Renee Stevens

Sorry all, no prompts for this week. Hope you all are ready to do some reading! The 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip is NOW LIVE for your enjoyment. Eight new stories to help you get through the weekend. Don't forget to leave the authors a review to let them know what you think of their hard work. Now, what are you waiting for? Read!!!! 3 PM aditus The office in the back of the coffee shop didn’t have the space to take more than three medium-measured strides, if at all, otherwise you ran into one of the overflowing cabinets. Jonah sat behind Romeo’s desk, feet propped up on a pulled out drawer, silently tracking his friend’s pacing. Step. Step. Dodge the suitcase. Step. Turn. “Maybe I should go up front and make you a valerian tea.” Not so ‘silently tracking’ anymore, but Romeo was starting to make Jonah dizzy. Step. Step. Dodge the suitcase. Step. Turn. “What?” Are We There Yet? Renee Stevens “Jake, hurry and finish cleaning up your room.” I set my son’s bag next to the door and moved into the kitchen as I hollered to my son. “Your mom is going to be here soon.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the doorbell rang. “I got it,” Jake yelled. I heard his footsteps running down the hall, followed by the barking of Murray, his nine-month-old puppy. “We’ll both get it.” I followed him to the door. I should have once again reminded him he wasn’t allowed to answer the door by himself, but since I was right there I just let it go. I watched him open the door, but it wasn’t who I was planning on. Boy River Cole Matthews “Apologize to Mr. Miller right now Clay,” the social worker said, fluttering her eyelashes frantically. “We’ve talked about this before.” Ben Miller watched as the woman’s hands sort of flapped as well. He thought Adelaide Getty was very bird-like in her mannerisms. She tended to preen and flicker quite a bit, especially when she was rattled like now. “It’s okay…” Ben started to say, but was cut off. “It’s not okay. Clay needs to learn manners and control his tongue. There are things it is simply inappropriate to say to people.” Adelaide was looking around her as she talked, pointedly not addressing the teen directly. They were at Eastdale Mall getting a few clothes for the impending trip. Nothing the boy had was presentable in public, not really. Exit to Redemption Valkyrie Pete pulled his silver Jaguar up to the hotel entrance. He exhaled sharply in annoyance at the two cars in line ahead of him. He checked his phone as he waited, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. It only took a few minutes for the efficient hotel staff to unload the luggage from the cars and move them to the valet parking lot, but it felt like forever to the impatient black-haired man. He was annoyed to begin with. His employer required him to attend this conference every year, but Pete would much rather be in the office making trades and earning commission. “It’s about time,” he muttered as the valet opened the car door for him. “My apologies for the wait, sir. Are you here for the finance conference?” From Here to Forever comicfan The bright sunlight sparkled on the waters of Hudson Bay below as Charlie Wagner stood drinking his coffee on the deck of the restaurant. The noise of the patrons as well as his own family dimmed as he felt two arms encircle him. “So how is the sexiest guy in the place making out?” Scott Reeds asked huskily into Charlie’s ear. Charlie turned and smiled at his boyfriend. He had learned to tease Scott and was getting pretty good at it. “I don’t know. I think the waiter is awfully cute. I mean, he is big, strong, and has all that nice hair.” Scott’s deep blue eyes narrowed. “Don’t even think it,” he growled. New York or Bust!!! Krista “Get up, we’re wasting daylight!” My sister’s high-pitched squeal issued from just beyond my bedroom door. Grumbling, I rolled over and sat up in the bed. My morning wood needed coaxing before it decided to behave. I didn’t have time to relax. Glancing over at the clock on my nightstand, I shuddered. Too many days. Too many damn days of being on the road with my sister and her best friend, scouting colleges as far away from here as they could possibly get. The thought worried me a little. Growing up in the middle of nowhere, it seems easy enough to leave it behind. It is the rest of the world that may not wait around for the middle-of-nowhere people to catch up. To try in college so far away from rescue seemed a bit, well, stupid. Picking Up Strays Cia My lips cracked and bled, but I stretched them out in a parody of a grin. No one had anything to smile about… which made my expression all the more disturbing. And likely to work. The bloody tang tantalized me when I licked at the cracks, darting my tongue in and out. I was crouched down, squinting at the dark figure backed by the setting sun. “What you got?” I cranked my head to one side, as if the question confused me. I placed my fingers on my lips, touching the wet spit and blood, smearing it back and forth. With my other hand, I scooped up a handful of the dry grit covering the old road. Rootin' Down The Highway Carlos Hazday “Mmm, I could get used to this. G’day, mate.” As I stretched my arms above my head, to help clear the sleep haze I was still trapped in, I rolled over in the large bed to look at my sleeping companion. “G’day, Brett. All you have to do is say yes, mate. Say yes, and I promise you’ll wake up next to me every morning. Come on! Come fly with me. This could be our big break; it could give us the chance to go anywhere we want.” How the hell did Buck do it? The man had more alcohol the previous evening than I did; he expended as many calories as I did, and he went to sleep just as late. Yet here he was, clearheaded, with a smile as bright as the summer sunshine streaming through the flat’s windows. 2015 Summer Anthology Support Team Proof Team Cia Rec Andy78 Valkyrie Anthology Banner Creation Mann Ramblings Tech Support A.J. Also, Thank You to all the participating authors and their teams! Great job everyone!

