Cia

a ) There really isn't a way to pin it, though I could do a site wide announcement each month for it. However no one every pays attention to those. b ) We're not doing over 90k. There are too many people who don't read that fast. I could consider doing 2-3 short stories people could pick to read from, any or all. c ) Readers are more than welcome to add their reviews to the story. Even I can only do 1 review per chapter. So I can't add them. Plus it takes readers 2 more minutes to copy/paste their own review, it'd take a lot longer for me to try and add them in some super review or something and I wouldn't be able to add new ones if people go back to comment again. Basically... we do put a lot of work into the blog, and dealing with mod issues, and other projects on top of our real lives. We try to vary content and keep the site busy and interactive for members, but the more we try to do, the harder it can be and the more staff members that burn out. Suggestions are great, and I appreciate them. I know we will definitely take things into consideration and apply what we can, as we can. Thanks!

Today we're featuring a review of Libby's story, State of Mind. She graciously gave out eBook copies, and members could read it on the site, of course. Fishwings accepted my request and wrote up an excellent review to entice you to read the story, just in case you haven't already. Bear in mind, however, there *are* some spoilers. Read ahead at your own risk! Fishwing's Review: First of all, I'd like to thank Cia for letting me write this review. She knows that I'm a huge fan of Libby Drew and I am honoured to be able to review one of my favourite stories on this site. “A State of Mind” was actually the first Libby Drew novel that I read, after which I became an instant fan. I still remember staying up at four in the morning on a school night, loathing myself because I simply couldn’t summon enough willpower to put it aside for later! The story follows the Organization, a secret agency consisting of "gifted" men and women with paranormal, psychic powers of persuasion and telekinesis. "A State of Mind" thrives on several strengths, including a riveting plot and a clever concept that is an entertaining nod towards other secret agent and superhuman novels. However, I think its biggest strength lies in its amazingly well-developed characters. One such character is Nicolas – one of my favourites. He is an egotistical brat, a jealous bitch, with borderline ambiguous motives, but at the same time remained a reliable friend. I thought this combination of flaws and strengths really humanized him to the point that I felt sorry for him being third-wheeled. Both protagonists were similarly well-fleshed out. Grier is a brooding, cynical, at times socially awkward, wisened, deadly warrior with a sad childhood who eventually becomes quite devoted to Alec. Alec is archetypically blond and stubborn to the point of irritation, but he’s also quick witted, reserved yet flirty, with enough loyalty and good heart to make him both a relatable and an admirable character. Another thing that I enjoyed is how Libby balances the romance with the action. It was simply perfect. The unresolved sexual tension keeps on growing and doesn’t get in the way of their pulse-racing escapes, nor does the action subvert the chemistry between them – it enhances it. Libby builds up their relationship through several sweet (and life-threatening) moments until that one, explosively huge, satisfying bedroom scene. I usually skip over sex scenes in novels, or I observe them with the detached manner comparative to how an entomologist might regard the dissection of an insect specimen, but this scene worked for me because of how well it was planned. I remember screaming into the air: “Well ABOUT F*CKING TIME!” (pun intended) Now regarding the action. Libby’s prose is vivid, without a touch of purple, and she knows how to structure her sentences to amp up the adrenaline. The most memorable scene of the entire novel I thought would have to be Alec and Grier’s confrontation with Kay at the restaurant. I was hanging on every single bloody word, and the way the situation was resolved I thought was very clever. Libby’s characters were proactive, and their autonomous thinking/actions impressed me on numerous occasions. One area that I wasn’t entirely convinced was regarding the villains. In contrast to the protagonists, I felt that they weren’t very well developed and were rather stereotyped. In particular, the way Kay dismissed Alec’s friendship was unrealistically abrasive, and she quickly faded from being a source of intrigue. I thought if she had suffered from more ambiguity it would have humanized the antagonists a little more and made them more interesting. Another thing that I noticed is that Libby sometimes uses the mirror technique to describe character appearances, which kind of makes me go “oh I see what you did there…” … and now I’m just being nitpicky. Although I can’t seem to think of any deep-rooted themes that correlate to this book, I honestly don’t really care. "State of Mind’s" primordial purpose was to entertain, and it more than delivered. I laughed, bit my knuckles in anticipation, fell in love with Alec, with Grier, with Nicolas, pumped my fist in the air when Kay fell to her death, and didn’t regret going to school the next day feeling like death because I had stayed up all night reading. And typing up this review. Overall, I loved "State of Mind." Thank you so much Libby Drew for writing it and allowing it to be hosted on this site (and for kindly PMing members free copies of your book), and for just existing in general. Keep doing your thing, you amazing writer, you. So what did YOU think? Leave your comments on the section below, BUT don’t forget to post a review on Libby’s story as well! Authors thrive on feedback. Thank you, Fishwings, for the excellent review! Now on to more thoughts from readers! Comment below with your thoughts of the story. Don't forget to suggest a story for next month, between 20-90k, completed! After today we'll have had 3 months of CSR's book club. The last 2 months have netted some great reads and thoughts for the authors chosen. How about some feedback for the blog itself? You can pm me or post here, but I'd like to know if we're going along great or if there are any features/suggestions you might have!

