Renee Stevens

Reviews Revisited To start the new year off, the review team thought that we'd take a look at all the reviews posted since 2014. There were a lot of wonderful reviews submitted by readers and by the review team. Reviews for stories that were part of the CSR or are no longer found on site have been omitted. If you're curious about the review and would like to read it, simply click on the date and the link will take you to the review. Don't see your favorite story on the list? Consider writing your own review and submitting it. If you are interested in doing a review for the blog, contact @Timothy M.. A huge thank you to Timothy for taking the time to compile the list. 2018 January 8th: Classic Author Special Review - The Review Team January 22nd: Confide/ant by Sasha Distan - Lisa February 12th: Shifter by Skinnydragon - Puppilull March 12th: Predator/Prey by Parker Owens - Spikey582 April 9th: Travelling Home by podga - Timothy M. April 23rd: Boy story: The road taken by Rip Skor - Puppilull May 14th: Button by Cole Matthews - BlindAmbition June 11th: The Lilydale Leopards by Graeme - Timothy M. July 9th: How the Light Gets In by Duncan Ryder - Parker Owens July 23rd: Blood of the Neko by Craftingmom - LitLover August 13th: Losing Kevin by Ronyx - BlindAmbition September 10th: Pour Me Another by K.C. - Spikey582 October 8th: The Web by MrM - Puppilull October 22nd: Never Too Late by northie - Timothy M. November 12th: Twelve Gays of Christmas by Iomax61 - Puppilull December 10th: The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie - Cole Matthews December 24th: Favorite Christmas Story Special Review - The Review Team 2017 January 9th: Circle of Hell Stories by Sasha Distan - Puppilull January 23rd: Joined by Blood by Renee Stevens - Aditus February 13th: Secret Admirer Special Review - The Review Team April 10th: Hypnotic by Cia - Litlover May 8th: The Navigator by Cynus - Timothy M. May 22nd: Unforgivable by LitLover - Spikey582 June 12th: A Healing Heart by Lilansui - Puppillul July 10th: Rule #3 by CassieQ - William King July 24th: Premium Stories Special Review - The Review Team August 14th: Alex and Zach by Greg_A - Aditus September 11th: 9/11 by Mark Arbour - Timothy M. October 9th: Morningstar : The Malaise by Headstall - Wicked Witch October 23rd: Miss Silver Pretty-Pink Toes by mikiesboy - AC Benus November 13th: Personal Banking by Refugium - Puppilull 2016 January 18th: Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle - Valkyrie February 15th: Trouble Plus Trouble by Palantir - Timothy M. April 18th: MetaBattles by JohnAR - Defiance19 May 9th: Red Running Shoes by Aditus - Timothy M. May 23rd: Song and Dance by Headstall - Litlover June 20th: Thaw by Puppilull - Timothy M. July 11th: A to Z by Parker Owens - Aditus August 8th: The Alliance by VVesley - Puppilull August 22nd: About Carl by Diogenes - Timothy M. September 12th: NaPoWriMo by Mikiesboy - Aditus October 10th: Shapeshifter by metajinx - Puppilull October 24th: MetaDeaths by JohnAR - PKCrichton November 14th: Nature Wrath Anthology Special Review - The Review Team 2015 January 19th: The English Year by Jwolf - Timothy M. February 16th: Dangerous Impulses by Greg_A - Cia March 16th: Leaving Club Leo by C James - Renee Stevens March 23rd: Meta by JohnAR - Timothy M. April 20th: Savory, Bitter and Sweet by Percy - Timothy M. May 18th: Gaymer by Dabeagle - Renee Stevens June 20th: Denn's Mobile Circus by Twisted_Dreemz - AC Benus August 17th: MetaOrigins by JohnAR - Puppilull August 24th: Future Imperfect by Bill W - Atruefan September 21st: Prophylaxis by Rambling Robin - Timothy M. November 16th: Confounded by Andr0gene - Timothy M. November 23rd: MetaShadowlands by JohnAR - Litlover December 21st: Kissing the Dragon by lomax - Timothy M. 2014 January 20th: No Room In The Lodge by Joann414 - LJH (Louis Harris) February 17th: Burden of Secrets by Cia - Comicfan March 17th: Roommates by Krista - LJH (Louis Harris) March 24th: The Lake by Dolores Esteban - Joann414 May 19th: Geeks by CassieQ - Cole Matthews June 16th: Memoirs Of A Child Of The Past Century by Old Bob - Percy June 23rd: The Matchmaker is Grounded by Dark - Renee Stevens August 18th: The Game by Nephylim - Joann414 September 15th: Empath's Kiss by Andrew Todd - Renee Stevens October 13th: Joined by Blood by Renee Stevens - Cia November 17th: Imprint by Hermit in the Cave - faxity December 8th: Misunderstandings by BigAKHorton - Timothy M. December 22nd: Gay Whales by Graeme - Renee Stevens

