the palace to find Shvesla’s machine in order to destroy it. Who knows what will happen? I’ll be careful, but I may need to use both arms. We’re already stuck going in there alone; it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Arguing with him would waste precious time, even if I did

Happy Birthday, Bill!

Thanks, guys! I did have a good day. Did some baking and went to a friend's place to see their 1/2 doberman and 1/2 black German Shepherd puppies my family is desperately trying to convince to get one. We ended up staying for dinner and bringing one of their kids home for a sleepover, lol. But I didn't have to cook!

I didn't realize I hadn't posted Wednesday's chapter til I saw the blog. Whoops! So yeah, this is just the one readers should've gotten on Wed. Sorry! Thanks so much for the reviews, Valkyrie. I am glad you like these guys. I admit, they've really grown on me, too.

Varket is creepy! LOL

They did... this time!! But they must keep going back and braving the lion's den.

Awww!!! ​ Thank you everyone!!

“We did it.” Teddy and I sat facing each other in the carriage on the way back to my parents’ house. I had my hands folded together, but Teddy was sitting on his to hide the trembling. We were both riding a natural high, but the prospect of what we were about to do loomed high. “You did it.” He’d led us through the dusty tunnels, eventually leading down to the cell. Better, we’d found keys just inside a heavy, wooden door that led to the cells. I’d snagged them and tried each key on the door un

Happy Birthday, Caz!!