Renee Stevens

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It's so rare that someone does the "creative" prompts that I decided since someone did it, I'd feature it. (And I liked the response)

Hope everyone has had a great week so far and is looking forward to the weekend. What better way to start it off than with brand new prompts! If you've been feeling stuck, or maybe just want to do something a little different, maybe one of these prompts will jump start a new idea. A reminder: Prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 572 – Creative Tag – First Line What do you mean you are leaving now? Prompt 573 – Creative Tag – Trouble Most people seen Tommy and said he was nothing but trouble. You seen Tommy and called him a friend. At least until Tommy brought a world of trouble to your door, begging for help. What do you do? For this week, we're going to look at last weeks response to Prompt #571 Mikiesboy - The Notebook The phone was ringing. I knew it was just a dream. The phone kept on ringing. An annoying dream it seemed. I reached for the phone, and in my dream, put it to my ear. “Hello?” “Den?” I knew the voice.

Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating Aditus as GA's newest Signature Author! Aditus has been a member of GA for five and a half years and was first promoted to Promising in March of 2015. Since joining, Aditus has written a total of 33 stories, including his popular novel, Red Running Shoes. If you want to check out Aditus' other stories, and check out his new banner, you can visit his author page. Please join us in congratulating Aditus on his well deserved promotion.

I'm not going to do a huge intro today, instead, let's just take a look at what happened in the various GA News blogs today! Oh.... and..... And for those interested, Cia has started a Treasure Hunt in the Games and Humor forum! Myr has also updated his Bug blog entry! 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: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Classic Updates: A Different Road by Ronyx Signature Updates: April Musings by Valkyrie Dribbles by Cia GFD 12: Blood Ties by Comicality; Book 12 of Gone From Daylight Mine! by Cia Sumeru by Dolores Esteban The Best Year by Krista The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel Promising Updates: Choices by LitLover Drifts by Puppilull; Book 3 of Hot and cold Going to the Movies--NaPoWriMo 2017 by aditus Headstall's Reflections by Headstall Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall Ripped by craftingmom The End of the Beginning by albertnothlit Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ

Happy Friday, Y'all!!!!! Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend, I know I am! To help start your weekend off right, it's time for some new prompts. Hopefully one of these great prompts will inspire you, and don't forget to share your responses (at least a link) so that they can possibly be featured next week. Also, as always, remember that prompt responses under 1K have to be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 570 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – an obnoxious customer, a computer, a school bus, a sandwich, and a yellow couch. Prompt 571 – Creative Tag – The Notebook Your best friend left their notebook over at your house last night. You know they write and keep their life in it. When you spot it, you know you need to call them and let them know you found it. However, curiosity takes over and you begin to read it. You flip through the pages fascinated by what you read until you find something that will permanently alter your relationship. What did you learn? Let's take a look at prompt responses from Prompt #568: Timothy M “You’ve got to tell me everything!” Maria followed her statement with an excited hug, and I tried to act casual. “OK, I’ll tell you about my date with Nelson, but not everything.” I raised my eyebrows at her, and a moment later she burst into giggles. “All right, you can keep those details private, but tell me everything else. I told you all about my first romantic date with Tony.” “Yes, and I didn’t even ask you.” I rolled my eyes at the memory of how I’d been a good friend and patiently listened to her gush over not only that date, but several others, too. JohnAR “You’ve got to tell me everything!” was all it took for Bradley to feel how the small wet spot formed around his dickhead on his white boxers grew to palm size. And even non-wolves would be able to smell it now. There went his resolution not to react like a scared little pup in front of an upset alpha. It seemed despite his respectable size, Bradley was still a pup.

Thanks @LitLover

Thanks @Headstall @Timothy M. and @Valkyrie Sometimes I think maybe I shouldn't do my blogs right before bed when I'm tired, lol.

*Sigh* I soooo suck. It's fixed now.

