Renee Stevens

Hope everyone has had a great week so far. It's time for this weeks writing prompts. If you're stuck, or you're considering writing for the first time, these might be perfect for you. Don't forget that stories under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 624 – Challenge Tag – Point of View Right about your day from the point of view of your pet. If you don’t have a pet do it from the point of view of a spider that has built its web in your home. Prompt 625 – Word List Tag - Word List Use the following words in a story – Maple tree, winding road, storm clouds, a green jacket, a ball. Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

Miss you too, sweetie. I don't feel like you've let anyone down, hon! Sometimes you just have to take care of yourself. And no way could you be forgotten!

I hope everyone is having a great week! It's time for this weeks prompts, supplied by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Just a reminder, and for those who haven't worked with the prompts before: prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 622 – Creative Tag – First line “Are we almost home?” Prompt 623 – Creative Tag – The Adult The government has become concerned with its overwhelming elderly population. To keep so many from being left living alone, they are now doing a lottery for new places, whether it is a single person, a couple, or a family for housing, but you are matched with a person 65 or above who has no family. You find out you just got chosen. What is your new roommate like? Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

Hiya, all. So, I've been asked a few times about my trip to Denver for GayRomLit 2017. I thought it might just be easier to post a blog about it. There were a few disappointments related to my trip, but I'm trying not to focus on those too much. Overall, it was a rewarding trip and I met a lot of people over the 5 days that I was in Denver. Everyone I met was very welcoming and the organizers checked on us newbies quite often to make sure we were okay and weren't too overwhelmed. And let me tell you, the first time doing something like that, I was overwhelmed. I didn't go to a lot of the panels like I wanted to, but a lot of that was because I'd lose track of time and wouldn't realize it had already started until well after it had started. Some of them sounded really interesting though and hopefully the next time I go, I'll be able to take full advantage of all the panels up for offer. I had the supporting author signing on Thursday, and there were sooooo many people. I don't think I was quite prepared for it, but talked to a lot of people and it was amazing how many people recognized the cover of Barbed Wire Cowboy. Mann Ramblings did an awesome job on it for me, and people that didn't recognize the name, recognized the cover. I signed a few books (I had about 14 pre-orders) and a lot of postcards. I nearly ran out of the Barbed Wire Cowboy postcards. I had two lounge sessions Thursday and Friday, which are more informal. For those just kind of hang out and visit with people, offer up swag, that kind of stuff. Tables weren't assigned, but two authors shared a six foot table. Both of my lounges I ended up sitting with Featured Authors. (I went as a Supporting Author which is a lower tier). For the first one I shared a table with Wade Kelly, and let me tell you, she was sooooo friendly and when we didn't have people at our table, we visited. It was great. The second day, I shared a table with P.D. Singer and she was just as awesome. We talked quite a bit, and she even gave me some advice about how to get over my issues with focus that have been preventing me for writing. I hope to put some of her advice to work really soon! I did get my first fan girl moment which was kind of awesome. I'd been talking to this girl since Wednesday, and on Friday she came by my table during my lounge session. She was one of those who hadn't recognized the name, but instantly recognized the covers of both Barbed Wire Cowboy and No More Hiding. She was so excited to meet me that I really thought there for a minute we'd have to pick her up off the floor. She completely made my day! She made it even more when she started saying how jealous her husband was going to be, because he liked my books just as much. I ended up giving her signed copies of both of my books. Every time I saw her after that she would get flustered, but we still visited, so that was good. P.D. Singer got a kick out of the fan girl moment and just grinned and said "Your first fan girl moment, and I got to witness it." Nothing else really exciting happened Friday, and I had dinner with a new friend (Patty) and we just hung out for the rest of the night. Saturday was the big Featured Author signing and Patty and I wandered around together. I got to meet a lot of wonderful authors, and even got a brief "in the moment" reading from Andrew Grey! I visited with so many authors that I've read that it was surreal (TJ Klune, Andrew Grey, KC Wells, Charlie Cochet, Wade Kelly, Layla Dorine, SJ Himes, etc). And let me tell you, they were all so nice and I got pictures with a lot of them too!!! I also talked to a couple publisher representatives, a few review blogs (one of which requested I send them Barbed Wire Cowboy for review), some editors, etc. I also now have a fight scene consultant (if needed) and a ranch consultant (considering he bought Barbed Wire Cowboy, I'm just really hoping I didn't screw something up!!!!) Saturday, we had an early dinner and while waiting for our dinner to be delivered, sat and visited with K.C. Wells. Absolutely wonderful lady!!!! Then it was time to get ready for the costume party, and that was almost a disaster. Before we go there, there was a lot of controversy surrounding one of the the major sponsors for GRL this year. The Cockyboys. First off, they were all super nice, visiting with people, being willing to take pictures, and just very friendly. I ended up in the elevator with them a few times, and always willing to talk. I realized exactly how great these guys are when I started to get ready for the costume party. I was going as a Saloon girl, as the theme was The Wild West. I'd searched online and after ordering two separate costumes, I finally had one I liked, that fit well. As I was getting ready, the zipper came apart, with the little slide part of it coming completely off. Well, believe it or not, I actually had a pair of pliers in one of my bags, so I fixed it. All good, right? I wish!!!!! Since it was already weakened, it came off again. I didn't see much point in trying to fix it again and at this point was about ready to say bag it. A friend I had with me ran down to the hotel store, hoping to find safety pins. When she came back, she brought help in the form of Taylor (one of the Cockyboys). Apparently he held the elevator for her when she hollered, and when he heard what was going on, he immediately came to help. He had snaps with him, but unfortunately he had forgotten the tools for the snaps. Poor Taylor spent ten to fifteen minutes trying to get the snaps to work using the pliers I had. When that didn't work, he helped Patty fix the safety pins in such a way that you couldn't see them, and wouldn't have known anything was wrong with my costume. It just amazed me that he rushed to help like he did. Overall it was a good weekend, despite a few hiccups and disappointments. There was a primary group of about 12 people that were great support for me throughout the weekend, and hopefully it won't be too long before I can go again and get to see all these wonderful people that made my first GRL so wonderful. The drive home wasn't the funnest as 4 1/2 hours of the drive was me fighting 60+ MPH crosswinds. But I made it home safely, and in the end, that's all that matters If you want to see pictures, hopefully you can here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FEX7HSlyhpcNebo23

