Yettie One

I would agree with this sentiment. It is nice to find a character is flawed and imperfect when I'm reading. Irrational behaviour, or quirky impressions, and judgemental assumption endear a character and I find I am far more able to relate to that kind of person within a story, than one that has everything unfolding in perfect happiness. It does not echo real life. Thanks for sharing Ashi.

Gooodness, nothing like a Goat that screams as loud at the reporter getting knocked over. Although having said that I'd probably have done the same thing if I were the goat. And as for the paperboys' goat! That deffo looks possessed.

Argh god! I can see myself getting addicted to this already. I can remember in my younger days have a city that covered the whole bloomin map in the old SimCity, and if ya got rich enough heaven came down on the city or something daft. Bloomin crime always ran away with it though! hehe. Gawsh Well up for multi player games? Anyone????

I had a little giggle to myself when I read this, not so much from the misfortune of having to sit and draw something you get no joy from drawing, but more the fact the kids got to giggle at a pouting mommy. I don't know what it is, but that just sounds too damn cute. hehe Hope you got the drawings done in time and without too much pain Layla. Chin up hun. Few months and you'll be past this erm....hickup! Yettie hugs. xx

I read this story as a result of the introduction of the book club, an idea I thought was a wicked new idea for the new year. It was an interesting choice in my opinion. The underlying theme of the story presented a lot of interesting ideas for a story, and it developed into a really powerful story of betrayal and deception. I say that, as the effect the story had on me as I read was totally unexpected, and while I might have developed a preconception of the route the story would take, the final outcome of the story left me feeling shaken and alarmed at the lengths that we go to when we set our minds to keeping two people apart. Two things struck me about this story. The first of these was the sense of reality in the outcome of the story, and I know that Nephy says in her review of the story that she'd had people write in frustration that Noah's father did not receive his just deserts, yet I think that the way she chose to deal with the situation has a ring of truth to it that is completely fitting with the story. It is often the case in situations like this, where you find a battered wife, or an abused child. As frustrating as it is to those watching from the outside, the sense of love, duty and family run high, and while the rest of us want to see justice met out swiftly and decisively it is their sense of family and need for love and to see the better person within the one that's harmed them that leads to forgiveness time after time. I have seen this first hand. I've read about it often, and yes it does leave you feeling unsatisfied, slightly ill, frustrated and numb. And that is exactly how I felt when I finished reading this story. While I felt really quite shocked, and shaken at the lengths that Noah's father went to, to keep the two boys apart, in thinking about things after finishing the story, I can't help but admire the sense of reality that Nephy captured in the reaction of the boys, the resolution of the story, and the way in which the plot unfolded. It would have been too easy to bring a some measure of justice for the action of the father. It would have been justified to met out a vengeful strike against him in some manner, but here I admired the way Nephy chose to keep it plauseable that moved me the most. I was angry, frustrated and this emoted me more than any sense of satisfaction from some kind of justice served on the father would have. For this reason alone, I found myself admiring this story more than most, but I feel there is more to credit. The medical effects of Noah's memory loss run as the central theme of the story, and I found that I warmed to the strength of character of the central character Noah. I admired the way that the author was able to capture this strength and throughout the text we see through an amazing struggle of hardship, physical and mental strain, tough emotional situations, and the horror that the loss of memory must have on its victim, we are constantly reminded of the positives that Noah see's, experiences and enjoys. Where most would become sour, disillusioned and maybe depressed, Noah manages to remain upbeat, true to himself and I enjoyed that sense of positive energy in the midst of a dark central theme. It is this cheerful nature, these glimpses of light that endear the character to the reader, and give you a sense of satisfaction and achievement as you read. When I first finished reading this story it left me really emotional, and I have to take my hat off to Nephy for that. A great story should leave you feeling moved. It should poke at your senses and touched you in some way. Forgotten Love did that for me, and I'm glad it was chosen as the book of choice for January. I'm really interested to see what others thought of the story, and its effect on other readers.

