Renee Stevens

NOW LIVE!!! The 2013 GA Poetry Anthology: Whispers in the Dark is now live! Fifteen new poem collections by some of your favorite authors, hope you enjoy! A Life in Question Bill W All in Your Mind WatchPatRun Astronomical Dusk FishWings Coy carringtonrj Murmers at the Dusk of Day comicfan Night Calls JoejoeGreene Poems By Moonlight II Michael9344 Quiet House Krista Requiem For Antonin Artaud Johnathan Colourfield Sonic Dolores Esteban Starlight ComeWhatMay Teach Me How A.J. The Whispering Celethiel To the End W_L Until The End layla Once again, thank you to Fishwings for creating the anthology banner and thank you to everyone who participated!

I always look forward to seeing what our prompt guru Comicfan comes up with for the weekly prompt. As always, he once again delivers. I really hope some of you decide to take a gamble at one or both of these prompts. If you do, don't forget to share them in the Writing Prompt Forum! Prompt 214 – Creative Tag – The Vacation You were hired to create the perfect vacation spot. There is only one little problem with the whole thing. What is it? Prompt 215 – Creative Tag – The Blind Date 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? Each week, we pick a prompt from a previous week. Joann414 took a chance on one of the prompts for last week, hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Prompt 213: "You want me to do what?"

Well, it's time to get a kickstart on the weekend again, and what better way to do that than to provide two new prompts from our prompt guru, Comicfan. Why not give them a try and share them with the community in the Prompt Forum! Prompt 212 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – sword, tuna fish, compass, flip flops, and a star. Prompt 213 – Creative Tag – First Line “You want me to do what?” I was looking through the prompt responses and for today's feature prompt, I decided on a response to Prompt 192: Use the following words in a story – baseball, handcuffs, torn pants, dollar bill, and a nun. Labrador did a wonderful job with this prompt and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! To read the rest of this short story and to leave Labrador a review, go to Labshorts- Chapter 6:Perceptions.

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Libby Drew has been great in providing us with content for the GA News Blog and continues to bring us some wonderful articles on the art of writing. I hope you all enjoy this lesson that she took the time to put together for us. Less is More That thing I say all the time, how less is more? It applies to your characters too. Less detail makes for more believable characters. Carlton entered the room. Six feet tall, broad-shouldered, he wore a finely tailored three-piece pinstriped suit that cost more than my monthly salary. His shoes glowed. I could even see my face reflected in the black patent leather. His coiffed hair was as flawless as his impeccably trimmed fingernails and gold cufflinks. In one hand, he carried a black BOSS briefcase, and in the other, the newest iPhone. He slapped the case on the table, acknowledging no one until he’d thumbed the screen through several emails, making it clear his time was far more precious than anyone else’s. As he slipped out of his suit jacket, a waft of Clive Christian No. 1 drifted towards me, mixing with the odor of leather and heavy paper stock. This is what money smells like, I thought. I know some of you are probably thinking: What’s bad about this? I mean, that’s a thorough description. Vivid. Detailed. Maybe. But the above description also takes something precious away from the reader. Every time we attempt to flesh out a full, unambiguous picture of a character, we leave no flexibility for that reader to add his own details. And it’s those personalized, reader-inserted details that will bring your story to life. Broad strokes—that’s all a reader needs. It’s less important to describe whether a character has brown or blue eyes than it is for the reader to understand what kind of person they are and, from that, how they might act in a given situation. Rely on a reader’s preconceived notions. These notions are a vast, often untapped, tool for the writer. Capitalize on them. Use stereotypes to draw readers in. Yes, stereotypes. It’s not a comfortable idea, is it? Because in the real world, there is always more to someone than a stereotype. Yet by using them, you can establish in one or two sentences most of what the reader needs to know about a character. It won’t be a complete picture, which is fine. It’s a framework, one which you build upon as the story progresses. So instead of all that detail (points above), aim for less: Carlton walked into the room, the epitome of rich banker. I know the type. Too self-important to give you the time of day, or even put you above whatever new fascinating app had just hit his iPhone. He reeked of money. How does less detail increase believability? Why do we even describe characters at all? So whoever is reading the story will feel and believe certain things about them. Stereotypes work precisely because they leave more to readers’ imaginations. If I say a character “looks like a CEO of some major bank,” readers form a mental image of all the banking CEO’s they’ve ever known, met, or seen. And whatever image they make for themselves will be the most believable to them. It may be different from what you, the writer, envisioned, but it will be 100% believable to the reader. Use preconceptions to create believability; use details to create depth. A stereotype brings a wealth of details to the reader’s mind. Many of those details are predictable, and you can use them to your benefit. The rest of the story should be used to build on those details. Here is where your vivid and colorful descriptions belong. His hair. His shoes. His briefcase. Maybe your CEO takes advantage of his corporation’s gym. He’s fit, stomach tight and flat, because appearance matters to someone in his position. His skin, however, is pale to the point of translucence. He doesn’t get out of his office much. In fact, his last vacation was two years ago this past Christmas. As your story progresses, build on your original stereotype. (Just not all at once.) Be careful not to contradict what your readers have already assumed. Don’t, for example, have your banking CEO leave for work in shorts and a T-shirt every day. That might work at Apple, but probably not at Wells Fargo. However, if there is something that sets your character apart from his or her stereotype, mention it early or, even better, immediately. Don’t give readers a chance to cement a character trait in their heads that might be false. Especially if that “difference” is integral to your plot. What it comes down to… You get a reader’s deep buy-in, their suspension of disbelief, by tapping their preconceptions and forcing them to imagine their own details. And you do that by giving only the minimum necessary to guide them to your story-relevant stereotype. You get depth by carefully layering small additional details on top of the stereotype, like shiny shoes and a BOSS briefcase. Less is more because when you include too much detail, you’re telling your readers how to envision the character, rather than showing them how to envision the character for themselves. You, the writer, will never be able to tell them anything that’s as convincing and believable as what they invent on their own, or what you lead them to invent through the use of their own preconceptions. ~Libby

