Cia

Waterworld.... it is the future.

The rest of the team was ushered about their business while Dr. Vikrish, Soldier One, and two of his lackeys ushered us into their shuttle and further through the corridors toward the control center. We made an interesting parade for those crew who’d stayed behind. Dr. Vikrish lead the way, a soldier behind him and in front of us. Garjah and I were clearly newcomers on a planet reported to be unoccupied, and a wild animal with a lethal gait and roving gaze prowled at my hip. Soldier One and anot

Well, it's come. The final CSR feature of 2021... and what better than a time-traveling tale of the Old West? Headstall shares his passion for the genre with this comment on his story: "What was life like for a gay man in the Old West? Westerns are not a popular genre, but this author grew up on them, and I wrote this for me. This is my second story set in these times, and I wanted to explore how these men coped... how they survived, and what the attitudes of the times were. A lot of research went into this, but the trappings of the story are only a small part of it. This is a simple human drama about wanting what we all want... to stay alive, have a place to call our own, and someone to share it all with. Sometimes, it's just a dream...." ~ Headstall Sidewinder by @Headstall Length: 71,019 Description: Life in the Old West was harsh. The work was hard, but the men were harder, and death.... well... it came easy. Boone had no one until he met Coy, a handsome cowboy with a good heart. Their friendship was quickly formed, and meant everything to him, but after five years of being at each other's side, it was time to move on. Coy didn't need him anymore, and Boone wanted someone made like he was. Finally accepting that was never going to be Coy, and tired of being rootless, he sets out to find a home... land that was his, and a place he could belong. Coy? Left on his own, what path will he take? A Reader said: This story with it's wonderful characters...Coy, Boone and others (Blue and Daisy, especially), ticked all the boxes for me, written so well, there was laughter, tears, adventure, cliffhangers, LOVE, a uniqueness, etc, etc, etc!!! Loved it, the ending was perfect!! ~ Onim Don't forget to come back to share your thoughts on Monday, December 27th!

I can think of a few of your Word of the Days that are pickwickian.

When Myr says "we" he means "he did it". Thanks for you all you do for GA authors and readers!! 💖

“You’re not supposed to be here, are you?” That question came from the scientist who I instinctively didn’t like. I’d come across his type before. He still had his helmet on, and he kept several people between his spot in our column and where Garjah and I were walking with Bouncer by my side. “I am,” I answered indignantly. “My ship was the closest to Ardra when the bulletin was announced. I’m a first-ranked researcher, and this was a prime candidate for new exploration with an eye toward b

Garjah insisted on going out first, even though I was sure it was a bad idea. He was equally sure being faced with a human who didn’t look exactly human would bother them more. “What are you waiting for? Come out! All four hands up, if you have four.” “We are not a threat to you. Stay calm. We are coming out.” Garjah squeezed my shoulder. “Keep Bouncer calm. Maybe we should have sedated him.” “No, it’s not good for him.” The cerops was leaning against my thigh, and I could practic

The 20s are for being young and dumb. 30s are for being wiser and enjoying life on your own terms. This is the start of my 40s decade, and I find my kids are entering late teens (Can you believe my oldest graduates high school in June and my youngest gets his driver's license in July?!). I was faced with deciding what to do with the rest of my life and changing mid-stream where I thought I might go, or maybe finding the path to where I wanted to go is a better way to phrase it. I'm doing that, as hard as it is, because I wanted to do something for me. I think, in many ways, we hit on these decade years as times of introspection and moments of change, when in reality, we can make life what we want it to be any day. So, my final thoughts a decade ahead of you is just don't let anyone else's opinions dictate what you can and can't do or what makes you happy. It feels like such a short time, but that's a lot of years we've chatted through all these years you've been a part of GA, from those crazy teen years to now. I popped onto your profile the other day and saw you had just been here, and I was happy to see this blog post updating everyone on where you are now in life. Be you, be happy, and just don't tell anyone but the bouncer and bartender your real birthdate.