Okay, I was wrong. I wanted to go back home. What had possessed me to take a six-year-old to Disneyland? Tony and I had been dragged all over, and I was completely drained. Tony didn’t seem to be fairing much better. The plus side was, even Jake was tired. His never-ending energy had finally been exhausted. “Please tell me we can go to the beach and relax tomorrow?” Tony collapsed on one of the beds as soon as we got into the hotel room. “Actually, I was thinking.” I sat Jake on the bed and s

“Daddy, Daddy, look!” Jake grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the ride. “Can we go on it, please?” “Sure.” I smiled at his excitement and looked at Tony as we got closer to the ride. “You want to ride with him or want me to?” We’d been taking turns so that one of us could take pictures. We stopped just short of the Dumbo ride. “You go ahead.” Tony reached for the camera. “I’ll try and get a couple good pictures of you two together.” “C’mon, Daddy!” Jake tugged impatiently on my hand. “Oka

“Jake, hurry and finish cleaning up your room.” I set my son’s bag next to the door and moved into the kitchen as I hollered to my son. “Your mom is going to be here soon.” No sooner were the words out of my mouth than the doorbell rang. “I got it,” Jake yelled. I heard his footsteps running down the hall, followed by the barking of Murray, his nine-month-old puppy. “We’ll both get it.” I followed him to the door. I should have once again reminded him he wasn’t allowed to answer the door by hi

With summer in full swing, Brad is taking his son Jake on a road trip to California, and every six-year-old's dream come true... Disneyland. He invites his boyfriend Tony to go with them, never expecting the trip could change everything between them.

Our featured story this month for the June Signature Background is "Crash Landing" by Bill W. If you haven't already downloaded your background, the month isn't even half over yet so you still have plenty of time! We started out Signature Week with a great review that Cia did, and now it's time to hear from the author himself. Hopefully you enjoy this interview that Cia did with Bill W. Author Interview: Bill W. on Crash Landing Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? It depends on the day. Most days I make my bed when I get up, but if I get up feeling run down and suspect I will end up taking a nap later, then I leave it as it is. Who do you like best, Jerry or Tom? I've always identified with the underdog, so I would have to say I like Jerry better. What first brought you to GA? The site I was posting on at the time suddenly shut down. A short time later, Myr contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in posting on a site he was starting. I agreed, and as they say, the rest is history. What do you like to do when you’re not writing? I like to go back and read the classics, including Shakespeare's plays. I also like to watch certain sports and I'm an avid college football and college basketball fan. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? You mean other than coming up with a good idea/plot for a story? Yes, because I've been criticised for not including enough description/details in my stories from some readers, while others tell me I've included too much. I'm not sure where I'm messing up. Do you have a favorite story or character you’ve written? That's a tough one. I would have to say that I've always identified with Josh, the father in the Castaway Hotel series, but I've always got a kick out of Ricky, the first boy Josh adopted. Ricky has always been a little prankster and a bit of a devil at times, but he's also wormed his way into my heart. Did something inspire you to write Crash Landing, beyond the anthology theme? I guess there were a couple of things that might have inspired the story. First of all, we're always concerned about the threat of pandemics, but when you combine that with a threat from space, it magnifies the destructive potential. Also, the talk about life in other parts of the universe and the theory that some elements, possibly including life, may have arrived on Earth via space has always intrigued me. I guess it all just came together when I saw the anthology theme. Did the characters or the plot come to you first? Definitely the plot, then the characters were developed for specific purposes within the story. Where did the technical knowledge and medical information in this story come from? Personal/work experience or research? Once I knew what I was planning to do, I did a lot of research to fill in the medical and scientific aspects. I guess the jury is still out on whether my research was a productive or not. Crash Landing has a nice twist ending that creates the possibility for an alternate society Earth setting. Have you considered going back and exploring that further? Actually, I haven't. I felt I'd made the point that I'd intended, that there are those that are willing to rise above the pettiness of life and do what was best for everyone, no matter what the threat, while others would cling to their petty and closed-minded beliefs, even if it might mean their own destruction. Do you want to share anything about your current or future work? At this point, I'm not currently working on anything and I have no plans to write anything new. I've heard from a few people that have told me they would like for me to add another book to the Castaway Hotel series, but coming up with new material is difficult at this point. Besides, I have a feeling that too many readers are suffering from Castaway overload, while prospective readers are daunted by its current size.

