AFriendlyFace

Good point about about whether extremely similar scores really 'count' anyway. I really do think we're going to have a bias here in our community though. The program probably wasn't created for gay literature, gay writers, or gay friendly writers. I'm sure that does make a difference. I think the length thing is a rather valid point. The more the program has to test and analyze the less likely that it'll be a random, freak occurrence. For example, let's say I don't know what the probability of flipping a coin and getting 'heads' is. If I flip it twice, three times, or even four times it's really not that unlikely that I'll get something like 75%-100% probability of heads (or tails) when obviously we all know that the real probability is 50%. If I flip my coin 1,000 times then I'm probably going to have something really close to 50% (maybe 48 - 52%) if I do it 10,000 times I would expect it to be something like 49.XXX% - 50.XXX% and so on. Small 'anomalies' work themselves out in the long run over time. So a female author could easily submit two or three lines of text that used the words 'above' 'said' etc. and come up with a male score, because most authors are likely to use those words at least occasionally, but I'm sure the theory goes that if she submits longer work such random chance will be reduced or eliminated.

Thanks Gabe Well, it's not so much that I feel 'old' per se, just all those other things and I don't like getting older. Anyway thanks -Kevin

Warning: self-pitying, whiny post ahead So it's almost my birthday and I've been trying to forget it...isn't easy though, I told one friend months ago when it was during a time when I wasn't stressed out about it and damn if they don't all know now! I keep getting that, "So what are we doing for your birthday?" question. Don't get me wrong; I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll be honest, here's what I want to do on my birthday: I want people to send me a nice text, or a brief, casual phone call telling me that they care about me and that they're thinking about me. "Happy Birthday" is okay if you absolutely must. "Happy ___ Birthday" is most definitely not okay. If you don't know how old I am...well I don't particularly want you asking in the first place, but if you have the extreme poor taste and insensitivity to ask me on my birthday (when it's already fairly well-established and well-known that I'm not happy about getting older) then you deserve to be bitch slapped, but I'm a non-violent person so I'll probably settle for giving you an icy glare and coldly responding that it's none of your damn business. In general I do not want to act like I'm happy about getting older and I do not want to be reminded of my age. I do want a little extra positive attention and affection though (so shoot me, I'm human), just do it without bringing age into the equation. I don't want saccharine words of encouragement about how 'we all have to get older' or 'it beats the alternative' or 'you're just getting better'. You can give me a little sympathy if you like. You can flatter the hell out of me. But don't try to make me get over it. If you want to help me deal with my issues about aging wait 4-8 months when it won't be quite as touchy a subject. So why do I, someone still clinging to his early twenties, have so much of a problem with aging? Always have actually. It wasn't always 'getting older' related, but I was never really comfortable with the whole concept of age. I never enjoyed telling people my age. I've always found it rude to ask, even when I was a kid. I do buy into that 'you're only as old as you feel' crap. I really do, so let me feel like I'm 19 damnit and quit reminding me that I'm not! Anyway, back to why getting older sucks. Basically, every single birthday is a reminder of all of my failures and shortcomings. Another year has ticked away and I still haven't done, or made progress toward, X, Y, and Z. Another year has come and gone and I'm still dealing with A, B, and C. I guess it's sort of like New Year's resolutions for other people. I have all these plans for my life that I really want to achieve. But I'm not a dumbass; I know when I'm not making any progress. Nevertheless, more often than not I'm perfectly content 'in the moment'. Don't get me wrong; I love my life and I'm a very happy person. But birthdays are when I can't help but to seriously look at my life and notice what I didn't accomplish or still haven't fixed. Frankly, I'm not like that at all around the holidays. Honestly the holidays are mostly meaningless to me. I try to take them for their general purpose of good will to all men and counting your blessings and what not. I enjoy the time off, the parties, the time with friends and family...but I really don't measure my life by them. I don't see New Year's as a new year. THAT is my birthday, which makes more sense to me and is a lot more accurate and concrete than some silly day someone randomly picked to start the new calendar. I even get that crappy, "Oh look, I'm alone for my birthday" thing that other people get for Christmas and whatnot. It's like, "well, I'm another year older and still haven't found anyone I'd want to spend the rest of my life with." But again I'm not going to delude myself; I'm not going to date some random person just for the sake of not being alone...that would make me feel more pathetic. I could have easily gone back with one my ex's in the last couple of weeks, but it was wrong then and it's wrong now. Then of course it's just the getting older thing literally. It's like, "well, I'm not as (physically) strong as I used to be" (I'm really not ). "I don't have as much energy" (well I do but it requires more sleep and I need much more downtime now). "I'm just not as attractive as I used to be" (maybe if I fix myself up and compare myself to an only average day from the past). "I don't learn as quickly" (I don't have strong evidence for this but I'm suspicious). It just goes on and on. I worry about my declining health, my dwindling opportunities, my wasted time, everything! And it's not like I think it's really that bad. It's not like I think I can't 'do something about it' or still have it really good. The thing that just pisses me off and makes me sad is that while I can still be in excellent health it won't be easy as when I was a teen. I can still look young and hot, but I want to get carded damnit! ROUTINELY. I can still learn most of the skills and knowledge I want to learn, but I worry that the older I get the harder it'll be to gain the same level of fluency and proficiency that I would have had in my childhood. Basically what it comes down to isn't thinking that it's all that bad...just that it'll be harder to make it as good. The most depressing thought is that I feel like each year marks another notch. Every year from now on I'm just going to have to keep working harder for what I want than if I had gotten it already (or at least made a good start). That's why I take stock of what I haven't done and what I haven't fixed. That's why I'm mad at myself when I realize I've blown still more time and opportunities and if I can get it, it'll be more difficult. I just pisses me off! Anyone ever see that episode of QAF when Brian was freaked out about turning 30 and he was like messing around with erotic asphyxiation and Michael caught him and gave him that pep talk and he was like: "You'll always be young and you'll always be beautiful" Well that's lovely, but it's still a boldfaced lie. Oh he can do that 'young at heart' thing, or 'look good for his age', but anyone who's ever seen the show knows that Brian wanted to be young in the literal, chronological logical sense and look hot for any age. Let's face it, he's going to get older (or die) and so will I. I can accept it. I will accept it. But I don't have to like it.

