Ron

In an article in the Boston Globe, Meredith Goldstein a Globe advice columnist (Love Letters) reveals that she is a big romance novel enthusiast. For someone who writes about love and gives advice, it is perhaps a no-brainer that such a columnist would be into romance novels. But there is a caveat, Ms. Goldstein does not like romance stories based in the city in which she lives. She, in this case, unfortunately knows well the city of Boston. What some authors may think to be a sexy location... well, she does not see those locations quite the same way. I can see her point but I don't entirely buy into it. I live in Boston and I've written a short romance story set in the Boston/Cambridge area (Promise and Opportunity - written nearly four years ago) for a prompt and I think it works fine. Also, I wouldn't mind reading a gay romance short story/novel set in the small town where I grew up. Why not? I would love to hear what your feelings are about romance stories set in your hometown. Can you just not get into it? Would it be a distraction from the pleasure of reading? Will you read just to see if you can gain some juicy gossip? Are you disappointed that no one has ever written a romance novel set in your hometown? What do you think? Meredith Goldstein article.

Don’t come to Boston. The guys have all fled their stomping ground here. Those who owned townhouses sold for a big profit and many couldn’t afford the new rents. Most of the bars are closed or have been lost to straight people. Soon the South End gayborhood will be nothing more than a footnote in history books.

So we agree.

You're comparing apples to oranges and attempting to apply illogic to your comparison. Though you might think the thought processes are similar, I bet you would be wrong. Besides there is no real lasting harm in losing one out of every two-hundred thousand voters for the reason you state, and they may be correct for any given election. Whereas somebody always ends up winning the lottery, even if that means several somebodies on one ticket or two. Somebody always wins eventually!

Jimmy Garoppolo is a 6’2” 225 lb. hunk of... Oh, wait, you’re talking about football.😬 Never mind.

Thanks. I use Secunia PSI as well. I also use IObit’s Pro driver update utility (there is a free version, though it runs slow it catches updates you might otherwise miss).

I’ve thought about your questions and these are my suggestions. #1.) Like you he is most likely just as uncertain of his sexuality as you are. There isn’t any point in attaching labels. #2.) He said he doesn’t want to do it again, you should take him at his word. Leave well enough alone. #3.) If you’re in a committed relationship and you step-out without consent you are generally considered a cheater. #4.) My answer to #2 above works equally well for this two-part question. You’ve been friends long enough to call him your best friend, Tyler and it sounds like you still remain friends. Can’t that be enough for you?

I’m not familiar with CCleaner but the IObit programs can be run whenever you decide and they are completely friendly with the Norton antivirus program.

You are correct, Uninstaller gets rid of unwanted programs. Try Advance SystemCare, it cleans up a lot of unnecessary things that just hang around and clog up the system.

@LisaYou may be overconfident of my PC abilities. I do use a range of cheap (read as free) and not hugely expensive paid utilities to keep my PC running well—knock on wood, the tactic seems to work. IObit has a number of free utilities such as Driver Booster and Advanced SystemCare, I use both. I can’t remember now if it was PC Mag or PC World that recommended IObit but I’ve found the company provides effective free utilities and for a little money the paid versions are even more effective (especially when you catch them on sale).

Right back to you all, and to every other member and reader here at gayauthor.org Merry Christmas.

What I want to know is how you got Liam Hemsworth to pose for you in a Santa Clause suit? 😉

The author’s preferred edition (1992)? I read the original. When the preferred edition came out ten years later I tried to read it and I couldn’t get through to the end. Who knows but maybe I could pick it up and fly right through the 681 pages today.

Oh, my! “Daddy” arriving—hotel stage-left—sure was a surprise guest. This was a great line (kudos for it) and it fits Cal well: ”I guess if I'd been so inclined, this would be the time to write poetry or some shit like that.”

Congratulations on your promotion, Gary.

Nicely said, Dave. I wish you all the best in the coming years.

Congratulations on this milestone moment. I'm happy to have played my small part these last four years.

Congratulations on your promotion, Parker.

Just so you know, Sam it seemed like I'd just begun this chapter and then I was reading the last few lines. So, no, it's not too long.

I've been enjoying your story, Sam. The scene with Davey's mother was particularly funny and cleverly introduced, hiding as it initially did among Davey's other friend's reactions. I must say that I'm quite often at odds with reactions to unprotected sex in fictional settings. It isn't an author's responsibility to instruct about safe sex, nor is it necessarily a commentary on the subject if an author chooses differently than a reader's expectations. I suspect that's why some people don't read fantasy—or even science fiction—because it doesn't coincide with their experience, or expectations of reality. While I can admire your polite and politic response to Ozymandius, I feel the initial comment was unnecessarily heavy handed and overly opinionated.

The New York Times posted an article today in The Upshot about which songs and artists Americans love to listen to. In the feature you can either type in your zip code and see what is popular for your specific area or go directly to a group of maps showing the top 50 artists and just where they are the most popular in the country. Everything shown is based on YouTube viewings. What Music Do Americans Love the Most

Well, I began reading the story earlier and it's now 3:35 a.m. and I've finally finished. I'm sad that the author didn't write more of the story. While the story wasn't near perfection it was interesting (specifically the dialogue), and that held my attention through what was written.

I've read all of the books in this series. Not her best work, I find, but they're interesting enough.

Wow, maybe you can't revive every dead (figuratively) author.

Underneath This Big Ol' Sky is one of my favorites here, and it's such a letdown that this story was never completed. The storyline was good, the characters were great... ugh, I very much wanted to see where Viv was going to take this story.