I've had quite a few messages asking about the return of Ask An Author, so here it is: Ask An Author 2.0. It won't be exactly like Dark always did it, but hopefully you enjoy getting the answers you've asked just as much as in the past. One major difference is, at least to start, we're only going to look at two authors at a time. Without further ado, here's the first Ask An Author 2.0. Today we're going to hear from Hudson Bartholomew and Timothy M. The first author for today is Hudson Bartholomew. Hudson was raised by conservative immigrant parents and grew up straddling two cultures with often times conflicting perspectives on life. Instead of conforming to either, she tries to find a third way that brings together the positive elements of both. Having spent much of her life on the outside looking in, Hudson likes to write stories about outsiders who fight to carve out their place in society, and overcome everyday challenges to find love and happily ever afters. You're pretty new to GA, but I personally think you're one to watch. I'm impressed with all I've read from you so far. Did you always know you wanted to write and do you have any rituals when you get to it? 1. Did you always know you wanted to write? I have a distant memory of a grade school project where we wrote short stories with pictures and our teacher helped us bind them into books with fabric covers. I think that's when I fell in love with writing. Since then, I have had an on-again, off-again relationship with writing. School, work, life, people I love who dismiss writing as "a waste of time," these have all drawn me away from writing at some point. My old computer is filled with half written stories that will never see the light of day. Despite all these things, however, I always end up coming back to it because that's where I feel most like the real me. A couple of years ago, I finally admitted how much writing meant to me and I committed to making it a regular part of my life. What I discovered is that the more I write, the more I fall in love with writing. So, Writing--you're stuck with me now. 2. Do you have any rituals when you get into it? I don't have any rituals, per se. But I find that I need a certain level of distraction in order to concentrate, if that makes any sense. If all I have is the story in front of me, my brain will quickly wander off. But if I'm writing and also chatting with a friend online, my brain is preoccupied just enough that I can keep writing for hours on end. I'm strange, I know. The second author for today is Timothy M. Tim is from Denmark and is known for sprinkling his posts and stories with Danish words and references to the webcomic Scandinavia and the World. He's also a prolific writer of story reviews and comments, as well as editor for several authors. As a regular contributor to the site as well as being a popular author, how do you strike a balance between writing your own material and reading and reviewing other authors' work. Do you for example set aside a certain amount of time each day, where you are offline, to concentrate on your writing. No, I write when inspiration strikes me and I have time. I usually give priority to editing for others, and also to writing reviews, reading and commenting. This is probably one of the reasons my stories progress veeery sloooowly, to the frustrations of my readers. Sorry But they are patient and nice, giving me the occasional prod by PM or story topic post, and only resorting to threats of pitch forks and tying me to the computer, when I've lapsed on updating for too long. In fact, I sometimes feel a little guilty about the pleasure I get from having Hungry Birds cheeping at me for more. Well, that's it for this month!!! If you have a question you'd like to ask an author, send it to me and I'll pass the question on and see about getting it answered!