Yet a lot of straight men love porn that isn't solely f/f. lol One never knows why some people are so weirded out by things.

Homophones! I am a visual reader, I 'see' what I'm reading if it is interesting. I pointed this out a few weeks ago in an eBook where a character cried out in a 'horse' voice during an orgasm and I got this instant visual of a man neighing. It was soooo wrong, and totally screwed up the impact of the scene. This is why having a beta or editor, or just a second pair of eyes doing a line edit, is so important. Spellcheck often won't catch homonyms/homophones but you can be certain readers often will. Words that bug the crap out of me: Shutter for Shudder Taught for Taut Reign for Rein (and vice versa) Come for Cum (and vice versa! Come = verb, cum = noun) Cents/Sense/Scents Queue/Cue Peak for pique Shear/Sheer Though... some of these do make for some laugh inducing visuals.

"She's just a girl! She said ... she said ...." Mr. Caplin eyebrows rose. "What's the matter, Perry?" I wiped at the tears streaming down my face and held out a letter. It trembled violently. "I thought ... I thought it was from school. They use these envelopes. B-but i-i-i ..." I shook my head violently. "Why?" I cried. "Oh, hell." Mr. Caplin dropped the letter and pulled me into his arms. "We don't know why, Perry." He rubbed my thin shoulders as I sobbed against his chest. "Sometimes th

That's awesome Robert. Blood transfusions suck, but whatever it takes to get you healthy and home asap! I'm so glad you're keeping us in touch with what is going on.

Man, he is just so sadistic! He broke her, but kept on doing it, just for fun. Truly shivered on that one. I noticed in this chapter you have a lot of punctuation dialogue issues. If you check the writer's forum there is a topic in there on it, and I've shared a really comprehensive rule sheet that I found online a while back. Or, you can pm me.

Hey folks! It's that time again, prompt time! We have 2 more creative prompts from our resident flash inspiration guru, Comicfan. 218 is right up my alley so I'm going to try to do something for it later this week, I think. Site flash fiction is something I have, to my embarrassment, been neglecting. It's a cool little way to inspire authors to write-even if it's just something small and fun. You can do a 30 word poem, or a 100 word microflash, or an under 1k regular flash, or a prompt could inspire a whole new world for you to dabble in. That part is up to you. But try doing one, because it is a valuable tool in a writer's arsenal, I believe. We need to be able to stretch ourselves from our routines now and then. There are literally hundreds of prompts to choose from too! Prompt 218 – Creative You were promised to another before you were even born. Your whole life you knew you would have no choice in this marriage. Now your life partner is due to arrive in mere hours and your entire kingdom has been working none stop to make sure everything is perfect. What is your life partner like and how will you survive with that person for the rest of your life? Prompt 219 – Creative A letter was mistakenly delivered to you. You had opened and read it before you realized it wasn’t meant for you. What was the letter about and what do you do about it? Last week we bypassed the prompts, but in the last two weeks no one opted to try a new flash piece. So I'm going to whip something up, right here, right now, for this week's prompt feature to get everyone started. Hopefully there will be many more added! You can post these in your flash collections, in the topic, etc... but write, post, have fun!