As some might have noticed, I have taken a more active role in the GA News Blog. I will continue to do so while Robert (aka Trebs) is taking care of his health and wish him all the best in his recovery. With that being said, I don't know about anyone else, but I always enjoy having a story brought to my attention that I haven't yet read. That's what Monday's on the Gay Authors News Blog is all about. Whether it's as part of the CSR Book Club or whether it's in the form of a review. Today, we've been given a review by YettieOne of Layla's story "Guitars and Crossdressers." We hope you enjoy this review and if you haven't already checked out the story, why not go check it out now! Also, if there's a story you have enjoyed, why not review it for the blog? We're always looking for reviews! Guitars and Crossdressers By Layla Reviewer: YettieOne Status: In Process Word Count: 68,586 Last week I decided I wanted to find something by someone I’d never read before, and something that didn’t normally appeal to my sense of reading choices. I find it is good to spice it up every once in a while, get a different flavour from a new writer, or just have an adventure with something new. In this instance it was the Crossdressers element of the title of this story that caught my attention, and as something I’ve never really understood or ventured into as a gay man I decided to give this story a go. Well, I can honestly say I am pretty glad I did, for I’ve been caught up in one of the most extraordinary sagas of drama and intrigue that I’ve come across in a long time. The author, Layla, manages to rope you into a seductively alluring story that quietly builds the tension, taking the reader on a voyage of discovery as we find out about the life, joys, hurts, ups and downs of Asher and his family. We are introduced to four brothers who have come through a tough childhood, had to face the trials of the loss of their mother and brother, an alcoholic father, a brother on the run, and a life lived close to borderline of poverty. We meet the central character, one of the middle brothers, Asher who’s caught up in a world of denial, guilt, abuse and self loathing that makes his angst real, vivid and alive for the reader. His brothers are a mixed bunch of delinquents, who have survived any way they can, yet maintain a core loyalty that is often found in families where kids have had to learn to stand together to survive the loneliness and isolation of a difficult and trying childhood. The wonderful thing I found in each character is despite their dark side, they each have a rough edge to their characters, a sense of realism that makes each person leap off the screen and become alive in your minds eye. Layla’s use of words is interesting, emotive and damn right clever to say the least. The plot is never simple, weaving with twists and unexpected events, turns and wonderful little hiccups that you are able to relate too, chuckle about, an adventure you rapidly become a part of as you read. I love the way I’ve become lost in the characters of the story. I feel a need to see them survive, become more in life and find happiness. They are rogues, hard guys bread to be tough, survive in a world of liquor, drugs and prostitution, life on the streets, or just off of it. It is a tale of love won and lost, a boys fear, ripping apart the only thing that truly brought him happiness, and the downwards spiral into depression as a result of lies and half truths. Yet there is hope, sparks of genuine goodness in the men that we follow along this journey. They are not perfect, but they are gems all the same. I’ve loved discovering the ins and outs of their lives, the trips to Mexico, the brother that’s into woman’s clothing, the nephew that is so sweet and innocent you just want to cuddle him. There is a father figure in Morgan, a kind soul who is an icon of all those that love and care, even when it is tough love. There is a speed demon Granny, the kind we all wish we’d had, a kitten you can’t help but fall in love with, and all the sweet rides that a motorcycle fan could wish for. I’m not going to use spoilers from the story, but I will say this. If it is something fresh, a little different, even though it deals with difficult subject matters, the ugliness of life at times, and the stark realities of depression and self harm, then this is a story that will woo you and capture your heart. Before you know it, you’ll be a fan like the dozens of other readers that follow every new chapter with baited breath. I hope that like me, you find as many reasons to enjoy, follow and rate this story.

