Cia

“It’s driving you nuts, isn’t it?” Kraig asked. He was sitting on the couch in my office while I paced from wall to wall. Park had been gone just one day, and I was already antsy for his progress reports. He’s send them to all the alphas, but I instructed him to let me know of any leads he found, not just the ones that panned out. “Don’t pretend that you don’t feel the need to hunt down those bastards too.” Kraig eyed his claws and ran his tongue over his sharp fangs. That horrible stench came

It's 2017... how did that happen?! Ups, downs, good or bad, time marches on. As we look ahead to what may come in 2017, maybe even making a few resolutions, I can't help but enjoy looking back at the past. Given that Mikiesboy recently finished a historical story--with a bit of paranormal thrown in for fun--I wanted to give readers a chance to enjoy this short story hopefully everyone will have the time to finish and be ready for the discussion day on Monday, January 30th. ​ The Pledge by Mikiesboy Length: ​10,295 Description: Young Tristan, sent to work for Lord William discovers much about life and love. ​A Reader said: Nonetheless, the richness and complexity of this tale was terrific. ~ Reader1810 Don't forget, this month's Discussion Day will take place on Monday, January 30th.

Why am I not surprised you two posted those sorts of resolutions? LOL!!

Do you have a New Year's Resolution? The top 10 resolutions are usually to lose weight, eat more healthily, exercise more, stop smoking, stick to a budget, save money, get more organized, be more patient, find a better job and to just be a better person over all. What's yours? Authors: Are you going to write a set amount of words? Get so many stories done? Participate in the anthologies? Readers: Do you want to get so many stories read? Do so many reviews? Get in touch with your favorite author(s)? Or, are resolutions not for you?

Edit to add: As of the latest number of results on a poll, 25 indie authors/indie publishers/publishers have reported their 4th quarter earnings, and the total, just for those 25, is $29,101.71 Keep in mind, ARe already cut 40% of the eBook price for themselves, and that's total is just the remaining 60% royalties authors are supposed to earn. At ten cents on the dollar, that would leave them keeping an additional 26,191.54. *nods* This is bad for the publishers who are only being offered 10 cents on the dollar owed, but everyone who actually signed with them as a publisher has been given the option of accepting no payment at all and getting their rights back or a long legal battle where they don't get their rights back until it's over and it's highly unlikely they'll ever see a dime either. More and more information coming out about ARe's owner is pissing everyone off. The address she's had since ARe became a business just sold for over a million dollars. She supposedly splits her time between that house in San Diego and Big Bear. Apparently back before ARe got big, she was part of a publishing company that closed with just 45 minutes of warning to the authors, even after signing recent contracts (though I don't believe she stole any royalties then). Lawyers have been contacted by some of the authors, I know at least on publisher has their lawyer on it so there are likely more too. This is going to be very, very ugly. I lose some money, but not a ton, but some of my good author friends are out big bucks, like thousands to tens of thousands, with no recourse to get any money at all.

Well, ARe "was" a reputable site and had a pretty good reputation in the industry. Per their own words, in an attempt to get authors to purchase 2017 advertising on just December 23rd (which is a total BS situation in and of itself since they only accepted direct payments and not paypal), this is what they posted for their website stats:

All Romance eBooks started in 2006 as a site just for publishers/self-published authors to post their work for sale, for a portion of the sales. They branched out into contracting eBooks, audiobooks, translations, etc... in more recent times. As soon as just 5 days ago they were sending out business as usual emails, including one to get authors/publishers to buy 2017 advertising packages. Not that they'd take a payment via paypal, of course. Wonder why that was...? Then today they send out an email to publishers that they are posting a loss for the first time ever in 2016 and, as a result, can't pay publishers the royalties they've earned. If we don't accept the "compromise", we probably get nothing. Of course they sell books from some big publishers who probably will sue them, and they deserve it because they HAD to know this was coming but chose to screw everyone, both readers and publishers. I'm hearing, just from the MM authors I know personally, stolen royalty totals are enough to equal tens of thousands of dollars. And that's just a drop in the bucket. More of their BS to screw people? They told buyers to finalize sales, download books, etc... before the site goes dark, because they're closing the site in just 3 days!!! Of course publishers are pulling their books out now, so if you didn't download it before that happens, you won't be able to if the book was pulled. Not to mention it's VERY hard to get on the site at all, of course, because so many people are on it. . This is so frustrating, and only makes it harder to trust anything or anyone but the biggest of markets and publishers. *shakes head*

