Cia

Happy Birthday!!

I have to agree with Trevor. I don't even watch commercials on my own shows anymore. And I detest all the toy adverts my kids get to see. Talk about bringing on a case of the 'gimmies.'

Thanks for the sweet talk I am glad you like the story so far though you still have issues with some of it I wanted Charlie to be open and comfortable with the fact that Tap and Dane are gay. That tends to lead people to think in a story with gay main characters that anyone with that 'vibe' has to play for the same team. That's not necessarily true and I threw in the girlfriend just to hit on that point. I'm glad you caught it. I like to highlight different relationships in my stories, straight, bi, gay. The only close relationship you really see in this story other than Tap and Dane is Tap's parents though, so it's not as obvious. I was going for third person omniscient in this story so that I could include the snippets from Alan's pov for just the reason you pointed out, to increase the suspense but not really hide it. I guess it might be considered cheating by some to reveal the plot in that way as the story moves along rather than to hint at it only and let the reader figure it out at the end. I am still new at writing though so I'm still trying out all different styles and plot options. I will take your comments for the next time I am working on something and keep them in mind. Good and 'bad' (really, not bad at all) comments are always welcome. I really enjoy hearing people's take on the story and how they feel about the characters and the situations they are embroiled in. Critcism and tips for writing are always appreciated as well. I like to learn what works and doesn't work for my writing and the only way I really can get that is if people tell me. Thanks, Q.

Driving a truck is compensating? Man, that's a sucky stigma I'm glad I am a woman then I did get my truck when I was 21 though. My baby was a Dodge Ram 2500 V10 I totaled it several years ago . I loved my truck, it was just 'me'. I girled it up with purple accessories, pedal covers inside, purple valve stem covers and purple foot steps. I also had a betty boop window decal. Of course the other side window had a decal that said "Bad Ass Toys Aren't Just For Bad Ass Boys"

LOL. Well I just don't see Alan... oh wait, that's a plot point I haven't explained yet. Suffice it to say Benji's right but you guys don't know how she's involved yet so at least that will still be an element yet to be discovered.

As a parent I take the lesson you hit upon with their conversation in the story to heart. It doesn't matter if you know what to say or how to say it. It takes just 3 little words, "I love you." I use them every day, several times. I even try to get it in there when I'm mad, maybe to remind myself why I am not strangling someone when they just did a bad bad thing Thank goodness my bad bad things are so not of the magnitude the young man in your story faced. I didn't worry about my sexuality as a teen. I didn't really spread it around though either. Facing ridicule wasn't something I was unused to so I knew to keep some things private but it never bothered me. I'm bi though so it's really not as much of an issue for me as for someone who really goes against 'societal norms'. Sometimes being yourself is not a good thing as you have pointed out with this. It takes strength to stand on your own two feet and not everyone has that. It's truly sad that any person who has family and friends should have to. Love costs nothing to share. A hug is pretty painless. A caring smile can brighten the worst day. Reaching out to someone you see troubled might be the one thing that holds them back from the brink of something they can't take back. If you don't take the time to help, to really do something valuable like helping others, you will never know. You must keep writing surf. As I said in my review you have a wonderful talent for telling a story and really drawing a reader into the minds and hearts of the characters involved. Take the time to really learn the structure and 'science' behind writing and how to apply all the rules because if you pair that with your incredible skill to evoke emotion your stories will be truly great.

I second Patrick's statement, of course Though I'm still young. One more year at least

Sorry guys, I forgot to respond after last chapter and I didn't even see your post yesterday, Q. I will plead extremely limited net access this weekend, I had family visiting. Okay so you both are sooo close and yet so far from where this is going. Alan's mother is a part of this whole thing Benji, of course. We'll see how you like the ending. Also, Q, I know that trials for things drag on endlessly usually with a lot of wait for them to actually start but I was trying to sort of 'up the stakes' for Alan. He only has a limited amount of time so that precipitates his actions sort of thing. So sue me (wait, don't. I'm sure you know all the tricks) Also, okay, so yeah, I will admit, I've definitely got the whole size disparity thing in my relationship and I like it personally. It's come out in a few of my other stories as well. People who know Tap totally see what's going on with Dane. Your point on denial is exactly Dane's problem. His denial about his situation with his father was the first place I pointed it out and this time is little different. Dane focuses on the worst that could happen and that allows him to suffer quite a bit to avoid it. Mentally and physically. We'll have to see if that changes by the end, I don't want to give too much away. Awww, crushing on Tap. He's just a big ole teddy bear in my mind. A hot one of course but just so loveable. Fun, protective, rowdy and tender, he's kinda got it all. Gotta love literary license right?

Yay! Always nice for new authors to be elevated! Congrats!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Wowsers. Quite the rollercoaster! I am so glad you came through the night safe. Work at least is keeping you busy, you gotta love having cute eye candy to ogle, they make time fly by.

Wow, halfway done already Dolores. I would have to say you've probably got a few days to spare to figure out how to get unstuck I've found that happen to me... well, pretty much every time I write I am always putting in way more detail than I expect. I'm actually trying to keep my story descriptive without bogging down the story with side details. I have already added some extra scenes I hadn't planned for but I am trying to stay with the main thrust of the story I have plotted so I don't get stuck. I've no idea how long it will end up but I have pretty much every major plot point still to come so I'm sure it'll be fine.

