Renee Stevens

Thank you for the review James!!! I love hearing how something that I am writing is able to draw the reader in and make them want more! It juts makes my day and knowing how much someone is enjoying the story helps me keep my motivation to keep writing! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Well, it's Wednesday again, which you know what that means! Author Showcase! And today we're not having just any Author Showcase, it's actually a complete Poetry Showcase! It's great to have a day that is just poems! The first set of poems are by our Promising Author: Bugeye and the second set of poems are by our Poet: Menace! Both sets of Poems have been reviewed by Mark92!!!! The Art of Poetry by Bugeye This man is one of the sweetest members I’ve met on GA. He is both shy and modest, even going as far as disliking his own work. However, Bugeye makes poetry an art form. I sat and read several of his poems yesterday. If I have an odd five minutes I always read a poem or a short, leaving the longer works to mull over at my leisure. For me, there is a thrill that comes from his poems, one minute you’re racing through the words, excited about reaching the end. The next you’re stopping and thinking. Bugeye puts down in writing what happens on the inside. They are a turmoil of words that do not always rhyme, but have a poetry and style, all of their own. They range from the sad and broken to growing and moving forward. His works are like looking at a painting hung in a gallery. Everyone will have their own opinion on what it says to them. For instance, Odds and Ends is powerful and emotional. I felt like I was sat in the centre of an argument. Another poem, Forsworn, told me of a love lost. Is that what it’s about? Will you read it the same? Maybe, maybe not. The Ones I Forgot About. This started like the story of my childhood, and quickly spiraled into another thought provoking, intense work. This one is still with me, the day after reading. We all know our Bugeye as a shy, sweet, modest man. His poems tell a different story. I would definitely recommend you read them; as I have, you too will learn more of the deep, complex man that is Bugeye. Poetry Collection by Menace A regular visitor to GA, Menace always has a smile and a hug for everyone in chat. He’s known as a queerling, but a lot of emotions, and surprising experience, come over in his work. I read three of his works today. His poems are raw, mostly sad, and speak of someone much older than his years. Overall, an editor or beta would greatly help him iron out a few creases in his structure and more reviews on his pieces would help him too. Lonely Beauty: This is surreal, lonely and sad, with a surprising ending. Twinkling Star: A play on a nursery rhyme, cleverly done. Last but not least… A Never Goodbye: I thought this was raw, and exciting even though sad. The happy ending made me smile. I like his work, and as with most poets, the pieces tell of someone quite different than the one we see on the surface. They also give you questions, and made me wish to learn more. What is his story, his culture, his background? Where does all this experience of life come from? For someone so young, his works tell of someone who has seen a lot in his life. Hopefully Menace will keep writing and growing. He is a star in the making. So, we still need reviews!!! If anyone is interested in reviewing a Promising Author or an Author/Poet, please let Trebs or Renee know!!! Remember to Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!!

“He’ll join us as soon as his shift is over.” Trent pulled out his chair and sat down before directing a smile towards Jordan. Jordan shifted in his seat and glanced at where Shawn was presumably restocking the bar before leaving. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the man joining them. A part of him was eager, nearly giddy, to meet the guy who had made something come alive in him that had been dormant ever since the split with Mitch. The other part of him, the louder part, was telling him t

Well, it's the start of another week! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and were able to do something fun! Today we are going to look at a story by one of our Hosted Authors who have been with the site since 2005! Mark Arbour! During that time he has posted 25 stories, including the very popular CAP saga! Today though, we are going to look at the short story he shared with us for the 2010 Spring Anthology: I'd Never Do That! Wars End By Mark Arbour Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 6,567 Like I’m sure many of us at GA do, when I hear the name Mark Arbour I think Chronicles of an Academic Predator (CAP). I wanted to take a look at what else he has written and finally decided on Wars End. I knew how popular his longer stories were; I wanted to see what he could do with a short story, and I can definitely say that I wasn’t disappointed in the least. When the story starts we find ourselves in Paris near the end of World War I where we get our first introduction to Gabriel, a soldier who was injured during the war and now earns his living as a bank teller. His thoughts are on anything but his job as he recalls a man named Jack that he had met earlier in the war. There is so much he wants to know, so much that he wants to say, but above all, he just wants to know if Jack has survived. As this story progressed I got a look into Gabriel’s thoughts and feelings. Despite the length, or maybe because of it, I really felt as though I got to know him. I found myself cringing as he was forced to deal with advances he didn’t want. I found myself smiling as he talked about his time with Jack. I even found myself with tears in my eyes as I felt as though I was there with him in his moments of despair. This story took me on an emotional roller coaster ride, but I wouldn’t have changed anything in it. I think Wars End showcased Mark’s ability to pull the reader into his story and make the reader really care about the characters. It’s amazing how much I empathized with the characters in such a short time, and while this story could easily have been longer, I think Mark did a wonderful job with keeping things moving without rushing them. As much as I would have liked to read more, I have to admit it was the perfect length for the story it told. If you haven’t already read Wars End by Mark, I strongly suggest that you go check it out. If you enjoy it, why not leave him a review to let him know how much you appreciate the work he puts into his stories! If you liked this review, why not check out the story and leave Mark a review!!! Enjoy!!