Happy Birthday Alex!!!! I hope you have a truly amazing day and an awesomely fantastic year! I hope you're doing well! Miss ya, dude -Kevin

Hmmm I'm going to make a comment/observation, and I do hope it doesn't rain on anyone's parade or offend anyone, but I will say that I'm a tad disheartened by how many male authors have expressed disappointment that their writing is 'female' and by how many female authors have expressed disappointment that their writing is 'male'. ...I'm assuming you all are mostly just joking around and don't really care, but speaking as someone who loves being male and being around males, I have to say that I love defying gender stereotypes even more. Does any of this sort of thing really matter? I mean it's interesting, but it's interesting to me because it (supposedly) highlights one of my 'female' areas. I'm fine with that, happy about it even. I would never want to walk too far on either side of the gender lines. I'm a guy, and I like doing 'guy stuff', but that doesn't mean that - except for a few physically impossible things - I can't and won't do anything and everything that any 'typical' female might do and enjoy it and be proud of it. Just as while I'm 'gay' it doesn't mean that I can't and won't do anything and everything any 'typical' male might do and enjoy it and be proud of it. For me personally being gay is about ignoring gender roles and expectations and doing what I want when I want it without shame, guilt, or hesitancy. *shrug* That's just me though -Kevin (who's perfectly delighted to 'write like a girl')

Wow! Cool! I was completely unaware of this song *gasp* Are you telling me I missed a thread on GA somewhere!? HAHAHA, that was fun! I agree with you, Francios, BUT if you notice there are LOTS of parodies of that songs. I like this one better (although it's cheesier and not as hot as the vid Tim linked too it's better musically IMO): I kissed a boy (dif. version) I dunno, I think "I Kissed a Girl" is much more appropriate for me. IMO, the song isn't about kissing who you normally kiss, who people expect you to kiss, it's about experimenting and going outside the lines. About surprising yourself and others. LOL, no one's going to be surprised if I kiss a boy and like it. The real scandal would be if I kissed a girl and liked it -Kevin