We actually promote, at minimum, 3 stories a month. We have the CSR Feature, which encourages members to read the story and engage with other readers. We have the Featured Stories reviews which are graciously provided to me by site members and the Review team. We also have the Signature/Classic Week where we feature a story complete with excerpt.

Simple answer: Reviews are looking at the book as a WHOLE. Reviews CAN but don't have to be, in depth. Reviews can ONLY be posted after a story is earmarked as Complete. You can only leave one "Review" per story. Comments are about that particular chapter. Comments CAN, but don't have to be, in depth. Comments can be left on a story at any time. You can leave multiple comments about a single chapter. If you only want "in depth reviews" then in your final chapter, in the chapter note, consider posting something such as: I will warn you now though, that not everyone is going to want to answer those questions and your reviews may suffer because of it.

Thank you again to all the participants and their teams and congratulations again to the winners. Don't forget to PM about your prizes. @aditus@Mikiesboy@Dodger@CassieQ@craftingmom@Cole Matthews@Valkyrie@Bill W@CarlHoliday@Puppilull@comicfan Your stories should now be attributed to you.

I'd like to thank all of the authors who participated in the Halloween Short Story Contest! There were a lot of great entries and I'm sure it was hard to choose who to vote for. Thank you everyone who voted for your favorite story and a big Thank You to Reader1810 for collecting the votes. Stories will be properly attributed to the correct authors very soon. Congratulations to the winners: @aditus @Mikiesboy and @Dodger!!!! The first place winner will receive a 6 month premium membership, the 2nd place winner will receive a 3 month premium membership, and the 3rd place winner will receive a 1 month premium membership. All winners need to contact me to let me know if they would like their prize attributed to their account or would like to give it away to someone else. And now, time for the big Author Reveal!!!! Dom Does Halloween Mikiesboy In Between Craftingmom Zombies Like Us Dodger Horrible Holiday Comicfan Calavera CassieQ Shade Cole Matthews Purgatory Aditus The House on O'Reilly Hill Carl Holiday Oh, The Humanity! Valkyrie The Naked and the Dead Bill W If You Go Out In The Woods Today Puppilull

It's been added

There's been a lot going on this week and if you are a site author, please check out the announcement posted at the top of the forums. Let's take a look at what happened in the site blogs this week. Contests 2017 Halloween Short Story Contest - Winners Announced October 31st 2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018 Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017 Anthology Theme Selection - Part 2: Voting Open to Authors! Premium Updates: Angel's Heart by Nephylim *Premium* Classic Updates: Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx Signature Updates: 319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday April Musings by Valkyrie Denied by Cia Lyrical Laments by Headstall One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse Pride Month, and other Haibun by AC Benus Rivers of the Dead by Cynus So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews Translation Trashbin by AC Benus; Book 7 of Verse Promising Updates: Cider Press by Parker Owens Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens Musings of a Messed Up Mind by Mikiesboy The Poetry of D/s by Mikiesboy

