Renee Stevens

Thanks for the review! I was really interested to see what my readers thought about the shortness of the time they'd get together before Trey had to leave on his deployment. Unfortunately, things like that happen all to frequently. Not so much the short time frame of knowing someone, but orders getting changed like that. It happened to a friend of mine. I agree that love at first sight can be real and can be lasting. I knew I had strong feelings for my hubby within the first week, though we didn't get married until two years later, though we're going on 8 years together, 6 of those married this year. Hopefully we'll have many many more together! Congrats on your 27 years and thanks for the review!!!

Very true Lisa, it will be up to Trey to convince them that it's not just because of Mark. He'll need to convince them that it's what HE really wants. Only time will tell how it will work out. Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the review Suvitar! I wish I could divulge more about Trey's parents, but I can't without giving away some of what's upcoming in the story, hope you continue to enjoy it and look forward to hearing your thoughts on upcoming chapters!

Mark nearly collided with Trey as he stepped out of the bathroom. Trey’s hands shot out and grabbed him as he stumbled backwards. “Hey, everything okay with your dad?” Mark stepped closer and dropped a kiss on Trey’s lips. “Yeah, he still thinks we’re moving too fast, but I think I managed to put some of his concerns to rest.” Trey smiled. “I hope you told him that if we did move in together, they are welcome to visit whenever they’d like.” Mark laced his fingers with Trey’s and headed bac