Dark came to us a while ago about an idea he had to ask some of the authors here the questions that readers were wondering. We thought it was a great idea and will now be doing a once a month feature of Ask an Author. If you have a question that you have been wanting to ask an author and, for one reason or another, haven't already asked, let Dark know and maybe he'll be able to get that answer for you! Without further ado, let's look at the first feature of Ask an Author! Ask an Author #1 You login, you surf over to your favorite website, and you say hello, but who are you really talking to? We read, we review (sometimes!), and we write, but who’s on the other side of that screen? Talking to authors can be intimidating and if you actually corral one, it always seems that the perfect question doesn’t emerge until after the window of opportunity has closed. The wheels grind slowly, but a solution has arrived! 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, the authors are: furnishedsoul, podiumdavis, and CassieQ. For their protection, the members who asked these questions shall remain nameless (unless they choose to reveal themselves). Please note that all author replies are copied as is, spelling errors and grammar eccentricities original to the individual. Our first author, furnishedsoul, has been a member for just over a year. He has a degree in English Lit and is currently in grad school. He has 2 stories currently in progress here on GA Stories, both with likeable teenaged main characters struggling through the ups and downs of life. To furnishedsoul: How did you come up with your writing style for “That Feeling.” ie. Is it natural or learned? It's both, I think. I feel most comfortable writing in first person, whether it's literally my voice or someone else's (as is the case with That Feeling); just letting the words come out as they do, then carefully editing them for maximum impact. Like any writing that's worth reading, there has to be some kind of learning curve to get there, though. I mostly learned to write by reading vigorously and widely, then emulating writers I liked by telling my stories in their style until I found something my own. I won't say I'm fully there yet, but I am slowly finding a voice that fits me and gives voice to what goes on in my head. The next author, podiumdavis, reaches his 1 year milestone next month! He’s been busy this past year posting 3 stories, two of which are posted in full. His most recent story is the popular The Journey of Jacob and Kyle. To podiumdavis: You seem to be very invested in your writing here on GA, but only admitted a few weeks ago (circa Nov 2012) that you had a girlfriend. Why were you so hesitant to admit your sexuality on such an accepting site? Well as my profile says, I'm Bi-sexual. So that's been pretty much out in the open. Nonetheless, my fears have always been the same. If one were to think, like I have, gay people, transgendered, bisexual, this or that, have always been persecuted one way or another; bullying, name calling, bitterness, rejection. In life, no matter who you are, we put these masks on to try and hide our true selves, and until one actually can feel apart of a community, may that be in real life or not, then those masks tend to stay up. My main fear was that while I have declared that I am bisexual, that any credence to my writing would be lost; which is something I didn't want to happen. I believe in my writing whole-heartedly, and this community and I felt to some extent that I needed to be transparent, and for that, I felt liberated and accepted. But as a side note, part of my secrecy lay with a traumatic experience that happened with a reader last year that has kept me very hush hush on any real details about my life. Our next author, CassieQ, has been a member of GA for almost two years. If you didn’t hear much from her lately, that’s probably because she’s a crazy football fan. No doubt, she was glued to the TV watching the Superbowl. Her series Not the Sun is 3 books and going strong. To CassieQ: Do you feel challenged on a more or less gay males site, and have you ever questioned why you are here? I don't think I feel more challenged on a gay males site than I would on any other site. I started writing stories about gay characters around the same time that I started posting online, but this is the first site that I've come across that has a large gay male readership. I do think it can be a little more intimidating being on a site that has a lot of gay male readers, because I want to make sure that my readers would be able to identify with my characters and story. I have never questioned why I was here either...I like to read stories about gay men, I like to write stories about gay men, so why would I want to be anywhere else? 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: Graeme, Andrew Todd, and Joann414. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark) and/or post a comment below. Until next time! Dark

