Renee Stevens

I really really don't like Will, if you couldn't tell. I agree though, it's hard to pick who to feel for. First off, you have Keith who has just found out the guy he gave up his own place for has been cheating on him, with a woman no less. Then you have Braeden who has kept his own feelings for Keith a secret, thinking it's best for his friend. I would hate to be in either one of their positions.

Glad you enjoyed it Jo Ann! I had a lot of fun writing this one. Well, maybe fun isn't the right word, but I did enjoy writing it.

LOL... See, I was even nice and gave it to you two days early.

Keith took a deep breath before turning the knob and stepping into the apartment he shared with Will. His plan to just get a bag of clothes together and go find a place to stay had been shot when he’d pulled in and seen Will’s car in its regular spot. He had wanted to put off the confrontation as long as he could, but maybe this way was better off. He could get it done and over with and then hopefully he could start putting the whole damn fiasco behind him. “Keith? That you?” He heard foot

After the conclusion of my story Joined by Blood, I was asked by another author and friend, Nephylim, if she could "interview" Damian. I thought it sounded like a neat idea and agreed. That was months ago. Just recently, I was going through old files and found the completed interview. I am posting it here for your enjoyment. SPOILER: If you have yet to read Joined by Blood, I would recommend you do so prior to reading Damian's interview as it contains some distinctive spoilers for the story. From this point forward, all content of this post are either Nephylim or Damian. Damien is one of the characters in a vampire tale – Joined By Blood – from a talented writer Renee Stevens. After having been kidnapped by one group of vampires, then rescued by another, he finds that he is bonded to a vampire prince, whose brother, the evil monster who kidnapped him, has bonded with his own sister, whom he desperately wants to redeem. This is a story of coming to terms with enormous change… of circumstance and perspective. Go on a journey of discovery as Damien learns when to hold on and when to let go. What was the worst moment of your life? The worst moment in my life? Believe it or not, it wasn’t even the being kidnapped. I honestly think the worst moment is a toss-up between finding out my entire relationship with my sister was a lie, the realization that I couldn’t save her, or witnessing the pain the Vik suffered when he had to kill his own brother. It would be nearly impossible to pick between the three. How did you feel when you realised that you were bonded to a vampire? How did you feel when you realized you were bonded to two vampires? Stunned. Disbelieving. Confused. All of the above. I had accepted by then that vampires existed, but just like when I first found out I was bound to Vik, there was so much more than just finding out I was bound to Dante as well. Those two don’t do anything in half measures and not only did they bind me to BOTH of them, without me knowing, but they changed me. It’s a lot to take in, and there are still moments when I think it’s a dream. A really good dream, but a dream nonetheless. When did you realise you were in love with each? I always chuckle when I hear this, because I don’t think it was ever a smack me upside the head moment. My feelings for both my men grew over time, even when I didn’t know what I was feeling. When I told Vik I loved him I was still so unsure of so many things, and Dante was one of the things I was unsure of. The one thing I was sure of was that I felt more for Vik than I ever had for anyone else. He was my safe place, the one person at the time that I felt connected to and the one person that I felt I could trust. With Dante, it was a little different. There was always something there, and I wasn’t the only one who felt it. Like with Vik though, I knew I was safe with him, I knew that I could trust him, and by the time we were all bound together, all those feelings had morphed and become a greater love than I’d ever experienced in my life. I just can’t really pinpoint the one moment when I said to myself “I love him” with either of the guys. It kind of feels like it’s just always been there. Do you still regret that you couldn’t save your sister? Regret is such a strong word. Do I wish she could have been redeemed, of course I do, but I did everything I could to save her. In reality, Becca quit being my sister a long time before the end, I’m not really even sure who she was