Many authors have had reviews in which they're just not sure how to respond. We've had reviews that tell us how much a reader has loved our stories and how they just can't wait for the next chapter or story to come out, but there's the other side that as an author we're not always sure how to handle. The purpose of this blog is to show how some of our promoted authors have dealt with some of their worst criticisms. There was so much interest from our Promising and Signature Authors that I had to break the blog post up into two parts. Today, in Part I, I'm focusing on Promising Authors. On March 19th, I'll post Part II and you'll get to hear from the Signature Authors here at Gay Authors. Each author has picked what they felt was both one of their best compliments and their worst/harshest criticism. I hope you enjoy this look into how other authors handle some of their harsher criticisms. Promising Author: Andy78; author of The Crown Affair Well, not really much of a struggle to find my worst criticism. It was from my creative writing lecturer. She said: Although the story fulfils the provided brief, I find it an implausible plot, set in yet another homophobic school. What makes the plot even more implausible, is that it contains the obligatory and clichéd teen who accepts and befriends the gay character. Although the story has no issues concerning grammar or punctuation, the repetitive feel to previous stories means this is definitely not your best piece of work. How was I affected by it: To say I was irked is an understatement. The brief was “write a 2000-3000 word story on a bullied teen”, and this was only the third short I had “set in yet another homophobic school” out of probably twenty shorts over two years. I wasn’t the only person in the class who had gone down “the gay teen” route, but what had annoyed me was that she had based her comments on the fact that I had previously written gay-themed stories and not considered the story on its own merits. I felt that her criticism was unjust, but hey, it was after all only one person’s opinion on one 2500 word story. It took a lot, but I finally managed to shrug it off Finding my best compliment has been so much harder. I’ve had so many wonderful reviews and some great feedback from readers here at GA, and offsite. But I guess one of my favourites, one that probably meant the most to me, was a review left by Nephylim of The Ddraig-Cyfinachau (which I really must get back to writing): (Chapter 7 Review) – posted by Nephylim June 12, 2012 The Cailleach is my favourite goddess. She who tears down so that new growth may sprout up. Not as violent at the Mhorrigan, more natural... which, after all death is. Can the deaths be justified? In a way, I suppose it depends on how you view death. Many Celtic deities/demi gods can be considered to be violent and immoral but it depends on your own particular moral code and what you justify to yourself. I have no problem with accepting the deaths were necessary. Cruel, yes but necessary in the progression of the story and the myth, How was I affected by it: This was a review of a particularly gruesome chapter, and to be honest about the only review/comment/feedback that didn’t make me think I’d made a horrible mistake with the way the chapter played out. There was a lot of emotional response from the chapter, mostly sent to me by PM, and I’m sure I lost a number of readers because of it. Although I have had some great reviews in my time here, they have been primarily from widely liked stories, this was one of only a couple of positive reviews I received for the chapter, which told me that I must have done something right. The very lopsided feedback I had from this chapter made me realise that the saying is true: You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time. However, Nephylim’s review gave me the confidence to write my story my way. Promising Author: Andr0gene; author of Colorado Game Best Compliment: Not sure if it is a compliment, but they always want more. I guess that is the best compliment one can get. Worst Criticism: There are three 'critisisms' that I agree with, and would love to correct at some point in time: 1) The cop out with the father being ill, and the main character leaving without a word since. Too easy. 2) People hating Mark for being too trusting with Kyle, not realizing he was being played by Kyle. That didn't come out right, and I'd love to fix it. 3) Spelling. Writing in another language is not a good excuse to use. Good editors would fix that. Having said that, I would not dream of dissing my old editor's efforts (Bill) for even a smidge. All I can do is expand on what he has done for me. Promising Author: K.C.; author of Pour Me Another Ever since I started putting my writing out there for the world to see, I’ve gotten an overwhelming number of reviews both good and bad over the last few years. When readers connect with my stories, when they enjoy something I’ve created, it gives me encouragement and it makes me want to work harder to bring them the best story I can. Unfortunately, negative review can sometimes do the opposite. It’s hard to keep your chin up and take the blows when someone hates a story I’ve worked so hard to create. I try to stay objective and tell myself that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but honestly, it hurts! At one point, while working on "Shepherd's Crook" a reader publically announced that people should never read this story. The reader said to stay clear of it or they will have to adjust their depression medication. I was very taken aback by this. The reader went on to say that I thrived on pain and use nuclear energy to fill the world with bombs. In that moment, I contemplated giving up writing. I sat and stared at the screen. Dazed...Speechless…Wondering… Then I pulled out the journal I use to write all my story ideas. I read over the plots of what I've written in the past and new projects I had for the future. If I only write happy stories, where the world is full of rainbows, fluffy clouds and butterflies, my creative side will die! Life isn’t perfect, it isn’t sugarcoated, and it sure as hell isn’t easy. Nobody is guaranteed a happily-ever-after! Life is messy and complex and a mix of triumph and pain. My goal is create something great, something amazing, something that leaves readers breathless, hanging on each word, begging for more…anything less isn’t worth writing. Promising Author: Mann Ramblings; author of So Little Magic Left Best Compliment: I have two really, both from The Luxorian Fugitive. The first was a review after a chapter where all hell had broken loose and the fate of the main characters was seriously in question: "Oh. My. God." The other was by the same reviewer after a particularly steamy scene in a shower: "You tred the fine line of raunchy so well, lol!" I'm very proud of both and can't choose which one I prefer. Worst Criticism: This was more "Harshest" rather than "Worst." After a particularly violent scene in Little Man I braced for unhappy reactions. "How does this violent physical assault and rape advance the plot? It just strikes me that the drama and its related tesion were already quite high. Now this. I don't get it." I sat back, took a deep breath and responded as politely as I knew how. The story wasn't complete and I hoped the remaining chapters made the scene valid even if the content may have been controversial. Promising Author: Sasha Distan; author of Born Wolf Best Compliment: Wow! After the last chapter, I figured out that each would have to submit to the other in different form for their relationship to work, but OMG! The werewolf culture you have created is fascinating, and the complex relationship you are developing between the boys provides some of the most drawn-out, hottest foreplay in history! I feel like a wolf, panting with my tongue hanging out, waiting for the next chapter! Kudos! Worst Criticism This sucks. I like your story about the bear and the boy, so I decided to read this. It's terrible! You have a "dominant" and big male get raped and not anally raped (not that would have made it better), and is crying and throwing up like a female dog. Women who have actually gotten raped don't act as weak and pathetic as this guy. I can't get over how pathetic you've made him. You should just take the story down and try again. Reaction: As awful as finding out that somebody out there thinks that what you've written isn't worth the binary it's stored in (please forgive my bad-geek paraphrasing), to me, it's still better than no feedback at all. This particular piece of vitriol did not make me question the worth of what i had done. It is one person's opinion. However, our best feedback comes from complaints, and it's important to listen - if this idea had been repeated, then i would have worried. You should never give up because one person doesn't like what you've done, because for each bit of bad feedback, there's always something nice to say. When I get negative feedback (and this bit in particular) I generally storm up and down the house (shouting) until my husband gets me to calm down from the stressed and sweary mess I have gotten myself into. Then I go back to the keyboard and try to prove everybody else wrong. Don't forget to check back on March 19th for Part II!!!!