So, it's Friday again! That means that we're bringing you two more prompts from Comicfan! We're glad to see so many people trying out the prompts! Remember, share what you do (and see what others are doing) in our Writing Prompts forum. Prompt 138 – Creative Cue – The Sleeper You volunteered for the experiment figuring with the disaster your life was, two years asleep in the cryo-tank might allow some changes to happen allowing you to fix everything. While you were sleeping massive changes occurred in the world and your two year nap became a forty year nap. When you are finally taken out of the cryo-tank for you no time has passed but the world you woken up to is completely changed. What has happened and how will you cope? Prompt 139 – Creative Cue – The Oracle You never believed in anything you couldn’t touch, taste, or smell. Life for you was one built on the facts of what you had learned in school and college. That went right out the window when you met the oracle. What did the oracle tell you and how did it change your life? And for our Prompt Feature, we're going to feature a prompt that was written in response to Prompt #137 First Line: "But if you don't do it, you know you will regret it for the rest of your life." It was written by Hosted Author and Admin Cia. She calls it: The Finish Line. Did you like that little tease? Want to read the rest? Check it out here!

So, you may have noticed that we are asking the members of GA to do reviews on stories that they have enjoyed. You may have even thought, “Oh, I should do a review on…” but there is still something that holds you back from doing a review to be featured on the blog. You might even think that the story you just read might not be one we are looking for. Well, forget that worry! We want all stories!!! Hosted, Promising, Author, Poet, New Authors, Old Authors, even the old anthologies! Or perhaps you're worried that you don't know HOW to review for the blog. Well, I’m going to take just a few minutes to help you with that. Your first step in volunteering to do a review for the blog is to contact Trebs, Renee, or Cia. Find out if the author you wish to review has already been featured for a blog article. We keep a list of the stories and authors that have been reviewed, and it will only take a moment to find out if the author you want to review is still available!!! Your second step, if you haven’t already done this, is to pick the story that you wish to review. For example, if the author you wanted to review has already been taken, this is when you would pick a new author and story. Picking your author/story can be a fairly easy experience. Look at the completed stories you have read lately, and enjoyed, and decide which one you want to do. If you are trying to decide between multiple authors, one thing that may help you decide is to really compare the stories. For example: In the above instance, I would strongly recommend doing a review on the newer, less well-known, author. Help them get their name out there and point out to your fellow members just what a gem the story is. Another option, you could review both if they haven’t already been taken. The third thing you are going to want to do is write the review. I know that this can sometimes seem daunting as you might not be sure what to include in the review or you're afraid that your opinion isn't qualified for whatever reason. Don't worry, it is! We want to know what you think about stories as the reader, something we all are, no matter what else we do on the site. Cia gave me a list when I was writing my first review of some guidelines that she uses. I generally try to give these guidelines to each new reviewer, and I’m going to include them in this blog entry. Guidelines to think about when writing a review: A short summary of why you read the story/poem(s) A short summary of what you liked about the story/poem(s) that kept you reading. Keep this vague so as not to give away all the details of the plot or how the story actually ends. This is how the story/poem made me feel A brief explanation of how you feel the story/poem showcases the author’s writing skills A short summary of exactly why you recommend it Your review should be a minimum of 200 words and upwards of approximately 500 words Finally, you are going to send the review to Trebs, Renee, or Cia via PM. We will do a basic edit on it and if there’s anything major that needs changed, we will let you know and give you the chance to fix it. Once all the editing is done, it will go into the review queue. VOILA!!! You are done!!! Hope this helps anyone who is wondering just how to go about writing a review for the blog!!!

LOL! Loved this! You had me wondering just exactly what it was he was tasting. Great job!

