Cia

Hmm... is he? Gotta wait for next week to find out! Thanks for reading and reviewing, LadyDe.

Thank you! That's a great compliment. The chapters are so short, though, because I write this each week with prompts from my off-GA Wednesday Briefers group. We all post flash fiction on our blogs and link to each other's sites/our central blog site each week. It's a lot of fun, and several GA members take part, as well as other authors not members here as well. Sadly, one of the rules is our flash has to be between 500 and 1000 words.

That all depends on how you play it. If you stick to the new POV for a while, like you did the first, and then alternate it might remain balanced enough not to feel like a sudden change without any justification. It's your story, though--only you can say how it should read.

Great questions and answers. I like how the questions go beyond the usual 'why do you write such and such' to get answers that give us a good peek inside the author's 'why and what for'. Remember, if anyone wants to turn the tables on Dark, he's going to do a live Q&A on Saturday, Sept. 27th on the CSR blog, too!

The crowded Tigers bent in a wave of moving bodies, like saplings before a strong wind. Here and there, one hesitated, until a single Tiger still stood. Benny eyed him. Some of the Tigers he’d grown up with were gone, including his family, and there were a lot of strangers he didn’t recognize. He’d met many of Yuri’s clan when they merged with his, but he didn’t recognize the massive Tiger staring at the body sprawled at Benny’s feet. “Are you challenging me?” Benny laid his ears back and bared

I like going through stories on GA and finding things that might not follow the usual run-of-the-mill story path. This month, we're going to have some fun with something the author is describing as fan-fiction of a fan-fiction of a fan-fiction... But, since the author is Dark, I'm sure readers are in for a great ride! The Phantom by Dark Length: 34,195 Description: Meet Mark. He's a TV reporter for a city called Necropolis. Meet Gerry. He's haunted. In a city infested with supers, everyone thinks it's all some big publicity stunt, but is it? Author note: So, yes, every once in a while even the Great Dark gets caught up in something outrageously silly. This story is fanfiction from a friend's fanfiction that she wrote as a spin-off to even more fanfiction. Lost yet? Never fear! There is a link for you, but beware! If you go there, be prepared for something very silly. Here's the link: http://yaoi.y-gallery.net/club/7664/ A reader said: But it's a very good story! Don't forget to come back for the CSR Discussion day, taking place on Saturday Sept. 27th. Dark will be available for a live blog chat at noon, Alaska time. Just cause that's not the usual zones, so Pacific would be +1 hour later, Mountain is +2 hours, Central is +3 hours, and East is +4 hours.

They are too short! But, at least you know they're coming each week, right? LOL

Benny’s phone rang. He growled, annoyed as he tore off a strip of tape to secure down the bandage on his side. Velaku’s name popped up on the screen. “Hello.” “The Clan is assembled at the property, guarded by the Falcons,” Velaku said shortly. “I’m assuming you’re taking charge shortly, Alpha?” He didn’t have to ask if Benny killed Sheshtun—that he’d allow the bastard to live, even if he’d yielded, wasn’t an option. Benny didn’t want to go back into that house, but this time he’d be the one g

I have some questions (as I can't be sure to be here on time for the chat) about your ending. Did it go the way you expected? A lot of the time, because I write in a linear fashion, I end up with an ending completely different from what I expected. How did that work out for you? Was the hell you put Gabe through always going to turn out as it did? (trying for no spoilers, lol) Also, when you get a story idea, do you get any particular part of the story first? A general idea vs. say the beginning or end, or a single scene in the story? You said with this story it was the opening between Gabe and Lincoln, but does that usually hold true for all your work?

