Renee Stevens

Well, I was back and then I disappeared again. Hopefully I won't have to again,lol. Those phone calls are never easy, but it had to be done. It's got to be devastating for both the guys to be going through everything they are. Mark with all the family issues going on, and Trey leaving. And Trey with knowing he has to go and can't be there. It sucks. I love Trey's parents, which is probably very obvious in the way I wrote them. They're good people who care about others and it's great to watch them take Mark under their wing. Jackie... well... only time (and more chapters) will show what her deal is... Thanks so much for the review, Lisa.

Thanks for the review, Gary. IF there was any way to keep from going, Trey would have done it, but Mark won't let him sacrifice himself. I do agree that the short chapters can be frustrating. I suppose I could probably do longer chapters, but the way my focus has been lately, nothing would ever get done, so short chapters it remains. At least for the time being. Though I hope to update much more often!

Thanks, DDK. I hoped I did it justice. I've witnessed a few of those phone calls and they're never fun. Glad you're enjoying it

Thanks for the review, Suvitar. I love writing this story, I just wish things would stay settled down so I can really dig into it. Never fear though, it will be finished!!

Thanks for the review, DDK! Between Trey leaving, his sisters behavior, and then add his father on top of it... Yeah, that was just a recipe for disaster. And have I said I love Gary and Diane I suspect they'll be there to help pick up the pieces. Now, as for what will happen with Brent... time (and more chapters) will tell.

I couldn't agree with you more. Everyone and every creature has it's breaking point, and Mark simply finally reached his. I don't think I could have stopped him from attacking his father if I'd wanted to (which I really really didn't). And Mark says Thank You and so do I

He definitely lost it there for a minute, didn't he? I think his father probably better have been very happy that Brent and Gary were there, or he might have ended up in the hospital. Over time, everything adds up until finally, it just explodes. As for Jackie... I can just picture her cackling like the wicked witch that she is. Thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it

I'd be pissed too, not only was it rude, but it was utterly cruel. I don't think those two care about anything but themselves. Brent is definitely showing his backbone in this situation. Now it's just a wait and see game to find out what happens. And, from Mark: "Thanks, I needed that." Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Thanks for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed it. With everything going on, it definitely makes you think that Matthew is better of without her in his life...

I agree! It was about time... As for Jackie.... Have you been sneaking looks on my computer? LOL. Glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for reviewing!!

Totally agree with you there, Gary. I can't even imagine being in his place, nor would I want to be. Then again, I wouldn't want to be in Trey's position either, because I can't imagine how hard it would be to leave when the person I love desperately needs me. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I so didn't plan on leaving it so long without a chapter. I'm back to writing on Thwarted and hopefully I'll be able to keep at it without life getting in the way. Thank you so much for still keeping an eye out

Thanks Suvitar! I agree that Mark doesn't strike people as the type to resort to violence, but I think everyone has their breaking point. Like you said, with everything that had happened recently, it's a bit understandable for him to not behave as he normally would. Though, that seems to be a recurring theme in this section of the story. Multiple people aren't behaving as expected. Thanks again for the review!

The cabin seemed like a good place for them to get away. As far as Jackie... has she gone crazy, or was she just really good at hiding her craziness... Guess we'll have to find out later. Thanks for reading and for the review, Lisa!

Honestly, I've missed writing it. It's good to get back to it. I do think however that you got the Dad confused. Completely understandable with all the delays lately, lol, but regardless, Brent is a great day, and Jackie is just.... well, I don't know if there's an adequate word for her right now. Thanks for the review and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

You are most welcome! Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter and don't worry, more is coming later today (Nov 11th). Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for the review, Gary! I'm glad you enjoyed catching up with the guys again. Hopefully I'll be able to post this story on a regular basis again, I'm definitely trying to. I agree that going to the cabin is their best plan. They need to just get away for a bit. Glad you enjoyed it

Isn't it though? I'm hoping things stay settled down for a while so I can post regularly again. Thanks for reading!!!

You and me both DDK! Thanks for reading and commenting!

Thank you for the reminder Tim, and thank you Sly for making the topics!

I'm working on that right now Tim. I was kind of a space cadet last night.

Oops! It seems like last night I was a bit spacey and forgot to do the weekly wrap up before I went to bed. Guess it's better late than never, right? Even though it's not in the blog directly, in this weeks wrap up, I want to include the opportunity for promotional posts. For more information on this opportunity, check out this post: Authors: New Blog Promo Opportunities! On Monday, Cia posted the newest CSR introduction to the CSR Book Club. This month, it looks like we'll be reading A Rescued Life By Lilansui with the CSR Discussion happening on November 30th. Wednesday brought us a special edition of Dark's Ask An Author feature. Nine authors all answering the same question and they're all different answers. Friday brought our weekly Prompt Me entry. Two brand new prompts for you to play with, including one with a clown. For the featured prompt response, we featured Jamessavik's response to the week before. Normally, the weekly posts would end there, but this week we had an additional post on Saturday. Changes are coming for the site blog, and Saturday's post tells all about them, plus gives you the new blogs to follow. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team** 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd 2016 Spring Anthology: Crossing the Line - Due February 26th By our Promoted Authors: The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton; Book 3 of Galactic Conspiracies *Premium* The Holly and the Ivy by aditus; Book 1 of The King's Mate Thwarted by Renee Stevens Pierre and the Ambiguities – A Filmscript by AC Benus Cosmic Inception by Cia Katie's Sketchbook - Christmas at Famous-Barr 1976 by AC Benus Sword of Kings: Tempered by Fate by Bill W; Book 3 of Sword of Kings The Caretaker by Rob Colton No Flash by Cia Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Aditus' prompts and circumstances by aditus GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle Grip by Topher_Lydon Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Happy Prompt Day!!! Otherwise known as Friday. I hope everyone has had a great week and are getting geared up for the weekend. Have you ever tackled one of the prompts provided by Comicfan? If not, what better time is there than now? Each week, Comicfan provides two brand new prompts to help get the ideas flowing. Don't forget to share your prompt responses in the forum and if you're posting in GA Stories, remember that all stories under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Now, let's see what Comicfan has for us this week. Prompt 458 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a yellow rose, a goodbye note, a stuffed rabbit, balloons, and a fork. Prompt 459 – Creative Tag – The Clown You were invited to your boss’s party for his daughter. Although you weren’t really interested, you figured it was a good way to help you get on his good side. Once you arrive you find yourself relaxing and talking to the other adults. Everything is fine until you see the clown who was hired for the party. What about the clown draws your attention? Last week, wildone supplied a couple of past prompts. Jamessavik responded: Read the rest, here.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Brent tossed his bag in the car and picked up Mark’s. “Not like I have a choice, right?” It went against everything in him not to go to his mom’s memorial service, but.... “I can’t risk jail. Trey will need me while he’s gone. Even if it’s through emails, phone calls, and maybe web chats.” “I’m sorry, Mark. I don’t know how it came to this point.” Brent finished loading their luggage and shut the trunk. “How could you?” Mark shifted Matthew in his arms an