Happy Friday, y'all! Sorry for the delayed prompts today, but here you go! Hopefully these inspire you to write something, whether you're a seasoned author or someone writing for the first time. Enjoy! Prompt 724 – Creative Tag – New Year, New You On New Year’s Eve like so many others you made a promise that in the new year you would change and do much better. Having had a bit too much to drink and no one special to share the night with you went home and collapsed into bed just before midnight. When you wake, you have a hell of a hangover and stumble to the bathroom to take care of business. As you catch sight of yourself in the mirror you scream. You aren’t you anymore, but that’s just the start of a new year and new you. What do you do? Prompt 725 – Creative Tag – Midnight Kiss Your grandmother has always told the story of everyone in the family finding their true love by being kissed by their soulmate at midnight on their eighteenth new year. You were alone and didn’t get kissed. She begged you to out and celebrate on your twenty-first, saying it was the last chance. You finally do, only to be grabbed by a stranger seconds before midnight and given a soul searing kiss. What happens? Did you write a prompt response last week? Share a link in the comments!

Sorry all. Round 4 questions will be posted soon in the next few days.

Well, it's time for another Q & A session with our site authors, poets, editors, and readers! As you can see, these features have a little something for everyone. If you have ideas for questions for one of these groups, feel free to PM me! And while you're at it, why not answer one of the Round 4 questions! Now, let's see what we have for you this month! This month, we're going to turn it around a bit and start with our editors first! Editors: What is the most common error you see? How can authors avoid it? @Kitt - I have a lot, but the worst are misused homonyms hear/here and your/you're. The first you can remember by the fact that you hEAR with your EAR, but you are either here or There The latter try replacing the words "you are" for the your/you're in question. If you are works, you need the apostrophe! @Timothy M. - I'm sure someone else will have mentioned homonyms like bare/bear and break/brake, and using apostrophes (') where they're not needed. So I'll go with shift in verb tense. Experienced authors rarely make this mistake if the whole story runs in the same tense. But since a deliberate change of verb tense from past to present, or back, can set the pace nicely, the wrong verb tense may occur even to the best among us/you. I'm not sure how to avoid it, other than putting the story away for a day or two, and return to read the sections with different verb tenses separately. @Valkyrie - I would say comma usage tends to be the most common error I encounter when editing. It's something I struggled with when I first started writing, so I understand it can be difficult to get a handle on. If an author is unsure if a comma should be used or not, they should ask themselves if there is a complete sentence following the conjunction. If there is, then add the comma. If not, then don't. Commas are also necessary after introductory phrases. For example: After I woke up, I got a cup of coffee. I realize there is a lot more to comma usage, but the two instances I outlined are the most common omissions I see. Readers: What is your favorite genre? What is your least favorite? Why are they your favorite and least favorite? @Disjecta Membra - My favorite genre (to read and write) is fantasy. I love fantasy because to me, reading and writing is about getting lost in a different world. There is so much that can be done in fantasy worlds that cannot be done in other kinds of writing. I find it also allows for a great deal of invention, with creatures, magic, places, etc. I always find it wonderful to see what the unique minds of other writers can come up with. There are really no rights or wrongs in fantasy either; a reasonable answer can always be provided for something even if it wouldn't make sense in the real world. That being said, I do still enjoy other genres. Fiction is fiction, and it always has the ability to take the reader somewhere else. However, I have never been a fan of historical fiction. I don't know that I have a super justifiable answer as to why not, except that I've just never been able to get into it. @Thorn Wilde - Interestingly, the answer to both of these is Fantasy. IRL I practically only read sci-fi and fantasy. Good SFF is interesting and engaging and plain fun, it lets you escape from your own life, your problems, everything that hurts, even when it's serious stuff. But then you get to the tropes. Oh God, the tired old tropes! If it's not absolutely excellently written fantasy, they cannot be overlooked. You've got your high fantasy with Tolkien inspired elves and other creatures, your vampire stories that all seem to draw on Anne Rice in one way or another (and don't even get me started on Twilight, ugh), so many dragons, crappy world-building where everyone is white (because for some reason all fantasy has to be based on medieval Europe, apparently; you can have elves and gnomes, but you can't have people of colour? Give me a break!) , and the list goes on. Mix magic into your sci-fi, and it all becomes crappy Star Wars rip-offs. I swear, a lot of fantasy novels could just as well be fan fiction of better works. If they were, I think they'd be better. @mollyhousemouse - i really enjoy reading stories about