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Lugh

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  1. Lugh

    Grab Bag!

    By Lugh,


    Author Interviews
    Today we have an author interview with Mark Arbour. Many of you know his stories, but do you know anything about him and how or why he started writing them? Hopefully Marzipan’s interview will shed some light on this subject for us all.
    but first... an announcement... Today is the last day for the Reader's Choice Award Nominations. Get yours in.
    Now on to the interview --

    I’m going to start with an easy question. You are hugely popular author in GA. What do you think appeals in your writing to your readers?
    I’m not sure that I’m ‘hugely popular’, but I think a big part of the reason people read my stories is due to their historical nature. I have two series that I’m writing, and they’re both very different. “Chronicles of an Academic Predator” (CAP) is set in more recent times. It started in 1962, and I’ve written up through the year 2000 as of right now. It’s about a wealthy family and their trials and tribulations, and tends to be more of a soap opera. The emphasis in that series is on the characters themselves. The other series, Bridgemont, is about the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The focus in that series tends to be more on the environment or world the characters lived in.
    You joined GA February 2005, how do you feel the writing community has changed over the years you’ve been a member? What about the mass of your readers and the correspondence with them, how has that evolved?
    I’m not sure that it really has changed that much over the years, other than it’s gotten bigger. My readers communicate with me via e-mail, the forums, or reviews. Of the three, I prefer the forums for general stuff, because then readers tend to talk to each other, and I love that! Most readers are polite enough to send me criticism via e-mail or PM, which is great, since it gives me a chance to digest it without a piling on effect, or worse, having a lynch mob of readers going after the guy who dissed me in public.
    How did you end up in GA? Have you posted on other sites?
    I originally came to GA as a Domaholic. I've posted stories on Nifty and a few chapters on Literotica, but not all of them. About the time I was promoted to "Promising," I was offered an opportunity to post at CRVBOY, which is another great site. But I had been putting stuff up on e-fiction for a while, and had the 'most read' e-fiction story here at that point, so it seemed like the right decision to just stay here. Hosted Authors are presumed to be exclusive to GA, and I've followed that rule, so you'll only find all of my stories posted here, or at my Yahoo group.
    How and when did you start writing, how you would describe the change in your writing?
    I started writing almost as a fluke. I wrote an article about that for the newsletter, so I won’t repeat myself. What’s changed? That’s an interesting question. Probably my focus on character development and consistency. When I first started writing, I thought in terms of places and events. That faded really fast as my characters took over the stories. They were right. I listen to them now.
    You write and post a lot. How much of your free time does it take? Is it something that is supported by the work you do for living or is it something totally different?
    It takes a lot of my free time, and it has nothing to do with my work, or anything else. It’s just a hobby. Usually, it comes pretty easy to me. When I write, I absorb myself in the character, trying to visualize the scenes and to feel what he feels, so the words more or less flow naturally. Then there are times when that bonding with the character fails, and I sort of flail around in limbo trying to get back into the story.
    Do your family and friends know about your writing in GA? How do they feel about it?
    I’m a married bisexual guy who’s not out about my “other side.” No one that is a close personal friend or family member is aware of my writing.
    Have you published a fictional story? Do you aim to do that?
    That’s not on my radar screen. Based on what I just mentioned above, if I was going to publish a story, it would increase the chances of having my real identity leaked. That’s something I can’t afford to do at this point, either personally or professionally.
    Ok, I understand the reasons you want to keep the anonymity with your writing, but considering how much time you put in to your writing, wouldn't it be a natural leap to pursue publishing? Have you considered writing a historical novel that is not gay themed?
    I haven't really thought of that. Right now, writing is a hobby. That makes it sound like actual work.
    You write mainly historical stories, sometimes from the Napoleon era, but mainly following the history and political change of the US. Why do you write historical stories?
    I’ve always enjoyed history. The CAP series has been fun for me because I was born about the same time the story started, so it’s a bit like going back and tracing what happened over the years when I was growing up and too young to realize what was going on. I still have memories that flash back when I do that, especially of the Vietnam War, and later, of Watergate. The Bridgemont series can trace it’s lineage to when I was 12, and read “Beat to Quarters” by CS Forester, the first published book of his Hornblower series. I’ve read those books so many times, they’re falling apart.
    In your stories you follow certain families over decades. I see it as neat way to entwine general history and personal life of the characters. How do you see it?
    The same way that you do. It also gives me a chance to address generational conflict and issues, which can be fun. I try to work a theme or two into each story. The latest one, Paternity, is all about father-son relationships. The real reason that I decided to write a series in the first place, though, is that I liked all my characters, and I couldn’t really stand to just let them ‘end.’
    What made the fatherhood-theme special to you?
    I've got a son who's 16, so I have a lot of firsthand experience with it. file:///C:UsersSparkyAppDataLocalTempOICE_F99B9EB8-6AFB-4654-B2AC-51FE93BA7A02.0msohtmlclip11clip_image001.gifOne of the more fun parts of the story is writing about Brad (the father) and Will (the son). Will gives Brad a lot of crap, much like Brad did to his father (JP) when he was young. It's me channeling my own frustration and amusement when my son pisses me off and I remember doing similar things to my dad.
    You have a lot of erotica in your stories. Is it something you get more critique or thanks for?
    Some people like it, some people don’t. Personally, I think it’s kind of fun. I’m not perfect, but for the most part I’m pretty faithful to my wife. I think that a big part of that is venting my attraction for men with my writing, and a lot of that is through the erotic segments. Then there’s the ability to push the envelope with different things. I’ve hit on some pretty kinky stuff, including fisting, BDSM, and e-stim. I sometimes wonder if my readers open a new chapter with one eye closed, wondering what I’ll throw at them. There’s three places I can’t go: Bestiality, Scat, and sex with pre-pubescent kids. They can relax about those topics.
    I realize this isn’t exactly a question, but I have to comment that I enjoy your boldness. Personally I think it’s your unique brand and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You bold entry ‘Ode to the Taint’ for last year’s Poem Anthology was something that made my eyes roll but it also made me snicker. I think you have guts and I see you like to shock a bit too.
    Thanks. I’m no poet. I wrote that primarily to show support for Lugh and the Poetry Anthology. That’s a lot of work, and I’d teased him a lot about it, so I figured I should show that I appreciated what he was doing by trying my hand at it. I knew it wouldn’t be good, so I went with shocking humor instead.
    What sort of plans do you have for year 2012 in terms of writing?
    I’ll continue on with my two series. There are a lot of exciting events ahead for both of them. One era that is of particular interest to me is pre-revolutionary France. It’s highly likely that I’ll ultimately work on a series that takes place around the time of Louis XIV, but it probably won’t be this year.

    Thank you Mark for taking time for this interview! Have a prosperous year 2012!
  2. Lugh
    You know we all love a bad boy. We all love them better in our stories. But can we write them? Today's tip talks about...
    Creating a Credible Villain

    by Renee Stevens

    When creating a villain for your story, there are many things that need to be considered. Villains are not ALL bad. While they will have mostly flaws, they most likely will also have something about them that is good. This could be anything. A serial killer could also be a devoted family man. Your villain could be the go-to guy of the neighborhood, the one who watches the neighbor’s dog while they’re on vacation.
    When creating your villain, you need to decide your villain’s depth of evilness. Some plots will require your villain to have more depth and loftier goals. If the goal is complete domination, then chances are your villain is going to have to be more complex, more evil. If the goal is to simply make everyone’s life miserable, your villain could be someone who is just a bully. A school bully who takes younger kids’ lunch money, or a corporate CEO who fires people for a single minor mistake. Make sure the degree of evilness is relevant to the plot of your story. Also, keep in mind, that the more demented your villain is, the more likely he will be to succeed in what he sets out to do.
    Another thing to think of is, unless of course your villain is a demon that from the time of birth was evil, or a robot that was created to destroy a world, chances are that there is something in their past that was the turning point for them. What was this point for them? Maybe they watched their parents or spouse be brutally murdered. Maybe they were bullied in their teenage years. Be creative, but make this turning point be something that is believable. Whatever this point is, it's going to be the driving force behind your villain.
    When creating your villain, you need to decide what the villain’s purpose is. What is his overall goal? Does he focus on people like your hero and just set out to thwart them? Or does he hatch plots and set forth to make his goals a reality while the hero’s job is to thwart him? Essentially, the question here is: who is trying to do the thwarting?
    Once you have all of this, you need to decide what the outcome is going to be. Is your villain going to be evil until the end, by rejecting redemption, or does he end up being redeemed somehow? There should always be a chance of redemption, so you need to think of that throughout the story, because you will need to plant things throughout the story that show he is redeemable, especially if you plan to redeem him. Otherwise, a villain just suddenly becoming a good guy, it’s not going to believable to your readers and may leave them feeling confused at the end of your story.
    Think also, about what fears and weaknesses your villain has. These are what is going to allow your hero to win in the end, if that is your ultimate goal. Even if you are going to have your villain win in the end, everyone has some sort of weakness. It might not even be something that the villain will readily admit to, but these are things that you can use throughout the story for the villain to overcome. If you are going to allow your hero to win in the end, then these are things that he will be able to exploit to ultimately win the day.
    In the end, how you create your villain is up to you, but the above guidelines will help to create a believable villain. A couple other things to keep in mind are: your villain doesn’t have to lose every battle, your villain may hold a view that others can sympathize with, and with the exception of demons and things like them, many villains will have some good qualities as well as bad. Your villain is going to drive the story as much, if not more than, your hero.
    Good luck with creating your villain!!!
    Happy reading, writing, and reviewing!
  3. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Those Pesky Words

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Those Pesky Words
    by Cia

    I was having a discussion with an author the other day about words. Why do we pick the ones we use when we write? What should the focus be on, the words themselves or they image they are meant to convey?
    When I first started writing, I used a lot of formal language. For example, from my first story, The Price of Honor: The strange color registered with his consciousness but he continued to stare blankly about, trying to process the abrupt dislocation that he had just experienced.
    Right. People think or talk that way. I don't think so.
    After getting advice from other authors and having readers tell me what works and what doesn't, I don't write like that anymore. I've realized, that for my writing style, smaller is better. I narrate my stories the same way I speak and leave formal language for dialogue by characters that need it. If I were to re-write that line now, it would be different and look like this: He noticed the strange color of the plants, but he stared blankly at the bush in front of him. He'd expected a city landing pad when he woke up, not this wilderness.
    They mean the same thing, but my words aren't getting in the way of the image in the second line. People know the plants are a strange color and he's in a wilderness that he wasn't expecting. That's all that is needed. Instead of flexing my vocabulary muscles, I'm letting the story speak in a voice that most readers will be more familiar with and understand more easily. I think it gives my stories a readability that they were lacking in the past.
     