What better way to start off a new week than to take a look at a story that you might have overlooked amongst the thousands in GA Stories. To start off Signature Week, Cia has provided us with a review of Crash Landing by Bill W. If you haven't already done so, you can go and download this months Signature Background to go with the story. Enjoy! Crash Landing by Bill W Signature Author Reviewer: Cia Status: Complete Word Count: 11,032 When I first read Crash Landing, I expected a contemporary story, maybe about a plane going down. We come into the story meeting the local sheriff of a small town—no one else would expect a call at home about a disturbance—and I was prepared for some local disaster. But real quick we learn there’s something else going on. A lot of the town is out, looking for fun, as they search for whatever streaked across the sky. They don’t expect little green men… but what did they find? An ordinary science discovery. They think. And then things begin to go wrong… very, very wrong. I’m not going to spoil the story by saying what went wrong but I will say I loved the twist in how they fix it. The story has a really good moral underpinning the plot, but you’re not struck over the head with it. I liked the characters Bill wrote too. The sheriff is a good man who has the best interests of his town at heart; he’s good at solving problems and keeps things on an even keel. I would’ve liked to know more about his deputy, Conrad. He plays a pretty big role in the story, at least on a local level, but we don’t get much of who he is since the story isn’t from his POV. And no, it’s not because the story is a romance. I will admit to enjoying a good bit of love in a story, but it wasn’t part of Crash Landing, and I found I didn’t miss it. I was far too involved in what was happening to everyone and learning how they were going to survive… if they did! Have I intrigued you with all my veiled references to an apocalyptic misadventure? Well, why aren’t you reading the story yet? Category: 2011-4 Aftermath Genres: Sci-Fi Tags: Mature Adult, North America, No Sex Rating: Everyone

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! This past week wasn't near as busy as the last, but there was still plenty going on. The deadline for the 2015 Summer Anthology has now passed and we are working to get the anthology ready to go live. We'll also soon start the 2016 Anthology theme selection, so start thinking about what you'd like to write about for next year. Cia took the opportunity on Monday to announce this month's CSR selection. If you haven't already read Where Life Takes Us By Kuragari and want to participate in the discussion, you have until June 29th to read the story. Seeing as how this past Wednesday was the first one of the month, we had our monthly Ask An Author feature provided to us by Dark. Some great questions and answers, so make sure to check it out. Friday not only gave us two new prompts from Comicfan, we also had the newest poetry prompt from AC Benus. We featured two prompts this week, one of them was from poetry prompt #9. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd Bulletin ..................... Bulletin ..................... Bulletin Here we are, week 2 of the Gay Pride Month contest we're running featuring scrambled story titles and author names that can be found right here on GA! This week you might find the scramble just a little bit harder, but there's a small clue making it easier to find the stories... if you can figure it out. Pay attention now!! There will be 10 every week posted in a topic and then you PM your unscrambled answers to Cia. DON'T post your answers in the public areas of the site--or you hurt your chances of winning! What are you playing for? First Prize: A year's digital membership to Out magazine Second Prize: 2 Months Premium Access Third Prize: 1 Month Premium Access Rules: Both parts of the scramble must be correct to count. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the month wins the first place prize, 2nd most correct 2nd, etc... If there are ties, Random.org will be used to determine the winner, and those not winning will be entered in the 2nd and then 3rd place prizes as necessary. PLAY THE GAME In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Classic Authors: Ticking by Dabeagle By our Signature Authors: Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Force of Nature by Krista Veil of Shadow by Stellar; Book 2 of unnamed Finding Alex by Krista Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban Cosmic Inception by Cia Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Delores Esteban By our Promising Authors: Beneath the Current by craftingmom Neko Shorts by craftingmom Presence by carringtonrj Alex's Legacy by Valkyrie Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

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. 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 422 – Creative Tag – The Gift Many years ago you were asked to send a gift to a student as part of letter exchange. While the rest of your class got a letter and package back you never did. Now, nearly a decade or more later, your mother has called to say you have a package waiting for you at home. It takes a while but you finally head back to your parent’s home for a visit and are given your gift. What is it and why did it take so long? Prompt 423 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – bird bath, loaf of bread, Chinese checkers, a daffodil, and a painting. We also have the next Poetry prompt! Poetry Prompt #10 Write one Italian Sonnet about a recent dream. Use the quatrains to paint the sights, sounds, and other senses of the dream in an unsentimental way. With the sestet, introduce the emotions of how the dream made you feel. Keep consistent 10-syllable lines, and use the rhyme pattern of: a-b-b-a; a-b-b-a; c-d-c-d-c-d. For more information on this type of poetry, visit the thread! Now for the featured prompt responses, this week we'll feature a past poetry response, plus a response from last week's prompts! This week I decided to feature Valkyrie's response to Prompt #420: Want to find out what happens next? Read the full response here! And for the poetry prompt, here's jamessavik's response to Poetry Prompt #9 Read the rest of James' poem, here.