second chances, and slice of life stories with adult characters. i'm not too fond of teen romances, might be that i'm so far removed from that time of life; also, not too fond of shifter stories. well i did enjoy those by @JohnAR , but they weren't what you would normally think of when you say "shifter stories" i like the second chance stories because we all like to believe in second chances, don't we? and the slice of life ones well it's nice to peek into the neighbors house to see what's going on. Poets: What inspires you to write poetry? @aditus - When I feel the need to bring order to things it’s good to sort by meter. @Mikiesboy - The world, people, feeling, colours, nature. What i see and feel everyday. Poetry let's me express my joy, pain and love. @Valkyrie - I tend to draw inspiration from my life and surroundings. Sometimes I'm inspired by current events or an article I read. I also enjoy the challenge of National Poetry Writing Month and seeing what I can create based on daily poetry prompts. Authors: What was the hardest story for you to write? Why? @Thorn Wilde - I think it's a tie in my case, between the Craig short in Hubris, and Nobody's Valentine. With Craig, it was simply the subject matter. It was a hard story to write because it was so painful and heartbreaking. It was also difficult to give a character who did such awful things a backstory and a soul. A reason, even if it wasn't an excuse. As for Nobody's Valentine, I wrote it a few months after my ex dumped me and it was more than a little bit based on what I was going through at the time. It drew on my own recently lived experience of heartbreak, and that hurt a lot. Even when I reread it now, three years after the break-up, I relive the pain of it and I kind of want to cry. It's hard to admit, but I still miss him, even though I've otherwise moved on. @CassieQ - It is usually whatever story I am working on when the question is asked, but that’s a cop-out. Some stories are easier to write than others, but the one I struggled with a bit was Save Tonight. It is about grief and loss, and those are very hard things to experience and write about. I was pleased with the final result, and I’ve gotten great feedback on it, but there were definitely some moments when I had trouble getting the words down. @aditus - Noli Me Tangere. This story doesn’t have a HEA ending, only hope. I knew the readers wouldn’t like it. @Mikiesboy - That's a tough one. Changes because it took a lot of research and it was quite emotional. But i think it would have to be After The Past. I had to make some tough choices with respect to what happened with the characters. I had to make sure i wrote it well enough so readers would accept the choices i'd made. @Superpride - The hardest story for me to write was Hero Wanted. The first reason was because it was hard for me to find an exact premise of how the characters got their superhuman abilities. This story is actually the third iteration before I officially published the first chapter in this site. It took me a lot of research to find how my characters got their abilities that would make sense in my head. After going through nanotechnology and ether, I finally settled with the manipulation of light as the premise. Another reason is the balancing of world-building and the romance between the two main characters. I really wanted to write how the world of Hero Wanted works, but I also wanted to go deep into the developing romance between Ryan and Chris. I wanted both elements of my story to be just as captivating, and I didn't want to focus too much on just one of the two. I don't know if I was successful with that endeavor, but I hope to continue that mission as I make this story into a series. The last reason is the tons of research I did to connect this story to the various world mythologies, specifically Filipino mythology and connect those mythologies together, like the diwata of Filipino mythology named Maria Makiling who could transform ginger into gold and connect her to the origins of the three sacred treasures of Japanese mythology. It was a lot of time I spent with my eyes on my computer screen, but it was really worth it since I learned a lot about different mythologies, and I got to learn about my own Filipino culture as well. @Valkyrie - I found my anthology story for the fall 2016 anthology--"Lost and Found"--quite difficult to write. When I wrote it, I was struggling with a bout of writer's block, so I had to to push myself for every word. The subject matter didn't help, as it was a difficult topic and not easy to write about in the best of times. Well, that's it for this session of Q & A. Don't forget to check out the thread for the Round 4 questions!

Hey All! Have you missed the prompts for the last few weeks? Now that the anthologies are fully posted, it's time to return to our weekly prompts. If you haven't already done so, make sure you check out the 2019 Fall Anthology. There were some great entries, and I'm sure that you'll be able to find something that you like. Now, let's take a look at what prompts comicfan has for you this week! Prompt 722 – Creative Tag – First Line “Not my problem anymore!” Prompt 723 – Creative Tag – Birthday Gift You are about to face a major birthday alone. Things haven’t been going well, when you get a gift. What is it and who is it from? Since we haven't had prompts for a few weeks, I'll ask instead.... What story have you been working on? (If you've done a prompt in recent weeks, feel free to share that as well!)