Every once in a while we like to highlight a story that can be found in the Premium section of Gay Authors. For today's review, Comicfan has provided us with a review of "Burden of Secrets" by Signature Author: Cia. Burden of Secrets is one of thirty-two stories that can be found in the Premium section of Gay Authors. While the majority of content remains free, the Premium section is a thank you to those who help support and keep Gay Authors going. Premium subscriptions also make improvements possible, including the unique GA Stories software and it's upcoming update. If you're looking to purchase premium, you can purchase one of four time frames. The longer time you purchase, the more you save. The current premium pricing structure is: 1 Month Subscription: $8.10 3 Month Subscription: $24.00 6 Month Subscription: $47.00 12 Month Subscription: $93.00 To purchase premium, visit the premium section in the Gay Authors store. Now, let's see what Comicfan had to say about Burden of Secrets! Burden of Secrets by Cia Reviewer: Comicfan Status: Complete Word Count: 25,443 Sometimes you forget that Cia is more than the Site Administrator. Usually you meet her when she goes over your story, or has to deal with some issue that is happening on the site. However, she is also an author with a large body of work behind her. Needing something new to read while running around lately, I sort of stumbled onto her story Burden of Secrets. The story opens in the middle of fight between Chris and his girlfriend Julie at the restaurant they both work at. Within a very short period it is obvious that Chris and Julie aren’t in a solid relationship. Julie is a waitress, while Chris is a pastry chef who is interning at his family’s restaurant. Julie could care less who hears their fight, but Chris is more focused on the boiling sugar he has been working on for his latest dessert. When matters come to a boil and Julie tosses a plate at him, the story really gets going. In dodging the plate, Chris moves quickly and splashes boiling sugar all over the new busboy, Niel. The accident forces the two men to truly notice the other. Unfortunately both men have secrets that they aren’t sure how to explain to the other. Their attraction grows and while they both do overcome their own insecurities it is their secrets that might just end up destroying their love affair before it is realized. Can they be honest with each other or will this be another failed love? You will have to read Cia’s story to find the answer out for yourself. Another fully realized world is created in this short work of love, trust, and honor. Cia weaves a number of threads throughout this work and has to be read to be fully appreciated.

I can't believe the week is already over! Don't forget to get your votes in for the 2013 Gay Authors Readers Choice Awards. To find out more on how to vote, make sure to visit the thread. February 22, 2014 is the last day to vote, so make sure to get your votes in before then! Also, you may have noticed a change in some of the Author Groups here at Gay Authors. Want to check out the new names and what the new names stand for? Check out the thread in the Gay Authors Announcement Forum! This week was Signature Author week in the Gay Authors News Blog. We started out the week with a review that Cia did on Altimexis' story "Love In A Chair." Cia freely admits that the review contains a few spoilers, so you can either go read the review first or you can go straight to the story! To continue with Signature Week, I asked Altimexis some questions about "Love In A Chair". It was a great interview and was really informative as Altimexis gave some great answers that I'm sure other readers of his story had as well. Check it out and maybe a question that you had was answered as well! Once again, Friday was our designated Prompt Day! We had two new prompts and featured a prompt response by Jamessavik. This weeks prompts included a first line prompt and a creative prompt with the tag "trip to space". It will be interesting, as always, to see what the members of GA can come up with! Anthology Announcements: 2014 Spring Anthology: Nature's Wrath - Due Mar 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is March 5th* 2014 Summer Anthology: The Backup Plan - Due June 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is June 5th* NEW READING In Premium this week: Boy Called Slave by Nephylim Do Over by dkstories Book 1 of Do Over Series *reposting* By our Signature Authors this week: A prompt a week by comicfan Let the Music Play by C James Timber Pack Chronicles by Rob Colton, Book 1 of Timber Pack Chronicles The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality Book 8 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9.11 by Mark Arbour Book 13 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Geeks by CassieQ 0300 Book 3 by David McLeod Lost Inside by Cia Book 2 of Carthera Tales Thwarted by Renee Stevens Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon Brushfire by Adam Phillips "Waiting Outside The Lines" by Comicality Last Christmas by comicfan GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban By our Promising Authors this week: Lay Your Prompts On Me by Sasha Distan The Road to the Future by JMH Book 4 of The Centurion Cycle A Child's Life by andy021278 What's in a Prompt by andy021278 Book 3 of GA Prompt Stories MUSH! by Sasha Distan Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings Born Wolf by Sasha Distan So Little Magic Left by Mann Ramblings Remember.... Read, Write... and REVIEW!!!!!

I hope everyone had a great week and is looking forward to the weekend. Being as it's Friday again, Comicfan has once again provided us with two new prompts to help you kickstart your weekend off write. Hopefully one of these prompts will call out to you. Don't forget to share your prompt, or the link, in the Prompt Forum. Prompt 302 – Creative Tag – Trip to Space You have been chosen to take part in one of the deep space missions to Mars. This mission is only possible by sending people up with their mates knowing they will be spending the next twenty years in deep space there and back with this person. Your are arrive at the training station in three months, giving you time to pack up and say your goodbyes to friends and family. There is only one problem for you though, what is it? Prompt 303 – Creative Tag – First Line “How did you get into my room?” There were so many responses to last weeks prompts, it was a hard choice to make. I decided to go with the first taker, which got a lot of response in the forum. Enjoy Jamessavik's take on Prompt #300: To read the rest of Jamessavik's response as well as the rest of the response to Prompt #300, visit the thread! We also had quite a few takers on Prompt #301, so check out that thread too! As always... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

