Andrew Q Gordon

This must be an April's fool joke - no way Lugh is 33. Hey Birthday Dad Lughcifer.

Mike, In our family it's sorta different. My brother in law calls my parents by their first name, as does Mike. My sister in-law-calls them Mom and Dad. I call Mike's parents by their first name too. My parents always called their in-laws Mom and Dad. When I'm messing around with my Dad, I call him by his first name, but normally it's dad. My mother is a saint - like all Italian moms - so she is always mom or mother.

Clarify this Trevor. What if you and your partner used - oh say a surrogate and one of you was the known donor - for the sake of this argument, let's say you - you two raise your daughter. . . er son together. Do you still want your child to call you dad and him by his first name? I get the whole notion that if you had a son THEN met your partner that might be different, but again it would depend on a lot of things. How old is the child when you met your partner? Who is raising the child? You? The child's mother? For us, one of us is the donor and we know who is 'lil Q's 'father' is, but we are both her father/Dad/Daddy/Poppa/whatever. She won't be calling either of us by our first name.

Ditto whatever Tom said. But the ides of March - fit you well Sean. Hope it's a great day - filled with lots of things you'd be embarrassed to put on Facebook ! Andy

Okay let me have a go at this - First I'd like to thank me - errr. . . wait, wrong speech - never mind that. If life is a journey then GA is reflective of that. When I first signed up a certain young lad was kind enough to offer his help - Jian taught me quickly this was more than just a web site to post things on, it was a community of people who were supportive and helpful. Without him, I might not have stuck around. He also encouraged me - mightily - to develop Purpose a story I've always had kicking around but never really put too much effort into. It is/was different from anything else I tried so he kept me going on it. Thank you, John! John led me to Anyta. I could wear out my laptop talking about how much she has helped my writing and the way I look at writing, but the thing I am most grateful for is her friendship. She is one of the most generous people you'll ever meet. When we met in person it was like we'd known each other forever. She is truly a wonderful person who has made my life better for knowing her so Thank you, Anyta! Nephy - okay so there is Nephy overload on the thanks, but really, it's all well deserved. She has this boundless energy toward others. She must be an amazing mom, because she is so good with everyone here, especially the newbies that she strikes me as super great mom. She taught me a few writing things and a few life lessons. All appreciated. She also kept me away from too much legalese in my legal story so y'all should be thankful to her for that. Thank you, Nephy! Which leads me to Frosty. She of the ever present red pen. Personally I think she likes red and likes to mark up things. I also think she's a bit disappointed in me because I've gotten better at eliminating mistakes and she can't red me up so much. But she's always been there to clean up my stuff and is quick to comment for readers old and new. Thank you, Chatterbox! So that's basically all who've worked on things with me, but four others have helped with the odd piece here and there. Conner for telling me my story was crap and helping me avoid embarrassing myself - you know which story I mean so nuff said, but you also pre-read other things for me that have not been post for reasons other than they're crap DaddyDaveK - yes sir you've always been there. Mostly as a supportive reader, but I've asked for help now and then and you never refused thanks to you. KevinD, yes I remember how much you helped me during Second Shot - you've also put a bug in certain person who i live with's ear about old cars so I ought to be mad, but I brought that on my self. Thanks mate. GeorgeR or GeR now - here again, when I've need a bit of help, you've always been ready with a quick yes. Thanks so much. And now for a who's who on GAdom. Cia, Lugh, Renee, Tiger - thanks for the help on chat when needed. Wildone - yeah you Steve - you just make me smile, IDK, maybe it was how nice you've always been and how you saved me from my day alone in vancouver. CJ - you crack me up - and last but most important - Myr without you, I doubt we'd all be here - and you've never failed to answer my PM's even the stupid ones, so thanks to you as well. First a to everyone then and finally - Andy

Jasper, I agree with you that Anyta is a talented writer and beta reader, just don't invite her over, she'll bring you wads of cookies that are really good and you'll eat them for days . . . . oh wait, that's a good thing - nevermind.

I've done both and I think as an author I prefer chapter numbers only. As a reader it doesn't really help or hurt my experience. I do like Bill's comment about about being able to go back and find something. In The Trial of Jordan Colmar having titles really makes it easier for me to find what part of the story is where. But all in all, I find coming up with titles can be a pain to get right. So I think I'm leaning toward no more titles.