Kraig’s insight sent the alphas into an uproar. They spoke over each other, everything from denying the possibility to declaring it a reason to hunt down and eradicate everyone involved. I let them get it out of their system before I spoke up. “You’ve seen the evidence I’ve presented.” I pushed my chair back and stood. “My streak has born the burden of this discovery, but and the ongoing conspiracy against all werekin. We know, from my mate, that those who set this in motion will harm those inn

Wow... the last CSR Discussion day of the year. I can't believe how fast 2016 has gone. Ups, downs, the world has really changed for so many of us. And that's the theme of Kuragari's story, My Life Started at the End of the World. Did you find out how her story ends? Make sure you don't miss your chance to share your thoughts here! But first, as always, my interview with Kuragari. Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Oh hell no, I'm terrible at eating my fruits and vegetables. If you had 30 minutes of free time, what would you do? Probably pull out my 3ds and play Pokemon. I basically play pokemon whenever I can so that's probably what I would do. What brought you to GA? Originally, I have no idea what brought me to GA. When I actually started putting my stories on GA I had another site ask me to submit my stories on there. And then I got told the story I was asked to submit didn't fallow their rules/guidelines. So I went onto here, looked at the guidelines and put up the stories I was able to put up. Do you have a favorite story on GA that you’ve read? Paradox of Friendship by InTheMindOfSunshine. It was the first story on GA that I read to the end and one of the stories that inspired me to write my own. It's a very serious story and has some dark themes in it. What’s the first thing you do when you start to write a story? Concept or plot usually. What kind of plot will this story have or what kind of concept the story will bring forth. Every story is a little different. Was there any particular reason you chose an apocalypse setting for your plot? I simply thought of one question to myself, “I wonder what happened with gay kids around 2012?” and that turned into “I wonder if they came out in fear that the world was actually going to end.” And that became the basis of my story. How did you come up with My Life Started at the End of the World as the title? Oh man, MLSEW was started back in 2014 and I have no idea what exactly happened to get the name. I knew I wanted to start the story at the point where Aidyn came out in front of everyone. So it probably spawned from the idea that your life really starts when you come out of the closet. Did the characters or the plot come to you first? Definitely the plot in this case. Like I said before, the story started with asking about coming out before the end of the would. So the plot came before anything else. Though I think I had Aidyn's name ready right off the bat. Noah and Skylar were also names I wanted to use for a while at the time so I decided on their names rather early in development. Greyson was the only character that needed to be made from the ground up. Was it a challenge to write two different couples in one story? My first story actually had 4 couples in it, so having many couples wasn't new to me. The part that makes it easy for me is knowing who each couple will end up with. When I have the endgame planned from the beginning I can play with what happens to each character easier. It helped that Aidyn & Noah and Skylar & Greyson had different relationships to work with. What are your future projects? At the moment I have three current projects; My Life Started After High School(MLSAHS)(MLSEW's sequel), Life's Unexpected Surprises(LUS) and Life of Phoenix(LOP). I am just finishing LOP and that will let me focus on MLSAHS and LUS. With that in mind I have had a story idea in my head for a while and just haven't had the time to do it with all my active stories, so maybe I'll finally get to writing it! For right now like I said, I'm focusing on my current projects in the works.

Look at all those stories! What a great week. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday!