As many already know, 2013 hit me and my family hard. It made it difficult to do much writing and I did the one thing I hate doing, I put some "In Progress" stories on hold. I have some big plans with my stories for 2014, so I'm really hoping that this year goes better than last. Some of my plans for 2014 include: [sharedmedia=stories:stories:3540] Thwarted has been "In Progress" since May 2013. It is currently at 24 chapters and I'm still not sure how many chapters it will be, but it will be completed in 2014. I am writing this as part of a flash fiction group known as the "Wednesday Briefers". [sharedmedia=stories:stories:2976] Forging Trust while listed as "In Progress" has been on hold since the end of 2012. It currently has 9 chapters, and while I'm not sure how often the chapters will be released, Forging Trust is high on my to do list for 2014. [sharedmedia=stories:stories:3502] Line of Sight is also listed as "In Progress" but has been on hold since April 2013. It currently has 7 chapters, and like Forging Trust, I'm not sure how often chapters will be released, but I will once more begin to work on this story. Line of Sight is a story where each chapter is started with a "first line prompt" and I may take this up in place of my Wednesday Briefers flash fiction once Thwarted is completed. A Family Gathering (Working Title) This is a short story that is complete and in revision. When done it will be posted in probably four to five parts. If you'd like to read a sneak peek of this story, you can visit the link above. Dom/Landon Wolf Shifter (Title TBD) This is a short story that is about 3/4 complete. Once done it will go through revisions and then be posted in probably three to four parts. If you'd like to read a sneak peek of this story, you can visit the link above. I also have another story in the works that I have a deadline on, but I'll share more on that later. I hope everyone is looking forward to the upcoming stories and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them! Cheers!!! ~Renee

Thanks for the review LadyDe! I really wanted to keep Mom's introduction lighthearted since I already knew that I was going to end the chapter with that line from Dad and that it would have readers guessing as to Dad's thoughts. Hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!

Thanks for the review DDK! I sometimes love to keep the readers guessing as to what is going on inside my characters heads. I new before I even started writing the chapter that I was going to end it with that line and I have to admit, I was curious as to how the readers would take it. It has definitely sparked some comments, lol. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for the review Lisa! You are certainly right that it could go either way. I certainly have reasons for everything I do, and Trey's dad's final words of this chapter will come into play again later in this story, but that's all I'm going to say on that for now, lol. Not too much I can say about Trey's mom at this point since we've really only gotten a brief glimpse of her, but I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter!

Thanks for the review Suvitar! I'm interested to see what future chapters will show and I'm the one writing it , lol. As for Trey's dad... well, that will be coming up in future chapters, lol. Glad you're enjoying!

Thanks for the review Clochette! That last sentence was sitting in my head and seemed the perfect way to end the chapter, though I guess it could have been considered mean as well, lol. I admit it is hard to know what to think about Trey's dad and it is just the introductions, so now just see what the week ahead brings. Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Thanks for the review DDK! Me and you both!!!

Yeah, I'd like that too! LOL. I had that scene in my head for a previous prompt that was supplied, a pan of cinnamon rolls, but I didn't get it written due to stuff that was going on, so I figured I'd still incorporate it later on as I loved the scene. I agree that he needs to go since it's important for Trey, now it's just getting them there and seeing how it goes! Thanks for the review Lisa!

Thank you Suvitar! Glad you think so and it's not intentional, it's just hard to move it forward sometimes with the shortness of the chapters, but it's getting there, I promise!

