Wicked Witch

I'll admit I read them, though to be honest. The actual mpreg aspect has never been the reason I've read them. and I'll only read therm with the mpreg has a decent explanation (aliens, magic, shapeshifters etc) because otherwise my suspension of disbelief fails to kick in. But I read them because they have a tendency to overlap with other things I like - M/M romances, paranormal or supernatural characters, and so forth. Sometimes, they are awful. But many times, they're really good books. I read an amazing one yesterday about Dragon shapeshifters. It handled the issue really maturely and with a lot of emotional depth. It used tropes, but then it took it a step further with depth and story. And the thing is, it was a book that would've never got published before the era of self-publishing. And I love how self-publishing has freed up authors to write more diverse subject matter.

I did this map of my The Fragmented setting a while back. My drawing program of choice was refusing to work at the time, so I'll probably re-do it now I've fixed that issue. The program I ended up using wasn't very good. But it really helps to get my thoughts onto the page in any form. I'm awful at imagining geography in my head. I confuse myself quickly. So drawing a map means I can refer back to it later to refresh my memory and check facts as I write them.

My Mac and my Windows 8 both have it built into their operating systems. It should be in settings. If not, give it a google for a good guide to using it. I believe GayAuthors asks for a short term exclusive license on submissions to the anthology. That is all. @Cia?

No offence taken at all. These type of conversations are interesting, and hopefully we all learn a little from the various points of view. Writing is mostly about getting into heads other than your own, after all.

People write any stories because they resonate with themselves, usually. They reflect an experience they'd had. They help them work through it. So forth. I am not American, so the D & R parties don't exist. But my conservative father made my childhood hell with his viewpoints. Not every person with on sides of the political spectrum is the same. But people read and write those stories because they reflect their own experiences. You don't like them because they don't reflect your own. They can also be a bit preachy, so I don't read them very often. Politics is a difficult subject to put into a story. Some people set out to do it though. They want their writing to impart some message. But, there is a difficulty in doing that in a meaningful way. You should show not tell in my opinion. If you have an issue you want to make your readers think hard about, it is far better and effective to show them the issue and let them make their own conclusions, than tell them way to think. The Children's Act by Ian McEwan has that issue. It shoved its anti-religion message in the readers face with no subtly. And I'm an atheist and I didn't even like that. The already mentioned also Elysium failed, in my opinion. It was preachy, the plot mostly illogical, and tried to shove things too far in your face. The Secret River by Kate Grenville on the other hand, I felt achieved what it set out to do. To show the reader another side of the Aboriginal rights debate. But for it to mean much, you need to be the right reader anyway. I'm Australian, so it worked. Non-Australians could probably care less. Now all that said, I really enjoyed The Beard by DKStories, which features a good Republican politician.

(Late to the party, but that seems pretty regular in this forum) I write high fantasy and space opera, mostly. So for me, setting is critical. I can spend weeks - or in the case of one setting, two years so far - perfecting the world. Only sometimes does the story happen first; a lot of the time I have an idea for the world first. "What if a world existed that had X?" is a mental question that often launches me into another world building project. Sometimes, I think it slows me down - I have over 20,000 words of planning for a story presently, and only one short story of 10,000 words actually written within the world. But, in some ways it is also the part of the process I enjoy the most. Letting my imagination fly free to create worlds. Sometimes, the stories that follow are setting driven and sometimes they're character driven. I think they're more successful writing when character driven, but I like the richness that having a well shaped setting gives it. Even if the reader never finds out half the facts I write down in my planning, it helps me to be consistent and to properly get an idea of the world in my head. Nothing annoys me more than reading speculative fiction that contradicts itself on the setting.

The cold earth, piled above all my bliss. Spilled blood taints the grass green, Love’s final song is an ode to the lost, raging in the darkness. Cold anger serves - as righteous fury’s steed, its hide coloured scarlet blood. Erinyes vengeance is setting the mind aflame, ashen remains blowing away as hooves pass. An oak grown, from the seed of hate, with roots twisted, choking the heart of love. Memories sour from that moment, Father

I was just pondering writing some flash fiction last night. Cia is evidently psychic. Perfect timing.

I will most definitely vouch for the scariness of Adagio. I don't write horror, so I don't have much to add to the conversation. I don't often read it either. Helpful, aren't I?

Thank you Solar. That is very kind of you to say. I am still learning and evolving, and I hope to master the craft of writing one day. For now, it is all a learning process, and it is very nice to hear you enjoyed this piece.

Roman

I play music, usually whatever youtube suggestions offers. I can't fit a desk into my room, so sit on the bed with laptop in front of me. I can't write when I have things other than music distracting me, it just never works out.

<3 I will really miss this story. There are few good romantic portrayals of BDSM couples, especially gay BDSM relationships that aren't abusive. Plus, this was just a really good story on its own merits, and the couples incredibly cute.

Britney

Koonya, Australia.

