Cia

It'll be a few days, as I am still getting submissions and the Secret Author needs to get it all posted properly. Remember, authors, please don't reveal that you've written a story or submitted one because those are parts of the secret games that we play for the event. You can't be revealed too soon! I plan to have everything going and the first reader polls starting next week.

Now let's see if more authors decide to send in a Secret Story!!

Still don't have it!!

Sooo close but not quite right! 🥵 But which one???

Nope, Nope, Nope!! Keep guessing!

That's it! Today's the day. Get your Secret Author Short Story in now!! Info on the contest is linked here. Readers, the games of picking who wrote a story, who wrote which story, and picking your favorite story are all coming! The first one, how many stories do you think were submitted, has resulted in a few guesses: 14, 10, ONE MILLION (HA!), 8, more than 7 (SOOO cheating!) Were any guesses right? Feel free to keep guessing! Actual numbers Cheater McCheater guesses will not result in a number reveal!

Nope and nope.

Anyone want to guess how many stories the Secret Author has to post now???

Admin never knows what they think they know (instead of what they really should know) which leads to lots of dumb opining! Happens at my work all the time; I want to ask when the last time they actually worked with kids was or if they even KNOW the jobs of the staff they oversee (or are trying to negotiate/change).

Are you saying I'm predictable? 😆 I do like to mix up the features, but having 2 Classic authors come back to us is something noteworthy! I love featuring content that readers might not see with our newer authors posting more often, though I try not to neglect them as well. Carter's Army was definitely a popular series back in the day so it's a great feature to bring back to readers. I hope some newer members will enjoy it!

As a welcome back to GA, and since many of our newer members might not know this Classic Author, this month I thought I'd feature Topher Lydon's start to his Carter's Saga series. Check out this short novel and come back to share your thoughts on the Discussion day when I share my interview with Topher! Carter's Army by @Topher Lydon Length: 60,266 Description: A young immigrant to Canada discovers that love can be found in the most unlikely places. Andrew isn’t the run of the mill team Captain, can he show Will what it means to be in love? And can he coax the awkward, non-social boy out of the closet? Events spiral out of control after stolen kisses are caught, and gossip begins to spiral out of control. A Reader Said: I read this story quite awhile ago before I joined and I remember enjoying it greatly. All of the main/supporting characters is Will's circle are so true and it's easy to swoon and empathize with all of them. Even Will's father is true and not some stereotype of a "bad father". Honest and concise and completely engrossing. I look forward to rereading the rest off the saga. ~Miles Long Come back on the last Monday of the month, July 28th, to check out the Discussion day and share your thoughts!

Alien capybaras.... Sometimes when you see them swimming and they look so cute! I had a vision of a normal furry capybara head starting to pop out of the water, and then, all of a sudden... Wham! Tentacle alien underneath snags the human in for cuddles instead. 🤪

He is my fav character! Well, him and Rocket but I can't wear Rocket gear to school (work) so I do lots of Stitch. This year one of my kids even gave me a keychain stuffie of him at the end of the year. 😁

That's right, the deadline of July 15th is creeping up soon. 7 authors have taken up the challenge to reveal a secret... were you one of them? (DO NOT TELL NOW! On pain of retribution of the evil Cia 😈) Do readers know who likes to submit early and who might be an author who likes to push the timeline boundaries? Hmmm.... how about some clues? Some Title(s) Exposing... My.... Bust... .... It Takes ...Teen Good luck with your guesses! Want to take part or learn more about the Secret Author Story Contest? Click on the banner below!

Something to consider if I maybe have a less crazy year.

Did you catch Monday's ad feature for Headstall's story, Bearpaw: An Old West Tale? Have you read it or put it on your to read list yet? Even if you have never read a Western fictional tale before, you should really give it a chance. His writing has a way of making you invested in the characters and their lives, and you won't be sorry (even if it's a bit longer than most, though that's the draw for me usually!). Check out this excerpt, if you haven't read it yet. Want to read more? Click here

This month I wanted to feature something that felt... substantial, and don't ask me why but I always tend to swing back to historical fiction when I'm warm and dealing with the swing of the seasons into summer. Probably because I was always running out of reading material as a kid on summer break and sneaking bodice ripper Harlequins and Louis L'Amour western paperbacks as a kid, lol! Now, I wouldn't put @Headstall's writing in either category, but I always enjoy his depth and dedication to the genre, so if you like western historical fiction at all, you should definitely give this long novel a chance! Length: 109,191 Description: Many men enjoyed the life and freedom of being a cowboy, but it wasn't an easy one in The Old West. The aches were many, but it was the loneliness that could wear a man down. Jubal was one of those who dreamed as he moved and protected cattle, and the day finally came he had enough money to buy his own piece of land. Fate, though, dealt him a terrible hand once again, taking everything from him and leaving him lost and alone. Was Lucas his savior, or just more trouble for a man who'd learned to trust no one? A reader said: Gary's colorful magic is clear to see in this perfect story of terror and happiness. With lots of love and many wonders to be found here in. With delicious description and dialogue which make this a story to fall in love with, I feel sure that if you read this amazing story you will love it too! ~Albert1434 If you want to spread the word about Headstall's story, download the graphic below and add it to your signature! Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see the excerpt I chose to share!

Copyright is yours legally even if you post under a pseudonym. I don't change it.