I can't believe it's already June!!! Not only that, but it's the first Wednesday of the month, which can only mean one thing. It's time for another Ask An Author feature provided to us by Dark. If you have questions you want to ask your favorite authors, but don't want to ask the questions yourself, you can always send your questions to Dark for inclusion in the Ask An Author feature. Ask an Author #28 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #27, we had questions for authors Mark Arbour, Andrew Q. Gordon, and Rob Colton. In AtA #28, we hear from joann414, James Savik, and wrathofmagneto. 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. We had another question for Joann414 earlier this year, so this will be my third time featuring this extraordinary person. Please join me in sending positive thoughts her way, as it’s been a tough spring. Joann414 was one of the first supporters of the Ask an Author feature, first appearing in AtA #2 with a question about writing advice. Authors still brag about the number of comments they’ve garnered from this sweet lady. Be sure to check out I'm Here for the Party, the holiday-themed 11th story posted by Joann. If everyone who has ever received a review from Joann gave her one in return, she’d be one of the most-reviewed authors on the site! Write on, Joann! To Joann414: As a mature writer, what life experiences have you had that gives you an advantage over a younger writer? Me, mature? Maybe older, but according to some, a mischievous kid at heart. Now, to the question. The first would be raising my daughter who is now thirty. I saw her experiences with other young people, good ones, bad ones, and even cruelty she's dealt with. As far as writing gay fiction, of course my own sexuality and dealing with both sexes, male and female. I've been a victim and seen others victimized. So, yeah, experience is food for thought, and the older you are, the more experiences you've got and you can feed from that knowledge. This also marks the third feature for Author James Savik and 2015 will be his 10th year here on GA. James’ blog entries contain some of the most thought-provoking insights on humankind, like “nuking hypocrites” and a list of red flags for abusive relationships. There’s also his 20-something stories, a book of poetry, and his responses to the weekly prompts. I particularly like a short autobiographical piece about Jeff, a man James has mentioned before and who has played a key part in making James the man we know and admire today. He also keeps us smiling with the popular forum thread Make us Laugh! among others. To James Savik: Why do you write? (Is it for yourself, to entertain others, to explore a passion, a combination or other)? I come by it honestly. My background and education is in math and science. Very early on as a tekkie, my bosses discovered that I could put sentences together rationally. Apparently that's a rare gift for tekkies as we usually communicate with grunts and flashing lights. I wrote user documentation for computer programs and lots of it. The more of it I wrote, the better I got at it. The more people wanted me to write the stuff. I once heard that technical writing was so dry and boring that it read like stereo instructions. If there's anything worse than reading the stuff, it is writing it. I took great pains to make my stuff readable by using dry wit and the occasional cartoon. It was fun for me to see someone installing software that I documented actually laughing at the instructions. If it wasn't so painful to read, they would read it and not make as many mistakes. That's where I got my feet wet. I changed jobs but ended up writing again by doing the long range planning for a state agency. I took them from old 80s minicomputers to a modern networked campus over the course of a decade. It was slow as watching paint dry but one guy with the right idea pushing in one direction can get a lot done when he's willing to do the paperwork no one else wants to do. I wrote my first fiction in college. After reading it everyone was convinced that I was horribly disturbed. At the time I probably was. I don't know- I don't remember it very well. I got clean and sober 11 years ago. It's trendy with Hollywood people to go in and out of rehab. Ordinary people are expected to grow up and get responsible. Where was I... OH! Why do I write? Because I can. Because I look at popular fiction and know that I sure can't do any worse. We last saw Promising Author wrathofmagneto in AtA#5, a long long time ago, so welcome back to this Michigan-dweller, comic-book lover, and sworn enemy of OSU. GA has been witness to a few breaks from this author over the 9 years he’s spent with the site, so keep your fingers crossed that this current one shall pass soon. Where are we to get more comic-book-flavored stories if not from Lord Magnus? (sigh) I for one look forward to more chapters in the sci-fi story Footsteps of Giants, a story that reminds me of James White’s Sector General books. I love me a good sci-fi story, and this one has a detective-who-dunnit vibe as well. To wrathofmagneto: If you could get one author to change a relationship in one of their books (or series) to a gay relationship, which author/book would it be and which characters would you make fall in love? For me, the one character I would change to a gay relationship if I could, would be the delightfully quirky title character from Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. Odd is just an instantly likable character, and he just totally made me love him from the first paragraph of the first book. I wouldn't have him fall in love with a different character though, I'd just gender swap his girlfriend Stormy into his boyfriend, as the two of them are perfect for each other. 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 Carlos Hazday, Columbusguy, and Timothy M. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Sorry for the delay this morning y'all. I hope everyone has had a great week. Just a reminder that tomorrow, Monday the 25th will be the CSR Discussion for Penguin by Valkyrie. If you haven't finished yet, there's still time so that you can come and ask Valkyrie your questions at 8-10 PM eastern time. Now, let's see what happened in the GA News Blog during this past week. Monday's feature story was Gaymer by Dabeagle. If you're looking for a new story that isn't too long, this could be the story for you. If you're curious and need help deciding, check out the review, it may just make you want to add this little gem to your "to read" list. Wednesday our focus shifted to story tagging. Sometimes it's hard to decide how to tag your story, hopefully this little blog article will help you decide which tags are appropriate for your story. Finally, Friday brought two new prompts to get those creative juices flowing. For the featured prompt response, we feat Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Classic Authors: Ticking by Dabeagle Dreams of a Father by dkstories; Book 2 of Dreams of Humanity By our Signature Authors: Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Delores Esteban Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W All Eyes Watching - Extended by Comicality Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Krista's Prompts by Krista Cosmic Inception by Cia By our Promising Authors: The Second Fifty by Cole Matthews Presence by carringtonrj Sanctuary by Sasha Distan The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie Poems by carringtonrj Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Hope everyone is having a great Friday. If you've been struggling to write, or just need something to springboard a new idea, you've come to the right place.Today we have two new prompts from the prompt guru, Comicfan. Don't forget to share your prompt responses in the prompt forum. We can't pick you to feature if we don't know you responded to one of this weeks prompts. You're welcome to post your responses in GA Stories, just please make sure that any story under 1,000 words is part of a collection. 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 419 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – a plastic bag, a small child, a hamburger, an orange, and a green jacket. This week I decided to feature layla's response to Prompt #417:

Happy Birthday, Myr! I hope you have a great day!

