Cia

I do actually use the 'awkward-I'd write it this way' comment quite a bit. Randomness is correct, only the author knows what they want to say but a good editor can often make a very educated guess. Especially if they've been working with an author for a while. I do have to say that relying on spell check is a very bad idea. I recently read a published ebook I spent money on and there were glaring faults that spellcheck couldn't find and mark, like udder for utter and hand full for handful, simply because the words aren't spelled incorrectly - they're just the wrong words! There is no substitute for knowing your vocabulary or having someone on your team who does. At the very least, if you are not 100% sure you should look it up.

LMAO. So not going there, but this topic is freaking hilarious. What the world shares when it's relatively anonymous like the internet is, right? You all are braver souls than I am to share that kinda tmi.

Oh we love readers! Obviously having authors on the site is important, but without readers, what would the point of writing be? I'm glad you found the site. Welcome andreanugget!

I work with Calibre myself. I've used that to convert some of my stories on here, with cover graphics, into ebooks as well. I have a kindle and it works quite well since I typically purchase my books in epub as well. Kindles also work with html files, if you email them to the person's 'kindle email' and they have their wifi on. I've found that the most popular format that people ask for ebooks in are epub, mobi, and pdf. I know Smashwords will host free ebooks and they convert to multiple formats but I haven't actually posted my ebooks for free online anywhere so I can't give any good ideas for places to post them for member downloads.

All I have is for you hun.

Happy Birthday Steve!!

Snickers, getting older sucks, yes? Happy Birthday!!

I've been with the same guy for almost 15 years. I've had erotic dreams about past boyfriends, guys I know, actors, mystery strangers ... All it means is that your subconscious has decided to take you for a nice little ride. It doesn't mean you want to go out and have sex with someone for real. Don't worry so much!

Confidence in who you are and what you, straight, gay, bi... comes in different time frames from different people. Knowing that information doesn't mean you shout your relationship details from the rooftops. I never really worried about being bi, I always viewed it as twice the pleasure for myself, lol. However, I'm 30 and I've yet to tell my dad that I'm bi. I don't know that I'd ever tell him I've had relationships in the past with girls, because it isn't relevant now since I'm married to a man and my dad is a bit of a bigot. That's not a reflection on my sexuality, but on my confidence on his attitude and tolerance. Based on past conversations about your mother, I don't blame you for not talking to your mom, either.

I like adding twists to stories, and I love surprising readers, but I don't think I could ever write a pure mystery story. These are great insights into how to do so, though!

Happy Birthday hun! I hope you had a wonderful day!

I do have to agree with Ricky, to some extent. Some stories just have to be written. However, if you are new to writing, the prompts are a good no stress way to start a story without having the expection of making it a long one. As for your question AJ, you can post a sample of your work along with the details you 'plan' for the story in the Editor's Corner-Writer Support Requests Forum. There is a topic, here, that details how you should post your topic and the information a possible editor/beta would need as well as other ideas. Another way is to post a story and then ask readers in the end of chapter note to contact you if they are interested in beta reading/editing the story (if it is a serial work with multiple chapters) or are interested in helping with future stories.

Very nice story lilansui! I loved the different vibe to it and the artistic theme. The love story was pretty cute too!

I'm a sucker for dark hair and blue eyes. My bratlings have the best blue eyes too, they got them from their daddy.

Welcome AJ! Good luck with the prompt piece, there are quite a few different types of prompts to try out. You should be able to find one that resonates with you.

I wish that Amazon would institute a policy of removing a story from sale/view when they get accusations. Granted, I don't know how common this is, or how often people would do it just to get to an author/story they might not like removed, but it seems like that would be the right thing to do. When I got the email forwarded to me, the first thing I did was to put KC's story under review so that it was off the public viewing area of the site. Not because I assumed that he'd done anything wrong, but because it only makes sense to have the story out of public purview until more investigation is completed. I was considering putting some of my ebooks on Amazon for free, but more and more I'm getting leery of the site's policies.

Yep, I'm pre-empting Blast From the Past this week to inform members of a story that's been stolen from GA then put up for sale on Amazon. The story stolen was Chasing the Shadows by K.C. Grim and it was posted under Embraced by Shadows by K.J. Fleur back in May. We only found this out when a concerned reader emailed the admin account to find out if the story was stolen and posted on GA. That proved to have happened in the reverse, and KC had his story ripped off. All this author did was change the names in the story and the title. They even used the same description! Earlier this year, I was alerted to the fact that several authors on Amazon had copied multiple stories from authors on Literotica. Of course, I checked to see if this K.J. Fleur had copied other stories from GA. but they don't appear to have any other stories in their author account. That doesn't mean your stories are safe online though! Now, I'm not a techie, so I might not be going about this the right way but I performed a search on a part of the description that didn't have any names. I found that you need to type in the phrase you search on Google, not copy it from any site online. When I did it with copied text from GA, I found GA results to KC's story. When I copied the phrase from Amazon, I found results on the story on Amazon. When I typed in the description by hand, I found both. The problem also lies in the fact that thieves might not be quite a stupid as this 'K.J. Fleur' and write up their own description. So how do you look to see if your story has been stolen? I couldn't find any simple way to search by a phrase from the story to search for other plagiarized content stolen from GA. If any readers of this blog are better at this than me, please let us know how to do it. If for some reason you do discover your story on Amazon, there is recourse. KC has already contacted Amazon and has been told that they would have a resolution quickly, within a few days. I found this page, Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions, with the exact language for anyone who feels their story has been stolen and the steps to take to correct it. The relevant paragraph is # 5.7: I also found this: I'm sure every author on GA would be horrified to discover their story had been stolen, especially those who are attempting to break into the publishing world. I truly hope this has not happened to anyone else from GA. A big thank you goes to the concerned reader who contacted us. Without that information, this might have gone unnoticed.

