Renee Stevens

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 524 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a beach blanket, a sandwich, a bottle of water, a broken shoe, and a bird. Prompt 525 – Creative Tag – A Life Delayed At twenty-seven you put your life on hold when your mother’s health declined. It was a long time until she passed, only for your father to follow in her footsteps. You never thought of yourself, but now your life is your own again and you are now forty. What happens now? For this week, I decided to feature the responses from Prompt #522:

LOL. Yeah, I've had the spider thing happen, SO not fun! Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and I'm glad that you've enjoyed Reece's Choice!!!

Thank you everyone! So glad y'all are enjoying it!!!

Thank you everyone, so glad that you're enjoying/enjoyed it! Looks like I have some reviews to catch up on!!!! Thank you, Cia for featuring it. This is one of my favorites that I've written and it's awesome to see new reviews on it

Thanks, Graeme! I'm glad you enjoyed it and don't worry, you have sooooooooo much ahead of you

Hi Peter, I'm glad that you enjoyed the first chapter. Unfortunately, some families are like that, and Reece has one. But like all horrible families, there's always at least a few that shine bright. I hope you enjoy the rest!

Maybe it's a good thing that Josh didn't give up, lol. And yeah, some of the family is just horrible but there are those few

I hope everyone has had a great week. Before we get started on this week's wrap up, we would like to congratulate GA author Albert Nothlit for winning silver with the Florida Authors & Publishers Association's 2016 President's Book Awards for his novel, Earthshatter, published with Dreamspinner Press. Read more about Earthshatter, and check out the full list of Albert's stories that can be found on GA. Featured Story: The Alliance To start our week off right, we featured Puppilull's review of The Alliance by VVesley. Puppilull's review has prompted multiple readers to add The Alliance to their reading lists. If you haven't read it yet, go read the review and see if you're encouraged to add it to yours as well. Premium Promo: Ship Logs Of The Santa Claus Series The premium section is a great way to help support Gay Authors and keep it open and free for all members. However, you're not just supporting GA, you're also getting exclusive content, some of which have even been published. Today's series is one of those as we look at Ship Logs of the Santa Claus written by Mann Ramblings. Enjoy this brief look into the series! Writing Prompts #522 & #523 Each week we give authors a couple of short prompts to help get the ideas moving. This weeks prompts revolved around a first line prompt and a challenge prompt. Go check them out and maybe they'll inspire you! Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team 2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 Premium Updates: Journey's End by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium* Classic Updates: Asher by Dabeagle Signature Updates: Fearless by Cynus Leopards Leap by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards Mental Games by Bill W Mine! by Cia My Only Escape by Comicality On The Outside by Comicality The Best Year by Krista William Walter Williams by CarlHoliday Promising Updates: A Fool's Thoughts by aditus Caesura by aditus; Book 2 of The King's Mate Falling Apart by craftingmom Life Seed by albertnothlit Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse Promptings from Valhalla - 2016 Edition by Valkyrie Storms by Thorn Wilde Don't Forget..... Read, Write, and Review!!!!!

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. Hopefully you'll find something in this weeks prompts to spark an idea and get you writing! Prompt 522 – Creative Tag – First Line “Please, I have to see him.” Prompt 523 – Challenge Tag – Weather Weather can be an important part of a story. It can work for or against the protagonist, help set the mood, or almost become a character. Write a scene where the weather helps to drive the events. At the time this posting was completed, there were simply NO new prompt responses to feature. That being said, I made the executive decision that no prompt response would be featured. IF you posted a prompt response and simply forgot to post a link in the thread, feel free to share a short excerpt and link in the comments.

