Ron

Thank you, Cole. I appreciate your commenting and thanks for the review.

I'm so happy you liked it. Maybe reading all of those editing threads have paid off, huh?

As soon as I saw the sentence for the prompt...the idea for the story was just there, you know what I mean? I couldn't respond right away but the story idea never left me. I enjoy reading about the fae too and this is my first time writing about them. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your review.

The Remarkable Unremembered Boy By R.L. Hunter “How did you get into my room?” Tom stood in his doorway, waiting for an answer to his question. A figure was sitting in shadow on the swivel chair placed in front of his computer desk. In fact, that entire end of his room was in shadow, and Tom just now realized it and how strange that was, considering he had flipped the switch for the overhead light. “Do you remember when we met?” The figure asked. He, it was definitely a he, and his voice

The 2014 prompts. All stories rated mature even if perhaps not necessarily needful of the rating.

Why is it that siblings feel that they get a free pass doing things that other mortals would be arrested for? But no doubt, Alex needed a slap of some nature to get him out of his funk, real or symbolic. I really enjoyed this prompt, Wayne.

A little absurdity goes a long way!

Congratulations to all of you!

Porn is not ultimately about sex, it is about power, and porn shows a lopsided glorification of it. When was the last time anyone saw a porn video about positive sexual roles? The princess gets pounded folks, front and rear every time, and much of it is borderline violent, and she is often begging for more...what does that say? Same goes for M/M, it's mostly about the power trip, sex happens but it's not truly about the sex is it? And until a young man or young woman is able to understand that, I think it is better for them to not be subject to it. That's what I think.

I first read Little Fuzzy about forty years ago back in Jr. High School. I enjoyed it then, and I read it again about a year ago, and enjoyed again. I am currently re-reading Everything Matters by Ron Currie, Jr. Book Jacket blurb - While still in his mother's womb, Junior Thibodeau is encoded with a prophecy: in thirty-six years a comet will obliterate life on Earth. Born to a working-class family in rural Maine, he comes of age in the shabby-decadent eighties, a time of Atari, baseball cards, pop Catholicism, and cocaine, all the while grappling with one question: Does anything I do matter? The story is told in first person and from the viewpoint of more than one character, separated by chapter, with interjections from the unknown encoder in a numbered countdown which begins at 97, and runs from in utero to the end. To say that Mr. Currie has a way with words, doesn't begin to describe his style, he sucks you right in. I first read this book back in 2009 when it came out and I decided it was time once again for a visit. His debut novel God is Dead was not successful in capturing my attention, but I did recently buy his newest, entitled Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles and I hope for the best.

Congratulations, Mann!

I find it rather amazing when reading about this, that I have yet to read about the constitutionality of the bill. It most certainly will not pass muster even considering the current makeup of our supreme court. What Arizonans should be more concerned about, is finding replacements for their elected legislators. Because it is clear that those who voted in favor of the bill, have lost their ability to think rationally and any further legislation, of any ilk, is now suspect to their inability to think ahead. On another note - two of the four representative samples of correspondence received by the Governor's office have expounded on the "attacks on religion". Hmm, let's ponder this, shall we. Time after time after time, 'religion' has butted its nose into places it has no right to be, and when folks fight back, suddenly religion is under attack. A quote from Michelle Cruz to Governor, Jan Brewer, "Our Constitution guarantees that in America, people are free to live and work according to their faith", she goes on to say, "No one should be forced to forfeit their religious beliefs simply because they go to work or start a business." - On the face of it, what she says is agreeable, our constitution guarantees 'freedom of religion' and no one should be forced to give up their faith in their day to day lives or while at work, or furthermore, start a business. But this isn't what she means, is it? We can only guess, but I am sure it is easy enough to surmise that she doesn't want the young high school gay boy to bag her groceries, or have to sit in her cubicle across from the lesbian at work. This is pure speculation but the meaning behind her words is clear and it makes me sick. The saving grace today, yet another judge as struck down a gay marriage ban. This time in Texas.

Agreed, it works amazingly well as a short. It will be interesting to see what they do with it as a movie.

Happy anniversary, Mark. Nine years, that makes you some sort of GA grand pappy doesn't it?

And yet another good prompt story. You're on a roll. If 'wetness' near the end meant anything, it was tears, and attempts to say otherwise can come off. a little 'off'. Sometimes it is best to call a thing exactly what it is and leave well enough alone. Niggling aside, it was a nice tale.

Welcome to GA, Jayzin!

Hi JS, although the focus is and should be here at GA, the proper forum for request of this nature is the Stories Discussion Forum. You might be more likely to receive a response in that forum. Hope this helps you find the story you are looking for.

Not bad, not bad, and tricky!

Not unless you delete this post, otherwise 'it's here forever!'

I have just sent off my votes and I can honestly say that I needed to make some hard choices in order to reach my final decisions. Good Luck! to all of you nominees for a job well done.

Chapter reviews are a mixed bag to be sure and I'm not convinced that authors should worry overmuch about an individual harsh critic to a specific action within a chapter. Mann Ramblings 'harshest' critic is a perfect example of this. Occasionally I too have fallen victim as a reader/reviewer to this sort of thing only to have the action proved effective through further reading. But if you are reviewing as chapters are written this sort of review response is bound to happen occasionally to the reviewer and the author. After all, as far as the reader is aware, the response makes sense to them at the time. As Mann said, you address it in the best and most appropriate way possible and move on. Some of my reviews are critical, most of those having been directed to completed short stories, expressing their merits and faults but they do not always follow the harsh definition. In every harsh case, the author has acknowledged them if not entirely agreed with them but I was honest in my assessment. I do think that an author of a short story is in trouble when there are many reviews and the only reader responses are little comments saying, 'I liked this part, wasn't that nice when so and so did, or this was interesting'. If that's all you are getting, your readers are doing you a disservice, they are being polite and your story is a flop or close to it. If on the other hand, it happens for a chapter, it generally means your readers are letting you know they are still involved even if they have nothing constructive to add. For every short story and story chapter I read, I read all of the reviews for each as they aren't merely feedback and learning tools for the specific author, but for this author as well. This is a great blog topic and the responses have been most informative. Thanks!

When I first began going to a local gay bar at twenty-one, one of the first groups that included me in after hours parties was the drag queens. They were so outgoing, and a fun group but they were brash, sometimes vulgar and definitely outspoken. Because of this, I would blush and they would rib me about it in fun. So, I find Mikeal's blushing behavior, if not actually always shown as a blush, realistically portrayed and endearing. And I love, love, love the chapter!

"...that young upstart Vince's..." It's amusing how people perceive others and the old man sure was taking the long generational viewpoint. I have an immense liking for this story, Kitt.

It does look interesting but the constant cutting to a new scene was irritating. I dislike when previews are like this, it doesn't allow me a good feel for the movie.

We've all watched and read enough to know that you shouldn't question these thing too close. After all, we might not welcome the true answer. Nice prompt! There is a good mesh with the characters. It's easy to believe they've known each other a long time.