There are many reasons that people might look forward to Friday, but here at the GA News Blog, we look forward to Friday because it means one thing.... New Prompts!!! Sometimes we get stuck and need a little push to help us get writing again, that's what the prompts are all about, to help get the juices flowing. As always, Comicfan has provided two new prompts for you to take a stab at. Hopefully one of these will inspire you to write a little something! Prompt 416 – Creative Tag – The bombshell Things have been going wrong all day, but nothing could have prepared you for the phone call you just got. What was the news that was delivered? Prompt 417 – Creative Tag – First Line “But why would you want me to meet you there?” We only had two responses from last weeks prompt. Both were to prompt 414: From John AR: Read the rest From Atruefan: Read the rest here.

Howdy y'all! We're doing something a little different today for the Signature Author Wednesday post. As most probably know, today is when we'd normally feature the Signature Author Interview, but occasionally it's good to switch it up a bit. Instead of the interview, Krista gave us a little addition to Finding Alex in the form of an extended short scene. Leave Krista a comment on this blog to let her know what you think! Finding Alex - Extended Scene by Krista I sat patiently beside Mattie as he worked on his homework. Math, his worst subject. I couldn’t help remembering Alex’s expression when I told him that I had went into Accounting for college. The same expression was mirrored on Mattie’s face right now as he grimaced over a problem. He would momentarily look straight ahead, I couldn’t tell at what, most of the time. Wanting to concentrate momentarily on something that wasn’t math related. “Do you need any help, Matt?” I asked after a longer pause between writing. “I’m done with this one,” he said, sliding it aside for me to look at. I smiled when I read through his chicken scratch, untidy writing, to find his answer. How teachers graded their work, I couldn’t imagine. He looked to have the problem correct, so I smiled and slid it back in front of him. “Good job, go on to the next one,” I said, and he grimaced then studied straight ahead again. I tried to look to where his attention was taking him. “I asked Nanna about Dad,” he said, turning to look at me. His brown eyes looked hesitant, like he didn’t want to ask me. I hadn’t offered much on Alex over the years, thinking Mattie wouldn’t understand. He had been so happy with me; I didn’t want him thinking about what he lost. I also wanted him to remember everything I told him and didn’t think he was old enough yet. Mostly though, I was selfish and didn’t want to talk about Alex with him. I didn’t want to feel the hurt I felt when I thought about Mattie and Alex. How Alex would have been with him, how much their mischief and playfulness would cause me headaches and laughter. I was always the careful one, the one that worried. I definitely was the one who didn’t like change. None of which Alex had in him. It was what drew me to him in the beginning. Even if it all seemed to happen so easily between us, I had been scared to death. “What did Nanna say?” I asked, wondering what Mom would have told him. She had been trying to convince me that Mattie was ready to learn. It was Alex who had led to me adopting Mattie to begin with. She probably wouldn’t be able to keep from telling Mattie eventually; she was a sucker for those brown eyes. Sarah hadn’t had any children with Chris yet, so Mattie was her only grandchild. “To ask you. She always says that,” he said, whining as he sat neglecting his homework. “Maybe Aunt Em will tell me.” “It wouldn’t make you sad?” I asked, my voice threatening to crack. I swallowed waiting for his response as he thought it over. “No,” he answered, unsure of himself. “Do you know what being gay means?” I asked, and he nodded. “You already told me that,” he answered, rolling his eyes. I smirked, relieved he still had a lackadaisical response to that. His class was too young to really bully him yet, but I fear those days are numbered. “Well Alex is someone who Daddy loved, and still loves, very much,” I said, and he nestled against my side, turning away from me to look at the picture of the two of us on the coffee table. It was the one Emily took at the wedding where we first met, under the flower arches when my sister got married. “More than me?” he asked, glancing up at me momentarily. “The same amount,” I answered, and his eyes widened. It was a running joke between Mattie and me about who loved whom more and how much. I was always able to outdo his imagination, and if I couldn’t I made numbers up better than he did. “He’s your dad; he has to love you very much too.” “How do you know that?” he asked, skeptical. “Well he wanted you, so we could be a family together,” I answered, “and you’re easy to love, you little brat.” “I know,” he countered giggling. “So you miss him a lot.” “Yes,” I answered even though he wasn’t really asking. It surprised how much Mattie knew about me, without me realizing it. I couldn’t help being a little worried. That maybe I hadn’t seemed as happy as I thought. “He was a lot like you really, very funny, full of meanness.” “Nanna says he helped you out a lot,” he said, “before I was born.” “She did?” I asked, smiling. “He helped me not be so careful and boring.” “Oh,” he said, “you’re not boring, Daddy!” “I was very boring once,” I said my face getting hot. I had been able to hold back the tears, but I could feel that resolve breaking as the discussion went on. “I wish I could meet him,” he said, and that’s when I noticed his voice crack. When I looked down he blinked away tears and wiped his face. “I know,” I said, reaching over and pulling him closer. “I bet he’s thrilled to know that. He’s probably pretty angry with me for not talking about him more. I promise I will.” “You will?” he asked, breaking the hug to look up at me. My own tears had finally fallen, and I hadn’t wiped them away. “Promise,” I said, holding out my hand for him to shake. He smiled, clearly liking that I was making the deal with him as he took my hand. “After your homework, though.” “Deal,” he said wrinkling his nose, but he pulled the table closer to us. I knew he had a ton of questions for me running through his head. Smiling, I bent over and watched him work and waited for him to need my help, hoping I could answer all the questions he had about Alex. At least the questions about math would be easier to answer.