anymore. The one thing I have asked myself repeatedly since that day is if anything of the sister I had known was still in there. Was it truly her that turned so evil or was it the thing inside her? That’s something I’ll never know for sure, but I did what had to be done. I refuse to live my life full of regret, besides, I doubt Vik or Dante would let me. Also, in a way, we did save her. Not in the way I would have liked, but she’s free from the ancient soul that was engrained within her. Everyone knows how special you are; do you? I’m really nothing special. I mean, I know that there has to be something about me, otherwise neither Vik nor Dante would want to be with me, so there’s got to be something, but I’m just me. If you could have changed one thing what would it have been? This might surprise you, since I’m sure you expect me to say that I wish I could have saved Becca, and while that is true to a point, that isn’t the one thing I would change above all else. If I could go back and change anything, it would be for me and Vik to realize sooner what Dante was to us. It would have saved Dante so much pain if we had only realized what the three of us had. What are your hopes for the future? I could tell you that I just wish to spend the rest of my life with Vik and Dante, and in a way that’s true, but there’s so much more. I hope that, eventually, our kind no longer have to remain hidden away. I hope we never again have to fight the ancient soul that wants to destroy us. In the end, I really just want our clan and ourselves to be happy, whatever route that may take, I’m willing to do what it takes. If you could have one wish what would it be? One wish is so limiting. I’m not sure I could narrow down things to one single wish. Actually, now that I think about it, there is something that I would wish for above all else. I would wish that our kind could walk into the sunlight. I haven’t even been a vampire long, but not being able to go into the sun really sucks, I can only imagine how it is for those who have been vampires for far long, like Dante and Vik. Do you wish that the whole thing had never happened? No. If it had never happened then I wouldn’t have everything I have now, and I don’t mean material things. Where would I be now if it had never happened? It probably wouldn’t be sleeping between two of the greatest guys I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet every night. If everything that happened was the price I had to pay to be where I’m at now, then I can only say that while it wasn’t pleasant and I could only hope to never have to face such a situation again, I wouldn’t trade anything. Are you happier now than you were before? Being happy is really subjective. I would say that yes I am happier than I ever have been, but that is kind of a hard distinction to make. Throughout my life there have been countless times that I’ve been overwhelmingly happy, but in a different way, and there were things I know now that cast a bit of a gloom on my happiness. If you take away the things I have learned that I wish I never had, then I would say that yes, I’m happier than I was before in most aspects. How did you cope through the bad times? What was it that kept you going when you were lost? I think what helped me cope and kept me going, is that I was never alone. Through everything in my life, there has always been someone there to support me and guide me when I needed it. There’s times when things have almost gotten too much, but the same stands true. I’m not alone in anything that I go through anymore, in fact, quite the opposite. I not only have one guy to help me through the rough patches, I have two. And they both know that I’ll do the same for them. What’s your favourite possession? I really don’t have a favorite possession. Vik had told me we could go to my home one night and get more of my stuff, but we haven’t done it yet and I’m not really in any hurry. Besides, there’s not that much room in the caves for a lot of possessions anyways. What’s your favourite place to be? Would it be totally cheesy to say anywhere that Vik and Dante are? Yeah? Okay. Other than that, my favorite place to be would be this little waterfall that’s not too far from the lair. Now that there’s not a constant threat hanging over my head, I’ve had the opportunity to explore around my new home. The waterfall is so peaceful, I love to just lay there on the grass next to the bank and stare up at the stars while I listen to the waterfall. There’s very little in this world that is more peaceful and calming than that.