It's time for another author promo! I'm completely out of these promos, so if you'd like to promo your own work, take a look at the thread for guidelines and then PM me. For this month, our featured promo spot is for Headstall. There were three questions that Headstall had to answer for each story. The questions were 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. Headstall Promising Author 15 stories · 3,128 reviews · 636,814 total words Chrisis Eve Description: Darren is in a crisis on Christmas Eve. His pain is unbearable, and he only wants one thing… peace… peace from the memories of another Christmas Eve that has haunted him for two years. Is there someone or something that can help him find it? What gave you the idea for this story? I was intrigued by the 2015 Secret Santa contest, but I didn’t think I was up for it, quite frankly. The idea must have been percolating in my brain, though, because I woke up one morning with this strange story at the front of my mind. Something magical, which was weird for me. Anyway, I sat down and started writing. What was your favorite thing about writing this story? I guess I would have to say how different it was. It had my brain firing on all cylinders as I created my Santas in a way that was pure fun. It was like playing, rather than writing. Please tell us something about this story that is not already in the description. The only thing I can think of that might be interesting is when I wrote the alley scene, for some reason I pictured Johnny Depp in his role as Captain Jack Sparrow… I think it might have been his carriage as he walked. So maybe there was a bit of him in there. Dirty Pool Description: Duncan never saw it coming... any of it. His friends didn't understand. They meant well, but it was over, and there was no going back. He wouldn't be fooled again. What gave you the idea for this story? This was a story that coalesced in my head on a fairly long bike ride. By the time the ride was done, I had the entire story. I don’t know why it came to the surface, other than one of the characters is a lot like a friend of mine. I might have been thinking about the fall anthology at the time… Blindsided… but I can’t be sure. My imagination comes alive for no apparent reason most of the time. What was your favorite thing about writing this story? The dialogue, without a doubt. I could hear all the voices clearly. Ah, should I be admitting that? Seriously, I love writing dialogue between characters who are well fleshed out in my head. Please tell us something about this story that is not already in the description. That’s a tough question without giving spoilers. I guess it would be that I designed Kelly and Martin’s house completely in my head, right down to the door hardware. It’s why I’ve been working on short stories more and more, as a form of discipline. My instinct is to turn every story into a long one. Finding Refuge Description: A refuge can be a place, or a person. Sometimes, it's both. Just like scars. We can carry them on the outside, or on the inside. Sometimes, it's both. Wiley Burch is a cowboy on the run. He never bargained for being someone's target, but it appears his luck has run out... or has it? What gave you the idea for this story? The Rewind Anthology. I wanted to write something for it (I ended up writing three stories in all), and there were so many options with all the previous themes available. I saw the Scars theme, and a cougar came to mind for whatever reason. I had never considered writing a ‘Western’ before, but once I did, it seemed the most natural thing to do. I was raised on Westerns as a kid, on TV and at the movies, and I was a true fan of them. It was exciting. What was your favorite thing about writing this story? Other than the fact it had horses in it, it would have to be the ‘western speak’ I had the most fun with. I wanted the feel to be authentic, but not hokey or over the top. I was really happy with how it turned out. Please tell us something about this story that is not already in the description. I would have to say first of all, this little story is a favorite of mine, and secondly, these guys have never left my head. They show up periodically so there’s a good chance we will see them again at some point, and that includes Cholo.

Now available in Paperback!!!! https://www.amazon.com/Barbed-Wire-Cowboy-Renee-Stevens/dp/1544677529/