Monday's are a great day, not so much as they are the start of a new week but because it's the day we look at one of the stories here at Gay Authors. Maybe you have been looking for a new story to read? If so, why not read the following review provided by andy021278 of Eliotmoore's story Turbulence. After reading about the story, you can decide whether or not it's one you want to take a look at! Enjoy! Turbulence by Eliotmoore Reviewer: andy021278 Status: Complete Word Count: 312,229 The end of middle school is probably a time of fear and excitement for everyone, but as the fourteen year olds who are looking forward to starting Riverview High School after the summer holidays are about to find out, high school is even more terrifying than they could ever have imagined. Riverview High has a mentorship program in place. Each of the soon to be ninth graders are paired up with a twelfth grade senior who is supposed to help them become acclimated to high school, and be there to help with any problems they may have. The “freshies”, as the incoming ninth graders are called, quickly discover however, that the mentorship program is actually a benign face, which hides a world of bullying, sadism, and perversion that would make even the Marquis de Sade blush. There are only three simple rules the freshies have to follow at all times: “do whatever you are told to do”, “don’t do anything you haven’t been told to do” and “always respect the seniors”. Break any rule, and the freshie faces swift and harsh punishment. Quite what punishment they face depends upon the depths of depravity their senior sinks to; just don’t forget to thank your senior after being corrected. As a freshie, there is more fun, parties, alcohol, and sex than they can shake a stick at; but the pleasure of the rewards of being a freshie pale into insignificance when it comes to the pain of the punishments for breaking the rules or the humiliations of simply being a freshie. Everybody in town, from the kids’ parents to the police, knows everything that happens behind the face of the mentorship program, after all, they were all ninth graders once themselves; but nobody talks about it, and nobody tries to change it. Every ninth grader who was ever humiliated, beaten, punished and tortured knows that they will one day be a twelfth grader; a twelfth grader with a freshie of their very own. There are a few seniors who try to shield their freshie from the full horrors of what they are facing, but if they hide their freshie from everything then the nightmare only becomes ten times worse. Denver Hawk is one such senior playing this dangerous juggling act with the fate of freshie Daniel Murrell. Just how much can he protect Daniel? Just how much will Daniel be forced to endure? Will Daniel be the same loveable and friendly fourteen-year-old at the end of freshie year? A word of caution: Even though there are light-hearted moments scattered through the story (such as a couple of weeks at summer camp and a game of strip poker with an interesting twist) this is not a tale for the faint of heart.

Thanks Andy. Not a big scotch drinker anyways, but been really tempted lately to delve into either the Malibu Rum & Pineapple juice or the Bacardi Silver Raz. The really sad part is that a couple of the stories sitting on my computer could probably be finished up in only a couple thousand words. Grrrrrr... back at ya! Thanks Cassie! Thanks Johnathan. It's been going on for a couple of months and is just really really bugging me. I'll definitely keep your offer in mind and same goes for you! I've ran every story I've got going on over and over in my head. I know where all of them are going to go as far as the plot goes, it's just getting it written down that is the problem. I think my biggest issue right now is focus. I have none. When I'm up and about, I'm thinking of my stories and then when I sit down to try and work on them, my mind wanders to something else or I think of something I just have to do. I've tried sooooooo many things lately to try and write. And a couple of them are usually fool proof methods for me to write. One of them is putting music on. For some reason that has always helped me focus, but this time, it's a no go. I've even tried getting out paper and pen since that has also always worked for me, once again, not helping at all. I stayed up until 4 o'clock yesterday morning and tried to work through it and all that did was leave me tired and frustrated (hence the very early morning blog post). I've tried baking, I've tried cleaning, I've tried cuddling with the hubby, I've tried playing fetch with the dog. I've tried everything I can think of and still, it's a no go. Even sat down and tried to brainstorm with one of my beta's and even that didn't get the juices flowing like it normally does. ARGH!!!! Thanks for the suggestions, I'm beginning to think I just need someone to hit me over the head a few times... Maybe my brain got scrambled or something and needs to be scrambled back! I actually do have an escape from my writing as well. I like to make quilts. I can sit and sew for hours and actually feel like I've accomplished something. Unfortunately, even that can't keep my focus and after a couple of screw ups on a quilt, I had to set that aside as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get my focus back here in the very very near future, otherwise, I might just go insane!