Thank you, LBO! Sorry about that, V a l k y r i e

“An army of feral human werekin?” Alpha Trein snorted. “Ridiculous. This is why you called us all here?” “You were informed of the basics when I called for the counsel. You have copies of the information we’ve discovered.” I leaned forward and glared at Trein, the sanctimonious ass, and growled. “You’ve heard everything we said, and you still doubt the threat? You’re a fool.” I’d had it up to here with the older alphas who sneered down on anyone younger than them. I held far more power than ma

Valkyrie's story, Alex's Legacy, was Monday's Signature Feature. Did you grab your copy of the signature banner so you can share your love for Valkyrie's story? If not, you can do that here! Today we're featuring her chosen excerpt. Valkyrie says: This story started as my response to Prompt 305, although the characters existed before I wrote the prompt. Even though they were created as peripheral characters in another story, they captured my heart, and I wanted to learn their whole story. There's a tie-in to The Hollow Hills, and anyone who can find it earns a gold star. lol I picked this excerpt because it shows the connection between Sam and Alex. It also shows Alex's playful side and the romanticism that's a main feature of the story. Want to read more? Check out the rest of the story here!

This month we're featuring Valkyrie's story, Alex's Legacy With it's poignant theme and cozy bookstore setting, this is a great novella length story is a perfect December read. Make sure you don't miss out on it! Length: 22,494 Description: Sam and Alex meet and fall in love. Their relationship manages to survive some very dark and trying times, until tragedy strikes. Valkyrie's Favorite Reviews: Geron Kees says: I hope you have just researched this very well and that no one in your life has suffered through something like this horror. [He] is exhibiting all th correct signs for his personality type after an incident of extreme abuse. Your storytelling is spot on. I'd like to think that someone reading this story will gain some hope and insight from it in dealing with a problem in their own life. That, in my opinion, places what you've written well beyond the realm of entertainment writing. Renee Stevens says... Great job on this chapter Valkyrie. These two are so cute together and there was so much about this chapter to enjoy: the teasing, the descriptions of the scenery, etc. I was actually glad to see Alex slow them down, it just shows what a great guy he is. Slytherin says... Beautiful story, sad but it felt very authentic. It's good that they talked about Alex so Aaron understands Sam more They need to adopt a cat lol.Poor Chinese delivery man Great story, Valkyrie ! Cole Matthews says: My favorite part of this chapter is the teasing until the kisses final came. Very nice touch! Awesome chapter! Remember to check back on Wednesday to see what excerpt Valkyrie chose to share with readers! Want to show your support and enjoyment of Valkyries's story? Download the banner below for your site signature!

You're welcome! Your editor was right. As with many questions we have nowadays about grammar rules, it's often a mistake that can be chalked up to written rules versus common usage. It's drilled into our heads that a person should list themselves last and use 'I', and the distinction of subject versus object is rarely considered. That leads to a lot of people, including you and me, having to look up these rules to make sure, if we don't know the tricks to figure it out without the technicalities. Though, I actually knew this one off the top of my head, but that's because I'm a giant grammar geek, lol.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. It is I, bringing you the prompts again this week. It's always fun to put myself in Renee's boots (she has a LOT more snow at her place) for a time. Fortunately, she makes it easy peasy to do this post--certainly nothing like a nightmare such as prompt #545... yikes!! (Does it make you feel better about your holiday plans though? LOL) Prompt 544 – Creative Tag – First line It’s time to bury the hatchet. Prompt 545 – Creative Tag – Party Nightmare Every year, your family has a different member host the holiday party. This is the first time you are to host it. Unfortunately, your cesspool is backing up, a wicked storm is due to hit, and you in laws arrived four hours early. What happens next? So what shall I feature today...? How about a long-awaited return to his prompt story with Timothy's Terrible Prompt Stories. You can read more here!

