Renee Stevens

Thank you, tim, and i know you get it, though i wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. xoxo Thank you, Sir. Knowing how it feels, i can't even imagine having to witness it happening to someone i love. i am doing better, though there are still the occasions that the darkness descends.

It's time!!! For everyone that has been waiting, we've got 11 brand new stories for you to sink your teeth into. After you've read all the stories, make sure to vote for your favorite. The winners will be announced on October 31st, 2017. The top three stories will receive not only the recognition, but the following prizes: 1st Place 6 month Premium access 2nd Place 3 month Premium access 3rd Place 1 Month Premium access Reminder Authors and editing/beta teams are prohibited from revealing the author behind each story. Revealing the authors' identity will disqualify the story in question. Voting Procedure We are going with a blind vote for this contest. Neither the voter, nor the staff member collecting the votes will know which author wrote which story. All stories have been posted under the author name of Headless Horseman. The only site member/staff that knows the identity of each story's author is Renee Stevens. Reader1810 has willingly volunteered to collect votes. After you've read all 11 stories, PM the story name you'd like to vote for to Reader and use the subject Halloween Contest Vote. Members get to vote for one story. Please wait to vote for your choice until you have read all the stories and are certain as to which story you'd like to vote for. Voting will conclude at 2:00 PM EST on October 21st, 2017. No votes will be accepted after that time. Now, onto the stories!

Standing on a teetering bridge Looking over the precipice. Big black pit that never ends Light never to be found. Journey through the darkness Never reaching the end. Questions with no answers Decisions needing to be made. Numbness a constant companion Pain that never recedes. Nothing ever good can come Will never be good enough. Hands pulling every which way Unable to escape their clutches. Weak of heart and mind Success

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 614 – Creative Tag – The Changeling You’ve been asked to come see your best friend’s new born child. Arriving you feel a chill as you enter their home, but put it out of your mind. As you hold the child, your ring comes in contact with the green eyed, raven headed child who suddenly screams. As you watch, his hair becomes golden blonde, with very fine features, and kaleidoscope eyes. Before either parent can say a word, you say, “Changeling!” What happens? Prompt 615 – Creative Tag – Mystery The statue in the center of town has always been known to give a clue to a large fortune left by the founder of the town. Every year hundreds of people try to figure out the clues on the base o the statue but no one has ever found the treasure. What is the clue to the mystery? Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating Headstall as GA's newest Signature Author! Headstall has been a member of GA for about three and a half years and was first promoted to Promising in November of 2015. Since joining, Headstall has written a total of 19 stories, including Cards on the Table. If you want to check out Headstall's other stories, you can visit his author page and while you're there, you can check out his updated banner! Please join us in congratulating Headstall on his well deserved promotion.

i echo what everyone else has said, Sir. And i hope that very soon that chair is occupied, the bed is no longer vacant, the brushes are covered in paint, that coffee cup is filled with a steaming brew, and the canvas no longer sits unfinished.

“After every difficulty, ask yourself two questions: “What did I do right?” and “What would I do differently?” This one really hits home for me today, so thank you so much for sharing, mama bear!

Wonderful news, Jan!!!!!

Happy Sunday, y'all. I hope you all have had a great week so far. It was a busy week this past week, so make sure to check out any blog posts you missed. We had another CSR Discussion Day this week, along with the next "Improve & Encourage" critique feature, and the prompts. I think my favorite though, is the new contest announcement. If you've always wanted to publish, then make sure to check out our new novella contest. The grand prize is...we'll help launch the winning story as a self-published book! Contests 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: Suggestions closed Premium Updates: Angel's Heart by Nephylim *Premium* Classic Updates: Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx Signature Updates: A Man in a Room, and other poems by AC Benus; Book 6 of Verse Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Mine! by Cia Musings of a Mongoose by Cynus Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour; Book 8 of Bridgemont Rivers of the Dead by Cynus So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews Promising Updates: Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso Changes by Mikiesboy Cozy Contemplations by Headstall Cut the Cake by Parker Owens timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy

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 612 – Creative Tag – The Costume You’ve been invited to a costume party and your partner has sated they will take care of your costume too. On the night of the party you are mortified by the costume, but have no time for anything else. What is your costume? Prompt 613 – Creative Tag – List of words Use the following words in a story – a sweater, an apple, a dead tree, a flat tire, a turkey. Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

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. W.A.R. Part 1 & 2 jkwsquirrel Critique By: Cole Matthews Please give us a short summary of the story you chose. W.A.R. is a teenage story about friends and their maturing. Billy is a somewhat naïve, precocious thirteen-year-old, who helps care for his grandmother. She is suffering from a stroke and is now mute. Billy’s family is burdened with helping her cope, and his best friend Brett is also there to help. Brett is his most constant companion. Brett’s mother moved them from New York City and he’s not happy being away from there. Billy seems to be the only thing that makes his life in southwestern Pennsylvania manageable. This is a vignette style story, in these first couple of sections. It gives you a slice of these boys’ lives during a time of growth and trial. It’s realistic and set in present day. What do you see as the strengths of the story/poem? Definitely the characters. Brett and Billy have very distinctive voices and their own personalities, so different you can miss the name tags and still know who is speaking. These characters have personality, history, and most of all humor. In a hilarious exchange, Billy admitted his mother walked in on him changing clothes and saw him naked. He’s mortified by it and his best friend Brett doesn’t hesitate to tease him about his shyness. Later when Billy’s mom arrives to relieve the boys from the task of watching her stroke-impaired mother, Brett takes a dig at his friend. “I don’t know,” Brett replied. “So, Mrs. Roberts. You’re a nurse, right?” “Of course, Brett. You know that.” “So how many penises do you see in a day?” “Oh my god, Brett, shut the fuck up!” I exclaimed. Brett laughed his butt off. I couldn’t believe he would say such a thing in front of my mother! “Billy! Language!” She scolded. “So he told you about our little incident this morning,” mom said. “I don’t see as many naked people as you might think, Brett. But if a certain thirteen-year-old boy was worried about what his mother saw this morning he doesn’t need to worry. I didn’t see anything I haven’t seen before. The only thing he needs to be embarrassed about is the way he swears in front of his grandmother.” “Sorry mom,” I apologized. “Sorry grandma.” There is a kind of loving, yet brutal, endearing quality to these boys. Throughout the first couple of sections, they vacillate between love and truly hating the other. Their emotions aren’t limited to those expressions. Brett has a learning disability and he struggles with the implications of it. Billy is in the throes of puberty, and the writer has him growing and realizing things have changed. There is portrayal of the physical manifestations of sexual maturity, but more importantly, he realizes his parents aren’t empty vessels. Other people have different ideas, and he needs to accept it. Billy discovers his father had a past. This is a revelation to the teen. Billy is learning something about himself and his place in the world. His father cares for him, but he has to work a lot, and that gets in the way. There is a kind of ‘turning on’ the parts of the brain which acknowledges this in these first two segments. The characters are genuine, have heart, and develop naturally. It’s the maturation of the characters along with endearing and infuriating attributes, and humor, which make you want to know more about them and keep reading. Keep laughing. It’s okay, we are really funny at this transitional period. What do you