Woo Hoo! Thanks Steve! I'm really happy you said that about that line! I had actually considered deleting it. It was one of my favourites (so I left it), but I wasn't sure if it might not have been a bit too much. I also experimented with how Aaron delivered it. In any case I'm so glad that you liked it and your comment alone definitely made it worth hanging on to as is! As I alluded to in my thread about my ghost anthology, lines like that, straight out of Aaron's head, kept cropping up and I had to keep cutting them out because it really isn't that kind of story. With WAS though I've definitely been enjoying letting Aaron's quips and sarcasm have free reign. Thanks! Kevin

Well I'm going to have to agree with all three of you! LOL, there will definitely be a sufficient quota of drama in the story Thanks CR Well, it's over now, lol! And I'd better get cracking if I'm going to keep up with the posting schedule! Great observation! Aaron being 'in lust' was definitely what I was trying to show with this chapter. Thanks Steve! That was what I had in mind for the prologue. I briefly wanted to sum up what happened in BMAD so that if anyone didn't read it they wouldn't be lost, while also letting people know what Aaron's current situation is and what's been going on since we left him in chapter 10 of BMAD. In this case I guess the bare essentials can be boiled down to: -Aaron moved in with Ben whom he's still very enamored - and indeed in lust - with -His friendship with Ronnie has grown closer -Mick's been great and understanding but Aaron misses him. Apart from that I guess everything else could be readily deduced, which is essentially that: -nothing much has changed with Jake -Cosmo has continued to be supportive -Daisy and Giorgio have been pains in the butt -Nothing's changed with Amanda but Aaron wants to get to know her better Anyway, I'm glad you guys enjoyed chapter 1. I was a bit nervous that the story would get off to a slow start since, IMO, the action picks up a lot more in chapters 2 and 4. Indeed, I can't wait for you guys to read chapter 2! So a couple questions if ya'll don't mind. How did the scene with Ronnie work? When I was writing the chapter I briefly thought 'well, does Aaron seem too experienced and too comfortable?', so I decided to inject that scene with Ronnie which turned out to be a lot of fun for me to write and which I think really helped hammer down their dynamic even more. So how did that come across to you guys? I worked hard to keep both Ben and Aaron in character during the sex scene. I'm really relieved that so far people have indicated that Aaron behaved as they would have expected. So just out of curiosity did Ben? Or is everyone still more or less waiting and reserving judgment on Ben? Anyway thanks for the comments and feedback! I really appreciate it Take care and have an awesome day all! Kevin

Thanks Dion! Those are some great suggestions. I'm thinking you're right that a cooler font and some background texturing would definitely make a lot of difference. I'll have to plan out what I want a bit more...would you happen to have any suggestions or websites or programs to help?

My take was actually that men write more purely functional, basic dialogue, whereas women might get more creative. For example rather than 'said' an author could use the words 'growled, laughed, giggled, snorted, asked, inquired, responded, answered, enthused, gasped, etc."

