Jump to content

Cia

Site Administrator
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    16,675

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Cia

  1. Cia

    The Ugly P Word

    By Cia,


    News Archive
    Which P word? Well it be similar to the way I stole that title from a Skype conversation with Wildone... Figured it out yet?
     
    Plagiarism.
     
    Yep, a thief struck again. I'm sure many of you remember my rant from a few weeks ago about how one of my stories, and 6 other authors' works were plagiarized on another site. A conversation ensued about how to protect your work, as an author, but I never had a chance to post it officially on the site. Well, this time we had a thief try to post their stolen work on GA, but they were busted. I contacted the original author and confirmed the theft, removed the work, removed their account, and our site integrity was restored.
     
    There is a silver lining to plagiarism, which often brings the community together. Unfortunately it happens more often than you might think. Previously we had a large incident with multiple stolen works, which brought us the lovely Cassie Q. She found she liked the site, so she stuck around and continued posting her stories. This go round we have gained another great author, Gee Whillickers. While I hate that it took a theft of their work to bring them GA, I am happy they decided to keep posting here. Make sure you say hi to Gee Whillickers when you see him on the site, or check out his stories posted so far.
     
    So how do you protect yourself against having your stories stolen?
     
    Write bad stories no one wants to steal?
     
    Some think it's a form of flattery, but I'd rather just get a nice review. If you post a story for free online, there's no way to prevent someone from copying it, unfortunately. Some plagiarists, the really lazy ones, just rename it and post it as their own. Others take more effort, changing names of characters, locations, and significant events/themes in the story. I had a daemon story turned into a werewolf fiction. I saw a contemporary story where the main character's gender was changed.
     
    Fortunately for us, the MM reader community is pretty tight. People who read here also read on Awesome Dude, or Archive of Our Own, or Literotica... or many other sites not as well known. Reader discovery accounts for about 25% of the plagiarism we've caught here on the site; usually on work that's posted after the author has left the moderation queue. Why did they wait until then?
     
    Every new author is subject to the mod queue on GA until they hit 75 likes. Until that point, their stories and chapters are checked, partly for our posting and content guidelines, and partly to verify the stories aren't stolen. That's how we tend to catch the other 75%. How do we do this? Can you do it? Yes, you can, and it's really simple.
     
    How to check your stories for plagiarism:
     
    1. Pick a distinctive phrase such as: Nyle looked up nervously as he rode under the portcullis.
    2. Search the phrase within quotation marks "Nyle looked up nervously as he rode under the portcullis.".
    3. Repeat search with a distinctive phrase without names: "The austere chapel and rigorous training had been a sharp contrast to his youth".
     
    Tips: Search on both Bing and Google. Search phrases from the first chapter and later chapters. DO THIS OFTEN.
     

    How do I get the story removed if I find one that's been stolen?
     
    How to report plagiarism:
     
    1. Look for a report button or a contact us link.
    2. Copy the story link to the stolen story.
    3. Share the stolen story title, author name, and links to your original. Haven't posted online? Keep copies of all sent mail to beta readers/fans with advanced reader copies of your work to prove when the content was written and sent. Offer to provide a forwarded copy of said email. If you really want to protect your work, purchase an official copyright, especially if you might publish later.
    4. Follow up. Most sites will work with you to remove the content. Sometimes you have to take it further to the ISP.
     
    How to issue a DMCA notice:
     
    1. Contact the site owners/ISP with the following information: Your signature, links to your copyrighted work, links to the plagiarized work, your physical and online contact information, a statement in good faith that the plagiarized work is unauthorized, and a statement that your information is accurate under penalty of perjury....
     
    There's a lot more to DMCA notices I don't want to outline here, but there is a great website which explains the process: The DMCA Takedown Notice DeMystified by Ken Liu
     
    Sample notice:

     
     
    So that's basically it. Search your stories proactively, but feel free to let me know if you need any help. I've had to deal with this type of situation many times, and I'm always willing to give advice or guide a new author through the process.
  2. Cia

    Interview: Rob Colton

    By Cia,


    Author Interviews
    Today I'm featuring an interview with Rob as part of his Signature feature. Btw, did you download your copy of the background yet? Now, Rob is a popular man, so we've featured interviews with him in the past, so I didn't want to go with the usual author questions. This time I asked him a different series of questions, so I hope you'll enjoy this insight into the flash group, writing Noah's New Plan, and Rob's future plans!
     
    What brought you to the Wednesday Briefers flash group?
    I was contacted by Julie Lynn Hayes, who runs the group. We knew of each other through another Wednesday Briefer, M. A. Church. I thought it would be a great way to practice my writing and to get something “out there” every week, during a time frame when I didn’t have any new books coming.
     
    Did you like having the prompts for the following week posted just 7 days in advance?
    Seven days works – it’s a perfect timeframe. If it was longer, I think you’d lose some of the spontaneity the briefs group inspires.
     
    Was writing in short bursts, just 500 to 1000 words each week, easier or harder than your normal method?
    Most weeks I didn’t have an issue with the word count, though several times I went over the 1000 limit by a few words. Having a deadline was definitely the worst part – I’ve found I just don’t write that way by default. I needed to have it ready before Wednesday each week, and there were plenty of times where I struggled with that.
     
    Did the inspiration for the characters or the plot of Noah’s New Plan come to you first?
    The character inspiration definitely came first. When I wrote the first chapter, all I really had was Noah’s backstory: a man who has to start over after a long-term relationship. Eli would come along to shake things up, breaking Noah out of the rigid shell he’d boxed himself into.
     
    Your story—as most of them are—is unashamedly sexual, but in this one that contrast was made far more marked by the lack of sex in the long-term relationship Noah got out of before he met Eli. Was that aspect written purposely or just part of the evolving changes in Noah as you wrote the story?
    Oh yes, that was an aspect of Noah’s life I knew in advance. Eli busted onto the scene and turned Noah’s world upside down. Noah didn’t realize that passion was missing from his life until he met Eli.
     
    Eli worked as a security guard and a bar bouncer… but he seems like a very multi-layered character. We don’t see any career aspirations outside of his current jobs, but is that something that might change, say in a sequel?
    It’s not fair for me to say Eli doesn’t have ambitions; he is just happy where he is. He’s a laid back kind of guy, but he knows what he wants and goes for it. And in this story, he decided he wanted Noah. By the end of the story, I’d say he has everything he needs.
     
    Do you have a favorite scene in the story?

     
    Noah’s New Plan had a great stopping point—which I won’t spoil for potential readers—but do you have any plans to go back and share more of Eli and Noah’s story?
    At this time I don’t really have plans to revisit Eli and Noah. I think they ended on a great point, as you said.
    I did continue the story in a sense, though. Rex, Eli’s friend and boss at the bar he works, gets his own story in “The Buckle” – part of the Stranded anthology of short stories, published by Wayward Ink Press. Eli makes a brief cameo at the beginning of the story.
     
    Can we expect a new Wednesday Briefs story from you?
    Yes! I plan on starting up a new short story for Halloween.
  3. Cia

    Featured Story: Noah's New Plan

    By Cia,


    Featured Stories
    So, in honor of the title, and the general theme of Rob's story, Noah's New Plan, I decided to do something a little different this month for the review of the Signature Feature story. Instead of one reviewer giving us their take on the story, I asked a series of readers the same questions and asked them to pick a few to answer (and some picked all of them, lol). I hope you'll enjoy this new feature format, and don't forget to download your copy of the signature background for this month if you haven't yet! Plus for Wednesday's feature I asked Rob a few questions to answer about the story too!
     



    Noah's New Plan


    by




    Rob Colton


    Signature Author


     

    Length: 32,356
    Status: Complete
     
    What was your original impression of Eli: The same as Noah's, based on his description, or were you into his rugged looks from the beginning?
    Mann Ramblings: I was into Eli from the start. Rob has some eerie psychic connection to my preferences for top characters. I've yet to find one I didn't want to push the bottom aside and steal for myself.
     
    Clochette: I was not really into Eli's looks and as the story is being told from Noah point of view, even if it's not at the first person, my view of Eli was obviously a bit influence by how Noah was seeing/describing him (a big bald man with a beard and a gun at his hip).
     
    So, yes Eli not looking like the type of person you imagine walking into a library every day, even could pass as kinda scary my thoughts were "What is he doing here? what could he possibly want? is he going to be troubles for Noah (for who I already had a soft spot)?"
     
    Valkyrie: A man in a wet uniform clinging to his bulging muscles, with a beard and tattoos...what's not to like?
     
    Noah and Eli's first "not-a-date" was pretty awkward at first and then smoothed out when they started to talk honestly. Did you relate to that scene in any particular way? Did it make you enjoy the chapter more?
    Timothy M: To be honest most of that chapter made me cringe. But I did laugh about Eli’s backwards compliment on Noah looking young. And Eli was quick to understand ‘what a prick’ Noah’s ex is.
     
    Headstall: I loved the 'not a date' scene, especially when Noah actually laughed out loud at the thought of having cake with ice cream. I think that revealed a helluva lot to Eli. When Eli took it upon himself to order chocolate cake a la mode--with two forks--I was all in. It was amusing that Noah thought of this date as practice for a real one. So naive lol. I fooled myself the same way one time as well, so I did relate. Sometimes we don't see it coming... and in Noah's case, Eli sneaked (I want to use 'snuck', but the red lines, you know) up on him without our librarian realizing it.
     
