Renee Stevens

I don't know either! I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter and I agree that was the highlight of this chapter.

Thank you Suvitar. I had a hard time deciding to end the story, but there had to be a time and it just wasn't working to keep going with the first line prompts. When I do decide to do their next story, I'll choose something that is a little more easy to work with and allows a little more leeway. We'll see what way I go

Thank you Suvitar! I'm that you are still enjoying the story. Kids definitely seem to have selective hearing, they always seem to hear what they're not supposed to hear, but yet whenever you WANT them to hear something they seem to not hear THAT, lol

Thanks for the review Suvitar! He could only keep it a secret for so long and at least he knows it's someone Jake already likes!

LOL, of course they do! This was a chapter when I was just trying to think of something a kid might see as a major problem and the wrong kind of bubbles just struck me as something that a kid would just think was so important. Glad you like Jake

No worries Suvitar, it happens to all of us at one time or another! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and yep, you're probably right

Thank you Suvitar! LOL. Trust me, I know just how demanding cats can be as well. I have both and sometimes the cats are just as much, if not more, demanding than the dogs!

Thanks for the review Suvitar! Hope you enjoy the story from here to the end!

Thank you ColumbusGuy. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I've given some different thoughts on possible sequels and have some ideas, but nothing is set in concrete and if there is a sequel it will be a little while as I'd like to get some other stuff off my plate first. Thank you again for reading!

Thank you Valkyrie, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. You are right that sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. I know there's times I can be mine...

Thanks LadyDe! I can't think of many who wouldn't want that opportunity, lol. As far as every Saturday, that remains to be seen as the Saturday Shorts will appear when there's a prompt that catches my eye that my response to isn't long enough to be considered it's own story. I can't guarantee how often that will happen as many times, my prompt responses end up being a few thousand words, lol. Thank you again!

Thank you Cole! I'm glad you enjoyed this little short. John definitely was smug, but I think he was sufficiently put in his place, which is exactly what I wanted. The fact that it was Austin that really finished putting him there was just the icing on the cake . Thank you again!

Thank you Carlos! I'm glad you enjoyed this story. I wanted to keep it short yet complete, and I hope I did that. Though there's definitely the opportunity if I ever wanted to revisit Blake and Austin. Based on your review, I definitely thing I got the feel of the story right Thanks again!

“When you asked to talk, this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Mark glanced to where his nephew lay sleeping in the portable playpen they’d set up. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it to get to this point either, but then again, I never expected my wife to tell me to get the fuck out.” Brent slumped into his chair and dropped his head into his hands. “Even more, I didn’t expect her to tell me to take Matthew, she didn’t want him.” Brent looked up at him. “Not that I’d have left him with

Time to start a new week and with a new week comes a new featured story. Timothy M offered to do a review for the blog and chose the story "The English Year" by Promising Author: Jwolf. I hope you enjoy his review and if this sounds like something you'd like, then go read! Don't forget to leave Jwolf a review, or two, to let him know what you thought! The English Year by Jwolf Promising Author Reviewer: Timothy M. Status: In Process Do you like roller coasters? Are you OK with tearing your hair out in frustration over the main characters and their actions, because you’ve gotten completely involved in them and their story? Can you relate to the desperate efforts of a college student to stay on top of the intricate dance of status, academics, house mates, friends and foes, but in particular sex and love? If so, try reading The English Year by Jwolf. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first. The whole Frat Society maneuvering and scheming together with the heavy drinking and partying almost made me wash my hands of the main character and the whole story. But I hung on and by now I’m completely addicted, as are several other GA members. We anxiously await new chapters and plunge into the – often unexpected – twists and turns of each installment. Afterwards we divide into various camps and leave heated reviews on the chapters and argue about the content via posts in the story forum. The English Year tells the tale of Corbin, who is out, clever, fascinating, manipulative, loyal, promiscuous, and hides his insecurities behind an almost impenetrable façade of self-confidence and social pushiness. We meet him at the beginning of his third year at college, where he faces the daunting task of rebuilding the social status of his Frat House, after the failures of the previous year. He gets friendly with a British student on exchange (hence the name of the story), and a large part of the story revolves around Corbin’s efforts to work out his feelings about Pete, and whether they are mutual or not. But the inscrutable Brit isn’t the only guy Corbin is interested in, and this is where the story gets complicated. We participate in the roller coaster of emotions experienced by Corbin, and readers have been known to change sides more than once (I did). We also spend time yelling at Corbin, Pete, the other guy (who shall remain unnamed, so as not to spoil anything), Corbin’s house mates, other students, the College Dean, and most of all poor Jwolf. Though I guess he’s not quite blameless due to the number of cliff hangers and 180 degree turns he has subjected us to. Be warned that the story is not yet complete, and so far the end is not in sight, nor any indication of a HEA. There are several steamy hot sex scenes, and other features add to the impression that this tale is not for the innocent of mind and weak of heart. However, the story is compelling, and the writing is brilliant, creates vivid images and evokes both laughter and tears. Not only the main characters, but also the whole cast of people around them, have interesting and complex personalities, and Jwolf should be praised for daring to choose a 1st person POV character who is not always likable. I’ve wanted to slap some sense into Corbin on several occasions, lol. But no matter how much Corbin frustrates us and people around him, we cannot help admire his efforts to achieve his dreams of finding love and a secure place in the world. Don’t miss out on a great story, but give The English Year a try. Once you’ve caught up, join the discussion in the story forum. I promise you won’t regret it if you survive the experience of a gut-punching, heart-breaking, yet exhilarating and sometimes hilarious love story. Category: Fiction Genres: Comedy, Creative Non-Fic, Romance Tags: Young Adult, Autobiography, Gay, College, North America, Anal Rating: Mature