Well going again with the theme of doubles, I've picked a scene in Underthehoodter's novel-length coming of age story, Discoveries, where the narrating character is reading a story written in a spiral notebook by the other main character... a story they sort of lived. So a story within a story. Read on! Want to read more? Click here

“Records from last exam?” That didn’t sound good. Were they running in-depth scans on the skimmer? “Look, I know you were probably all over the place looking for me, but I’m here. I’m safe. I have a lot of information I can share with you, but those weapons make me nervous, which make the cerops with me nervous. If we could all stay calm, I think things will go better.” Dr. Vikrish had turned to face the younger scientist who had tapped on his shoulder. As I spoke, he turned back towar

Yep, one of the reasons we feature Classic authors and a story each month to remind new members we have older content they should seek out!

Welcome to November! I can't believe it's the second to last month of 2021. In some ways it feels like this year has taken decades, and in others, it feels like it has sped by. In a fun twist, I'm featuring the 2nd story in Underthehoodster's series, Perry and Jessie, series. Discoveries by @underthehoodster Length: 69,297 Description: Perry (A fairly rich kid who always seems to be in some sort of trouble) and Jesse (A poor kid who is a blackbelt and has a bad past reguarding his previous schools and his father) find love for each other after Jesse moves to Perry's school from another city. A reader said: Nicely done with a lot of characters. ~ Dodger If you want to spread the word about Underthehoodster's story, download the graphic below and add it to your signature! Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see the excerpt I chose to share!

"Truly bad" is still your measurement, and it's subjective from your point of view. Everyone starts somewhere, too, so we do allow developing authors to post because how else will they learn the craft but by doing and interacting with other authors and readers? My first few stories are horrendous. Sure, I might have had creative ideas, but my form and editing was horrible. This is where the axiom of "If you don't enjoy it, just don't read it" comes in that Myr mentioned. There's nothing that "needs to be done" about content (plot, characters, or edit) you feels is bad that has cleared the moderation queue because the stick you're holding it up to is just your personal preference, unless there's something that may need a trigger warning which Myr also mentioned. GA's community, as a whole but especially among our authors, is very supportive in a positive fashion rather than critical. Approaching your thoughts from the angle of "how can readers help site authors improve" rather than "what should be done about the truly bad stories" would most likely be better received.

The soldiers immediately took positions against the skimmer, handhelds away and weapons drawn. “Come out now!” one ordered. “Hold on, calm down! I’m Essell Deray, and you’re here looking for me.” I waved one hand in the doorway, but didn’t come out. “Show yourself. Hands out.” The leader of the soldiers harsh orders were not unexpected, but I also couldn’t follow them. “Um, I have a cerops here, one of the lifeforms from the planet. He thinks you’re hostile to me, and I’m holding

“Where did Bouncer go?” Sedating him again had not made him happy. He’d been so close to me for the last few days, his steady presence against my thigh, it was startling for him to be gone. I’d gotten a narrow-eyed stare when he lifted his head after we touched down and I revived him from the sedation, but this was the first time I’d lost sight of him. “He’s outside.” Garjah peered out the door of the skimmer. A vine slithered over the metal and dropped into the space, and he brushed it asi

The resistance against the isolationist policy was fierce. I would never be that convincing but Garjah spoke after my nausea-inducing revelation, and reassured everyone that would be a good thing. I’d had to explain what my mother did, which lead to me sharing stories about other first contacts I knew with alien races. Not all had gone smoothly. I hadn’t paid that much attention, beyond the impact to the planets and the ways entry into the Galactic could impact the flora and fauna. Most cul