Ooooooooooo I love Cludo. Was always Prof Plum. And I'm sure it was Col Mustard in the Billiards Room with the Candle Stick! Oh my now that sounds like a bit of a challenge. Building hotels in the nick???? haha I do enjoy a good game of Trivial Pursuit

Wow Man suicide is such a horrible reality. No chance to say goodbye, not chance to fix the pain, sorrow and hurt you might have missed, or not fully understood or appreciated. It is the overwhelming sense of guilt that is so hard to get over. The unanswered questions that you so wish you had an answer for. All these things rattle around in your brain. I know they did for me. I saw a friend do it to himself when we were in our teens. To this day I don't know why, not sure any of us really do. Louis is right, it is time that helps to mend the wounds and heal our wounded hearts, but your strength and love keep his cherished memory alive, and wrap his soul in happiness and love. I never really understood or appreciated it all as a younger man. But now I am a little older, I know that my friend as yours is free to fly up there with eagles and can never be bound by hurt nor pain. He is in a better place, waiting for the day he can run up and give you a big hug and show you around your new digs. Be strong my friend, Cody would want you to be strong, understand and be happy. It is sad, hard to do, and painful to you, but for him he only ever wants what is best for you, so take heart, share and grow. Let his love for you as a friend bond you to his memory forever. Yettie hugs xxx

Really not sure what it is about this song, but really really love it right now.

Brave kid and a cool way to make a statement. Nice to see the reaction of the crowd too. Not everyone is given that chance though, or has that courage. It'd be nice to stop the Hate, but prejudice will always raise its ugly head somewhere, somehow. Still it is people like him that break barriers. Wish him happiness and luck.

OMG Risk. Now there's a game I haven't played in Donkey's years!!!!!! I still love a lazy Sunday afternoon game of chess with a large whisky.

When I was a youngster my eldest brother made a homemade version of Waddington's Go, a boardgame where you had to travel around the world and collect souvenirs from various different countries. It was a really technical game, you had to travel around an outer board to collect and earn money, secure a destination and book tickets via a range of travel options to your destination, then use an inner board to get from your departure city to your destination without landing on a disaster zone. The winner was the person with the designated number of souvenirs at the end of the game. I remember on one epic occasion the whole family got involved and for something like a whole week, every night after dinner we would all gather round the table and play the game, trying to collect like 50 souvenirs each. Madness, but so much fun for a young kid growing up. So what was or is your favourite boardgame, and what fond memories do you have of playing the game?

It's a subject that comes up often in one way or another, and it seems to have been a hot potato for some. I know I've blogged and shared my thoughts about reviews a few times, and I think we all have various different idea's and ways of reviewing. So what is a review really? Well, I think it is fair to say that there is no hard or fast rule to what a review is. In many ways it is simply just feedback from a reader to a writer right? In terms of its definition a review would be seen as a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility or intention of instituting change if necessary. So should a review be wholly technical, based on the content and its presentation, or should it include your personal thoughts on the content of the story. For me, I guess reviewing a story is about sharing with a writer my thoughts and feelings in relation to how the text has influenced me. See I am of the opinion that criticism is a two edged sword, and each of us react to it differently. I've worked as a Beta with a number of different writers on GA, and had a number of different reactions to my feedback when it is presented as a critical opinion of their work. In the same way, I've had people leave reviews of my own work, and people message me with critical assessments of my work. For me personally, this has been a brilliant learning tool in that it has been wonderful to hear someone has enjoyed my writing, flaws and all, and other people have taken the time to write to me on a one to one level and try to help guide me on issues and improvements I can make in my presentation. So this is how I've come to approach my own reviews. Firstly I think it is only fair to offer a review of something I've read, even if it is just a few lines to say I enjoyed it. But in terms of a public review, I tend to leave a comment about the content and how I've interpreted things. I think a public review is about supporting a writer, and sharing with others your thoughts and feelings about the plot, characters and how things are unfolding. But strictly speaking this is more feedback than a review right? A lot of writers here on GA use a forum link for discussion about their story. I for one have never actually gone to a forum link to leave comment there for a range of reasons. Firstly I don't like tracking off from the story itself to another area to leave my thoughts. Also a forum strikes me as a place where discussion is open to anyone's participation. Is that feedback or a review, or more a way of encouraging a debate about something within a story? I know a couple of people have mentioned that within the GA review system there is no way to respond or discuss a writers response to a review you've left on a chapter. I am not sure that I see a forum as the right place to carry out a discussion, but see nothing wrong with responding to a comment from a writer by way of a personal message, and thus carry on a discussion in this way. In terms of critical feedback I don't think there is anything wrong with dropping a comment as long as it is content based and not personal. But interpretation of critique is a funny thing, and often without meaning you can cause offence with even the simplest of comment, so personally I find that critique is best shared in the privacy of a one to one discussion. That is just me. As for rating.... I know two writers have complained to me that I don't always click like on a chapter when I've read it. Now see the thing is, I'm a fairly active member of the forum community and in much the same way you use like within the world of social media to indicate you've enjoyed or agree with something, I rapidly use up my like allowance within the forum area. This means when it comes to rating, like is not something I use for a story I've enjoyed. However, there is a star system within the writing area that allows you to leave a more realistic rating of the level of enjoyment that you've had from a chapter, it is just frustrating in that you have to return to the top of the page within a chapter to use it, before clicking the link back down at the bottom of the page to go on to the review area. The star systems means you can rate a chapter from 1 to 5 and thus leave a far more accurate assessment for other readers to see the rateable value of a story. In this way, via an anonymous rating system we can easily see if a story is good or bad. Now personally to me this makes so much more sense. It gives us a real chance to rate a story on being good or bad, and produce a real gauge of the content and readability of the writers work. Maybe I am wrong in this view of the rating system, but of all the things available to us to review a piece of work here on GA, it is for me, the better way of doing it. We are really lucky here at GA in that we have a really well thought out system of being able to interact with a writer. We have multiple ways of offering feedback on a story. We have any number of ways of sharing our thoughts and feelings, is it not fair that we do more of it? Maybe I am just completely off the mark, but personally for me, it takes me a few moments of my time to share with a writer how their works touched me, and I just wish more of us would do it. I know I like feedback when I get it, even the private messages that tell me my work was crap. It really is a whacky old world out there, and there are so many different opinions on this issue. I guess there isn't an real right way or wrong way, it is what is good for you. One thing is for sure though, we should all partake in reviewing a whole lot more. Thought for today - "We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing." - Billy Graham Song for today - Set My World on Fire by The Feeling