August has come and gone, and I'm rejoicing. School starts in just over a week, but the week left is packed full of fun and games with swimming, library, swimming, an outdoor pool/playground/putt putt/lake resort, and camping prep for our big camping weekend. A last hurrah of all our favorite fun of the summer. But what happens when games aren't fun? At least... maybe not for InTheMindOfSunshine's characters in her story, In the Depths of Despair. What did you think of the story? Make sure you share your thoughts about the story, Sunshine's interview, or any questions about her writing in general. She'll answer whatever questions you leave today, as well as come back for a 'live' chat on the blog from 8:30 to 9:30 PM, Central Time. Single people work more. Are you single? Single – I have an awful track record with relationships so it’s for the best at the moment. Who do you like best, Jerry or Tom? Tom – I’m a cat person through and through. What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)? PJs, which really just consist of a really big t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Oh, and the appropriate undergarments; however, I figured that was a given. But I’m answering this in the wee hours of night. Actually, it’s only like eleven. Do your characters try to make like bunnies and create ever more convoluted plots for you? Or do you have to coax them out of your characters? It depends. The Paradox Series, which I have recently marked as completed, is an example of the characters taking over. The first story of it was originally just about a bullied kid (Spencer) becoming friends – and later the love interest – of a typical guy (Nix). Then, before the first chapter even ends, [spoiler alert for anyone who has not read The Paradox of Friendship] two of Nix’s friends, Riley and Dexter, are revealed to be the ones who bully Spencer. From there, the storyline hit the ground running and even spawned a sequel. On the other hand, In the Depths of Despair was difficult to write at times, because the writing style was, what I like to call, raw. It was not fancy or dressed up. It was a story about suicide and about all that goes along with such a battle. That is messy and unpredictable and ugly, even, at times so I tried to write in a style which would reflect that. The characters occasionally didn’t want to go along with certain things that had to happen so it was a touch-and-go story from the beginning. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Conjugating the verb ‘lay’ is my biggest enemy. I hate it. I always have to look that up and still doubt my choice. I’m a native English speaker and will soon have a degree in English, but I still struggle with the conjugation of some irregular verbs. Do you have any writing rituals? I write to music a lot, because television distracts me too much. (Dang you, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.) I can’t be too tired when I sit down to write so sometimes it’s harder to write at night. My primary goal is to always just get words down, because I can always edit later. I just write everything which needs to happen without caring how unorganized it initially is. Then I go back and clean it up. How did you come up with the title for In the Depths of Despair? By luck. Honestly, I’m awful at titles. My working titles are more often than not just the name of the main character. I’m so indecisive that sometimes I just leave whatever first came to my mind in the two seconds it took to save the document for the first time. (Ground Rules, for example, was named so because it was the ground rules for a new story.) In the Depths of Despair was a synonym for suicidal, because that was the theme of it. I actually didn’t think of it. I asked a friend of mine what she might call the story. (The working title was Gabe, and I almost posted it as such here.) Did the characters or the plot come to you first? Um… It’s been so long that I don’t clearly remember! I think the characters did. I wrote the story because of the opening scene between Gabe and Lincoln. It just wouldn’t leave me alone until it was written down. The plot came in later when I actually sat down to plan it out and finally got a grasp of who Lincoln was and what Henry’s past had been and why Gabe didn’t seem to want to be a happy character. What was your favorite part of the story? I really enjoyed the scenes between Finn and Henry. Although I never intended the pairing to Gabe/Finn, I had fun making Henry think that was the case. It was a nice refresher, for me at least, to step away from the darker issue of the story. Can you share a little of your current work with us? Everything I have posted currently has a ‘completed’ tag; however, there is a follow up to The Paradox of Promises. I know I’ve said that the entire series is completed – and Nix/Spencer’s story really is! – but I wrote a mini-sequel of sorts as a gift for a friend and have been toying with the idea of posting it for some time. It takes place, roughly half of a year after the conclusion of the series. I won’t say what pairing it features, though. I’ve also recently finished a short story in which the protagonist finds himself held as prisoner. I’m on the fence about posting this one as well. It one gets a little nitty gritty – worse, I believe, than I ever dared to get in the Paradox Series. So basically I need to just get my act together and post one or both of them. What are your future projects? I’ve got a couple of stories on which I’m working, and they’re both in various stages of the beginning. The first one is a revamp of an old story that I’ve rewritten like dozens of times. In its current form, it’s almost unrecognizable when compared to the original. It’s set in college, and this is the (rough) description for it: Because sometimes a set of stairs can change a life. Because sometimes a couch is a home. And because sometimes it’s really not that easy …Or, rather, Ryder Lake meets Skyler Hart. The third one might be surprising to anyone who has read my works. It’s a sequel to Borrowing Family. This one is going to give me the most trouble, because I’m having to pick up an old style and because I’m trying a new approach with which I’ve got to be super careful or it’ll be too confusing. It could crash and burn. I don’t have a description for it, but it’s partially set a few years in the future – that is, beyond the epilogue of the first story. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us this week, Sunshine! Okay, folks, ask away!

