Lisa

Desolation Angels is such a great story! Congrats, Layla, on being featured and being in Premium! I love the way Layla writes; she can convey so much emotion in just one sentence. This story also has a character who's dealing with something that could be very dangerous, and she weaves such a good psychological tale around Dare and his issues, and the rest of his bandmates. If you haven't read Desolation Angels, it's well worth getting Premium just for this story alone. Congrats again, Layla!

I totally agree with Ron; if/when David and Twoey ever get together, David is going to regret the fact that Twoey wasn't his first. I'm sure Twoey will regret the fact that he gave his virginity to that control freak Erik. I also would have liked the gang to have gotten together and exchanged the gag gifts. Maybe in the next chapter the gang's pov will tell of the gift giving.

Great chapter, Comsie! I love how Tristan's playing matchmaker for Scotty and Artie. lol I hope they do hit it off!

Haha! I haven't read Jay and Miles yet! But I'll take your word for it, Ivor!

Well, now I can change my original post to read: If anyone hasn't read Tim's poetry month challenge, you should do it. It's a wonderful collection of poems that will make you cry, laugh, chuckle, cry, think, cry...did I mention some will make you cry? You did a great job, Tim!

The poem where you and Mike are sitting with Ripley's ashes really got to me. Of course, I haven't stopped crying from the last batch of poems, so it wasn't hard to do! Then of course Rita/Peter made me laugh, so thank you for that! This was an awesome collection of poems, Tim. I said it earlier, but I'll say it again: you certainly have a talent for poetry -- and no, there can never be too much poetry!

Ripley was very lucky to have you and Mike as his owners. I felt how much you loved him through your words in the poem. Brought back lots of sad memories as the first anniversary of my Jessie's death is looming ahead (Halloween morning).

All of these poems evoked pain, suffering, and loss. It's Ok to Go made me cry each time I read it. I usually read your poems more than once because the majority of them are pretty emotional.

Loved the Ike riding Mike poem! lol (Or should it be Tim riding Mike...) The January poem was really good, and I totally agree -- let's get rid of all those pesky winter months! lol Meat was of course sad, especially since it unfortunately happens every day. You have quite the talent for poetry, Tim

He and Empty both brought tears to my eyes. I really enjoyed New Friends; that was a happy poem. You are a wonderful poet, Tim. On to the next poems...

Another great story, Ivor! There will me more, right? I love these two! Although I had to laugh when Lance's stream of consciousness was telling the reader he was looking for a long-term relationship. Being that Julian is only sixteen, it doesn't look that promising! I really enjoyed it though, and I'm hoping that wasn't the end but the beginning of the story!

What a wonderful review, Addy! Tim, (Tim M), I keep telling you, Addy's gonna take your job away from you! I haven't read Tim's NaPoWriMo, but now I want to because of all the wonderful things everyone is saying about it. I've read some of Tim's earlier work, and what I read really touched me. I'm sure it'll be the same for his poetry. Congratulations on being featured, Tim!

I finally finished this gem of a story! I've been reading it off and on for a few days now. Now of course I get the title! Coincidental that Roy's name starts the rainbow acronym. This was a wonderful story, Geron, that filled me with fear, sadness, happiness, and hope. Roy was such a forgiving soul, not wanting that douchebag Mitch to get sent to jail for twenty years ('He'll be an old man by the time he gets out' I paraphrased that -- old man, at thirty-seven? lol). He should have had them send him away and thrown away the key! So know he's in a facility because he's mentally unstable. Asshole. Like LadyDe said, this story will stay with me for a long time. I also like how you incorporated the horrific events in Orlando into the story. At least it gave the small-minded people something to think about. Oh! And it was so funny seeing Mrs. Danbury (who happened to be such a nice lady!), because I live in Danbury, so seeing the name in print was pretty weird. lol Now I need to start on the other story you're posting.

I agree with everyone; the chapter was wonderful. I love the way the friends sort of pick up right where they left off the last time they got together. Of course, Jason, David, and Liz weren't in the picture yet. They are a great bunch of people. I'm so glad Pierre and Jason are good. I know Corey was worried. Corey will get a lot out of therapy, and now he realizes he's had anger issues for a long time, and with his mom too! Yes, of course he SHOULD be angry with her; she stuck by her cheating scumbag husband's side and let him kick her son out of the house. How could a mother do that? I'm glad he's finally getting the help he needs.