I can't believe it's already November! The great thing about it being the start of a new month, is it's time for a new Ask An Author feature and this one is a Special Edition! For those who don't know, Ask An Author is when members send their questions for their favorite authors to Dark and they ask the questions. So remember, if you have a question you want to ask, but don't want to do the asking, send it to Dark! Ask an Author #33 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #32, we had questions for authors Aditus, Cia, and Wolfwriter. In AtA #33, we have a special feature for you: 3 x 3 or nine different authors with the same question to answer. This is a question that is asked by many a person, with just as many different answers. Please note that all author replies are copied as is, spelling errors and grammar eccentricities original to the individual. And the question is … What made you decide to write m/m fiction? Andy78: I've always enjoyed writing stories since I was a child. However, I only started writing m/m when I joined GA. The simple fact is that until I joined here I didn't have an outlet for any m/m fiction. BarricadeBoy: Well i started reading gay fiction back in 2013 and it grew fron there- i wanted to create my own characters and i knew GA was the best place to do it, and i was right. It all started with a Story i read here called "A Class By Himself." CassieQ: I decided to write m/m fiction because I like to read m/m fiction. Once I find something that I'm really interested in, I can't wait to try it out and add my own flavor to it. Cia: I read everything, so I write everything, including MM. I found GA as a writing 'home' because the writing community here is so encouraging to newcomers. The feedback kept me motivated to finish stories for the first time ever... and the rest is history! Jammi: I loved the dynamics of male relationships. Best friends like brothers, realizing what they felt went beyond friendship. I loved writing stories like that. I also felt like there weren't enought gay stories out there and definitely not enough visibility for the gay community. I just wanted to be a part of that Krista: For me, I got into M/M fiction because of my gay male friends. They had found M/M fiction sites, but didn't like that it was mostly pornographic smut. They wanted more romance, something they could relate to being in a closed-minded small town. They had found some good stories and had sent them to me. So I started writing and sending them what I had. I started writing other romances on the side, but it was their encouragement from reading the M/M that got me hooked. By that time they had gotten more out of the closet and more willing to expand their search for other gay people. I stopped sending them what I had written. So my audience changed from them to readers on the internet. I did well enough for it to encourage me to continue. The stories I write are also stories that I want to read, so that helps. layla: I'd written with the same characters for almost 17 years, their stories had gone all over the place, but there always seemed to be a lingering connection between two of the guys and one day I decided simply to begin exploring it. The story simply begged to be told and once I got into writing it, I found myself really enjoying what I was doing. To me its not so much about the genre but about giving the characters what they want. Not to mention that I have never been a big fan of m/f stories and despite being female don't really enjoy writing female characters, so it just seemed a very natural genre for me to write in. Mann Ramblings: I'm old enough to have grown up without any visibility of gay characters in movies, stories; etc, that wasn't a serial killer or other affected comic relief. There was so little in entertainment that reflected the person I tried to hide. Positive examples of gay men and women were virtually non-existent. I wanted to see the domineering hero save his buddy and bed him down, not the obligatory girl placed in to prove his unerring heterosexuality. I wanted to see and read the stories that I never got to see and read. When I first found M/M fiction, I was looking for porn, to be honest, but then I found out there were real stories out there with quality writing! The hero can get the guy! Who knew? I always had a knack for storytelling and now I have the chance to write the stories that were missing from my life. I can't give it up now. Renee Stevens: I’ve been asked similar questions a number of times. To be honest, I never have a good answer. I used to read (and write) M/F romance, but it seemed like it was always the same and it was hard to find something that hadn't been done. I can't remember the exact details, but somehow I ended up reading a story by Sara Bell called "The Magic In Your Touch". I thoroughly enjoyed it and joined her yahoo group. She allowed other people to post stories and not only did I meet a lot of wonderful people, many of which became good friends, but I read countless stories. After reading Sara’s story, and a few others, I decided that I wanted to see what I could do in the Gay Romance genre. My reasoning at the time was that as a M/F Romance writer I would have less chance of getting published as it is so hard to get noticed amongst all the other authors that write M/F romance. With a lot of encouragement from the friends I met through Sara’s group, I started my first M/M story and Eternity was the result. It's quite a bit rougher than my more recent works, but it was the first M/M story I completed. I ran it by my friends and they really enjoyed it and encouraged me to keep going, so here I am . 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! See you next time, with an extra-special edition of Ask an Author! Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark