LJH

Hi Mike...this is Colton speaking. Well, firstly I'm the happiest guy this side of Dublin that you're enjoyin' this story. To answer your question as to whether Jack is a good guy gone bad or a bad guy gone good, well, the truth is I just don't rightly know. (Aside) - I don't even think LJH knows. However, his notebook will probably tell us a lot more about him. LJH seems to be occupied with the thriller aspect of this story, but I can tell you it's going to be a rollercoaster from here on in. I do hope to find Jack but I know it's goin' to take everything I have. I miss the guy.

Its difficult to write good humour into crime fiction and so far i like what i have read. I think i would like to go on this journey with Ryan and Cole. Im a sucker for goid, thrilling stuff. I'm hooked. (pun).

I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one* ‘I’m a friend of the driver who survived the bus explosion in Laferty two days ago.’ Colton said. ‘I’d like to speak to the commissioner.’ The beady eyed man with a pencil sharp nose glared at him as if he were asking the impossible. ‘Commissioner only takes appointments.’ ‘I have information regarding the driver.’ ‘Make an appointment and I’m sure he’ll see you. Depends entirely on his schedule,’ the man said, returning his at

This is exactly how I want readers to view it, from an individual POV. We have all had scary moments in our lives, and some are worse than others, and this story I hope will remind us that we have the power to stop wars, and senseless killing all in aid of a cause.

This "civil war" if you want to call it that, was a perverse quirk of history that goes back at least 1000 years. I'm glad you are reading this Joann. Your input means a lot to me. The tragedy was that it was not stopped a long time back.

Mike, glad to hear from you lad. Yes. Emotion plays a huge part in this story. As you know, I like to write decription in action and it's difficult for me to write emotion, even though I love reading a story that gets me crying. I'm glad I got a response from you that means I have set an emotional link that has engaged you. That means a lot to me. Thanks bro.

You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one* Colton gripped Jack’s hand, then climbed onto the bed and lay beside him. ‘Shhh…you need to rest my baby. We can talk about this some other time when you’re feelin’ better.’ Jack shook his head. ‘Can’t. Need to show ya so’thin’. Notes…I wrote notes. I want you to read…’ Colton dug into his crinkled trouser pocket and brought out the postcard sized notebook. ‘You mean this?’ Jack nodded. ‘Now? You want me to read this now?’ ‘Whene’er…

My man Corb got a reaction out of Pete. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY. SHew. I have no idea where Pete is leading Corbs, I hope it's to a sunny place filled with love. Even if it isn't, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. I laughed and laughed with my hubby when Mike brought his cadets over the hill, we both were stunned. Way to go Mikieeeeee! Hubby asks the question, Why would Pete be bothered about Mike's shirt lying on the lawn? Why would he say I miss you? Why would he not give Corbs a reason to cancel with Mike? Answer? Pete likes Corbs, a lot, yet is scared to say because hubby reckons that Pete has had an unfortunate gay experience that he doesn't want repeated. All speculation I might add. But still, a marvelous chapter.

Hi Billy. Thanks for the read. Your input means a lot to me. I wanted to get across the emotion right from the start, a huge gamble because readers tend to first get used to a character then allow the emotion to flow. The Irish problem and Apartheid were terrible periods in man's history. I write this story to remind ourselves that these attrocities have happened and must never be forgotten.

Yes, it was a tragic time for millions of people. The problem however, was so confusing. On the one hand it was a religious war between Catholic and Protestant, and on the other it was political. This is the challenge for this story. I will need to concentrate on one or the other without making it confusing. I hope I succeed. Glad you enjoyed it. Hugs

Ah man. Ray I had no idea. Wow. What a blow. You just stay strong bro and its okay to cry. Suicide is an awful thing. It took me a long time to get over the death of my man. Wrote a lot of poetry. Soul searched. As time went by, i learned many lessons. Rodney gassed himself in our trailer and it shook my world. Guilt, denial, hate etc. it comes and goes in spurts. I would wake up at night wailing and smelling his deoderant on the pillows. I left everything of his untouched for many years. My friends say five years, i think it was less than five. No one understood me then. I was cranky and emotionless. Words did not heal me. Time healed me. Everything came right. One night i met Louis 2 and someone, one of my friends, told him what happened. We have been together now for 19 years. What im trying to say is that no matter the loss, life goes on. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs and respect Ray.

The lives of Jack Milner and Colton Greaney change forever when tragedy strikes the small farming community of Laferty in Northern Ireland.

Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today…* 8th April, 1997 Two months before cease-fire. Life is all about choice. Some choose the high road, others choose the low road, and still some choose the road less travelled. The choices we make enable us to do the things we want, and discard the things we don’t want. There are those who will say that life is more than the sum of our choices, for life is also abou