    Noah jumped from a prudish, quiet book-lover to geek chic wildman in bed. How believable was that transition over the course of the story?
    Puppilull: I didn't find his transformation strange at all. He went from a relationship where his partner liked an idea of him that wasn't really Noah. When Eli set him free so to speak and actually loved Noah, his true self could come out. No fear of not being loved or respected.
     
    Headstall: I didn't look at Noah as having a transformation as a lover, so much as he was finally with a partner that let him be his true self. He wasn't restricted anymore by what Derek considered acceptable or proper. For me, his sexual development with Eli rang true at every step. I loved that he was able to finally ask for what he wanted. We saw the real Noah rising (no pun intended) when he said to Eli, "That sounds like a challenge. I do love a challenge." Another 'nutshell' moment, I think.
     
    Did you have a favorite chapter or scene? Why did you like it?
    Mann Ramblings: My favorite was the scene where Derek interrupts Eli and Noah after sex and Noah holds him at gunpoint before shaming Derek's lack of familiarity with Eli's pleasure noises. I think Derek is the perfect example of every shady, slimy guy I've ever met. Watching him fail to gain the upper hand is balm to my soul.
     
    Timothy M: Apart from all the hilarious scenes with Noah’s coworkers, and the moment where
    I think my favorite scene may be in ch. 18:
     
    Derek's face went red and he pointed his finger at Noah's face. "I don't want you seeing him!"
    "Well, I didn't want you screwing what's-his-face while we were still together. I guess neither of us gets what we want."
     
    I enjoyed seeing Noah not only stand up to Derek, but to put him in his place with a few sarcastic sentences. Just perfect. I like shy, but intelligent guys with a dry wit.
     
    Headstall: Favorite scene or chapter? Too difficult to pick only one, but I will say one of my favorite chapters was Chapter 6. Possibly the best line in the whole story was in the scene with the cab driver. "Like he was going to take advice from a woman in a mullet." I laughed my ass off because this was so Noah at that point. I went from laughing to feeling sad for Noah when he took her advice and went to 'Rainbow' instead of 'The Buckle'. The harsh reality of the twink bar made me feel so sorry for our hero.
     
    When he got up the nerve to go to 'The Buckle', I mentally cheered, and when Eli told Crane, the pushy muscle/bear guy to "get his hands off his boy", I cheered again.
     
    Another note: In Chapter 7, when they kissed for the first time at the door check at 'Buckle', and Noah waved a guy through, saying "You're good", I thought it captured the moment perfectly. It was hilarious, and nothing mattered but the kiss.
     
    Did you like the posting style of flash chapters between 500 words and 1000, but a guaranteed update almost every week? Why or why not?
    Puppilull: I know a lot of people complain about short chapters like these (I might have done that myself on occasion...), but to get updates at such regular intervals and so often make up for that. I find it more annoying to wait months and months for an update of a story I like, even if I truly understand that inspiration and time are sometimes rare commodities for writers.
     
    A particularly greedy reader could exercise restraint and "collect" a few chapters and read every other week. But that would mean putting a leash on your curiosity....
     
    Valkyrie: Yes. This was the first story I read that's a part of the Wednesday Briefers, and I am currently following two more. I like the frequent updates. The short chapters, while frustrating at times, allow the author to convey a lot of information in few words. It's a great exercise in creativity, and difficult to do well.
     
    Where would you like to see Noah and Eli's story go from the ending?
    Clochette: The story ended with the two of them living together happily, so maybe seeing what kind of life they build for themselves after that would be nice.
     
    But we already had a happy ending so for me it was a good ending for the story.
     
    Timothy M: Normally I’m all for sequels and ‘More!’ but in this case I think the story ended at the right place.
  4. Cia

    C S R Feature: The Rainy Day By Graeme

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    The weather has turned, and it's rainy... which reminded me of a story from a past anthology I really enjoyed. Renee has announced a special anthology redo for 2016 allowing members to pick any--or all--past anthologies they didn't participate in to feature a new story. One of the older anthologies I really enjoyed was "Worth Fighting For" and my favorite story of that series was this one, so I hope you'll enjoy it too!
     



    The Rainy Day


    by Graeme


     

    Length: 7,598
     
    A Reader Said: What I liked best about this story was the juxtaposition between Brat's behavior and attitude and his "doing the right thing". That's far from easy to do, and Graeme did it very well indeed. ~ C James
     


    The CSR Discussion Day will take place on Monday, September 28th!


  5. Cia

    Csr Discussion Day: The Phantom By Dark

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    So, the tables turn and the interviewer becomes the interviewee! This month the Discussion day is coming a bit early, but that's so Dark can do a live chat! Make sure you come back for the live chat at noon, Alaska time. Just cause that's not the usual zones, so that will be: Pacific 1 PM, Mountain is 2 PM, Central is 3 PM, and Eastern is 4 PM hours. On to the interview!!
     
    Single people work more. Are you single?
    Yup. Been single since 2008.
     
    Who do you like best, Jerry or Tom?
    That takes me back. I always rooted for the cat.
     
    Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?
    Being in a rural Alaskan village, fruits and vegies are a delicacy, so, yes, as much as I can get and as often as my mom sends them.
     
    What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
    Jeans and a t-shirt, normally, unless it’s during school hours, in which case it’s business casual.
     
    Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?
    Most of the time I make my bed. I trace that back to my first cat, who would burrow beneath the blankets if the bed was left unmade. He also had a penchant for eating shoelaces, so I learned to put my shoes away, too.
     
    Chocolate or Vanilla?
    Definitely chocolate, the darker the better.
     
    What brought you to the site?
    I followed a writer to her blog and she had a list of favorite stories, among them DomLuka’s Desert Dropping.
     
    Do your characters try to make like bunnies and create ever more convoluted plots for you? Or do you have to coax them out of your characters?
    I’ve had characters do both. Ben and Rick from The One I Want just would not leave me alone for the longest time. They still pop back into my head off and on, harping about the ending to their story (they don’t think it’s done). Then there’s Mordred from The Return, who still takes a lot of coaxing. He doesn’t like being the main character. It’s maddening.
     
    Name one entity that you feel supported you in your writing endeavors outside of family members.
    I’d say the biggest supporter I’ve had in regards to writing is the woman who became my best friend. We first met on writing.com as part of a round-robin type of writing venture. We wrote together for years and it was only in 2009 (?) that I found out she was almost ten years my junior. I was a bit unnerved. Still, we got over that and she’s been my chief cheerleader ever since. Plus, she’s one of the few people brave enough to say “this sucks” when I write crap. Can’t beat that kind of feedback, lol.
     
    Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
    I find action scenes the hardest to write because words rarely seem like enough after watching the scenes in my head. It’s a repeated criticism I continue to struggle with, that the action gets confusing, that readers have a hard time figuring out who’s doing what in a scene.
     
    When did you first consider yourself a writer?
    I can remember writing my first stories about my GI Joes and my sister’s Barbies back in 5th grade. That’s also the year I wrote some role-plays with my best friend at school (though I didn’t have words for what we were doing then). I used to dream about being a writer. I would fall asleep at night to the stories in my head. Some of them are still clear even after all this time. I played around with role-plays and short stories (though again without really knowing what I was doing) through high school and wrote one novel in college. But in college I discovered Dungeons and Dragons and writing.com, which switched the vast majority of my writing to role-plays because I felt that I was missing some key element in my writing and besides, writing was just a hobby – engineering and the Air Force was my future. Eventually, I told myself, I would grow up and leave it behind. I didn’t, but my family thought I kicked the habit after that one novel I wrote (no, I never submitted it to a publisher). Sometime in 2007-2008, I got back into writing more seriously, found y-gallery, and wrote The One I Want, the first novel that I seriously considered getting published. It won a writing contest on that site (that was back when it was a series of novellas, one of which was titled TOIW). I think looking at the message from the contest moderators was the moment when I first truly considered myself a writer.
     
    How did you come up with the title for The Phantom?
    This was a story whose name was actually easy to decide on. The whole story revolves around Mark’s interactions with the entity he names the Phantom. It seemed obvious to me.
     
    Did the characters or the plot come to you first?
    For almost every story I’ve written, the characters came first. My inspiration was a picture and the characters just popped into my head. I asked the owner of the picture and the author of the characters for permission, and The Phantom began. Now the lead-up to that point is rather convoluted, so I’m going to try and make it understandable.
     
    First, there was y-gallery, a website designed for sharing pictures (as in what folks drew on paper or computer tablet) for the M/M genre. Pretty soon people figured out how to add fiction to the site. I was getting into online comics at the time and followed a link to a fansite (or “club” as they’re called on Ygal) for the comic I was reading and slowly started exploring the rest of the site.
     
    One of the clubs I discovered was for the old comic Spy vs. Spy. I started following an artist who drew fan-art, which she posted into the fan-club. At first, it was the old, original characters, then they evolved to be more human/realistic, and eventually the artist started adding original characters to the mix.
     
    Then the club exploded … with her art and with people clamoring to know more about this world she was building (that was based on the old Spy vs. Spy comic). It got to such a point that she formed her own club and moved all her comics there as she started adding fiction to the mix and inviting others to join in.
     
