Renee Stevens

When confronted with his family’s bigotry, Reece is faced with the first of many choices. He can continue to tolerate the caustic atmosphere or he can walk away and finally focus on making himself happy. His cousin’s friend Dave unintentionally becomes the catalyst that forces Reece to make a choice. He can only hope it's the right one.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and a big thank you to both Cia and Wildone for taking on the blog while I dealt with some health issues. Now it's a new week and it's time to take a look at one of the many stories that are posted for your enjoyment on Gay Authors. Today, Puppilull has provided us with a review of MetaOrigins. Enjoy. MetaOrigins by JohnAR Author Reviewer: Puppilull Status: Complete Word Count: 103,236 MetaOrigins is the second book in the MetaWolf series which revolves around Colt Parker and the wolves in his pack. Book 1, Meta, set the scene for the series explaining how Colt, the lonely nerd with an attitude, met the first three wolves in the pack and also started to realize that his life had changed forever. His dreams of having hunky men in his life was suddenly fulfilled, as he becomes the Meta of the pack, meaning he is the brains at the top of the pack overruling even the sometimes "act first -think later" Alpha. It also became more and more apparent that he himself was important. For what and to whom was and is still unclear. There is a price on his head and many (vampires, wolves and humans in different constellations) conspire together or separately to bring him down and collect the reward. This second book leads us on quite a journey. Not only to further discover what Fate has in store for our pack and their Meta, but also for Colt and the wolves themselves. As indicated in the title, they all have to learn about their past in order to understand how this has shaped and prepared them for the present and the future. This journey of self-discovery is sometimes difficult and painful to read. They are all outcasts and unwanted, which is a terrible fate for a human but almost unbearable for a wolf. They may have been thrown together by unknown forces and are led by instincts and scent, but as I see it they also come together due to their past experiences. Now they find they have a place where they belong. During book 2 the pack adds another wolf, Isaac. Him meeting the pack gives us readers an opportunity to see just how far Colt has come and how he’s grown into his role as Meta. He now feels much more comfortable and secure in dealing with wolves as wolves and not humans. The pack finding their roles means they can all focus on their respective tasks within the pack, creating a well-functioning, if small, pack. This focus is much needed for them to be able to face their enemies. Having settled somewhat from their drifting existence in book 1, Colt and the wolves in this book go from being guarded and very driven by instinct to actually getting to know each other. They start to reveal who they really are, as the trust builds between them. The nature of the wolves’ interaction with Colt is often very sexual, but underlining this strong attraction is a deeper sense of belonging together. Colt, being used to ensconce himself behind a shield of arrogance and aloofness, is step by step coaxed from his self-imposed isolation by the affection the wolves show him. He slowly starts to believe that maybe he doesn’t have to be alone to protect himself from hurt. Maybe he too is worthy of love. This deep need for being accepted, being loved is to me one of the main themes of MetaOrigins. A place in a pack (be it wolf or human) is something we all want and need. The need they have for each other is written in a way that makes it almost tangible and in spite of them facing a lot of danger, they find time to express their deep connection in different, often naughty ways. The tactile need in the wolves is captured beautifully in the story without being expressed overtly. It’s just there, woven into the interactions of the characters. In addition to touch, scent also plays an integral part of their relationship, which is not so surprising since the story is about wolves, who naturally have very sensitive noses. The descriptions of the scents in the book and how they affect the pack also enhances the feeling of the wolves truly being wolves. So these acquaintances… Are they nice? Well, no. Not all the time. Just like people in general, Colt and his wolves are shaped by their previous experiences, meaning they make the wrong choices at times (thus infuriating the reader). They are also flawed like the rest of us, having ideas and convictions that aren’t to everyone’s liking. There are… let’s say interesting views on women, gay men, weaker men, the concept of normal… As much as I wanted to be there in the story with them to argue their points, I also felt this added to the story and made the characters more believable. These protagonists are imperfect like the rest of us, something that makes them human (or wolf shifter, as the case may be). Sometimes, the book and the series feel like one giant puzzle or mystery to be solved. At times it’s almost as if you are participating in a slightly twisted treasure hunt when you read it. Throughout the books, the author leaves us readers hints and clues. For anyone wanting to keep track of all these little clues, I would highly suggest an excel sheet or an enormous white board. The satisfaction when you figure something out is almost ecstatic. Of course, usually you are misled by the somewhat devious author, who has a knack for misdirection and disinformation. But that’s OK, because what fun would it be if you could figure out where we will end up already from the start? Now you’ve read book 1 and 2 and you’re maybe feeling a bit lost, suffering from withdrawal. Don’t despair! When you reach the end of book 2, you can easily satisfy your need for intrigue and love by continuing on the next book. Book 3, MetaShadowLands is already published and complete and book 4, MetaBattles, is more than halfway published. After that four more books will follow… Category: Fiction Genres: Mystery Tags: Young Adult, Vampire, Were-creatures, Gay, Menage, Fetish Rating: Mature