Thanks for the review Fishie! I guess I should have made it it clear that Braeden wasn't actually creeping around TRYING to get a pic of Will with someone else. It was more of a case that Will was an egotistical ass who didn't really care about being "careful".... Notice that I didn't mention where the picture was taken, it could have been taken anywhere that Braeden could have simply seen them. And yes, I wanted to do something a bit different (for me) and have the cheater cheating with a woman. Kind of something that most people wouldn't expect from me. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and don't worry, there won't be a HUGE wait for Part II... Plan to post it next monday ... Thanks again Fishie!

“And just what the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Keith stared at the photo in his hand as anger coursed through his body. He was going to have to confront his boyfriend about it, that was for sure. He wasn’t sure if whoever sent the photo was trying to be cruel or be kind. Either way, it didn’t matter. Now that he knew… he would say something; he’d have to. He heard the front door of the apartment open and quickly refolded the incriminating photo and stuffed it in his pocket. Befor

Keith thought things were going great, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for him, things aren't always as they appear.

First off, a note from Cia regarding the WST: A Reminder: The chosen story for the CSR book club is State of Mind by Libby Drew. The discussion will take place this coming Monday, so make sure you've read it before then so that you can join in with your thoughts! On Monday, Ieshwar provided us with a review of Nothing More Awesome Than This by xTony. Thanks to Ieshwar's review, many have now added the story to their lists! For our Wacky Wednesday, we featured an article written by Libby Drew called Story Needs Direction. Libby once again has offered us some wonderful tips, so make sure to check it out! The Friday prompts were back this week, and since there was no new prompt response to feature, Cia whipped up a quick one in response to one of this weeks prompts! So, how was your week? Upcoming Anthology Deadlines: 2013 Poetry Anthology: Whispers in the Dark - Due April 15th 2013 Summer Anthology: Roll the Dice - Due June 8th In Premium this week: Burden of Secrets by Cia Empty Corners by Comicality By our Hosted Authors this week: The Rider's Pride by dkstories Palouse by rec The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality Book 7 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase Dribbles by Cia Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon Circumnavigation by CJames My Only Escape by Comicality One Night by Cia Dreams of Humanity by dkstories, Book 1 of Dreams of Humanity Legacy by Altimexis Book 29 of Naptown Tales By our Promising Authors this week Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings Protector of Children by David McLeod The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series The Luxorian Fugitive by Mann Ramblings

We have had so many wonderful contributors to the GA News Blog. One such contributor is Libby Drew who has sent us countless articles centered around ways to improve your writing. She has had a ton of very helpful tips and today is no different. Story Needs Direction Wait a minute, lady. My story has a quest. How much more direction could I possibly have? Direction is not always movement. Movement does not ensure direction. Direction implies there is a question that needs to be answered, that the main character has a clear-cut goal, and in realizing that goal, he experiences growth. Without these elements, your story runs the risk of being purely episodic. Episodic means events happen that are loosely tied together. They might be entertaining, but little character growth occurs. Nor do subsequent events grow out of the ones before. How a classic formula can go wrong: A character is drawn into a different world and discovers he is “the chosen one.” He is presented with “the chosen one’s quest.” He sets off on his quest and faces one challenge after another, overcoming each in turn. He fulfills his quest, saving the world from evil, or whatever, for another million years. Countless books use this same formula, many with overwhelming success. So why do others fail? Here are three likely reasons: The hero is being reactive when he should be proactive. He stumbles from event to event, reacting to each new threat. He doesn’t formulate. He doesn’t plan. Other characters guide the outcome of his story. The story question is answerable with a simple yes or no. It’s not enough to know the hero fulfills his quest. A story must show how he grows and changes as he pursues his goal. He must have a plan of action. He needs to adapt. For each new adventure, or obstacle, or test, he must REACT, then ADAPT and PLAN, then MOVE FORWARD. Your story becomes episodic if your character moves forward without making future plans. The hero doesn’t use his strengths. Instead, he magically finds new skills. He overcomes every obstacle by luck or intervention by others. He never builds upon those things which made him a prospective hero in the first place. How to save an episodic story: Give your character a clearly defined goal. Give your character significant strengths and some weaknesses. These will determine his plan of attack and ultimately reveal the flaws in that plan. Decide how your hero will react to his obstacles. His strengths and weaknesses should govern his reactions. He can overcome obstacles, avoid them, or turn them into opportunities, but most importantly, each setback will require a new plan and each triumph will determine the next step. Make sure every scene moves the story forward, contributes to the hero’s growth, and to the story’s outcome. Serialized fiction—a story posted one chapter or installment at a time—runs a giant risk of being episodic. Just as the hero must plan, so must you, the writer. Plot. Outline. Always keep the character’s quest, the story’s question, and your goal—writing a great story—in mind. ~Libby

Since I have posted in my blog about what's been going on with my brother, I figured with the news I received today that it might just be time to make yet another post. (For those of you who are reading this for the first time, my brother was diagnosed in December with Stage 4 Leukemia) My brother has just finished going through his third round of Chemo, he's expected to be at the halfway point as they only figured they would need six rounds of the Chemo. They did some new tests on him to see how the chemo is affecting the cancer and we received some great news. The cancer has responded very very favorably to the treatment and as of Monday there has been a little over 75% reduction in the amount of cancer tissue in his body. His white blood cell counts are at the lowest they have been during all of this and it is a good thing it wasn't a treatment week or they would have had to postpone it to give his white blood cells a chance to come up. He has about ten days until his next treatment and they are hoping that it sufficient time to raise his levels so that they can proceed as planned. At this point, his doctor is thinking that after the next three rounds of chemo, he should be in the clear for quite some time. So in short, after the next three rounds, they will do all the tests to confirm he's in remission. Then after that it will be quarterly bloodwork and yearly CT scans to make sure it hasn't come back. His doctor don't think it will anytime soon, but as with all cancers, there is never a guarantee. Thank you to everyone for all your support through this, I can't express how much it meant to me to know that I had such a wonderful support group.