    Next thing I knew, there were alternate reality fan-clubs for these characters in different settings. “Bruce” is the spy name for Mark in the origina club, so named from the shark in Finding Nemo. How that came about is something I don’t remember anymore.
     
    I enjoyed all the nonsense as it was a break from the very long days I was putting in working full time and going to school part-time. I was taking 9 credit hours at the time, plus my volunteer hours. I spent a lot of time on the train, which left plenty of opportunities in my day to read.
     
    So, one day I saw a new club (spin-off of the new original club, do you follow me?) based around this superhero theme. One of the pictures posted was of Bruce and Sheila, intrepid reporters. I was hooked and just had to write a fanfiction to go with the fanart of the original characters that were themselves born from fanart of the original comic.
    Capiche?
     
    If The Phantom were made into a movie, who do you picture playing each characters part?
    I could see Taye Diggs as Bruce, perhaps. He has just the right blend of comedic and seriousness for the part (not to mention being really handsome). He might be too short, though. The guy who played the Hulk has the right look for Sheila, as I envision him, anyway. He was a villain on the latest Star Trek film, one of the Romulans.
     
    What sort of coffee would your characters order? Simple coffee, complicated soy-non-fat-extra-espresso-half-caff-nightmare?
    I think Bruce only drinks coffee thick enough for a spoon to stand upright, but Sheila probably drinks his blond (with cream). They both drink too much of it to worry about the fru-fru stuff. In fact, I find it difficult to envision Sheila waiting in line for one.
     
    What was your favorite part of the story?
    My favorite part of the story was finding ways to incorporate as many different references to the fan-clubs and various sci-fi films as I could. That and using the old text-speak. I know, I date myself, but it was fun trying to stump my readers, knowing that they also followed the same artists and infinity-loop of fan-clubs. There are hidden gems in there for the loyal readers, like a scavenger hunt, not like I do that with any of my other work at all….
     
    What are your future projects?
    Currently, finishing The Return is my top priority. Next to that, I have waiting a story about teenaged ninjas in an alternate, future Earth, and a space opera featuring a sentient A.I., dragons, and time-travel.
     

    Some great answers! Thank you, Dark! Okay, don't forget to leave your questions for Dark or come back for the live interview.
  6. Cia

    Self-Editing Tips!

    By Cia,

    http://thewritelife.com/self-editing-tips/
     
    This is a great post fo​r all authors! I'd also recommend poking about the rest of the site, especially if you have a goal of becoming published.
    ​
  7. Cia

    Writing Prompts #438 & #439

    By Cia,


    Prompts
    Today we have a slightly new method to the madness, me! I'm a little bit later than Renee on posting these, but I hope you'll enjoy this week's prompts as well as the feature prompt selection. Sometimes an author hits a road block that they just can't seem to make their way through. The weekly prompts are a great starting point to jump start some new ideas. Whether you're looking to just do a quick flash piece or maybe you want to do a bit longer story, why not give them a try! A couple of things to remember: Prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Do to the high number of collections containing only a few "chapters" we have set a limit of five collections per author, any more than this requires prior Admin approval.
     
    Prompt 438 – Creative
    Tag – Vampire
     
    You’ve had a friend who just keeps trying to set you up on a blind date. You hate blind dates with a passion and had successfully dodged all attempts to set you up. Unfortunately they finally caught you on a night when you didn’t think fast enough and here you are on a date with a dark mysterious stranger. You remember having a good time, but not much else. When you wake up the next morning you feel really tired and find marks on your neck and upper arm. At work you mention it to your friend, jokingly. Another coworker over hears and says it sounds like you are dating a vampire. Are you?
     
    Prompt 439 – Creative
    Tag – List of Words
     
    Use the following in a story – a clown, a motorcycle, vacation tickets, chocolate cake, and a ring.
     
    Today's prompt feature is from James Savik's response to prompt #437:
     

    Read the rest here.
  8. Cia

    Author Interview: Adam Phillips

    By Cia,


    Author Interviews
    Our July feature for the Signature Author Background is "Crosscurrents" by Adam Phillips. If you're a fan of Adam's story, I hope you'll like the background featuring the moment in the story where Andy and Matt's relationship takes a turn. Haven't read the story yet? Never fear, we have a lot of incentive to get you excited. Download your background, check out Tyler's review from Monday's blog, and then read this interview with Adam... then get started!
     


    Author Interview: Adam Phillips on Crosscurrents


     

    Single people often have more time to write. Are you single?
     
    No. I'm married and have a 8-year-old son and a 4-year old son. On top of that, I write nonfiction stuff for a living now, in addition to a part-time gig as an adjunct math professor at a local juco and chasing after one other income stream. The money's great, and the diversity appeals to my ADHD. But time gets precious. So the best time for narrative-writing for me is before everyone gets up or after everyone's gone to bed.
     
    Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?
     
    Absolutely. My wife's a doctor, and she'll put me in Food Detention if I don't. Also, I have kids watching.
     
    What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
     
    Jeans and a polo shirt with a couple of holes in it. Yeah, I know. Boring, huh? That's the nice thing about being self-employed. Lots of "dress-like-you-want" days.
     
    Have you ever gone out in public, realized your shirt is on backwards, and just don’t care?
     
    Seriously? Who does this?
     
    What brought you to the site?
     
    I love good writing, and for all kinds of Freudian and autobiographical reasons, I guess, I gravitate toward coming-of-age stories. I'd discovered the Nifty site some time before this one, but the quality is so variable there, it's kind of hit-or-miss for the reader. I wanted to find a place that was a little more selective, and I knew it had to be out there if I could locate it, so I Googled "Gay Stories," and Gay Authors was one of the first five hits that came up. With a name like "Gay Authors," I figured the writing mattered to the folks who ran the place. So I jumped in as a reader. And I haven't been disappointed.
     
    What books have most influenced you?
     
    As a writer of gay/bi narrative? Let me see:
     
    Jamie O'Neill's At Swim, Two Boys. Masterful, beautiful, devastating writing.
     
    Jim Grimsley's Dream Boy. The stylistic minimalism packs an incredible punch in this sexual-awakening tragedy.
     
    J. G. Hayes's A Map of the Harbor Islands. Joe Hayes is all about pain and redemption, and his characters are endearing and unforgettable. Also, he tends to like the happy ending, and while I don’t require that, it’s nice.
     
    A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I know it's the butt of all kinds of jokes and object of all kinds of scorn, but that's because too many high school teachers make kids read it. It's not a book for high school kids. Only a few of them have the stuff at that age to see what the author's up to. Still, it's a memorable story of the innocence of youth and the darkness of the human heart. And the writing's rich and vivid.
     
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
     
    1) I'm a gym rat and a sports enthusiast. I play in an old guy's soccer league (I'm 35); I enjoy getting out and tossing the ball around with the neighborhood kids; I'll get into a pickup basketball game at my gym; and I coach my older son's soccer team. So there's that. Oh, and over the last couple of years I've taken up boxing. There's a real art to it that involves the whole body and mind; it's not just about pounding people's faces until they crumple.
     
    2) I read. Voraciously. Especially fiction, philosophy, math & science, and politics.
     
    3) I like to watch good TV and good movies.
     
    4) I listen to music. Of all kinds. And I'm a halfway decent pianist.
     
    5) I grill outdoors in the summer and avoid the kitchen in all other seasons. I like having friends and loved ones over—with their kids or without--for a summer meal. The guys can hang out in the back yard, drink beer, and shoot the breeze with me while I’m attending to the manly art of searing flesh, and when it’s time to eat, the bonhomie is soul-restoring.
     
    If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
     
    My only real mentor for the kind of writing I've done on Gay Authors was my first editor. He's a guy who edits scripts for TV and movies for a living. He saw some early posted chapters of Crosscurrents that he liked enough to ask if I'd be interested in his help. I've learned so much from him.
     
    Just in terms of how to write a story people want to read, the stories of Dom Luka at this site have taught me a lot about how to set up a scene, how to tell what you need to and show most all of the rest, how to transition scenes skillfully and with style. How to make your characters live and breathe, and how to make them memorable. Dom feels in his bones, I think, how the narrative formula of western civilization is best executed to brilliant effect, and he turns that formula into art in his stories. Each novel of his has a story to tell. That may seem so obvious as to not need mentioning; don’t all stories tell stories? Well, not always, as you discover when you survey the landscape. But with him, there’s a start, a rise, a high point, and a coast down to a smooth landing, whether the landing is upbeat or more bittersweet. When you finish one of Dom’s novels, you feel as though you’ve read a story. And his genius is that he doesn’t just paint by the numbers; he takes that long-honored template and puts freshness into it.
     
    Where do you get your ideas?
     
    Well, my only large work here is Crosscurrents. My ideas there came from my life experience. I also have one short-short at Gay Authors, The Confrontation, and one short story, Brushfire, in progress here. I have ideas sketched out, or in some cases, partially written, for 12 more works of various sizes. And, as is the case with the smaller stories I have at Gay Authors, the ideas for each of the 12 came from my own inner reactions to something I’ve experienced in my everyday world. Not always anything that has to do with me. It’s common for me to notice something out there as I'm walking through my day and be so struck by it that I’m mentally off-to-the-races, taking that thing I saw, asking “what if…” and starting to tell myself a story in answer to the “what if.”
     
    Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
     
    I always have to watch out for dialogue. So many writers are abysmal with dialogue. I try to imagine the scene in my head and think about the way the character in question would say it. Then I just transcribe what he said. That said, it’s not the easiest part of writing.
     
    I'm also tempted with lack of restraint, which I absolutely hate. Rewrites frequently involve ratcheting a scene back a notch so I'm not sledgehammering the reader with it.
     
    What’s the best part of being an author?
     
    Well, if we're not talking about the money I make doing nonfiction writing for hire, I guess it's connecting emotionally through my narrative writing with so many readers who’ve written me telling me how deeply they’ve been moved by the story. Many of those readers have had a crosscurrent experience of their own in their pasts, and it’s been humbling to have so many of them share the details with me.
     
    Did something specific inspire you to write Crosscurrents?
     
    The story’s about me and my childhood best friend, actually, and I was at a place—when I started—where I feared that the realities of young-adulthood would end up unintentionally and gradually removing us from each other’s lives, until he was just “somebody that I used to know.” The heartbreak I felt as I was contemplating this caused me to start this story for him and for his eyes, as a sort of cri de coeur and as a way to Say It. And to move on.
     
    How much of the story is based on personal experience or is the story primarily research-based?
     
    Yeah, it’s all me. I’ve distorted to a minor degree some facts of history and geography and chronology; I took one “minor character” from real life and split that person into two “narrative characters,” and I did the reverse: I took two people from real life and combined them into one narrative character. I also changed the gender of one minor character because I felt that person needed the extra protection of anonymity that change might produce. And some of the characterization has been slicked-up a little bit for "publication" in order to make the appeal more immediate and to conform to the conventions of the genre. Beyond that, it’s all personal experience. There is no fictional narrative material in it.
     
    How did you come up with the title?
     
    I felt it was a perfect description of the way people who experience themselves as bisexual often feel: Pulled by strong currents in two different directions at the same time.
     
    How long did it take you to write this story?
     
    (Winces hard) Ten years. Yeah, I know. But I was busy living life, you know? I promise my upcoming stuff won’t be so slow.
     
    What was your favorite part of Crosscurrents?
     
    Writing about Andy’s and Matt’s estrangement after their high school beach encounter was excruciating for me. I wrote those three chapters (15-17) in one sitting, and when I finished, I was emotionally wasted. Drained. But as I looked at the writing, I realized it was quite strong there.
     
    Chapter 30 was also really gratifying to complete. It charts a pivotal turning point for Andy, and for the reader it releases a lot of the emotional tension that’s been generating for fifteen chapters.
     
    Can you share a little of your current work with us?
     
    By summer’s end, I want to have my little short story Brushfire finished. There will be between two and three chapters more.
     
    I have an unfinished five-chapter short story called Tumbleweed Connection languishing at Nifty. It's mostly erotica and not really narrative-centric. It's about a small-town West Texas assistant football coach and an 18-year-old on the team. I’m also planning on finishing this one up this summer.
     
    What are your future projects?
     
    Well, in addition to the above, I actually have ideas for 6 novels, 6 short stories, and a sonnet (!!!). I have no idea in what order I'll work on these. Here they are with their tentative titles and general summaries:
     
    One short story (“Remix”) and one novel (Not to Touch the Earth) each deal with a bisexual man who wakes up one day to alternate realities, realities that present him with important and potentially life-changing choices. Although the stories are completely unrelated, both have science-fictiony elements to them, but the sf is not the main thing in either case. That's just a vehicle for showcasing the protagonists’ conflicts and life paths.
     
    One (“The Tree”) is a short story that uses a minor para-natural situation to explore recognizable universal themes about love and life and the various distractions and temptations we face when we try to live with integrity.
     
    One book-length story (Small Town Boys) is a nostalgic/erotic piece of Americana, hometown values, and hometown boys. Imagine a sexy gay period-piece with a feel like that of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine.
     
    One novel (Rage) and one short story (“Solve”) are each about the scary and devastating consequences of rage; rage at self, and rage at others.
     
    Two short stories are pure erotica: One (“Piel Canela”) is about a casual encounter between two men who come out of completely separate orbits and collide. The other (“Spunk”) is an abstract three-part literary experiment focused on men and on, uhh...semen.
     
    One (“Gate”) is a short story dealing with deep, sustained, and unresolved longing.
     
    Two novels (It Happened Online and Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters) are tales of young men who meet up by chance, snap into place together as if they’d been fated to, and experience the way that plays out.
     
    One (Sculpt) is a sonnet on male beauty. Ok, I fell in love with the genre a while back and want to see if I can do one that honors the structural conventions of classic sonnets but feels completely contemporary.
     
    And one novel (Finding Home) is the frequently-requested sequel to Crosscurrents. It tells us The Rest of the Story between Matt and Andy.
  9. Cia

    C S R Discussion Day: Frozen Heart By Dianjin

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    This month I featured Dianjin's Frozen Heart. This story features two boys who have a lot to overcome in their lives... and it's just possible they might be able to help each do that. Did you find the time to enjoy their journey this month? What did you think? We won't be doing any chat time, since unfortunately Dianjin is sans internet for today, but please remember to share your thoughts about Max and Aaron's story.
     

    Single people often have more time to write. Are you single?
    As I wrote Frozen Heart I actually had a boyfriend, but since we weren’t living together I still had lots of time to write
     
    What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
    Shorts and a t-shirt! Though I have to admit I was topless a few minutes ago
     
    Have you ever gone out in public, realized your shirt is on backwards, and just don’t care?
    Yes and no, Once I noticed in the metro so it was out of the question to fix it on the spot, another day I was just too lazy to do it.
     
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
    Video games, reading, watching a few TV shows (Doctor Who first and foremost)
     
    What brought you to GA?
    I was looking for erotic gay stories one boring afternoon.
     
    Where do you get your ideas?
    All around me, books I read, games I play, even a few moments from my day to day life are in there.
     
    Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
    Let me be honest, I’m not a native English speaker, and sometimes I get carried away with my sentences, you see in French we tend to have very looooooooooooooooooooooooong sentences. I really have to force myself to not make run-ons.
     
    Is your writing process a daily word count goal or more of a burst of inspiration writing flurry?
    Depends, for Frozen Heart I set myself a goal of a chapter per day, and to achieve that I start thinking about the chapter early in the day, outline and stuff, but can get to writing it at noon, or very late at night. For my new story A Companion for all Time it’s more of a come and go thing, two days ago I wrote at least 3000 words, though I had not touched it for two weeks.
     
    If you could give advice to yourself when you first started writing, what would it be?
    Make an outline, plan, setting page or something. When I started writing I just thought of things and wrote them down, and soon I was overwhelmed, my very first story went too far too fast, with big ugly holes in the middle, reason why I put it on hold for now (I have some ideas for it actually, but I’m thinking of scrapping all of it for now). Now I have a sepearte document that is always open when I write with character description, things that I did and have to do, ideas, setting, stuff like that. I’m always updating it.
     
    Did something specific inspire you to write Frozen Heart?
    My boyfriend, Maximilian is heavily inspired by some of his struggles, of course I really magnified it (don’t worry in real life he’s not like that at all). I wanted to do something deeper than just a simple gay story, I don’t know if that came through well or not
     
    I noticed you have several AHA moments. Do you have a favorite readers picked up on?
    I don’t really know ^^’ I just enjoying writing the story, all of it, though if I had to pick a favorite moment it would be the end of chapter 9, I had been planning that one for a while
     
    Do you identify with Max or Aaron, and how so?
    A little of both, as said before Max is inspired after my boyfriend (a bit), but he has somethings that are me, and Aaron would be the sort of person I would like to have as a best friend!
     
    How long did it take you to write Frozen Heart?
    I didn’t count I’d say about a month or so, maybe more, probably more.
     
    If your story were made into a movie, who do you picture playing each character’s part?
    I have no idea on that one I’d say someone that fit their physical description as best as possible, and for Max a really, really shy person
     
    What are your future projects?
     
    Finishing A companion for all Time, and continuing Max and Aaron’s journey in Golden Heart, then taking another look at French Touch.
  10. Cia
    It's Monday, but never fear, we have something to keep you entertained through the week... cause it could take that long to read this story! Have you read Adam Phillip's epic-length novel, Cross Currents? First go take a peek at the Signature Background we featured last week and download your copy, then enjoy the reviews some of Adam's fans shared about his story!
     



    Cross Currents

     

    by




    Adam Phillips


    Signature Author


    Reviewer: Tyler
    Status: Complete
    Length: 288,623
     

    In April of 2001, before the world changed, before Facebook, before Glee and sense8, before Obergefell vs Hodge, a man writing under the nom de plume of John Walsh began publishing the serial auto-biographical novel Fraternity Memoirs. The widespread use of the Internet was fairly new, and the advancement of online social communities to the point where non techies could use them to form tight-knit groups around common interests fueled an explosion of outpourings of support; men (and women, but mostly men) from many different walks of life found each other discussing Walsh’s novel and reaching out to Walsh to say “your story is my story”, “your pain is my pain”, “that there is someone like you in the world, who knows what it is to be like me, gives me hope.” And also, of course, “that was so hot.”
     