Have you downloaded your copy of this month's signature background? If not, before you do so, check out this week's interview that Cia did with Dolores Esteban on her story Cold Case. Interview with Dolores Esteban Single people often have more time to write. Are you single? Yes, I’m single, but I don’t feel I have more time. No long evenings and lonely weekends Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? I make my bed in the morning. I like it all tidy. It saves time and nerves. Did you like to write as a kid in school? No, I actually hated it. I loved reading, though. I practically spent all my free time reading books on a wide variety of subjects. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Reading books on a wide variety of subjects, researching weird stuff on the internet and discussing it with friends. I’m intensively following an aviation forum on the internet. Don’t ask me why. I was interested in a specific topic and now I can’t stop reading the stuff. Oh, and I have a full time job. What’s the best part of being an author? I can make up a whole new world. I can do whatever I like and go wherever I want to. Did something specific inspire you to write in a crime/cop based-theme for Cold Case? The first chapter was actually a reply to Comicfan’s prompt # 122. I rewrote and continued the story later. Did the characters or the plot for Cold Case come to you first? The prompt inspired me. Use the following words in story: Red hand print, shattered vase, new car, fifteen year old boy, and a spider. Just how real is the Antique Mafia? It’s real. I read about it in a magazine and thought it fitted my story. Did you always plan to have a strong paranormal theme to the story, even though it’s primarily a contemporary setting? Paranormal and mysterious themes fascinate me. I’m a big fan of unsolved mysteries and the unknown. I like to research on it, read about it, write about it, make up a mystery or twist the mundane. What are your future projects? I like the poetry prompts. The last one particularly intrigued me. I want to write more poems and experiment with the forms. Another major project is my Space Pioneer series. I have finally finished editing Space Pioneer III and IV, 20.000 words together, and plan to start posting soon. I have some ideas for another story.

I think Windows 10 is actually a lot more user friendly than Windows 8.1. First off, when you click on where the start menu used to be, it actually HAS a start menu, rather than having to go back and forth to the apps and searching, because it puts them all in alphabetical order. The only thing I don't like so far with Windows 10, is I have issues with my screen going black if I don't do anything for like a minute or two, and when it does it, it sets my Skype to offline. That is annoying, but sometimes it does it, sometimes if I restart it doesn't do it for a bit.