I hope you were able to take the chance to read the 5k short story, The Answer, that Wayne wrote back in 2020. The best part of the CSR (Can't Stop Reading) blog features is that I get to pick newer and older stories on the site to bring to readers who either loved the story the first time and are happy to read it again or newer members who might have missed some of the older works. Things are always changing so fast, just like people, but we love to keep these stories alive! Please make sure to share your thoughts below my interview with Wayne. Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? I do! I try hard to get my allotment of healthy stuff, particularly now that I'm fifty years old. I've found the best way for me is to make a shake first thing in the morning for breakfast. Just get it done. If you were an animal, what would you be? A spoiled house cat. 100%. What’s something personal about you people might be surprised to know? Hmm. Well, I am polyamorus. I have a husband and a boyfriend. The husband also has a boyfriend. It works for us. What brought you to GA? The search for quality storytelling above what Nifty offered. While Nifty is fine for porn, I wanted plot, progression, belivable scenarios, and good characterization. Also, GA became a fertile place for me to share my own work, and that has been such a great thing. If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be? Running from Paradise. It'd be the story of why I left Kentucky, and how painful that was and continues to be. But some things are best left in the past, and that's Kentucky for me. When you write, is it post as you go passion or finish the story then edit and post? Both. I've done both. I'm currently posting as I write for my Engineer Benson story. My preference is to write a work completely and then post it after polishing thoroughly. With Engineer Benson, the post as I go method adds to the journal format it's in. The Answer includes a poem in your short story. You also have works of varying lengths. Does any style of writing (poetry, short story, novella, novel) call to you the most and why? I particularly enjoy novels. For a long time, The Answer was my only short story until I wrote Why Pride? Novels allow me the space to build characters, to make foreshadowing mean something and have an emotional punch, and to just tell the story I really want to tell. That said, The Answer pushed me. I had to do a lot with the space I'd allotted myself, which forced an efficiency in my writing I didn't know I could manage. As you were writing The Answer, did you feel more of a connection to the characters of Shawn or Ian? Ian. While I understood Shawn and could appreciate him and his ways, I relate more to Ian. I suppose that's a bit odd since I wrote it from Shawn's perspective, but if you'll notice, the poem the story is based on is from Ian's. I love that mirror too. If you were a character in the story, what do you think you’d say or do when Shawn’s struggling? Well, it depends. If I were one of his many discarded conquests, I'd probably feel that he deserved whatever struggles he experienced. But if I were looking through the eyes of Ian? Well … there may be someone here who has yet to read it, so I'll stop here. It’s been a while since you wrote anything for GA, have any new passions taken over? No. It's just the struggle to retain sanity in an uncertain world. When there's little currency left after spending all we've got on making it through the day, it's hard to make time for creativity. I'm slowly getting back to writing, though (Engineer Benson). And I've had two unpublished stories in process for quite some time. I'm not ready to let the world win, and I'll post another story at some point. First, though, I need to finish Engineer Benson. And I will. Thank you for the chance to talk about myself and my story a bit. The Answer was a great writing experience, and I hope new readers find and enjoy it.

Sorry it took me a bit to get to posting this for Wildone this morning, but the Weekly Wrap Up is finally here with the member stories added (my only job, whoops). Enjoy!

Did you catch Monday's feature of Black Swan's by Graeme? If you didn't see that, check it out now. Or just enjoy the excerpt below and then keep reading! Want to read more? Click here

This short story is a short story written long ago by Graeme (almost 20 years!) but it shouldn't be missed. Please take the time to read and review this series of snapshots, as he termed it, that fits right in with the theme I'm using to feature this month's stories! Length: 3,175 Description: Snapshots of lives as a young boy grows up, a young couple age, and an old man goes through his retirement. A reader said: No guarantees in life.😬 ~AlexLittel If you want to spread the word about Graeme's story, download the graphic below and add it to your signature! Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see the excerpt I chose to share!

It's sort of... always the same theme. I try to put a little twist of some sort on it that can be used in different ways but it's an expected event involving keeping and revealing secrets, lol. I think the fun part is that some authors use that "expected" to do or write something unexpected to pull the wool over the readers' eyes. Or... did I just reveal your hidden truth? 😶‍🌫️

For 2025, the Secret Author Contest theme is going to be "Reveal the Truth". Now... the only one you can reveal the truth to in real life is your beta/editor, but in the story there should be some link to the theme of revealing the truth in some way. A juicy secret that comes out, a bitter reveal that one doesn't want to believe, best friends that finally end up doing the horizontal tango and the betting pool reveals who won on how long it took them to get there? Authors, you decide how it plays out! Deadline: July 15th, 2025 General Process: Write the story in Word or Docs. EDIT it first! Then send via email to Cia (cia@gayauthors.org) or PM (please PM Cia if you email or share via Docs to make sure she got it). Stories will be posted via our Secret Author account. Games will be played! Guess the Author is always fun. We will also do "Favorite Use of Theme" this year. Do NOT reveal the truth! Stories will be returned to the authors and the winners of the Guess the Author (reader winner) & Favorite Use of Theme (Author winner) game will be revealed. Author Info: Stories must be between 1k - 30k in length. Stories will be posted as 1 chapter but can be separated with double space breaks/timeline jumps. Stories must adhere to all of GA's content & editing guidelines. Stories must have some use, even tangentially, of the theme "Reveal the Truth". Metadata needed Title: Description: Story Note: Chapter Note: Genre(s) (3 Max): Audience Rating: Tags (6 Max):