Only a few more days until the deadline for the current round!

I'm so sorry, James. I dread the day I'll receive that same call for my own brother. If you need to talk, vent, whatever, my PM box is always open to you.

Thanks, tim. i hope so.

I'm hoping to write at least ONE short story.

Sorry all, I know that this was supposed to post this morning, but the CenturyLink nationwide outage has affected us and made doing much of anything next to impossible. Hubby managed to get our mobile hotspots working so that I could post the wrap up blog. We had 17 brand new stories for your enjoyment from a variety of authors. Hopefully you've had a chance to read all the offerings, and there's something for everyone, but if you haven't, here's a master list for you of all the 2018 Fall Anthology entries. Don't forget to leave authors a comment, and if you have a few extra moments, a story review would be wonderful! Thank you to all the Authors and their teams, the Anthology Proof Team for giving the stories a final polish, and Mann Ramblings for the Anthology banner! I also wanted to take a moment to thank @Cia for helping out with this anthology, and @Graeme for organizing next years theme selection! If you missed it, next years themes will be as follows: 2019 Spring Anthology Due: May 15, 2019 In the Stars Snapped 2019 Fall Anthology Due: November 15, 2019 Fall From Grace Raincheck Now, with that all being said, let's take a look at the complete story listing for the 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back & Good Intentions. Happy Reading!!!!! Tomorrow Carlos Hazday One Little Snowflake Bhopper2 The Death, Life and Suicide of Tommy Crouch by Tarek Donohue Mikiesboy Lifting the Veil Headstall Jealousy CassieQ Culled Parker Owens Leading the Way Puppilull A Bad Way to Wake Up WET Part 2 Myr Superhero Surprise Cia A Taste of Amnesia AC Benus A Place To Live northie Martin Pop, Fixer Comicfan Wounded Comicality A Tempest in a Teapot Myr Igneous Valkyrie Castle Dark Cole Matthews A Bad Way to Wake Up WET Part 1 Myr 2018 Fall Anthology Support Team Anthology Coordinator Renee Stevens Anthology Coordinator Assistance Cia Graeme Tech Support Myr Proof Team Cia Rec Valkyrie Parker Owens Anthology Banner Creation Mann Ramblings

Hello all, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! It's hard to believe that the year is nearly over, and it's been such an exciting year. For today's blog, we're going to start wrapping up one of our previous blog features. The Improve & Encourage feature was a fun one to do, but it's time to move on to a new feature. With that in mind, I'm working on getting the final few Improve & Encourage posts and it will be complete in the near future. Today, to help get us started, we have a critique by @aditus of The Tollbooth Operator by @Timothy M.. Enjoy! The Tollbooth Operator Timothy M Critique by: aditus Please give us a short summary of the story you chose. Frankie lived all his life in a gated community. Like his father, he works as their tollbooth operator and lives in a tiny cottage attached to the booth. Residents and colleagues like him for his work ethic, friendliness, and helpfulness, even though some might think him slightly odd. Every day he unwavering follows a strict set of routines. One of those routines proves to be very helpful in a criminal investigation; as a result, Frankie has to step out of his comfort zone and leave his home for the first time. What do you see as the strengths of the story/poem? The Tollbooth Operator originated from Cia’s newsletter Grid & Dice game. Timothy M. had to write a flash fiction piece from: A neurotic tollbooth operator hides in an inner city one-star no-tell motel because: "Fuck, they saw me!" When I read this combination it made me grin at first, then I was tremendously glad I didn’t get this particular challenge. I found it difficult to think of any ideas for this prompt. Timothy however, obviously didn’t have a problem with the task, or so it seems after having read the story. Usually we learn about a character by observing them while the story unfolds —not this time. We get to listen in as Frankie recaps why he has to hide from criminals and how he feels about it. I loved this. It’s a sneaky way to show us how uniquely his mind works and what an extraordinary and strong person he is. Timothy developed an engaging tale around him and gave it a nice twist by cleverly using Frankie’s quirks. On top of that, he somehow managed to include the one-star no-tell motel because “Fuck, they saw me!” without it being awkward or forced. Unbelievable! What do you see as the weaknesses of the story/poem? Obviously Frankie is not your run of the mill character. There are only hints at what makes him special. I liked this, but I found the just hinting a little overdone. A small piece here, a description there, emphasizing certain quirks, detailing unusual needs and routines.... At some point, I was thinking ‘Okay, I I got it.’ But this is admittedly just nitpicking. How do you think the story/poem could be improved? That’s easy, with writing an end that doesn’t feel as if the author ran out of time! Or at least by adding a part two. ‘I was hoping this open-ended finish would leave you in a state of mind similar to Frankie's, so you'd feel the uncertainty and what now?’ Sorry, that didn’t work .Well, not with me. I’m greedy. I want an ending for this unusual, quirky story written by the author himself and not cobbled together by my inadequate brain. Pretty, please? You can do this so much better than me, Tim! What was your favorite part? (scene/sentence/etc) I loved how Frankie handled the reporters. It showed that he isn’t a push-over. It was an important realization for my understanding of him. And then there is Detective Kasumaki. Let’s whisper his name together with Frankie and hope the author finds it in himself to write a little something more.