For those that missed this month's signature background announcement, this month's Signature Background is "Cold Case" by Dolores Esteban. If you haven't already downloaded the background, there's still time! As our featured Monday post, we're sharing a review that Cia provided us. Cia obviously enjoyed the story and hopefully, after reading today's review, you'll decide you want to take a look for yourself. Enjoy! Cold Case by Dolores Esteban Signature Author​ Reviewer: Cia Status: Complete Length: 17, 484 My first thought, when reading Dolores’ story, Cold Case, was that there was no way she packed that much information into a tale under 20,000 words! There is a rich tapestry of information that we learn about the characters and the mystery that unfolds, and it felt like a much longer tale when I read it. I’m a bit of a sucker for anything with a paranormal theme, and something that might freak me out in real life or in a movie—ritual murder, scary stuff—just fascinated me as I read Cold Case. The main character, Adam Johnson, is a police officer who just transferred into the Cold Case Unit. Hence the story name, lol. However, his first case isn’t so cold! Another detective, Steve Mills, picks him to partner on a case that’s been on the docket for 2 years but couldn’t be cracked. This is when we’re introduced to the paranormal angle—a psychic vision witness—and the secrets within secrets of the antiques that were stolen that included a hidden knife of Aztec Origin. Of course, Adam’s father is an expert archaeologist in Aztec and Toltec culture… and the new developments in the case cause Adam a lot of distress he has to hide from his new partner. A trip to Spain, an Antique Mafia—and OMG, did that make me laugh but apparently it’s a real thing!—a cover up, and the revelation that this whole thing is intrinsically linked with Adam’s past pulled me right in and I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the end. Coincide? Fate? An orchestrated drama by some shadowy characters? What comes next? There’s a rather freaky twist that comes about in the story and I really didn’t expect, even though Dolores did preclude some little tidbits here and there. What that twist is, you’ll have to read the story yourself to find out, of course. All in all, a great little mystery jam packed full of investigative action and paranormal ambiance so fans of both genres could really enjoy this story! Category: Fiction Genres: Thriller/Suspense Tags: Crime, Europe, Workplace, No Sex, Modern Rating: Everyone

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. Before we get to this week's wrap up, I'd like to remind everyone that the first round of voting for the 2016 Anthology Themes is currently going on. Voting is open until August 15th at 11:59 pm MST. There hasn't been too many votes as of yet, so if you haven't voted, go to the Anthology Forum and vote! Whether you're a reader or author, we'd love to have you vote. If you're a reader, vote for the themes you'd like to read about or the ones that might inspire you to try your hand at writing. If you're an author, vote for the themes you'd like to write about! Now, lets see what happened this week in the blog! We started our week off with the announcement that AC Benus' story Becoming Real is this month's CSR choice. If you haven't already done so, you have until the 31st to read it so that you can participate in the CSR Discussion. In other news, on Thursday, AC Benus was announced as our newest Promising Author! Dark's feature, Ask An Author, returned on Wednesday with some great questions for AC Benus (who was very popular this week in the blog), Ricky, and Wanda Walker. Check out their questions and answers! Friday gave us brand new prompts. This week we had the newest poetry prompt on top of the regular two new prompts. Check them out and see if any spark an idea. For our features, we had a prompt response by JohnAR and a poetry prompt response by Headstall. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Voting: Round 1 *August 1st - August 15th* 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Force of Nature by Krista Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Global Explorer II by David McLeod GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban Fortitude by Cia By our Promising Authors: Destiny - a novel by AC Benus Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom Presence by Carringtonrj Aditus' prompts and circumstances by aditus Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Who's ready for a new set of prompts to get the wheels turning? Sometimes an author hits a road block that they just can't seem to make their way through. The weekly prompts are a great starting point to jump start some new ideas. Whether you're looking to just do a quick flash piece or maybe you want to do a bit longer story, why not give them a try! A couple of things to remember: Prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Do to the high number of collections containing only a few "chapters" we have set a limit of five collections per author, any more than this requires prior Admin approval. Prompt 436 – Creative Tag – The Snake You were doing some yard work. It wasn’t exactly how you planned to spend your day, but it needed to be done. As you reached in to pull some weeds a large snake with bright blue eyes slithers into view and lifts itself to watch you. What does the strange snake do? How do you react? Prompt 437 – Creative Tag – First Line “Where did they want to meet us, again? And it's time for the next poetry prompt! Poetry Prompt #12: Rondo Write one Rondò based on a well-known movie scene. Channel the pathos you personally know and love from a favorite movie moment, like Scarlett O'Hara grubbing turnips and saying "As God is my witness…" or, the adrenalin injection scene from Pulp Fiction – you choose. Work those emotions into three quatrains, with the pivot point coming on the 3rd one. You decide how or if you wish to rhyme it, and how many syllables each line contains. You can read more, here. For the Poetry Prompt Response, I decided to feature Headstall's response to Poetry Prompt #11: And for the featured prompt response from last week, here's JohnAR's response to prompt #435 Read the rest, here.