So, the title says it all, I'm annoyed and frustrated. At myself more than anything else at this point. I sit here day after day and try and write. I pull up one story after another and every single one I just stare at for a few minutes before moving onto another one. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to write. Well, at least nothing worth reading. I have been determined that I was going to get some stories out this year and I've got so many good starts, but that's all they are, starts. Some are upwards of 5 or 6K and there's even one that if I remember right, is up to nearly 12K, but they're stalled. I have probably a dozen or more stories in some form of completion on my computer, including two completed stories that need revised. Usually if I can't write new material I can go to a story that needs revision and get something done. I mean, the story is already there, it's just a matter of tweaking things here and there. This time, even that's a no go. I really want to do a story for the spring anthology but that is nothing more than a disaster. I have dozens of ideas floating in my head, but then I sit down at the computer and write about two lines and then scrap the idea. Just can't get my head around anything to actually make it go anywhere. What's even more frustrating is that this is NOT like me. In the past, whenever I've had a lot of stuff going on, I was able to turn to my writing as a release. I could sit down and lose myself in a story for a couple of hours. Writing has always been an escape for me and a way to cope with life when it seems like nothing is going write. At the moment, even that is denied me. I don't know, maybe one day my muse will just jump up and bite me in the ass, but at this point, I'm seriously doubting it. I've tried to do the prompts to get me out of whatever funk I'm in, but either I write a couple hundred words and scrap it or I write nearly 4k and then get stuck. *UGH* Hopefully I'll get whatever this is worked out and will be able to finish Forging Trust and perhaps even get a couple new stories out there. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I don't know about everyone else out there, but I always look forward to Fridays. Not just because its the start to the weekend, but because every Friday our resident prompt guru Comicfan brings us two new prompts! I couldn't tell you how many of these prompts I have started writing something for only to decide it needs to be continued. I have at least six prompts began on my computer. Maybe one these days I'll get them finished. Until then though, check out the new prompts and share them in the Writing Prompts forum. Prompt 208 – Creative Tag – The Medium Well, your life hasn’t exactly been going as you wished. One day you go for lunch at the local restaurant only to have a young woman begin to pass your table and turn suddenly. She turns pale before she grabs your hand. What is it this medium has to tell you that has her so scared? Prompt 209 – Creative Tag – Spring Choose any aspect of the season you want and write about it. I'm apparently not the only one who has trouble with letting prompts end. This week we're featuring another prompt response from Wicked Witch. This time he has taken a crack at Prompt #206: There is a long standing story that if any of the fairy folk ask you to dance, never say yes. Unfortunately you never liked to listen to people and you said yes. What happens when you are finally done with the dance?" Once again, it's an awesome story and Wicked must have thought so as well, because he's going to continue it into a two or three chapter story! That's just a little snippet of the story. Want to read more of it? Check it out here!

Thank you John for the review, as always! I do hope that by the end I don't leave any unanswered questions. There are a lot of different scenarios and I can imagine how much it might make your head spin trying to figure it out, but I have to keep the readers thinking! I thought I had put in about how dragons felt about same sex matings, but I couldn't find it and I apologize for that. Dragons don't particularly care about sexuality. They believe that mates are determined by the fates. It's actually a bit ironic that they have no problem with fates paring two males but that they can't seem to accept that the fates made Cyan a blue. If there are any questions I leave unanswered, then please let me know!!!

Wayne, between me and you and our luck, I think we both just need to hide until someone deems to throw some GOOD luck our way!

We're always looking for stuff for our Wacky Wednesday and this time, Cia came through with this piece on Character Interviews. Enjoy!! Character Interviews by Cia I recently answered a tip request with some information regarding character interviews and I thought I’d take it site wide, so to speak. When you write a story, especially anything approaching novel length, you need to make it as vivid as possible for readers to keep them interested. One way to hook readers is through character realism, even if you’re writing a story about werewolves, aliens, zombies, or ghosts. To make the character believable, you have to make them relatable. They need to be ‘real’, all the way down to the small details. In order to do that, I tend to do character interviews. I might not sit down right away and write these out for every character at the start of a story, but I often try to come up with one as soon as the character cooperates. Yes, I know that sounds a tad Sybil, but it’s true! Sometimes the characters in my head talk. When that happens, I grab my interview questions and get their details. I’ve a whole file full of different types of questions and I scroll through them to see what my character feels like answering. For example: What is your character’s greatest extravagance? Where would your character like to live? What is the trait your character most deplores in himself? Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them? What makes your character laugh out loud? Who are the people your character is closest to? Who does he wish he were closest to? What is in your character’s refrigerator right now? On her bedroom floor? On her nightstand? In her garbage can? It’s Saturday at noon. What is your character doing? Give details. If he’s eating breakfast, what exactly does he eat? If she’s stretching out in her backyard to sun, what kind of blanket or towel does she lie on? What is your character’s educational background? What would most embarrass your character? Once I’ve gotten the aspects of their character down, or as much as they’ll give me, I’m ready to slot those details into the story. I can take my alien that can’t stand light and make him adore flowers, but mourn that the most beautiful rarely blossom at night. My jock might be large and a bit brash as he rules the school, but he also adores his older sister and jumps to help her whenever he can. I might have a character love ice cream but be unable to eat it due to a medical condition so he steals small bites from his partner. A friend might be an emotional support for the main character and love his wife to pieces, but be unable to stand his mother in law. I can take a business man and make him hate wearing a suit and tie so on weekends he wears basketball shorts and tank tops. An extroverted college age character might secretly write emo poetry about death due to a loved one’s suicide, and he hides his poem book behind a shelf of bio-chem textbooks. Maybe he wears that loved one’s sweatshirt when he writes the poetry, wishing it still smelled like whatever cologne the loved one used to wear. For a plot like that, I might do an abbreviated interview for my supporting character. It might not be as in depth as my main character’s interview but I’d do the basics, age, appearance, motivations in life … things like that. I don’t need to know everything about a supporting character but there are certain small elements, like what cologne they might have worn, that can be introduced in a small way that isn’t a distraction for the reader but helps them connect in a sensory way, which makes the story more vivid. Stories are all about the details. How much you share with readers dictates how they perceive and experience the world we create for them. You don’t have to hit them over the head with every mundane detail but a small difference between telling the reader the character had breakfast, or had their favorite breakfast of toast with peanut butter, can make a big impact on a scene. And in the end, we all want our stories to have that impact. That’s what makes the readers come back for more! For those who are interested, I have .doc copies of my interview lists for characters. If you’d like your own, please PM me and I’d be happy to share. For those readers of this blog who have not yet been brave enough to join, go ahead and email me at: cia@gayauthors.org

Before we move on to the featured story for the week, I'd like to remind everyone that the first GA's CSR Book Club discussion will take place on Monday, January 28th, 2013. The story to be read is Memories of Forgotten Love by Hosted Author: Nephylim. You can find the story pinned under the GA Stories tab. We would like to start the discussion with a review, so if anyone out there would like to write a review, or a couple of paragraphs about the story, then please PM Renee Stevens. Now, onto this week's story. This week we are featuring a story by Promising Author: KingdombytheSea called "No Strings". It was written for the 2012 Summer Anthology and it certainly fits the theme. Hope you enjoy this review and that it makes you want to go and read the story for yourself! No Strings By KingdombytheSea 2012 Summer Anthology: Choices Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 10,993 I’ve read all the stories by Promising Author: KingdombytheSea and I’ve enjoyed each of them in different ways. I decided to take a second look at one of her stories for today’s blog post. I decided to focus on “No Strings” for no other reason than it sounded interesting. “No Strings” follows best friends Kristina and Josh. Kristina has decided that she wants to have sex for the first time and has long decided that Josh is the one she wants for a little bit of ‘no strings’ sex. Josh is thoroughly against it, but doesn’t have the courage to tell her that it’s because he’s gay. When Josh turns her down, Kristina comes up with another plan. Unfortunately for Josh, he still plays a major role in his best friend’s quest. Unfortunately for them, or maybe fortunately (depending on how you look at it), Kristina’s plan doesn’t go quite how she expected. I don’t tend to read a lot of stories about high school aged characters, but I thoroughly enjoy Sara’s writing and this story was no different. The story flows extremely well and there were multiple times when I couldn’t stop the chuckles. The way that Kristina and Josh play off each other was entertaining all by itself, add the rest to it and it made for a wonderful read. If you haven’t already read “No Strings” by KingdombytheSea then I strongly suggest that you do so, even if you don’t typically read stories of high school age characters. If you do take a look at it, please take a few minutes to leave Sara a review letting her know what you thought of it! Enjoy!

Thank you Jo ann. It has not been easy, but I've been coping as well as I can. It has certainly helped to have a wonderful husband by my side and plenty of people willing to let me vent and talk when necessary. Some things have been tougher than others, but so far we are making it through and as I said, he's a fighter and is determined that he IS going to beat this. As for my writing, I'm waiting to see what happens there and if I can't write, I can't write. It's not something I'm really going to stress about right now. Thank you so much for the offer, I really appreciate it and may just take you up on that. Hugs ~Renee

