Cia

Thanks, Belann! I wanted to really have a dramatic moment, because we've been building to it... but that didn't mean it was an instant cure, of course. So much going on now!

Yep, thankfully you got some of that this week.

sorry for the late reply, Mann! I hope you liked getting a bit more info this week!

Yuri tucked his hands under the sheet, clenching them together. He wanted to rub his wrists, but he had to keep them safe. He didn’t want the nurse to take off the restraints, but when the doctor said to, she did anyway. How could he do it? Yuri couldn’t be a real mate to Benny—hurting him proved that. No matter what they said to him about brain chemistry, venom, and seizures. “No. No, I don’t wanna to talk about it.” Yuri rolled over to face the wall. He stared at the small sink, avoiding th

Authors love to twist things, so readers can label things based on trends, but you'll find that not everything fits into those labels. For instance, my last anthology story had 'shifters' but they were in reality aliens, with alien forms that were fantastical (not humanoid or Earth animal standard) but they 'shifted' into humans when they sought asylum on Earth. I try to give new stories a chance on their own merit before I decide they fit into any one category.

Wow, the month is gone already! While the time is flying way too fast for me, it just means that today's the CSR Discussion day for Your Alpha, My Mate by Wolfwriter. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, don't read down because the comments will likely be spoilers. To kick off today's feature, I have an interview with Wolfwriter. She's also agreed to come back and chat on the blog 'live' from 5 to 7 PM, CST, to talk to readers and answer questions. If you can't make it during that time, please feel free to leave your comments when you can! Let's start with a bit about you. So, what do you do in ‘life’? I am currently unemployed due to a back injury but take care of a husband with Asperger’s and an anxiety disorder. Single people tend to write more… so, you single? Nope, married for 3 years next month Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Yes, I love fruits and veggies, especially strawberries Finally, and you must be honest… What are you wearing? t-shirt and lounge pants On to other things, now that we know that, lol! What brought you to GA? Followed Rob Colton and Cia from Literotica What’s your favorite aspect of the site? Have really gotten to love the chat room because I have been able to meet so many new people and make some good friendships When did you begin writing? Did some writing in high school but got serious about it June of last year when I started Your Alpha, My Mate. Tell us what gave you the idea for Your Alpha, My Mate. Have always been into werewolves, hate to say it but really got into them when I watched Twilight. Do you have a favorite character in the story? Jamie is my favorite character because he went through so much. Where are you at writing the follow up story? Can we get a sneak peek? Or do you have another writing project in the works? Bear Down is a spinoff of Your Alpha and the sequel Lonesome Theta. Currently writing Lonesome Theta for Camp NaNo WriMo. I guess you can have a sneak peek at the sequel Don't forget to come back between 5-7 CST, if you can, to chat with Wolfwriter!

Hmm... not quite. I do have a bit of a drawl most of the time though. I do not have much patients for BS though, you're quite right. LOL Just ask my kids when the words, 'Excuse me!' pop outta my mouth.

*cough* Who says I don't already have them? I have to keep everyone in line somehow!