The first Wednesday of the month, for anyone that follows the GA News Blog, you know what that means! It's time for another edition of "Ask An Author". For those new to the site (or to reading the blog), Ask An Author is our month feature provided by Dark. GA Members are able to send questions they'd like to ask their favorite author and Dark tries to get the answer and compile them in the monthly Ask An Author! Now, let's see what Dark has for us this month! Ask an Author #30 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #29, we had questions for authors Carlos Hazday, ColumbusGuy, and Timothy M. In AtA #30, we hear from authors ricky, and wanda walker. For their protection, the members who asked these questions shall remain nameless (unless they choose to reveal themselves). Please note that all author replies are copied as is, spelling errors and grammar eccentricities original to the individual. Our next author is ricky. For many of us, ricky was the first person to say hi and welcome us to the site. With kids of his own, he watches over our younger members and frequently responds to the teen forum. Last year, ricky traveled to Vienna and had a wonderful time, if his photos can be believe. Many of his stories highlight the adventures of his sons, so if you’re having trouble with your own kids, go laugh at ricky’s for awhile! Back around Thanksgiving last year (2014), ricky posted 3 new stories, of which A New Trek is my favorite. Ricky writes wonderful teenage characters, and main character Trek will make you laugh and cringe with the shenanigans he gets into. Or if you’d rather, ricky also writes poetry, like The Great Throupadore Hunt, which is written in the style of Dr. Seuss and will definitely bring a smile to your face. To ricky: Have you ever had a close brush with death? Do you think there is life after death? Have you ever really saved another person from death or destruction? If so, have you shared a story about that experience? Of this I have no doubt. But not in the biblical sense. Energy is never used, it just changes form. Ever meet someone you knew instantly? Perhaps you share like energy from a previous incarnation. Sometimes even enough to have memories. Yes many times. And since they are all still living, I choose not to share their stories. That's for them to share or not. But I can say this, pain and anguish is a temporary state. Hang in there, it does get better. Or at least it gets different. And our third author today is Wanda Walker from Pittsburgh. She’s been writing off and on since elementary school and comes to us from fictionpress. Wanda also enjoys drawing her characters to solidify their appearances in not only her mind, but those of her readers as well, but she hasn’t posted any of them here yet. L And while it’s not yummy M/M fiction, congrats to Wanda on getting her novel The King and the Courtesan published! So far, Wanda only has 3 stories posted on GA, and I for one enjoyed Spiders and Snakes. This story is about dysfunctional couple Isaac and Vaughn who move to Pittsburgh where drama ensues. After being caught on the bridge with the crazy road construction where I-376 merges with three other freeways … omg! How do people live in Pittsburgh? After that experience, having a landlord who raises snakes and spiders could actually seem normal. To Wanda Walker: What prompted you to write a story about a character with bulimia? Did you draw from personal experience (either yourself or friends/family)? I have no personal experience with eating disorders, neither through myself nor through friends or family. But as I mentioned that my life thus far has been a pretty smooth ride, if I only wrote about things I had experienced in my own life or in the very small number of people I'm close to, all I could write about would maybe be social anxiety. So I try to branch out and write characters who suffer from disabilities-- either mental or physical-- because I'm interested in portraying these people in sympathetic, respectful ways. As I've always had a good relationship with food, I knew it'd be a challenge to show someone who didn't. So it was a way to challenge myself. I also make sure that my portrayals are the kind that people who actually suffer from the disorder can empathize with, so I do my best to avoid clichés. While I still struggle to wrap my mind around what it's like to see yourself as fat despite being thin, I CAN in a visceral way understand what it's like to use your body as the whipping boy for internal insecurities. Because it's much easier to control your body than it is what you feel, I could see how Isaac would essentially torture himself to punish some imagined crime he's concocted in his head. Considering he is male, I thought it was a more gender-appropriate approach, since boys are not under the same pressure as girls to be thin and beautiful all the time. 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 authors Andrew Todd, Headstall, and Sasha Distan. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