The last few months have been interesting to say the least and the ending of 2012 was not in the least what I was expecting. As anyone who reads my blog already knows, the first part of December my brother was diagnosed with 4th stage Leukemia. Let me tell you, that really threw me for a loop. He is fighting and has already gone through his first two rounds of Chemotherapy and with any luck, he'll only have four more rounds to go. He wasn't doing too bad after the first round, but the second round he had a bit rougher week. It hit our family extremely hard, not just for the obvious reasons. My brother is a fighter, and if anyone can kick this, it's him. Our hope is that he is able to get into remission, which in this instance essentially means that it won't be detectable by today's technology. The bad news is, since there is no cure, it's very likely that he'll be facing relapses in the future, and if that happens, they'll be looking at a bone marrow transplant. So obviously, while we were extremely distressed to learn that he is so sick, for a lot of my family it was also a case of we can't go through this again. While I can't speak for the rest of my family, all that kept going through my mind besides my brother being sick is that I couldn't lose another brother. Yes, there are times I am overly dramatic, but this time, that was my greatest fear. When I was thirteen I lost one of my brother's to a car accident, so hearing that my oldest brother had cancer, it terrified me. I was trying so hard to be strong for my parents and my brother, but once I got alone or alone with my hubby, I couldn't keep it up. I'm still terrified that I'll be losing yet another brother, but I'm trying extremely hard to be positive. I am so lucky that I have had the support group that I have, many of them friends of mine from here at GA. When we got the news, I could barely function. I certainly was too out of it to even think about the things that I needed to get done on GA, but I was extremely lucky to have people who were not only able, but willing to step in and take on my responsibilities while I came to grips with what was going on around me. I don't want to risk forgetting anyone, so all I'm going to say is that for those who stepped in to help me out when I needed it, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate it more than you know, especially since many of you were going through your own stuff. Another side effect of the emotional upheaval is that I haven't been able to write. I have ideas. I plan entire scenes in my head. Then I sit down to write and just stare at the screen. For those of you who were/are following Forging Trust, I promise that I will be finishing that story, I'm just not sure at this point when that is going to happen. I am trying to work through the funk and am trying to work on prompts to see if that helps me break through, but only time will tell. I do at least have something posted as I had finished a story for Premium last year and it is now being posted. Now with that out of the way, here are some of my goals/hopes for this year: Finish many of my in progress stories I have so many stories began on my computer. I'm hoping to be able to not only finish Forging Trust, but to also finish up some of the other in progress stories. Revise and self-publish "Life after Loss" "Life After Loss" was the first story I ever completed. As such, it needs a lot of work and I plan to work on that in the very near future. It's a M/F story, but I'm hoping to self-publish it and put the majority, if not all, proceeds towards my brother's medical bills and/or bills. It's something I can do, and while it may not make them or myself rich, every little bit helps. Receive word that the cancer is in remission This is by far the most important to me, and don't think there's any need for me to go into further detail. Become more active on GA The first step is stepping back into my position of Anthology CoOrdinator. Cia did a great job stepping in for me for the Winter Anthology and the End of the World Anthology, but it's time to step back up and get it done. Become more involved with the GA Blog again. I took a massive step back with everything going on and I am slowly stepping back in to get things done and organized. I also HOPE to participate in a couple of anthologies this year, but only time will tell if that is going to happen. There's probably a lot more that I hope to accomplish this year, but on top of all that, I hope things are better for many of my friends. Many of them had a pretty rough year last year and I can only hope that things settle down for them this year. I also hope that if any of them ever need to talk, that they know I will lend an ear, just like they have done for me. Hugz to all and I hope all of you have a relatively good 2013! Hugz ~Renee

Well, it's finally TGIF day, better known as Prompt Me day!! So lets see what our prompt guru Comicfan has in store for us this week. Don't forget, if you decide to try one of these out, share it with the rest of us in the Writing Prompt Forum!! Prompt 202 – Creative Tag – Immortals You have been having the day from hell. It seems that everything that could go wrong today did. Then you almost have an accident only to find out that the person you nearly hit isn’t human. In fact, you have just found out the Greek Gods are real and walking through your town. Prompt 203 – Creative Tag – Alice’s World You thought your day was bad till you suddenly found yourself chasing after a small white rabbit and heard someone else trying to tell you how the Queen wanted her flowers red so the cards were going to paint them. Is being trapped in Wonderland a good thing or a bad thing? Sounds like we should get some very interesting responses to these two prompts. Speaking of two prompts, Joann414 recently did a prompt response using two prompts for one response. She used both Prompt 198: Use the following in a story – dish rag, a new shirt, a box of chocolates, a broken window, and a snowman. and Prompt 199: Starting Line: “Here we go again!” Enjoy!

Please remember that political discussions are not allowed on the forums at GA. We recognize that this show is about politics, but please only discuss the show and do not delve into real life politics, either past or present.

I may actually be in Cali during those dates (but it might be the week before).... unfortunately, doubt I could get the hubby to agree to go.

