Andy78

Scott is fourteen and gay. JB is fourteen, and Scott's only friend. JB is from the wrong side of the tracks, his parents are crooks, and his older brother was the biggest bully his school had ever known. Scott wants to come out to JB. Should he?

Thanks hun Glad you enjoyed it. I do occasionally write a happy story

Here's to the first of many

Aneurin was an attractive teenager. Some even dared to call him beautiful. He was far too good looking to simply be called handsome. He had inherited his mother’s pale blue eyes and soft features. One Sunday evening, he was out partying in Cardiff, and he stopped by a new nightclub. He had never noticed this nightclub before. He thought that he had been to all of the clubs in the city, but this one did not seem familiar to him. After an hour or so, a cute guy asked him to dance. The two

The King and Queen of the Fey had heard stories of a young man named Taliesin, who lived in the Rhondda Valley. He was gay, and all that he wanted was a boyfriend. The King and Queen of the Fey, taking pity on the young man, decided that they would send some of their most loyal fey to his house once a month on the night of the full moon. As the young man slept, they would slip into his house through the keyhole. They would sing, and dance, and weave their magic for him. Taliesin would hear

These are the two fairy tales that my two short stories are based on. I've included them here as some of you may be unfamiliar with the stories. Kaddy's Luck: There was a tall young woman whom the fairies used to visit, coming through the keyhole at night. She could hear them dancing and singing in her room, but in the morning they used to go the way they had come, only they always left her some money. When she got married she chose a tall husband like herself, and they had a fine big

Two short fairy tales, based on two short Welsh tales ("Kaddy's Luck" and "Ellen's Luck"). This is for the 2007 anthology theme "Fairy Tales"

I live and die by the great Delia Smith This is her recipe (I tweak it by halving the sugar, it makes a more sour curd but it balances the sweetness of meringue). Ingredients: grated zest and juice 4 large lemons 4 large eggs 12 oz (350 g) golden caster sugar - you really should use golden caster sugar if you can get it, it does make a difference to using white caster sugar 8 oz (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small lumps 1 level dessertspoon cornflour Method: Begin by lightly whisking the eggs in a medium-sized saucepan, then add the rest of the ingredients and place the saucepan over a medium heat. Now whisk continuously using a balloon whisk until the mixture thickens – about 7-8 minutes. Next, lower the heat to its minimum setting and let the curd gently simmer for a further minute, continuing to whisk. After that, remove it from the heat. Now pour the lemon curd into the hot, sterilised jars, filling them as full as possible, cover straightaway with waxed discs, seal while it is still hot and label when it is cold. It will keep for several weeks, but it must be stored in a cool place.

I love making lemon curd soufflé - it's a great excuse to use up the insanely large amounts of lemon curd I make

When the CSR for this month was announced joann414 asked me: As promised, my answer. Yes, Joann, they did. While I was writing the story I must have gone through three boxes of Kleenex. There were times I got so wrapped up in the characters and emotions, I just had to walk away and do something else. I've killed off characters in my stories before and I dare say I will again, but those characters were nameless and faceless. This was the first time I'd ever invested so much into a character, given them a name, woven them into a story and then killed them off. By the time I finished writing the story, I was an emotional wreck. I don't think I've ever felt quite so drained from writing a story.

The Saturday would be better for me. I know that I can't get that Monday off work, and I really don't fancy getting home at stupid o'clock on Sunday night. I'll probably stay over on the Saturday (there must be a Premier Inn or similar) and then travel home on the Sunday. I've done the early morning up to Manchester and late evening home before for a work conference and it's not fun. Sasha, you could probably do London to New York quicker than you could from your neck of the woods to Manchester Hope to see you there

So sorry to hear about the breakup

Thankfully, we had stopped corporal punishment in school by the time I started or I would have been a regular visitor to the headmaster for a caning. Hmm, naughty kid gets revenge on headmaster? The care bear needs to be careful giving the sheep ideas

Here's wishing our UK members an enjoyable long weekend as well. Hope you are all planning to sit around, do nothing of nothing, and maybe have a glass of wine - I know I will be

“I never said this wasn’t going to hurt!” The voice so full of authority, yet so lacking in compassion. I wasn’t his first victim. Bent over double, the pain those twelve inches caused was indescribable. My backside hurt like fire. Those twelve inches were brought to bear again! Again! Again! Tears ran down my face. A fifth time! I begged for it to be over. Unforgivingly, those twelve inches hit home again! As I was about to cry out, my headmaster said, “Let that be a lesson not to m

Like some I only knew Vic through chat. My heartfelt condolences to his family and to all those here at GA who knew him far better than I did. I will miss him. Rest in peace Vic

The Tory backbone are anti-gay?? Surely not, oh small green one?

Happy birthday Myr. Hope you have a good one

The Dane's are apparently favourite to win

The Swede was so cute

I miss Terry Wogan. But now time for Bonnie. Go the Welsh!!

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. Here's hoping he never changes

Although I have always worked predominantly in paediatric oncology, I have spent time in other cancer areas. A risk-reducing mastectomy is just that, risk-reducing. In the UK we used to call it prophylactic mastectomy, but since the risk is only reduced not eliminated we changed the name. We had a case last year where a woman had undergone risk-reducing mastectomy a few years previous, and she still developed breast cancer. Carriers of the faulty BRCA genes are also at an increased risk of ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. Risk-reducing surgery is possible for the ovaries (and actually reduces the lifetime risk of ovarian cancer down to about 1%), but there is no current accepted risk-reducing surgery for the pancreas. Just because someone is a carrier of the faulty gene does not mean that they will develop a cancer. Everyone needs to keep in mind that over 80% of breast cancer diagnoses occur in women who are not gene carriers. Risk-reducing surgery of any description is not something to be undertaken lightly. Here in the UK, anyone who decides to undergo elective risk-reducing mastectomy or risk-reducing oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries), has to be cleared medically by both their surgeon and a psychologist.

A great piece Libby. I agree that you need to match your approach to the situation, and that's probably the hardest part of the editing process. Unless expectations are discussed fully in advance you could end up "over-editing" or "under-editing", both of which can be disastrous. There is probably nothing worse than sending back a story covered in comments and in-line edits, when all that was wanted was a quick proofread.

Happy birthday Mark. Hope you have a great day