I'm going to get right into the wrap up, but this week we're going backwards and starting with Saturday. If you haven't already done so, make sure to go and vote in Round 1 of the 2016 Anthology Theme Voting. This first round of voting will go from now until August 15th. We had two Saturday posts this week, the second one was the August Signature Background announcement. This month we're looking at Cold Case by Dolores Esteban. Friday brought two brand new prompts and a prompt feature of Cazpedroso. This past Wednesday we had a Grammar Rodeo from Cia which was sort of a part 2 from last weeks Grammar Rodeo. These are very informative and hopefully everyone checks them out. We started the week out Monday with the CSR Discussion of Frozen Heart by Dianjin. It's not too late to go and share your thoughts on the story! Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Voting: Round 1 *August 1st - August 15th* 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Cosmic Inception by Cia The Strange Life of Jonas Marks by comicfan By our Promising Authors: Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom Presence by Carringtonrj Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!! ​

Who's ready for a new set of prompts to get the wheels turning? Sometimes an author hits a road block that they just can't seem to make their way through. The weekly prompts are a great starting point to jump start some new ideas. Whether you're looking to just do a quick flash piece or maybe you want to do a bit longer story, why not give them a try! A couple of things to remember: Prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Do to the high number of collections containing only a few "chapters" we have set a limit of five collections per author, any more than this requires prior Admin approval. Prompt 434 – Creative Tag – The Cat You seem to be finding this same cat everywhere you go. At first you thought it was just your imagination, but then you see the cat in pictures your friends take and post of you on Facebook and other media. What happens when you finally realize the cat is following you? Prompt 435 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – the zoo, a spider, a policewoman, an ice cream cone, and a mime. This week I decided to feature Cazpedroso's response to Prompt #433, enjoy! Read the rest, here.

Who's ready for another Grammar Rodeo? Today's Grammar Rodeo is sorta a Part 2 of last weeks. A big thanks to Cia for providing these for the blog. They are a great learning tool and include some great tips and tricks to help authors remember what is best to use. Hopefully you'll find Grammar Rodeo #6 as informative as I did! Grammar Rodeo #6 Plural Nouns Last time we talked about plural verbs… now let’s talk about plural nouns. Remember how there are ‘regular’ forms and ‘irregular’ forms? Well, in nouns there are a LOT of both that dictate how you make a noun become plural. Regular forms: Adding s: This is the most common form of making a noun plural. Now let’s look at the other ways! Example: Play becomes plays, book becomes books, poem becomes poems. Adding es: You use es in words that end with ch, sh, x, or s. Example: Ax becomes axes, church becomes churches, pass becomes passes Adding ies: You use ies when a word ends in a consonant and y. Example: Butterfly becomes butterflies, aviary becomes aviaries. (notice play is just s, since it ends with vowel and y, not a consonant) Irregular Forms: Nouns ending in o: Add es (Avocado becomes avocadoes) Nouns containing oo: Double oo becomes double ee (eg: Foot becomes feet) Nouns ending in f: Change f to v and and es (eg: Scarf becomes scarves) Nouns ending in fe: Change fe to v and add es (eg: Knife becomes knives) Nouns ending in us: Change us to i (eg: Octopus becomes octopi) Now, many of these have exceptions. Plus you have nouns that stay the same like moose or mouse which becomes mice in a completely random change. As always, when in doubt… check the dictionary! That vs. Which Both that and which connect clauses in sentences. The difference is actually pretty easy to figure out. That connects clauses that are dependent on each other, where both parts of the sentence are needed to make sense. Which connects independent clauses, or those that are not essential to the sentence meaning. Examples: That: I’m allergic to the trees in the yard that bloom every spring. Which: The trees in the yard, which bloom every spring, make me sneeze. Exceptions! What grammar rule exists without these, right? As I mentioned in Grammar Rodeo #5, when you refer to people you use who instead of that. Of course, the exception to this is when you refer to a group—even if it’s a group of people. Example: The Secret Service team that flooded the building scared me.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend so far. It's almost time to start a new week, but before we do that, we get to look back at what happened this past week. Also, don't forget that we're currently taking theme suggestions for the 2016 Quarterly Anthologies. If you have an idea that you think would make a great theme, don't forget to share it in the Anthology Forum topic. Please make sure to read the theme guidelines in the first post. To start our week off, Valkyrie provided us with a review of AC Benus' story "Bound and Bound: The Curse and the Captives". If you haven't already read Valkyrie's review, check it out. For our Wednesday post, Cia provided us with a new grammar rodeo. These grammar posts are a great help and I recommend everyone check them out. There's always new stuff to learn! After last weeks "Second Chance Prompts", this week we brought back the regular prompts! For our featured story, we featured Greg_A's take on one of the prompts from last week. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Suggestions open July 1st - July 31st 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Cosmic Inception by Cia A prompt a week by comicfan By our Promising Authors: Sauna Summer by Thorn Wilde The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom Presence by Carringtonrj Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Hi Tara, What that means is that short stories of under 1000 words cannot be posted as their own story and must be posted as chapters of a "collection of stories". What you would do is create a new story and name it something like "Tara's Prompt Responses" or "Tara's Shorts" (or another name you liked) and then you would post each of your short stories as a chapter of that story. Here are a couple of examples: Mine: http://www.gayauthors.org/story/renee-stevens/saturdayshorts Cole Matthews: http://www.gayauthors.org/story/cole-matthews/dinnerisprompt-lyateight If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me.