    Adam Phillips, at the time a senior in college, was one of those men. And as a reflection of the shared pain that bound this nascent community together, he decided to write the novel Crosscurrents, hoping he could tell a story that would provide similar encouragement, solidarity and arousal. At its core, Crosscurrents is a coming of age and love story of the protagonist Andy and his childhood best friend Matt. But it touches on many themes: fluidity in personal sexuality, internalized homophobia, sex as a tool to use people, sex as a tool to love people, the natural tendency to believe you know what is in someone else’s head, life as a popular guy, life as a traumatized guy, how to date a cheerleader. The unbelievably common but incredibly bizarre belief that bisexual people don’t exist. Many more.
     
    The writing itself is pretty good. As in almost any well-thought-out long form narrative there are some places where it feels as though Phillips were trying too hard. But far more often than not, you’ll come across gems such as “It was the solstice of the Endless Summer in our lives, a time that, while I now understand it as cruelly brief and ephemeral, seemed during those days as if it stretched out ahead of us forever” or the simpler but equally compelling, “My heart was never far from broken.” By and large, the story doesn’t merely draw you in, it sings to you.
     
    I have had my own personal tragedies, and I, like the character Andy, and like everyone who grew up before this sometimes more welcoming modern era, have had to deal with the internal trauma delivered by the pernicious homophobic conception that somehow it is bad, it is wrong, to be who you are. Every time I read a chapter of Crosscurrents I learn a little more from Andy about myself and how to get away from my own self-loathing and its associated anxiety, and that’s the best recommendation for a novel I could offer.
     
    As a warning to readers, know that this story will make you laugh and cry; you will fall in love with the characters, and at the same time you may occasionally dislike them; it will get you hard (or wet if that’s how your equipment works). But if you are offended by straight sex, this story isn’t for you. The first half of the novel is not really overtly sexual, but the parts of that half that are [very] erotic are primarily m/f. The m/m stuff mostly doesn’t get going until chapter 20.
     
    A note regarding the author: If you loved his story, if you felt a strong connection to the characters—especially if you felt a strong connection—if you need someone to talk to, drop him an email like I did; I’m sure he’d love to hear from you. After all, he told this story for you.
  11. Cia

    C S R Feature: Frozen Heart By Dianjin

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    Are you enjoying July yet? This is the pivotal month of the year, hottest or coldest depending on where you live. Most of us just try to get through it, hiding inside whenever possible to enjoy the heat or AC. So, while you're inside, why not check out a new story?
     

    Frozen Heart


    by Dianjin


     
    Length: 34,082
     
    Description: Ice, the best barrier one could hope for.
     
    A Reader Said: Very sweet. Thanks for taking the time to write. ~ Fiddlerbob101
     

    Don't forget to read and review! Plus you can come back and share your thoughts on the story overall (or the series, this is Book #1 in a series) on the CSR Discussion day taking place on Monday, July 27th.
  12. Cia
    This month we featured a compelling story about an orphan and his journey to find a home in Where Life Takes Us. Did you get a chance to read it? What did you think? Today we're going to discuss and share thoughts with the author, Kuragari129, one of our newer authors on the site--though not new to writing--so don't be shy with the feedback!! Of course, first you get to enjoy my interview with him!
     
    Single people often have more time to write. Are you single?
    I am Single
     
    Chocolate or Vanilla?
    We talking Ice Cream? Vanilla either way
     
    What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
    Sweats, a hoodie and a Jack Skellinton Toque
     
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
    Mostly Video Games and reading Manga. I've never been one for sports. I have all the leading game consoles and play on them regularily. As for manga, I look forward to the weekly releases of Fairy Tail and the monthly releases of Fairy Tail Zero and Pandora Hearts.
     
    What inspired you to begin writing your first story?
    Well I first found Gay Authors in 2012 while on vacation. Paradox of friendship is the story that stands out for me at that time. From there I discovered Nifty and looked into what it took to submit stories to these sites. Then I began production on Life's Expectations(LE), my first story. I had read a story on Nifty called “The Big Time” or started to, before the story telling me it was a squeal to “The Perfect Game”. So naturally I went back and read it first. The story focused on a group of kids each with their own plot lines, intertwined with one another. I liked that Idea of swapping Point of Views between characters. So I decided I would focus LE on 4 central characters. I wrote the first three chapters while still on vacation, but when got home and re-read them, I decided to rewrite them. What you see on nifty now was that product. In short, reading other people's work on Gay Authors and Nifty inspired me to write.
     
    Is there anything you find particularly challenging when you write?
    Explaining the little details in things, specifically sex scenes. I've never been a fan of reading books, weird I know. I find the detailing in them to be extensive, while it does bring you into the tale more. I'm impatient and I just wanted to read the story. So when I go into details on things, I know I could describe them better, during sex scenes especially. Every time I finish one I feel like it could have been done better but can't figure out how to get it better.
     
    That said though, Greyson in My Life Started at the End of the World(MLSEW) has some of my best little details. Little known fact about Greyson: he's blind. So when I go into detail with him, I REALLY go into detail. In fact I had a blind reader email me(He has a program that lets him do it) and tell me how good of a job I did with Greyson. He even gave me pointers on it.
     
    What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
    Funny you ask this next. I consider the email I got from that man to be one of my best compliments, if not the best. I actively ask my readers on Nifty to email me what they think of the story and what they think will happen next. That way I can see where they see it heading and I can get to see the story at a different angle. Sadly, since all my stories on GA have been just transferred over, you guys haven't had your chance yet. It is coming though.
     
    A while back, I got an email about my story Little Life of Nolan Parks(Because of it's content it cannot be posted on GA, Sorry.) and he gave me details about every character. It was so insensitive that I saved it and took many of the things he saw could happen and made them so.
     
    As for toughest criticism... I had a guy tell me he didn't like how I started at ended chapters on Nifty. To quote him: “At the beginning of each chapter, you prattle on needlessly at a length which rivals the length of the chapter itself.” He further went on saying “you recapitulate each of the previous chapters, and explaining how you considered different scenarios in the plot. Likewise, at the end you recapitulate what has happened in the chapter and preview what is coming next..”
     
    I was kind of taken back. MLSEW was in it's early chapters, just over a year ago now. And I had done this for all of my chapters in LE, Where Life Takes Us(WLTU) and Colby's Life Expectations(CLE). So I wasn't sure how to take it. Pretty sure I told him if he didn't like what I did to move on. He wasn't wrong, I just didn't know anything different. I still do it, just to a lesser value.
     
    What brought you to the GA?
    Like I said before, I had originally found the site in 2012. I think I thought the idea of the account to be stupid, or something. And I decided to post on Nifty. As my stories got popular I opened my facebook page and then thought about posting them on other sites. At first I did so on another site but that didn't work out. I re-found GA and posted MLSEW and WLTU. Which have turned into this apparently!
     
    Did something inspire you to write Where Life Takes Us?
    To be completely honest I don't remember if something did. What I believe it was, I was bummed out laying on my best and I just started thinking. I thought of Wyatt laying alone in the orphanage. From there it took off. I started with the names of the Luis family. They are all named after League of Legends champions, other than Grandpa Nickolas. Talon is Talon. Caitlyn is Caitlyn. Kayla is Kayle. Diana is Diana. Kenneth is Kennen. WLTU is just a a story that I made up. Some things inspired by my life experience, but mostly what I thought up.
     
    The story involves a character who’s been in the system. How did you nail down Wyatt’s emotional upheaval through the story based on his life experiences with that aspect? Growing up I wasn't the happiest kid. I never really felt accepted into a group of friends until I was in grade 10. So I more than likely tapped into that to get into Wyatt's emotional states. When he starts to feel accepted, he's also scared of his budding sexuality. I mean, kids who are born into a family go through that fear. When your adopted it's gotta be more difficult. You want to feel wanted and you feel like this will not only disappoint your parents but they might disown you, in Wyatt's case they could have even sent him back to the orphanage.
     
    I'm a theatre kid, a techie more specifically. I have acted though. When you're on stage you become a different person. You are not you anymore, and that's how I like to write. I like to try and think as the characters would. Wyatt is afraid, so I am. He's sad, so I put myself into that state. Alone I even act out some scenes, weird I know, but it helps with my writing.
     
    What was your favorite part of the story?
    Dam... that's a loaded question. My favorite part to write was Wyatt's reaction to Grandpa Nickolas' death.(Spoilers?)
    My favorite part of the story has to be in the epilogue though. Wyatt has become a teacher, and teaches at the orphanage he grew up in. Above that, Wyatt and Talon have chosen to adopt a pair of twins, who have the odds against them to be adopted together. It's that giving back moment that I like so much about it.
     
    Can you share a little about your current work with us?
    Well I have 4 stories currently active and a few in the wings waiting.
     
    The active ones being Life's Little Lies(LLL), My Life Started at the End of the World, Little Life of Nolan Parks, and Those Nights of My Life(TNML). MLSEW and TNML are in their ending stretches. They will be finding their ends rather soon. LLNP is nearing it's end with less than 10 chapters left. LLL has just gotten off hiatus and is ready for almost 20 more chapters.
     
    That's not the juicy stuff though, the waiting ones are. In total I have 4 ready to get started. One will be a GA exclusive, you'll get 5 chapters before Nifty gets one. Another will be released in three burst of five chapters at a time. There is a sequel planned for one of the active stories. And finally I'm going to bring one of my favorite reality TV shows to a story.
     