For those that missed this month's signature background announcement, this month's Signature Background is "Finding Alex" by Krista. If you haven't already downloaded the background, there's still time! As our featured Monday post, we're sharing a review that Suvitar provided us. Suvitar obviously enjoyed the story and hopefully, after reading today's review, you'll decide you want to take a look for yourself. Enjoy! Finding Alex by Krista Signature Author Reviewer: Suvitar Status: Complete Word Count: 17,451 “Finding Alex”, finding someone special, is exactly what this story is about. It tells us about Daniel who attends his sister´s wedding and meets Alex, the best man. The story is divided into four short parts (and I believe there have been pictures attached to the story once upon time, but at least I can´t see them anymore). The first part is the wedding and the main characters are introduced and we briefly meet some friends and relatives. In the second part, Daniel and Alex, obviously, and Sara and Chris, the newlyweds, and Daniel´s best friend and cousin, Emily and her boyfriend Steve are having plenty of post-wedding fun by a lake. A leisurely summer day ends with a toga twister party. Actually, for some the day ends with a kiss, their first kiss. This part of the story is all about love, summer and friends, and falling for someone special. It´s also about butterflies and blushing, and mainly, just having fun with old and new friends. The third part of the story is about Daniel and Alex planning their future and finding a way to stay together. The fourth and final part of the story….*sighs*. Finding Alex is a charming little story, so I can´t really say much more about the storyline, don´t want to give too much away. It is a lovely story and I recommend it to anyone who likes their stories sweet and romantic. I only wish it were longer and had told more about Daniel and Alex, but then I usually think stories should be longer (probably just me being greedy), the end often comes too soon. This is one of those stories where characters and the plot left me wanting more. More than likely that was the author´s intention. Category: 2008-3 Anniversary Genres: Romance Rating: Everyone