You're most welcome, sweetie! Hope some of them interest you

It only took a few minutes hon... *whispers* There is even one in there that is for poetry

@Mikiesboy If you're interested in the other challenge prompts, i found the list of them for you (i hope this works and is all of them). Challenge Prompts

i'd give anything to be able to help you shoulder those memories, tim, but i'm so glad that you have Michael Sir there to be your safe place. sweetie. Always here if you need me.

We have, but they're just not as common as the others.

Hope everyone has had a great week so far. It's time for this weeks writing prompts. If you're stuck, or you're considering writing for the first time, these might be perfect for you. Don't forget that stories under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 620 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – tablet, phone, a sandwich, a pen, and an ambulance Prompt 621 – Challenge Tag – Country Western Authors can get stuck writing in the same style. Your challenge is to fit within this theme. Focus on the setting and having your characters come to life. Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

Thank you, Michael Sir. It helped to be able to talk to Sir everyday and He helped me work through the frustrations and disappointments and anxieties so that i could focus on why i was there.

YAY!!!! I added one that shows Taylor and Patty working on my costume, lol. In case it wasn't there when you looked

It was, and a great chance to network

Yeah, it was great to go, but at the same time I'm glad to be home. Yeah, I was so grateful to those who fixed my costume. It would have sucked to go through all of that trying to find it, only to not be able to wear it. And no, I didn't ask when the next one would be out. We just kind of visited.

I hope you all enjoyed the last Improve & Encourage feature, because it's time for another one. These features are meant to both provide feedback to authors and, similar to story reviews, point out stories that readers might not otherwise have found. It's similar to a review, in that the person doing the critique tells you what they liked about the story, but it differs in that they also provide constructive criticism. Each author signed up to participate, and sign up's are still open! These will post once a month until we no longer have content. Once that happens, I will critique the last author that posted. If you'd like to provide a critique for the blog, sign up in the thread. I'm hoping to have a lot more authors sign up, and just remember, by signing up, you are also volunteering to have your story critiqued and featured. Little Man Mann Ramblings Critique By: Timothy M Please give us a short summary of the story you chose. This is a story of strong friendships and of budding love which goes awry at times, due to insecurity, mistakes and the misplaced interference from other people. Clay, or Little Man as his best friend Eric calls him, is in college and a talented artist. He spends most of his time around straight jocks like his BFF. But one of them has more in common with Clay than he thinks, and the sparks fly from the very first, unexpected kiss. However, hiding their attraction leads to all sorts of problems and hurts, yet Mann keeps the reader hoping till the end. What do you see as the strengths of the story/poem? The main strength of Mann’s first story is the way he makes the characters come alive before our eyes and persuades us to like them in spite of all their faults and mistakes. The wrong decisions are logical at the time, even as we cringe to read about them. Mann’s message is loud and clear: don’t lie to your best friend and don’t deny love. I also admire the way he portrays the insecurities and fears of Little Man without once making him come across as whiny, feeble-minded or weak-willed. Clay doesn’t let his emotions rule his mind for long, even when they mess up his heart. And perhaps I should mention the sex is sizzling hot. What do you see as the weaknesses of the story/poem? Let me start out by saying it's bloody difficult to find any weak points in Mann's stories. That's part of the reason I chose his first GA story. It has only one real weakness IMO, and that relates to Mann’s choice to drag the three friends, but Clay in particular, through all sorts of terrible, painful situations. At one point I felt as if he’d made a list of all the bad things which might ruin relationships (whether as friends or boyfriends). E.g. lying, cowardice, anxiety, homophobia, loneliness, physical hardship and violence, cheating, rejection and abandonment, betrayal, depression, and any other nightmare conceivable – someone had to suffer from it. I guess you could say Mann comes clean about his style of writing from the very beginning, since all his main story characters suffer. I could accept most of the misfortunes, since they advanced the story development in a logical and believable fashion, and I’m not ‘sensitive’ or generally squeamish about violence. But, to my mind, the final incident in chapter 9 detracted from the main message and over-all contents of both the story and the chapter. I wasn’t the only (shocked) reader thinking this way, so I guess my feedback isn’t very original. Mann does address the issue in his replies to comments, and by adding a chapter note warning, and I can respect his reasons. But it remains the only weak point I could find in the story, and I still hate it. (Sorry, Mann) How do you think the story/poem could be improved? Not surprisingly, it ties into the perceived weakness, but it’s almost impossible to go into details without a major spoiler (see above). The worst part of chapter 9 crossed a line for me, which prevents me from fully enjoying and recommending this otherwise great story. I think the epic and brilliant resolution in chapter 10 could take place without going to the previous painful extreme. If I had beta read this story, I would have advised removing the most offending ‘detail’ but keeping the rest of the graphic violence, as an acceptable compromise. It’s not as if the three guys don’t suffer enough mental anguish already from the fateful consequences of their mistakes and I think the showdown would stand out much stronger with the suggested rewrite. What was your favorite part? (scene/sentence/etc) My favorite parts may be the very first and the very last sentence in the story. Mann sure knows how to start and end his story with something to make us and I also loved the visit to the mall (Heidi is awesome), and the body painting in chapter 1 was a brilliant idea.