So what is the best Aussie Beer then? We don't get a lot of choice when it comes to Aussie Brands. I've never really been a fan of Lager. But there was a brew in Zimbabwe called Bollingers that was damn nice. I don't mind a Tiger Beer on a really hot day either, long as it is ice cold. What the heck is Armagnac?

There is a Billy in every walk of life. I'm just really glad they stood up yo him in the end! I found this a really interesting way of presenting a short story. Like a capsule of incidents over a time line that had its own unique way of entertaining me as I read. I could relate to the crazy things that kids do when it comes to that word "Dare". Much like stuff we had done as kids. I wonder if Sean ever did Dare Mark.

Ooooooooooooft Lotsa jobs going to be coming that way if they decide to extract it anytime soon. Bit like in Northern Canada, big boom towns spring up around the mining operations. They are bloomin HUGE facilities.

Argh I have no idea why I figured this was a complete work. I've just reached chapter 21 and there is no 22. OMG Disaster. I have to join the queue of waiting fans! **Shock Horror** This whole story is getting so damn intense it's crazy. I can't believe how much these guys have been going through. There is one things that frustrates me about Blake. For a man of 26 there are times he seems like a 15 year old, like his character is written with a teenage bloke in mind. Then you pause to factor in his mental issues and accept that this is a disability in so many ways that hinders him and leaves him vulnerable and timid, so you learn to make allowances. Yet I also find myself thinking, oh heck this guy should be so much more mature. It is a seasaw ride leaving a reader feeling so damn emotional its bloody clever. I think the true beauty of this story is the environment you have created for the whole story. The story has what I like to call critical mass. In that I mean that the content is plauseable, real and as a reader I can relate to the characters, events, scenarios emotions and feelings. You have created a world we invest in, a intricate web we are snared in and now as the story grows, we have bought into this journey and become a part of it, each of us quietly willing Blake and Haze on, seeking out joy and a happy ending for them, cautiously optimistic that it may come to pass. In your own words, it's complicated. But we'll follow them to that final resolution, whatever it is.

Oh my Haze has woken up! Sorry this boy still puzzles the hell out of me! And Blake. Time to man up! Argh I wish he could just get beyond the voices. There are the most confusing gay men ever. Just like me

OMG from one cliff hanger to another. You cruel cruel man! Jeesh chapter 18 here I come.

Oh the words I could use right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cliffhanger much? I'ma not gunna say anything, and just move on to the next chapter. Thank god I am reading this in its completed state and don't have to wait for the next one! Argggggggggggggggggh!

Whoa, that chapter just dragged on and on and on!!!! Intense. Parts of it I was like OMG just get on with it and get him home, yet in other parts of it I was like wow, I can relate to drunken times like this. I guess it is not easy to write about something like that, and there is no easy way of making it shorter, yet in a way it does feel very long winded and that in some ways kills the dynamics of it I think. However having said that, there is an awful lot of information, angst and pure frustration going on here that kind of manifests itself in me as a reader, and suddenly I just reached a stage in the chapter where I just wanted to shake the hell out of Blake, slap the hell out of Derrick, scream and Haze and yell at Nats. The implications of this chapter. Haze has it hard for Blake and Blake has it hard for Haze. Time for them to wake up already.