I'm conflicted with this. I've attended an author conference before, and while I appreciated the marketing information and was eagerly anticipating a three hour lecture on world-building, I was advanced enough that it was all information I already knew. The amount of information in other lectures might have been overwhelming for a complete newb, however, because it did rely on knowing some of the basics already. I think, especially for the amount you're talking about for registration, that you'd be better off getting recommendations on the best creative and technical writing books and then consider online courses in specific information you still need more help with. It's also important to join some writing groups to get honest feedback on your writing because it is hard to know what you're doing wrong... if you don't know that you're doing it wrong. Specifically addressing networking, while you might meet other authors and make connections, those events can be busy and contact fleeting person to person due to large numbers. Sure, you could take cards to hand out, and there's a chance to expand your meeting online later on, but if you don't have a writing repertoire, it's harder to leave others with an idea of who you are and why you would be a good networking relationship to garner. Authors like to connect with other authors who have some connection they can make, and they're far more likely to cultivate a connection with you if you have a similar writing style, published work in the same genre, have a social media presences and some sort of marketing plan, etc.... So, overall, my opinion would be no. It's important to have an established voice and be seen as someone with at least some experience that is a good contact and not just someone who wants advice. I shy away from deep relationships with new authors because it's a ton of work to help guide them learn all they need to know, and I'm already swamped. I would imagine that's true of many published authors as well.

“What do we know?” I asked. Uncle Radford spoke up first. “The doctor was working on a drug to incite Kraig’s two souls, creating a feral stronger than any alpha. When you killed him, all he’d managed to do was bring one soul to the foreground.” “So what? He was going to incite my animal souls and set me loose?” Kraig shook his head. “Even if I was stronger than Deke, I couldn’t beat the whole streak, and no one would accept me as their alpha.” “No, but an army of werekin just like you could

Happy Birthday!!

Today I get to be Renee! Woohoo! This time of year, it seems everyone is busy, busy, busy. But surely you have a bit of time to write some flash fiction, don't you? Last week we had two repeat Why don't you check out the prompts below. Hopefully they'll spark some inspiration. Prompt 542 – Creative Tag – List of words Use the following words in a story – red leaf, turkey, squeaky wheel, pumpkin, and a blue shoe. Prompt 543 – Creative Tag – First Line I think it is time for you and I to have a little talk. Last week's prompts were put up as a second chance to inspire authors, so I'm featuring a piece that's also from an earlier prompt. Check out Hunter Thompson's story inspired by prompt #539. Read the rest here!

No, I won't need it sooner. I have December already in, and authors/stories for Jan/Feb. It's good to have it this early so I can do all the graphics at once, and I have oral surgery on Friday and the hype of the holidays after all that.

Dom hasn't been picked, and you're more than welcome to do both. Just confirm for me, and I'll put you in my line up. You can PM me with the info, but please PM me separately for each one with the author name as part of the subject line so I can keep it all straight in my PM folders. Thank you!!

Awesome, Val! I had a reader choose Andrew Q. Gordon already and it looks like Drew is going to do Tiff. So... you want to pick one of those of Tiff's and share an excerpt? It would be very helpful so I can plan out several months and do them at once.

Are you a fan of some of our Classic Authors? Want to help me out in a way that takes only minutes of your time but could revive some of the oldie but goodie stories on the site? Then I need your help! I'm sure many of you have seen the monthly Signature Author features where we promote one of their stories with a few copied reviews in the site blog in one post and then an excerpt in another, and I also create an ad that runs on the site for a month plus a graphic that members/authors can put in their personal signatures. What do I need from you? I want to feature the Classic authors on the site in the same fashion, but many of them are Classic authors because they're no longer active on the site. They still have their fans, though. Do you like Tiff's work? Dom Luka's? Andrew Q. Gordon? The Zot? If you do, send me a PM with your favorite story of theirs you'd like me to feature. Pick an excerpt (anything from a couple of paragraphs to 1k) from the story of a scene that you really liked, tell me why you picked it so I can share that with readers, and I'll do the rest. You could help bring some of the earlier stories in GA's history to light for newer members and share your favorite classics!