Hi all, I'm sure we're all aware of how our stories are supposed to sound 'in our heads'. Indeed, I'm sure everyone would love them (or at least more people) if we could just be around to read them out loud ourselves. Unfortunately, we are not. So, we must instead rely on things like punctuation and narrative action to control the pacing with which our readers consume the words. Tragically, even then there's no assurance that they won't speed over a 'slow part' or dawdle when they should be hopping to the next paragraph. So my question is two fold. How do your stories typically read in your head? How do you make your readers read them that way? I would say that the majority of my stories are meant to be read slowly and methodically. That's not always the case, especially for my serials, but nearly all my short stories (with the possible exception of 'Going In') are meant to be read quite slowly. My fall anthology entry in particular is meant to be read quite slowly and deliberately. So what methods do I use to try to control this pacing? Well, standard things like commas and periods. In BMAD/WAS I tend to use quite a lot of ellipses, but I don't use them that often for my other work because I consider them more informal for the most part. Personally, as a writer I think I'm influenced by how I am as a reader. When I read for pleasure (as opposed to function) I read very slowly, and I often pause briefly between sentences or paragraphs to consider various points or re-read important, interesting, or amusing sections. As a result, I think I unconsciously tend to assume that other people reading recreationally will behave in a similar fashion. Thus I write pieces that, in my head at least, are meant to be read quite slowly. The unfortunate thing is that almost certainly the average reader doesn't read my work (or anything else) in the same way that I do. Are you similarly influenced? Do you write stories generally in the way you would read a story of the same type? Just curious Kevin

Hi everyone, So I was looking at the banners on the authors page and I couldn't help but notice that mine was the simplest of them all. There's a good reason for that...I designed it myself I'm steadily trying to improve my tech/computer skills, but as of now, and even more so as of when I created it, I'm still a bit like a blind seal trying to paint a mural when it comes to such things. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd ask for help. Does anyone have any idea of what they think would at least look cool? Any suggestions about sites or tips for helping me create something better? Recommendations of any kind? Here's the current one: I do like the colours, but it's just so blah. Any tips for how to spice it up? Thanks -Kevin

Hi all! I'm pleased to announce the release of: Reflections Over Coffee Part II: Prologue AND Chapter 1: Something to do on a Quiet Saturday Please let me know what you think! Special thanks to Sharon for editing, Tim for Beta Reading, and all the readers for being so patient in between serials. A special thanks also to rbq4u if you happen to be reading for making my day by leaving me all those reviews in eFiction and of course to all my other excellent commenters and who make the story so much fun to write and discuss! Take care and have a great day all -Kevin

Well that's awesome! I've been wanting to write poetry again myself...I haven't written any for several years now, and for some reason it intimidates me a bit. So I'm impressed that you're able to come up with so much great stuff

Well, not that we were under assault, but speaking for the Kevin's, I've made quite a few parties more fun by drinking too much tequila That's what I was thinking too. I also noticed that it seemed as though this gentleman was too young. I would suspect then that it was Jerry's contact and not Jerry himself. I can't wait to see what develops next! -Kevin

Have a very safe and enjoyable trip, CJ! Good luck with the laptop! -Kevin

Great poems, dude! I enjoyed them very much! My favourite was "Moments". I left reviews for each as I read them. Thanks for sharing them! Can't wait to read more! -Kevin

That's awesome, man! I'm glad you had such a positive experience!

LOL, rodeos are surprisingly fun! As are horses and line dancing. I go out to the gay western bar sometimes. It's a lot of fun and I have to say I think the cowboy couples are utterly adorable! Personally I'm not really into that type of guy as a boyfriend (I tend to like the 'pretty' sort of guys, not the rugged ones), but cowboys are certainly fun and make good friends Really cool avatar! I hadn't noticed the rainbow band till you pointed it out Take care and have a great day! Kevin

Welcome cowboy!

I really like the song. I can actually see the whole trivializing and exploiting lesbians argument, BUT I also think that overall it'll be a net positive for the GLBT cause because it will add more positive publicity. SO in a way I see both controversial arguments (regardless of her claims or her intent) but I think the 'promoting homosexuality' one is stronger and as it happens I'm in favour of that so I'm okay with the song. On a separate note, the artists she mentioned as influences/was compared to totally rock IMO, and if she can hang with them I'll probably be enjoying her music for quite awhile to come Just my thoughts, Kevin

Woo Hoo! Awesome thanks! I hope you do enjoy it!

That's true! Behind every great man...

So what you're saying is that they're so large that if you just point in her general direction it's bound to look as though you're pointing at them? Awesome! Glad you're better

Woo hoo! That sounds like fun!! I hope you can get together a group! If I were in Britain I'm sure I would attend