<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17201647-fragile-bond" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fragile Bond" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357056386m/17201647.jpg" /></a><a I read Fragile Bond last night and wanted to write the review while it was fresh in my mind. I read, A LOT, but this book caught my eye and went on to my wishlist when it came out. I finally got a chance to read it, uninterrupted, and it kept me interested start to finish.<br /><br />The synopsis of the book actually sums up the story quite well, in my opinion, without giving too much away. Several of the plot elements have been used in science fiction books I've read before, like the pheromones, mistaken status of non-sentient creatures for sentient beings, and a first contact/military character. <br /><br />Still, I enjoyed this ebook quite a bit. I felt the tawnies, aka furrs, were amazing characters. We got several glimpses into their society and social structure throughout the story, enough to get a detailed picture of their culture. The sensory perceptions of the world, or Soma as Hamm named the planet, were amazing and it was nearly visible to my mind's eye. Hamm and Marc's bonding was confusing and arousing and not neat and tidily wrapped up in a bow-which I fully appreciated. <br /><br />However, I did still have a few issues with the story. The human culture made ZIP sense. We didn't get much explanation of the 'Mother Commander', or their ship, or their evolution. I'd have loved it if the author had seen fit to share more of that since to me, the reader, both cultures were foreign, not just the 'aliens'. It was integral part of the story that I felt was missing. I also disliked the rapid head hopping between multiple characters, though that was more the 'style' not any sort of mistake, and while I'm not alone in my aversion to it, it's a style preference more than anything.<br /><br />Overall, a good story, but one that I had to really focus on to understand-especially at the end with the large cast of characters-to follow and understand. It was an intriguing plot, and I loved the poignancy at the end which really capped off the story well. Even with my quibbles I completely enjoyed this eBook. A definite recommendation with a 4 out of 5 star rating. <br /><br /> <br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5881541-alicia-nordwell">View all my reviews</a>

OMG, you are awesome at the macabre! I'm glad you're updating so fast, because these chapters are short!

I was wondering when the mate bond thing was going to show up!

Thanks Lovonya! This one captured my imagination when I wrote it too. Yet another world for me to try and come back to, lol! I did have an idea of mixing it with another series, so we'll see!

I'm so glad to hear that. Hopefully things will continue to move along well and you'll have a great visit this summer without the stress of the cancer.

I've worn gas permeable. The biggest thing is just to make sure everything is clean clean clean when you handle them since they last unlike disposables. They're not bad. That being said, I feel for you, hugs, cause getting decisions taken out of your hands by unexpected medical news sucks!

Man, logically I don't *want* to like Mark, but I do. LOL. Interesting to see what happens with him and Viktor and what Emma's role will be in taking 'them' down. We so know Mark is going to do it.

You were always great at the allegorical style. I loved this, except how did he 'know from the beginning' that they weren't meant to be when he wandered without knowing who or where he was?

Question-How can there be 'revenants' that he recognizes if vamps never get sick? Are revenants different from vamps? Why didn't he know that before? That said, I'm loving this plot line and can't wait to see where you go with it. The immortal, the vampire, the assassin agency that might actually be 'bad' (LOL)!