see as the weaknesses of the story? How do you think the story could be improved? There is a reliance on melodrama. While the characters have dilemmas, which make for interesting reading, they fall into constant, and relentless, emotional outbreaks. This is more telling later in the ongoing story, but the seeds of the problem are in the first two segments as well. Developing character, carefully structuring plot, and cultivating the reader’s investment, are keys to good writing. In WAR. the characters are well developed in these first parts, the plot has a kind of outline, but it starts to veer into some rather doubtful territory with extreme yelling and terrible arguing, which isn’t necessary. This tends to interrupt the suspension of disbelief for the reader. Yes, there are situations which make us crazy. Most of the time, it’s overblown in our own minds and starts to divert the attention to the overall story. Drama needs to build and engage, not assault the reader. While discussing this with another writer friend, I realized it was a symptom of pacing and flow. Consider this, there is some great literature which builds upon the character, setting, and situation of a story without being overly dramatic. In ‘The Piano’, the touch of a finger in a hole in a garment is erotic and provocative. In ‘Dune’ a person places a hand in a box and we experience terror, pain, and fear of what is to come. Sometimes building the scene means editing the melodrama from a story and crafting it to work as a complete story. In this story, Billy and Brett don’t need more, they are complete without the drama. What was your favorite part? (scene/sentence/etc) Billy and Brett found a porn videotape hidden in Billy’s dad’s things. The boys watched it, as teenaged boys would, and after a series of physical antics, Billy fell and gave himself a black eye. (For context, this is done rather well. More of it in the story would be hilarious). Brett is feeling guilty because he realizes if they didn’t steal and watch the tape, the whole situation could have been avoided. That’s when this scene happens. Brett groaned as if he was feeling my pain himself. He gently touched my face. “I can’t believe how swelled up it is.” He looked closely at me, so close I could feel his breath on me. He stared into my eyes. He smiled. “I wish my eyes were green like yours.” He sighed. “Why?” I asked. I hadn’t ever really thought about my eyes being anything special. “I just think they’re cool,” Brett replied. “You have really nice eyes. They’re unique. Not a lot of people have green eyes like yours. Mine are just boring old blue.” “I like your eyes,” I said. “You have pretty eyes.” “Pretty?” Brett laughed. “My eyes are pretty? So now you think I’m pretty?” “You know what I mean!” I said. “Boy pretty, not pretty pretty.” “Is my dick pretty, too?” Brett laughed. “Why do you always twist whatever I say and make it into something perverted?” “Because I’m a pervert!” Brett exclaimed, “and you’ll be as sick and twisted as me by the time I’m done with you!” “You’re crazy!” I laughed. Brett was a goofball. If he had to go five minutes without making a joke I think he’d explode. Teenagers, especially boys, don’t know how to express affection. They are too old to say it plainly without nuance and too young to speak their truth. This story shows boys being boys, caring for each other, and discovering the intricacies of human interactions. Billy and Brett are struggling with the percolated emotions that bubble within us, and they are learning what those feelings mean. This snippet demonstrates how this story portrays these challenges in an engaging and thoughtful way. It’s not the outbursts which define characters, but the discussions and heartfelt worries that can create the outlines we desire. The writer does this quite well, as I hope I’ve shown. Please check out this story. It’s worth a read. Billy, Brett, and Dustin deserve it. They are interesting characters you don’t want to miss!!!