    Now, cause this is GA I will focus on that one. Like I said, you get 5 chapters before Nifty will get chapter 1. The reason for this, I think this site will be able to do what I want with it better than Nifty. This story is going to be a co-operative effort between author and reader, more details will arise when the story comes out on GA.
     
    Thank you Cia for featuring Where Life Takes Us on CSR Book Club feature. I know I didn't talk much about Where Life Takes Us, it's been almost a year since I finished writing it. If this happens again in the future I'll be sure to talk more about the story that is featured.
     
    Thanks again! Kuragari129
     
    So much great information to get to know him, so I have to thank Kuragari129 for taking part in the interview too. Now, let's get to the discussion! Kuragari will try to be online around 7 PM, Pacific Time, but leave your thoughts and questions here in the meantime!
  13. Cia

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Cia,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Renee's off enjoying some family time in the summer sun, so today you're getting the weekly wrap up from me! This is a crazy busy time of year for me too, as summer returns and the kids get out of school. This month we have a lot going on at GA with the summer anthology, our Gay Pride Month contest, and the general shenanigans happening. Let's see all the happenings this week:
     
    On Monday I reviewed the featured Signature Author story, Crash Landing, by Bill W. This story was written as part of the 2011 Aftermath anthology, and it really took me in directions I wasn't expecting. Have you read it yet?
     
    Wednesday let us learn more about Bill W in his author interview. Did you know he identifies with the underdog and originally came to GA upon a personal invitation from Myr, way back in the day? Learn more about Bill and Crash Landing by checking out the interview here.
     
    The Gayauthor's Summer Anthology, Road Trip went live on Thursday and has remained our featured blog entry for the last few days. This anthology saw stories from 8 site authors including Aditus, Renee Stevens, Cole Matthews, Valkyrie, Comicfan, Krista, Cia, and Carlos Hazday. Special thanks go to the proof team: Rec, Andy78, Valkyrie and Cia, plus Mann Ramblings for his great anthology banner, and AJ for his invaluable tech help getting the anthology live!
     


    Bulletin ..................... Bulletin ..................... Bulletin


     

    Wow, everyone's been ripping right through these! Are you playing along with the scramble contest? Well you should be! You can go back and hit weeks 1 & 2 if you haven't already, but then enjoy this week's scramble. If you're lost and need a bit of a clue, these all have something in common... try to find out what and you may figure out why I picked these stories and/or authors to feature!
     
    There will be 10 every week posted in a topic and then you PM your unscrambled answers to Cia. DON'T post your answers in the public areas of the site--or you hurt your chances of winning!
     



    What are you playing for?

     

    First Prize: A year's digital membership to Out magazine
    Second Prize: 2 Months Premium Access
    Third Prize: 1 Month Premium Access
     
    Rules: Both parts of the scramble must be correct to count. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the month wins the first place prize, 2nd most correct 2nd, etc... If there are ties, Random.org will be used to determine the winner, and those not winning will be entered in the 2nd and then 3rd place prizes as necessary.
     


    PLAY THE GAME

     

    In Premium
     
    Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim
     
    By our Classic Authors:
     
    Dreams of a Father by dkstories; Book 2 of Dreams of Humanity
     
    By our Signature Authors:
     
    Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    New York or Bust by Krista
     
    Are We There Yet? by Renee Stevens; Book 2 of Something Unexpected
     
    From Here to Forever by Comicfan
     
    Picking up Strays by Cia
     
    Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W
     
    HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont
     
    Global Explorer II by David McLeod
     
    Fortitude by Cia
     
    Cosmic Inception by Cia
     
    By our Promising Authors:
     
    Beneath the Current by Craftingmom
     
    3 PM by Aditus; Book 2 of Clockwise
     
    Boy River by Cole Matthews
     
    Exit to Redemption by Valkyrie
     
    Alex's Legacy by Valkyrie
     
    Presence by Carringtonrj
     
    Hollow Hills by Valkyrie
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  14. Cia

    Ebook Cover Contest

    By Cia,

    So I'm part of a group of authors and readers on Facebook called "Queer Sci Fi". They had their 2nd annual Flash Fiction Contest, just 300 words in a speculative fiction theme incorporating the subject: discovery. Last year in the contest I took 2nd place. This year, I didn't place in the written contest, but the group is putting out the submissions in an eBook so they also ran a cover contest. Out of the 10 covers submitted, I took 2nd. I do get a $20 cash prize, but they won't be using my cover for the eBook.
     
    So now I need to come up with an idea to write for it. What do you think of the cover and does it inspire any plot bunny ideas?
     



  15. Cia
    Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating Craftingmom as GA's newest promoted author! Joining just about a year ago, Craftingmom quickly gained popularity on the site and became a favorite author for many readers. Her Tears of the Neko story, both the original and re-write, garnered a lot of interest on the site and launched her into GA's author and reader community. She also has a lot of other stories, but likes to focus on the theme of hurt/comfort so they have a fair bit of angst, so if you're into a story that has a lot of twists and turns, check out her work!




  16. Cia

    C S R Feature: Where Life Takes Us By Kuragari

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    June is here already! For many, that means a break is coming from school. What better to do during your break than to enjoy another story with the CSR book club? This month I'm featuring Where Life Takes Us by Kuragari. This is a story about how an orphan finds a new home and a family he might not have expected.


    Where Life Takes Us


    by Kuragari


     
    Length: 49,379
     
    Description: Step into the life of Wyatt Luis and find out how he handles his new family and friends. Adopted from a near by Orphanage, Wyatt joins Kenneth, Diana, Kayla, Caitlyn, Grandpa Nicholas, and most importantly Talon to make the complete Luis Family!
     
    A Reader Said: I love the characters you've created and you do an awesome job of developing them. ~ Cannd
     

    The CSR Discussion day for Where Life Takes Us will be on Monday, June 29th, so you have plenty of time to read! Enjoy!!
  17. Cia

    Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #4

    By Cia,


    Writing Tips
    This time for the grammar rodeo, I thought I'd keep our subject matter simple and maybe even fun! Yes, yes, I swear, grammar can be fun--at least when you're like me and find a wicked glee in rolling your eyes at the grammar fails around you!! First, though, let's take a look at a technical writing tip that seems simple, but catches up more people than you might think!


    Grammar Rodeo #4



    Getting It Write Err... Right!


     

    Subject and Verb Agreement
     
    No, I don't expect them to shake hands after coming to some sort of deal. And I'm not going to go on and on about all the different subject and verb combos, though these rules can work with verbs that aren't joined with "is" or "are", those two words are the particular angle of this grammar lesson. So how do you know which to use, "is" or "are"? Which one is appropriate depends on the subject of the sentence you're writing.
     
    Have I lost you already?
     
    The subject in a sentence is the who or what is doing the action. Sometimes the subject is singular and sometimes it becomes a compound subject if you link two subjects with the word 'and'. A subject can also be part of a noun phrase usually made up of a noun/pronoun, modifiers, determiners, and/or complements. That sounds complicated, but really, it's just the bit tacked on that shares a bit more about the subject.
     
    Example:
    Dave "is" driving me crazy. (Singular Subject)
    Dave and Peter "are" driving me crazy. Compound Subject (Plural Subject)
    The man seated in front of me "is" driving me crazy. Noun phrase subject (Singular Subject)
    The men seated in front me "are" driving me crazy. Still a noun phrase subject, but now it's plural because I used 'men'. (Plural Subject)
     
    The important part is to know what the subject of the sentence is and whether it's singular or plural. The easiest way to figure that out is to first look for the word "and" in the subject. If you use "and" typically your sentence has a plural subject so you should use the word "are". Sometimes, though, it can be a little tricky because you have to pick out which part of the phrase is the actual subject--and sometimes a sentence with a single subject can still be plural due to what the subject actually is.
     
    Which is right?
    1A The use of cellular phones and mp3 players is prohibited. or 1B The use of cellular phones and mp3 players are prohibited.
     
    2A Beef and pork is good in moderation. or 2B Beef and pork are good in moderation.
     
    3A Your assistance and cooperation is appreciated. or 3B Your assistance and cooperation are appreciated.
     
    Grammar Fails
     
    Speaking of "your"... the fun part of today's Grammar Rodeo! If you're a bit of an editing geek, like me, you see these on your travels and can't help but snicker. One day at the county fair I saw this shirt and couldn't help but take a picture! I'm sure many of you have seen pics like these shared online or have a story of one, or more, grammar fails you've seen. So share already!
     




  18. Cia

    Writing Prompts #420 & #421

    By Cia,


    Prompts
    Have you been blocked lately? Looking for some creative inspiration? Just feel like having some fun? Then writing prompts are for you, and we have 2 new ones this week from our prompt guru, Comicfan!
     
    Prompt 420 – Creative
    Tag – First Line
    “He put his hand where?”
     
    Prompt 421 – Creative
    Tag – The interview
    Your job has put you forward for a great new job. Everything seems to be going great ‘til the day of your interview. As you enter the room and go to shake hands the elastic in your underwear lets go. Before you say or do anything your briefcase pops open and everything falls to the floor. How does the rest of the interview go and what happens?
     