So, I'm feeling a bit whiny at the moment, so please forgive me. On the heels of the good news regarding my brother and of being asked to be my best friends matron of honor I got bad news from my eye doctor.... Well, it wasn't good news at least. Went to the eye doctor today for my regular check up. I needed new glasses anyways as I'm tired of fixing my current ones with gorilla glue. Figured it would go like normal, that he'd tell me that my prescription changed a little bit, but not a whole lot. Well, I only wish it had gone as smoothly as that. Apparently I have what is called Keratoconus. I had never even heard of it before so I looked it up. To read more about it, visit Keratoconus. To put all that simply, one of the linings of my cornea has thinned and as a result of that, the pressure against that spot has caused the area to bulge out a bit into more of a cone shape (or a nipple shape as he kept saying). He said it's not way bad, but he's surprised that it is only now showing. Generally it is found in a person's teen years and even up into someone's early twenties. It's unusual to have it show up this late. I told him that me and my hubby had been discussing getting Lasik surgery. He then proceeded to tell me that I couldn't have that done and that it is a good thing I hadn't already had it done or I may be facing a corneal transplant. Anyways, since there is no cure the only solution is to put me in gas permeable contact lenses. While it won't completely stop it, he said it will slow it down so that it shouldn't ever get to the point of needing surgery. So essentially, I had the choice of whether or not to have lasik or wear contacts taken out of my hands. The only plus side to all of this is that since the contacts are medically necessary, my eye insurance will cover them 100%, which is great because they are not cheap. I don't mind wearing contacts, but since there is so much I do where wearing contacts isn't exactly feasible. And honestly, for day to day use, I prefer my glasses. A lot less hassle. But now, wearing my contacts will have to be the general rule. Never worn the gas permeable, so this could prove to be interesting. Though with everything else going on, this is really a minor thing in the big scheme of things. Still, it sucks.

You know, I've been doing a lot of thinking today. Since my brother's diagnosis back in December, I've really had to redefine what my definition of family is. I'm not so much talking about brothers, sisters, parents, and really not even grandparents. Now, all of those other extended "family" are where my thoughts have turned to. All those cousins, aunts, uncles and the extended family with few exceptions. What many of you know, and some of you may not know, I lost my second oldest brother when I was 13 years old. I was devastated. Fast forward 17 years and I get told my oldest brother is sick. Cancer. 4th stage Leukemia. Once again, I was devastated. I'd already lost one brother and was terrified that I was going to lose another. You would think that my 'family' would rally around us. You would think that my cousins would, at the very least, message on facebook and tell me or my brothers that if there is anything they can do to let them know. You would THINK, that my mother's own sisters and brothers would call to ask how things are going, how is he doing, etc. Not entirely sure about whether or not my mother's siblings call her to check on how the family is doing, except for one, but I doubt it. I'm pretty sure that it's typically my mom doing all the calling. I personally haven't heard a word from any of them. All these cousins who claim they are so big on family, not a word from more than two of them. My aunt, the only one who actually checks on everyone else, sent both me and my mom bracelets that said "hope" as soon as she heard. Other than that, the majority of the family on my mother's side haven't said a word. They expect everyone to do for them, but they can't even show they care with a kind word, with an offer of help, nothing. What really pissed me off with all this is my mom's second oldest sister. See, my mom had made a quilt for her oldest sister (the one who gave us the bracelets), and had planned to make them for her other sisters as well. Then we got the news of my brother's diagnosis. Needless to say, we were a mess, and my mom decided it was more important to make a chemo quilt for my brother. A quilt that had all of our pictures on it. She figured that if we couldn't be there in person, we could at least be there with him in that way. My mom's second oldest sister threw a fit. Told my mom that she would have liked a quilt too and how hurt she was that mom didn't make her one. I could see that if my family hadn't just been devastated with the news that my brother was sick, especially having already lost my other brother. My aunt had my mother in tears and to be honest, I still have yet to talk to her. My mom had more important things to worry about that making sure all my aunt's got a quilt for Christmas. My mom did make the quilt, and sent it to my aunt via mail. When my aunt called her, mom said she was very humble, but it was clear that prior to that, my aunt wasn't hurt, she was pissed. Needless to say, I'm not impressed with a lot of my family. Which leads me to the point of this blog entry. I want to thank all of you at GA for being more of a family to me over the last months than most of my own family has been. As soon as I posted about my brother's illness I heard from so many of you. Some of you I had never talked to before, and yet you were still right there to offer me kind words and offers of hope. It meant more to me than I can say. At the time, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't hear from someone, asking how I was doing. Asking how my brother was doing and if we'd found anything out. You guys helped hold me up. I know many of you were going through your own tough times, and yet you still found the moment to drop me a note. So again, thank you for being there for me.