First off, let me start by saying to all the mother's out there.... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope you all have a wonderful day. Also, just a reminder that there is less than a month to get your Summer Anthology entries sent to the Anthology Proof Team. The team is standing by, ready to complete your final proof. The theme for the Summer Anthology is Road Trip. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! Now, let's see what happened this week in the GA News Blog. Our May CSR Book Club story was announced on Monday. This month we're taking a look at Penguin by Valkyrie. At under 15,000 words, there is still plenty of time to take a look at this great story and be prepared for the discussion day on May 25th. For those who enjoy the Ask An Author feature by Dark, Wednesday was the day for you. This month's Ask An Author featured Mark Arbour, Andrew Q. Gordon, and Rob Colton. There were some great questions asked of these authors and if you want to know what their answers were, make sure to check it out! Friday brought some brand new prompts for you to play with. Not only were there the regular prompts provided by Comicfan, but this week we also had the next Poetry Prompt given to us by AC Benus. For the featured prompt responses, we took a look at Cazpedroso's response to prompt #412 and totallyy's response to Poetry Prompt #8. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim Dreams of a Father by dkstories; Book 2 of Dreams of Humanity *reposting* By our Signature Authors: Jessie-101: Online Celebrity by Comicality Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Dolores Esteban Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Global Explorer II by David McLeod The Life of Seeon by comicfan Cosmic Inception by Cia By our Promising Authors: Aditus' prompts and circumstances by aditus Barbed Wire Heart by Cole Matthews London and Love 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 414 – Creative Tag - List of Words Use the following in a story – a drag queen, theater tickets, split pants, a taxi, and a skunk 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? And it's time for the next poetry prompt! Poetry Prompt #9 Write one English Sonnet about your first love. Remember, we are looking for the pivot point, so if the love ended sadly, contrast that with a moment of brightness; if it was joyous, contrast it with a moment of doubt that might not last, etc., etc. You get the idea. You can read more about Sonnet's in this thread. This week I decided to feature Cazpedroso's response to prompt #412, enjoy! The rest can be read, here. And for the featured poetry prompt, we have totallyy's response to Poetry Prompt #8: To review, click here.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! Once again, it's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for this month's edition of Ask An Author. A big thank you goes out to Dark for continuing to provide us with this great feature. Remember, Dark can only provide the Ask An Author feature if members keep providing questions. Ask an Author #27 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #26, we had questions for authors Carringtonrj, Joann414, and Mark Arbour. In AtA #27, Mark Arbour returns, as well as Andrew Q. Gordon and Rob Colton. 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. Mark Arbour was the last author presented last time, so let’s have him go first today. No introduction is really needed for this Signature Author; he’s more frequently liked than the latest thing to go viral on youtube. Having been around since 2005, Mark’s been a witness (and sometimes willing participant) to the many different incarnations of GA. Can someone who’s been around awhile tell us if he’s had the same profile pic for 10 years? Geez, can you believe it! 10 years is longer than many sports careers and yet he’s still plugging away, entertaining us with his historic dynasties. Fall in love with history all over again and wish Mark a happy birthday on May 13th. To Mark Arbour: As one of the most successful and prolific authors on GA, did you ever imagine your series of novels would have the success and following that has grown form them? Thanks for that, but to answer your question: No. I started writing Chronicles of an Academic Predator after I watched the movie Hairspray and was nostalgically transfixed on the early 1960s. It was an experiment more than anything, but with some strong encouragement, especially from Sharon, I kept on writing. I was pretty surprised back in those days to have that story vault up to the most-read in the non-promising/non-hosted worlds. I'd been a reader here for a long time, but I never thought I'd be able to actually write a story myself. Guess you don't know until you try. This will be the 5th year anniversary on GA for “The Author formerly known as ‘Q’.” Lots of things have changed for this popular author. He’s gotten officially married, has a baby girl, and is involved in a myriad of different ways in online publishing. One of the first books that Q published was “The Last Grand Master.” Its sequel is due out in June, not soon enough for its many fans. In a recent blog post here on GA, Q let us in on some of his upcoming plans and says, “Also, I like to leave an open invite to anyone who has questions about publishing, marketing, or writing. Feel free to message me here or email me. I promise to always reply.” To Andrew Q. Gordon: Do you have any new stories or ideas that you are working on for GA after the latest in the Purpose saga? Yes, I have some other things I'm working on - I will start posting a new story that after the new Purpose story is complete. And I'll be returning to SS the Senior Year as well. I'd like to do more anthologies, but I always seem to take too long to get my things finished and I end up missing the deadlines. Beyond that, most of my energies is going into books I've committed to working on for my publisher, so I don't foresee any new full length novels being posted here in the near future. Parenting has really restricted the amount of time I have to write, so I'm trying to allocate it as best I can. We last heard from Signature Author Rob Colton in AtA #22. On his website, Rob describes himself as “… a software developer by day, and avid reader of romance novels at night. A romantic at heart, he loves to read and write stories that feature big, burly men who find true love and happy endings.” Goodreads.com members nominated Rob in 2013 for having the best alternate universe for his story The Degan Incident, the first story posted to GA and still one of his more popular, though “The Timber Pack Chronicles” are up there and my personal favorite is “Noah’s New Plan,” which I’ve mentioned before. Hopefully, Rob will have another exciting story for us soon. To Rob Colton: I have seen your writing grow to something amazing and relly signature you. What kind of impact did it have on your writing/publishing that you settled in Gay Authors? I feel more a part of a community at Gay Authors than on other sites. Everyone here has been great. I also feel like I have more control over my content. I can format it the way I want, and set up chapters in advance. It's very powerful. Cia has been especially helpful with admin tasks, as well as being a gracious guinea pig, helping to beta read my pre-release. She has given me excellent advice, and I've become a better write because of her. I also took advantage of the resources here to get set up with an editor for my newest release. Mann Ramblings has been great to work with. 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 Joann414, James Savik, and wrathofmagneto. What? No Mark Arbour? Patience, Grasshopper, he’ll be back soon. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Sorry Krista, I've added it.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. As we get ready to start a new week, it's time to take a look back at what happened this past week in the GA News Blog. There was a lot of great things going on, and if you haven't already checked out the past week's post, now is the chance for you to get a glimpse and maybe go read up on the posts you missed. We started the week out with the CSR Discussion on Rumors of War by Cynus. There was a great interview and then Cynus joined us in the blog to answer readers questions. Wednesday had us looking once more at grammar, with Grammar Rodeo #3. If "affect" and "effect" or "ellipses and em dash's" confuse you, then make sure to check out Cia's Grammar Rodeo. It's full of great information on how to determine which to use. On Thursday, Cia posted the May Signature Background. This month's feature is Finding Alex by Krista. If you haven't already done so, go download the background! If you're looking for some inspiration, check out the brand new prompts that were posted on Friday. For the featured prompt response, I featured Atruefan's response to Prompt #410. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd In Premium Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim By our Signature Authors: Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Dolores Esteban Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Force of Nature by Krista Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W "Waiting Outside The Lines" by Comicality Global Explorer II by David McLeod Fortitude by Cia Cosmic Inception by Cia Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) By our Promising Authors: The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie Dinner is Prompt-ly at Eight by Cole Matthews Barbed Wire Heart by Cole Matthews London and Love by Carringtonrj Sanctuary by Sasha Distan Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

So, I'm running a bit behind today, but the prompts are back! Last week there were no prompts due to the release of the poetry anthology. Hopefully one of these two prompts will inspire you to write something. Don't forget to share them, and maybe you'll be the featured prompt response next week. Don't forget, prompt responses under 1,000 words, must be posted as part of a collection. Prompt 412 – Creative Tag – First Line “What time are we supposed to be there?” 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? This week I decided to share Atruefan's response to Prompt #410. Enjoy! Read the rest, here.