    In honor of her new promotion, I'm featuring Craftingmom's response to last week's prompt #419:
  19. Cia

    Csr Discussion Day: Penguin By Valkyrie

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    This month we featured Valkyrie's short story, Penguin. It's a story about a chance meeting... and of course, the inspiration for the title, Penguin, plays a big part in the story. Check out my interview with Valkyrie, and then leave your thoughts on the story below! She will be available "live" to reply to comments, answer questions, etc... from 8-10 PM, Eastern Time.
     
    Single people often have more time to write. Are you single?
    Yes, although I do a lot of volunteer work for my profession and have a full-time job, so sometimes it can be hard to find the time and energy to write.
     
    What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
    A purple t-shirt and blue jeans.
     
    Did you like to write in school?
    I’ve always loved writing. I hated homework, but liked writing assignments, especially if it was creative writing. One of my characters in my current story The Hollow Hills – Josh – first appeared in a story I wrote for my ninth grade English class.
     
    What brought you to GA?
    I was a big fan of Rob Colton’s on Literotica. I found a link to GA on his profile and followed it here. It was exciting to see other writers here that I enjoyed reading on Lit – like Sasha Distan and Reddirtwriter. I found everyone here to be so welcoming and helpful. Comicfan’s prompts inspired me to start writing. I honestly don’t think I would have if it wasn’t for the supportive and helpful nature of GA members.
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
    Like I mentioned above, I am very active in organizations supporting my profession. I sit on three different boards of directors – President of one, Past President of another, and I am also a director on our state board. It takes a lot of my time and thank goodness I am at the end of my service for most of them! I like watching TV and I also enjoy traveling. I have an extensive collection of model horses and show them; although I’ve been doing that quite a bit less than I have in the past.
     
    Is there a writer you would consider a mentor or had influence on your writing?
    Cole Matthews has taught me so much through his beta reading for me. He doesn’t hesitate to let me know when I’ve screwed up and where I need to make improvements. Louis (LJH) and Lisa have helped me make my writing technically stronger through their editing. Joann414 helped me tremendously when I first joined to learn the ins and outs of the site. She also beta read Penguin for me and helped make it a better story.
     
    Do you have any writing rituals?
    Not really. I’m extremely sensitive to noise, so I tend to need it quiet in order to focus on writing. I also have attention issues and am easily distracted by shiny things. Hey look…the cat just yawned!
     
    If you could give advice to yourself when you first started writing, what would it be?
    To let the writing ‘flow’ and worry about the technical aspect later. I tend to write a few paragraphs, then go back and make revisions. I’ve spent a lot of time doing technical writing, so getting in the mindset to write fiction can be difficult at times. I’m constantly learning and (I hope) evolving as a writer.
     
    Did something inspire you to write Penguin as a longer story than a flash prompt response?
    I thought the note that Daniel sent Penguin was so sweet and I really wanted to know what happened after Sean read it. So I suppose my inspiration was curiosity.
     
    Did the characters or the plot come to you first when you viewed the prompt?
    The characters. I envisioned a man jogging in the park and encountering something you don’t see every day. I figured a man walking with a cat perched on his shoulder would fit the bill. I didn’t really plot this story out at all. I let the characters lead the story.
     
    How long did it take you to write this story?
    About two months.
     
    What was your favorite part of Penguin?
    Hmmm… that’s a tough one. I like when Robbie brought Timmy to Sean’s and Penguin gave him a tour of the apartment. I can just picture the two cats wandering around together and imagine the ‘conversation’ between them. My other favorite part would be toward the end of the story, so I don’t want to say any spoilers for those who haven’t read the story yet.
     
    Can you share a little of your current work with us?
    I’m currently writing a story called The Hollow Hills. It’s set on a horse farm in Vermont and centers around Galen and Joshua. Galen moves to New England after breaking up with his boyfriend and meets Josh. This isn’t a ‘fall instantly in love and live happily ever after’ story. There is lots of angst, tragedy, turmoil, and two flawed individuals trying their best to navigate through it all. Will they get their happy ending? That remains to be seen…
    I’m also working on a piece for the summer antho, which will feature a face familiar to readers of my Max and Elliot stories. Slytherin gets credit for the idea, though, since I never would have told Pete’s story otherwise.
     
     
     
    Thanks for the interesting interview replies, Valkyrie! Okay readers, share your thoughts!!
  20. Cia

    C S R Feature: Penguin By Valkyrie

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    This month we are saying goodbye or hello to days at the park and picnics... but it's always the season for love! So this month we're featuring:


    Penguin


    by Valkyrie


     
    Length: 14,683
    Description: Where will a chance encounter at a park lead?
     
    A reader said: The romantic wins the day in the end. ~ Jaro_423
     
    This month's discussion day will be held on Monday, May 25th, so make sure you read the story and be ready with your thoughts and questions for Valkyrie!!
  21. Cia

    Csr Discussion Day: Rumours Of War By Cynus

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    Today we're featuring an interview with Cynus as for the April CSR featuring his stories in his Rumours of War series. Did you check out one of his stories? What did you think? Enjoy this interview and then share your thoughts on his story and his writing. Cynus will be popping in today to talk, so have at it!
     
    Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?
    No. Definitely not. I don’t even sleep in a traditional bed. I lived in South Korea for nearly two years and I developed a taste for sleeping on the floor on a futon-type mattress. If I make my bed at all, all I do is fold it all together so that I have a bit of extra space, but otherwise I tend to leave it alone.
     
    Chocolate or Vanilla?
    I like mixing them both together. There’s nothing like mixing a creamy milk chocolate with the strong sweetness of pure vanilla – unless you’re talking ice cream, in which case chocolate ice cream is gross.
     
    Did you like to write in school?
    That depends on what you mean by “in school”. I hated homework in nearly every class, unless I was writing a paper. I enjoyed writing essays and I’ve always loved creative writing, but if I had to do any writing beyond that it didn’t get done. Daily journals were never my specialty, and neither were any assignments where I had to write about myself. I was so firmly withdrawn from the world that I hated anything that required me to show who I really was to the world. I’ve gotten over that now, at least for the most part.
     
    What brought you to Gayauthors?
    I’ve been hosted at AwesomeDude since the end of October, 2013. I’ve learned a lot from the community there, and certainly had my fair share of exposure through AwesomeDude, but I’ve always been a bit of a wanderer. I prefer to spread out, meet new people, and try new things. GayAuthors was the logical choice as to where to spread to next, considering the professional level of the site, and I’m glad that I decided to start posting here as well. I enjoy all of the sites that are hosting me right now, but they all have their differences, and I appreciate that difference. I love the way the review system works here at GayAuthors, and how easy it is to connect with the other members of the site. The people have all been friendly, or at least professional, and it’s easy to get along with everyone here.
     
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
    I like to converse with other people; if I’m not writing or working then you’ll likely find me at a coffee shop with one of my friends or chatting with someone online. The whole world is a conversation waiting to be had, and I love talking with people from all walks of life. My circle of friends includes all sorts of unique individuals, and my life is enriched because of the diversity that surrounds me. I’m a very boring person, so I do the best I can to make sure that I listen well to keep the interesting people around me.
     
    Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
    The areas in which I can improve seem to be infinite, though there are some things I’ve focused on more than others. I’m still struggling with showing emotion rather than telling it, and I don’t know that I’ll ever get that down. Getting description to flow naturally rather than become an info dump is difficult as well, and the same goes with setting when you’re writing fantasy. How can you show off a world of your own creation without telling the reader about the world? I’m still trying to figure out the best answer to that question.
     
    Do you have any writing rituals?
    There’s nothing that I do every single time. I like to have background noise, and so I’ll usually have music or a movie/television show playing while I’m writing, unless I’m somewhere busy. I enjoy writing in public with other people around, and I think it’s probably because having those people around me helps me see genuine human interaction that I can use to better influence my characters, much like having a model for painting. If I really want to get work done I’ll go to a busy restaurant to write during their lunch or dinner hour.
     
    If you could give advice to yourself when you first started writing the series, as I saw this was your first story, what would it be?
    Oh, the number of things I would tell myself! That list is probably endless, so I’ll just try to sum it up as best I can. I’ve learned so much over the past eighteen months, but I think there is one lesson that outshines the rest, and it’s definitely something that I wish I had known before I started writing Rumors of War. I would tell myself to not be so hasty in posting, because every good story deserves a good revision to polish it off and really make it shine. I started posting Rumors of War at AwesomeDude in December of 2013 when only War On Earth was finished, and I remember begging Mike to start posting before it was finished, because I was getting high off of the feedback I had received off of the two short stories that I had posted previously.
     
    But I wish I would have waited, worked with my editor, and polished it until I could see my reflection in it. I’ve heard it said that your first novel is never as good as you want it to be, but I can say that I’m still pleased with it. It was the first time I had managed to accomplish something that large in my life, and I learned a great deal from it. I don’t think I’d trade that experience for anything in the world.
     
    Did something inspire you to write a story with such a sweeping theme of good and evil?
    I come from a Christian background and even spent some time in missionary service, which made it easy for me to play with theology in Rumors of War, but my goal was never to push any ideology of good or evil. Rumors of War is less about the moral struggle of the angels vs. demons conflict and more about a family squabble, but I think saying anymore would spoil some of the surprise for those who haven’t read it yet but still intend to.
     
