Cia

Lust at first sight can happen. Love, not so much. Love is more than an attraction to a person's body; it envelopes the mind and soul, as well. I met my husband, thought he was handsome, we started dating... 15 years later we've been married for 12 years and we have 2 kids, but I still didn't love him at first sight. The longer we were together, and the more we lived through, the more our ability to love -and tolerate- each other grew as well.

Marc definitely is blinded by his fear. Preston deserves every one of those not mentioned bad words too! Thankfully Ry is a pain in the ass, lol! Thanks so much for the thoughtful review, Clockwork.

Well you got a taste of my published ebook. I added scenes, changed some things around, wrote out scenes I narrated... but the essence of the story remained the same here. The challenge was definitely on, keeping the integrity of the story, while adding twice as much content-without creating the feeling of it all being 'filler'. But yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed Pricolici. This is one of my favorite stories as well, which is why I subbed it. Tucker and Stelian hold special places for me; I'm glad you loved them too.

Thanks Clockwork! I really do like to try new things, so I flit around through many genres and styles. It's best to challenge myself, so I know what I can do. It's great to hear that versatility is appreciated. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful reviews.

It is!! I wrote this in the midst of writing The Price of Honor. I wanted to explain a bit about the artifact, but the scene didn't fit into the story. So, it became an anthology short story.

Such insight! I won't say what is right and what is wrong though! I'm glad you're enjoying the story though; keep reading!!!

No little blue men! Keep marching along to Hypnotic! Promise you'll like it. Thanks for the reviews!!!

Ahh, I'd love to say that just comes to me, but it doesn't. I'm always very deliberate in the choices I make when writing whether it be the specific words used or the senses chosen to make the story come alive to readers. The emotions and physical reactions are geared to draw a reader in as much as possible, to make it as vivid and visceral as it can be. Glad to see it's working! Thanks for the review Clockwork, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story.

Glad you liked it Gene! This story was the first long modern story I wrote, and it is full of drama and very emotional. Just keep reading. Thanks for the review!

Which is the source of Cooper's pain but also his salvation. Pete doesn't remember, so while visiting him is nice, it hurts Cooper. Would Pete want that? I didn't think so, but guilt is not an easy thing to reconcile. Pete's injury isn't Cooper's fault, imo, but he feels that it is. He's cut himself off from a lot of people because of that, but now he has Owen. Time, and Owen's love, just might be enough to overcome his feelings of responsiblity. Anyway.. I ramble, lol. Thanks so much for the review Lisa!

Thanks Mann! It's actually really freaking hard to contain each week's flash piece (has to be 500-1,000 words) as a separate entity yet keep it all within the framework of the entire story. I love flash but it's more of a challenge for me than longer fiction just for that issue. I use words to paint pictures and a limit makes you consider the worth of every single one chosen. That makes it a challenge, but one I enjoy trying! Thanks for reading, and for the review, Mann.

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a lovely day!

"Look into my eyes." The nurse's voice is quiet but firm. Pete turns his head and looks at her. "Good morning Pete, you have some visitors," she says. "Is that okay?" He blinks. "Sure." His voice is deep and steady. I come to visit Pete as often as I can, but I can’t tell anyone why. I make sure I never go when his family is there though. They are part of the apostolic church and had lived through some of the most conservative times. They aren't bad people but they'd been very strict when we w

Ooh, you're in for a doozy if you keep reading!! Suffice it to say that, no matter how hard I am on my characters, things usually end up okay. Not always, but usually. This story definitely has scenes that are not for the faint of heart, however. Thanks for reading!

It's a type of dramatic monologue. I was definitely trying to provoke thought and commentary from readers. I deliberately chose such a controversial topic like cheating because it such an emotional subject. There's always more than one side to any situation, but something like a betrayal of trust/love makes it quite a bit more visceral. Most people say, "I'd never be with a cheater!" but love, time, and other factors often make that decision not quite so clear cut. Yet, how then does the party cheated up rationalize and absorb that betrayal? What blow does it rend to their psyche, and can they truly recover from it? Anyway, you did exactly what I wanted, you responded with great thought and feeling on the question I left posed at the end of the story. Thanks so much, Clockwork!