LOL. That's fair. Cia's part of my first name... I'm not the CIA. Swear. (No matter what else everyone says!)

Welcome Bergster! Any reference to Ryan Reynolds from 2 guys, a girl, and a pizza place? He was hilarious as Berg, as well as hot.

Yep, now to deal with the clan. Yuri... well, that'll be a whole other story.

Welcome Paexie, Zook, and Mollyhousemouse! GA is a great place for authors and readers, so I hope you enjoy your time on the site!

Yes. And it really, really makes me cranky. While a lot of my 'duties' each day involves reading, both for the site and beta/editing, if I don't get time to read fiction on a regular basis because of life simply being too busy, I get very, very frazzled. I find watching TV to take far more focus than reading, oddly enough, so it's my go to 'thing' whenever I have downtime. I even give up sleep for it, such as last night when I read from 10 PM to midnight, even though I was back up at 4 AM to start my day. I'll sleep when I'm dead--I can't read.

Me too! He was definitely a character designed to draw the reader's ire, lol. Happy endings are one thing I love to share, so hopefully you'll like how the story finishes--but it's not over yet! Thanks so much for the review, Gary!

Me too! He was definitely a character designed to draw the reader's ire, lol. Happy endings are one thing I love to share, so hopefully you'll like how the story finishes--but it's not over yet! Thanks so much for the review, Gary!

Thank you!! This isn't quite 'shifter' territory, but it does follow a lot of the same themes. I tried to be original with my Carthera. The Trilogy really does need to be read in order (you might have read a few spoilers from this first)so that would be Bonds Unbroken, Two of a Kind, then Hypnotic. I'm also almost done with another 'side story' not quite in sequence with the timeline but coming after Hypnotic and Inside of You in the reading order, titled Lost Inside. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy the rest of my Carthera stories, ColumbusGuy

A happy ending? Would I give you that? Mebbe... but the story isn't over yet! More coming next week (it's already written, just sitting for a day or two for editing, and then I will make SURE it posts properly).

He was done talking. Benny answered Sheshtun’s hiss with one of his own. He flexed, the muscles in his arms rippling. He was younger, stronger, and far more pissed off. Sheshtun, for all his crazy ranting, didn’t stand a chance. Nothing was going to stop Benny from protecting his mate. The need to spill Sheshtun’s blood, hot and wet, consumed him. His vision faded at the edges, tinged red, as he focused on the snarling Tiger. Sheshtun lunged forward, and Benny met his attack. Claws raked down

No! Damn it! I posted it on my blog and here yesterday, and I have no idea why it isn't posted. I thought it did. Grrrr!! Sorry!!

No! Damn it! I posted it on my blog and here yesterday, and I have no idea why it isn't posted. I thought it did. Grrrr!! Sorry!!

No! Damn it! I posted it on my blog and here yesterday, and I have no idea why it isn't posted. I thought it did. Grrrr!! Sorry!!

No! Damn it! I posted it on my blog and here yesterday, and I have no idea why it isn't posted. I thought it did. Grrrr!! Sorry!!

My dad is an identical twin and both him and my uncle talk about themselves as the other person interchangeably, too!. I picked up my uncle at my cousin's once and drove him 2 hours home after his rig broke down. Later that night my dad called me and told me thank you for doing him a favor and really helping him out of a bind. Exactly which one of them did I pick up? LOL Okay, that goes so far beyond quirky. Maybe you should try professional gastrointestinal intervention. Your taste buds and stomach obviously have some sort of blackmail hold on you to force you into eating that glop.