    Remember Read! Review!
    and
    Happy Writing!
  4. Lugh

    Writing Prompts #112 & #113

    By Lugh,


    Prompts
    Today's writing prompts brought to you by Comicfan are...
    Prompt 112 – Creative
    Cue – Poetry, Haiku
    The Haiku is a Japanese poetry form. In English we usually use a 5, 7, 5 syllable line. The Haiku usually focuses on some aspect of nature and ends with a surprise. With that in mind try writing at least one of your own. Here is one of mine as an example.
     
    I hear the screaming
    And run to find him pointing
    At a spider. Squish.

    Prompt 113 – Challenge
    Cue – Sidekick
    The sidekick is the one the hero or villain turns to. They can be the best friend, the comedy break, or the sounding board for the ideas. Whether it is Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes, Ethel to Lucy, or Mini Me to Dr. Evil these characters exist and are an important part of the story. What sort of sidekick would you create? Look over your short stories and create one of your own.
    Spotlight:
    Before I introduce this week's spotlight I just have to say I would like more than six regulars to pick from... so if you are enjoying these prompts and the spotlights, etc... pick up your pencil and join the fun. Being great isn't the point... I like 'original'. Other than that.... kudos to Joe!
    In response to prompt 108 by JOeKEool:
    OBITUARY
    I did it. There. The obituary's done.
    It's Final.Finis.The race is run.
    She was here. Here.Now she's gone.
    I can't let go.I can't move on.
    She's so young? So happy?And so strong?
    And just like that. What went wrong?
    I can't stop now.I can't even cry.
    She didn't.She didn't.She didn't die.
    Come on.Get up.You've things to do.
    Be strong.Be tough.Make it through.
    They asked me how to lay her out.
    The red dress?Red.Yes,no doubt.
    Oh god!Her fish.She loved her fish.
    To her sister.Of Course.That's her wish.
    That night's ice cream is still on the table.
    Please tell me. It's all a dark fable.
    The blanket.We were all cuddled up.
    Five minutes.Five.To walk the pup.
    Come here little guy.You don't understand.
    Ow! Ow! You're biting my hand!
    This apartment.Her clothes.All of her things.
    Little guy.
    You don't know.
    The pain death brings.
     
    The blog team is looking for some more reviews if anyone is interested in helping out just PM me.
    Happy Writing! and as always Read and Review!
  5. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Plot Bunnies

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Um... hi again! Sorry about yesterday seems I had a med reaction to the new med. Needless to say I'm back, although not quite together. I'd like to bring to you an essay by Dark today. Hope you enjoy it.
    Plot Bunnies

    There’s nothing as nefarious as a plot bunny. Lurking in the corners of a writer’s brain like cockroaches, plot bunnies live to nibble on productivity. Those sharp front teeth bite and gnaw with a crunsh crunsh crunsh until single-minded focus turns into something resembling a writer’s version of Tourette’s syndrome.
    Praise be to the writers who can ignore these infamous creatures of the dark! Bow to the mighty bunny hunters! And pledge your allegiance to the wondrous few whose minds can twist along a plot bunny’s path and live to tell the tale!
    What is a plot bunny? Some say that plot bunnies are the spawn of reluctant muses; they are sent out to distract writers from their rightful path. Blame the muse or blame the author? It has been said that plot bunnies are to writers what senioritis is to high school students. That amazing chapter outline or a partially-completed draft is generally not as enticing as a new idea -- and lo! The plot bunny is born.
    There is nothing like working on something mindless like washing dishes, taking a shower, mowing the lawn, etc. for encouraging plot bunnies. They sneak in on the edges of sleep and insinuate themselves into random thoughts. A line from a movie, a snapshot posted on Facebook, an emailed joke, or that one snippet of song that got stuck in your head -- these are the birthplaces of plot bunnies.
    wikiwrimo.org reminds us of the John Steinbeck quote: “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
    This begs the question, then, of how you handle something that can run faster than you can think and with less substance than a rainbow. Should you, in fact, even try to harness the power of the plot bunny? Many are they who encourage the snaring of these beasts, for they are a menace; these become writing prompts for other people, there to terrorize the unsuspecting.
    Another train of thought says that plot bunnies are the bane of writer’s block and as such become the brain food of muses. Stuck on a plot point? Then feed your muse a plot bunny! That should be a bumper sticker for writers.
    Whether stamping out these unwanted trespassers from perfectly choreographed writing time or luring them in with skittles and coco puffs, writers must manage these plot bunnies or subsist amongst the cluttered, ill-tended wasteland of a lifetime of half-finished story ideas.
    From Ilea For: “In order to capture a plot bunny, one must first be able to identify plot bunnies. Simply looking for a creature which appears bunnyish will only work in some instances. Much like the sweet potato, a plot bunny is a rabbit in name only.”
    There is an infinite variety of plot bunnies, so determining which plot bunny you’re dealing with can be a challenge.
    The first rule of plot bunnies is to pay attention! Though they are distractions, plot bunnies also answer the dreaded question, “How did you come up with this?” Your first mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take ten minutes and jot down the bare bones of the plot idea on whatever you have immediately available. This can later evolve into an outline or even the next best-seller. Remember, plot bunnies inevitably fade away … eventually. By writing them down, good plot bunnies can be revived at a later date. Or they become zombie bunnies. Whichever.
    What is known for certain is that plot bunnies don’t stay small and cute and loveable and inspirational forever. Often, plot bunnies devolve into the same drawn-out piece you were working on before. The trick, when working on one story at a time, is to keep all the plot bunnies that apply to your current work and discard the rest. Learning how to focus on what you’re doing is a hurdle all good writers must overcome.
    If you want to get rid of your plot bunny, one of the most effective tactics is to sic that plot bunny on somebody else. This can be done by posting your idea on any number of plot bunny adoption sites. Or, if you’d rather the more direct approach, chat up your favorite victim online and tell them all about your bunny. Plot bunnies take a little more coaxing, but like that song stuck in your head, they’re eager to latch onto the next person to come along. This option also has its drawbacks, in that you may decide (after explaining the idea to someone else) that you rather like this particular plot bunny and you want to give it more life yourself because no one else could possibly do it justice. And you must be careful with plot bunny discussions lest your plot bunny realize its mortality; because in cases like this, if you do end up taking it back, the plot bunny is unlikely to fully cooperate without some significant bribery.
    Last of these particular insights is an introvert’s ideal: think about and visualize your plot bunny. Without setting fingers on a keyboard or picking up a pencil, close your eyes and imagine what your plot bunny might be like as a novel in your favorite bookstore or a movie starring your favorite actor. Remember to ask all the ‘what if...?’ questions. Explore the idea in as much detail as you can, but spend no more than 24 hours mulling it over. Once you’ve decided to keep or discard your plot bunny, do it ASAP.
    At this point, Susan from The Prosers recommends going into your weapons arsenal and pulling out a holy hand grenade because:
    “… bunnies have a dark side. If I give in and pick one up and stare into those limpid eyes, that wascally wabbit mutates. What seemed like such a perfect, bouncy idea begins to contort. My plot grows fangs. And claws. It misbehaves. I know what kind of story the plot bunny should turn into, but it doesn’t cooperate.”
    Like a good writing prompt, a good plot bunny can become a grand story. One of the reasons a plot bunny is so tempting is because plot bunnies make writing exciting. When you’re slogging through a scene that even you find boring, a plot bunny can remind you why you ever decided to set pen to paper or click away on a keyboard for the nameless masses. You never know what a plot bunny is going to do or where it will lead. Writing when you’re excited about the subject/idea is easy; trying to write something you care nothing about leads only to writer’s block. Alternatively, plot bunnies are like iPhones; you love what you already have until the next one comes along.
    One caution: you have to be careful when deciding to give a plot bunny a home because they are sneaky bastards, always inviting their buddies. The shiny, new plot bunnies are very often an entirely new breed of bunny and pretty soon, if you’re not careful, you’ll be inundated with bunnies, whereupon drama and backstabbing ensues. Only the strongest and sneakiest survive, and bunnies, being the evil masterminds that they are, know all your secret triggers to draw attention to themselves.
    Each writer sees different varieties of plot bunnies. Wikiwrimo.org has published one of the most extensive lists of different breeds, among them the Luuuuuuuuv Bunny, a bunny who makes random characters fall in love, the WTF Bunny, a bunny of outlandish story plots, and the Two Things at Once Bunny, who always appears when writers are least able to write their thoughts down.
    Whichever breeds your bunnies arrive in, the most dangerous of all are the mutant bunnies. These are plot bunnies on crack. When they first appear, mutant bunnies seem like just another harmless plot bunny, but over time, they slowly evolve into a different breed that is more potent than the ordinary bunny. The only cure for a mutant plot bunny is a plot ninja. Plot ninjas are commonly found in NaNoWriMo write-ins and are not to be confused with plot bunnies.
    Nevertheless, write, write, write! Or the plot bunnies will get you.
    Happy Reading, Writing, and of course Reviewing!
  6. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Research

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Many of you noticed the little faux pas I made in the beginning of yesterday's blog. Oops. Well, I received some interesting feedback over it, including a shoutout to this little gem, so I thought I would share....
    Cia on Research...
    So, I read an ebook recently. Big surprise there, lol. Several things jumped out at me as I read it that let me know that the writer was definitely NOT a resident of the state they set it in. Not only did they describe the summer weather as humid, which it never is, they mentioned a 6 hour drive between two cities that takes 3, maybe 3 1/2 hours, tops. This leads me to my topic at hand.
    Research.
    Why should you do it? What should you look up? How do you research?
    Now, if you're like me, research is fun. Take one of my stories, Two of a Kind. I took two hours to look up the flowers I used to describe the decorations on statues. I had to make sure they were native to the region I was using as the origin, the color variations possible and what they looked like. It may seem excessive for a single descriptive section of just a few paragraphs, but they were a vital part of the plot. Since I wrote specifics, I wanted to have the facts.
    I looked up fact pages on Wiki, always a good source, though one I cross check with other sites whenever possible. It is, after all, a site compiled of information by the people and sometimes people don't know their butt from a hole in the ground. Yep, I went there.
    I looked up flowers from the region on a wiki page, then looked up a few horticulture sites. Then I googled pictures so I could see the colors myself, which I find is the best way to cement them in my head so I can really describe them. I also found myself researching jungle animals, black jaguar melanin issues, plant poisons and cures, flight time between Brazil and California, weather patterns, driving distance from the airport to a city/mountain range I set the story in, antiserums and how they are created . . . just to name a few things.
    You can hit your local library for books on your subject, check online websites, find an expert or researcher in the field/area you are wanting to write about, or just go see for yourself if you plan to use local settings. Ignore the temptation to say,'Only this or that person would know this info is wrong.' Get it right from the start. An author who doesn't even take the time to get to know the region/time/people they are writing about is a pretty sloppy writer in my book.
    Make the effort to get to know your subject if you're going to use it. Or, do like I do so often when I can't figure out what I want in a modern story or the facts of the known universe contradict me; make it up! Fantasy stories are prime for making up your own rules and facts, like the alternate history of the Carthera people. Mixing the two takes work; you have to make sure you stick to the rules of the world you create when you write, but it can help you out of those sticky situations sometimes.
    Besides, learning something new every day is a GOOD thing!
     