I hope everyone had a great weekend, but now it's time to start off a new week. A great way to start the week is to take a look at a story that can be found on Gay Authors. Today's feature is Hypnotic by Cia. Litlover was nice enough to provide us with this great review. If you haven't already done so, maybe it will inspire you to take a look. If you do, don't forget to leave Cia some comments. Enjoy! Hypnotic Cia Reviewer: Litlover Status: Complete Word Count: 86,395 Hypnotic, by Cia, is one of the first stories I read on GA, and it continues to be one of my all-time favorites. I hope by the end of this review you will be convinced to give this thrilling, if sometimes complicated, love story a chance. In this third installment of Carthera Takeover Tales, we go back to the world of the Carthera clans, a race of humanoids who share their soul with an animal. They are not shifters, and actually display the traits of their clan animal after mating. Although there are many different types of Carthera, Hypnotic focuses mainly on falcons, jaguars, tigers, and snakes, with a few whales and a couple of polar bears thrown in, just to keep life interesting. One of the things I appreciated about the story is that it’s not the typical “find your mate and live happily ever after” plot. Each character is flawed, and make very human/Carthera mistakes on their paths to finding love and acceptance. Davis Retic is a snake Carthera and club owner who moonlights as a mercenary for the local falcon clan leader. Davis learned from an early age that life is harsh, and weakness will get you killed. In an effort to protect himself he has built some dauntingly high walls around his heart, which will be tough for anyone to get over. Ellis is a human nurse who works in the local Carthera clinic. His work has made him more educated about the race than most humans, and Dav quickly piques his curiosity and interest. Dav and Ellis’s first meeting is anything but romantic when Ellis, while suffering from a nasty migraine, throws up on Dav’s expensive shoes. Even with their shaky start the chemistry between the two men quickly ignites. When Davis tells him they’re mates Ellis is skeptical, but for a chance at happiness he’s willing to throw caution to the wind and give the reclusive man a chance. Unfortunately, the outside world intrudes on the two lovers. Misunderstandings, trust issues, and unfortunate decision-making conspire to destroy the fledgling relationship before it ever has a chance to grow. Hypnotic is packed with action, drama, angst, an epic battle, and some really hot sex scenes involving fangs, venom, and a wickedly nimble forked tongue. To this day, Dav is one of my favorite fictional characters. He’s far from perfect and makes mistakes, some of which had me cursing, but there’s something about the flawed man that keeps you rooting for him, and Ellis, right to the end. If you give Hypnotic a chance I can guarantee you won’t be bored as you delve into this intriguing, and occasionally dark, world. Category: Fiction Genres: Fantasy, Romance Tags: Disability, Were-creatures, Adult, Modern Rating: Mature

Are you ready for a new week? Before that happens, let's end the week with a look back at what happened this week in the various GA 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: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Classic Updates: A Different Road by Ronyx War by Ronyx Signature Updates: April Musings by Valkyrie Mine! by Cia Sumeru by Dolores Esteban Switched On by Comicality The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel Promising Updates: Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso Choices by LitLover Drifts by Puppilull; Book 3 of Hot and cold Going to the Movies--NaPoWriMo 2017 by aditus Headstall's Reflections by Headstall hic sunt dracones by AC Benus Innocent Sacrifice by Sasha Distan; Book 8 of The Best Circle of Hell Stories Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall Ripped by craftingmom Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ

Well, it's here! Barbed Wire Cowboy (formerly known as Studly Ranch Hands) is now available in eBook! It has been re-edited, new scenes have been added, and there has been a bit of tweaking here and there. Here in the next couple of weeks, Barbed Wire Cowboy will also be available in paperback. If you want to be kept up to date, make sure to visit my website, friend me on facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Google+. I'll also be doing giveaways soon, so keep an eye on my site and facebook! Barbed Wire Cowboy Length: 85,000 Words Cover Artist: Mann Ramblings Available Now Amazon Smashwords Blurb: After having been kicked off the family ranch by his father, Marc Poulson has made a new home for himself as the foreman of the Double R Ranch. His fellow ranch hands are his family, but he’s still not complete without Casey Morgan, his counterpart at the neighboring Del Rio Ranch. In the middle of a feud with his one-time best friend, Marc struggles to understand why Casey would rather take a swing at him than talk to him. He wants to put the past behind them and rebuild what they once had and make their relationship stronger than ever, but Casey is having none of it. Casey has his own demons to deal with, and Marc serves as a reminder to things he’d rather forget. Casey can’t see beyond the past and continues to make mistakes that put both him and Marc in harms way. After one close call too many, Casey must decide whether his past is more important than his future, or if he can live with Marc walking out of his life—possibly forever. Excerpt: “EARTH TO Marc, come in, Marc.” Rick made a show of waving his hand in front of Marc’s face. He waited until he had Marc’s attention. “Did you hear anything I said?” “Sorry.” Marc glanced at him, but the lure of Casey Morgan was too strong to ignore. He returned his gaze to linger on the blond who had walked through the doors of the bar a moment earlier. “I was distracted.” Half of the bar separated them, but he knew from experience that the chances of avoiding a confrontation were slim to nil. “Obviously.” Their companion, and coworker, Jason snickered. “What is it with you and him?” Rick’s gaze danced between the two men. “You two can’t be in the same room together without going for the jugular.” “It has nothing to do with you.” Marc didn’t want to get into it and was desperate to stop the barrage of questions before they could start. “You concentrate on yourself and let me handle my own problems.” Marc tracked Casey’s progress through the bar until he sat at a table with two of the hired hands from the Del Rio Ranch. As the foreman for the Del Rio, Casey was the direct counterpart of Marc’s position at the Double R. The owners of the two ranches were close friends, and up until a few months earlier, so were Casey and Marc. It was amazing how one thing could cause friends to become bitter enemies, and it was nothing more than a misunderstanding. “We lost him again.” Jason needed to wipe the smirk off his face. “Knock it off.” Marc forced his attention away from Casey and back to Rick and Jason. “What were you asking?” “Never mind.” Rick shook his head. “Since we have tomorrow off it can wait until Monday. No sense in talking ranch work if we don’t have to.” “Sounds good to me.” Jason finished off the beer in front of him. Marc swallowed the last of his own drink and headed toward the bar for the next round. Despite being the sole bar in town, it wasn’t busy, and within a couple of minutes he was turning to head back to his table with three fresh beers. As he turned, his shoulder brushed against a newcomer, and Marc turned to apologize, but the words stuck in his throat when he found himself face-to-face with Casey. If he’d realized Casey had the same idea, he would have stayed in his seat and let one of the other two go. “Poulson.” Casey’s greeting dripped with hostility. “Morgan.” Fuck the apology. Marc pushed past him but stopped when Casey mumbled something under his breath. His entire body went stiff, and he struggled to breathe through the anger. He should have ignored it and walked away, but it built inside him until he was seething with every breath he took. “What the hell did you say to me?” “You heard me.” Casey leaned against the bar and tried to stare him down. “That’s bullshit and you know it.” Marc took a determined step forward. He had a couple of inches on his former friend and wasn’t above trying to intimidate him. Not anymore. “It’s not bullshit if it’s the truth.” Instead of backing down, Casey straightened up, anger flashing in his eyes. “I’ve had it with this crap.” Marc clenched his jaw. He’d tried to keep his cool, but if Casey was itching for a fight that bad, Marc was ready and willing to oblige. He ignored the little voice in his head telling him it was a bad idea. Marc plunked the bottles he was holding onto the bar, flexed his hands at his side, and waited. He wouldn’t throw the first punch, but if Casey did, he wouldn’t walk away. “I wasn’t the only one there, and you damn well know it.” “You may as