LJH

Nope. Not The Power of One...that's Bryce Courtney. Zombie needs to confirm his choice. And then supply the author's name. hehehe...

I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. The Equator runs across these highlands, a hundred miles to the north, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. In the day-time you felt that you had got high up; near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold.

Aha. First reaction: wha! 2nd reaction: damn! You do colours well. From the sublime yellowish peace of the beginning to the wham red at the end.It begins as a warm summer day and ends as a white ice cold winter of discontent for Douglas. With the exception of the fog that belies a vague danger, there is no inkling of the tragedy that is about to strike. Your writing about SA made me smug with a smile. I feel totally relaxed reading a fellow SAfrican's work. You seem passionate about writing and that is all an editor like myself asks for. I especially liked the transition from comfy to pacy when the accident happens. I like your stories. I want more please.

Hmmm and i laughed to see such fun. I could see it all. Like i was in the room. Lord this was well written. A coupla gremlins but nothing to write home about. I remember my first love. We bunked school and found ourselves alone at home. I was like wowed by this guy and kept on thinking: is he going to touch me. Please touch me. I wanna b touched. And when he did I realised this is what i want. I was blown away. I like it that there was no sex in your story. I was surprised that Peter turned out gay. Well done bro

Marky marky. Paulo. The narrative drives the story at a consistent pace. Im feeling excited for mark and it seems he will have his way eventually. So far i am hooked on this mysterious but romantic seeming Paulo. He actaully stalked Mark. Thats not mentioned. But a sudden collision speaks a thousand words. I think there aregoing to be surprises galore in this story.

Aravind adiga The white tiger Best seller Amongst my 2nd hand books. The cover sells it. Splendid cover.

I have no idea there are so many successful american writers nit could be anybody.

Clue time....

Perfect. Over to you Andy.

Nope: not about a cat. Another clue: a character in the novella is called Frith.

Hint: The author wrote The Posseidon Adventure

Your easy writing style, like walking through a busy mall, effortlessly, was the hook for me. You make writing seem so simple. I thotoughly ejnoyed the coming out scene. I think Mark was more in shock than the reader or Jo. Obviously the fact that her brother is gay, soes make it simpler to detect, so her gaydar was on full aspect. I look forward to reading more, and hope that Mark meets her brother, or someone just perfect for him. Cool piece. I love your descriptions. They aren't slab-stoned, and a lot of passion has gone into describing the characters Mark and Jo, that was the first thing I looked out for because it's so imprtant to get the image of the character as soon as possible. Yeah, really lekker stuff, bro.

He is writing in the sky now... Godspeed maurice...

Opus

"I found it, sir. It's hurted. Is it still alive?"

The secret life of billy chase 1 Comicality

Happy birthday frosty.

The Poet has the strength to go where ordinary writers do not wish to go. I'm not saying that ordinary writers don't ever visit these places, but a poet understands more...sees more...feels more...feels the inuendos, feels the rythm of the emotion and you certainly do. This is a simple poem. No superfluous words. No dramatic moments. But what it does have, is emotion, and I felt it in bucketfulls. Nice.

As with CH1 this next is brilliant in concept and understanding of the gay condition. By the end of third chapter you will need to offer something more than his heartache. He must not wallow thru his grief forever. Something is about to transpire and i hope it will be the first of many surprises.

Yes. A place to reflect. No self flagellation. A testimonial memorial to a loved man. This room - your piece - is A place of strength. It carefully draws the line between life and the full ess of it and the unknown hereafter. The point that life must go on is clear. no matter the loss. Even stars die. Well written and heartfelt.

Beauty shines from within. Inside. Body is the shell that holds the beauty. In many instances, a handsome man can be ugly inside. Some are handsome inside and out. It's the quality of heart. It's the bloom of the soul. It's the purity of giving and the softness of being gentle. Beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder. Always.

Billy When you write fiction, you start with character, the heartbeat of the novel. Characters are interesting people in terrible difficulties. Readers read books for stroy and for intimacy. They want to move into a character's life, live inside his thoughts and emotions, take on his goals and problems. So, fictional characters must be flawed and vulnerable. Bigger than life. So think about your favourite fictional characters and how large they loom within your imagination. Scrooge, Madame Bovary, Holden Caufield, Atticus Finch, Don Corleone, Lolita, nancy Drew, Jay Gatsby, Scarlett O hara, Harry Potter. All these characters have stature, presence, flair; they are memorable. You start by knowing your characters as well as you know your own family. Create a biography, a sketch of an imaginary life with the traits and background important to the story you are telling. The leading role is the person the reader most cares about. The story is about him or them and we want to know what happens to them at the end. Their motivations drive the story. As authors, we need to know everything about the lead character/s. Having said this, I'm not sure I understand the crux of your question. In my eyes, you stop only when you reach the last word. How much of yourself do you slip in, well, that's up to you, the reader will never know. Most novelists start with their own life experiences. This means that they will use their personal lives and their careers as a potential place to draw ideas from. But, we can also draw from everyday experiences. Family. Friends. Colleagues. Neswpapers. Places. Dreams. So to answer your question, there is no stopping. You simply take what you can and write. Hope this helps

Bravo!!!! You aim at a framed moment in time, click the aperture, and deliver a moving snapshot account of the angst, the pain and the deep, intense hurt that gay guys feel when betrayed. It is hard for me to believe that a woman can ever understand the feelings of deep hurt we feel when hurt, and here comes Renee Stevens to shatter that belief so completely. The intensity of the work is overwhelming and emotional, for it is a story I identify with and brought back a memory I had hidden and folded away for so many years. I am glad you wrote this. I never had the courage. Finding another man in your bed is worse than being stranded without clothing in Antarctica. It is everything you describe and more. The hurt lingers far longer than the event. Sometimes for years. In this work, you have covered the heartache of discovering a "mortal" lie. I felt intimately involved with Jordan from the moment he opened the bedroom door. The structure of the work created tension by giving the impression that I was watching the drama unfolding minute after excrutiating minute. In this work, I found that the action is not physical action but rather deals with what happens to and inside, Jordan's mind and the physical world within which he moves is coincidental to the main issue of the story. You raise some interesting moral questions. Is the deed worth saving the relatioship based on a mistake? Will Jordan wake up in the morning with tears flowing out of his eyes and want Mitch back? The ethics involved is much the same as in a straight relationship. Ethics controls Jordan's motivations. The work manisfests itself as a tragic end to what seemed to be a perfect relationship. I loved it. I was moved by it.

Being polite is one of the most important investments you can make. People are always willing to do favors for polite people.

If you make eye contact with an attractive guy or girl, don't be the first one to break eye contact. It's a game, and you lose when you look away first. It takes some practice for this to not feel awkward, but a subtle smile can earn you bonus points.