    How long did it take you to write the series?
    The first 50,000 words were written over the course of November, 2013 as part of National Novel Writer’s Month. The rest of the story was written from December 2013 to March 2014. When I had the motivation of NaNoWriMo behind me it was easy to write, but after that was gone it started to drag. As soon as it was completed I found my stride, and I’ve written a lot since then. I know how to pace myself appropriately and get the results I want, at least most of the time.
     
    What was your favorite part of the series?
    When I write it’s all about the characters. I love character development, and I love the way certain characters interact with each other. I’d say there is a piece of me in every character I write, but sometimes there is a character or two that has a bit more of me than normal, and those characters normally make an impact from the moment they enter the story. One of my favorite parts is when Keith, who is a telepath, shows up at Marc’s doorstep and addresses Damien. “Now, for you first lesson, I’m going to teach you how to avoid projecting your nasty thoughts. I would appreciate it if you weren’t broadcasting your fantasies about Dae’Marca to the whole psychic neighborhood. We don’t all think of him that way.” Keith is probably the character who carries the most of me in him, and throughout the series he has a lot of moments I’m fond of, though I think that one is still my favorite.
     
    What are your future projects?
    I have more future projects planned than I know what to do with, and some past projects that might sneak back in and demand to be worked on again. I think that it will be safer to talk about my current projects than the future ones, as those have a chance of seeing the light of day sometime soon!
     
    I recently submitted a novel to a publisher, and while I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be accepted I know that the statistics are against me, and I’m already preparing for the possibility that the publisher will reject it. It’s book one of a projected seven book series, and I’ll be working on the rest of the series while I wait to hear back from them. What I do with them in the case of rejection is still up in the air, but sharing them with the online community isn’t off the table yet.
     
    While that project is underway I have a few more projects that will be shared with all of the sites that I’m hosted at, including one that should start posting in May titled “Navigator”. It’s the story of Silas Drake, a homeless teen who has been traveling the country with his dog Adelaide as his only constant companion. The story begins when he is dropped off in a small Colorado town by an amateur band he’s been traveling with for the last few weeks, but shortly after they leave he has a run in with an unexpected person from his past. It’s been really fun to write and I’m excited to see what you all think about it when it starts.
     
    Thank you for the interview, Cynus!
  22. Cia

    Author Interview: Andy78

    By Cia,


    Author Interviews
    Andy78 is the featured Signature Author this week, and as always, we have a great interview where he can share just a little bit more about himself with site members. I decided to change up the questions, so we have a few new ones this time to go with some of my favorites. Andy actually said, "Thank god you didn't ask the what are you wearing question." Maybe if I had, Andy would've been sharing A LOT about himself.
     
    Single people often have more time to write. Are you single?
    Nope. I’ve been with my partner for sixteen going on seventeen years (that makes me feel so old lol).
     
    Have you ever gone out in public, realized your shirt is on backwards, and just don’t care?
    Once – thankfully it was nowhere fancy, just the local pub. By the time one of my friends pointed it out to me, I was far too drunk to care.
     
    Did you like to write in school?
    I did. It was mostly essays though, I was never one for writing prose.
     
    What brought you to the Gayauthors?
    I was reading Ghostryder’s Kombat Kids over on Nifty and there was link over to GA.
    What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
    Reading for the most part – anything I can get my hands on really (I’ve even been known to read Jane Austen).
     
    The other thing I really enjoy doing is baking – cakes and breads mainly. I also like to experiment a lot in the kitchen. My most recent act of bravery was with baking peanut butter bread – it was not nice.
     
    What’s the first thing you do when you start to write a story?
    I plan out the universe it takes place in. Who my characters are, what the country is like, the religion, their folklore, their laws, those kind of things. I tend not to worry about the timeline so much at the outset – I find the story dictates the timeline rather than the other way round.
     
    If you could give advice to yourself when you first started writing, what would it be?
    Don’t adopt plot bunnies lol
     
    In all seriousness, never start posting anything until it’s finished. Life ‘n stuff happens. If you have a complete story written, you can postdate the chapters and not have to worry about the unexpected.
     
    Did something inspire you to write a story with magic for The Back-up Plan anthology?
    I had the TV on in the background just for some noise (I can never concentrate without background noise) and I had the SyFy channel on, when an old episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came on. The episode revolved around a student who had brought his brother back from the dead and was building him a girlfriend in a Frankenstein-esque way. I’d never been a fan of the Frankenstein genre, but the idea of creating someone with magic suddenly came to me.
     
    How long did it take you to write Magic in the Air?
    It took just over nine weeks to write the story. Then it went through about two weeks’ worth of editing and beta reading (which added about 1400 words to the story).
     
    What was your favorite part of the story?
    The scene at the start with Angus performing the incantation. That was probably the scene that I spent the longest amount of time fussing over, and I also needed to research the various plants and weeds that flourish in the highlands.
     
    Do you have any stories in the pipeline you haven’t posted yet?
    There’s two that I’m seriously writing. One is an old story I wrote that never really came to anything so is going through a major rewrite (it’s up to about 50k, but is a long way from being ready). The other is a Star Trek-esque sci-fi that I think will end up as a collection of short stories rather than a novel.
     
    There’s also a couple that I’m just toying with. One has some potential, and the other one just won’t leave me alone. They are annoying little plot bunnies that I adopted a couple of years ago but haven’t had the heart to fricassee.
  23. Cia
    This month the Signature Background feature was Andy78's Magic in the Air. Have you seen the background yet or downloaded your copy? Man in kilt... YEAH! Have you read the story yet? Here's my review, just in case you need a little extra incentive.
     
     
     


    Magic in the Air



    by Andy78


    Signature Author


     
    Reviewer: Cia
    Status: Complete
    Length: 5,039
     
    Well I think I’m long overdue to review this story! I can’t believe I missed it in the anthologies last year. Magic in the Air was written for the 2014 Summer Anthology: The Backup Plan. And boy what a backup plan the main character, Angus, has when he asks his so-not-ready-to-be-pry-open-the-closet boyfriend of two years, Jason, to the school formal, only to be shot down. Pretty sure that sent their relationship on the skids. But Jason is the only other gay guy in his school that Angus knows, so he resorts to an old family trait: magic.
     
    Specifically, Angus conjures up the ideal guy for him. He has to dig up some family heirlooms; both sides of his family have been magical—even to the point of influencing well-known magical events in history—and he has a lot of tools at his disposal, including a magical amulet and the family Book of Shadows. But does he have the huge amount power he needs? Even he’s not sure, since he’s never flexed his magical muscles like the spell would need.
     
    Does it work? Can Angus conjure up his dream man? Or is the result of tampering with magic more of a nightmare? Did he ever have control of the spell, or does it take on a life of its own?
     
    Well, I’m not going to tell you!
     
    You’ll have to read the story to find that out. Andy’s writing has great flow, and there is a twist at the end that I really enjoyed. I’m not a big fan of teen fiction, but Magic in the Air has just enough emotional drama to make the characters feel realistic without being so dramatic it feels tediously juvenile. I definitely appreciated that, because teens do have a lot of hormones and craziness going on, but there's a line that just feels unbelievable if the author crosses it. And while my visual, or mental, appreciation for men usually goes for someone a bit older—you can NOT go wrong with a guy in a kilt!
     
    At just over five thousand words, this is a good little bite of a story—just enough to satisfy, but quick to read—so why haven’t you read it yet?
  24. Cia

    More than Mechanics!

    By Cia,

    How much time on a weekly basis, or even monthly, do you spend--not just your actual writing---but on the mechanics of writing? Just browsing a writing website or style guide can be fun if you're a geek like me, and I often reference them when I have a rule I'm not sure of when I'm editing. But the rules of writing aren't the only things to think about; there are all sorts of ways to refine your writing that have nothing to do with proper nouns or proper use of possessive punctuation/formats!
     
    But these things, like creating characters or story hooks, how to create a plot arc, what makes up a believable villain... those aren't things most authors just look up on a whim. So why not have them come to you? I WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend Writer's Digest to everyone who writes, even if they don't aim to ever publish.
     
    Today's inbox article about How to Introduce Your Hero is fascinating and shares some really great examples that made me think of the way I start a story and bring my characters alive for readers. Check it out, and when you're done, sign up for their newsletter. It comes right to your inbox, and it's totally free!
     
    **I am not associated with Writer's Digest in any way, other than being a fan!
  25. Cia

    Csr Feature: Rumors Of War Trilogy

    By Cia,


    CSR- Can't Stop Reading
    This month I thought I'd feature something a little different--and I hear there are some real twists to this author's stories, too! Depending on your reading speed, check out Books 1, 2 or 3 of the series:


    Rumors of War


    by Cynus


     
    Book 1: War on Earth
    Length: 33,600
    Description: Damien has just been uprooted from his childhood home and is about to start a new life. Little does he know that a war between angels and demons spanning thousands of years is about to be brought to his doorstep.
     
    Book 2: War of Hell
    Length: 46,573
    Description: Damien awakes in a hospital room surrounded by family and friends when an unexpected visitor arrives to tell him his life is in danger. He enters an alien environment and is left to question who is friend and who is foe.
     
    Book 3: War in Heaven
    Length: 33,961
    Description: After being betrayed by Lucifel and Shatan, Damien follows Lumial's lead and decides to take the battle to heaven.
     

    The CSR Discussion day will take place on the last Monday of the month, April 27th, but April is a long month so you have 4 full weeks from today to read!
×
×
  • Create New...