Renee Stevens

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

“You doing okay?” Dave wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck. I rested my hands on top of his and leaned back into his embrace. “You sure it’s not too late to cancel?” Dave chuckled, his breath ghosting over my skin. “It’s going to be fine, I promise. You’ll have me there, as well as Josh and some of your other cousins.” “I know. But”—I struggled to keep my tone even—“it’s your parents.” “I know.” He tightened his arms around me. “But they’re not like yours. They’re looki

It's hard to believe that it's almost November! This year has flown by so quickly and we're once again at the end of the week. I hope everyone has had a good weekend and now it's time to look back over the week. Before I do that, just a reminder that tomorrow is the CSR Discussion for the Halloween short stories. Speaking of Halloween, keep an eye out for a special Halloween post this coming Wednesday. Monday brought us a review from Timothy M. of carringtonrj's story Presence. Based on the comments, quite a few members have added it to their reading lists. Have you? Wednesday, we took a look back at the first Writing Tip from the rejuvenated blog. It was pointed out to me the irony of titling it "Blast from the Past" on October 21, 2015. Back to the future anyone? Friday brought us two new prompts from the prompt guru Comicfan. Mikiesboy's response was the featured prompt for the week. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team** 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd By our Promoted Authors: The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton; Book 3 of Galactic Conspiracies *Premium* Grip by Topher_Lydon You Never Can Say Goodbye 2 by Bill W; Book 2 of You Never Can Say Goodbye Pierre and the Ambiguities – A Filmscript by AC Benus; Book 7 of The Secret Melville Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle A prompt a week by comicfan Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Fortitude by Cia Lost & Found by aditus The Caretaker by Rob Colton Sword of Kings: Tempered by Fate by Bill W; Book 3 of Sword of Kings Reece's Choice by Renee Stevens Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

For a while in the blog, we used to do "Blast from the Past" posts. All of these posts came from the old newsletter. I was struggling to figure out what to post for today, when I thought, why not check out the earlier posts of the revived blog. In looking back, I found the perfect post, and it happens to be the first "Writing Tip" that was posted when Lugh started the blog back up. I hope you find it informative. If you want to check out the past comments on the original post, you can go check out the old blog post.

Son of a bitch. It felt like my heart clenched in my chest. I stood and hurried after Dave. I could only hope he’d give me the chance to fix what I’d done. Granted, it hadn’t been done intentionally, but I’d still hurt him. All the little looks over the last couple of days suddenly made sense. If I hadn’t been being so dense, I would have realized the problem sooner. I no longer cared what my mom had to say about me moving in with Dave. I wouldn’t have him, or anyone else, questioning how I felt