    Happy Reading! Writing! and Reviewing!
  7. Lugh

    Writing Prompts #110 & #111

    By Lugh,


    Prompts
    It's Friday! It's Friday! Whoot! Time for some jolly good reading.
    Our prompts this week are:
    Prompt 110 – Creative
    Cue – Creating Evil
    No one is just evil. They work from their own point of view. Your job is to create an “evil character” but you have to explain why they are that way. What happened to turn them into the person they are and why do they find that “evil” lifestyle so appealing?
    Prompt 111 – Creative
    Cue – The Quick Fix
    Everyone knows that there is no such thing as a quick fix, but to solve a problem people will hope to find a short cut. They have been selling this product to fix blemishes and you finally broke down and bought it. After using it for a while you’ve discovered it works but there are some extreme side effects. So now your skin is perfectly clear but what went wrong?
    ok this week's Prompt Showcase was a split vote, both were from Prompt #108 -- Use the following words in a short story: obituary, ice cream, red dress, fish, and apartment. Kudos both of you!
     
    Untitled by JamesSavik
    It was a cold, rainy Saturday morning when I heard. I slept late and finally got up around ten. I started breakfast and went downstairs for my paper.
    When I came back up the apartment was warm and had a friendly smell of sausage and biscuits cooking.
    While I waited for breakfast to finish, I opened the paper and began my usual scan as the biscuits finished cooking.
    My basketball teams lost. The economy sucked. Politicians were lying. Just another day until I hit the obituary page.
    Grief and memories swirled as I tried to wrap my head around a world with out Cheryl.
    I remembered the girl who loved ice cream and red dresses. I remembered the girl who loved to fish.
    I remembered my old friend who was just so cool that nothing else mattered. No pressure, no demands.
    Something precious was lost. Something that had been gone for a long time but death had finally slammed the door on.
    I burned my biscuits that morning.
     
    Valerie Woodward by Dolores Esteban
    　It was a Saturday afternoon. I was sitting in my apartment, eating an ice cream and reading the newspaper. I gazed at the name in shock when I turned the page and saw the obituary. Valerie Woodward. Valerie Woodward had died? I read the death notice again. No doubt. The date of birth was correct. I remembered the date because I had invited her for dinner on her twenty-third birthday. That was twenty years ago. But I remembered the day in all detail.
    Valerie had accepted my invitation which had taken me by surprise. We had been working together for about six months and I had been into her from the moment she had been introduced to me. Valerie, however, had always ignored me. Whatever I had tried to attract her attention, it had never worked out. She brought a cake to the office on her birthday. We accidentally left the office together in the evening, and, without giving it a prior thought, I invited her for dinner. She accepted, to my very surprise. She asked me to pick her up at eight p.m. and so I did. I rang the bell and she opened the door. Her sight stunned me. More, it shocked me. She was wearing a short and low-cut red dress and her lips were painted dark red. I think I gazed at her with my mouth open. And Valerie gazed back at me. A moment or two passed, and then a frown crossed her face.
    "What do you want, Jordan?" she hissed at me.
    I swallowed.
    "Well, I invited you for dinner and you asked me to pick you up at eight p.m.," I said in a slightly indignant voice.
    She looked me up from head to toe. I felt totally confused and uneasy. What was wrong? I didn’t have a clue.
    "So why did you not come then?" she asked sullenly. "You see, I’ve other fish to fry."
    I gazed at her. I was feeling cold. What the hell was she talking about?
    "I’m right on time," I said slowly.
    She shook her head and shot me a dark look.
    "Look," she said, raising her left arm. She wore an expensive silver watch.
    I made a step forward and looked at her watch. It was twenty past nine. I looked up, feeling entirely puzzled. I met her dark look. Valerie lowered her arm and made a step back. She was about to close the door. I looked at my watch. It showed a quarter to eight. The scales finally fell from my eyes. My watch had stopped and I had not checked any other. I had dawdled away my time and I was totally late. I was about to apologize to Valerie when I heard a voice from the background. A half dressed man walked up the corridor.
    "Like I said, I’ve other fish to fry," Valerie hissed before she slammed the door in my face.
    I returned home. I was like in a state of shock as the truth dawned on me slowly. Did Valerie have a side job? Why had she accepted my invitation? Had she hoped to hook me up? Did she lack clients? Or what?
    We ignored each other at office the following weeks. And yet, I could not stop thinking about her. A month had passed when we finally talked with each other. Valerie admitted all. She worked as a call girl in the evenings. She was in need of money and she found her side job was an easy way to earn it. However, she had wanted to separate her official and her double life. She admitted that accepting my invitation had been a mistake.
    Valerie left the company two months later. I have never seen her again. But rumors had spread that she got involved more and more in the sex trade over the years. I don’t remember who spread the news. One of my co-workers, I guess. I have never seen her again. But I remember the day in all detail. I see her standing in the doorway in a short and low-cut red dress and with her full lips painted red.
    I looked at the death notice again. Valerie Woodward had died. I wondered what had happened. Only the names of her parents were listed. Had Valerie died all alone? I wondered if I should attend her funeral. But then I decided to refrain from it. We had had nothing in common. She had just entered my life for the briefest of time, for the glimpse of an eye. I had glimpsed at the true Valerie twenty years ago. I would keep this memory. But, for the rest, I would let her go.
     
    Keep your writing muscles flexed -- write a prompt today!
    And remember -- Read! Write! Review! Enjoy!
  8. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Motivation

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Motivation. What makes a writer start writing and keep at it day after day? I asked Mark to write something for the blog, and that was the topic he chose. So, let's all take a peek inside Mark's head and see what he thinks...
    Chronicles of Chronicles: How I wrote “Chronicles of An Academic Predator”
    I’ve learned that when someone really hot, really charming, really bitchy, and/or really sinister asks you to do something, it’s usually a good idea to agree, especially if they have all of those traits. That’s why when Lugh asked me to write something for the newsletter, I agreed rather quickly. The big question on my mind was what to write about. I think that writing is a very personal thing, and that everyone has their own method and style. All I can really do is talk about how I got started, and what prompted me to start writing fiction.
    My first fictional story was “Chronicles of an Academic Predator,” which was published here in e-fiction back in September of 2008. I was thinking back to how that story started, and it really did entail quite a few coincidental events.
    The first and most important thing in the development of “Chronicles” was having a good support network. In those early days, there were two people who really coached me along. The first was Sharon. I’d known Sharon for quite a while, since we all made the big pilgrimage to GA back in 2005, following that gay writing genius, Domluka, to his new home. I was lucky to have the premiere editor as a friend, so I could impose upon her to read my efforts. Anyway, I had this idea for a story, knocked out a few chapters, and sent them to her for her feedback. She told me they didn’t suck, fixed my grammar and spelling errors, gave me some pointed advice, and suggested that I post them on e-fiction.
    The other player here was Adam Phillips. Adam and I have been e-friends for an e-ternity, having first met at John Walsh’s Fraternity Memoirs group. Adam is one of the smartest guys I know, and I knew that I couldn’t post a story until I got his feedback. He wasn’t nearly as pleasant as Sharon; he didn’t pull any punches, because, as he said it, we’d been friends too long. He pointed out that my characters weren’t resonating, that I wasn’t making them live, that they weren’t really all that likable. It was wonderful advice, and I learned something about myself as a writer. I learned that if I was going to write realistic characters, I had to find them attractive in some way, and I had to really be willing to dive into their brains. Without his candid feedback, “Chronicles” would have been crap.
    While I was lucky to have that kind of support to start out with, as I started writing I got a lot more feedback, and developed a team of people to help me out. How did that happen? It was actually pretty easy. I’d be writing about a place, or an era, that was interesting to someone, and if I needed their help and they were willing to volunteer the time, I pulled them into the team. So in addition to Sharon and Adam, I’ve got a guy on the team that’s a medical doctor (for all those soap-opera illnesses I use), a guy who’s great at details and keeps my stories consistent, a guy who knows about damn near every kind of kinky sex trick out there (no, that’s not Jeremy), a guy who handles the music and makes sure my language isn’t anachronistic (that’s Jeremy), and a man of the cloth, among others. There are also other people who are willing to devote some time and energy to helping me with specific topics. For example, there’s one lady who’s a figure skating expert, and has been helping me timeline a career for one of my characters, and another young man who recently graduated from the private school I sent some of my characters to. I’ve even got a couple of guys who are Hollywood insiders who can give me pointers on that world. It’s been an awesome experience!
    While it’s vital to have those kinds of people around, before I gave them anything to do, I had to have an idea, an inspiration, and I actually had to write something. When I think about my inspiration for “Chronicles”, I just about laugh my ass off. It was the movie “Hairspray”. A gay/bi story inspired by a musical: how cliché is that? Maybe it is, but I watched that movie a few times, and was really stunned at how far the United States had come as a nation regarding race relations. It wasn’t so long ago that African-Americans were being referred to as “Negroes” or “Coloreds” (or worse), and segregation was the norm. I liked the era, especially the cars and the music, so it seemed like an ideal setting for a story.
    Then I had to decide on a main character, and that’s when I started to develop JP Crampton. My inspiration for JP was actually at GA. I loved Quinn in Domluka’s “The Ordinary Us”, and decided that I wanted someone who was more introverted and quirky. I don’t think JP ended up being much like Quinn, but he is definitely quirky. Where did I get the last name: Crampton? I got that from a type of railroad engine (The Crampton locomotive). Any of you who have ever played Sid Meier’s Railroad games on the computer should recognize that one. Another big question was what kind of background he should come from, and more specifically, should he be rich or poor? That was actually pretty easy for me to decide. I needed to have a point of reference with him, so I tapped into a line on my family tree for a model, and decided that he should come from an upstanding family in a small Midwestern city. There were several advantages for me to take that approach. First of all, while I didn’t live that life I was close enough to it to be able to accurately describe it. More importantly, though, by having him be a wealthy man, it gave me a lot more flexibility to bring in historical references, especially fashions, trends, and cars. I mean, it’s hard to write a story about a poor guy and talk about the engine options for a ’63 Corvette Stingray. And finally, I wanted to be able to write more about him and his internal struggles with his homosexuality, and less about his external struggles, trying to make ends meet.
    Another consideration was point of view: I had to decide on whether to write the story in first or third person. Some people advocate third person as really the only real format, and that first person is somehow of a lower quality. I disagree with them. I think that if you really want to dive into a mind, and to try to effectively show how a character is thinking and feeling, then first person is a great way to go. And since that’s what I was planning to do, that’s what I went with.
    The final piece of the puzzle was the story itself. That actually turned out to be the easiest part of all. I started writing the story, and after the first few chapters, it really wrote itself. It was originally supposed to be this rather twisted story of a college professor who uses his position to seduce unsuspecting but subsequently willing college guys. That idea lasted for about two chapters. After that, the character (JP) took over. I found that I just had to jump into his mind and let him take me for a ride in his world. The challenge for me was finding and throwing interesting challenges at him, and then figuring out how he’d handle them. Since I was writing an historical story, that dovetailed perfectly with my strategy. I could pick period events and tailor them to happen to JP, and thus bring them into the story. Civil rights, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, all of those historical events make for a great story line.
    From that ill-planned beginning, the story spawned sequels, and has become GA’s longest serial, and currently comprises 11 completed and one current story with a total of almost 2,500,000 words.
    Thank you Mark!
    So, as usual, if you have an idea for a writing tip please feel free to send it in and we will see what comes up.
    Happy reading, writing, and reviewing!
  9. Lugh

