Dabeagle

Having been writing away from GA far more than having been 'brought up' here, I have always encouraged email feedback. It's very easy for writers to quit if their work seems to go up an a poof of no one noticed. I know people will give all sorts of reasons for you to write, and that may be fine for them; but I like to talk about them and what people liked or didn't. When stories fail to garner any interest, especially from the work that goes into making them, it can be very discouraging, even with as many years as I've been at this. So, yeah, I'd encourage you to reply to those emails - they don't last forever.

I usually think about the story for days before starting to write it. Sometimes, as you do, you realize there are gaps and it lets you fill them in and work through stuff before you start to write. One of the things I hate most about writing is re-writing. For instance, if you realize - or an editor (if you're lucky) points out something that is so disconnected that it hurts the story, I always felt that the added story or 'patch' somehow doesn't quite fit. Probably my imagination. Writing works differently for everyone so, while sitting down and tapping away might work best for some, others need to plan out more of the story ahead of time either mentally or on a page. Personally, I work out as much as I can in my head before I start, and then try not to let the characters take over too much.

I played for years - I, too, will likely have to see it. I've moved on to SWTOR now.

Gee's short story 'Zombie Valentine' is one of my all time favorites - so worth reading!

That's a great little story - I could definitely see that as a scene in a larger work.

This was a nice, complete chapter. Completely enjoyed it.

I was planning my purchase today - I hope they make more!

The author is Ryan Bartlett. While many of his works are scattered around, I think I host almost all of them.

You can also find it here.

I'm sure he'd have loved it, Sam. Thank you for sharing it.

I liked the character development, filling in some of the backstory but avoiding an info-dump.

That was a good start and left me curious about what happens next.

I used to play, ran a guild on Earthen Ring. I hated the Panda expansion and only leveled maybe three of my toons to max before I walked away. Played SWTOR, but I find I can't play time sink games and write - so play Civ most of the time, now, and do it for a day instead of weeks on end

In this genre there are a few ways that our characters come to terms with their sexuality, or acceptance of its fluidity. Sometimes they know right away they are one way, sometimes it's a slow realization or sometimes something happens and makes them question what they thought about themselves before. Growing up with any same sex attractions in a hetero-centric society can lead to lots of behaviors that are commonly classified as 'just trying to fit in' or maybe pack behavior. Perhaps you think about members of the opposite sex more because you're told you should than because you want to. Then, there when this happens. Great posting of a Reddit article where a college age fellow has an unexpected experience and turns to that community for advice. Read it here.

He has promised me he will, if I stop distracting him.

Back in '10 I wrote a story that got me back on the road of writing regularly and it's a story I'm exceptionally proud of. It's a 'long short' story and, if you haven't, I hope you'll take a chance on reading it because it's one of the ones I'm most proud of. You can find it here The Meaning of Living

Thank you kindly, one and all. It's nice to have so many well wishers!

All beagles are cute. We simply have a tendency to grow fat in our old age

Oh my goodness, those pictures are so cute! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!

Not a poetry fan, but I liked this. A lot.

I'm skeptical of remakes. While some things can always be done better with advanced tech, Tim Curry was inspired. I gave up on King after the Dark Tower ended, so I may not watch it anyway.

I have seen people that are so overweight, they pant just from the exertion of walking. Some can't. If they ate their way into that condition (it's not always a gland condition!) then I have no sympathy for them I think what stuns me here is her talk or 'rights' and 'deserving' and what she 'expects'. She's living off a system she never paid into, and she thinks she should get more? Also the logic of 'give me what I want and then I'll be motivated to xyz' is something my ten year old tries. I don't let him get away with it, I hope the Brits don't, either!

There is an article talking about a Reddit thread where a straight male is asking what the hullaballoo is about anal sex and the prostate. There is, apparently, some very good advice - but oen post was added into the article and includes some really frank discussion of what's going on and how to get there, it was good reading and not pornographic at all. Check it out here.

I won't vote, I'm waiting for you to finish the one you promised me that looked so interesting.

There is a wrinkle you may be able to take advantage of in the US, which I recently ran into. If the girls have been raised together, they will usually want someone to take them both and keep them together. Having a felony in your background doesn't preclude you from having custody of your kids, depending on what it was - for instance as a sex offender. At worst you may be bale to provide a home to the older girl, to start. The county/state also has a vested interest in seeing the child with the parent for financial reasons. What you are doing is called kinship care, whose standards are lower than standard foster care, but you'd still receive some financial assistance from the state/county for doing so. That natural parent has the legal upper hand, unless the child can be shown to be in imminent danger. Try to cultivate some kind of dialogue with him to allow the girls as much visitation as you can. If he has no other kids, he may very well decide it's a big pain to have one around full time and be amenable to giving you a guardianship. Good luck, it's a good thing you're doing.