well have been.” Casey sneered and grabbed the beer the bartender set down. He tried to shoulder his way past, but Marc refused to move. Marc reached out and grabbed ahold of Casey’s arm to keep him there. “Oh, I don’t know about that. When are you going to admit you liked it?” With a wrench of his arm he whirled Casey back around. The bottle clutched in Casey’s grasp slipped free, shattering on the floor, and beer splashed up onto their boots. Their gazes collided, and Marc could see the fury simmering in Casey’s eyes. Determined to use his height advantage, he took a step forward until there were a mere couple of inches separating them, forcing Casey to look up to meet his eyes. When Marc didn’t release his hold on him, Casey knocked his hand away. “Don’t.” As cliched as it sounded, if looks could kill, Marc would drop dead on the spot. “You have no fucking right to touch me.” “Like this?” Marc reached out with one hand and shoved Casey’s shoulder. “Bastard,” Casey replied. “Point being?” Marc repeated his earlier action, this time putting enough force behind it to cause the infuriating man to stagger into the table behind him. “Go to hell.” Casey growled and turned toward his table. “I’ll meet you there.” Marc laughed and moved to grab the beers from the bar. He heard one of the Del Rio hands yell and turned a second too late. Casey’s fist connected with his jaw and sent him stumbling back into the bar. “Fucker!” Marc launched himself toward Casey and placed a couple of well-aimed blows to Casey’s stomach and ribs. It didn’t bring near the satisfaction he’d expected. Instead, regret trickled through him and was enough to throw off his concentration. Casey didn’t hesitate to take advantage, but Marc managed to deflect the blow with his shoulder. He grunted in pain as the next one connected with his ribs. Thank god Casey hadn’t managed to land a shot to his liver. That would have had him writhing in agony. Shelving his feelings of remorse to study later, Marc shoved Casey hard enough to send him careening into a nearby chair. Taking advantage of gaining the upper hand, he pressed on and within moments Marc was rolling on the floor with Casey as they each tried to gain domination over the other. Marc managed to land a few more punches, but then someone grabbed his arms and pulled him away. His entire body hurt, but he ignored the pain and struggled to get free. “Fuckers. Let me go.” The more he fought, the tighter he was held. Despite his attempts, Marc was no match for the men intent on dragging him away. Through the haze of anger he saw two men pull Casey to his feet and resumed his struggles, but there was no freeing himself. The adrenaline drained out of him, and, as his vision cleared, he recognized the two men holding Casey back as the two hired hands from the Del Rio Ranch. He turned his head to see who had him and met Rick’s gaze. A groan slithered from his throat as he looked on his other side and found Jason regarding him as if he was a snake about to strike. “You can let me go now.” Marc tried to jerk his arms free. “Sorry, boss man, can’t do that.” Rick’s grip tightened to the point Marc was sure he’d have bruises. On top of the ones he’d have from Casey. “You’ll fucking pay for this.” Casey struggled against the two men holding him, blood flowing unimpeded from his nose. Marc glanced at his hands and winced at the blood coating his split knuckles. With his quarry now out of his reach, he allowed Rick and Jason to lead him toward the exit. He couldn’t believe he’d been goaded into yet another fight. Though, if he was honest, he’d egged Casey on as well. Now he had to figure out how he was going to explain the night’s events to his boss, once word got around, and it would. That should be fun. Rick and Jason almost had him to the door when it opened and revealed the lean body of the sheriff blocking their escape. Author Bio: Renee Stevens first started writing in her teens but didn’t get serious about being an author until her mid-twenties. Since then she’s written a number of contemporary stories, as well as delved into the paranormal. When not writing, or spending time in the outdoors, Renee can usually be found working on GayAuthors.org in her capacity of Admin, Blog Coordinator, and Anthology Coordinator. Renee resides in Wyoming with her wonderfully supportive husband and a menagerie of four-legged critters. Making the most of the nearly constant negative temperatures and mounds of snow, Renee spends much of the winter months in hibernation with her laptop, the voices in her head keeping her company while her husband works. When she needs a break from writing, Renee takes to the sewing machine to design, and make, beautiful quilts. When the snow finally disappears, usually around May or June, Renee can be found in the great-outdoors. She spends her time on the mountain, at the lake, and just anywhere that she can do some camping, take some photos, and ride the four-wheelers with her hubby. Once back at home, it’s back to writing. Website * Facebook * Twitter * Google+