    Writing Prompts #108 & #109

    By Lugh,


    Prompts
    This week Comicfan brings us two new prompts:
    Prompt 108 – Creative
    Cue – List of words
    Use the following words in a short story: obituary, ice cream, red dress, fish, and apartment.
    and
    Prompt 109 – Creative
    Cue – Poetry
    Write a poem about your favorite person. Try to descriptive and give life to the person you are writing about. The poem can take any from a series of haikus, to free form, to an established pattern.
    In response to Prompt #107....
     
    Lifetime Guarantee by Percy “This one comes with a lifetime guarantee.” Those were the first words I heard as fingers removed me from my box and set me atop the glass display case.
    “Very nice.” A different hand picked me up, examined me, tested my weight, traced my dimensions. Finally, fingers removed my cap.
    “Do you have some paper? I’d like to try this one out.”
    I settled into the right hand, found a comfortable resting spot against the bottom joint of the index finger, and went to work. Even fresh from the factory, I knew exactly what to do. The hand guided my tip along the paper, quickly curving out two words, then lifted me so that we could examine the work critically. Blue lines, boldly written, not unattractive, but I could do better.
    “It’s heavier than I expected.” This came from the owner of the hand holding me. My tip re-engaged with the paper and we tried again, the same two words. This time there was a flare to the curves, a confidence about them. They looked elegant, commanding. I loved this person who spoke, loved the hand holding me and how naturally we worked together.
    “Is this a gift?” The question came from the first person, the one who’d taken me from the box.
    “A gift for myself. I made Vice President today.” We wrote as Vice President spoke. Two lengthy sentences, then those first two words written over and over. Oddly, I could read everything we wrote, except those two words Vice President liked most. The first started with a J, followed by a short wavy line, then a longer word started with “A” and longer squiggles after it. We looked at what we’d written.
    “I’ll take it,” Vice President said
    “Engraving is included with the purchase. Your name, perhaps?”
    “Yes, that would be perfect.”
    ***************
    The early years were good. Busy. Vice President and I were together morning to night. The work day started with a review of the daily schedule which I meticulously maintained in Vice President’s leather day planner.
    “10:30am - Meeting with lawyers”
    “6:00pm - Conference call with Tokyo”
    Once the schedule was done, we delved into the meat of the day. Meeting after meeting. Lots of note taking. We worked rapidly, smart and confident in our printed letters, our abbreviations. I functioned perfectly, always uniform in color, never streaking. No blotches. I took pride in the work we produced.
    When not working my resting place was an inside jacket pocket where I heard the steady thump, thump of Vice President’s heart. V.P. didn’t often work with me in the evenings. I hung in my pocket on the back of a chair or sometimes a closet while V.P. recounted our day to the other person in the house. I’d met this person once or twice. The hand that held me was larger, rougher. It jabbed my tip at the paper, swiping at it so that I left behind short, abrupt swipes of blue. I did my best, as always, but I preferred the elegant cursive of V.P.
    Every few months we would have an extraordinarily busy day. I always knew we’d be working extra hard when Vice President replaced my inner cartridge and we caught an early morning flight. At the other end of the flight would be a crowded conference room with interminable discussions that always culminated with us marking sheet after sheet of paper. We wrote V.P.’s favorite words, “J~~~ A~~~, Vice President.” It was on the first of these trips that I learned I had a name. I was “Closing Pen” and I had been acquired to sign “deals” and “transactions.” The others around the massive table in the room had their own “Closing Pen”, and I gathered the existence of these other Closing Pens is what had prompted my purchase in the first place.
    We Closing Pens were discreetly flashed by our owners, sometimes examined and tested by others. I know Vice President was introduced to counterparts of mine who had real gold and diamonds. I sometimes feared I was too drab and would be replaced. But, V.P. continued to be happy with me and over the years we left our marks on many an “Agreement of Merger” and “Certificate of Preferred Stock.”
    It wasn’t all work though. No, on the train ride home in the evening we would engage in another sort of writing. Fantastic tales populated with people and places far removed from the daily work life in which V.P. and I were engaged. These were my favorite times because I think they were also V.P.’s favorite times. Our writing was smooth, light and happy. It flowed. My only frustration was that our tales were only brief excerpts. They were scenes in a story that never had a beginning or an end.
    Our other work not related to the day’s business came on the morning train ride. This is when V.P. wrote letters. A new letter was composed daily and always addressed “Dear God” or sometimes just “God-” In time, I gathered we were praying or perhaps confessing. I disliked the morning writing. It was tortured work; our words were dark. Vice President’s hand gripped me too tightly, pressed too hard. V.P. hated our morning work too. I knew because our last mark was often an “X” over the entire letter, sometimes angry scratches of my tip obliterating the recently inked words.
    These train ride compositions, both the morning and the evening, were just between the two of us. They were shared with no one else. We were intimates. I vowed to always be there for Vice President, to so what I could to provide what human companions at work or home could not. I would not fail V.P. I came with a lifetime guarantee.
    I’m not sure when things started to change, but I’ve always blamed Phone for the chaos that interrupted the perfect life V.P. and I had. Phone arrived without warning, shoved into the pocket that was my home. Until Phone’s arrival, it was a comfortable, roomy home. The loose jacket would swing and I would brush up against the warm curve of V.P.’s body, just making the slightest tap, tap against the soft, malleable flesh over the heart. V.P. didn’t like the softness or the curves. I knew this from the morning letters to God. Still, I’d always been comfortable in the pocket until Phone arrived.
    Phone was squat and fat and loud. Okay, maybe fat isn’t a very politically correct term but try sharing a sleeping bag with someone six times your size and then tell me how correct you’d feel. Vice President ditched Phone after just a few months but then immediately replaced it with New Phone. New Phone was quieter and slimmer but still far too big to be sharing a pocket. Unlike myself, New Phone demanded attention with its constant vibrations. Vice President reached for New Phone at least as often as for me.
    In time, I came to accept New Phone. A new New Phone arrived every 1-2 years (no lifetime guarantee), but I declined to name each of them. My pocket companion was simply known to me as New Phone. We had nothing to do with each other but its presence continued to concern me.
    V.P. and I were working together less and less. Even during the long meetings we attended out of town, I was no longer the center of attention and there were far fewer pages to sign. The people with their own Closing Pens were also fewer because “only the banks and lawyers want original copies” and most parties to our deals were “willing to close on a scanned copy.”
    Instead of passing around pens for examination and admiration, ugly, bulky New Phone was handled, palmed, fingered and thumbed. Vice President became Senior Vice President and instead of taking notes in meetings, V.P. did most of the talking while others took notes. Sometimes an entire day would go by, or two, without V.P. and I working together at all.
    We still had our train dates, both the morning and evening, but even those weren’t going well. Much of the train ride was spent with V.P. tapping me against the paper. We didn’t get much work done. Vice President was alone in the evenings now. No one heard about our day. I participated only in fragments of Vice President’s life which itself seemed to be fragmenting.
    We made lists. Lists for moving to a new house, for doctor’s appointments, for starting a new job. I realized we didn’t write our two favorite words anymore and tried to remember the last time we’d signed the J~~~ A~~~~~. It was months ago, at the bottom of a sheet of paper with the words “Motion for Decree of Divorce” on the top. I spent days in my pocket home untouched but even that felt different. I was still near V.P.’s heart but the curve was less pronounced, less soft. For much of the time I had the pocket to myself. Phone was in constant use. I resented Phone. He was the cause of my loneliness.
    I’d been in the pocket for days, unused, when finally Vice President unclipped me, brought me into the light of day. Familiar fingers ran over me, much as they had that very first day. A sensitive index finger traced V.P.’s name tattooed onto my body. I waited to be uncapped, waited for V.P. to put me to work, but instead I was wrapped in paper and dropped into a box. Other items occupied the box, but I couldn’t see them. I only knew that I was far, far from Vice President. Phone had the pocket to himself.
    Nothing happened in the box. Not for years. The box moved once awhile, jostling those of us in it around. During one of the longer, more kinetic journeys, the tissue worked itself away and I found myself positioned next to Watch. Like me, Watch hated Phone. He, too, blamed Phone for his new life in the box. Like me, Watch had V.P.’s name tattooed on his body. We discussed whether this commonality between us, this name of V.P., was the reason for our expulsion from V.P.’s life. We both concluded that that line of reasoning made no sense. Phone had conquered us in a complete rout; Phone had won the battle and the war.
    The box remained closed for years and I wondered sometimes if I was finishing out my lifetime guarantee in a landfill. Yet, when the day came that the lid of the box opened, and I was lifted out, it was just like that first day we’d met over the glass counter. Vice President held me just like before I went into the box. The fingertips, the curve between index finger and thumb, all felt the same. A thumb popped my cap off and fingers helped me make a couple experimental swipes at a piece of paper.
    “Probably just needs a new cartridge.” This voice was new. I’d never heard it before.
    “Probably” Vice President agreed. Fingers traced my length, rubbing over the name engraved on my body.
    “It has your old name.”
    “Yes,” V.P. tapped me decisively on the paper. “I miss writing with a pen sometimes.”
    I got a new cartridge a few days later, and then it was just like old times. No, that’s not accurate. We’re creating some new times together. V.P. takes me to work, but doesn’t use me there too often. I figured out he’s not V.P. anymore though. He’s COO, Chief Operating Officer. I can’t read his new name any more easily than his old one. Now it’s R~~~ E~~~~~~. He doesn’t wear jackets too often either. I guess Phone found another pocket. Sometimes I’m clipped to a shirt pocket, laying smoothly on a firm, flat chest, listening again to the thump, thump of Vice President’s heart.
    Much of the work day is spent with me resting on his desk watching him write with a keyboard. Even though I’m not as busy as before, I like the fact that I’m within arm’s reach when he needs me.
    We do most of our best work on the weekends. He’s writing quite a lot these days, just like he use to on the train in the evenings. Today’s tales have a beginning, a middle and an end, and I can tell he’s taking them seriously. I’m fascinated by the stories and always disappointed when he lays me down for the day. We write in the sunroom while his friend is painting. Once in a while his friend asks what the story is about and he’ll read our words right off the page. The stories aren’t just between the two of us anymore, but I think it’s better that way.
    By my estimate, we go back 18 years now but the precise time doesn’t really matter. After all, I come with a lifetime guarantee.
     