Yes, *gasps* I read off GA. Honestly, most of my time here is taken up with staff duties-which sort of stinks for my love of reading-but one of the things eBooks can do is give us an idea of what to aspire toward. Most of the authors I know online won't be traditionally published but the advent of eReaders and the exploding eBook market can be an invaluable tool to spread your stories, and make a bit of cash. I love to read, but I do the mod queue here on GA, so I get a lot of serial works I am trying to keep track of plot wise for approvals, so when I do get a chance to read, I'll admit to a bit of an eBook obsession. It's done, complete, and in a handy reading format. It won't ever be my sole reading source, because I love so many of the authors on GA, but hey, I won't turn down free reads either! Today I'm going to start sharing my weekly eBook reviews from my off-site blog. I'd also love to feature *complete* free stories from GA on my blog for my fans over there, so if you have one-and are willing to take my unvarnished opinion-pm me a link to your story! I chose to review ZA Maxfield's Crossing Borders. Plot synopsis: Tristan's got issues; he knows he does. So when his most recent girlfriend dumps him via messenger, and he can't stop staring at the messenger's cock while he's breaking the news, Tristan figures it's about time he makes some changes. He formulates a foolproof plan to get himself someone who can show him what he's been missing -- until who should crash his little adventure but Officer Michael Truax, the man who gave him a really expensive ticket for boarding without a helmet back when he was in high school. Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years...to give him a second ticket. Suddenly he's faced with his 'Sparky', all grown up -- and looking to get laid. The habit of protecting him isn't gone completely, but the opportunity is too much to resist. He figures the kid must know what he's getting into, so he takes him home. There, they carry on a cautious dance, only to find out that neither is what the other expected, and that together, they're hot enough to melt glass. My Review: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6082786-crossing-borders" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders, #1)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1231497603m/6082786.jpg" /></a><a Honestly, I held off on this book for a while before purchasing it during a 50% rebate day at ARe. It seemed a tad cliché from the title, but really, the plot wasn't the focus for me when I read it. While that sounds silly, it's true. <br /><br />The characters made this story. 'Officer Helmet' aka Michael was interesting as seen through the eyes of 'Sparky' aka Tristan. As a fellow redhead, I soooo got Tristan's beef with his nickname. I loved the disparate ages-yet similar desires. It just went to show that opposites can be more alike than most think, and make it work.<br /><br />Not to say the plot wasn't interesting-if not exactly 'new'. I laughed my ass off as 'Sparky' plotted and planned to find a man at the bookstore coffee shop. The texts back and forth were witty and definitely made the scene even better. I liked that the will they or won't they aspect was resolved pretty quick, which left the actual relationship the focus, imo. <br /><br />Since the relationship was the focus, and the source of conflict in the end, I felt the plot arc fit, even if it did feel uneven. The author could have predicated that aspect a little better by seeding in small moments here and there earlier in the story. It would have also served to give us a more realistic interaction between Michael and Tristan-even newly together couples generally aren't that perfect. <br /><br />Still, this story was mostly full of warm and fuzzy feelings, even once the drama hit. As always, ZA Maxfield's writing flowed and I was sucked in start to finish. Definitely a recommend! <br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5881541-alicia-nordwell">View all my reviews</a>

And it's lovely! Thanks to everyone for participating in the anthology. I absolutely love seeing so many get involved in these each quarter! Special welcomes to the anthol newbies ... and those returning to them that haven't posted in a while.

How disturbingly macabre! Then again, how much of a sadist would you be if you were immortal and had been through the pain your main character has been through? You don't mention who all tried to kill him, so maybe he's justifiable ... well, nuts. And bloodthirsty. And nuts. LOL Good writing, and quite graphic, but still entertaining. I'm intrigued by the vampire and can't wait to find out more about him.

Awesome graphics Fishie, way better than I've been doing!! (and I sooooo love foisting site help jobs off on members, so yay!)

Being in the hospital, for just about any reason, sucks. I'm so glad you're still connecting online, cause that's vital to keeping you feel like your life isn't completely on hold. If you get bored look me up, I've mountains of reading material if you ever run out of Dan's content, lol.

Most libraries have computers available to the public and don't block GA as well.

I love these personal insights into the authors of this site. This was a great idea, and I'm glad it's taken off so well.

Congrats to everyone who won! And CJ, we all know you rigged this to try and take the heat off yourself and your endless cliffy-ness. Circumnavigation done yet, hmmm?