I have a tip, though I can't provide you with the forms I use on this computer; they're on my main one. One major way to develop stronger characters is to interview your characters, so to speak. Act as if they are real people you want to get to know. Ask them questions. What's your favorite tv show? Music? Worst nightmare you ever had? Favorite project (school or work). Good with technology or bad? Ticklish? Sensitive skin? Showers or baths? Favorite article of clothing, shoes? The more you've realized your characters in your head, the more details you can add in to your story during the scenes. While in the car the jock character can switch on his favorite rock or country station really loud and bang on the steering wheel. A geek might turn on something soft, classical, or even modern stuff, but just keep it quiet. A jock might run to the store for pizza for dinner and a geek might get... okay, teenagers will go for pizza no matter what, but you get the point there. If you have a jock reading, maybe it's a magazine on a sports team and he's sprawled along the couch with one leg up over the back; if he's an intellectual type you might have him sitting at a desk reading a text book for an assignment not due for weeks. Your jock might drink milk out of the carton but your geek would get a glass. The jock might leave his letterman jacket on and open over a t-shirt and jeans and a geek would have khakis and a polo with his jacket zipped up. Details are very important for fully realized characters, and it can be easy to slip small things in here and there, but you have to know them. Think about all the characteristics of the type of person you're portraying and add in the details over time during the story. Let them live the story as if they were actual people. Give them flaws, disappointments, joy. Figuring out all the details of the characters can take quite a bit of work. That's one of the reasons why people say write what you know. If you don't, research, research, research.

I've neglected my children to read on the site but since I've not had a job, or classes, in forever I've been safe on those accounts. They were only slightly neglected. Kids only need to eat once a day, right?

I've done it. First year I finished but the 2nd year I lost access to my main writing computer 25k into it. I ended up giving up after 10 days of it being gone. I might have been able to finish but my momentum had been shot. I'm not participating this year; I have too many projects going to introduce any new deadline.

I did want to get them out of the jungle, sort of, and into a more comfortable setting. The feelings he felt toward Yaseke were mostly likely exacerbated by the attack and their closeness, but I have to think they would have ended up together eventually anyhow. There will be more coming soon, thanks for the comments Daddydavek. I think Dade is starting to settle. He's a very strong man. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and the intimate scene! Thanks for commenting lilansui.

We do encourage questions about how to do things on the site; there is always a learning curve. Site Help topics are updated as new information for each element is upgraded, as often as we can manage. The information on how to post a story is relatively upgraded with recent information. As I've never even held an Ipad, I'm not affected by the incompatability with it and GA. I've no option to turn off the Rich Text Editor, but as an admin there are sometimes certain elements on the site I can't see, and as a non-techie ... I'm not going to try. Posting a story is fairly straightforward, however, as long as members pay attention to the entire guideline on that topic.

Yes, we do allow non-fiction on the site. There are various categories to designate what your story/piece is. Dark is completely correct in pointing you to the 'Site Help' tab. There is even a topic called 'New Author Help: How to Post a Story'. Please read everything carefully. Not only does it explain the specific fields and how/what to fill in, it explains our content rules, posting guidelines regarding frequency and submission size requirements, ect... The more thorough you are, the less likely you will end up with a PM from me telling you there are problems with your submission that you must correct before I can approve it.

Cailen does make some very nice signatures for people, very personalized.

LOL. I've had quite a few people mention that they'd figure GA to be more like Nifty with some really ... hinky stories and forums. Nope, not the case here. Though I can't vouch for everyone, lol, we're a pretty good website with some diverse members and tons of great info about writing. Welcome Hayden.

I've copied this, and pinned it, in a new topic in the Writer's Corner on the main forum page.

I've had this question posed to be several times before in relation to posting in GA Stories, and I've always thought just disclaiming your lack of owernship in the story/chapter notes to them was good enough. Since I never quote books or lyrics, I've not run across this issue myself. Thanks for the clarification, Kingdom!