Who's ready for another Grammar Rodeo? This one focuses on Affect vs Effect and Ellipses vs Em Dashes. A thank you to Cia for taking the time to put these together. I hope you find them as informative as I do. Grammar Rodeo #3 Those Pesky Word Choices Affect vs. Effect This is one of those small things that isn’t always picked out by a spellcheck, but knowing when to use affect vs. effect can be tricky for some people to remember. I have a simple mnemonic clue for authors when they use the most common meanings of these words. Affect is a verb that means to act upon something. Effect is a noun meaning something that occurs from some action taking place. This is a result. Example: Sometimes your actions affect other people, creating an effect you didn’t expect. In other words, your actions do something to other people, creating a ‘result’ you don’t expect. An easy tip: To know which one to use is to remember Affect = Act. If you’re writing that your ‘affect’ is happening to someone or something, then it is an action, hence a verb. You still have to remember which is why, but having the association can help you remember the difference between affect and effect. Cut Off vs. Trailing Off (Em dashes and Ellipses) Overuse of any one type of punctuation can make it hard for readers to follow your dialogue or narration, but sometimes it’s good to sprinkle in ellipses or em dashes to create a certain speech pattern or effect in the motions. Ellipses: These indicate fragmented sentences or pauses longer than a comma would indicate. Technically, the common use in fiction make these ‘suspension points’ instead of ellipses, but many people use the term even when discussing trailing off in dialogue or narration. Different editing style guides dictate how you use them. Either three periods in sequence with either no space between them or after the preceding word hut including one before the next word, or spaces on each side, or no spaces on either side of the periods at all, of course, with appropriate closing punctuation as needed. Examples: In this case, the reader would read the I as a stressed word, trailing off, before the speaker begins again. “I… don’t know why I did that.” Or “I … don’t know why I did that.” Or “I . . . don’t know why I did that.” Closing punctuation with ellipses/suspension points: When the person does not resume their thought or speech, you need to indicate that with closing punctuation. “Do you know why you…?” she asked. “You did that because you were…,” she said. “I can’t believe you…!” she shouted. “I can’t believe you….” She turned away, one hand pressed against her mouth. To even think her husband had…. The biggest element of using these is that you are consistent with your style. Decide if you want them spaced/unspaced, and do it that way the entire story. Never use more than 3 points, with closing punctuation as needed. If you need… a longer pause or break than this… use narration to indicate that rather than a number of points like this……. which is not an accepted format in any style guide. And remember to use them in moderation. Tip: If you like the ellipses a certain format, and want to ensure they don’t break at the end of a sentence due to page margins, use the Insert symbol option to select the ‘Auto Correct’ feature. There, you can select what the program automatically changes your written ellipses into the appropriate symbol that won’t break. Example: … could be replaced with . . . and then every time you place … in your document, it would change it appropriately and keep it from breaking at the end of a line. Also the keyboard shortcut in Word for placing the ‘symbol’ ellipses points are control, alt, spacebar for earlier Word versions and control, alt, period for newer versions. Em Dash Em dashes—long dashes—are used to indicate interruptions in dialogue or narration, or they can indicate an aside. Asides are phrases within a sentence that provides more information and explains something within the sentence, but it can also be removed without affecting the meaning of the sentence. Example: Peter—a usually mild-mannered man—reacted angrily when he was cut off and killed the other driver. “You’re trying to say that that Peter—” “We have it on video. Your husband caused the crash, ma’am.” Detective Ryans sympathized with the widow, but it was best she faced it now, before the press ambushed her. She couldn’t hide from the facts. Tip: Em dash shortcuts are included in later Word versions to prevent breaking, usually if you add two hyphens together. You can also create that shortcut in the Auto Correct feature, just like with the ellipses points. You can also use the keyboard shortcut of control, alt, the minus sign in the number pad. Special use: Em dashes are used in a special way with dialogue punctuation when you split a line of speech with an action without using a speech tag/attribution like said or asked. Example: “I know it’s hard to believe”—he handed her a tissue to wipe her face—“but your husband was a well-known man, and people are going to have questions for you.”

Sorry all, no prompts for this week! This week we're bringing you the 2015 Poetry Anthology: Remember! So as hopefully not to give too much of each entry away, I've only shared the first four lines. Don't forget, if you like what you read, take just a moment to leave the author a review letting them know how much you appreciate their hard work! Beyond Dolores Esteban Time is ticking I've embarked on a journey Inevitably The seconds pass by Crack In The Wall aditus Thick mortar embraces solid bricks. Its foundation deep, its structure high. There could just as well be the river Styx, and no money to pay the ferryman. Aye. Memories jian_sierra Memories Of things that happened, Good or bad Or something in between... Whitman’s eyes and Cavafy’s days AC Benus In he the one I saw last night, They the ones of name, Those of Poets’ reputations Saw him too. Thank you to the following for their help with the Poetry Anthology. Banner Creation Cia Tech Support Myr

Who's ready for the next Word Search? Today's Word Search features the Promising Authors here at Gay Authors. Each Promising Author appears once as well as one of their stories. As always, I've included both the image of the Word Search as well as a downloadable excel format. If you have ideas for future Word Searches or Crosswords, feel free to send me a PM! Promising Authors Word Search.xlsx