Last week, I asked for some help with reviews. The response was astounding and many great reviews were offered up. One of which was a review that Ieshwar did for the story "Nothing More Awesome Than This" by xTony. This review certainly piqued my interest and I now have this story on my list of to reads. Enjoy! Nothing More Awesome Than This By xTony Reviewer: Ieshwar Status: In Process Current Word Count: 33,789 There are some stories that the moment you read the first few paragraphs, you know that you have no choice and you have to read it till the end. ‘Nothing More Awesome Than This’ is one of those stories. That’s how I found myself reading it at 2 am in my room, laughing like a crazy, mere hours before my final exams. And I don’t regret it one bit. With a nice change from the usual scenes of highschools and colleges, ‘Nothing More Awesome Than This’ is about interoffice dating. It’s about Tristan who is completely put off by his routine office work and keeps hoping for the day he will finally get the courage to quit. That’s until he meets Cameron, his colleague from another department. And then it’s a real roller-coaster with a desperate Tristan, an utterly oblivious Cameron, two loyal friends, a sexy rival and of course, the most dramatic gay cousin ever as Tristan tries to tell Cameron about his feelings. What makes this story special is the journey with the characters. You can’t help but feel for Tristan as he tries to hint Cameron about his feelings but keeps failing. Cameron is downright adorable, oblivious to the whole drama around him. Each character has its own quirk, quality and flaw. Another highlight of the story is the comic timing. Trying to impress his new crush, Tristan keeps making new plans. But things never go as planned. Expect his brain to be reduced to goo, hot rival to arrive unexpectedly, wardrobe crisis, bickering best friends… There are so much more I could say about this story but the most important that I can say is “Read it.” It’s funny, it’s adorable, and it’s worthwhile. Believe me, there’s nothing more awesome than this.

What a great week it was, especially with the release of the 2013 GA Spring Anthology: A Night to Remember. So many wonderful new stories to read and if you haven't already checked them out, I would suggest you do so and leave the authors a review to let them know what you thought! A Reminder: The chosen story for the CSR book club is State of Mind by Libby Drew. The discussion will take place on the 25th of this month, so make sure you've read it before then so that you can join in with your thoughts! On Monday, Joann provided us with a review of Centaur by Carringtonrj. A quick read of just over 1,000 words, it includes some wonderful imagery and might help newer authors see a great way to describe a character. For our Wacky Wednesday, we featured an article written by andy021278 called The Indefinite Article on the correct usage of those pesky two words, a and an. He gives us a lot of insight as to when to use which. Thursday we broke the blog mold and announced that the 2013 GA Spring Anthology: A Night to Remember has gone live. Due to the release of the Anthology, there was no weekly prompts this week, they'll make their return next week! So, how was your week? Have you read the anthology stories yet? In Premium this week: There And Back Again by Michael9344 By our Hosted Authors this week: Adverse Effects by Cia Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia Dreams of Humanity by dkstories, Book 1 of Dreams of Humanity Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality Book 7 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Heated Blood by Cia (Ebook) Tentacles by Nephylim Legacy by Altimexis Book 29 of Naptown Tales By our Promising Authors this week: Circle the Noun by JMH Book 2 of The Watch Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series Cold Case by Dolores Esteban Blind Dates by FrenchCanadian The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Protector of Children by David McLeod Secrets and Lies by Dolores Esteban The Luxorian Fugitive by Mann Ramblings The Nano Wars: Rebirth by JMH Book 1 of The Nano Wars (Note: Anthology stories have not been included)