Did you read this fun, twisted tale from Richie Tennyson before or after I announced it earlier this month? Readers really seemed to like the new take on the old fairy tale genre. What did you think? Share you thoughts before, but make sure you check out my interview with Richie here first! Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? I certainly do! What’s one location you’d love to go to research for a story? A small country town with colourful locals. I read lots of books set in small towns and would love to write one. What brought you to GA? I came across GA when I was looking for a place to share my first story, Self-Portraits. Do you like original fairy tales or are you more of a Disney tale fan? I loved Disney fairytales as a child and was also obsessed with a lot of picture book adaptations. I wasn’t as familiar with early versions of fairytales but, when I was researching Happily Ever After, Ltd, I became a big fan of the gory Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella. One of your readers left an excellent review stating how the twists and turns had to be plotted out. Are you a plotter or pantser when you write? Yeah, I did plot most of Happily Ever After, but I was bit of a “pantser” for Ryan and Dorothy’s backstories. Did grown ups read fairytales to you when you were a child? Yes, my parents did – and I spent a lot of time re-reading them on my own too. Do fairytales have an influence on your writing outside of this story, or was it a one-off? I always enjoy playing around with the “happily ever after” cliché. When I’m writing, I like to find ways to subvert expected endings, and bring characters to endings that are realistic and earned, but hopefully still satisfying. Ryan and Dave both have quite the adventure. Do you identify more with either character? I identify more with Ryan. His backstory is adapted from my own life, and as a person, we share a range of traits. We’re both a bit awkward and often exasperated - and we both have a very crude best friend. What is your favorite part of Happily Ever after, Ltd.? Without spoiling anything, my favourite part is the scene where two characters are on a boat. It combines action, horror, comedy, love, absurdism, and more. Can you share more of your upcoming writing or story plans with readers? I am currently writing a psychological thriller about a group of old university friends (including three gay guys), who are reuniting ten years after they graduated. They stay in a very isolated lodge, but one of them has murder on their mind. So again, I’m using a well-known story structure (the “whodunit”), but trying to subvert expectations/tropes. Don't forget to share your thoughts below!

See, and if you're post-dating and/or editing them and the system isn't dating them correctly, we don't overtly see that. We'd need to know what stories, when you posted them, how they posted, etc... I couldn't figure out exactly which ones you meant last week. Myr's mentioned before that there is a post-dating glitch.

There are EXTENSIVE lists of genres and cross-genres coming, guys, and we're not doing away with tags wholesale either. Remember, we're looking to help authors and readers connect over the types of stories one likes to write and the other likes to read--but that means being able to find them!

Heads up, Authors! We're still working on creating a great new sub-system for genres for authors, and during Myr's recent mine for data, one thing we noticed was that "Drama" is being used for many stories with no other genres on a TON of stories. Drama is going away with the new sub-genre system, and we want everyone to have a heads up that those stories will need to be moved to the correct new genre or sub-genre. Is your story primarily a romance? Comedy? One of the sub-genres we're coming out with like Historical Thriller, Tech Noir? Keep an eye out for more to come soon so you will be ready to move your story! Readers, do you love to find hidden gems to read and want to help others find stories to enjoy on GA? Are you a whiz at looking up stories for tags? Good at summing up stories in a few sentences? We're looking for volunteers to help assess the meta data on stories for genres, tags, and even the descriptions for inactive or deceased authors. We'll need helpers to find stories missing the data, and readers willing to help add the correct info for stories as much as possible. Let us know if you're interested! We'll be creating a space for this so you can comment here or send me or Myr a PM via our profiles.

Monday's feature introduced an older anthology story from Myr, and we want more! Well, those of us who have read it. If you haven't, maybe this excerpt will whet your appetite! Want more? Click here

Bouncer growled, but the large creature ignored his threat display. It blinked slowly, shuttering those glowing yellow eyes before it opened them again and twisted back around. Delicate feelers extended from the thick mandibles protruding below those large eyes and swept across Swintik’s hand, tasting the acoji nuts before it scooped them up. It tilted its head and swallowed the entire handful. “Yes, you like that, don’t you?” Swintik chuckled when the segmented insect vibrated under his to

I'm sure that's exactly it. There have been glitches with the post-dating system that Myr has put out announcements about.

A script is used to generate the recent updates list. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have been included! I will look when I get home.

October's a month for fantasy and fun, so who and what better to feature than Myr's short story, A Ranger's Duty? This is one of my favorites of his work, and I always hope he'll go back to write more. Let's encourage him, shall we? Length: 3,930 Description: A trade caravan left on the King's Way as soon as the roads cleared, but Winter hasn't quite given up yet. A storm is bearing down on them, and Ryn needs to get them off the road before it hits. A Reader said: I hope this is the beginning of something grander. This world is intriguing and I'm enjoying learning about the cultures you're creating here. This story was a very nice way to re-introduce your writing to some of us who haven't had the pleasure before now. ~ Mann Ramblings If you want to spread the word about Myr's story, download the graphic below and add it to your signature! Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see the excerpt I chose to share!