Sorry you're free feeling under the weather, Wayne. Hope you get feeling better soon and that things improve for you.

Happy Birthday, tim! i hope you had an awesome day!!!

Have you sent your answers in yet?

Well, it's Christmas Eve. Hope everyone is ready and if you celebrate, hopefully Santa visits you tonight. Make sure you're in bed early! To help you get into the holiday spirit, we asked the review team to pick some of their favorite Christmas/Holiday stories and write a short review. If you haven't already read these stories, they are definitely worth checking out. And maybe, if you have an extra moment or two during a lull in the festivities, leave the authors a story review! Now, I'm going to leave these with you as I finish with the preparations for Baby J's very first Christmas! Merry Christmas from the Gay Authors Staff Last Christmas Comicfan Reviewer: Parker Owens Status: Complete Word Count: 10,821 There are so many good things to say about this story, I’m not sure where to begin. That’s probably why it’s a favorite Christmas tale. For one thing, it’s about healing, a theme toward which I naturally gravitate. The central character, Frank, has suffered traumatic loss after traumatic loss. Tragedy and misfortune have taken so much away. He’s changed his profession from trainer to artisan; now he ekes out a living selling the products of his hands. He’s numbed by it all and seems beaten down by life. Yet something stirs inside Frank when Chris walks into his store. We see a friendship unfold and something potentially wonderful begin to flower for Frank. What warms the heart is watching Frank thaw, seeing him reclaim himself from his pain. The reader can cheer him on, willing Frank to see what ought to be plain. Of course, isn’t that an experience common to so many of us? We miss something splendid and incredible right under our noses, just as Frank does. Fortunately, he finds the courage to reach for that very thing, only to see it become something far more fantastic than he expected. Category: Fiction Genres: Fantasy, Romance Tags: gay, love, brothers, holiday Rating: Everyone Meeting Santa Wildone Reviewer: Puppilull Status: Complete Word Count: 3,287 Christmas… The time for cheer and goodwill toward all. However, the sweetness of the season can put you in a foul mood, just for being too much and sometimes fake. If this happens, I would prescribe an antidote in the form of Meeting Santa, a story devoid of Christmas coziness. It revolves around a man hellbent on proving Santa exists, and he has some big plans for the jolly, old man if or when they meet. Anticipation builds throughout the short story and your curiosity will mount for every paragraph. With a few, well selected lines, Wildone outlines his main character, a man who is rather bitter. Instead of letting the injustice of life paralyze him, he’s taking action. As an added bonus, the story will teach you quite a bit about what preparations and equipment are needed for a trek to the North pole. Category: Fiction Genres: Adventure Tags: mature adult, no sex, modern, holiday, christmas Rating: Mature Muscle Bear Santa Carlos Hazday Reviewer: Timothy M. Status: Complete Word Count: 2,992 If you like stories with lots of banter between hunky guys, Muscle Bear Santa is the perfect choice. Plus the banner will probably make you wish for a Christmas Night visit from this special Santa – or any night he’s free. Enjoy the warm feeling of spending time with two great guys who care about each other and people around them. Category: Fiction Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance Tags: young adult, adult, gay, north america, light-hearted, christmas Rating: Mature Rudolph's Tijuana X-mas Mann Ramblings Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 5,599 I kind of forgot how twisted this tale really was until I re-read it for this review blog. We all push the limits sometimes, and Mann Ramblings is no exception, which he clearly shows in this little tale. A moment of jealousy, peppermint schnapps, a riot, and a scandal that ruins Christmas send Rudolph far from the North Pole to escape the chaos. Sounds a bit messed up, right? Well, that’s because it is. I guarantee that after reading about Rudolph’s Christmas, you won’t look at Santa, Rudolph, or the elves in the same way as you did previously. At least, that’s the general consensus among those who have already read Rudolph's Tijuana X-mas. Mann freely admits that brandy may have been involved when he wrote this little Christmas tale, though he claims that was the only mind-altering substance involved. Regardless, this little tale will have you shaking your head and laughing out loud from the first word to the last. Category: Fiction Genres: Comedy, Fantasy Tags: mature adult, celebrity, 20th century, holiday Rating: Mature Santa's Little Helper craftingmom Reviewer: Blind Ambition Status: Complete Word Count: 5,674 The true spirit of Christmas is often lost in the commercialism and capitalism that we so often see during the holiday season. Christmas is a time to share with family and friends. A time to cherish past memories. More importantly, Christmas is a time to give of your time and heart. Craftingmom reminds us of these simple things in Santa's Little Helper, as we see the unfolding story of Chase. An innocent, bright-eyed child asking the mall Santa for a larger car to sleep in. How will Dean, Santa's aide, provide a little spirit and hope to Chase and his father Tony? This is a heart-warming story that represents the true magic of the holiday. A reminder of compassion, love, and empathy. Humanity at its best! Category: Fiction Genres: Drama Tags: child, young adult, gay, christmas Rating: Everyone The Sweater Valkyrie Reviewer: Aditus Status: Complete Word Count: 1,152 For Dean and Tommy everything starts with a joke, which then becomes their first Christmas tradition. Add another family member, and some more well-loved rituals and routines, and you have an amazing Holiday season to look forward to every year. Until everything changes and the bliss of the past seems to be out of reach. Their daughter Ashley thinks she has found the solution. By gift-wrapping the joke that started it all, she hopes to free all the beautiful memories locked away, and pave the way into a hopeful future. On a personal note: I couldn’t help buying an unbelievably kitschy novelty mug, big enough for the first portion of much needed coffee on Christmas Morning. Category: Fiction Genres: Historical, Romance Tags: holiday, christmas Rating: Mature Since this is the last review for the year, I just wanted to take a moment to thank the review team. You all are awesome, and I so appreciate your hard work and the time that you have spent providing me with reviews for the blog. I look forward to working with all of you in 2019! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and the absolute best in the coming year. Thank you, again.