    Enjoy the prompts! We would love to see your writing prompt response here next time.
  10. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Physical Description

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    While poking around in the forums the other day I found myself in the Editor's forum looking at a thread concerning physical descriptions and how authors handle writing them. It seemed the biggest concern was how to get the info across without the story sounding like something plucked from the Nifty's "First Time" collection.
    I'm not going to repeat all the discussion from there to here, if you are an author, you should read it. If you are a new author... please read it. What I am going to do, though, is give you all a couple links to also look into at your leisure.
    The first is Effective Character Description by Marg McAlister. Her philosophy boils down to:
    The second, Great Character Descriptions from Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, is really a list of several descriptions from published books and a commentary of why they work.
    and the third, The Basics of Introducing a Character by Camy Tang, which covers three basic points:
    Create a Strong, Quick First Impression Make the Characters Act Don’t Crowd the Scene Hope this helps.
    And remember, we are encouraging requests for the kinds of tips you would like to see and for people to write tips and story reviews. If you would like to volunteer, send a PM.
  11. Lugh

    Writing Prompts #106 & #107

    By Lugh,


    Prompts
    Time to go haunt Comicfan and see what he can drag out of the inspiration file for this week. Seems we have two new challenges. One is a Point of View challenge -- those are always interesting -- and one has the goal of animating an inanimate object.
    You've got a week. Make life interesting.
    Prompt 106 –
    Cue – The Fight
    Remember the last argument you got into? Change it into a story about two other people. The challenge is to tell the story from the other person’s point of view.
    Prompt 107 –
    Cue – Inanimate Life
    Everyone knows the old saying, “if these walls could talk.” Well imagine something that would be around someone for a while. Is it the blanket on the bed, a child’s beloved toy, or maybe the morning coffee mug? Bring that object to life and let it tell about the person it is always around.
    Our featured prompt response this week is by JOeKEool,
    AND JUST WHAT THE HELL
    AND just what the hell am I supposed to do with this?
    JUST dealing with sadness. Alone and amiss
    WHAT, now I start over. Start dealing with bliss?
    THE odds are against me. Do I get a kiss?
    HELL! Why do I feel like this might be my bris
    AM I gonna go for it? Then get a dis?
    I could not handle a boo or a hiss
    SUPPOSED to be here? Just me, vis a vis?
    TO let you see me? My soul looks like swiss
    DO I have a choice. I'm your Bro. You're my Sis
    WITH out reservation. It is what it is
    THIS is my new home. But no more of this!
    If you would like to leave him specific feed back please leave a review on his poem page. Thank you.
    Good Job JOeKEool!
    So who will it be next week?
  12. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Out Of The Ooze

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Well, yesterday was an interesting day... I would like to go on record as saying I did write today's tip. Take it with the intended humor is it written with...
    Out of the Ooze by Lugh Please understand that what I am about to share with you is a personal experience. It is not based on any research nor is it scientifically sound; take it with a grain of salt. Better yet, save the salt, you may very well need it when you get to ‘The End’.
    I have heard authors speak repeatedly again about their muses: of how they have to coax them into sharing the juicy tidbits of a story or bribe them with chocolates or other treats. Now most people speak of their muses as female, and I can just see them now: obese fairies wearing too much make up and not enough clothing sitting on someone’s shoulder yammering away about trivial things until someone opens the box of bon-bons.
    This got me to thinking about my own muse one day and what a little whore he was. Yes, I said he. I did not want a whore of a muse… so I must confess. I took the self-centered son of a bitch, bashed his head in, and then drowned him in the primordial ooze that is my imagination. I never felt better. However, I then realized I had a problem. All the writing books addressed the muse in one-way or another. I did not want my muse back, but I needed to find a way to tap into the creative aspect that was the muse.
    Luckily for me, about this time I was taking a class in college on psychology. If you have been to college, I am sure you have had the same class. How the mind works, the ego, id, super-ego… sound familiar? Well I was pondering this one evening in the manner of many great writers, and I decided a few things. Other people may have come across these ideas before, but if they have, I have not read them. If they have not, well, maybe it is because they have not yet murdered their muse.
    The thoughts that whizzed around my mind that night centered on two things: the part the muse played in a writer’s life and the role of the internal editor. With enough Poesque prompting, I finally determined that these two figments of a writer’s imagination were just that — figments of the imagination. Granted the writer gave them voice and shape based on several different factors not limited to mythology, gender, age, and most importantly, the writer’s own psyche.
    My mind wrapped around this and danced with it: the writer’s own psyche — the part of the writer made up of the id, ego, and super-ego. I could see the three separate parts and their functions: the id often manifests as the muse; and the super-ego as the internal-editor. Why? Because the id only wants what it wants, when it wants it. Does that not describe most of the muses you have met? And the super-ego is our compass of right and wrong — the good the bad and the ugly — sound familiar?
    It was a profound moment. I had discovered that the muse and internal editor that authors so often gripe about were nothing more than a manifestation of my subconscious given form by my imagination. The two things that define many a beginning writer’s struggling efforts were nothing more than the writer’s own voice finally being heard by the inner ear. While these two manifestations are necessary to the author, they do not necessarily have to take the predetermined form.
    With this in mind, and now knowing that the muse was only a figment of my imagination I took a mind trip to discover this font within myself. Little did I know what I was in for…
    Tramping through the recesses of one’s own mind is not recommended for those who do not want to come face to face with what they have been, for there is a place deep within each person where the imagination exists: a vast swamp of ideas bubbling to the surface through all the person’s life experiences — the good and the bad. I believe that as humans we are hunters and gatherers, and that as an author I am a hunter and gatherer of stories. It bubbles forth from time to time mixing with all the person’s life experiences creating a sort of primordial ooze where all the elements of good fiction reside. At other times, though, the ooze must be poked and stirred for the right mix to come together.
    However, when I first stumbled across mine, I did not recognize it. The ground squelched up between my toes with dark fluids and sharp bladed grasses protected the more vulnerable areas. Huge trees had grown, and fallen, left to rot where they lay. And amid all this, a pool of murky water roiled with random bubbles and the slithering movements of creatures I dared not to guess at. My first thought was that I should be afraid of this place, but I could not muster more fear than curiosity at what might be there, hidden in the depths.
    I found a half rotted tree that lay partially in the water and sat on its trunk, pondering what I had found. This fetid place was not at all what I had expected. Imagining myself as a Hunter in this dreary place was not difficult. Bubbles popped on the surface of the pool, and a spear formed in my hand. Recalling the meaning of Primordial Ooze, the beginnings of life… I took my spear and I stirred the Ooze watching it carefully for signs of life, knowing that anything could come forth, prepared for battle.
    Deep within the Ooze, the elements came together and Plot formed, it took shape and substance and began to make its way out of the Ooze leaving a trail of slime behind.
    At first, I did not see it for it was small. A tiny Plot Slug almost not worthy of my attention, although I was seeking it. I watched it as it struggled up from the turbid pool and slimed across the more firm ground near my foot. The slime it left behind was shiny, more so than it should have been in this dark place and I could not help but to reach out and touch it. When I did, images filled my mind. This slug had a story to tell. I gasped in disbelief. My imagination was this foul pool? I followed, writing as I went.
    It could be an interesting story, if only I could find the Slug. The trail crossed itself several times over before I caught the now fattened Plot Slug and speared him to the ground. He was mine! He would be written! I built a fire and slowly roasted the Slug to making sure I got all of his juicy secrets. At his screams, his followers crawled out of the Ooze. Characters… I had characters. Exhilarated, I netted them and bound them to nearby trees. They will talk, oh, how they will talk. I began to write more furiously; I now had dialogue.
    Over the fire, the Plot Slug spat and popped. With every layer of skin a new twist showed itself. I cackled with glee. Soon, very soon, the climax came. The Slug, resilient as ever had survived all the way through. The characters hung their heads for they had told all, and I had written down every word. Then I came the decision… did I want a sequel?
    I looked at the slug. Should I decide ‘yes’, I would have to toss him back into the Ooze to let him heal and grow some more, and should I decide ‘no’… well you did remember to bring the salt, did you not?
    So, how do you deal with your muse and wayward plots? Please share!
  13. Lugh

    Writing Tip Joke

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    How about a Blast From the Past?
    This was printed in our 2007 Vol2 Ed 4 Newsletter under Jokes:
    How To Write Good
    1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
    2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
    3. Employ the vernacular.
    4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
    5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
    6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
    7. Contractions aren't necessary.
    8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
    9. One should never generalize.
    10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
    11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
    12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
    13. Be more or less specific.
    14. Understatement is always best.
    15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
    16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
    17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
    18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
    19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
    20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
    21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
    22. Don't never use a double negation.
    23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
    24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
    25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
    26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
    27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
    28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
    29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
    30. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!!!!
    31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to the irantecedents.
    32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
    33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
    34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
    35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
    36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
    37. Always pick on the correct idiom.
    38. The adverb always follows the verb.
    39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They're old hat; seek viable alternatives.
    2007 Vol2 Ed 4: Joke
  14. Lugh

    Writing Prompts #104 & #105

    By Lugh,


    Prompts
    Each week, our Writing Promp Guru, Comicfan, brings to you two (or more) prompts in the Writing Prompt forum, a subforum in the Writing Workshops forum.
    Writing Prompts are exercises for your writing muscles. They can help you get through writers block (creative prompts) or train specific muscles (technical prompts). They can even focus your writing muscles into new thought patterns (challenge prompts).
    Here are a few things to keep in mind to keep everyone safe, sane, and successful.
    This week the prompts are:
    #104 -- Life never has been easy on you. You thought nothing else could possibly upset you until you walked into the store and met your double. What sort of life do they lead?
     