It depends on what the scene includes. Paramedics would check the patient is alert and coherent. If so they'd ask what happened, and take vitals (bp or blood pressure pulse, respirations and oximetry with a pulsox (the machine that goes on the finger that measures blood oxygen saturation). They'd try to determine spinal stability and/or broken limbs. During transport they usually continue to take vitals, push fluids via IV especially if the patient is in shock or with low BP, and palpate (press down in various areas) on the abdomen to look for painful areas that may indicate soft tissue injuries. A bloating or hardening abdomen, or one with a growing dark, rapidly spreading contusion (bruise) could indicate internal bleeding--especially in conjunction with dropping blood pressure. The hospital will often recheck vitals or take them initially and perform the same initial assessment. They'll ask the patient what happened again (this helps determine any brain injury that might have began to manifest. Tests that might be indicated would be chest, head, arm/leg xrays. Soft tissue injury worries would trigger a CT scan. You'll hear a report to a head doctor (usually an attending) or a specialist called in for a consult by a resident doctor who handled the assessment start with 'Patient presented with... obvious injuries/vitals, results of hospital tests) Without more information, that's the best I can do. Remember, while medical staff might use these sorts of terms internally or to each other, it's perfectly okay to use more common usages when they talk to patients or family members. Some terms: Bruises: Contusions Breaks: Traumatic Fractures (simple/closed are simple hairline fractures or breaks common to forearms, wrists, and biceps as well as things like a nasal fracture-broken nose, or eye sockets, spiral fractures often result from arms being twisted, or open/compound where the broken bone ends separate and pierce the skin for a severe beating). Bones would be technically stated: orbital socket, septum/nasal bridge, cheekbone/maxilla, mandible. Arms would be the humerus, radius and ulna. wrist are carpals, the palms are metacarpals and the fingers are phlanages. Collarbone would be the clavicle, etc... Broken blood vessels in the eyes: subconjunctival hemorrhage. Checking eyes for concussion would be to see if the pupils are equal and reactive. A person on drugs or drunk, along with concussed, would have a hard time doing a 'slow tracking or pursuits' when the eyes are checked by the 'follow my finger' test. Often ER staff will carry cards, or have some stashed for programs for abused men or women, shelters, programs, counselors, hotlines, etc... for abuse victims. These are less likely to be needed for a random beating vs. a frequent flyer in an abusive relationship.

Well, I wrote this post a few weeks ago for the blog while Renee is off running away from home. This isn't because of any one author but simply because so often authors have a hard time finding the information or feel like their question might be stupid. Trust me, if it's a question about Stories... I've probably heard it. Tech issues might stump me temporarily, but I have help for those. I've had my fair share of wanting to scream when I explored posting on other sites, and they weren't nearly as extensive as GA's system. I understand sometimes people need help. Getting things wrong is far more common than not. Sometimes authors have a hard time understanding exactly what I want them to fix. I just wanted authors to know that they are not alone in getting PMs if they make mistakes, and that I'm not picking on them if I ask them correct 3-4 submissions in a row instead of another staff member contacting them. I don't 'target' some authors more than others in that way, but I've had some think I was just hounding them. Just like with our tech blogs or site information posts, we want to shine as much light on our working process as possible. Of course... when IP Board upgrades and GA Stories is upgraded too, we'll have more changes. When that happens be ready for another blog!

One time Yuri got into a bottle of liquor. The dizzy not-quite-real sensation and heavy limbs bombarding him felt very similar to the clear stuff they pumped into him. The table they made him lie down on bent in funny ways, tilting his head down. It was up high though, so he could see Benny’s face and hold his hand. He liked that part. The rest of it all felt weird. He wanted to close his eyes and rest, but…. “Stay awake, Yuri.” Benny squeezed his hands. “We’re almost there.” The buzzing noi

Well apparently I'm the scary dragon lady all fear to approach, lest I scorch them with my tongue lashing of fiery doom. Or so I keep hearing, lol. So yeah, counts me out.

See what you started, Mann? Tsk Tsk. See, now for them, it'll be: You get:

