Cia

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!

Go to GA Stories and click 'Advanced Sort' in order to search by the 'teen' tag and any other criteria you'd prefer. Recommendations are great, but if you don't like any that've been shared, you will be able to peruse those yourself. A good way to determine a popular story is by the number of followers, reads, and reviews-though that isn't always accurate since a great number of older stories were moved over when we first put GA Stories online to replace our older story system. Fortunately for you, teen stories are quite popular on GA, so you will be able to find quite a few of them.

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?

Hey Readers! Chapter Two has posted! Check it out here.

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'd like a copy of the Dreamspinner version. There is a way to use the print function here on GA to create an online version and email that to a kindle, but I'm too lazy right now. LOL. You can use my GA email, cia@gayauthors.org Thanks Libby!!

You're a CJ plot supporter. Yes, you are. I shall get you all. You won't know when, you won't know how, but I shall wait for the perfect moment and I shall ... well, wouldn't you like to know? Muahahaha hahahaha hahahaha *cough cough* Maniacal laughter makes my throat tickle!

It's all a fix by CJ so I can't rightly thank you all for you kind words. Nope, not at all.

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?

I've a kindle that I got 2 birthdays ago. I prefer to buy in epub and read in ADE though. I often convert. I also have the kindle app on my surface, netbook, and phone though. Can't avoid it with amazon 1 click purchasing.

Aww, I loved the sloth baby and the turtle! Thanks for sharing Yettie, I often enjoy reading your blogs. They're very 'you'.

Yes, you're correct, because every author is different and has different areas of participation and different stories, eg novels, novellas, anthologies, poetry along with genres. We cannot create a single rigid set of rules and expect to be able to apply that to everyone. We have guidelines that help us determine authors that are producing work they are striving to make 'quality work', as in working with a beta/editor or both, posting consistently, proving they can actually finish a story(ies), and that they are interested in being active on the site in the writing community (reading/reviewing/posting in the editing/writing tips columns, participating in the blog/story reviews/tips by providing content or commenting, beta reading or editing for other authors, etc... ). As you can see, those are a variety of things authors can do. It's not fair to 'require' that authors do one or another, but they are great ways to show that an author desires to be a part of GA's writing community as a vocal/prominent manner as we hope those who wish to become Promising and Hosted should be. We try to be as fair as possible, but the relationship for advancing members is not just to help them, but to help GA as well.

Hello members! So, many of you know I'm off visiting family. My grandma has terminal cancer, which prompted my visit with my kids so they could make some memories of her they will always remember before she gets too sick. Fortunately, she's still pretty good. As a bonus, I have several siblings and their kids, parent and an ex-parent, who are here to see too. We managed to have some fun for the kids sight-seeing, going on a wild dolphin harbor cruise and taking them to swim in a spring I got to swim in as a kid too. But while I've been getting ready to leave, and here visiting, I'm still getting a lot of messages and hearing of messages from authors that they are saying to others about how unfair the guidelines for Promising seem to be and why people get promoted and when. Even to th point where supposedly people are ready to leave the site over their 'lack of recognition'. I can't blame anyone but myself over not guaranteeing the information on how to become Promising was in the new faq we instituted. It was before, so that's on me for the lack. I know I've answered the question several times elsewhere or in chat, though. Still, the information I fact checked and approved for Comicfan to share with you was the 'rough' guidelines that the WST uses to make a decision when an author is nominated. HOWEVER, every author is judged based on THEIR work, THEIR contributions (and members don't always see them, btw, as we can see things like unpublished/post dated stories, or behind the scenes assistance for the site) and the decisions are always in the hands of a team, not a single staff member. Certain things others don't see, like the propensity of an author to publish works on the site then remove them, can also influence the team's decision but that's only for THAT author. Writing is both a medium that can be subjected to specific criteria, such as the use of an editor and the ability of an author to follow commonly used writing guidelines for grammar/punctuation, but we don't judge any prospective Promising's work against other prospective or existing Promising. I can't stress that enough. I'm tired of hearing that promoting someone that other's feel isn't as 'worthy' based on this or that aspect they hold to the GUIDELINES (not requirements, as they are somewhat fluid and subject to discussion between the WST members) because that's not how it works. I know some people might be irked by this system and/or this post about our system. I'll take the blame on the information on advancement not being readily available, but I won't apologize for the way we've been doing things for years. While my PM box is always open and I try to let everyone know I will answer everything I can, or find them the answers, I am not infallible on sharing information. Authors: In the future, if you have questions-share them-before you're 'ready to leave the site'. I can't head off things before that point if you don't. I have dinner plans, then packing, then a flight cross-country tomorrow after some emotional goodbyes, but I will try to check this tonight and tomorrow before I leave to respond to any comments or questions. I am more than willing to make the system as transparent as possible, without hurting anyone's feelings or violating private forum rules.