Welcome Kryshim. Writing is not easy for most people. Maybe you should try the prompts here in the Writer's Corner. Those are expected to be short flash pieces for the most part and make it a lot easier for authors to finish their ideas.

Enh. I dislike my 'mothers' completely and I rarely ever see them. Right now my kids still love me, though 2 days ago my daughter literally told me, "You piss me off! It just can't take you anymore." She's 8. First I told her not to use that phrase, I didn't care she was mad and she had to re-write her paragraph anyway, and then I went to my room and giggled my ass off.

Well wasn't that a sap fest!

A wonderful way to approach the goal of writing a great story by making your characters real!

First, if you have the story and the idea-write it! Make it your own somehow, because there are 'lab experiment/betrayal by docs/love stories' stories out there. Heck, I did one-though mine was a futuristic/alien story, lol. My biggest bit of advice? Get yourself a beta reader and/or an editor. You've a few misspelled words in your write up-bare and witch are both homophones. You should've had 'bear with me' and 'which he very well is'. If you look up those words you'll see they each have very different meanings. The words we choose when writing are very important and those types of mistakes are easily caught by an experienced team to help support you. Also, it seems you are doing a modern fantasy. I like to read and write that mix of genres quite a bit and I've written up a few thoughts on that lately. The most important thing for creating a fantastical element to your story is to make sure you follow the rules of your world. What powers does your main character, Roary, have? Do they develop over time? If they weren't unlocked before he finds out about the experiments, how did the doctors know he was a super human? Is his power scientifically explainable and that's how they figure out to give them to other kids? OR do the doctos go blind into it and not care if it fails on the off-chance that it works? When they take his DNA and put it into the other kids, do they develop the same powers? Do they have different powers? If anger is his trigger, do they have the same trigger? How do they control their powers? How do they learn that control? A lot of questions, right? You have to think of all of that when you write something that isn't already explainable and 'known' to readers. You have to explain your fantastical element and then stick to it to make it believable. That is your goal, even when you are making things up! Good luck Jonathan, and don't forget we have a huge resource in the Writer and Editor's Corner forums.

You got some good advice in here but nothing beats an actual doctor giving you actual advice after actually seeing the spot in question. Definitely get all the information on the types of gloves you wear, the chemicals you deal with and the type/length of exposure and then go see a medical provider.

Happy Birthday!!

Looking for a read last night, I came across this story. One of the many thousands on the site, I wanted a quick read and this fit perfectly. Enjoy! The Third Fire by Lugh Status: Complete Word Count: 1,450 Reviewed by: Cia Did you ever feel in the mood for just a tidbit of a story? Our Hosted Authors aren't good just for long, serial stories. Quite a few also provide us with great quick reads just right for that fifteen minutes you have on the bus, train, or those short times when you aren't expected to be doing whatever you are responsible for in life. For me that was between putting the chicken in the oven, nagging the kids to clean their rooms, and when I had to have dinner on the table. For my reading pleasure, I chose Lugh's short story called The Third Fire, one he wrote before my tenure as one of his betas. The tags were interesting, including coming of age, religion, and mages. They piqued my interest, wondering how they could possibly mix together. A short time later I knew. The story is a great mix of finding that moment when you leave childhood behind and become that person who moves ahead in life knowing who and what you are - what you're supposed to be doing. For Azrael, that came one night as he is claimed by a goddess, and a man, all at the same time. I loved the uncertain nature of Azrael's thoughts up to that moment of realization. The story was told from his point of view and we get a sense of his confusion, uncertainity and then ... BAM. His moment came. Literally, lol. Lugh's ability to create a picture in few words is one of my favorite things about him as an author. He creates intricate worlds and characters, but he can keep it simple and still enthrall me every time. I've read most of his stories and can't think of a single one I haven't found myself enjoying. That isn't to say his writing is perfect. As usual, he forgot the rules about when mom and dad become Mom and Dad, and there were a few missteps in the story I'd have called him on if I'd been a beta for the story. However, none of that took anything away from my enjoyment of the story. I love fantasy, and I love when it makes me think. I liked the fire symbolism in the story too. So, if you don't have the time to start reading one of the many serial stories by our Hosted Authors, pick one of the many short stories available. Start with this one if you like fantasy, or coming of age stories, you won't regret it! Don't forget to a leave a few reviews as well. Happy Reading!