You are being strong you know. You are admitting that you are feeling this way and having thoughts of suicide and are not acting on them. Just speaking out about how you feel is a good thing. I know we don't really know each other but I truly hope that you will take care of yourself.

I'm writing slowly but surely. 9150 words so far. But I did a lot of prep work on the story and I have to account for the time I have family coming to visit this weekend and a few days out of town over the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm pretty much on track for where I need to be. The deadline is definitely keeping me focused. I have a lot I try to do each day most of the time so I've been writing in short bursts of 30 minutes to an hour once or twice during the day and then really sitting down to it for 2 hours or so each night. I think I would be farther but writing speech with an accent is a lot harder than I predicted it to be. Plus my story has already diverged from it's plotted path. Is everyone else still writing what they 'planned' to (if you work with an outline) or have your characters and storyline shifted as well?

The irony, being up is making you down. That's so unfortunate. Oh, and technically tack refers to any type; horse, pony, llama, goat, pygmy goat, donkey. Lots of options, perhaps that store only sold horse tack (being facetious, anyone looking for tack would know well enough ) All I can say is life is full of people who feel the need to be redundant, even in signage. Sorry, nothing funny to share, well oh, I did see a t-shirt the other day. It said: Caution, I do stupid things. I think more people should be required to wear those

Hee hee, I know. I'm not gonna tell. Maybe Nephy has mercy. I somehow doubt it though.

NaNo kicks off at midnight tonight, wherever you are. I plan to attempt to at least get the opening salvo out of the way tonight before I wake up and become a slave to my computer and the teapot. Good luck everyone!!

Oh gods yes. Trust me peoples, you will not see where this is going no matter how much you try. However, any literary ride designed by Nephy is always packed full of fun. Especially this one with its frequent trips into the bedroom, bathroom, garden... I have to say that Astaria is my favorite character. Her place in the story might be understated but is so very vital. Plus I just think she's cool.

Kissing is cultural. Some cultures are definitely more 'physical' than others. Compare Latin versus American (well northern). That being said part of it also has to do with your own comfort level with physical contact. I don't like to be hugged or kissed, even by family for the most part. My dad still kisses me, and one of my sisters. That's it. Other than that it's the occasional hug, usually as a goodbye. I never hug in greeting. And friends next to never get hugs from me. Usually only holidays or special moments if they need comfort. My siblings that were raised sort of southern are much more comfortable with physical contact, even the boys. The boys will hug and kiss their female relatives and hug their dad but kissing friends? I doubt they'd even go so far as to hug really. I think that if you compare cultures views on sexuality and taboos you will find a direct correlation between that and the physical intimacy between people, both friends and strangers.

Sounds like life has been hitting you pretty hard lately hun. I wish things we could say would make it better but platitudes don't help. I am glad you had a few silver linings in all that chaos and stress. Hugs!!

I spoke with Myr about this topic. He was aware of the issues with the validation process and it will be addressed in the new GA. Stories 1.0. It isn't completed yet so the exact process and the notifications authors will receive are not known to me at this point but it won't be the shot in the dark system that is in place now. Sorry I don't have more details but I can sympathize with the frustrations that were expressed here. I also wanted to make the members who have difficulties with this system know they aren't being ignored. edited to add: The Administration Communications forum is available for members to post concerns or issues withe the site they might be experiencing from technical difficulties to suggestions for changes like this. Admin and mods are much more likely to respond in a timely manner if you post there rather than in a regular topic where they might not see it for several days.

Check out the link in my initial post in here Arana. But in short, it's a 'challenge' to get writers to finish a 50k or more story during the month of November. It's interesting. I sort of 'helped' last year with some others who wrote for it and this year is my first.

I'd love to be involved but between my own stories, my planned participation in NaNo, a collaboration project in December and all the beta reading/editing I do I just can't commit right now It sounds like a great amount of fun but I don't want to commit to writing and participating and then failing to be 100% involved.

Smart man Ricky. Mark is obviously suicidal. Seriously though, I do use my emotions and memories of emotions of events in my life that have happened for my characters ands stories. Some of the things I've written have happened to me and other things are made up but I've found it makes it easier to write how something affects a character if you've experienced it. And sometimes I have to step back from writing something until the memories calm but I don't think I've ever actually had the character's plight move me so much that I cried. I think I get too focused on thinking, 'okay, so when this happened I felt fear and anger or whatever and that caused this sort of physical reaction' and how would that best be related to the reader in the character's reactions. Maybe when I have more experience as a writer and have to think less of how to get it across I will become more immersed into the characters themselves.

I can't really answer that poll. I guess I've never been that involved in my stories to just hit the emotional side of it when I read. I'm always too caught up trying to figure out better ways of writing the actual content to be moved by the drama the charactes are embroiled in. Maybe my writing would be better if I were more emotionally involved. Now that I sound like a total robot, I do cry at other people's stories. When the emotions are something I can relate to the waterworks can actually be pretty bad.