NOW LIVE!!! The 2013 GA Spring Anthology: A Night to Remember is now live! Twenty new stories by some of your favorite authors. Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave the authors a review to let them know what you thought of their hard work. It's really the only payment these authors get for their contribution to the Anthology. A Friend For The Doc Michael9344 As The Music Plays... K.C. At the End of the Rainbow Bill W Darkness is Black Yettie One Hark: A Lark JoejoeGreene I Can’t Even Remember Dolores Esteban In the Cold W_L Lost At Sea comicfan Lost in Venice Johnathan Colourfield Onyx: In Darkness Cailen Service Call A.J. Sex carringtonrj Six Seconds FishWings Tally-ho! Percy Tequila Revelations Mann Ramblings The Dream Dreams the Dreamer andy021278 The Snow Man of Lamair Celethiel The Strength of Love Rosenkrantz Till The Last Breath Ieshwar On another note, typically Cia does all of the banners for the GA Anthologies. This year, I want to send a thank you to Fishwings for volunteering to create the banner!

The Indefinite Article By andy021278 A daft question: Do I use “A” or “An”? Well it does seem like a daft question doesn’t it, but it’s amazing how many people still struggle with this; especially when confronted by the more obscure grammatical areas such as acronyms and abbreviations? I’ve seen wrong uses in stories posted on line, in published works in print, in newspaper articles and even in professional publications. The basic rule If you had a halfway decent English teacher at school then you will know this rule like the back of your hand. If you had my English teacher, then get ready for a wee shock. Many of us were taught to use “a” in front of a word that begins with a consonant, and “an” in front of a word that begins with a vowel. If you follow this rule and treasure it, then I’m sorry to break this to you, but that only tells half the story. The actual rule is to use “a” in front of a word that begins with a consonant sound, and “an” in front of a word that begins with a vowel sound. Vowels with consonant sounds How can a word that begins with a vowel, possibly begin with a consonant sound? Let’s look at probably the most often used vowel that can have a consonant sound; the letter “u”. If we take two every day words that begin with the letter “u” (uniform and umbrella) and before you read on think about whether you would use “a” or “an” in front of them. If you follow the rule many of us were taught in school, you would use “an” in front of both them. Although “an umbrella” sounds perfectly reasonable, “an uniform” really doesn’t; we use “a uniform”. But why? This is where the vowel sound and the consonant sound comes into play. The word “umbrella” begins with an “um” sound (the sound begins with a vowel, and is therefore called a vowel sound), but the word “uniform” begins with a “you” sound (the sound begins with a consonant, and is therefore called a consonant sound). A few more examples: an oblong (“ob” sound, vowel sound) a one-off (“won” sound, consonant sound) an elephant (“el” sound, vowel sound) a unicorn (“you” sound, consonant sound) Consonants with vowel sounds How can a word that begins with a consonant, possibly begin with a vowel sound? Let’s look at probably the most often used consonant that can have a vowel sound (at least in my opinion), the letter “h”. If we take two everyday words that begin with the letter “h” (hospital and hour), and now before you read on, think about whether you use “a” or “an” in front of them. If you use the rule many of us were taught in school, then you would use “a” in front of both them. Although “a hospital” sounds perfectly reasonable, “a hour” really doesn’t; we use “an hour”. But why? Again, this is where the vowel sound and the consonant sound comes into play. The word “hospital” begins with a “hoh” sound, but the word “hour” begins with an “ow” sound. A few more examples: a hotel (“ho” sound) an honourable person (“on” sound) a xylophone (“zy” sound) an x-ray (“ex” sound) The dreaded letter “h” In spite of how simple this now hopefully sounds to all of you, the “h” words can actually cause a lot of problems. The first thing that causes problems is the simple fact that most people mispronounce the letter “h” as “haitch”, when in fact it is pronounced “aitch”; this causes confusion over the vowel and consonant sounds discussed earlier. The second issue that can cause problems is that the English speaking world is full of what are called “h-droppers”, those who do not pronounce the initial letter “h” in words; an affectation probably most common in Londoners (trust me, I’m guilty of it myself). The third problem stems from the fact that historically in UK English the initial letter “h” was often not pronounced or pronounced very softly (something that was arguably adopted from the French language), and in some cases has persisted into modern times. So for whatever reason, hospital gets pronounced as “ospital”, helpful gets pronounced as “elpful” and so on. All of a sudden, and rather disturbingly, “an hospital” or “an helpful person” sounds right; what is even more disturbing is the fact that my MS Word 2007 grammar checker has not flagged either of these as being incorrect. One particular word, “historic” (and its derivatives such as “historical” and “historically”), is a major bone of contention. The main reason is that most people do not know if it is pronounced “historic” (i.e. the “h” is pronounced) or if it pronounced “istoric” (i.e. it is one of those English words where the “h” is silent, like it is in the word “hour”). It is correctly pronounced as “historic” (I’m talking about in UK English, though “historic” also appears to be correct in American English); so it is always correctly written as “a historic” (and consequently, “a historical” and “a historically”). Abbreviations, initialisms and acronyms The “a” vs “an” rule is exactly the same as with words; it doesn’t make a difference. You use “a” when they start with a consonant sound, and “an” when they start with a vowel sound; you just need to know whether each letter is pronounced separately (an initialism such as CIA), read as a word (an acronym such as NASA), or just read as the actual word (an abbreviation such as etc.). So a few examples are: an FBI agent (“ef” sound, this is an initialism, read as “F B I”) a NASA astronaut (“nah” sound, this is an acronym, and read as “Nasa”) an NHS hospital (“en” sound, this is an initialism, read as “N H S”) a Capt. of the guard (“ka” sound, this is an abbreviation, read as the original word “captain”) a PDF file (“pea” sound, this is an initialism, read as “P D F”)