    #105 – (first line) "And just what the hell am I supposed to do with this?
    Last week, one of the prompts #98 received an interesting response:
    The prompt --
    Here is the situation - Five years ago your life was falling apart around your ears. With no real direction left you sign on to take part in a government experiment which will place you and 9 other people into lock up with no communication with the rest of the world until the time is up. Tomorrow the doors will automatically unlock allowing all of you out. What has it been like? Who are the others? What is the project you have been working on?
    The post, submitted by Cia --
    They'd lied to us.
    We weren't working on an experiment. We were the experiment.
    I was shivering in my bed, the measly blanket that covered me not nearly enough to keep me warm. The effects of what they had done had changed others more than me but the sadistic bastards enjoyed torturing me more for some reason. Maybe it was because I'd killed one of them. I'd fought so hard for the first year.
    I didn't have much fight left in me.
    I had lost my savings and my family. With only days left on the lease of my cardboard box of an apartment in the slums, I'd desperately scanned the ads. I'd seen one for scientific service that seemed promising.
    They had said we'd be locked in the dome for five years. It was supposed to be an ecological study to see if humans could adapt to a new planetary environment. There had been a new planet discovered just outside of populated space and there were apparently creatures on 'MC-214-XXV' that were slaughtering the human troops they sent against them. We were supposed to be alone, no outside contact.
    That was just another lie.
    They wanted the planet. On my world what they wanted, they got. The nameless faces had stood behind thick clearplaz watching the experiments they performed on me. Four of the others had died immediately. Two had gone insane and damaged themselves so severely the doctors had put them down.
    Not before they dissected them though. They made the four of us still living watch while they did it. That was when I attacked, biting and clawing at the guard who had twisted my arm behind my back and faced me forward with a punishing grip on my neck. He'd died in convulsions, blood leaking out of his ears, nose, and eyes.
    I'd never killed anyone before.
    I was fiercely glad he was dead but they made me pay for it. I don't know how I survived the things they did to me. Somehow, I still felt sane but I wasn't sure if I really was. The other three had disappeared and I tried to listen, to find out what happened to them. I wanted to help them, even when I couldn't help myself. It was all for nothing though. I wasn't going to be alive much longer.
    I had discovered that if I held my hand against the metal door of my six by eight cell that I could feel the vibrations of anyone speaking in the corridor. Somehow I could understand what the vibrations were; could translate them into human words. The most interesting I'd heard before yesterday was whispered talk of an original specimen.
    One of the aliens that so confounded them was here.
    The five years the other nine desperate souls and I originally agreed to were up. But they had never planned to let us go. Not on Earth at least.
    I'd learned we were on a ship heading for MC-214-XXV. It had taken five years to get here. I was going to be sent down the planet. The experiments they'd done on me were an attempt to alter my DNA to mimic the aliens, to change me into someone that could survive and spy for them.
    Now that I knew what was going to happen I pulled out the one secret I'd managed to keep. I palmed a small sharp point I'd made from a screw that I had dug out of my bed, slipping it under the waistband of my pants. It wasn't much, but I'd rubbed the three inch bolt into what could be a lethal weapon.
    I had a feeling I'd need it.
    However, I didn't expect the dart that came through the small slot in my door. I slumped to the bed, unable to move. They hadn't darted me in a very long time. They had liked to see me struggle before I'd lost the will to do so.
    "You're about to go on a little adventure," the head doctor said. His smirk made me sick to my stomach.
    I tried to struggle when they stripped me but my limps were completely numb. One guard held up my screw and the doctor laughed. "What do you think you were going to do with that, hmm? Kill yourself? Don't worry... the odds are that the inhabitants of MC-214-XXV will be more than willing to oblige." He drew up a silvery blue liquid into a huge syringe and then injected it into my neck.
    The pain was overwhelming. It felt like acid eating into my body; the pain and pressure in my eyes and head felt like they were going to explode.
    I whimpered. "Why?" I forced out, panting at the effort that speaking took.
    "Science requires sacrifice," the doctor winked at me, "and you're the sacrifice."
    I tried to struggle as the guards carried me out of my cell and through the freezing corridors that made up the bowels of the ship. A secondary reaction to the liquid injected in me seemed to make me jerk spastically. I was dumped onto a metal slab and webbing came down over me. My head slumped to the side.
    I gasped. It was like looking at a man straight out of a vampire novel. He was pale white and his skin was covered in blue marks that traced all over his body, possibly designs or his veins, I didn't know. But...
    He looked like me!
    Or I looked like him. I wasn't sure which.
    His eyes were dark, almost solid black as he stared back at me. His mouth dropped open and I could see that he had fangs just like I did.
    The doctor leaned over me. "Don't worry, he can't kill you. His life depends on yours. The nanos we put in you are the antidote to a poison we injected him with. Without your saliva he'll die. You should live long enough to gather some interesting intelligence that we can use to eradicate the disgusting creatures.
    "Remember, science is sacrifice. You will die for the greater good of mankind."
    I wanted to smash his smug, sanctimonious face.
    I was naked, weaponless, and locked on a small shuttle with an alien. We were about to be sent down to the alien's planet; a place where no human had ever lived more than a single hour.
    I was so dead. Maybe that would be a good thing. Dead meant no more pain, right?
    The trip down to the planet was rough. My head slammed against the metal slab and after that it was all a blur.
    The web around me retracted when we hit the ground and I slid off the slab to lie in a boneless heap on the floor.
    The alien was on me in seconds. A humming sound reached my ears but whatever changes they had made to my DNA allowed me to translate sound vibrations in the air converted his words as well.
    "What are you?"
    "I'm a man," I said.
    "You don't smell like a man. You don't look like a man." The disgust was palpable in his tone. Claws on his hands dug into my shoulders as he stared down at me. "You understand me. You have my isitziu." One claw traced the blue lines that covered my chest.
    I didn't have claws. "They did it to me."
    "The men in the machine in the sky?"
    I nodded. I didn't struggle. "Are you going to kill me now?"
    "No. I am not stupid. I understood that nelho's words. If I kill you, I die too. If I die, my people would suffer. So... we will keep you alive I think."
    "We?"
    The question was unnecessary after just a moment. Hot, humid air swirled around our naked bodies, warming my chilled flesh. I heard the sound of the inner capsule door being opened and men swarmed inside. The small space was soon packed.
    "Seral, you are alive!" I heard one cry. His hum was so high pitched it was almost painful.
    The babble was too much for me to translate after that. Seral, if that was his name, did not get off me. Blue blood began to seep from the wounds in my shoulders. Between that injury, the near starvation I'd been kept in, and the effects of the fluid they'd injected into me, I was done.
    I was beginning to fade but not before I managed to hear Seral order the men to bind me and carry me with them to their city.
    "We shall study this creature."
    I wasn't going to die. I was going to be locked back up in another cage.
    Despair filled me.
    I was going to become another experiment, for the aliens this time. What would they do to me?
    “Kill me now," I whimpered, "please just kill me."
    "Oh no, little tziu, I won't do that." His fingers traced the marks on my skin again. "I will discover everything that is in you and then we will see just who you are to me. The nelho have given us a gift that has great worth, one they can't even begin to imagine."
     
    As you can see... this can be a great way to write some really fun short fiction. So, get to the prompts and maybe we will see you up here next week!
  15. Lugh
    Today you are being brought a book selection. The Essential Writer's Reference is an outstanding resource if you can get your hands on one. They do come used, and very cheap. If you would like more books for writers, both old and new, there is a thread in the writer's corner where they can be found.
    The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference
    Berkley Press, 2005.
    This is an excellent writer's reference that is current and more relevant to the task of creative writing than the Little, Brown Handbook. Its focus is more on langauge usage form.
    The text is divided into 19 sections:
    I. Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling and Usage Guides
    II. A List of the Most commonly Used Foreign Words and Phrases
    III. 100 Tricky Usage Problems
    IV. 100 Rare 50 Cent Words and their Meaning
    V. 125 Synonym Studies
    VI. Proofreaders Marks and their Meaning
    VII. Common Citation Styles
    VIII. A List of Cliches to Avoid
    IX. A List of Common Rhetorical Devices, Poetic Meters, and Form
    X. A Quick Guide to all the plays of Shakespeare
    XI. A Timeline of Great Work of English Literature
    XII. Biblical Quotes, Characters and Books of the Bible
    XIII. Major Mythological Characters
    XIV. A List of Great Print Resources that can be Found at Most Libraries
    XV. A List of Writer's Advocacy Orginazations
    XVI. How to Copyright Your Work
    XVII. A Commonsense Guide to Manuscript Formats
    XVIII. great Websites for Writers
    XIX. Forms of Address for Letter Writing
    copyrights:
    Jane Aaron, Longman Press 1998.
     
    This particular book was recommended by jamessavik. If you have a book or site you would like to suggest, PM me or add it to the thread linked above.
  16. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Head Hopping

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    How To Recognize a Head Hop
    Some of you may be asking, what exactly do you mean by a “head hop”. Head hopping is something that many of us have been accused of at one time or another. In this lesson we are going to look at how to recognize a head hop and ways in which to correct it.
    What is a head hop? A head hop is when you have a chapter or story that is from one characters point of view but you find that you have unintentionally included things such as thoughts of another character. These are things that your main narrating character couldn’t possible know unless they are a mind reader.
    Perhaps the easiest way to show this is by an example. I have taken this example from my own story, Chance Encounters. The one way that it’s not considered head-hopping is when the story is 3rd Person Omniscient. The below story is supposed to be 3rd Person Limited.
    So now we are going to look at what possible corrections could be done. I have shown both the original and what the rewrite COULD be.
    Head Hop #1:
    Old: "Not at all, have a seat Simon," Richard answered before nearly kicking himself as he realized that he had slipped up by using Simon's name.
    New:“Not at all, have a seat Simon.” Richard cringed and motioned to the seat across from him. Simon wondered at the slight tension, but shrugged it off.
     