Thank you for this story Mark. It's amazing to me how much emotion you can put into such a short tale, but throughout it all, I never had a doubt as to how Gabriel was feeling. This was a wonderful story and while I find myself wishing I could know what happens to these two, I think you picked the perfect spot to end it!

That's definitely a neat little story! Thank you for sharing it Graeme!

Looks like I get to be your first review! WOOHOO! Anyways, onto the review. I really liked this story, I thought it was quite powerful and the emotions came through loud and clear. You did a great job on this prompts and I am looking forward to reading more by you! Also, Welcome to GA. If you need any help, please feel free to let me know!

In addition to being a fantabulous asset to GA through all his work and time here, Lugh is also one of our Hosted Authors. Here our great guest reviewer Fozzie Bear has written a review of Lugh's Catara - a story you may want to check out yourself! Catara By Lugh Reviewer: Fozzie Bear Status: Complete Word Count: 24,325 Wakka, Wakka, Wakka. Fozzie Bear here again. What do we say about our resident grouch, other than get to know him. He might be the guy in chat you run into but sit back and read his stuff, wakka. Wow, what a surprise this author hides beneath his gruff exterior. If you haven’t gotten to read Lugh’s stuff be prepared to be taken on a roller coast ride. However, I could gush over a number of his works today we focus on his little tale, CATARA. For those of you who only like a complete story, well this one is. Welcome to the world of Catara, not one everyone is familiar with. Catara focuses on Mathew Patlyk Khoury. The story begins with a journal entry that sets up the world so well. You learn right off that Mathew is a clone of Danyl, his brother. His father is captain of the ship, and his mother is a diplomat also on the ship. It is due to her job that Math is sent down to Catara. When the simple act of sharing a piece of fruit opens Mathew up to world he knew nothing about. At first suspected to be his primary, Danyl, soon Mathew learns he is able to handle what his brother could not. Lugh moves through a world of customs, beliefs, sex, and knowledge in a richly story that finds you reading faster and faster as you go. In the end Catara is a story of one soul finding out it can do so much more than be a simple clone. In a land where death is part of the survival when all your life says one thing, and the person you call friend is shown to be more, what are you to do? Mathew is a man of change. One who grows and learns. Welcome to the world of Catara, where the Gods watch over, the weapons are sung into being, and a young man begins the first steps of interesting journey. So here is another amazing tale by Lugh, Wakka, Wakka. One of self discovery that leads from the depths of one’s soul, to his dreams, and beyond all within a tightly woven tale. Where Lugh will take you on the next leg of this trip has yet to be revealed but, well this Bear can’t wait. Enjoy your trip, and be careful what you eat and what you think. Wakka, Wakka. Thank you Fozzie for that review! What about you? Is there a story you've read that you want the rest of the GA membership to check out? If so, why not do a review to feature in the GA News Blog! Contact me or Trebs for more info!

Thank you Stephen for your review! A lot of credit for how well the story flows has to go to my team. They have been so much help with this story and I can honestly say that I don't know how many revisions I've done up until this point, lol. On the plus side, it makes the story even better and they even get me really thinking about how I'm wording things and whether what I'm writing is plausible or not. Thanks again! Enjoy!!

Thank you for the review Lisa! Jordan definitely had his moments in this chapter, and I agree that it shows how strong he is in the face of everything that is happening to him at the moment. As for Mitch, yeah, I debated on including the part about the guys wife, but in the end I realized it would show just how much of a jerk (to put it mildly) Mitch is. I'm glad that is coming through loud and clear as I didn't want to risk readers feeling for him when it's Jordan that has been wronged. Glad that you are enjoying the story and I hope to hear more from you as you read future chapters! Enjoy!

Thanks Louis for the review! I'm glad that the story has that sense of realism to it. I owe great big thanks to my team for helping me so much with this story. I hope that you enjoy what's going to be happening in the upcoming chapters! Enjoy!

Thanks SidLove! I'm glad that you are able to really feel for Jordan, that just shows me that I'm doing something right in my writing of this story. I always worry that my readers won't be able to really get a feeling for the characters. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters.

Thanks for the review! Yes, there is a lot of hurt in this story up to this point, but all I can say is it does get a bit better in the near future. I won't say more because I don't want to give anything away. Enjoy the upcoming chapters!

Thanks for the review! Yeah, I don't like Mitch all that much, could ya tell? It just goes to show what kind of a guy he really is and that Jordan is actually lucky to be rid of him! Thanks again and hope you enjoy future chapters.