Take care of yourself, James!! Thinking about you.

Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating LitLover as GA's newest promoted author! LitLover has been a member of GA for exactly 3 years (Today is her GA Anniversary as well!) and during that time, she has written four stories to share with the members here at GA and has written over 1,000 reviews! Her current novel Choices is at just over 30,000 words and still going strong. If you want to read more from LitLover, you can visit her author page (plus you can check out her snazzy new banner). Please join us in congratulating LitLover on her well deserved promotion.

Ask an Author #48 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #47, we heard from authors Riley Jericho, SkinnyDragon, Craftingmom, and Roberto Zuniga. Today in AtA #48 we hear from authors JackBinimbul, Mikiesboy, Palantir, and WolfM. Please welcome Texan and Author JackBinimbbul to the blog. Jack has been with GA for almost a year but has dabbled in writing for a long time. He’s the author of the popular crime/romance story Painted Blue, just what the BDSM genre needs after the horror that is “Fifty Shades....” Jack’s family has a history of service in law enforcement, and you know what they say: “write what you know!” Painted Blue is about a detective who begins to understand and allow himself to enjoy aspects of himself that our society often labels taboo. Law enforcement and BDSM are two genres commonly ridiculed or demonized, so it’s awesome to have a story that’s so real. Despite the play on the Dorian Gray name, the characters are wonderfully down-to-earth and the information about what happens in a real “scene” is a can’t miss, even if you’re not normally a fan of the genre. To JackBinimbul: How have you planned out the crime/mystery part of Painted Blue? What challenges have you run into attempting to weave the mystery aspect of Painted Blue into Dorian and Felix's story? Well, I won't be giving any spoilers! That said, it's been relatively difficult to weave everything on the crime/mystery level so that it's not readily apparent, but in hindsight, the reader will be able to see all the threads as they converge. It will be a fairly large reveal, but I want it to still be believable. It has been a bit of a challenge working everything in with the relationship between Dorian and Felix. I didn't want either elements of the story to completely overshadow the other, but I also want them to feel interconnected and to play off of each other organically. It has been tempting to just focus on the crime aspect, or the developing relationship and I've really had to be disciplined about giving them equal consideration. Author Mikiesboy joins us once more. For those of you not familiar with this guy, Timmy is from Ontario, Canada and has published about 20 different items in his year and a half here on GA. An avid participant in the weekly prompts, Timmy also writes some amazing poetry. In January, Timmy gifted us with Miss Silver Pretty-Pink-Toes, a fairy tale story with some breathtaking imagery. While I am not the only one wanting more from this author, unfortunately life has a way of throwing curve balls. We might be seeing less of Timmy in the future as he puts things in perspective and focuses on what is truly important to him. Still, he’s given us some rich memories which will be treasured. To Mikiesboy: Do you have any future projects planned? I don't plan to write poetry, not like you'd plan to write fiction, poems just sort of come to me. They are a way for me to deal with issues, good or bad, that happen in my life. However I do work on AC Benus' Poetry Prompts, which are a great opportunity to learn. For these I have to plan to write them. It's a challenge and I think making yourself try new things, step out of your comfort zone, follow the restrictions of the form, makes you more creative and a better writer. Future projects, yes, I am currently working on a new fictional piece, a kind of dystopian story. I also have something almost ready for the Pre-2016 Anthology Themes. It's something completely different for me. I'll probably continue to write a weekly prompt now and again and definitely will do any of AC Benus' O'Henry Prompts when he puts out another one. You might remember member and writer Palantir by his former name Iarwain. With GA since 2009, Palantir has had an amazingly varied life. He calls Melbourne, Australia home now but he has travelled extensively over the years and can tell you quite a bit about a number of different places. I’ll bet all those stories made him a wonderful teacher, too. He now has a website dedicated to his stories about what he’s calling the Terran Diaspora, which you can also read here. For those of you who are not sci-fi fans, this generally refers to Terrans (us, Earthlings) leaving Earth and settling on other planets. Closer to home, you might remember The Ocean Walk, one of Palantir’s first stories. Two guys off hiking along the beach keep meeting up as small catastrophes keep trying to ruin their adventures. If you like nature, this is one for you. To Palantir: What inspires you to write? How is it that you put an idea together for a story? The inspiration to actually write? = a sense of achievement - hopefully a kind of legacy - the wonderful gift when readers express their enjoyment - the act of creation Inspiration is a very tricky beast and I never know where it's going to come from. All my major stories have started with a germ of an idea and then fleshed out with the characters somehow running away with their own ideas and actions. When I've committed to a story it's with me everywhere. Sometimes I realise I've walked through the bush or along a beach and seen nothing because my mind has been trying out ideas and approaches for the next section of the story. Last but not least today is author WolfM. We’ve seen a lot from this author in the past few months, as he’s the creative force behind Running with the Pack. With more than 350 reviews on this story alone, can you believe WolfM was once told he has no talent? Running is an epic tale pushing 250-thousand words and 50 chapters as of January 2017 and WolfM should feel pride in such an accomplishment. He’s enjoying some time off writing right now, but let’s hope he brings us some more of Ethan and Aiden soon! To WolfM: Do you plan on having expanding the world of Running with the Pack with future stories or creatures? As I've been writing Running with the Pack I have given thought at times to a possible follow up story. At this point I have absolutely no idea what form it would take, what characters would be included or even if new species of shifters would make an appearance. Unfortunately the best answer I can give to any of the readers who have encouraged me with their support to keep working on RWTP is that my current focus is on completing this project and taking a little break from writing so I can catch up on many of the stories I very much want to read. I will say that after spending so many years with these characters and having them in a sense before friends and family to me, I might not be able to let them go completely once I do reach the final chapter. That’s it for now! For more info on these authors, go check out their stories, post in their forums, and/or catch them in chat! I’ll see you next time, with authors AC Benus, HindertoyBL, Milos, and Parker Owens! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Hope everyone had a great week this week. It's been a very busy week here at Gay Authors and we even had the April Fool's Short Story Contest author reveal! There's still some bug hunting going on with the new site, so please be patient. If you think you've found a bug, make sure to check out the blog and the forum to make sure it isn't something that has already been answered. The blog has the most recent fixes as of April 1st. Now, let's take a look at what happened in the various GA news blogs this past week. Some of you might be wondering about the stats for the April Fool's author Guess Who. Well, you can thank our "Secret Nerd" for compiling all the statistics for us! 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 Promoted Author Story Updates *Please note that I had some issues compiling the recent update list. Hopefully the below list is correct, but for the time being, I am not including the book number and series information) Premium Updates: Negative Splits by Cia *Premium* Signature Updates: Mine! by Cia Sumeru by Dolores Esteban A prompt a week by comicfan The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W Promising Updates: One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus How To Be Gay Without Ever Being Gay by CarringtonRJ Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall Prompts 2017 by Caz Pedroso My Wife Tells Everyone I'm Gay by Carringtonrj Walls by Carlos Hazday

FYI: I have added all authors to their stories, but there is still a glitch that makes it so I can't remove "Anonymous Jester" as an author.

I just feel really bad that I missed it when I was looking at counts. Still not sure how I managed that.

When I was looking at the votes, there was another story tied for 2nd. Sorry @Puppilull for missing it the first time and Thank You to our vote counter @Reader1810 for bringing it to my attention. I have updated the blog post.

I'd like to thank all of the authors who participated in the April Fool's 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!!!! And in a tie for 2nd place! The first place winner will receive a 6 month premium membership. Sorry all, I have updated this post because when reading over the voting, I missed that another story was tied for 2nd place. The 2nd place winners will receive a 3 month premium membership for either themselves or someone they designate. All winners need to contact me to let me know if they would like their prize and/or would like to give it away to someone else. And now, time for the big Author Reveal!!!! Served Cold Puppilull Suffer No Fools AC Benus Downhearted Valkyrie Outwitted J.HunterDunn Fool's Gold Cole Matthews Getting Caught jfalkon Fool Me Once Parker Owens Happy Birthday! Aditus Chasing Jayce MacGreg The Real Me W_L