Looks awesome Fishie and I really appreciate the help, so THANK YOU!

First off, I want to say thank you to everyone who responded to my plea for help! I appreciate the instant offers of assistance more than I can say! I received quite a few responses which will ensure that we will have reviews for a few of the upcoming Monday blogs. If you want to write a review for a story you have read, please PM me. Now, without further ado, let's look to our featured story! Joann414 provides us with a review of the story Centaur, written by Carringtonrj. It's a short piece dedicated to the description of a character. Hope you enjoy in the imagery. Centaur by Carringtonrj Reviewer: Joann414 Status: Complete Word Count: 1,065 Centaur is a beautiful, poetic piece about the mythical creature that keeps the reader in it's grip throughout the complete story. It flows effortlessly with the imagery and descriptive words that this author can write in a way that makes this man/horse so magnificent that you go looking for an actual image to put to the lovely description. If a first time author needs something to teach them how to write great imagery or describe something or someone in a postive, deserving way that makes that character grab the readers attentnion then they definitely need to read Centaur. It is a very short piece that is warm, hot beautiful, dramatic and enthralling. The first time I read it i knew that I would go back to read again just to make sure I caught all of the feeling that this author puts into his work and he puts massive amounts in everything he writes. If you had not read this, the it is a must read for new and seasoned authors.

Glad that things are going okay for you! I can only imagine how stir crazy you're going by now, but hey, if nothing else helps to pass the time, maybe YOU should start writing! *Giggles and runs away*

The submission deadline for the Spring Anthology: A Night to Remember has passed. Thank you to everyone who has submitted a story and keep watch for news regarding the anthology going live. A Reminder: All nominations for promotion to Promising and/or Hosted status MUST be done via GA's private messaging system to Cia, Talonrider, or another member of the WST team. No other nominations will be considered. *** Blog Highjack - if anyone's interested, did a quick update on my medical status on my personal GA blog *** So, we started out the week by announcing the chosen story for this month's CSR Book Club, State of Mind by Libby Drew. Make sure to have it read by the 25th and join us here at the blog to discuss the story. On Wednesday, we had Ask an Author #2 by Dark! These features are awesome because we get to hear from some of the author's on site. This week featured answers by Graeme, Andrew Todd, and Joann414. Friday featured two new prompts by our prompt guru, Comicfan and featured a prompt response by Ieshwar. Check out the new prompts and if you write for one of them, make sure to share it in the Writing Prompt Forum. You never know, yours might just be our next featured response! So, how was your week? NEW READING In Premium this week: Burden of Secrets by Cia By our Hosted Authors this week: Dreams of Humanity by dkstories, Book 1 of Dreams of Humanity Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP) Circumnavigation by C James By our Promising Authors this week: The Road to the Future by JMH, Book 4 of The Centurion Cycle Cold Case by Dolores Esteban Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Secrets and Lies by Dolores Esteban The Luxorian Fugitive by Mann Ramblings If I forgot anyone, I apologize, this is the first time I've done the update list! Have a great weekend!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Today is the last day to get your anthology stories in for the Spring Anthology: A Night to Remember. If you have any questions on how to submit, please PM me. Now, without further delay, onto our weekly prompts! Comicfan always manages to come up with something that sounds quite interesting and this week is no exception. If you tackle either of these prompts why not share them with everyone else by posting them in the Writing Prompt Forum! Prompt 216 – Creative Tag – Politics With how badly things are going in the world since the great disaster a new political party has arisen. They have decided you will be their main spokesman. What is it your party is promising to do and what is their main agenda? Prompt 217 – Creative Tag – Time Traveler For years they have been perfecting time travel. You were recently brought into the project and while resetting some of the delicate machinery it was activated and you were tossed through time. Where did you end up and what if anything can you do to get back? Today, we're going to take a look at Ieshwar's first prompt! He decided to tackle Prompt #215: Your family and friends have decided it is past time for you to find someone and settle down. They have set you up with someone they all agree is the perfect person for you. Is this the beginning of a wonderful romance or the blind date from hell? Enjoy!