Welcome back, CJ!

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. It was a busy week here at Gay Authors, and not all of it was good. We had the unfortunate task of dealing with a plagiarizer. If you want to find out more, make sure you check out the blog post, Plagiarism Strikes Again, which also explains how to check online to see if your stories have been plagiarized elsewhere. Now lets look at the various blogs! Contests New Contest Announcing Soon 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: Suggestions due by September 29th! Premium Updates: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Classic Updates: Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx Signature Updates: Mine! by Cia Rivers of the Dead by Cynus So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews Spirit of Fire by Stellar Promising Updates: Changes by Mikiesboy Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens Headstall's Reflections by Headstall Spice Rack by Parker Owens timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy

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 610 – Creative Tag – Broken Confidences For years, you’ve been the one to keep everyone’s secrets and confidences. Now, the one man you’ve always desired comes to you admitting he has been cheated on by your best friend. You know about it, but are trying not take sides. As this hunk cries on your shoulder, do you follow your own desires or keep your secrets? Prompt 611 – Creative Tag – First Line “Do you think we can do it again?’ Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

We hate making these types of blog posts as we generally do not share moderation issues with the site membership. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and plagiarism is one of them. Plagiarism comes in many forms, and to make our position perfectly clear: STEALING OTHER PEOPLES WORK WILL NOT BE TOLERATED ON GAY AUTHORS!! Posting plagiarized content on GA is an immediate banning offense. Generally, when plagiarism strikes GA, it involves stories, but not always. In this case, the now banned member posted stolen song covers and claimed them as their own work. A member of site staff found the (copyrighted) originals entirely by accident and recognized them as being identical to those posted on site. All the original song covers were done by the same person, who was NOT the person on site that was posting them and claiming them as their own. While this instance was not plagiarized stories, we urge authors on site to be pro-active when it comes to plagiarism. Cia has provided some great tips in how to protect yourself and your work. How to check your stories for plagiarism: 1. Pick a distinctive phrase such as: Nyle looked up nervously as he rode under the portcullis. 2. Search the phrase within quotation marks "Nyle looked up nervously as he rode under the portcullis.". 3. Repeat search with a distinctive phrase without names: "The austere chapel and rigorous training had been a sharp contrast to his youth". Tips: Search on both Bing and Google. Search phrases from the first chapter and later chapters. DO THIS OFTEN. How do I get the story removed if I find one that's been stolen? How to report plagiarism: 1. Look for a report button or a contact us link. 2. Copy the story link to the stolen story. 3. Share the stolen story title, author name, and links to your original. Haven't posted online? Keep copies of all sent mail to beta readers/fans with advanced reader copies of your work to prove when the content was written and sent. Offer to provide a forwarded copy of said email. If you really want to protect your work, purchase an official copyright, especially if you might publish later. 4. Follow up. Most sites will work with you to remove the content. Sometimes you have to take it further to the ISP. If you suspect a story or other content on site has been stolen, please report it! This not only protects the site, but protects the authors, and the original artists.

As long as you have a completed story on site, you are eligible

Thank you, tim!

Hey all! I hope you had a great week. It was a momentous week here at Gay Authors as we celebrated the 15 Year Anniversary of the start of Gay Authors. Curious as to how the site has changed over these many years? Check out the blog that Myr posted. In it, you'll find what many authors had to say about GA over the years. Some of the authors featured have been with GA from the start. Do you know who the first author (besides Myr) to be hosted was? You can find out by reading the blog! And just a quick reminder: don't forget to visit the anthology forum to offer up your theme suggestions for next years themes! Contests New Contest Coming Soon 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: Suggestions due by September 29th! Premium Updates: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Signature Updates: A Class By HImself by Comicality Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Mine! by Cia Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour; Book 8 of Bridgemont Rivers of the Dead by Cynus So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews Promising Updates: Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso Changes by Mikiesboy Cozy Contemplations by Headstall Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens Headstall's Reflections by Headstall Ripped by craftingmom Spice Rack by Parker Owens

There's not much i can say, Sir, that hasn't already been said and sometimes i have a hard time finding the words. I hope that getting your thoughts out help you. Well written, Sir.

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 608 – Challenge Tag – Description Pick an item to your right. Describe it in as much detail as you can. Try to use as many details as you can. You may not name the item. Prompt 609 – Creative Tag – List of words Use the following words in a story – lunch bag, notebook, pink hat, broken belt, and a spider. Did you write a prompt response last week? Don't forget to share it below.

