Renee Stevens

Thank you, tim! I think sometimes we just need to get those real moments out there, at least for me, because it helps me deal with the emotions that I was feeling and it gives me an outlet. It doesn't really make it "easier" but it at least puts into words how I'm feeling.

Thank you, Parker. This is one of those "based on real life" slice of life pieces. I wrote it after I found out my brother had been diagnosed with Cancer and it's sat on my computer since 2012. I was looking through my stories on my computer, looking for inspiration since I've been in a bit of a writing rut, and saw this and decided to go ahead and post it. I could have added to it, but I didn't want to take away from that moment.

I looked at the text message on Steven’s phone and frowned. Why would my mother be texting my husband asking if he was home? “Who is it?” Steven glanced over at me before putting the truck in park. “Mom.” I checked both of my jacket pockets looking for my phone. It was rare for mom to text Steven and not me and it was only when my search came up empty that I realized I had forgotten my phone at home. “My mom? What’s it say?” “Nope, my mom. She wants to know if

Just a short glance into the lives of the characters. They are not heavy with plot and some of these slice of life pieces are based on my real life experiences. Down the road, I may choose to expand some of these into a full story.

The following are blog features that site authors can participate in. If you would like to be included, please send me a PM with the information required. If you want to participate in multiple ones, please send a separate PM for each one. Please make sure the subject line of your PM specifies which one you're wanting to participate in. Improve & Encourage *NEW* The idea is for an author to read a story by a fellow author and provide detailed feedback, both positive and negative (constructive criticism). This is also a great way to find new authors that you haven't read before. The way it would work, is you would read a story/poem (of your choice) by the author who's post is above yours in the thread. Then you would write out a critique following a set of guidelines and send it to me via PM or email (renee@gayauthors.org). You can find the guidelines and other information, as well as sign up to participate, in the thread. New Author Advice Do you remember when you first started posting your writing? Is there something that you wish you had known prior to first hitting that submit button? Now's your chance to share your knowledge with other authors just starting out! Simply PM your advice to Renee Stevens. Writing Tips Have something you would like to share with other authors and readers about your writing process? This could be a number of things, including stuff like: building characters, grammar and editing tips, getting started, plotting, handling criticism, etc. Really anything that you can think of that has to do with the process of writing. 3 Story Promo If you'd like to have your GA stories featured in the blog, send me the links to the stories, the description, and the following information. What gave you the idea for this story? What was your favorite thing about writing this story? Please tell us something about this story that is not already in the description. Favorite Self Written Story I'd like to know your favorite story that you've written and posted on GA. All I need is a link to the story and a single paragraph as to why that is your favorite. I will do 3 - 5 authors for each feature. Author Interview If you'd like to be interviewed for the blog, then please fill out the attached list of interview questions and PM it to me (Renee Stevens). You can also attach a short author bio if you'd like. Author Interviews will be posted in the order they are received. GA Author Interview.docx

Well, that's it for another week! Before we get too deep into this week's wrap up, please check out this blog entry from Myr. There has been a lot going on at Gay Authors this week. We've been updating the FAQ and there was a recent update to the site that fixed a few of the issues plaguing members including the one that kept the second page of story comments from being read. You can read about the recent fixes here. Also, there's a possible new blog feature if enough authors are interested, so make sure to check out this thread as well. Now, lets look at the other various news blogs. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team 2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 30th, 2017 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017 Premium Updates: Dreams of a Father by dkstories; Book 2 of Dreams of Humanity *Premium* Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Classic Updates: A Different Road by Ronyx Harry Potter and the Parliament of Dreams by Myr Signature Updates: A prompt a week by comicfan April Musings by Valkyrie Going to the Movies--NaPoWriMo 2017 by aditus Kiss Of An Angel by Comicality Left Without Words by Comicality Mine! by Cia Poetry Book by Dolores Esteban The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9 by Comicality; Book 9 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase Promising Updates: Choices by LitLover Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall Ripped by craftingmom Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ

So, here's the deal. I'm always trying to come up with new ideas for the blog, and I was reading through some of my old stories, trying to get some inspiration, and one of the comments led me back to an old forum thread titled "Improve and Encourage" that was originally started by Dark in 2011. The idea is for an author to read a story by a fellow author and provide detailed feedback, both positive and negative (constructive criticism). This is also a great way to find new authors that you haven't read before. The way it would work, is you would read a story/poem (of your choice) by the author who's post is above yours. Then you would write out a critique following a set of guidelines and send it to me via PM or email (renee@gayauthors.org). I'm going to use the same guidelines that Dark used in the original thread: 1. Title & Author (be sure to include a link) 2. Short summary (5 sentences max) 3. Strengths of the story/poem 4. Weaknesses of the story/poem 5. How could the story/poem be improved 6. What was your favorite part? (scene/sentence/etc) Now, since I'm the one starting this thread, that means the first person to comment will be reading and critiquing one of my stories. Since I don't have anyone above me to critique, this thread will continue until interest wanes (hopefully not for a long time) and when that time comes, I will critique a story by whoever posted last and close the thread. At this point, if there's enough interest, I would plan to post one critique a month starting when I have at least 3 critiques. So, who would like to participate? Please note, by commenting you are agreeing to the following (so only comment if you want to participate): You are committed to choose and read one story/poem by the author who posts above you and write a critique using the above guidelines and send it to me via PM or email You understand that by commenting, one of your stories will be read and critiqued in the same manner If you are interested, just leave a comment. (At this time, only one critique per author) I'll be updating this post with a list of who is critiquing who. The first name is the author to be critiqued, the second is the author doing the critiquing: Renee Stevens - Valkyrie Dark - Valkyrie Valkyrie - William King William King - Mann Ramblings Mann Ramblings - Timothy M Timothy M - Aditus Aditus - Hudson Bartholomew Hudson Bartholomew - Wicked Witch Wicked Witch - comicfan Comicfan - JayT JayT - jkwsquirrel jkwsquirrel - Cole Matthews Cole Matthews - Dodger Dodger - Sam Wyer Sam Wyer - Carlos Hazday Carlos Hazday - Parker Owens Parker Owens - CassieQ CassieQ - Update 5/9/2017: These critiques will be posted in the order received. I have received the first critique and am waiting to get a couple more sent to me to start posting this feature. I'd like to start posting the end of this month, so if you've signed up, please get me your critiques sent as soon as possible! @Dark @Valkyrie @William King @Mann Ramblings @Timothy M. @aditus @Hudson Bartholomew @Wicked Witch @comicfan @JayT @jkwsquirrel @Cole Matthews @Dodger @Sam Wyer @Carlos Hazday @Parker Owens @CassieQ

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