Renee is fired. She kind of jumped the gun. In her sleep deprived state, she got her days all mixed up. The classic excerpt that was supposed to be featured today will be featured on Friday.

Well, this is it. The last of the anthology stories is finally live. Today's installment brings you three different authors. Don't forget to leave a review to let the authors know what you think and how much you appreciate their contributions to the anthology. In case you missed any of the previous sets, I've included the links below. Fall Anthology: Set 1 Fall Anthology: Set 2 Fall Anthology: Set 3 Now, let's take a look at Set 4!!! Castle Dark Cole Matthews A Bad Way to Wake Up WET Part 1 Myr A Bad Way to Wake Up WET Part 2 Myr Superhero Surprise Cia Well, there you go. The posting of the 2018 Fall Anthology is complete. If you fear you've missed a story, or two, don't worry. Join us next week for the Anthology Wrap Up, where I'll post links to all the stories that are in the anthology. Again, don't forget to leave the authors feedback!

Valkyrie is right. We have one more week of anthology stories, then one week with the Anthology wrap up. Prompts will start up again the first week of the new year.

Don't forget to send your answers to me!

Thanks for pointing that out, Cassie. I've removed it from the list of feature opportunities, and when I have a chance, I'll try to get the last of those critiques so that no one that signed up gets left out.

Good morning, tim! Thank you, and i hope you have a wonderful day as well! Baby J needed a bottle, so figured i might as well get them posted while i was up Enjoy!!!

It's that time again! Hope you're ready for another round of anthology stories. If you missed the first two sets, you can find them at the links below: Fall Anthology: Set 1 Fall Anthology: Set 2 Now, lets take a look at what we have for Set 3! Culled Parker Owens Leading the Way Puppilull A Tempest in a Teapot Myr Igneous Valkyrie Well, that's it for this week! Make sure to join us next week for the final set of the 2018 Fall Anthology stories. It looks like we'll have three final stories to finish things off, 1 by @Cole Matthews and 2 by @Myr. Don't forget to leave the authors feedback! Enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who answered the questions!!! Don't forget to answer this rounds questions too! Think we can outdo the number of responses we got this time?

Since it looks like my previous topics got archived, here's the new topic with information on various blog opportunities. Q&A Feature: I hope to include our community more in future blog posts. With that in mind here are some questions (this post will be updated with each new round): Authors: Round 1: Have you experienced writer's block? If so, what helped you get past it? Round 2: Do you use an outline? Why or why not? Round 3: What was the hardest story for you to write? Why? Round 4: Do you base characters off of real life people? Are they completely fictional? Or some of both? And how does it affect your writing of said characters? Round 5: What first got you into writing? What was your first story about? Poets: Round 2: What do you find is the most difficult part about writing poetry? Round 3: What inspires you to write poetry? Round 4: Many know of the poetry teachings of @AC Benus, what is your favorite type of poem to write from those teaching? Round 5: Has your idea of what poetry is changed since you began writing poems? Readers: Round 1: When reading, what is one thing that will make you stop reading a story? Round 2: What is your favorite trope? What draws you to it? Round 3: What is your favorite genre? What is your least favorite? Why are they your favorite and least favorite? Round 4: What is the main thing that entices you to read a story? Round 5: When reading online, do you wait to read a story until it's finished? Or do you read in progress stories as well? Why? Editors: Round 1: What would be your number one tip that authors should do BEFORE sending their story to their editor? Round 2: What is your biggest pet peeve when editing? And why does it bug you so much? Round 3: What is the most common error you see? How can authors avoid it? Round 4: How hard do you find it to edit a story that you can't get into? Have you ever had to refuse to continue on with a story? If so, why? Round 5: Sometimes editors and authors clash over aspects of writing. One such thing is independent body movements. What is your stance on independent body movements? Round 1: PM me your answers. In the subject line, please use: writer's block answer, stop reading answer, or tip from editor. Round 2: PM me your answers. In the subject line, please use: Outline answer, Favorite Trope answer, Poetry Difficulty, or Pet Peeve answer. Deadline: December 5, 2018 Round 3: PM me your answers. In the subject line, please use: Round 3 Author, Round 3 Editor, Round 3 Poet, or Round 3 Reader. Deadline: January 6, 2019 Round 4: PM me your answers. In the subject line, please use: Round 4 Author, Round 4 Editor, Round 4 Poet, or Round 4 Reader. If you are answering more than one questions you can simply do Round 4: (followed by whatever groups you are answering). Deadline: February 6, 2019 Round 5: PM me your answers. In the subject line, please use: Round 5 Author, Round 5 Editor, Round 5 Poet, or Round 5 Reader. If you are answering more than one questions you can simply do Round 4: (followed by whatever groups you are answering). Deadline: March 6, 2019 BONUS QUESTION (all groups): Round 4: Do you have a favorite Valentine's memory that you'd be willing to share with us? Round 5: What is your all time favorite quote? Guess the Author Feature For kind of a fun blog feature, plus another chance for authors to get themselves out there.... I'll be doing a "Guess Who" blog feature. Authors will answer a few interview questions, and the community will try to guess who it is... Then in the weekly wrap up, we'll reveal the author, along with a link to up to two stories on GA that the author would like to promote. PM me if interested and I'll send you the list of questions. A sample question might be: What prompted you to write your first story? (With this question, you wouldn't be able to give the story name)