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 jumpstart a new idea. A couple of things to remember: Prompt responses under 1,000 words must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 432 – Creative Tag – Change of Time You went to sleep feeling that things would be so much easier if you were born in a different time. When you wake up early the next morning, the first thing you notice is you aren’t wearing the same things you went to bed in. As you look around you discover that everything is different and the styles are old fashioned. When you turn on your television, which is a huge tube television, you discover even the news is a number of decades out of date. What time are you now living in? Prompt 433 – Creative Tag – First Line “Where did all of that come from?” This week, I decided to feature Greg_A's response to the second chance Prompt #421. Enjoy: Read the rest, here.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! As you can see, Cia has provided us with another Grammar Rodeo. Ever been confused by Present Tense Verbs vs. Past Tense Verbs? Cia gives us a guideline to help out with those pesky issues. In addition to Tense Verbs, Cia also helps out a bit with That vs. Who. Past Tense Verbs While there are a variety of tenses to write in, I think the most common method is to use past tense. So today we’re going to talk about past tense verbs. For the most part, verbs are pretty easy to write in past tense. The majority of them are regular verbs and simply require you add a d or ed to the word, and voila! Pick becomes picked and finish becomes finished. But what about those irregular verbs? You know, the ones that have to screw with the system? Drive becomes drove. Eat becomes ate. Have becomes had. Break becomes broke. Unfortunately, there’s no way I can share to guarantee you know which words are regular or irregular and how to tell the difference beyond just knowing them. The dictionary is definitely your friend. But… what about when the rules are bent or broken? C’mon, well know the English language is rife with “exceptions” and tenses are no different. Usually these exist due to dialect, or in other words, common usage in a region. Drug vs. Dragged While many of you might drug is correct, if you follow the rules, dragged is the past tense word for ‘drag’ and drug only refers to pharmaceuticals. However, in the southern region of the United States, drug is commonly used. **Another little tidbit. When a verb has the emphasis on the ending syllable, you add repeat the consonant letter, as in dragged adding ged to drag.** Snuck vs. Sneaked Once again, the traditional ed form to make sneak past tense by using sneaked is correct. However, through common dialect usage in widespread regions, snuck has now become an accepted alternative. Dove vs. Dived This time again, both are not considered correct, but dived is the grammatically preferred past term use for dive. Outside the US, some even consider the use of dove to be incorrect, though popular usage in many areas does allow for it. So what do you think about the use of verbs common in local dialect versus the grammatically correct version? Is there a common use of a verb, regular or irregular, that you’re not sure is correct? That vs. Who Earlier we visited who vs. whom. Today I want to share a quick reminder about a grammar issue I see pretty often: that vs. who in a sentence. And I do have a quick way to help you remember! The use of that or who in a sentence depends on the subject. If you’re writing a person, it’s insulting to use that because they’re a person—not a thing. So remember, if you’re writing about a thing, use that. If you’re writing about a person, use who, or whom, as grammatically correct!