I've noticed that occasionally an author will update a story but it won't show up when I filter the lists. I have checked into it and found out that if you post date a chapter and then edit the chapter before it publishes, it prevents it from showing up when I filter the lists to do the wrap up.

Sorry, Graeme!! When I filtered for the different authors it didn't show up! Grrr! I'll get that fixed Edit: Should be fixed now

This week has been a busy week, but before you take a look at what's happened in the blog, take a minute and take part in today's poll! I hope everyone is ready for another week to begin, and if you're not ready, well... I think it's going to start anyways so hopefully you'll be ready when it does . This week was Signature Week in the GA News Blog which meant Monday & Wednesday were all about Stellar's story Hidden Sunlight. On Monday, Yettie One provided us with a great review and then on Wednesday, Cia provided us with an interview with Stellar. Both days had some great content, so check them out and if you haven't already done so, you can still download the Signature Background! You might have noticed later on in the week the look of the site changed. Myr gave us more information regarding the upcoming theme changes in Tuesday's tech blog and let us know what we could expect. The old theme is back temporarily while a few bugs are worked out, but Tuesday's blog still provides some great info on what's coming and how you can help! Prompts are a great tool for both seasoned and newbie authors and once again comicfan didn't disappoint. We had two great prompts this week, but if you want to find out what was offered, check out Friday's blog. The featured prompt response was Valkyrie71's response to one of last week's prompts. Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines (except Poetry) are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Spring Anthology: Full Circle - Due March 3rd 2015 Poetry Anthology: Remember - Due April 15th (Poetry Anthology is exempt from the Anthology Proof Team) 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd ***NEW READING*** In Premium: The Harvest: Taken by M.A. Church By our Classic Authors: Life in a Northern Town by Dabeagle By our Signature Authors: Saturday Shorts by Renee Stevens Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings Cosmic Inception by Cia Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Sword of Kings: Forged Out of Necessity by Bill W The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Fortitude by Cia By our Promising Authors: Ladies' Man by Sasha Distan; Book 9 of American Songbook Barbed Wire Heart by Cole Matthews London and Love by carringtonrj Dinner is Prompt-ly at Eight by Cole Matthews Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

Thanks Steve! I definitely have stories planned, but need to finish the ones I already have going first before I start anything new. Thanks Little Blue One

“Everything set for tomorrow?” I froze. I knew I shouldn’t be listening, but I couldn’t help it, and lucky for me he apparently hadn’t heard me come in. Jace was planning his revenge, I knew he was. He’d told me I’d pay for the huge party I’d thrown him a few months ago for his birthday. With my birthday just a day away, I was beginning to wish I’d listened when he’d said he just wanted a nice dinner, just the two of us. I needed to find out what he had planned and figure a way out of it.

First off, thank you to all my readers for being so patient as I try to get story chapters out! It's been a struggle to write lately, though I'm not sure why, but I am still writing. I wanted to update everyone who follows my work on a couple things that are going on in regards to my stories, but especially the completed story, Joined by Blood. As of February 1st, I will be unpublishing Joined by Blood from GA Stories. It is NOT going away permanently, but I have been slowly working on some rewrites with the intent to send to publishers. If it is rejected, then I will self-publish the story. I am doing in depth rewrites which include changing a couple of scenes to make them more believable. Once the revisions are complete, the story will be republished. However, the story will NOT be available to the general public as the new version will be republished as a Premium story. For those currently reading the story, that gives you a couple of weeks to finish before it becomes unpublished. I didn't want to just jerk it away and leave anyone in the middle of the story. What does this all mean for Thwarted? I am still working on Thwarted, though the going has been slow. I'm hoping there won't be huge delays like this last one, and while I'm hoping to get back onto a weekly posting schedule, that might take a couple of weeks to happen. My focus just hasn't been there and I don't want to force the story because I don't want to risk ruining it. I'm hoping I can get onto a writing binge with Thwarted and stock pile a few chapters that can give material for a few weeks, so we'll see how that goes. Forging Trust.... I haven't forgotten it. I know where I want the story to go and I work on it a little bit here and a little bit there. I will be posting more, but I'm not sure when as I have decided NOT to post a chapter as soon as it's finished. I want to have a couple chapters of FT ready to go before I post anything. Forging Trust has had such huge delays, but it will be finished, I'm just sure when. I am going to do my absolute best to keep moving forward with everything that I've got started, but there will be delays, just hopefully not long ones. In about a month I expect the first edits from the publisher to come back for No More Hiding. Yep, that's right, No More Hiding has been accepted for publication. I've known about it since well before Christmas, but haven't said anything (except to a couple people) until things started to move forward, but cover design has begun and edits are scheduled to begin in just under a month. It's a bit nerve wracking and yet exciting at the same time. No More Hiding will remain right where it is on site, in Premium, just as it started out as. While obviously I'll have to focus on deadlines set by the publisher when they come up, I'll still be working on my other stuff as time allows. I'm hoping to have a Saturday Short posted later today and a new chapter of Thwarted in the next couple of days! Don't forget, if you're currently reading Joined by Blood, I'll be unpublishing it sometime on February 1st and it won't be back up until revisions are complete, and then it will be found in Premium.

Woohoo! It's Friday, which mean's not only is the weekend just around the corner but it's time for a couple of new prompts. I hope everybody has had a great week so far and that you have a great start to the weekend. What better way to start it than taking one of today's prompts and write a little bit of flash fiction. Don't forget, story's under 1,000 words have to be posted as part of a collection. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with for next week! Prompt 386 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – angry teenager, a bright pink balloon, an elephant, a pie, and a note. Prompt 387 – Creative Tag – New World You’ve been upset for months at work. There have been rumors of a gateway connecting your world to another, but you haven’t been able to confirm it and as a leading scientist in xenobiology you had hoped to be included. Finally, you have had enough and storm down to your boss’s office only to find as you open the door a whole new world before you. What happened and what is this new world like? It's always hard to choose a prompt to feature, and this week was no different. However, it must be done. This week I decided to feature a prompt that brought tears to my eyes, Valkyrie71's response to Prompt #385: So, who's the kid and what's he doing there? Read on to find out!