While the majority of the site is free, Premium Stories are available to members for a small fee. Premium access can be purchased in increments of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. We'll take a look at each of the stories that can be found in Premium to give you an idea of what is available. Some of our Premium Stories are part of a series. Today we're looking at the Ship Logs of the Santa Claus series by Mann Ramblings. Ship Logs of the Santa Claus Mann Ramblings The Luxorian Fugitive Book 1 Complete Sergeant Liam Jacks has made a life for himself on the cargo vessel the Santa Claus to escape the memories on civil unrest on Alpha Centauri. Life should be simple enough, but one mysterious passenger can unravel the quiet in ways he hadn't imagined. Category: Fiction Genres: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi Tags: Mature Adult, Military, Psionics, Gay, Anal, BDSM Rating: Mature Words: 79,151 A Cook's Tale Book 2 Complete Erron Murfin is the newest crew member on board the Santa Claus, piecing his life back together with the help of the crew and the chef, Gamin, a long time family friend. Sometimes starting over is easy. Other times the past and secrets of others make it much more difficult. Erron simply wants to belong. Shouldn't that make it simple? Category: Fiction Genres: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi Tags: Mature Adult, Military, Gay, Off-planet, Anal, Future Rating: Mature Words: 46,014 Priest and Pariahs Book 3 Complete As the head pilot of the Santa Claus, Priest is a scoundrel, a scammer, and a dreamer. A good time and making money is all he needs, but the ship intersects with a dwarf and a stranger, both with histories that may change Priest's priorities. Will their involvement and the secrets they hold risk themselves, or everyone on board the ship as well? Category: Fiction Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi Tags: Psionics, Off-planet, Anal, Casual, Oral, Future Rating: Mature Words: 75,229 Series Excerpt: From The Luxorian Fugitive The cold sweat rolled off Liam Jacks's body as he sat upright in bed, sheets tangled around his legs. His deafening pulse drowned out the soft whirr of the environmental systems and the mechanical hum of the ship's movement. There was a hollow quality to the titanium hull of his private quarters that seemed to amplify the resonance of the dream. The large domineering man quaked like a child, the horror refusing to diminish in his awakened state. Liam looked around his room as his reality began to settle. The room was as dark as expected this far into the planetary cluster in spite of the lack of view ports. The only illumination came from the data screen on the wall, its soft digital green time code the only proof that he was not lost in the abyss. Yes, he was aboard the cargo vessel “The Santa Claus.” Yes, they were on route to Luxorian from Alpha Centuari Prime for a supply delivery and pickup. Yes, he was the security chief of the thirty or so employed on the ship. Yes, the dream was of a harsh memory, but still just a dream. “Mrs. Claus. Status report please.” Liam spoke in quiet shaken tones. Unsteady hands threaded through a tight head of auburn hair. A mature female synthetic voice hummed back in response. “It is 03:17 hours, Sergeant Jacks. We will be docking at Luxorian Spaceport Alpha at approximately 11:15 hours. System sync to the Luxorian environment is in progress and will be complete in 2:25 hours. Is there any thing else I can do for you?” “No.” His reply was brusque, but you couldn't hurt Mrs. Claus' feelings. She was artificial after all. Normally, Liam found his best friend and ship's captain Marc Danverse's penchant for ancient Earth history endearing, hence the ship's name and the computer's voice identity, but tonight there was no comfort in it. It was hard enough to sleep normally when forced to acclimate to a new planet’s environment and timeline every time you came into port. The ship's systems were designed to gradually shift the sleep cycles of everyone on board to match up to active hours for each destination. Not that it mattered this time; the option for rest was as fractured as his self-esteem right now.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. To get your week started off right, it's time to take a look at another story that you might have missed when it originally posted. This week, Puppilull has provided us a great review of The Alliance by VVesley. Don't forget to leave reviews if you go check it out, let the author know what you thought of the story. The Alliance by VVesley Reviewer: Puppilull Status: Complete Word Count: 89,361 Are you in the mood for an historical piece that isn’t really historical? The Alliance is set on an alternate earth, reminding me of ancient Rome. It is the story of Alexandre and Carlin, played out against a rich backdrop consisting of the constantly troubled times in three different countries, Nabia, Ironia and Tomacia. All very different, but all living in fear of the powerful and violent Nabians. When we first meet Alexandre, a young nobleman, he’s set to be married in an arranged marriage to a woman he does not love. Matters are made worse since he killed her father and brother. To say he’s not looking forward to the event would be an understatement. For Nabians, the art of war is highly regarded, and every person, man or woman, is valued based on fighting skills, their might and power. Although belonging to the same nation or family even, the Nabians can trust no one. Love is regarded as a weakness, leaving a person open for attack and betrayal. Alex is however starting to doubt that this is how life is supposed to be. Never trusting, always suspicious, ready to kill at any moment. To voice his thoughts would be close to suicide and brand him as weak in the eyes of everyone around him. While wrestling his doubts, Alex by chance meets Carlin, a man captured as slave from neighboring Tomacia, a peaceful place with a very different outlook on life. As they are drawn closer, Alex finds Carlin might not be who he thinks he is. As it turns out, Carlin also makes a few discoveries of his own. Reviewing The Alliance without scaring people off has proven to be a bit difficult, since I have to be honest. It is a violent tale, with some rather graphic depictions of violence. In the beginning, I have to admit it made me slightly queasy and I’m not a very sensitive person. Why did I go on reading then? Because the violence has a definite purpose and is actually necessary for the story. Without it, we wouldn’t get the full grasp of the Nabian culture. Also, apart from the violence, the story is also filled with loyalty, friendship and love, making it well worth the read. As the story unfolds, we get to experience the evolving relationships between Alex, Carlin and the people around them. In a culture built on distrust, this is an enormous feat. The world VVesley builds for us is fascinating and detailed, something that makes the read intriguing. There are quite a few action packed sequences, making the story a real page-turner. The characters, while some are truly horrible people, are consistent and unapologetic in their actions, even if the readers are all yelling at them to stop. To pull off such a story and still have readers celebrating the release of the sequel (Yay!) shows the skill of the writer. I for one look forward to book two, The Bond. Category: Fiction Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Tags: Teen, Young Adult, Gay, Alternate Earth, War, First Time Rating: Mature

Happy Birthday, Nostic!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day and what Drew said!

Hope everyone has had a great week and a wonderful start to August. I can't believe this year has gone by so fast. Before we get started on the wrap up, I want to post a quick reminder to ALL authors. You have a new forum that is Author's & Staff only. Please check it out if you haven't already done so, as there are threads in there that require your attention! August C S R Feature: Treading Water By Headstall We started the week (and the month) off with the CSR Announcement. This month you get a chance to read and discuss Treading Water by Headstall. Don't forget to read it in time for the discussion that will happen on August 29th! Ask An Author #41 As the first Wednesday of the month, Dark's "Ask An Author" feature has returned. This month Dark shared questions with Headstall, Mikiesboy, Sammy Blue, and Sasha Distan. Curious as to what they had to say? Go check it out! Writing Prompts #520 & #521 We finished the week off with new writing prompts. These are great for if you're stuck on writing or if you are just starting out and want to write something small. For our featured prompt responses, we featured the responses to Prompt #518. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team 2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 Premium Updates: Journey's End by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium* Classic Updates: Asher by Dabeagle Signature Updates: Leopards Leap by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards Savage Moon 06 - The New Breed by Comicality; Book 6 of Savage Moon The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9 by Comicality; Book 9 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase Taking A Chance by Renee Stevens GFD: Fanboys by Comicality Mental Games by Bill W 319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday Mine! by Cia Fearless by Cynus Promising Updates: Falling Apart by craftingmom The English Year by Jwolf Life Seed by albertnothlit Storms by Thorn Wilde Wini and the King of Someplace by AC Benus Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall My Twentieth Year by AC Benus Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Gabe meets Toby at a convention, but they live in different places. To truly be together, one of them is going to have to make a choice that will change their lives, hopefully for good.

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 520 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a tire iron, a bloody foot print, a bat, a diamond ring, and a cake. Prompt 521 – Creative Tag – The Test You are among a small group of people who are preparing a ship for deep space travel. Those among the group who pass a test will be allowed to become part of the crew. What is the test about and are you chosen? For this week, I decided to feature the responses from Prompt #518:

Thank you so much for putting the Ask An Author in for me, Cia! Was at the vet's all morning with my mom's dog.

Oops! Seems I'm slacking just a little bit today! Before we take a look at what happened in the various GA blogs this week, I wanted to give everyone a quick reminder. Today is the last day for you to make theme suggestions for the 2017 anthologies! Each member can give up to five theme suggestions, so get your ideas heard before time runs out! Now, let's see what happened this week. C S R Discussion Day: The Window Washer By Zenith Check out Cia's questions to Zenith, where she pumps him for vital information like his clothing habits, and he reveals his favorite places to plot! Premium Promo: Chosen Of Honorus There are many great stories to be found in the Premium section. Wednesday we took a look at Chosen of Honorus by Andrew_Q_Gordon. GA's Newest Promising Author: Puppilull GA is happy to announce our newest promotion to Promising Author, Puppilull! Puppilull has only been writing on our site for just over a year now, but she's already posted several unique stories that have grabbed our readers' attention. Go congratulate her on her author promotion! Writing Prompts #518 & #519 Hopefully you'll find something in this weeks prompts to spark an idea and get you writing! We also featured Valkyrie's response to Prompt #516. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team 2017 Theme Suggestions: Ends TODAY! 2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 Premium Updates: Journey's End by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium* Signature Updates: Leopards Leap by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards Mental Games by Bill W Mine! by Cia Fearless by Cynus 319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday Promising Updates: Storms by Thorn Wilde Life Seed by albertnothlit Headstall's Reflections by Headstall Wini and the King of Someplace by AC Benus Promptings from Valhalla - 2016 Edition by Valkyrie Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall My Twentieth Year by AC Benus Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

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. Hopefully you'll find something in this weeks prompts to spark an idea and get you writing! Prompt 518 – Creative Tag – First Line “Who gave you the right to read my journal?” Prompt 519 – Creative Tag – The Titanic People seem to repeat the past. A new cruise ship has been built, larger than any ship, with a nod to the grandeur of the sunken Titanic. The ship is boasting it is the safest the world has ever seen. You have a ticket on the maiden voyage. What happens to the Titanica? Last week we had one taker for Prompt #516. Take a look at Valkyrie's take on the prompt!