Hope you have a great day, Mann!!!

Sorry all, I'm a little behind on the wrap up for this week! It's time to look back at what happened this past week, but before we do that, a quick reminder. The 2016 Anthology Theme selection is going on now. If you have a suggestion for next years themes, please post them in the 2016 Theme Suggestion thread! However, please read the quidelines I've posted. Now, let's get on to the Wrap Up! This past Monday started the Signature Week off with a review of Adam Phillips' story Crosscurrents. Tyler gave us a great review and based on the comments, I'd say many of the members agreed with his take on the story. We continued our Signature Week on Wednesday with an interview Cia did with Adam Phillips. We learned a lot about Adam and I hope you enjoyed his answers as much as I did. Friday was prompt day, but we did something a bit different. Rather than doing two new prompts, we decided to give some other prompts a second chance to be noticed. For our featured story, we featured Valkyrie's short story response to Prompt #431. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Suggestions open July 1st - July 31st 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Classic Authors: The Meaning of Living by Dabeagle By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) The Strange Life of Jonas Marks by comicfan HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Cosmic Inception by Cia By our Promising Authors: Aditus' prompts and circumstances by aditus Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom Presence by Carringtonrj Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Every once in a while, I like to look over the past prompts and see what, according to the prompt forum, haven't been used yet. That's what I decided to do today. We're going to give some of those unused prompts a second chance to be noticed. Since the beginning of 2015, there have been 8 prompts that have gone unused. Hopefully one of them will inspire a prompt response. If you decided to use one, make sure to put it in the appropriate forum thread! Prompt 383 - Creative Tag: The New Year It is the last day of the year and you have some serious decisions to make. It seems every part of your life has been turned upside down the last few weeks and now it is time for you to take control. What plans do you want to put into action as you go into the new year? What changes will this have on the people closest to you? Prompt 389 – Creative Tag: Snowman You’ve just watched it snow for the past three days and feel like you have cabin fever. After shoveling your way out you realize there is no way your street will be cleared for at least a day or two. Stuck surrounded by feet of snow what do you do to help pass the time? Prompt 411 - Creative Tag: Spring Time The first signs of spring have begun to happen. What does that mean to you? Prompt 413 – Creative Tag: The Death You were hired to do make up on a new science fiction show. You went in to do the makeup on the star only to find him dead on his couch, wearing only his robe. What do you do? Prompt 415 - Creative Tag: The Apple It has been the strangest day. Since you got up birds have been singing, animals followed you around, and the woods on the way to work seemed almost threatening. It seemed whenever you turned around with an issue today, one of seven men were there to lend you a hand. On your way home you helped this little old man across the road and he gave you the reddest apple you have ever seen. This all seems strangely familiar, but right now you just want a nice big bite of that apple. What happens? Prompt 418 - Creative Tag: The Bite You went out for your daily jog but it was dark before you began to head home. As you prepared to cross the park near your home you are suddenly hit from behind and knocked to the ground. You must have lost consciousness for a moment because when you woke you swore you seen something move off into the fog and you found a large bite mark on your arm. What bit you? Prompt 421 - Creative Tag: The Interview Your job has put you forward for a great new job. Everything seems to be going great ‘til the day of your interview. As you enter the room and go to shake hands the elastic in your underwear lets go. Before you say or do anything your briefcase pops open and everything falls to the floor. How does the rest of the interview go and what happens? Prompt 424 - Creative Tag: Invasion For decades people have been talking of space men invading earth. Today, close to twenty five ships landed in front of the major ruling countries around the world. Are the aliens here to invade, to help, or is it something else? For this week's featured prompt response, I just couldn't resist Valkyrie's story about a certain tuxedo cat using Prompt #431. Enjoy! To read the rest, go here.