    Head Hop #2:
    Old: "A couple weeks ago," Richard answered as he avoided meeting Simon's gaze. He hadn't planned on reminding Simon of that night two weeks ago, but once he had slipped up and called Simon by name he didn't know any way around it. It never occurred to him to make up something else, in fact, he didn't know enough about Simon to make up anything plausible.
    New:“A couple weeks ago.” Richard stared at something behind Simon, not meeting his eyes.
    Simon glanced over his shoulder but didn’t see anything that would hold the other man’s attention and turned back to Richard. Two weeks ago would have been when he’d gone to the club. Maybe…
    Head Hope #3:
    Old: "Not really," Richard answered, purposely not mentioning exactly what had happened.
    New: “Not really.”
    Simon felt like Richard was holding something back, but wasn’t sure what it could be. His non answers were beginning to get annoying. He wanted the answers to his questions and he wasn’t about to give up before he got them.
    Head Hope #4:
    Old: "I'm not so sure you want to know," Richard answered and was slightly taken aback to see the sparks in Simon's eyes as he rested his elbows earnestly on the table.
    New:“I’m not so sure you want to know.” Richard took a sip of his drink and stared down at the table.
    Simon glared at his companion and felt a slight satisfaction when the other man flinched. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want to know. He needed to know even if he was slightly apprehensive about the answer.
    So, as you can see from the above examples, fixing head hopping can be fairly easy. It can also be very easy to recognize. Simply ask yourself while reading through your work if what you’re reading is something that your main narrator could possibly know. If it’s not, then it’s probably a head hop.
  17. Lugh

    Writing Tip: Author Advice

    By Lugh,


    Writing Tips
    Tip Tuesdays is being lead off with a short article written by one of the hardest working editors on the site, Sharon. In the future, on Tuesdays, you can look forward to writing, editing, site, or other tips that we think you may find useful. If you have something you would like to share, drop a PM and let me know.
     
    Good for you! But take it from a veteran editor and reader, it takes more than the desire to put pen to paper. Or keys to screen. Trust me…it took me two days to write this article. And it’s not very long.
    If I could give just one piece of advice to a new author, it would be to brush up on the basic rules of grammar. We’re not talking about anything fancy here, just good old spelling and dialog punctuation. If these are not your strong suit, find a good book or website to use for reference. There are plenty of them out there that present information in a fun and entertaining way. Find one, or like me, ten that works for you. Also, check the options on whatever word-processing program you use and set the spellchecker, grammar, and style functions to the highest level. Don’t take the suggested corrections at face value, though. Most spellcheckers won’t catch everything. But at least things that may need a second look are highlighted. Spend the time to understand what these tools are telling you. Correcting mistakes in spelling, grammar, and style will make your writing more enjoyable to read.
    As a reader, these basic errors act as speed bumps for the eyes. They break a story’s ebb and flow. You may think your plot is wonderfully entertaining, your characters extremely well developed. And they very well may be. You could have the next Pulitzer winner for fiction all ready to flow off your fingertips. But if a reader has to stumble over the incorrect use of ‘there’, ‘their’, and ‘they’re’ too many times, you’ll lose them in the first chapter.
    So you want to be an author? Then do it. Write. Write with passion, heart, and flair. But learn your craft first and give your future readers your best effort.
    Copyright © 2011 sat8997; All Rights Reserved.
  18. Lugh
    Everyone who has ever tried to pass eighth grade knows what a pain grammar can be, and one of the worst things in my personal opinion is punctuating dialogue. As many of you know, Cia edits for me, and one of her favorite things to do is smack me around for not putting proper punctuation around my speech tags. So, in honor of my favorite fallacy she agreed to educate everyone – enjoy!
    Important rules about structuring and punctuating dialogue:
    Definition of a speech tag: Any descriptive words preceeding or following dialogue that describes the speech. IE: said, muttered, asked, yelled, screeched, whispered, insisted, demanded.
    1. When your dialogue is associated with a speech tag a comma should be placed within the punctuation marks at the end of the speech unless you use an exclamation or question mark. The first word in a speech tag directly after dialogue should be lowercase unless the word is a proper noun. IE: "Let me help you with that," he said. or "Let me help you with that," Billy said.
    2. Speech tags that preceed dialogue should end with a comma and the first word of the dialogue should be capitalized. The dialogue inside the quotes should end with a period, question or exclamation mark as appropriate. IE: He said, "Let me help you with that."
    3. A divided quotation dialogue can go in two different ways. Both sides of the dialogue should be within quotation marks. The first word in the second half of the divided quote should not be capitalized unless it begins a new sentence or is a proper noun. IE: "This story is long," he said, "but worth the time to read it."
    4. Ellipses (...) and dashes (--) in dialogue. Ellipses indicate the speaker is trailing off and is pausing before either finishing the statement or not continuing. They should be spaced and if they occur at the end of the dialogue you need to include proper punctuation, either a period, question, or exclamation mark. Dashes indicated that the speaker was interrupted. If the speaker continues after the interruption the dialogue should be preceeded with dashes within the quotation marks. IE: "Do you know if he . . . ?" he trailed off and blushed as he looked away from her knowing grin.
    "Do you know if he—"
    "If he what?"
    "—said anything about me?" he asked as he blushed at her knowing grin.
    5. Maybe the most important rule, imo, when writing dialogue you must start a new pargaraph EVERY time the speaker changes. IE:
    "Stop!" he yelled.
    The man kept running as he sneered over his shoulder. "I'd like to see you make me."
    "I will shoot!" Steve braced his gun, training it on the running burglar. The shot was loud in his ears. He calmly walked over to the man rolling on the ground.
    "You shot me in the knee," the man whimpered.
    "I did warn you."
  19. Lugh
    Ok I couldn't resist this one....
     
    Today was Ari's birthday party (she turned 6). She is in Bump's dance class along with a boy named D (who is 6 and a half). Well D keeps saying that he is Ari's boyfriend and Ari don't correct him, however, she makes room for Bump. Like today, D picked a spot that had two seats left for him and Ari to sit to have their hot dogs and mac-n-cheese, but Ari made her daddy move another chair over so Bump could sit with them too.
     
    Well, Ari has a big brother who is about DC's age. The kids were all sitting in the living room on the floor and Ari was opening presents. She was taking her time and her brother threatened to hit her if she didn't hurry up. D turned and looked at him, but Bump got up and punched him in the thigh and told him never to threaten Ari again or he would have to deal with him -- and you don't hit girls. Then he stood there and stared him down like he would DC.
     
    I did my best not to laugh. Everyone else was shocked, including Ari's brother who just nodded, after which his girlfriend chided him for picking on the little kids. When Ari was done and the kids had gone outside, Ari's grandma came over to me and said, "Well we know who thinks he is Ari's boyfriend, but now we know who thinks he is her protector."
     
    I nodded.
     
    She patted my knee and said. "I think I would prefer the protector, and so will she, eventually."
     
    I said, "They're six."
     
    Then she laughed. "For now," she said. Then got up and walked out of the room.
     
    WTF? Bump likes Ari, but he also likes D..... how do I explain THAT one to her grandma?
  20. Lugh
    as many of you know Puck has been giving me a headache about writing his story, well I've got him pinned, skewered, and a roasting fire ready, but I really don't know what questions to ask him concerning his activities and whereabouts....
     
    I know my readers do.
     
    Please post your questions, or anything that has been niggling you about the entire series if you want so that I can get it cleared up in this installment.
     
     
    Thank you for your assistance, it is much appreciated.
  21. Lugh
    hey my peeps, everyone has been asking how they can help with Bump... well here's how:
     
     
    If you can find these books in good condition for cheap, let me know or PM me the link.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    1R12
    A Big Ball of String
    $7.99
     
    1R05
    A Fly Went By
    $8.99
     
    2R23
    Amelia Bedelia
    $3.99
     
    2R18
    Daniel's Duck
    $3.99
     
    2R22
    Frog and Toad All Year
    $3.99
     
    2R02
    Frog and Toad are Friends
    $3.99
     
    2R03
    Frog and Toad Together
    $3.99
     
    2R21
    Greg's Microscope
    $3.99
     
    2R09
    Hill of Fire
    $3.99
     
    AH05
    I Heard Good News Today
    $15.99
    1R03
    Little Bear
    $3.95
     
    AH02
    Living Long Ago
    $12.99
    2R16
    Mouse Tales
    $3.99
     
    2R19
    Nate the Great
    $4.99
     
    2R04
    Owl at Home
    $3.99
     
    2R11
    Pompeii: Buried Alive!
    $3.99
     
    1R02
    Put Me in the Zoo
    $8.99
     
    2R24
    Surprises
    $3.99
     
    1R13
    The Best Trick
    $4.99
     
    2R15
    The Big Balloon Race
    $3.99
     
    1R14
    The Bravest Dog Ever
    $3.99
     
    2R20
    The Fire Cat
    $3.99
     
    2R27
    The Sword in the Tree
    $4.99
     
    2R12
    Titanic: Lost and Found
    $3.99
     
    AH04
    Usborne Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia
    $15.99
    2R14
    Wagon Wheels
    $3.99
     
    AH01
    Wild Places
    $12.99
     
     
     
    and this only scratches the surface.... joy.
  23. Lugh
    We've been having the Reader's choice awards since 2006. I thought it would interesting to take a look at past winners, so Wildone put together this list. Keep in mind that over the years the award categories have changed -- so here it is -- the 2006 to 2010 Reader's Choice Award Recap
     
    Best Hosted Story:
    2006: Desert Dropping by Dom Luca
    2007: Living in Surreality by Shadowgod
    2008: How The Light Gets In by Ducan Ryder
    2009: Bloodlines by Mark Arbour
    2010: Millennium by Mark Arbour
     
    Best Shared/Promising Story
    2006: Loving You, Loving Me by Formosa
    2007: Jumping Over My Mountain by Tiffnay Chin (tied)
    2007: Roomates by Krista (tied)
    2008: Buy Me A Drink by AFriendlyFace
    2009: Dangerous Liaisons by Nephylim
    2010: Escaping The Pain by Cia
     
    Best eFiction/GA Story
    2006: For The Love by C James
    2007: Everybody’s Wounded by Duncan Ryder
    2008: It Started With Brian by Dan Kinkaid, co-authored by Adam Phillips
    2009: The Price of Honor by Cia
    2010: Second Shot by Quonus 10
     
    Best Anthology Story
    2006: Days of Silence by Viv
    2007: Category 5 by C James
    2008: Street Life by Graeme
    2009: It Was A Monday by Lugh
    2010: A Chance Encounter by Jian Sierra (tie)
    2010: The Search for Pandora by Graeme (tie)
     
    Best Poem
    2006: I’ No More by Luc
    2007: Who Am I? by Menzoberranzen
    2008: Black Light by Corvus
    2009: I Saw His Face by AFriendlyFace
    2010: A Place Not Far by MikeL (3 way tie)
    2010: Consider Arbitrary by Bugeye (3 way tie)
    2010: The Greatest Sadness by Bugeye (3 way tie)
     
    Best Non-GA Story
    2006: New Brother by Graeme at Awesomedude
    2007: Heart of the Tree by Graeme at Awesomedude
    2008: The Price of Friendship by Graeme at Awesomedude
    2009: The Scrolls of Icaria by Jamie de Valen at Awesomedude
    2010: The Scrolls of Icaria by Jamie de Valen at Awesomedude
     