Okay so since it seems to fall to me to organize a few things, let me ask some questions. For those staying in a hotel while here, what do you want - A) In DC Outside DC where it will be cheaper, but you'll have to metro into the attractions C) Cheapest possible in a not so bad neighborhood D) You'll make your own reservations just tell you where to meet. My sense is this - it is cheaper to stay in the suburbs and take metro. BUT Metro can be a bit kitchy on weekends with all the track repair they've been doing. So it could take a bit longer on weekend that weekdays to get to where you want to go. I myself will be taking metro to the city for whatever we do, so I might be a bit biased on why staying a bit further out near metro is better. Another thought is that if we want to try to get a group rate on a hotel, I need to know how many are going to want to stay so I can call around. IF folks just want to go on to Hotel.com and find their own, that's good to, but PLEASE check with me before you book a place. There are some name brand hotels that boost nice views of the Capitol and Washington Monument that are in horrible areas. Poor tourist show up and find they are in hotels that rent their extra rooms to prostitutes and the like. So PLEASE ask me before you book. Couple other thoughts, Arlington is probably the closest suburb to the monuments and down town attractions. I personally hate Virginia because of their politics and how anti gay the state is. It might also be a bit more expensive than the Maryland suburbs due to it's prime location. Maryland is probably cheaper, but it is a bit further out. You'll want to stay out near me - University of Maryland or in Montgomery County if you want to be near a metro and in a decent area. Get a map of the Metro and look at the Red Line to Glenmont or the Greenline to Greenbelt as places to stay. But again, feel free to ask me. My email is belsport09@gmail.com Anyone with any questions ask me. Last, we should discuss what we as a group want to do. Do we want to book a group tour? Take the open top bus tour [it's like $40 for the day] meet for group breakfast or dinners or both? Give me some ideas and I'll check into stuff. My suggestion is we keep whatever we do near a metro so everyone will have access to whatever we do. Okay that's it for now. Hit me back with whatever. Andy PS any and all other DC area residents who are going to attend, please let me know so we can share ideas. I'm certain I don't know even half the good things to see and do, so the more minds the better.

Thought you hated to fly? How about I bring my laptop and we stream a bit of the meet up if you can't make it?

8 years isn't 18 so I don't think it's too out there. My neighbors kids were on one side 10-14 years older than us and baby sat us at times and on the other side, the people had kids when I was 10. And of course how many of my friends had older or younger siblings 8 or more years older/younger. But I didn't mean they'd be friends, just would they know them. Beside Will and JJ might be stopping back and getting all hot and bothered, even if they are 8 years younger LOL

Waves hello and says welcome. Pretty to read, plenty to see. Have fun and enjoy. Andy

An interesting mix of things here, Tom. You gave us a glimpse of life as a slave. They might be treated well, but they were slaves and had no rights. They were allowed sex only if the master said so, and so on. Though I do feel a tad sorry for Lucius who is about to lose his coveted roll as Master's slave - Sorry, I just couldn't resist. [please don't flog me.]

Well I really like this 'idea' and really want to have time to develop it. But time is the bugger and I have so little to spare that writing like Marc Arbour or Nephylim seems impose to me right now. But glad you liked this and hopefully I'll get that sequel soon enough.

Okay while this is not a video and it is not contemporanious to the story, any chance the boys knew any of these kids? Harvard-Westlake (Calif.) High is expected to be one of the best baseball programs in the nation, if not the best altogether. I just happened on this article while reading about dkstories's obsession [one of mine too, but a distant second to Soccer.]

Dave, Thanks for stopping by to leave a review/comment here. Glad you liked it. I think in someways I might have made Jordan too cliched. I was going for stupid rich kid who always got his way as opposed to just flat out evil. In my mind, Jordan blamed Peter for Jason 'turning gay'. He didn't want to attack Jason directly because they'd been friends forever, but also in his mind, getting rid of Peter would 'force' Jason back to his old friends. Maybe that was too cliched as well. But it worked for the story if you hated him, that was my goal, especially for this story. Thanks for reading this too. Andy

Nah, being a dad has left me with a new sense of serenity - - - --- yeah forget that shit, Method, didn't ever hear the bit about not poking the caged lion with a stick? Once you rile it up, watch out. Not that I'm into steel cage death matches mind you. I'll leave those to Mel Gibson.

K.C. Sorry didn't see this before now, many congrats, well deserved. So are you going to use a real photo on the book jacket or are you gonna stick with the muppet?

Thanks for the comments, some chapters were harder to write than others, mainly because trying to get the emotions right is sometimes difficult for me. Glad to hear I got it right in this chapter