Have you downloaded January's Signature Background yet? If you haven't already done so, the month is only half over so there's still plenty of time! To go along with this month's background, we're happy to bring you today's interview with Stellar, courtesy of Cia. Enjoy! Interview: Stellar on " Hidden Sunlight" Single people often have more time to write. Are you single? I think the correct phrase would be 'terminally single.' Being an Aspie makes it difficult to meet and connect with people on a social level, let alone further than that. So, yes, very single. Do you have an ulterior motive here, question-asker? P.S. Let me add that having more spare time doesn't necessarily translate to getting more written. Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? I'm healthier than I used to be! I eat my fruits and most vegetables, though if you put kumara (New Zealand's native sweet potato) or parsnip in front of me ... yuck! No way. Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? Sometimes, sometimes not! I'm inconsistent. What brought you to the Gay Authors? Comicality did. Before he joined GA, I was regular on his forums (up until roughly 2002) and within that community. Due to personal circumstances I fell out of touch with most people I knew there. Fast forward a few years later to GA's earlier days, and I discovered he was now hosted here, so I became an infrequent lurker. Then fast forward a lot more to 2010 when I decided I would stop lurking and make an account so I could comment. Then again to 2012 when I made the bigger step of posting the start of a new fiction I wanted to write—and that was when I became an author. Do you have any writing rituals? No rituals as such. I do need calm to get any writing done. It's mostly just having the correct environment so I can concentrate on what I'm doing. Sound in particular is a big distraction, so quiet is important. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Balancing the desire for complicated flowery prose against letting the story tell itself in simple cleaner language. Often, less is more and I have to constantly fight that desire! Characterisation and scene-setting description has become much easier the more I do it, so making it all connect and not sound like I'm trying to be clever and riff Shakespeare is the main concern. What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? Probably the toughest criticism given was not even on GA, and was to do with supposed plot implausibility near the end of Hidden Sunlight and my male protagonist being androgynous to the point where the commenter reduced his gender from 'him' to 'it.' That one was insulting, and I won't lie -- I was pretty annoyed reading it. The other criticisms have been mostly minor things to do with pacing and flow of the narrative. The best compliment, on the other hand, is difficult to choose. I have been given some beautiful praise by readers here; everything from being compared to some of science fiction's greatest authors through to phrasing such as: "This is the best thing I have read, online or offline, and I have been an avid reader for X years." That sort of tribute is humbling and often is what keeps me going when I'm feeling at my least motivated. How did you come up with the title for Hidden Sunlight? Well I want to be careful what I say here because the title is also the most important element of the plot, so telling precisely what it means in an explanation would be a spoiler. It is a metaphor that is partially literal; the 'hidden sunlight' is hidden because it is not visible to normal eyesight. However, it is not actually sunlight at all, and this is simply an artistic way that one of the characters (Mira) chooses to imagine it, since it appears like illumination to those special few who are capable of seeing it. In fact, he is the only character that uses the titular phrase, the others choosing different descriptions both verbally and mentally. Ultimately, it was a natural fit, and more poetic than using accurate scientific terminology, which would not only give away the plot by being obvious, but also be a mouthful and decidedly 'unsexy' as a title. Did the characters or the plot come to you first? Parts of both the two primary protagonists were around in my head before the writing began. Shay and Mira were the quickest to tell me how they wanted to be written. I'm just the messenger boy Konstantin was also in proto-form before writing began, as was the genesis for the then-unnamed character that eventually morphed into Hartley. They developed early on alongside the plot, so it was more or less in tandem. Your story has a lot of science involved in the plot, from the beginning til end. Do you have a background in that, or did you just do a lot of research? I have no true background in science, although my brother and I both studied computer science at university. While he went on to become a software programmer, I did not. I'm a very logical details-oriented sort of person, in part because my Aspergers has that influence on the way I think, and also because l have a keen interest in why the natural world does what it does. This means I tend to read a lot about such subjects just for leisure. So, while my own general knowledge can get a fair way, research is always required and I make very sure to do my homework. Certain parts of the plot have needed a lot of extra reading and sometimes for very small details that I simply wanted to be accurate. I have lost track of the number of times I've been awake at 3am reading about ethnic cuisine in Malaysia, Earth's projected demographic change 100 years in the future, particle physics, stellar spectroscopy, Russian firearms ... or whatever it may be. It got to the point where the ads on GA were suggesting hotels in Yakutsk for my next vacation simply because I'd spent so long looking at Siberia on Google maps. What was your favorite part of Hidden Sunlight? Call me a soppy romantic, but the first-kiss scene was emotionally satisfying to write. In fact, most of the scenes where the main pair gets to enjoy a few moments of happiness together were satisfying, because there is a lot of unhappiness in other parts of the plot. Also, the story's climax (the last couple of chapters) whilst an utter headache for me to bring together, was full of awesome moments for the main cast and I was very happy with it once it was done. What are your future projects? Currently I am working on Veil of Shadow, the sequel to Hidden Sunlight. I suppose I may as well say this here, as it isn't exactly a secret, but there will be a third book following this, to make a trilogy. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I have a few story ideas; one major one is more pure fantasy, another a more typical youth-drama type romance with less crazy world destroying antics. I'll decide closer to that time what I'm going to do.