“You’re going to what?” Gary set his coffee down and stared at his son. “Live with Mark.” Trey smiled at Mark and turned to face his dad. “Before you even start, I already know what you’re going to say.” “You think so?” Gary laced his fingers together on top of the table. “Yep. You’re going to tell me that we’re moving way too fast”—Trey shrugged—“but you’re not telling us anything we haven’t already thought about.” “Then why not wait?” Diane glanced at Mark. “Please don’t misunderstand,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far! On Monday we had a review of "Love In A Chair" by our Signature Author: Altimexis as a part of "Signature Week" here in a the Gay Authors News Blog. "Love In A Chair" was chosen for the February Background, if you haven't already downloaded your copy of the background, you can still do so by visiting the blog entry. To continue the "Signature Week" I sent Altimexis a few questions about "Love In A Chair" and he was kind enough to answer them for me! I hope you enjoy his answers as much as I did! Interview with Altimexis What made you originally decide to write “Love in a Chair”? As I suspect is the case for many if not most readers, my first introduction to gay-themed literature was the Nifty Archive. Of course I found the quality of the writing to range from abysmal at the worst to mediocre at best, with a few exceptions. In my reading, I came across a handful of stories that included characters with physical disabilities and although some of them were actually well-written, by and large they all portrayed those characters as helpless. I recall quite well that one story in particular had a gay paraplegic kid in the story who seemingly was incapable of propelling his own wheelchair! He had to be pushed everywhere by the other kids in the story. Yet he had perfectly functioning sexual organs. It was sickening. I grew up with an autistic brother and my best friend in college had a congenital defect that confined him to a wheelchair, and when it came to choosing a career, I chose one that involved working with people with disabilities. Seeing stories on Nifty that portrayed gay kids with disabilities as being helpless made my blood boil, and so I decided to do something about it. I'd always enjoyed writing and so I decided to write a full-length story about a kid with an acquired spinal cord injury. In reading through your forum, it was made clear to me that you wanted this story to be as realistic as possible, did you find it hard to write at times? Actually, writing about a character with a disability was the easy part! I have been writing professionally about people with physical disabilities for decades. I teach medical students and residents about many of the things that were in the story - things such as how to manage bowel and bladder function, and alternative means of achieving sexual satisfaction. These are the sort of things that are never brought up in a clinical setting, yet these are the things that bring the most distress to people with disabilities, even more than the loss of the ability to walk. I wanted to convey all of this in my story, yet make it uplifting in the end. Is there anything about “Love In A Chair” that you now wish you had done differently? Oh God yes! LiaC was my first stab at writing since I was a kid, and my first full-length novel. I almost can't stand reading it now - it's just so sappy. I'm probably my harshest critic, but I definitely could have made the characters more realistic, given their love more time to develop and given them much more depth. You seemed to have gotten a lot of feedback while writing your story, did you change anything you had planned for the story based on the feedback you received? I know there are some authors who write a story and don't even read the feedback they get while writing the story. Quite a few authors won't change anything in the story, even when a reader points out an inconsistency or an outright error. I have never seen a story as a static art form that must remain as originally written, no matter what. When I posted the first chapter on Nifty, I had no editors and I did my own proofreading. That very quickly changed. I started getting feedback right away and I even went back and revised some of what I'd already written. My original outline for LiaC did not include the accident scene investigation, nor time spent in jail. One of the people providing feedback, however, was a lawyer and his insights very quickly made me realize that these things were needed to make the story more realistic. There were other additions too. What was the easiest part of writing your story? The hardest part? The easiest part was writing about the clinical aspects of living with a spinal cord injury. As already stated, I do that for a living. The hardest part was writing about a serious suicide attempt. Most people with major disabilities think about it, and some think about it often, but very few actually carry it out. A few years before I wrote LiaC, however, I was approached by a man who'd been a quadriplegic for more than thirty years and wished to be taken off his ventilator. In the end he got his wish and I was with him when he passed away. I still have nightmares about it to this day. How did you feel when you finally finished writing “Love In A Chair”? I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I'd never attempted to write a novel before and would have never thought I could do it before. LiaC gave me the courage to continue writing, and I've now written several novels and novellas, and more are on the way. Unless I am mistaken, you posted “Love In A Chair” as you were writing it, did you wish you had waited until it was finished to start posting it? LiaC was a special case. It was my first attempt at writing a novel and I wanted to get it right. There is nothing I hate more than an abandoned story, however, and so I adopted a paradigm I still follow to this day - I will not begin posting a story until the first draft is done. That doesn't mean I won't make revisions as I receive feedback, however, and I will always correct outright errors, even after they have been published. With LiaC, however, there were major revisions along the way. Nothing I've written since has undergone such significant revision once I started posting. Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers about your experience while writing “Love in a Chair”? I want to thank my readers for their support and for their invaluable feedback. I also want to thank them for putting up with all the over-the-top sappiness in LiaC - it was my first serious attempt at writing and it shows. Still, I think it is a good story and it is by far the most accurate portrayal of a gay teen with a disability that I am aware of. I hope my readers enjoy it, and ask them to check out some of my more recent stories at GA.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a new story to be featured in the GA News Blog. This week we're featuring the story that Cia picked for the February Hosted Background. If you haven't already downloaded your background, it's not too late. You have the choice of one with or without a calendar. You can visit the Hosted Background blog entry and get yours now! Now, time for Cia's review of Love In A Chair! Enjoy! Love in a Chair By Altimexis Length: 147,154 Status: Complete Reviewer: Cia *Spoiler Alert* I give a broad outline of the plot in this, so if you really want to read it without knowing… stop reading my review and use the link to go read the story already! LOL I thought, for February’s Hosted feature, I would share a love story. Now, a lot of stories here have a romance. But this was not only an author’s first story, it was a story about first love in a coming of age/coming out story. Most of us have memories of our first loves—and for those who don’t, it’s coming—and treasure them. The age varies, of course, but many of us were teens. Teenager hormones flare wildly and often seesaw girls and guys into extreme behavior. That’s especially true when it comes to attraction, lust, and love. A lot of people don’t think teens can fall in love, but I do. I met my husband sixteen years ago, when I was just a few months after the older of the main characters was in this story. I could relate, in a way, to the story and so I decided to feature Love in a Chair. Some aspects of the story were spectacularly told. The ups and downs and accompanying drama definitely fit the teen characters. Aaron and Brian, while young, knew how they felt about each other. They both grapple with their sexuality and what it means to be a gay teen when not everyone is willing to accept differences. Kids can definitely be cruel, and it wasn’t easy. Of course a large part of the conflict in the story comes from an accident. Brian and Aaron panic when they think their relationship is going to be exposed, and a series of unexpected events leads to tragedy. Aaron faces persecution from Brian’s parents after a car accident where he was driving illegally leaves Brian paralyzed. He also faces prosecution from a botched investigation by a biased and bigoted sheriff’s office. Meanwhile, Brian is facing a life completely different from what he ever expected. Physically and emotionally he has to adjust to his new reality, harsh as it is. It leads to good things for both teens and then it all goes bad… anger, depression, attempted suicide, a near death experience all lead up to a dramatic climax. So, that’s the plot. As for the writing… well, this just goes to show how much a person can improve. I can’t speak to the sex scenes, since I skipped those due to personal preference, but the overall writing was rough. Not enough to prevent enjoyment of a story, but not nearly close to Altimexis’ current writing ability. While I believe that teenagers can fall in love, and stay in love through those years into adulthood, it’s not easy. It takes a lot of maturity, in fact. However, sometimes Brian and Adam’s dialogue was far too mature for their years. It felt unrealistic at times. What I loved about this story? The research and realism of the technical aspects of the plot elements. I’ve worked with quad and paraplegics. The medical information was spot on and the difficult, and often messy, aspects of learning to deal with/live with/care for someone with a disability like Brian’s wasn’t downplayed and glossed over. That impressed me because all too often people use the disability trope in a story and handle it poorly. Overall, I give Love in a Chair a 3.5 out of 5 stars. The amount of sex was a bit much for me, even for teenage characters, but if you don’t mind minor rough writing and like a long, complex teen story about coming out and coming of age with some serious bumps along the way, you should check out this story!