I would say that there are rules that govern writing and yes, these are universal. The important thing is to know them before you break them. Dialogue requires that we use opening and closing quotation marks and tags like "He said/she said", but I have read books where there are no quotation marks at all. I would suggest that if you are serious about writing, that you find your own style. Your style encompasses how you treat dialogue and narrative, how you punctuate, how you hook the reader, how you engage the reader and how you use words to convey the story. Matthew Reilly, an Australian thriller writer, has a way cool style of writing. At a moment of high drama, he will break the sentence and continue the same sentence on a new line without punctuation just like this. It's all a matter of knowing the rules. Grammar and punctuation make it easy for the reader to follow. Here's just one rule you might think about, and it concerns the exclamation mark ! Get out! he shouted. Seems to be the correct way of expressing the dialogue. But I was taught that the exclamation mark is the tag. The exclamation is the shout. So writing he shouted, merely duplicates/repeats the exclamation mark. So it is written as Get out! he said. But let's look at some dialogue truths: Dialogue is used to show conflict, to advance the story, and to show character. So it must be taken seriously. Dialogue is the lifeblood of your story. Characters discuss, argue, reveal and hide behind their words so dialogue must be written moment by moment and follow the stimulus-response rule. You can include internal thoughts of the viewpoint character. Dialogue involves the words spoken by the characters. It involves attributions or tags like "he said, she said" It involves body language, gestures, movements, facial expressions. Use these as much as you can. A character is never static. He is always moving, picking up a book, kicking a ball, watching his lover. Yes, punctuation in dialogue is important because of the overwhelming truths as stated above. I always have maintained that writing is a craft. Very few of us are born with the ability to write a blockbuster. So we must learn. I also believe that if there were no rules, why, we wouldn't need Departments of Literature at universities, or Master of Creative Writing degrees. We wouldn't have Professors in Literature. Having said this, it's important to understand the rules before breaking them. It's like riding a BMX, you need to know how to ride a bike before you can do the tricks. POV is tricky. The best way is to adopt an omnicient point of view or the all seeing POV so the narrator sees everything. Of course, if you use the first person, your character will not be able to be in two places at the same time. Your character will only be able to describe what he sees and what he thinks about it. Many authors write first person quite spectacularly. Many writers change POV in their work, one chapter will be seen through let us say, Mark's eyes, the next chapter will be seen through Peter's eyes. It's all a matter of what you want the reader to get out of your work. It's all a matter of knowing the rules. Then smash them! LOL

Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday dear krista Poo poo peee doo

Delightful. A superb uplifting story that warmed my heart. It has a certain kind of texture, like when your fingers wipe over suede. I was hooked by the colour of the journey of true love these two men held for each other. The story takes place on a farm and you could have written a million words with subplots and surprises. Instead, you focused on one emotion. Love. Oh i do like action, thrillers that kind of thing, but i also love stories that compel and engage no matter the genre. I'm a sucker for gay romance. With each paragraph you left me wondering if this romance will flourish or crash so you held me with that suspense. I loved the bits of detail you inserted about farm life. For me it was real. I was there with each character. The reveal was superb and well written. There was not one single word out of kilter here, oh, wait...that word smirked... Erm its just a pet peave of mine. This is a really beautiful story. Thank you.

happy birthday kyle

I like this on several levels: the first is how your writing has matured by leaps and bounds. The second us the pattern of the language. Not only should free poetry be just that, free, but it should also have pattern and form. Thirdly, i enjoy the images and the meaning. A poem, in my mind should have various meanings. The one that struck out was of a love lost and the yearning to b together again. The other for me was, well, the weather dang it. I thoroughly enjoyed this first thing in the morning. Now i can have my coffee. Well done mister man.

Well, I read The Beard and I must say the cooking of it was almost perfect. Oh, wait...there are two things silly about that sentence. Cooking and almost. Okay, okay. Let me explain. Dale and Cole, the political scene, their friends, are all ingredients in an uncomplicated recipe. The salad is mixed to perfection. So Cole approaches Dale to be his boyfriend during the course of the run in to the elections, elections in which Cole's father would be elected if he can garner the sympathetic vote. It has all the enthralling, angsty bits which I loved. Are they going to fall in love for real? Are they going to break up? For that answer you will have to read the full novel. I say almost because, well...I'm sorry, I wanted more. I wanted much more. Cole and Dale engaged my imagination and then it suddenly ended. I have read main stream novels that do this, I have seen movies that do this and I tell you it leaves me frustrated. However, I guess Dan has used the principle of allowing the reader to come to a decision about Dale and Cole. I know I did. Story telling should be entertaining, and The Beard entertained me on several levels. One of them being the over zealousness of Cole when he approaches Dale to be his boyfriend. Fake boyfriend might I add. The other level is when Glen and Jeremy come into the picture and to my delite, they are gay as well. Another level is the I don't know what's going to happen when Cole declares that his interest in Dale is deeper than just fake. All in all a five star story. Almost perfect. But absolutely engaging and compelling. Thank you Dan.

Happy Birthday John

Karl became a wonderful friend to me. We laughed and cried. His last words to me was that he was ready last Monday. I will truly miss you. Karl there is no more pain. You have gone to a betta place now, and like i said, you will never die in the hearts of those who love you. My deepest condolences to Daz and Liam and the rest of Karl's family.

Thoroughly gripping and compelling and emotional. Loved the ending. Makes the story worth the read. Real characters and a valuable lesson. The theme of love is apparent thruout. Cool piece. Uplifting too.

YES! A huge flippin yes on this first chapter. At first glance of the blurb and the word count i thought oh no not another long first chapter! Guess what? I ate my words as I sat glued to every flippin word. Man! This is superb writing. It is full of cut to the chase writing. Emotive. Exciting. Rivetting. Compelling. If this is the first chapter im def in for the journey or is this a one off? I hope not. The ending was fabulous and i even let out a loud sob. Beautiful work. Thank you.

Happiness is having a great birthday all the best Lisa

Yeah. Well done Libby. Participial phrases are irksome. In fiction writing characters cannot do two or three things at the same time. Also, the dreaded ING (Gerund) as in Was walking, Was dancing. Was singing construes continuous action. Writers should beware of overusage of these. They can easily be changed to the active verb, walked, danced and sang, thereby reducing the WAS. The correct way to use ING and ED is shown in your example. I dont have a problem with using the gerund at all. I do have a problem when it is repeated over and over and over again. Thanks for this article.