Have you been inwardly guessing which Halloween Contest entries were written by which author. With the voting for the contest over, it's time for the GA members to try and guess who wrote what! The "reveal" will occur on October 31st, so try and get your guesses in before then. The only prize for this game is bragging rights, if you guess more right then anyone else. Remember, only one story was allowed per author. Author List Puppilull Craftingmom Comicfan Dodger Valkyrie Aditus CassieQ Carl Holiday BillW Cole Matthews Mikiesboy Story List Horrible Holiday If You Go Out In The Woods Today Shade In Between Purgatory Zombies Like Us Dom Does Halloween Calavera The Naked and the Dead The House on O'Reilly Hill Oh, the Humanity! Happy Guessing!!!!!

Being the start of a new week, Monday's are also a good time to take a look at some of the different stories that can be found on Gay Authors. With so many great works, it can be easy to overlook one and Monday's provide an opportunity for us to help make one of them stand out and maybe catch your interest. Today, we're bringing you a review by AC Benus of Mikiesboy's story "Miss Silver Pretty-Pink Toes." Enjoy! Miss Silver Pretty-Pink-Toes Mikiesboy Reviewer: AC Benus Status: Complete Word Count: 5,622 Mikiesboy’s range is pretty amazing. How many of us have thought of tackling a fairytale, and doing it old-school? In Miss Silver Pretty-Pink-Toes you will encounter a beautiful goat who suffers a horrible fate: humanifacation! Her curse is to be set adrift among the caprice of mankind and to try to make her way back. Along the way, she meets unlikely love, and pure devotion – which she will need to return to her original form. We also meet a one-eyed goat, a massive slime-covered snapping turtle and an evil toad. In this highly original tales, many of Mikiesboy’s talents are called into use. There is poetry, fantasy, love and longing. There is also pain and confusion as some of the forces around Miss Silver act with malice. If you have not ventured into this remarkable fantasy world, please do. Like me, I think you soon be asking the author to create more imaginative tales along these lines. Category: Fiction Genres: Fantasy, Romance Tags: magic, sorcery, witchcraft, wizards, no sex, friendship Rating: Everyone

I hope everyone is having a great week! It's time for this weeks prompts, supplied by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Just a reminder, and for those who haven't worked with the prompts before: prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 618 – Creative Tag – The Announcement Your whole family has been gathered together for the first time in years. You think nothing of it, until you hear your cousin’s discussing some sort of announcement and find out this is all about you. What is the announcement Prompt 619 – Creative Tag – First Line “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.