Sorry Valkyrie. I have to check poetry separate and sometimes I forget. It's fixed now.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend so far. It's almost time to start a new week, but before we do that, we get to look back at what happened this past week. Also, don't forget that we're currently taking theme suggestions for the 2016 Quarterly Anthologies. If you have an idea that you think would make a great theme, don't forget to share it in the Anthology Forum topic. Please make sure to read the theme guidelines in the first post. On Monday, Cia announced this month's CSR feature. Have you read Frozen Heart by Dianjin? If not, now is the time and there will be a discussion of the story on July 27th! Wednesday, as a treat, I provided a new word search for you to have fun with. It's a bit bigger than the other ones so it might take a little longer. Friday was our regular prompt day, though this week we also posted the new poetry prompt. We had two features, one was by RomanRomaan and the other was by craftingmom. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Suggestions open July 1st - July 31st 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Acceptance of Fate by Krista "Waiting Outside The Lines" by Comicality Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Global Explorer II by David McLeod HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont Fortitude by Cia Force of Nature by Krista Cosmic Inception by Cia By our Promising Authors: Aditus' prompts and circumstances by aditus April Musings by Valkyrie A Penguin Prompt by Valkyrie Presence by Carringtonrj Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Great job on this chapter Valkyrie. These two are so cute together and there was so much about this chapter to enjoy: the teasing, the descriptions of the scenery, etc. I was actually glad to see Alex slow them down, it just shows what a great guy he is.

I felt so bad for Sam when his opening started as a complete disaster. He's lucky Alex showed up!!! I liked this chapter as it gave us a bit of insight into each of the characters.

Great start. It immediately dragged me in and made me want to hear Alex's story along with Aaron.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. We have brand new prompts for you, but first a reminder. I'm currently taking suggestions for the 2016 Quarterly Anthologies. If you have a suggestion for an anthology theme, visit the thread. Please remember that themes should be between 1 and 3 words for banner purposes. All the guidelines can be found in the opening post. Now, let's take a look at this week's prompts! Prompt 430 – Creative Tag – Something Special You hate blind dates and avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately, you didn’t find yourself a date for one of the most important events you company is holding. When you boss finds out, she says she has the perfect date for you. When you ask she simply says your date is “something special.” What is your blind date like? Prompt 431 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a penguin, a bowl of soup, a lawn mower, a bicycle, and a bouquet of flowers. This week, we also have a new poetry prompt for you! Poetry Prompt #11 Write one or more Haiku based on an animal observation. This can be an inspirational moment, like a snail climbing a mountain, or a peaceful moment, like a dog napping on the grass. Just anything you see from the animal kingdom that makes you pause and reflect. Keep a seasonal word, and maintain three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. For more information, go here. So, let's see... What should I feature this week. Maybe someone newer, both to the site and to prompts. Here's RomanRomaan's response to Prompt #428. To read the rest, click here. Now, how about a response from Poetry Prompt #10. I think this time we'll go with craftingmom's poem. Enjoy. Read the rest and review, here.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. We went to the stock car races, watched 2 fires burning, and then watched the fireworks. How did you spend your 4th of July? For those who don't celebrate the 4th, how did you spend your Saturday? While you contemplate answering that question, here's what happened this past week on the GA News Blog: Monday was the CSR Discussion Day for Where Life Takes Us By Kuragari129. Cia did an interview with Kuragari, and then the comments were opened up for readers to ask their own questions. Myr took over on Tuesday to bring us a blog about tagging. He's given some great advice and I've even started using the tagging system for the GA News Blog. Wednesday was this months Ask An Author feature from Dark. These entries are great because they give the members a chance to ask their favorite authors a question, without having to ask it themselves. Friday once again gave us a couple of new prompts from Comicfan. For the featured prompt response, I chose to feature Valkyrie's response to prompt #426. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2016 Anthology Theme Suggestions open July 1st - July 31st 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Saturday Shorts by Renee Stevens Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Acceptance of Fate by Krista Force of Nature by Krista Cosmic Inception by Cia By our Promising Authors: The English Year by Jwolf Avery & Matt shorts by craftingmom Presence by Carringtonrj The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie 2015 Prompt Responses by Valkyrie Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!