Thanks for the review! I definitely agree with the "once a cheater..." saying. That's one thing that on both mine and my husbands list of what we won't tolerate. Glad you are enjoying this and hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!

Thank you for the review! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story! I debated for a long time on where to start this story, but finally decided that I wanted the readers to be WITH Jordan when he found out what was going on. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Nearly a Year Later “Good job wrapping the Montgomery case up.” Jordan’s co-worker Alan clapped him on the shoulder as they walked together out of the law office. “Thanks Alan. Though to be fair, it was a team effort,” Jordan answered. “There’s no way I could have gotten all the facts I needed without everyone’s help.” “True enough, but you need to give yourself credit too. We may have found the information you needed, but you’re the one that put together a case that blew the other side ou

Today for our "Blast from the Past" we are going to look at an old anthology story. Hope you enjoy this little look into "All I Wanted" by Viv and why not take a look at the story yourself! All I Wanted By Viv Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 10,007 2006 Fall Anthology: Halloween So, I was looking for an old anthology story and I came across “All I Wanted” by Viv from the 2006 Fall Anthology: Halloween. After reading, I decided that I needed to read more by this author. I went and looked at her profile only to realize that I had read her before. “All I Wanted” is a Halloween story that starts out with the main character, Taylor, stuck doing the lesser of two evils: staying stuck at home and passing out candy, or taking his little brother out trick-or-treating. He chose the candy and boy was he glad he did. After handing out candy bar after candy bar to dressed up little kids, a cute little lady bug shows up, and who is escorting her? The guy from school that Taylor constantly drools over and becomes tongue tied around. What shocks him even more, Blake actually knows who he is and invites Taylor to a party, with HIM! Looks like Taylor’s night just got a whole lot better, or did it? You’ll have to read to find out! This story runs through a gamut of different emotions. The further I read the more I felt for the characters and the more I wanted to see what was going to happen next. Viv kept me on the edge of my seat as I alternately wanted to cuddle and then smack the characters. This was an excelled short view into Viv’s work and I would recommend that anyone who likes reading high school age stories. I think Viv captured the two teenage boys perfectly and look forward to see what she comes up with in the future! So, there we go! If you liked this, go take a look at the story and leave Viv a review! Also, we are in need of more reviews, all types! If you are interested in helping us out and writing a review for a story you have read or are reading, please contact Renee or Trebs!

So, you’ve written your story, and you’ve even found an editor to help point out all those pesky missed commas and misspelled words. That’s it, right? I mean, what else could you possibly need? How about, a Beta reader! A good beta/author relationship is worth its weight in gold. If you do decide to find a beta reader, be forewarned that it might take you a couple tries before you find one that you really mesh with. I personally have had countless beta readers before finding my current team and I wouldn’t do without a single one of my current team members. Here’s the basics of what I look for in a beta reader. First off, I have to trust them. I mean, think about it, I’m trusting them with my hard work and effort. Some stories can be really time consuming to write and I have to know that my team is going to do their best for me. I have to trust that they won’t be afraid to point out errors that they find. I’m sure many writers have had continuity issues, whether or not they admit it, I trust my beta readers to find those issues. Granted, one or two might get missed, but overall, my team tends to catch the majority of them. A second thing for me personally is, I have to be able to talk to my betas. I’ll find myself stuck on a story and generally at least one of my team members are around and are more than willing to help me work through a block. They’ll talk the story out with me and help me to get it on the right track. This to me, is invaluable and so many of my stories have taken on a life of their own because of it. A third thing that I look for is, do they get easily offended if I don’t take their advice. Unfortunately, this is one thing that is almost impossible to find out until you actually work with them. One good tell is if they tell you from the start that what they suggest is just that, a suggestion, and that you can take it or leave it. I’ve worked with my team long enough that generally, I take most of their advice, but there’s occasionally that one thing that I just say nope, I’m leaving it alone. I still consider everything though, they took the time to give me their opinions and suggestions, so the least I can do is give serious thought to them before rejecting the idea, so keep that in mind as well. So, that’s the majority of what I look for. Keep in mind though that a beta reader generally is not an editor. You might find one that does great with both, but a beta reader is not meant to point out spelling and punctuation errors, that’s not really what you have them for. They’re there to check the flow of your work, check the continuity, and check for phrasing that just seems off. Now that you know what to look for, go out and find your beta reader so that they can help you make your story the best that it can be (and no, I’m not recruiting for the Army). So, those are my main things, what do you personally look for in your beta readers? Feel free to add to this list by commenting!!!