Can I debate this with you as a reader who only has what you've written to go by? Chartley - I got a very different take from him. My sense was/is that he is reserved and loyal and will only give his 'heart' or feelings to those he expects to return the affection. I didn't get the sense that this was 'just' a friendship. Maybe that is a bad perception. Maybe he only has a very select few friends and thus any friendship with 'benefits' would by necessity be one where he 'loved' that person. I just took from his character that his feelings for George were way beyond just friends. I'm not saying his feelings for George were out of character, though I don't know that I accept there isn't a bit of Bridie displacement here. He clearly loved Berdie and George must remind him terribly of Albert. Given George's personality and nature, it's easy to see why Chartley would love him already. George - I don't think he rushes into infatuation and calls it love. I say this because you've written numerous times where he's done soul searching about his feelings for Travers, Calvert, Cavendish etc. To me, St. Vincent, has been a bit of a change for him, an evolution of sorts, not good or bad, just an evolution. Where before he was quick to have fun then realize he'd developed strong feeling for someone, here he seems to lurch from 'love' to 'love'. I also see that he was very lonely this trip. Before he always had someone 'special' to have time with. Then Kerry shows up and he's been lonely. Not without sex, just without a significant person to be emotionally connected to. I never got the sense Kerry was his type or that he 'loved' Kerry, but then when Kerry shows up, he filled a void. When he 'left' to fuck Sommers, that brought a return of the void and that pissed him off. My take was when they returned to 'civilization' George would realize he wasn't 'in love' with Kerry. He was just sort of a place holder. Now Chartley is a return to the Travers type figure for George. A steady, mature, handsome, (fat dicked top - since this is an Arbour story, that is important ) man. Someone who isn't younger, subordinate, under his command etc. After Travers, George was the mature, older. wiser. more experienced half of every love pairing he had. Chartley gives him a chance to let go of being in charge for for a change. I think that's a common trait among those who are in command outwardly and always taking care of others they sometimes desire someone to take care of them in their personal/romance/sexual lives. SO here too, George's action are easy to understand. Your comment on shortened lifespan is interesting as is periodically accurate. In current times, even people in the closet are 'out' and about. The internet makes it much easier for those in the closet to find others they're attracted to. I imagine before the net, it must have been harder for those not out enough to go the bars etc. They'd cruise known areas now and then and probably end up 'settling' for whomever they 'found' That is probably similar to this period. Men were not 'out.' How could they be when being a sodimite meant being hung - as Ramsey would have been if he didn't do it to himself. So the idea of finding someone, especially someone like George, would be something you didn't toss aside lightly. Okay rambled on enough. Take that Protagonist of the Year Congrats Mark- well deserved.

ACK !!! CJ, the next Queen has spoken, all bow to her glorious cliffyness.

As the co-chair of Cia for Queen of Cliffs, I can say the answer is no CJ did NOT want to win. I've learned in my time that there is a tradition at GA that no one wants to be King(or Queen) of Cliffs. And that authors campaign for someone else. Alas CJ and I failed in our campaign, but we are resolute in our quest to see this award go to the most deserving member of this community. Cia. This despite the dirty tricks of someone who change poor CJ's banner against his wishes earlier today. With such a stacked deck, it's no wonder we didn't win, but there is always next year.

I'm with Rilbur on this. Ravi seems like a douche, who thinks he needs to 'prove' he's cool - that was my take reading an indepth article on both him and Tyler - but I don't think he was being malicious, I think he was doing this to prove how 'fun' or 'cool' or 'smart' or whatever in being ableto catch his roommate having sex on film, ala American Pie - "Look at me. See, I recreated that funny shit from American Pie with my roommate." That's what I see from this. That Tyler was gay, was just what he was working with. Even though he made tweets and posts etc about Tyler being gay, there wasn't anything presented that shows he was hating on him. I still believe this was just a college prank motivated by a need to draw attention to himself, not to attack Tyler for being gay. Maybe the fact that Ravi was going to be showing 'two dudes' kissing might have made the footage more unique or interesting to others, but that wasn't a product of hate as much as drumming up interest in the prank he was doing. IDK, maybe I'm totally off base on this, wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure.

Mark, I'm a few reviews behind, I'll catch up later, but you've been posted fast and furious. I wondered about Berdie since the oil baths in India, so this sort of confirms my suspicions. Seems he isn't opposed to it for political gain and now he's not opposed to it with his BFF if he can write it off as a drunken rut. Chartley is interesting in many ways. My sense from how you've written him is that he is a much more loyal person - lover wise - than George, or at least Goerge at this time in his life. He is also going to be a bit dangerous for George if George doesn't change his ways. Meaning, Peter isn't Travers or Calvert or Cavendish men in the Navy who understand separation and subcribe to the 'sailor in every port' life - not to say any of them had near as many 'loves' as George, but they were/are able to compartmentialize their feelings. George is at sea, so I diddle with the Duke of Clarences son. George is on another ship so I'm going to sleep with one of my officers, etc. Chartley seems to be more reserved and less oportunistic. Now, here's something I'm sort of scratching my head over - people seem to fall in 'love' a lot at the drop of a hat. Chartley barely knew George and only 'knew' him once, before the last chapter and is now in love with George. I'd have a hard time believing there is a lot of Berdie displacement if I were George. But back to the love issue. Three days ago, George loved Kerry and was upset that Kerry was now in 'love' with Sommers. He's loved a lot of people very fast, but Chartley is the quickest I think. Just seems that for a group of Sodimites who were trying to keep things on the DL, they are falling in love awful fast. But that could just be me.

Day after Christmas and you're out with no coat on and you're bitchin about the wind? Nice picture, Matt - though my thought was your cousin was covering his nose because of something you did, not him, but Y_B knows more than me I suppose.

Happy Birthday - andmany more to come!