Who's ready for another Q & A session??? For the second round, I added in a question for Poets. I had A LOT of feedback this go around, so I really hope I didn't miss anyone! Read on to see what Authors, Readers, Editors, and Poets had to say! Enjoy! Authors: Do you use an outline? Why or why not? @Thorn Wilde - I used to be terrible at outlining my stories, but I found that it resulted in a lot of unfinished novels and novellas. I don't do outlines for short stories, because to be honest, I tend to finish the rough draft in one sitting, but for longer stories I'm getting really good at outlining chapter by chapter. It helps that I use Scrivener for writing which makes it really easy to organise and outline your chapters, cork board style (literally). I find that doing keywords per chapter works much better than writing a single long outline for the whole story, as it makes it seem much more manageable and less daunting. @Valkyrie - Sometimes. I like to outline longer works and will sometimes outline a chapter or a short story. It depends on how smoothly the writing process goes. If I'm struggling, then jotting down my thoughts helps keep me focused and organized. @Mikiesboy - Yes, my own sort of outline. I've tried several kinds of outlines, none of which did anything for me until i discovered my newest favourite thing. It's Office 365's One Note. I fell in love with it. I can open a page under the title of the book, for each chapter. It is simple, fluid and i can easily move between the pages to add more details as i think of things. Love it. @Krista - No, I don't use an outline. I create a character sheet, ages, character quirks, plot dependent things that are, 'set in stone,' going to happen. That's it, short and sweet. If they're in High School and I'm writing in-depth about their high school experience, I make up a class schedule for them so that I don't forget how their school day goes along day-to-day with teacher names, so I don't forget those. Maybe that is a little bit of an outline, for the most part though, I don't outline. I have a base idea in my head of what I want to cover within the story and how I want to end, everything else that happens comes from randomly spawned ideas that pop into my head. I am getting better at keeping the spontaneous more fitted with the general theme of the story, I think. I just know (as I have attempted in the past), that if I do in-depth A leads to B that leads to C outlining that my motivation for the story falters as it already feels to me like I've wrote it. @CassieQ - Most of the time, I don’t use an outline. I’m a pantser/discovery writer and I like starting off with an idea and a character and seeing where it takes me. When I started Touch, I knew I wanted to write about infidelity and a workaholic main character and that was all I had. The rest of the story came to me as I wrote it. I actually dislike outlines, even though most writers swear by them. Part of the fun, for me, is figuring out what my characters are going to do next. I will sometimes use a vague outline for longer works, just to make sure I get all I want to get across in there. But I’ve never done a meticulous outline where I outline every single scene. I tried that, once, and the story is still unwritten if that tells you anything. @Disjecta Membra - I don’t use an outline in writing my stories, at least not in a traditional sense. When I’m plotting things out, I generally have another Word document open besides the one I’m writing my story on. I’ll jot down plot points and ideas I want to incorporate, but I don’t utilize an official template or any standardized planning method. Personally, I find that I back myself into a corner if I use an actually outline. I get myself stuck in a rut trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B, and my muse is stubborn and won’t let me move on once I’m stuck like that. But with my “(Story Name) Ideas” document, I can incorporate preconceived concepts at any point, and oftentimes my story goes in a different direction altogether and many ideas are scrapped. For me, it allows my story to unfold more naturally and things that are meant to fall into play do so when the time is right. I know for many authors an outline does just that, but for my personal writing style I like to keep it less organized. @Superpride - I don't use an outline for two main reasons. The first reason is I mostly develop the plot of a story as I write it, meaning I don't know the climax of a story until I'm actually typing in my computer for example. The other reason is what I have planned for a story usually changes, so creating an outline beforehand is useless to me if the direction of my stories changes as I write them. Poets: What do you find is the most difficult part about writing poetry? @Valkyrie - For me, it's rhythm and meter. I can count syllables and match syllable counts and follow those kind of patterns, but I struggle with finding the right rhythm and meter. I usually need someone help me out with it if I attempt a form where those two elements are important. @Mikiesboy - Oh to me none of it is difficult. Well, writing is hard altogether, but i love poetry, it was what i cut my writing teeth on. i love the process, the hunt for the right word, bending them into what i want the reader to experience. as i've grown and learned i've found time is the most important thing, for all writers. The time you leave your work sit, lets it mellow. And let's your brain work on it too, in the background. So waiting to post it, is hard! You know, i think the hardest thing about writing poetry is finding people to read it. Poetry today is not like it used to be. It's not all sonnets by Shakespeare (which are wonderful). They are in plain English for the most part and can bring much more emotion than prose. There are poems like the Haibun which is part prose and poetry and lets you tell a story. Poetry saved me i think, because it let me express things i had no other place to. So, yeah, for me not difficult at all. Readers: What is your favorite trope? What draws you to it? @CassieQ - I love the enemies to friends trope. I’m fascinated by seeing how a relationship between two enemies can mellow and eventually turn into friendship. Something about it is so warm and pleasing to read, especially compared to things like friends turned enemies. I also like situations where two enemies have to work together towards a common goal. I also like reading about platonic friendships in general. I guess I just like friendship! @Valkyrie - Cia has a name for my favorite trope, and of course I can't remember the whole thing. It's hurt/heal/something. Or something hurt/heal. Where the characters meet, one goes through something horrific, then the other helps the hurt character heal and they eventually get their happy ending. Editors: What is your biggest pet peeve when editing? And why does it bug you so much? @Kitt - Simple spelling errors. Come on guys, turn your spell check on! @Valkyrie - I have several, but I would say my biggest pet peeve is not being thanked. Whether it's editing/beta reading/proofreading, a lot of time and effort went into reviewing, commenting, and correcting spelling and grammar. Whether an author agrees with the comments or suggestion is irrelevant. Thank your editor/beta reader/proofreader. I shouldn't have to say this, but you'd be surprised at how many times I haven't been thanked.   As far as the actual editing process, my biggest pet peeve is misused words. Their/they're/there. Loose/lose makes me grate my teeth every time. Ball/bawl. Another common error I see and hear frequently is "I seen it." It's not correct grammar. "I saw it." or "I have seen it."  There you have it! Whew! That was a lot of answers. Let's see how we do for Round 3! You can find the questions here!