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, Yettie One has provided us with a review of Hidden Sunlight by Stellar. If you haven't already done so, you can go and download this months Signature Background to go with the story. Enjoy! Hidden Sunlight by Stellar Signature Author Reviewer: Yettie One Status: Complete Word Count: 175,938 Hidden Sunlight. I guess in a way, I am kind of biased in writing this review, as I worked with the writer as a beta reader, and was thoroughly engrossed in the story, the overall idea and the vision that the writer created in his mind for his character and their world. The plot unfolds on a planet far from earth called Lucere. It’s central characters are a fourteen year old kid, who has awoken from a medically induced stasis to find the world he knew when he began his treatment has all but been destroyed; a mysterious, yet compelling companion that dotes on the protagonist of the story, a tough and wise Russian, and a wonderful mother figure who is like the Russian, a survivor of the devastation wrought on Lucere and a scientist looking for answers to the many problems they all face. There are strange and powerful beasts, ruthless outlaws, a devilish mercenary, a highly dangerous infection and an ongoing fight for survival as everything seems to be against this band of determined adventurers. This story will drag you through a tangle of close shaves, risky manoeuvres, edge of your seat moments of suspense, and mind blowing scientific detail. You’ll experience moments where you will find yourself howling like a banshee in celebration of timely victories, and have your guts ripped out in moments of heart-breaking trauma, and all of it in brilliant, Technicolor detail. It is this attention to detail that first drew me to the story and made me contact the writer. Soon, I found I would spend hours talking with Stellar about Lucere, and the mysterious power source that drives the central theme of the plot as it unfolds. His understanding of the concepts he is writing about, and the clarity in his mind of his characters and their world is breath taking, and for me this is the underlying success of Hidden Sunlight. Stellar lives and breathes his writing. His attention to the fine detail, the intricate web of dots that connect the puzzle together, and the multiple angles that he uses to approach the plot from give so much depth and flavour to the story. As a reader you are acutely aware of the emotion and mental attitude of each of the central characters, even the one that never speaks. Every chapter is carefully constructed to build the tension and just as you think you’ll find the answers, or find some resolution to the problems confronting the kids and their friends, the chapter abruptly ends, forcing you to keep reading as the desire for knowledge is never quite quenched. The action sequences of the book are explosive, dynamic and visceral. Frequently, I would find myself sitting on the edge of my bed, my foot quivering in the tension of the moment, my breath ragged and uneven. You live the adventure with these characters, and that is the crowning glory of this story for me. I was able to escape my reality and become immersed in the creation of the author, life breathed into the pages through his words, and excitement drooling out at me through my screen. From the beginning to the end, I have loved this story and its characters, especially the special one. If you want to know who I am talking about, I am afraid you will just have to head on over to the story and read it for yourself, but be assured, it will be one that you will remember and never regret taking the time to read. Hidden Sunlight is a wonderful gem of a story, one the author should be proud of producing, and one that you cannot afford to miss reading. Category: Fiction Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi Tags: Gay, Off-Planet, Space, Coming of Age, Love, Future Rating: Mature

I hope everyone has had a great week so far. It's still hard to believe that we're in a new year, 2014 seemed to go by so quickly! It's been a busy week here in the blog and in case anyone missed a post throughout the weeks, it's time to take a brief look at what happened this past week. Cia joined us on Monday to announce the first CSR choice for the year. If you haven't already read Joe the Welder by Robert Rex, now's your chance. If you finish it by the 26th, you'll even be able to join in the discussion. (I'm sure you can join in even if you're not done yet, but you might end up with a few spoilers!) You asked and Myr answered. Or maybe that's Myr asked and you answered. Either way, Myr responded to the request for a look at the stats for the last year. It seemed like quite a few people were surprised at the numbers, they weren't quite what they were expecting. Want to know if your country is one of the top 15 visiting the site? Check out Myr's blog post! Wednesday brought us the first Ask An Author feature of the year. This month's edition included questions for Mark Arbour, Thomas Nealy, and Thorn Wilde. Curious as to what they were asked and what their answers were? Go read the blog post, and don't forget to send Dark your questions! Friday was prompt day once again! If your feeling blocked or just want a short break from your regular story, check out the prompts. Maybe one of them will spark an idea for you. This week I featured a previous response from Cole Matthews! Anthology Announcements: ***NOTE: All Deadlines (except Poetry) are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*** 2015 Spring Anthology: Full Circle - Due March 3rd 2015 Poetry Anthology: Remember - Due April 15th (Poetry Anthology is exempt from the Anthology Proof Team) 2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd ***NEW READING*** In Premium: The Harvest: Taken by M.A. Church Do Over by dkstories *reposting* By our Classic Authors: Life in a Northern Town by Dabeagle Su Cuy'gar by Dabeagle By our Signature Authors: Saturday Shorts by Renee Stevens Cosmic Inception by Cia Thwarted by Renee Stevens Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards Sword of Kings: Forged Out of Necessity by Bill W Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Fortitude by Cia By our Promising Authors: Poems by carringtonrj Ladies' Man by Sasha Distan; Book 9 of American Songbook Barbed Wire Heart by Cole Matthews London and Love by carringtonrj Dinner is Prompt-ly at Eight by Cole Matthews Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!