So, a few things happening this week around Gay Authors. For those who haven't noticed, voting has opened for the 2013 Gay Authors Readers Choice Awards. To find out more on how to vote, make sure to visit the thread. February 22, 2014 is the last day to vote, so make sure to get your votes in before then! Also, you may have gone to post in a forum only to notice that it wasn't where you're used to it being. The administration team has been consolidating some of the forums to give the site a cleaner look. If you want to know more, you can read Myr's announcement in the Gay Authors Announcement Forum. Wednesday, Dark was back with the 13th installment of Ask An Author! This week there were questions for Andrew Q Gordon, Layla, and Nephylim. As always, there were both some great questions and some great answers. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, but if you haven't read it yet, it's still there, waiting for you to check it out! Friday's are always popular and are known for the new prompts being released, this week was no exception. Comicfan gave us prompts with the tag of "The Ring" as well as a list of words. We've already had some takers on the prompts for this week but there's always room for more, so don't miss your chance to be featured in next week's Prompt Me feature. This week, we featured a Jo Ann's response to Prompt #299. Anthology Announcements: There's only a month left to get your entry in for the Spring Anthology. Don't forget, that March 8th is the deadline for your story to be uploaded into GA Stories. However, all authors need to have their stories to the Anthology Proof Team no later than March 5th to ensure that the team has time to go over them and get them back to you in plenty of time. Also, in the past I have had authors interested in doing more than one story for the anthologies. After some discussion, is has been decided that authors will now be allowed more than one entry in the anthologies providing the extra entries meet the submission criteria. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me (Renee Stevens). 2014 Spring Anthology: Nature's Wrath - Due Mar 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is March 5th* 2014 Summer Anthology: The Backup Plan - Due June 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is June 5th* NEW READING In Premium this week: Boy Called Slave by Nephylim By our Hosted Authors this week: Let the Music Play by C James The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality Book 8 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase A prompt a week by comicfan 9.11 by Mark Arbour Book 13 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Standing In Shadows by Krista Kiss Of An Angel by Comicality Odyssey by Mark Arbour Book 6 of Bridgemont 0300 Book 3 by David McLeod Prometheus Wakens by David McLeod Recovery by Nephylim Last Christmas by comicfan By our Sponsored Authors this week: Timber Pack Chronicles by Rob Colton, Book 1 of Timber Pack Chronicles Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton By our Promising Authors this week: Tailgate Hangout by Sasha Distan Book 3 of American Songbook MUSH! by Sasha Distan So Little Magic Left by Mann Ramblings Born Wolf by Sasha Distan The Crown Affair by andy021278 Remember.... Read, Write... and REVIEW!!!!!