Jordan groaned as his eyelids fluttered open. It couldn’t be morning; it felt like he’d just fallen asleep. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes and winced at the gritty feeling. He lifted his arms over his head in a stretch and looked around the room. Why was he in the spare bedroom, and where was Mitch? The events of the night before flooded his mind and he groaned and jerked the pillow over his face. No wonder he felt like shit. He lifted the pillow and glanced

What a wonderful little tale. A sad one to be sure, but I'm amazed at the skill that you showed in this short little story. It flowed so well that after finishing it I couldn't even remember seeing some of the words that were supposed to be used. After looking at the prompt again I searched for them. Great job and I hope to see more from you in the future.

So it's time to look at something that a lot of us probably never saw! Today we're bringing you a little gem that was published in one of GA's old newsletters. Have you offered to edit for someone and receive the first chapter only to realize that you have no clue where to start? If so, this editing tip could be very beneficial to you! Even if you don't currently edit, it's still a helpful tidbit full of good advice! Editing Tips...Getting Started Volume 2: Edition 1 October 2006 For every seasoned editor at Gay Authors, there are at least two more members interested in volunteering their time to edit for an author. Some keep quiet about it, certain that they don't have the skills or confidence to do the job. Others volunteer and quickly find that the process is a daunting one. All too often there are posts in the Editor's Corner from members who have volunteered to edit, who have received a chapter from their author and don't have the first clue where to begin. They find themselves staring at pages of text with no clue what they need to do to effectively edit the story in front of them. This is the first in a series of articles designed to help both new and experienced editors develop their skills. The series will look at all aspects of editing, beginning...well, at the beginning. Before the editing process even begins, the first thing you need to do is talk to your author about their expectations. The first thing you need to ask is where your author thinks they need the most help. Some will say that spelling and grammar are their weakest areas. Others will say they have trouble with story flow and continuity. Listen to them carefully, take into account everything the have to say and then, when their done, forget about it. Yep, you heard me - forget about it. I'm both an author and an editor and I can assure you that authors are the worst judges of their own work. Talking to them about their needs will help you build up a rapport with them, but if you're going to be an effective editor then you need to be able to look at all the story elements, not just those your author thinks need examining. The next step is to discuss with your author the format they'd like the editing to take. Really there are three formats for editing - simply making the changes to the document and sending it back, using the MS Word Track Changes feature (or equivalent) to illustrate the changes you're proposing or using a separate document to note changes that are required. Always try to encourage your author to use one of the two latter options rather than just expecting you to make changes. The main reason for this is that you might change something that shouldn't be changed, a "mistake" that is intentional, or you may misinterpret what the author is trying to say and end up giving a sentence, or paragraph, a completely different meaning. There is also the fact that any good editor will try to help their author improve their skills and that means giving them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Once the ground rules have been established and you know what your author is expecting of you, it's time to get working on their latest chapter or story. The individual elements of this, such as spelling, grammar, punctuation and the like, will be examined in later articles, but where do you begin? What do you look at first? The fact is, every editor will eventually develop their own style and processes, but a structured approach to editing is always the best way. Whenever I'm editing, the first thing I do is read the text from start to finish, ignoring any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and any of the other technical elements. I choose to look at the story flow to see if there are any confusing sections, plot conflicts or other issues that would distract me as a reader first. I do this because looking for the technical problems can be tedious and by the time I'm finished I don't have the same appreciation for the story and thus risk missing story elements on a second read. After I've looked at continuity and flow, I go back and look for technical errors. The first thing I use is the spelling/grammar checker in MS Word. I set it to check the errors in the story, but don't always trust it to be correct, particularly when it comes to grammar. After the spellchecker has done its job I read through the story, looking at it a paragraph at a time, checking first that there are no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors and then reading each sentence to look for excessive wordiness - looking to see if what an author has said in twenty words can be said in ten and checking that words are not repeated too much within sentences. The final thing I do is fact-checking. I go through the story looking for things like a person's hair colour, name, a description of a room or building and then cross reference against mentions of the same person/feature from earlier in the story. Once this process is complete I set the story aside for a while and then go back to it the following day, reading it through again with the corrections I've made to see if there's anything I've missed. Of course, this is just how I do it. There really is no right or wrong way to edit, provided you check all the elements and produce something that both you and your author are happy with. That's all for this edition, but watch out in the next newsletter for more detailed editing tips and in the meantime, if you have any questions, visit the Editor's Corner and see what advice others can offer you. RHawes16