Cia’s Torturing Me! If you’re an author, I’m sure you’ve thought that at least once, right? I swear, it’s nothing personal! GA’s posting system is complicated, and there is always a learning curve for new authors to figure out the ins and outs of posting here. I'm also the primary staff member that reviews the Stories submissions, so I am not picking on any one person if you receive more than one PM; I'm simply the staff member that reviews everything in the queue unless I am away from GA for some reason. That being said… there are a few things that will get you on my hit… uh, kindly message list. Posting Issues Most Likely To Trigger a Moderation PM: Posting More Than One Chapter : New stories should always be posted with a single chapter only. These should be properly edited, ready to go live, chapters. A prologue is okay, as it auto-posts with the first chapter, but more than a single chapter in a new submission floods the announcement listing. Additional chapters CAN be posted, but only if you post-date them. You can read about the post-dating system in the faq here. Paragraph Spacing : This might be the most common mistake I see. Check your story content after you post, please. Some writing programs, browsers, and or machines (tablets/phones) are not compatible with the text editor. It can either strip out or add extra spaces between the chapters. Reviewing your chapters allows you to fix that before I find it in the queue. A fix in Word can be found in the faq here. If you use other writing programs, like Google docs, tablets, etc… try posting with a new browser or placing your text in another program before you copy to GA until you have the correct spacing. We can't always tell you what the exact problem is in these cases to fix the spacing issue. Flash Fiction and Poetry : Short stories under 1k in length, such as prompt responses, or poetry must be placed in a ‘collection’. This is as simple as creating a title that implies a collection, such as ‘My Shorts or My Haiku’ and then posting a single submission as the first chapter. Then subsequent posts would be made as chapters to that ‘collection’. The chapter titles can be edited and notes can be placed in each chapter as a description, if you choose. You may have more than one collection, within reason, to separate types of poetry or stories if you have a large number of varied content available. Posting a Series Title : If you are posting a story that isn’t a follow up story to one already existing on GA, you do not have a series. Once you post the 2 nd story in your series you can go back and edit the first story to include the series information for the search engine. Also you can never have story 0 of a series. Content : Yes, we have a basic quality expectation. If you don’t know the word ‘I’ should be capitalized, or how to use a basic spellcheck, you will be placed under review and your story may be rejected until you can edit it up to a minimum level of readability. Yes, we allow stories with erotic content. We also allow stories that show drug use, suicide attempts and actual suicides, abuse, rape, etc… but there are criteria for each that must be followed, such as not glorifying the acts and adding content warnings to the story/chapter notes for extreme content. Erotic content must be integral to the plot and cannot be more than half the story plot. There is a narrow band of acceptable incest and bestiality themes, but necrophilia is NEVER ok. Various Fields Filled Out Incorrectly : We have a 3 step rating system for stories for authors to use. They include Everyone, Teen, and Mature. Teen and Mature ratings apply for stories containing content like sex, violence, abuse, or suicide stories. Mature would mean any ‘on-screen/graphic’ content. Teen includes it, but it might occur in the backstory or off-screen such as a ‘fade to black’ sex scene not actually written in. We have a story status system that has 3 levels. In Process means you’re still posting the story (even if you have it complete, until you post the last chapter it is not complete on GA) and On Hold means you’re not posting the story for whatever reason. Make sure you post to the right category for your story. There is a long drop menu with many options, so please check them all to ensure the best search engine results. And more… This is why we ask that authors read the entire “New Author Help: How to Post a Story” faq before they post. Any story deemed suspect for any reason will be placed under review and discussed by the forum moderation team to ensure a fair team decision on acceptability. I am not a dictator with the only say in what does and does not get approved. Questions I Get The Most From Authors: Why are you checking my stuff in a moderation queue? We check to ensure proper posting procedure is followed, that the content falls within our guidelines, and that you’re not a plagiarist. The fact is, we’ve been burned before with people stealing stories and posting on GA. We don’t always catch it, but we try our utmost to protect authors’ rights on this site. How long does the queue take? Typically 24 hours, at the most. I say this because I check the mod queue once a day. Usually I attempt this between 5-10 AM, Pacific Standard Time, but I do have a life and things sometimes crop up. If you post at 9:00 AM and I already checked the queue, and something comes up the next day and I don’t get to it until the afternoon… you may wait longer than 24 hours. Sometimes I can review and approve submissions several times a day. Anything with questionable content triggering a team review can take up to 72 hours. Also, because we ask that authors only post a maximum of 2 chapters spaced out (morning/night, for example) if you have 2 stories or chapters waiting in the queue, I will only approve one. I might approve the second several hours later, or it might end up waiting until the next day. Please don’t overwhelm the queue, as that only makes my job harder to ensure that your stories and chapters are posted with a fair timing without overwhelming the announcement listing. Please remember I’m one person who dedicates time every day to this process, but I am not perfect. In the past we’ve found bugs with the posting system when author’s work didn’t post to the queue properly as well. IF your submission remains in the queue for an unreasonable amount of time without any contact from me, you can PM me. How long am I in the queue? There is no set time limit in the queue, but there is a cut-off point. You must have 75 likes on your forum content, stories, and chapters before you no longer face the queue. Once you have achieved that level, your updates will post when you publish them. So, it behooves an author to be active, posting consistently, and interacting with readers and other members on our forums as well. Is your decision the sole factor in submission approval? No, it’s not. As I said before, any story deemed suspect for any reason is reviewed by the forum moderation team for a fair discussion and consensus. Why can’t I edit my story/chapter or why did I get an error message when I tried to edit my story/chapter? The system has a fail-safe set in place to prevent large amounts of text in a chapter or story from being removed. We expect that you post your best work that has already been edited. If there is a serious problem, or you do not take advantage of the offer, I will remove the story/chapter content for you to repost if you PM me. Why can’t I delete my story/chapter(s)? Again, there’s a fail-safe built into the system to prevent that from occurring. Authors can place their work unpublished so no one but the author or staff can see it, but they cannot delete. No, we will not refuse to remove your work, but you must PM me to ensure complete deletion from the system. I will usually want to know why, because if there’s a problem with the story, posting, or a moderation issue with another GA member, a cooling off period and discussion can sometimes resolve the issue without the story actually being deleted. I’m so confused! How do I find help? We have a faq you can find under the ? tab in the red menu bar. The topic titled, “New Author Help: How to Post a Story” not only has our posting and content guidelines, it also has a chapter that explains what each field is for in our story submission form as well as various things unique to our system. If you’ve read the faq, and still don’t know the answer to your questions, please feel free to PM me. It can often be easier to ask ahead of time than to sort out posting issues after you attempt to post.