    Best Story by a New Anthology Author
    2007: What I’ve Done by L0st Cause (aka Meeko)
    2008: If No One Notices by AFriendlyFace
    2009: Curved Balls by Nephylim
    2010: Sorry Mom by Duncan Ryder
     
    Best eFiction/GA Story by a New Author
    2006: For The Love by C James
    2007: Everybody’s Wounded by Duncan Ryder
    2008: In Due Time by J_Ross
    2009: The Price of Honor by Cia
    2010: Second Shot by Quonus10
     
    Best Antagonist/Villain (From All Stories)
    2006: Aaron in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    2007: David Martin in The Other Side of Me by Dom Luka
    2008: Travis in In The Fishbowl by Dom Luka
    2009: Neil in Man In Motion by Mark Arbour
    2010: Bridget in Circumnavigation by C James
     
    Best Protagonist/Hero (From All Stories)
    2006: Rory Norick in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    2007: Justin in Gone From Daylight by Comicality
    2008: Taylor in Hello, Stupid by Dom Luka
    2009: Travis in In The Fish Bowl by Dom Luka
    2010: Trevor in Circumnavigation by C James
     
    King/Queen of Evil Cliffhangers
     
    2007: C James
    2008: Mark Arbour
    2009: C James
    2010: C James
     

    Best Supporting Character From a Hosted Author
    2006: Luke in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    Best Supporting Character From a Shared Author
    2006: Storm in Jumping Over My Mountain by Tiffani Chin
    Best Protagonist/Hero From a Shared Author
    2006: Dave in Loving You, Loving Me by Formosa
    Best Antagonist/Villain From a Shared Author
    2006: Martin in Bad Seed by Empathy
    Best Protagonist/Main Character From an eFiction/GA Stories Author
    2006: Steve in For The Love by C James
    Best Antagonist/Villain From an eFiction/GA Stories Author
    2006: Eric in For The Love by C James
    Best Supporting Character From an eFiction/GA Stories Author
    2006: Nicky in Indefensible by AFriendlyFace
    Best Protagonist/Hero From an Anthology Entry
    2006: Jess in Once Upon A Blizzard by Ieshwar
    Best Antagonist/Villain From an Anthology Entry
    2006: The Muse in The Muse by C James
    Best Supporting Character From an Anthology Entry
    2006: Lucas in This Time Will Be Different by Bardeara
    Best Spring Anthology Entry
    2006: Days of Silence by Viv
    Best Summer Anthology Entry
    2006: No Shirt? No Problem! by C James
    Best Fall Anthology Entry
    2006: Trick or Treat? by Graeme
    Best Winter Anthology Entry
    2006: Right Up Until The Very End by Bardeara
    Favourite Family Member From a GA Story
    2006: Grandma Alice in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    Best Boyfriend in a GA Story
    2006: Seth Fisher in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    Most Romantic Scene in a GA Story
    2006: ‘I Wrote My Number in Your Dirt’ in Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    Funniest Moment in a GA Story
    2006: ‘Connor Meeting Tatyana’ in Someday Out of The Blue by Little Buddha
    Most Anticipated Couple in a GA Story
    2006: Nelson Larmont/Milo Trust in With Trust by Dom Luka
    Best Short Story
    2006: Valentine’s Day Goes To the Dog by Dom Luka
    Best Cast Ensemble in a Gay Story
    2006: Desert Dropping by Dom Luka
    Best Protagonist/Main Character in a Non GA Story
    2006: Kayden in Kayden and Zac by Ryan Keith at The Mail Crew
    Best Supporting Character From a Non GA Story
    2006: Adam in New Brother by Graeme at Awesomedude
    Most Moving Poem on GA
    2006: Stone by Birsdsofafeather
    Poem with the Best Imagery on GA
    2006: Tell No Secrets by Lugh
  24. Lugh

    What's New?

    By Lugh,


    Reviews
    Watch out guys! We've got two up and coming stars here...
     
    CassieQ's series "Not the Sun" is well received by her fans, of course she's always looking for new fans.
     
    "Ground Rules" is in progress and is getting pretty lengthy as well as pretty interesting. One warning though -- there is a little violence so consider yourself warned.
     
    The reviewers, as well as myself, would highly recommend that you read each of these.
     


    Not the Sun


    By CassieQ


    by Renee
     
    I had read most of Cassie’s short stories and decided that I would read her Trilogy that starts with “Not the Sun”. I had only planned on reading a few chapters before going to bed, but once I got started on this story, I just couldn’t stop. I ended up staying up all night and working my way through each of the three stories.
     
    “Not The Sun” is the first story in the series and it introduces the majority of the characters you will find throughout the series. The story follows Brandon and Jordan, two very different boys that are tied together in ways that the reader quickly becomes engrossed in. There are many different aspects in the story that are unique and Cassie does an excellent job at explaining them so that the reader can understand what is happening, but even with the explanations, the flow of the story is not disrupted in the least.
     
    I became thoroughly entrenched in this story as it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next, and the story is anything but predictable. One thing I quickly learned with this story is that in “Not The Sun”, things are not always as they appear.
     
    Cassie shows her skill in pulling the reader into her story and really making me care about her characters. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them and there were many spots in this story that were full of suspense. Luckily, this story is complete, so those moments that would have made me want to scream in agony at a chapter ending never happened, since I was able to quickly move onto the next chapter.
     
    There were very few grammar and spelling mistakes in “Not The Sun” and even the few that I did notice did not detract from the story in any way and were easily glosses over with the skill with which Cassie weaves this story.
     
    I strongly recommend this story to anyone, my only bit of advice is to ensure that you have a large slot of uninterrupted time. Once you get started, you probably won’t want to stop!
     
     
     
     
     


    Ground Rules


    by InTheMindOfSunshine


    Review by Intune
     

    To take a chapter title from the series, “Oh.My.Gosh.” Ground Rules is without a doubt one of my favorite new stories. The in-progress piece follows a set of boys as they face the reality of what it means to come out in a not-so-accepting high school setting.
     
    While the story takes a couple chapters to really find it’s groove, I assure you once there it is absolutely addictive. It is written from two first-person accounts, which really serve to draw the reader in. First there is Oliver, a sensitive artistic teenager, who has a giant crush on Atticus, a boy who he’s never even spoken to. Between a tenuous relationship with Oliver and his friends, and a struggle for him to get to know Atticus, you’ll find yourself rooting for Oliver as he deals in awkward and trying situations. Many of which are caused amusingly by himself because of a tendency to verbalize his thoughts.
     
    The other main character is none other than Atticus, who has quite a story of his own. His fears of being outed create a tense internal battle on how he can live up to his family’s expectations while still maintaining his relationship with his two male lovers and friends, Kody and Easton. He has to deal with the scrutiny of family and classmates, a problem that only gets more complex after Oliver is thrown into the mix.
     
    Through bullies, horrible family revelations, and friendship surprises, you will find yourself reading desperately to see how this tale unravels. It is brilliantly written so just as you feel you’ve got a handle on the situation, the circumstance shift, making the story all the more compelling. There is always a question of who knows what- and how the characters will deal with the uncomfortable circumstances they get thrown into.
     
    Although the subject matter could be depressing, InTheMindOfSunshine manages to inject light and humor into this complex story. The writing manages to engage me emotionally in a way much of what I’ve read has not; when reading Ground rules it is not uncommon for me to get angry on behalf of a character, sad for their difficulties, or to burst out laughing from their funny internal observations.
     
    The story is an easy read, the chapters literally fly by to the point I often wish they were about ten times longer. Fortunately, though, there are seventeen chapters already posted to go through and the updating is frequent. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’d do! Definitely give this story a read; it will be worth your time.
     

    Remember Read! Review!
    And happy writing!
  25. Lugh

    Featured Story -- Shane

    By Lugh,


    Featured Stories
    Monday, Monday... (sung in his best Beatles impression)
    Time for a new featured story, so this week we bring you Shane by Vlista. Vlista has been a member since (gasp) 2005 and a hosted author since about the same time, which makes him one of the "older" authors (although he's not really old himself). I will warn you right up front that Shane is not easy reading. It deals wtih subject matter that will be difficult for many people to read. However -- it is dealt with in such a way that is compelling to read and worth every tissue and pointed look from your significant other.
     
    With that said, here is Andy's opinion:
     


    Shane


    by Vlista


    reviewed by andy021278
     
     
     

    Shane is very well written and the darker subject matter is not only handled well and believably, it is written with such feeling and emotion. It makes me believe the author has firsthand experience with the subject matter (either personally or through a close friend or relative).
     
    Shane was the first story I read here on GA and I was gripped with this story from the very beginning, and felt a great sympathy for Shane right from the start. He is hated by his father (who blames Shane for causing the death of his mother during childbirth); he is hated by his older brother simply because his father does; he is hated by everyone at school for one reason or another. Shane’s only friend in the world is a neighbour’s dog.
     
    Shane somehow manages, even in the moments of his deepest sorrow, to find the silver lining in his darkest of clouds. When he finds that life is finally starting to improve for him, and things are finally looking up, his silver lining is threatened with a whole new set of challenges which drive him to the brink of despair and beyond.
     
    The thing which first drew me to Shane and still does (I have now read the story three times in six months) is that he has an amazing strength of character, and has a very “human” feel to him – which allows for a much easier and deeper connection to him as a character. Given the subject matter Shane could have been written cold and emotionless; but even with everything that has happened to him in his relatively short life he has not only maintained his humanity, but he has his own personality and sense of self which is uniquely Shane.
     
    As you are taken on the roller-coaster ride that is his life, the connection to him and the other characters around him grows and deepens. There are very few stories I have read where I can say I truly care about what happens to a character; whether they live or die; whether they win or lose; whether they win the heart of the guy or not. With Shane, it feels like when he suffers I suffer right along with him and when he laughs I laugh along with him.
     
    Unlike other stories I have read there are very few technical issues with grammar, spelling, and punctuation; certainly nothing which is noticeable to the point that it detracts from the reading or the flow of the story. The darker subject matter is a fairly standard theme of the other stories that have been written as well, but for me Shane is the best of the pick. The very nature of the content of the story and some of the minor aspects of the plot lines have drawn some unfair negative comments; it is so easy to get wrapped up in Shane, you can forget this is a work of fiction.
     
    There are times throughout this story that I fully suggest having a box of tissues at the ready. It is truly heart-wrenching, and I can’t remember the last time I cried so much. While it does have moments that are full of pain, it also has many light-hearted and heart-warming moments that will bring a smile to your face and might even make you chuckle a little bit.
     
    If you only ever read one story here on GA then it has to be Shane. A big 5/5.
     
     
     
     
     
    Well, there ya have it. Now go read it! and remember REVIEW!
     
    Happy writing!
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