Both as unstable as each other. Haha Not sure I totally saw that one coming, but I did have a suspicion that something was not quite right for dear Hayden. Peaks and troughs, this chapter was a roller-coaster ride that took us all the way up and brought us all the way down. From giggling at their antics, to feeling sick and desperate at the end, you packed it all in there. I'm not sure I got the whole sense of Haze arriving at Blake's house panting. Yet when they go to leave there is the Ute sitting outside the house. That bit confused me a little. I'm also kinda wondering about the passage of time when they are talking the scientific stuff. I just wonder if someone in that state of anxiety would be that clear in their explanation I am possibly drawing the wrong conclusion as I've argued with myself over this matter, but I do feel that in this instance, Blake would be petrified being unmedicated and talking to "the guy" he's totally infatuated with, it does make me question if he'd be so coherent and fluid with his explanations. Aside from this, the drama contained in this chapter is amazing. I love the fact that we have not discovered the true extent of Haze's troubles up to this point, it suddenly adds a whole new dimension to the story, and suddenly I can't help but wonder if it is not Blake that becomes the corner stone for Haze's stability. Both boys have to come to terms with reality. They both must overcome different yet similar demons within the spectrum of mental illness, and it would seem that they have far more in common than maybe either realised. Maybe that is why Haze was able to at feel at ease enough to come out and be the "Real Haze" around Blake. And how does Penelope contribute to the boys instability? Oh the plot thickens.

Skilful writing here again as ever Acedias. You successfully take us into a world of water, air and wetsuits, where dialogue, narrative and elongated interactions are not standard, yet I was made to feel the communication between the characters, and given a sense of the reef coming alive in my mind. I was also given a sense of satisfaction in realising that Blaze is sensitive, thoughtful and caring. He's able to reach out and help someone in need, and this I feel is going to be a corner stone in Blake's stability going forward. Someone who cares enough to take the time to provide the distraction, be patient, and empathise with a scared, nervous and worried young man. My appreciation for these characters continues to grow.

I must admit I'm surprised that Blake was able to have the presence of mind and ability to complete a full 'check over' of Blaze. I know that if that happened to me in his shoes, even I'd be a trembling wreck, especially after having oogled him sunbathing and then changing while in a speedo. HECK! I gotta say, I have a suspicion that Blaze is going to play a big part in Blakes life, but having said that, I am not sure that this is going to be an easy road for either of them. Blaze has got a lot of learning to do about opening up and trusting, and I got a feeling he is very much under his mothers thumb, or at least afraid of her, and Blake....... Well hell poor Blake has got a long way to go to see some sort of progress before he can shake off the demons that haunt his mind.

Gosh he must be on some pretty strong medication if it knocks him out that much! Mind you if it is a tranq to help him sleep then fair play, but still, sounds pretty awful to be that drugged up. Funny I was waiting for him to run into Blaze's mom. Penelope! Makes me think of Miss Penelope from the Thunderbirds. haha She is a cunning one. Tell you what though, being a Lawyer with OCD must have been hell. To think he obsesses about his appearance as much as he does, I wonder what he was like in a case? I love the way that Blake has become so multi faceted and complex, yet without being confusing or using heavy/weighty language. He is fresh and keeps you guessing what he's been through and where he's headed. Love it.

Wow I've known a guy who had issues with his self worth. Funny thing that he lives in Tasmania now. It is debilitating and causes havoc with his life. The depression is crippling, and the insecurity is completely irrational and unfounded. He is a beautiful person, with so much to offer. In his case, he has one thing about his body that he is proud of, and it is that small glimmer of hope that gives him light at the end of the tunnel. Blake echo's the things I know and have been told, and by the sound of it maybe even worse. I am sure you'd find that if you stood Blake in the midst of a hundred gay men, the vast majority would rate him a firm 10, but his value system, that inner voice won't accept or allow that. So damn sad. I think that Blake will find that his love focus is not as self secure as he would imagine. Young Blaze is far more than meets the eye me finks! I love a story that enthrals you in the life and well-being of its characters, and I have been impressed thus far how you have entwined us in these boys lives, built a strong plot line and created characters that as a reader we can't help but feel emotionally linked to.