Being the start of a new week, Monday's are also a good time to take a look at some of the different stories that can be found on Gay Authors. With so many great works, it can be easy to overlook one and Monday's provide an opportunity for us to help make one of them stand out and maybe catch your interest. Today, we're bringing you a review by Timothy M. of carringtonrj's story "Presence". Enjoy! Presence by carringtonrj Promising Author Reviewer: Timothy M. Status: Complete Word Count: 48,924 Most stories on GA are about gay men and for good reason, since this is the preference of the majority of members. But luckily there are also stories for readers interested in other aspects of the sexual diversity of humans. One of the authors who explore the questing nature of human relationships is carringtonrj. His stories are certainly not mainstream, neither in content nor in form. But they are invariably well written, poetic, romantic, heartfelt, and open-minded. And as one of his readers said: ‘your characters always have a fluidity to their sexuality.’ I might add that many of them are as shy, unassuming and modest as the author himself. RJ has a small but enthusiastic fan group, but I’d like to see it expanded, and I’m sure there must be other readers who’ll appreciate his particular talent. This review concerns his most recent story, Presence, which perhaps is a greater challenge than earlier stories like Vintage or London and Love. One of the reasons is that RJ experiments with different styles of writing, and each chapter has its own distinct flavor. Some chapters contain nothing but dialogue, while others follow the rambling thoughts of the protagonists. But Presence also has many of RJ’s signature traits: interesting characters with intelligence and empathy, beautiful imagery, and a grasp of the written word which is second to none. There is no rushing or hectic drama, but a calm intensity in every chapter. In fact, I have more than once left a review which comments on the soothing quality of his stories, e.g.: The calmness of this chapter was a balm to soothe the hurt and hurry of everyday lives. (Presence ch 10) Your habit of describing the situations with two or more phrases, reinforcing the impressions in subtle variation, is part of what creates the slow mellow progress which sets this story apart from the fast-and-furious action which pervades modern life. (Vintage ch 3) Let me mention other good points of Presence, a story which according to the description tells of ‘A lesbian romance with a gay boyfriend along for the ride.’ To me the main one is Alex who is a woman of keen but kind wit, at once sensible and sensitive. For some reason I enjoy reading stories with intelligent, strong women, perhaps because they are attractive as both friends and lovers. I despise the Bridget Jones trend of 'helpless, silly women' being cute and desirable. Give me an Alex any day! I’m also intrigued by the interaction of Alex with the two other characters of the story: Jamie, her boyfriend, and Lucy, who meets Alex at work. The way Alex and Lucy think about and react to each other and to the confusion and joy they feel at their mutual attraction, is so vivid, believable and universally human that I think all of us can relate, whether we are male, female, gay, straight, or anything in between. It is clear to me that no matter their faults and foibles, carringtonrj cares deeply for his characters and their struggles to find themselves, and he makes me engage myself in them too. Why not give him and Presence a try? You might be as surprised and delighted as I was when I first stumbled on carringtonrj’s genderqueer stories. Category: Fiction Genres: Romance Tags: Mature Adult, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Love Rating: Mature

I hope everyone had a great week! I think today I'm going to get right into the Wrap Up for the week. Monday and Wednesday were all about K.C. and his story "A Grim Fairytale", which just so happens to be this month's Signature Author Background. On Monday, Cia wrote a review for the story and then on Wednesday she interviewed KC. If you haven't already checked them out, they're sitting there waiting. Friday brought us a couple of new prompts from the prompt guru Comicfan. This week he gave us a word list and another prompt having to do with a party. Comicfan featured two prompts this week, one from Dolores Esteban and one from Jamessavik. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team** 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd By our Promoted Authors: The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton; Book 3 of Galactic Conspiracies *Premium* Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle Shorts to Jump Into by craftingmom A prompt a week by comicfan The Holly and the Ivy by aditus The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9 by Comicality; Book 9 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase Pierre and the Ambiguities – A Filmscript by AC Benus; Book 7 of The Secret Melville Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Gay Metal by carringtonrj Fortitude by Cia The Caretaker by Rob Colton Sword of Kings: Tempered by Fate by Bill W; Book 3 of Sword of Kings Space Pioneer 4 - Akar Kazbek by Dolores Esteban Reece's Choice by Renee Stevens Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Thanks for the review, Lisa! I definitely would hate to be in Reece's position right now. To be fair to Dave, I think he's being judge overly harsh. He actually has never met Reece's parents. Unless Josh introduced him around when they first arrived, which is doubtful, Dave wouldn't have known which of the assembled older adults were Reece's parents. The only interaction he had with any of the older adults, was Aunt Leslie. Even when Reece's mom called after they left the family dinner, Reece never told him who was calling, just said he needed a minute, and so Dave never even overheard Reece's mom and her words to him. And that was the only time, that we know of, that Dave was even remotely near when Reece talked to his Mom. The only thing Reece ever said about his parents, as far as I can remember, is that all his mom could do was cry and ask where they had gone wrong and his dad got upset (Reece never did say what his dad said, just that he was displeased), but now the family essentially tolerates him. As far as Dave's past, we never get the entire story. We never heard what lengths his ex went to in order to keep their relationship hidden. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Reece actively avoiding calls could be reminiscent of what happened before. I hope they can work through it too, and the grocery trip was classic Thanks again for the review and sorry if my reply got a little long winded, lol.