Congratulations, Puppilull! Well deserved

Gay Authors has always managed to remain free to it's members, one of the ways that it has managed to do so is through it's Premium Subscribers. Members choose to help support the site and keep it going by purchasing Premium Content which consists of a number of stories that are only available on the site by purchasing Premium. There are many great stories to be found in the Premium section. Today, we are going to look at Chosen of Honorus by Andrew_Q_Gordon. Chosen of Honorus Andrew_Q_Gordon The Dark God Neldin has renewed his war with his siblings. The Six have chosen Farrell, last grand master wizard in the Seven Kingdoms to lead the fight against Neldin and his black wizard, Meglar. Joined by others who oppose Neldin, Farrell must still over come his self doubt if he wants to survive. Category: Fiction Genres: Adventure, Fantasy Tags: Mature Adult, Magic, Wizards, Adult Rating: Mature Words: 115,380 Chosen of Honorus Excerpt: Prince Farrell of Haven sat cross-legged, hovering three feet above the ground, dwarfed by the stone pillars on either side. A gentle spring breeze swept softly over his skin and lifted his long brown hair as he faced the mountains. The morning sun slowly began its westward journey. He closed his eyes and felt the area around him, from the dips and curves in the land forming a shallow bowl before him, to the hoof-hardened Plains of Gharaha at his back. The nape of his neck tickled as a droplet of sweat ran down, but he tuned it out, feeling instead for flaws in the walls. He needed the dimensions to be perfect. Anything less threatened his chances of defeating Meglar, the greatest and darkest wizard of their time. Balance and symmetry, that's how this weapon would work. He blinked his eyes open, satisfied. The twin stone monoliths were six hundred feet apart and fifty feet tall. The mountain had been smoothed and polished to a height of exactly three hundred feet. From tip to tip, his work extended two miles from end to end; one mile on either side of the gates directly in front of him. When closed, the gates would be entirely undetectable. Even by a great wizard. Even by the greatest wizard. Yes, the left side felt perfect; now for the right. As he closed his eyes and refocused on the right side, an eagle screeched in the distance. Another screech cut through the air, and with it came a tingle. No matter how he tried to ignore the piercing sound, he couldn't. No ordinary bird called to him. Reaching out with his senses, he tried and failed to locate what his ears told him he should find. Startled and annoyed, he roused himself and looked up. A pair of brilliant blue eyes, mere inches from his face, greeted him.

Happy birthday, James. Hope you had a good one

I'm back! A huge thank you to Cia and Steve for their work on the blog during my vacation. I hope everyone had a great week, but before I get started on the wrap up, I wanted to give a quick reminder that the theme selection for the 2017 anthologies has started. To post your suggestions, visit the thread, but please make sure to read the guidelines posted at the start of it. Now, lets take a look at what happened this week! It was Signature Week this week. We started out the week with a few reader reviews for Light Reaches Earth by Comicality. There is also the downloadable banner for those of you who would like to use it in your signature. We continued the Signature Week on Wednesday with an excerpt to give you a look at Comicality's story. If you're looking for inspiration, you might check out the new prompts that were posted on Friday. You have a list of words to work with, or you can use the other prompt which has a tag of "The Servant". We shared last weeks responses to prompt #514 that were provided by jamessavik and JohnAR. To finish off the week, we had our first monthly anthology discussion. If your curious as to who is planning to participate in the upcoming anthologies, you should check it out. And if you are planning to participate you should join in on the discussion! Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team 2017 Theme Selection: Ends July 31, 2016 2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 Premium Updates: Journey's End by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium* Signature Updates: Leopards Leap by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards Mental Games by Bill W The Best Year by Krista Shelter by Comicality Fearless by Cynus Mine! by Cia William Walter Williams by CarlHoliday Promising Updates: Life Seed by albertnothlit Headstall's Reflections by Headstall Wini and the King of Someplace by AC Benus Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall The English Year by Jwolf Caesura by aditus; Book 2 of The King's Mate April Musings by Valkyrie One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

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 516 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a zombie, a lab coat, a green car, a rusty bicycle, and a baby. Prompt 517 – Creative Tag – The Servant Technology has advanced so quickly that many homes now have robotic servants that cater to a family’s every need. Some people feel the robotic servants are stealing jobs, some can’t afford them, and others are leery of them. A new model has come out and you have been chosen as one of ten trial users. What is your servant like? For this week, I decided to feature the responses from Prompt #514:

Happy Birthday, Mann!!!! Hope you have an awesome day!!!!

craftingmom! Ashi!