I do see Corey's point. He didn't want his mother to think he was a hypocrite, doing the very thing he told his mother not to do. I'm actually surprised his mother took the fact that Corey is with Jason so well. I'm glad they got past that hurdle! It'll be good for Corey to talk to a professional about this cheating business and his father. He has so much anger and resentment toward his father (and it's understandable), he needs to get some professional advice on how to handle his emotions. Another great chapter, Lit!

I knew they'd work it out! Of course my opinion of George started to change a bit when he was yelling at Billy and calling him stupid; that's one of the things you should never do as a parent: call a child any kind of derogatory name. But he and Billy's mom were sort of defending Brett. That's the way I saw it at least. Another great chapter, Jeff!

I ran out of fucking tissues. I hope you're happy! Seriously though, wow, what a chapter. Poor Brett. He feels so neglected. And no child should ever overhear their parent tell someone else the child was a mistake. That's horrible. Imagine growing up knowing that? We saw a little glimpse of Billy's dad in the original story, but his talk with Brett really opened up my eyes about him. He IS a caring father. He would never have said what he said to Brett if he didn't care. Billy IS lucky to have him for a dad. Now if he would only stop smoking those cancer sticks before he makes Billy fatherless... On to the next chapter!

I was thinking the same thing, Dayne!! I didn't realize the scene in "Toph" was based on a true event. I will say that Skinny is one of my favorite writers on GA. I absolutely LOVE his Twoey story (I say 'love' and not 'loved' because naturally I haven't finished it yet! ), and I'm totally enjoying Toph's Empty Year also. Second Shot was one of the first stories I read when I joined GA, and it was captivating. That was also the first time I ever heard of 'Missed Connections'. And thanks, Andy, for mentioning Ryan -- you made me cry all over again!!! I haven't read anything from W_L, so I'll have to put his story on my To Read List. These were awesome questions and answers, Dark! Thank you for this wonderful blog!

Loz is definitely troubled, but who wouldn't be with a testosterone-fueled family like his? Jason's an asshole. What the hell does Loz see in him as a friend? I agree with both Dayne and Puppi. Mentally, he's not thinking of what he's doing to Daniel. He can see the difference in Daniel; he noticed he's more subdued than he was, but he doesn't realize it's because of HIM that Daniel isn't smiling anymore. Loz really needs help and someone to talk to before he totally destroys Daniel. But of course he'd never tell anyone what his thoughts are. Great chapter, Thorn! Looking forward to more!

Yep, ditto what CG and Geron said! It's funny b/c I'm actually reading Geron's story, but I haven't finished it yet. It still amazes me (although I guess now it shouldn't), that "parents" can be such bastards. For a "father" to do that to his own flesh and blood is unconscionable. And his "mother" just agrees with it. But at 16, Wayne wasn't big enough or tall enough to take on his "father" (and I'm using that term very loosely!)? Wayne should have turned around and whupped HIM! lol At least this wasn't a tearjerker that made me cry!

Congrats on the feature, Puppi! I loved this story!!! I was riveted from the first line. The story totally captivated me. Now I just need to start the sequel!

Awesome! Thanks, Cia, my grammar guru!

SASHA!!!! Val told me you were back, and I had to log on to see if you wrote anything new! I see you have! I'm so glad to see you're back, Sasha! Of course you had the best reason for staying away. You never realize how much love is in your heart until you have a baby. I just moved my baby, my youngest, into his dorm room today. It goes so fast it's not funny. Enjoy every single moment. Sucks about selling your truck and lending out your horses. I had to sell my hella awesome Datsun 280ZX when my firstborn was born. Broke my heart. lol I was so cool in that car! Congrats to you, Sasha, and welcome back!

When I'm editing a story or essay, if I come across a number at the beginning or the end of a sentence, that's the first thing I change and comment on. My sentence brought up another question I had, Cia: I think a few sites are divided on this--can you end a sentence with a preposition? Most times (for me at least), it's difficult trying to think of ways to rephrase the question where the preposition wouldn't be at the end.

Holy shit, Ivor! I read this last night and had to cry myself to sleep. Poor Ren! Poor Jake and poor Ren's parents! This was a beautifully told story. I was riveted from the first word. I definitely want to read more from you, so I'm glad you got talked into coming to GA! Kudos to you, CG! Oh, and I totally didn't get the Lilian reference either! lol