Normally, I'd write an introduction to this week's story, but honestly I just can't think of a good opening on the anniversary of 9/11. Maybe there isn't one, but today I'm going to let Timothy M's opening for a review of Mark Arbour's 9.11 say it for me. 9.11 by Mark Arbour Reviewer: Timothy M. Status: Complete Word Count. 440,371 There are some events which fix themselves in the collective mind of humanity. You’ll always recall where you were and what you were doing, when you heard. In our modern information society, such news spreads at the speed of light, but there are also examples from before internet and mobile gadgets keeping us constantly online. The older generations may mention the assassinations of President Kennedy (1963) and John Lennon (1980). The death of Princess Diana was breaking news 20 years ago, and as a Scandinavian, I’ve a clear picture in my mind of the moment I heard about the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme being killed (1986). But of course the big one, which everyone over a certain age recalls today, is 9/11/2001 – the airplane attacks on the WTC's twin towers and the Pentagon, which Mark Arbour entwines into 9.11, his 13th book of the CAP series. Naturally, it doesn’t make sense to recommend reading 9.11 on its own. You’ll have to start with the first book of the series: Chronicles of an Academic Predator. This way you’ll gradually be introduced to the main characters in 9.11, and you’ll be engaged in their lives, whether you like them, love them, or hate them. Since some of them experience the attacks on the twin towers up close, the event has a huge personal impact in CAP, as well as the wider national and international consequences. If you were among those of us who watched the horror unfold on 9/11 (mostly via TV), I’m sure Mark’s descriptions will bring you back to the stunned disbelief, the anger and the sorrow. If you’re too young to remember, the story might give you a taste of what happened on that fateful date sixteen years ago, and why most people older than 25 can immediately answer the question “What were you doing on September 11th, 2001?” There are plenty of things I admire about the CAP series and about Mark Arbour as an author. Brilliant writing, memorable and whole characters, interesting plots and story lines, lots of hot guys in action and reading material for months of enjoyment. But perhaps one of the most impressive achievements of Mark and his diligent team of beta readers and editors, is the way history, politics, culture, matters of ethics, conflicts of both society and humans, as well as specific events in the U.S.A. and the world, have been woven into CAP in a natural and logical way. JP, the first and main character of the whole series, will always be a beloved and ideal character for me, for his personal integrity and his understanding of the complex lessons of history and human struggles. Go make his acquaintance, and you’ll soon be caught up in the CAP world. It’s a great place to be, and Mark is slowly catching up to the present day, since his current CAP story starts out in 2003. If you’ve forgotten what was hot more than ten years ago, take a trip down memory lane, and don’t forget to visit the story forum for pictures, songs, trends, and discussions related to each time period. Category: Fiction Genres: Drama, Historical, Romance Tags: teen, young adult, mature adult, gay, brothers, friendship Rating: Mature

Another week is over with, but there has been a lot going on this week on Gay Authors. Two of which are happenings among the forums and you wouldn't have seen any blogs about them! If you enjoy having a chat option, check out Myr's post! Also, a reminder: stories for the Halloween Short Story Contest are due by September 15th! We've only had a few entries come in so far, so make sure to get yours in before the deadline! And after you do that, join us in welcoming @lilansui and @sandrewn to the moderation team! Now... let's see what happened in the blogs!!!! Contests Halloween Short Story Contest - Due September 15th, 2017 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: Suggestions due by September 29th! Premium Updates: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Classic Updates: Down a Darkened Path by Ronyx Signature Updates: 319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Mine! by Cia Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour; Book 8 of Bridgemont One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse Rivers of the Dead by Cynus So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel Promising Updates: A Fall Observation by Parker Owens Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso Cards on the Table by Headstall Changes by Mikiesboy Cozy Contemplations by Headstall Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens Hunting Season by Carlos Hazday Spice Rack by Parker Owens timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy

Wonderful poem, tim! Sometimes a different perspective is all that is needed and it's so great to see you happy

I already said in the blog post, but i'll say it again....

Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating Parker Owens as GA's newest promoted author! Parker has been a member of GA for two and a half years and during that time, he has written thirteen stories to share with the members here at GA and has written over 1,300 reviews! His latest story A Fall Observation is at just over 11,500 words. If you want to read more from Parker, you can visit his author page (and check out his new banner while you're there). Please join us in congratulating Parker on his well deserved promotion.