Who's ready for the weekend to get here? To help you start it out on the right foot, we're bringing you two new prompts from the prompt guru, Comicfan. If you're interested in checking out some of the older prompts that Comicfan has supplied, you can check them out and share your responses in the Prompt Forum! Hopefully one of this weeks prompts will inspire you! Prompt 300 – Creative Tag – The Ring You were shopping in mall and came across a little jewelry store. Considering you were there with friends you figured you would wander around even though you had no desire to buy anything. As you were walking down the counter the merchant spotted you and motioned you over to show you something. When you got near he immediately pointed out a ring, saying it would be “perfect for you.” The thing is when you seen it for some reason you really wanted it. What made the ring so “perfect?” Prompt 301 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – roses, romantic dinner, an earring, a teddy bear, and a skunk. We only had a couple of takers on the prompts for last week. Both of them were on Prompt #299. This week, I decided to feature Joann414's response. Enjoy! To read the rest of Jo Ann's tale and to check out the other prompt response, visit the thread! As always, Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!

I've heard countless times how much everyone loves the Ask An Author feature and want to give a big Thank You to Dark for taking the time to contact all the authors and compile these wonderful Wednesday pieces. Don't forget, if you have a question you'd like to "Ask an Author" all you need to do is send Dark a PM!! Hope you enjoy!!! Ask an Author #13 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #12, we had questions for authors Cia, Riley Jericho, and Thomas Nealy. In AtA #13, we hear from authors Andrew Q Gordon, Layla, and Nephylim. 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. Today’s first author is published and Hosted Author Andrew Q Gordon, aka Q. 2011-2013 are proving to be a few momentous years for Andy. First, there’s Lil’ Q; then there’s that fiasco with a creep on Amazon; plus, don’t forget Andy’s website, and the 3 novels that have been published, one co-authored with friend and fellow GA author AnytaSunday. But above all, Andy and Mike celebrate 18 years together in 2013. Congrats, you love birds. To Andrew Q Gordon: As writers we covet, and pull from the things we know and see around us. Our characters are formed from stereotypes and enhanced with parts of our memories; places are put together from things we have seen; conversations are repeated from real life; and even whole stories are retold on paper. If you were a character in one of your stories, what would you draw from the most to ensure the character would be most like you? You mean I'm not a character in a book already? To answer this would depend on what type of character. For instance, am I writing about me now? As a teenager? College? Work related? Home? Each of these would result in a different character unless it was autobiographical and that would be boring. But, I think if I had to draw on anything it would be my location. I think that accurate, detailed location make it easier for the writer to 'see' the scene. To me, that is most important. Try describing something you've never seen. So you're making it up whole cloth. That is one of the big difficulties in Sci-fi/Fantasy - these places do not exist so you're forced to make it up. And since the world evolves over time, it makes sense that the scene you 'see' would change and become more vibrant as you 'live' with it longer. So if I were adding myself in as a character, I'd draw up my time in a specific environment in order to make it feel more real and give me more depth to the reader. Our next author is Layla. She’s a Midwestern girl who you don’t want to mess with in a dark alley (she has a black belt in Tae Kwan Do!). Besides taking care of her family, writing, and winning acclaim for her photography and jelly, Layla is also going to school for animation. If you don’t think that’s quite enough yet, Layla made a list for her New Year’s Resolutions, like camping and hiking and hunting and gardening and music and …. And don’t forget to check out Guitars and Crossdressers, a story about figuring out what’s important in life -- and let’s not forget the endearingly flawed characters. To Layla: Your characters are so flawed, which I think is brilliant, but do you worry that you make them too unlikable for the reader? What keeps them redeemable? Yes, there are many moments in a story when I do worry about the way that the readers are going to perceive the actions of the characters and if it will turn them away from the story. I guess in the end, I try to think about what motivates the characters to do the things they do and how much growth can come from their flaws and failures in the end. People don’t learn and grow and in a day, and more often than not we heap mistakes on top of mistakes before we find the right path. I kind of look at my stories as journeys that the characters are on, and I think what keeps them redeemable is the changes they exhibit along the way. My characters are going to fall down and they are going to fail many times over the course of a story, and for all of them, I try to show shades of gray. Few characters are going to be completely bad (like Jasper in Angels), and few are going to be completely good, because that just isn’t how real life works. There is a brutal honesty to the pain and follies of the characters, and I think that makes them redeemable too; that the readers can see past the cracks and the flaws to the people the characters could be. Today’s final author has also become published here in 2012-2013. That would be Hosted Author and fallen angel Nephylim. These days she spends a lot of her time publicizing her work and putting herself out there through weekly flash fiction on her website. Lucky for us, she’s also posting her flash fiction here on GA and the first of those was In the Arms of an Angel, a charming story about what might happen if you -- quite accidentally -- run over an angel? Of course it was an accident! Don’t be silly. To Nephylim: How do you come up with the titles of your stories? How do you know this is the one? It really varies. i always give the story a name at the beginning, when i open the Word document I'm going to write it in and there is only one story i have ever changed the name of afterwards. That was 'Fallen' which started off as 'Vampire Lightly'. The reason I changed it was because I thought people would be confused by the name, not because I didn't like it. As for how I come by them, the answer is very simple and somewhat boring.\All my stories start with a flash of inspiration, whether initiated by a dream, a TV program a conversation on a train etc, and the name usually comes with it. I very rarely have to think about it. 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! Coming next time: Comicality, dkstories, and Stellar. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to everyone who will be watching the game! I can't believe that it's already February, it seems like this year has just flown by so far. The nomination phase of the 2013 Gay Authors Readers Choice Awards is over. I hope everyone got in their nominations before they ended at 12:00 am EST time this morning. Now, lets see what happened in the GA News Blog this week! We started the week with the CSR Discussion on Totallyy's collection of short stories, complete with an interview and a live Q & A session. There were lots of different questions asked and it was a lively day on the blog. It's well worth a look, so if you haven't already done so, give it a glance, or two. It seemed like a week for interviews. On Wednesday we continued with an interview with Hosted Author: CassieQ as well as a Blog Chat. Not only did Cassie talk about her stories and writing, but she also talked about what inspired her to write certain stories. It was really quite informative and I even asked her what was something about her that people might be surprised to find out. If your curious about her answer, check out the blog! We ended the week, and the month, with two new prompts from Comicfan. This week's prompts consisted of a "first line" prompt and one with the tag of "the carpet". Both will hopefully inspire some stories from the authors at Gay Authors. For our featured prompt response, I chose a response from the prompt guru himself. Check out Friday's post and see if either of the new prompts call out to you and check out Comicfan's response to last week's prompt! We had an extra blog entry this week. We started out the month with a blog post on Saturday which featured a new Hosted Background for the month of February. This month's featured story is "Love in a Chair" by Altimexis. Members have two choices of which background they want, one with a calendar or one without. To download your background, visit the Saturday post! Anthology Announcements: 2014 Spring Anthology: Nature's Wrath - Due Mar 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is March 5th* 2014 Summer Anthology: The Backup Plan - Due June 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is June 5th* NEW READING In Premium this week: Boy Called Slave by Nephylim By our Hosted Authors this week: Adverse Effects by Cia Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia Let the Music Play by C James Odyssey by Mark Arbour Book 6 of Bridgemont Geeks by CassieQ 0300 Book 3 by David McLeod 9.11 by Mark Arbour Book 13 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) New Kid In School by Comicality Lost Inside by Cia Book 2 of Carthera Tales Thwarted by Renee Stevens Last Christmas by comicfan Recovery by Nephylim By our Sponsored Authors this week: Timber Pack Chronicles by Rob Colton, Book 1 of Timber Pack Chronicles Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton By our Promising Authors this week: MUSH! by Sasha Distan Born Wolf by Sasha Distan So Little Magic Left by Mann Ramblings Guitars 2 by layla Remember.... Read, Write... and REVIEW!!!!!

It's Friday! You know what that means. Yup, that's right, it's time for two new prompts to make themselves known!!! Before I give you the prompts that Comicfan has so graciously provided, I'd like to remind everyone that you only have until February 2nd to get your nominations in for the 2013 Gay Author's Readers Choice Awards! This is your chance to get your favorite stories from 2013 noticed by the rest of the members of Gay Authors. To find out what stories are eligible, how to nominate a story/author, and so much more, visit the thread in The Lounge! Now, onto the prompts! Prompt 298 – Creative Tag – The Carpet When you got the letter from the lawyer asking you to come to the will reading of your Great Great Aunt Matilda, you thought the whole thing had to be a mistake. As far as you knew there was no Aunt Matilda. However, you were convinced to go. While family members you didn’t even know existed got jewels, houses, and cars, you were left an old Arabian Carpet which everyone seemed upset about. In fact, six of your new cousins offered to buy it from you sight unseen. It arrived at your home a week later and you found it really didn’t fit with anything you owned and you seriously considered donating the old thing to good will. That is when the letter arrived telling you that your carpet wasn’t just an ordinary carpet. What makes it so special? Prompt 299 – Creative Tag – First Line “I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!” After looking through the various responses to last weeks prompts, I decided to feature the response from the prompt guru himself. I hope you enjoy this short tale from Comicfan, inspired by Prompt #296, Don't worry, the story doesn't end there, you can read the rest of it here. There were so many different responses to the two prompts last week, you can check them out by visiting the threads: Prompt #296 & Prompt #297 Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!