Ask an Author #2 And we’re back! In this series, random questions from GA members have been shot out to various authors here on GA. Those authors have the opportunity to either decline or answer, and the answers are just as quirky as the questions. This shall be a fun way to learn a little more about some of the folks here on GA. In AtA #1, we had questions for authors furnishedsoul, podiumdavis, and CassieQ. In AtA #2, we hear from Graeme, Andrew Todd, and Joann414 . 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, Graeme, has been around GA forever. He’s an Aussie, a dad, a writer, and one of our Mods here on GA. Since 2006, Graeme has posted about 20 different stories, from fictional conversations with his son to more serious Anthology Fare. You’ve also probably spotted him grumbling around in the forums. To Graeme: What led you to write the story "A letter to my son"? (inspiration/motivation/etc) I wrote A Letter To My Son about seven years ago, so I can't remember the exact inspiration, but I do know that comedy, for me, has to flow freely and I can't force it. I think the original motivation came after reading a particularly comic fictional story in one of my wife's horse magazines, about a rider who wasn't aware of how everyone else was reacting. I do know that I also took inspiration from Bryan Dawe's Letters From Kalangadoo, a radio series on ABC radio here in Australia many years ago, about a weekly letter from a country dad to his gay son. His shows were a lot funnier than my short story, but I'm happy with what I came up with. The next author today is popular newcomer Andrew Todd. Riding Lessons, the first book in the series of the same name, is one of the most followed here on GA. Quite the accomplishment! To Andrew Todd: Do you have any other stories planned after “Riding Lessons?” I actually have three stories on deck. First, I am finishing a Christmas story that I hope will be the first in a Holiday themed collection of stories. I have started writing a new multi-chapter story which will bridge 'Riding Lessons' with the next book in that series, which is in the early planning stages (ie. the 'got it written in my head phase'). Joann414 is our last author in this installment. This is a lady with a big heart who conquered GA early on with her numerous positive and thoughtful reviews. Authors still brag about the number of comments they’ve garnered from this sweet lady. Recently, she has even posted her own work and had this to ask herself: What one piece of advice can you give to those thinking of writing or actively writing on the site? When you post your work, don't wear your feelings on your sleeve, and read all reviews with an open mind. There is a lot of knowledge in a review! 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: Luka Fox, Johnathan Colourfield, and Q. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark)! Until next time! Dark

Welcome to the March edition of the CSR Book Club Blog! This month we've decided to use a story by an author you've been seeing a lot from lately on the blogs, Libby Drew! To mix up genres a bit, we're going to read a futuristic story with a bit of a sci-fi bent along with some thriller vibes. ^_^Intrigued yet? Check out the info below, read the story, and then be ready to discuss. We've had two great months so far, so here's to another one! State of Mind by Libby Drew Length: 62,740 Rating: Teen (indicates some violence and/or graphic content) Description: In a world where some people are born Gifted, able to use their minds to influence people and control objects, agent Aleck Devlin's mission is simple: find rogue agent Grier Crist and report his whereabouts to the Organization. Some Thoughts From A Reader: This story grabbed me from the beginning and never let go 'till the end. This would be a great serial. Don't forget the discussion will take place on March 25th. Happy Reading!

Since blogs tend to get buried after a time, if you want to nominate someone for promotion to another author level, please PM Cia to ensure that the nomination is received. She is currently out of town and so it may take a few days to receive a response.