Dabeagle

Who was it that said revenge is a dish best served cold? Very satisfying. I don't think the father bet on the wrong son, really. Tareth is a fine man, despite his parent.

The reason I wanted that specific image was because it's how a scene ended up playing out. I hadn't planned it but it plays a central role and I thought it would be cool to get that. Since then I've cast about looking for different things that happen in the story to try and find something that is related to the story but not that specific, perhaps. I have found sites like the one you describe, in fact have been there before, and they do have shirtless images that I've come across but not set in the right way for it to be useful to me in this instance. Matter of fact, though, I do have an image bookmarked for a baseball story from that site, should I ever get around to it. Thanks for the advice! I hadn't thought of that site! A friend of mine used to be involved with the site, but my funds for an image for a free story are pretty small. It may work to help me visualize characters though, and I do appreciate that!

Ideally looking into the 'camera' and smiling, perhaps tentatively.

Ah, nice dose for the hopeless romantic in me.

I have a new short coming out and I'd like to use an image for it, but I haven't had any luck. So, three options: 1) If anyone knows of an image that fits this description (teenage male, jeans rolled up, shirtless and barefoot sitting down on a porch or something similar) please holler and tell me where to go look because I've had zip luck. If I have to pay, if it isn't too pricey, I may be able to. 2) Anyone who wants to accept the challenge to photograph themselves or a friend for potential title photo for the story! 3) Someone who wants to take the time to create an image, if they are handy with such things Have I missed any other options? Let me know if I did - and thanks in advance for any help! :-)

I struggled for years. I finally admitted it to myself after my ex-wife made the comment that soon the kids would be gone and it would be just she and I for the rest of our lives. The idea of continuing to try so hard to work at something that wasn't working on several levels forced me to admit it to myself and then to my parents. My father had come out a few years previously and he was quite pleased we had something in common, at last. My mother had a very bad opinion of gays due to my father, but she loves me more than anything and she realized that gays were individuals and not one mind focused strictly on sex and she has adapted wonderfully. A true testament to the power of a mother's love for her child.

Aww, thank you both!

Thank you, thank you to those kind wishes I missed the first time around!

Thank you all for taking a few minutes out of your day for me!

Lots of changes, glad you made such progress.

Ahhh! That was satisfying.

You're a bad woman. I can see a big debacle coming next chapter and more peril and heartache for Kye.

One of the chapters with the most content and little in the way of the weekly cliffhanger. Very enjoyable!

He likes to think he did LOL

He finally says it, but there are so many possibilities that it's not really over yet. Very suspenseful chapter.

Charlie's statement seems to be foreshadowing and I'm sure, should Kye go where he was told, he will find someone waiting.

Very exciting, and the plot thickens!

That is certainly an interesting way to get impaled in this century!

THe only question that comes to mind is...no one said anything about changing the locks? LOL

After looking at Cia's links, I am clearly wrong and not a lawyer with respect to the legality. The rest of the argument, I remain in disagreement.

My understanding, which could be wrong, is that posting pictured to sites such as Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc makes them their property and not yours. They want them so you can share more of their site, of course. I'm not talking about - what I think you are in your comparison - a photographer who sells their work or watermarks it. It makes sense that, if it were a professional work and owned, that it be marked as such.

I'm all for protection, I have children as well. Pragmatically, I can't protect him from everything - and frankly, if someone reads a work of fiction and assumes and happens to know the picture used, well, being gay is nothing to be ashamed of. Even sharing an image that was used for inspiration attaches nothing to the person, celebrity or otherwise. If people assume fictional characters in a story are actually the people in images, well, you have to hope for a certain amount of sense somewhere. These works are pretty up front about being fiction, after all. The car analogy doesn't hold water as these images get shared on public sites as I mentioned where people no longer have ownership of them unlike a vehicle for which you have keys, pay insurance, etc. People use Snapchat, Instagram and by now I'm sure those are alr3eady out of date to share their images - but once they go up on those services, they don't own them anymore. Frankly if you're willing to post yourself on line (which parents tell their kids not to and then, promptly, the kids don't listen) then being used for a story is hardly the worst thing. I've heard where those images end up on porn sites as teasers and stuff. No real evidence there, just rumor and hearsay. Lastly, I find it worrisome that people are willing to read about gay people, gay people in love, but a portrait of the inspiration is a bridge too far.

I disagree. Representations of a character or a found image for a cover is hardly disparaging. I'd also submit that today it is exceedingly common for someone to post images in which they wouldn't be dressed enough for polite company, and I don't see any of those here. Once an image is released whether it be for a celebrity or just a private citizen, all control is lost. Posting it online puts out in the public domain - one has but to skip through Pinterest or Tumblr to find many of the same images represented over and over. Also, even Hollywood uses these images and the characters may do awful things like murder - or maybe just fall in love and have sex. Even novels include such things so the pairing of a general image with a story wherein someone is in a romantic situation is hardly cause for alarm. Let's not forget that this phenomena isn't confined to gay writing, either, but to every person who ever put their characters, underage or otherwise, into a sexual situation. Additionally, there is no universal age at which a character may engage in consensual activity with someone their own age. While many of my stories, the vast majority, take place in the mid to late teens, the fact that teens have sex or fall in love should come as a shock to no one; even Republicans count teenage birth rates. Now, were the picture suggestive in nature, I could see the point. There is 'hey, this is what I think my character looks like' and then there is salaciousness. For instance, I recently shared an image I found online and one of the guys - all fully clothed - was the idea I had for one of my characters. And, yes, he fell in love.

Recognition is always a positive thing and I'm glad you're getting some - you deserve it!

I saw no evidence of a refund, but regardless, my review was honest so I did not. James! Who knew you could be so forward?