Thanks for the review spikey! I can definitely understand why Dave bugged you this chapter, but one thing to remember is he's not perfect. Sometimes emotions just get the best of us. I also don't think it would have been such a big thing if Reece simply hadn't called his parents. The issue comes in because he's actively avoiding them. Normally, that probably wouldn't be a big deal, but we only have the basics of what happened with Dave's ex. For all we know, it's the exact same behavior that the ex displayed. We'd have to be in Dave's head to know exactly what he's thinking and feeling and why he's acting the way he is. Do I blame him? No. Do I think he could have handled it better? Yes.

Thanks for the review, Cannd. Dave definitely should have talked to Reece prior to when he did. I think it's especially shocking coming from Dave, because he's seemed so together throughout the story. Unfortunately, sometimes someone's past can come back to bite them in the ass, and now it's happening to Dave and Reece. As far as Dave walking away, yeah, that is annoying. I think they have both been guilty of not communicating well and it's definitely something they need to work on if they want to make it as a couple.

Thanks Lenny! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I remember similar shopping trips like that with my hubby, except he went for the frozen dinners, lol. They definitely needed to talk about what was going on. Honestly, Dave should have talked to Reece about it before the trip to the store, since it's now been building for a couple of days. Now we just have to see how they handle it.

Thanks for the review, Tim. I think a part of Dave does understand, but at the same time, sometimes emotions aren't really rational. I think the biggest issue is, Dave's ex refused to tell his family because of how they would react. There are enough similarities for it to be a trigger for him.

Thanks Defiance! Even Dave agrees that it's not the same thing. He told Reece he knows it's not the same, but sometimes we can't help the way we feel. Communication was the key here and somehow it got missed. I loved them at the store too

Thanks for the review Coastguard! I do agree that Dave and Reece are better off without her, but at the same time I can definitely understand where Dave is coming from. I hope you enjoy the next chapter

Thank you, Kevin! I like the grocery shopping as well, though Reece definitely needs to set a grocery budget. I agree with you as far as Reece not wanting to deal with his mother. Communication definitely could have kept the situation from getting out of hand. I hope you enjoy the last couple of chapters!

Thank you Parker. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I wrote it and I still want to tell Reece to make it all better, lol. We'll just have to see what time brings for these two I look forward to seeing what you think of the last couple of chapters.

Thanks for the review CG! I agree that he shouldn't answer her today. No sense in turning such a great day bad. As far as Jeff and his father, only time will tell. Jeff may have his hands a little full, but it's a possibility. Just have to wait and see. I definitely know how it goes as my great-grandmother had Alzheimers. It was horrible to see her go downhill and not even recognize her own husband. Alice definitely needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.

Thanks Defiance! It definitely shows that the cousins are close, despite their parents. I agree, I'd have wanted to know those extra details ahead of time, but it doesn't always work that way. Glad you enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to seeing how you like the rest of the chapters

Thanks for the review, Lisa. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. The figuring out finances can definitely be a tricky subject, but it was one they needed to handle. Moochers are definitely not cool! lol. Hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!

Glad you enjoyed it Dabeagle! Most of the chapters from this point forward are at least a little longer than some of the previous chapters.

Thank you Defiance. It definitely was a mishap, but it definitely took them to where they both really wanted to be. I agree that sometimes, when it's right, it's right. Now to see what happens between them once they are living together

Thank you, Lisa. It is a sad thing, which unfortunately happens all too often. It did give Dave the opening he needed, but I'm sure that he'd have rathered a less heartbreaking reason. Now we just have to see if they can make it work.

Thanks for the review, Cannd. It definitely took a leap of faith, but Dave has an inner strength that manifests itself when needed. But, because of the issues with the ex, Dave has his own demons to slay, whether or not he'll face them is the question. As far as the Alzheimers, Much of my information regarding that was from my Great Grandmother. She had alzheimers and it was so bad, they had no choice but to put her in a home. Nobody ever knew if she'd recognize them when they went to visit. It was heart breaking.

Thank you, Suvitar I really like Dave, though Josh still remains my favorite out of all the characters for this story. Now it's just a wait and see what happens, enjoy!

Thank you, DDK! I like that phrase as well and it seems to fit