I've found it to be consistent posting of stories readers enjoy. If they know they get to come here every 4 days, or every Friday, or whenever, and get another fix, they tend to be more regular. Engage your readers, talk to them in the end of chapter notes. Solicit feedback on specifics: What did you think about this or that's character's thought about this event? Can so and so BE more obnoxious? The amount of participation you have toward other authors' work, via reviews, comments in forum story topics, activity on the site writing topics, etc... can help keep you noticeable. Feedback is great, but remember, reads are feedback in a way too.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I thought... shifters, but into humans from their alien forms--not the other way around like most shifters. I do like twisting things around. I'm glad you liked the characters and plot. I can't wait to delve back into them too. Thanks for the review!

whoops! I always read your reviews, but I've been so distracted with my LL story, I forgot to come back and comment. There's a lot going on in the story--the venom, Yuri's healing, their relationship, the infiltration by the strange Tiger, Velaku's plans with the clans... so much to bring together. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I know I'll continue to enjoy your thoughts about it too!

LOL! There are so many theories. I'm not going to tell you anything. I'm glad you liked the bits of humor I tried to interject in the chapter with the blue balls. The venom will definitely come into play this week, so I can't tell you more. LOL

Lucas' lack of choices in life, and his fear of inadequacy, were all points I wanted to relate to his decision to stay and help the boys. I'm sure we've all had moments where we wish all the uncertainty in life was gone--that all we had to do was what we could and wanted to do, and there was no way to fail. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

You guys see this about a "Earth Cousin" found? http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/04/17/astronomers-discover-most-earth-like-planet-yet/

LMAO. I was hoping someone would pick up on that line and humor I was trying to share. It was subtle. It is definitely time to move things along! And yeah... having your butt sticking out is very disturbing for most men. It always made me laugh how easily embarrassed big guys get when you can see their tushies. Thanks for the review Belann.

It's coming. Remember, Bashta has a connection most modern Carthera don't have--plus his clan used a lot of natural medicines.

“Benny, wait.” Davis came around the corner of the corridor leading to the surgery suite. The tall Snake nearly vibrated with tension. Yuri was in the bathroom while Benny waited outside. “Dav? What’s wrong?” Benny flicked his ears. Dav’s eyes were razor thin slits. “I don’t have your sense of smell, but I can taste. I’m pretty damn sure you didn’t stand outside the balcony of your apartment and relieve yourself.” “Someone pissed on my fucking wall?” Benny clenched his jaw. His claws dug into

That's hilarious. I get that kinda thing with my kids all the time, though. It's funny showing them old tech, movies or songs.

capering fools