Dizord : God of Chaos and Disorder. The god of entropy, Dizord is an eccentric deity. Spasmodic in his interactions with the physical world, he created and lives in the ever changing realm of Nizatta. Dizord’s morality rarely overlaps with mortal concepts of good and evil; he creates chaos, for it is essential to the balance of existence, and favours neither order or chaos on their own, working to assure that both continue to exist. In this way, he acts a counterbalance to the other gods, who

When you write, do you ever feel self conscious about it? Very much yes. I'm awfully insecure. I absolutely love the worlds I create in my head. Sometimes, they are almost as real as reality. When I dream, I can see the characters and picture the worlds, and I imagine them living their lives. So, they're precious to me. And especially when I get tired or I get ill or I write something really personal, I can get very self conscious about what people will think of my worlds. The writing? I know it is imperfect, and art is inherently subjective. But the characters and the world? I really want people to love them as much as I do, and they don't always, and that is difficult. Do you feel like maybe you are giving away too much? Rarely. I find it very difficult to write about myself or things thare familiar to my real life. So maybe that is why I write so much fantasy and sci-fi? I don't know. People go through all sorts of changes in their life. If you are the same person at 20,30 and 40, you are doing it wrong. I guess I still have to find that out! I would definitely say I'm different to the person I was 2 years ago. But I'm not sure if that will stabilise now or not. Do you feel like there are lines that shouldn't be crossed? Some of them yes. Nothing frustrates me more than lines for the sake of lines. They constrain our creativity and our society in general. But some lines are also there for a reason, because they protect people from being hurt, especially in the context of writing emotionally. I don't like the excuse of pushing boundaries or being 'provocative' or 'experimental' when artists, both writers and other types, do things that no reasonable person could see as anything but hurtful. Can you go too far? Everyone can at times, I think. Maybe you should. Or maybe you shouldn't. It really depends what your lines are, and how reasonable they are.

What a hard question. I read so much, and a lot of books have really impacted me. A number of those are GA stories. Some of the literature on this site is extraordinary and worthy of high praise. I'm not sure I can reliably choose just one book . . . . For sheer emotional impact, The Secret River by Kate Grenville is perhaps the best book I've read. But I don't actually like it that much. It is a very important book, and masterfully written, and it changed a lot of my outlook on the world. But it tells such a horrendous and yet very human story that I don't know if I could read it a second time; the story of the murder of the Australian Aboriginals when colonisers arrived. I cried so much over that book. And some parts left me so physically revolted I had to put it down. My favourite book is probably split between three works on GA actually. @Andrew_Q_Gordon 's The Last Grand Master is absolutely my favourite high fantasy novel, and I love it and the whole rest of the series very deeply. @craftingmom's Tears of the Neko is equally one of my three top books I've ever read. It is very beautifully written and I cry every time I read it. @layla's Broken Prince and Mismatched Eyes rounds out my three favourite books. I adore the characters, the plot, the romance. Everything is so well written and impactful. The last two books were huge comfort to me in emotional times. An escape from the sometimes painful real world. I only just found The Last Grand Master a few short months ago, and it drew me in so deeply.

I didn't realise HinderToyBL wasn't one person. I really love the way in which you two manage to make things seem so simple and fluid. Don't know even how to describe properly what I mean. Your writing and plots always seem to so delightfully optimistic, I guess. I absolutely love A to Z by Parker; I must read Predator Prey some time. But I haven't got around to anything by AC Benus or Milos. I must get to that. PS: @Renee Stevens - your author links don't work, they appear to be using the pre-update format or something. They all lead to 'this page doesn't exist'

Congratulations Cassie, and a huge thank you to the GA Staff, the Anthology team and the authors who make awesome things like this available for us the readers. You're all amazing.

Absolutely delightful. I was not expecting that twist half way through (I should've been . . . .) but it was absolutely wonderful. I shall come back and review this properly later, now I'm off to bed.

Mr Future, Mr Nigeria, and Mr South Korea have to be my favourites. However I admit I find most of them far too 'perfect'. I guess I like Mr Future and Mr South Korea because they're unique, distinctive (though in South Korea's case, maybe not in his own country). The media is very saturated with men who looked like all the rest (sans Mr Phillipines but I really dislike the moustache and the hair cut). Some times they start to blur together in 'good looking but very similar to each other'.

Emily Bronte. I want to know more about her poetry and the fictional world she and her sisters made, and which almost all record of has been lost. The poem by her, Remembrance, absolutely captivated me. It is told from the point of view of the Queen of a country on the fictional world they created, mourning her true love who died when the Queen was only young; she remembers him after all the years in between have passed and she has had to put her loss to the side to rule her country. But we know very little about these characters the Bronte's loved so much. "Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover Over the mountains, on that northern shore, Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves cover Thy noble heart forever, ever more?" Same Q.

A wonderful wonderful end of this book. If there is a sequel I think you'll do it fabulously. But it is also a content end right now, with the future bright and many adventures ahead of them that we can all imagine. I'd love a sequel though. One story that'd interest me would be the story of the young boys who are mates and don't know it yet, when they grow up . . . . But that is just me.

A big fluffy white scarf. . . . . so nice to snuggle into on a cold day. Same q.