Thank you NotNoNever, Joann, and Andy. I apologize for not responding earlier, my mind has been a little... well... unfocused lately, but I appreciate all the kind thoughts!!! Hugz!

Well, with everything going on with my brother, the holidays were looking to be anything but relaxing. None of us wanted to go through Christmas waiting to hear the latest results, but at the same time, we weren't sure that we wanted the results before Christmas. Anyways. My brother let us know that they got his FISH results back and it's NOT the two really really bad ones that don't respond to Chemo. It's not the optimum one that has a really high success rate, but it is more of a general classification. So as of right now, he'll be doing Chemo one week out of every four (for 3 days) and a bone marrow transplant is most likely in his near future. While this still wasn't the greatest news (the optimum mutation would have been that) it is by far the worst news and is the best news we've gotten since this all started. It has definitely made us breathe a little bit easier and after talking with him today, he's much more upbeat than he was after the last test results. He's already done one round of Chemo and for the most part is feeling okay.

2012 Mayan Tribute Anthology: End of the World is NOW LIVE!!!! A great big Thank You goes out to everyone who participated and to Cia for stepping in when needed! A World Changing Gun ~ Cia Breathless ~ Yettie One Earthdrown ~ JoejoeGreene End of the Beginning ~ comicfan Ends ~ carringtonrj From Beyond The Stars ~ andy021278 Helios Unleashed! ~ Bill W It Was Only Once ~ Mikelaing74 The Ultimate Truth ~ Dolores Esteban Check out all of these wonderful stories and don't forget to leave the author's a review to let them know what you thought!!!

A big "Thank You" to Libby Drew for this weeks Wednesday blog! No Warm-ups Required: Why Opening Matters Warming up before you exercise makes good sense. You need to increase your body temperature. Stimulate blood flow to your ligaments. Mentally prepare yourself for what’s to come. Warming up for a workout is all about starting slow and building momentum. Fiction is not exercise. Never start a story with a warm-up. In other words, don’t open your masterpiece with an in depth description of a house, or the weather, or a town. The reader doesn’t need these things at the beginning of a story. These are static approaches, and most readers won’t abide by them. They’re simply too impatient. If you need description, give it later, after you’ve hooked the reader with action. Asking a reader to jump eagerly into a story that starts without motion is like trying to ride a bike with no wheels. You go nowhere… and so does your reader. Description is vital in fiction, but at the outset of the story it's deadly. Also, don’t start with background information that happened months or years ago. Fiction looks forward, not backward. When you start a story with background information, you point readers in the wrong direction. Always start the story with the first sentence! How do you do that? Easy. (Here’s the crux of my spiel. You’ll be happy to know it doesn’t begin with “don’t.”) Good fiction starts with—and deals with—someone's response to threat. To menace. To duress. We’re stimulated by threat. It’s human nature. Start your story with a car dangling over the side of a bridge. Start it with a groom running out of the church in the middle of his wedding ceremony. If your characters feel threatened, your readers will want to know why. That will keep them reading. Threat. It doesn’t have to be a physical catastrophe. Writers, look to your own lives. What were some of the times when you felt most stressed? Your first day at a new job? The death of a loved one? Your first date? Begin stories with stressful events. Even if they are happy. Because change, almost any change, shakes our world up and makes us uneasy. A car pulls into your driveway, and a stranger gets out. You see your mother on the evening news. She’s crying. You get a phone call from a strange number in the middle of the night. Ed McMahon knocks on your door holding one of those big checks. I see you wringing your hands. You need to tell readers about how things were fifty years ago in the neighborhood where your character lives. It’s important. Fine, but work it in later. Don’t inflict your concerns on the reader. They don’t care that you’re dying to tell them how character A’s grandma won the community cupcake decorating contest ten years in a row, although it’s a detail they’d probably enjoy later. Remember that readers want threat, the most common manifestation of which is change. It’s easy. Really! Look to your own experiences for ideas. Make stuff up. It doesn’t matter. Just don’t begin a story with a warm-up. Start it at the very moment where everything changes. ~Libby

Hello all, first off let me say thank you to everyone for the kind words and support. I appreciate it more than I can say and it makes me so grateful to be part of such an awesome community. With that being said, with the news I got today it cements the fact that I am unsure when I will be returning to GA full time. As such, if you post a review, send me a PM, or any other form of communication, if I don't get back to you immediately, it is not that I am ignoring you. Now, onto the update. I received the following from my brother, though I have edited it a bit to the facts. Thank you to everyone for all the kind words, thoughts, etc. I appreciate it more than you know.