Cole Matthews

As do I! Thanks!

Thanks! I'm so glad it worked. I appreciate the comments!

Thanks!!! I have been tinkering with using settings more as building on character. This is an example of using that as a technique. I appreciate your kind words!!!

Thanks Addy! Never could have done it without you! I appreciate the help and support.

Thanks so much! I had a lot of fun with this story. Al is an interesting character. And yes, he is sinister. I appreciate the comments!!!

Thanks Bill!!! Yes, Al wanted Javelina, and as a bonus, Todd is out of his life. Thanks so much!

That's the first little 'glint' into Al's nature. I'm so thrilled it worked! Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! I'm glad it worked. I appreciate the wonderful comment.

Very much so!! Thanks so much for the comments!

Thank so much! I'm glad I was able to entertain and that the ruse worked. I appreciate you and your help!!!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you so much! That is quite the complement. I'm glad it had you looking back, because I did try to place clues along the way. I really appreciate the comments!!!

Thanks Dave! I'm glad it worked. I appreciate your support and comment!

Javelina “Over there, over there, send the word, send the word, over there….” It was his phone ringer. Al quickly answered his cell and said quickly, “Hey Frank. What’s up?” His brother was silent for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “Just checking in,” he replied, the older man’s voice a bit raspy. Al looked down at his feet, enduring the uncomfortable conversation as well as he could. Tecumseh, his little terrier mutt, blinked up at him, concerned. The do

Al didn't know he was lonely, until he had a 'leap of faith'.

I've always approached prompts as more than just stimuli for new stories. I've seen them as practice, play, more like working out the kinks without worrying about perfection. Prompts can help us build setting, time, place, mood, and characters. But, prompts can also help us fine-tune and flesh out things as well. Sometimes we build a character and they are too perfect, or too evil. As a result, the reader begins to lose that all important "suspension of disbelief" so inherent in good storytelling. It can be hard to give your lovable main character flaws that humanize him. It can even be harder to give your antagonist character traits that are positive, relatable, and make him more rounded. Let's practice making a couple of despicable characters a bit more real. #169 - Spike is a senior in high school with your main character, who is a sophomore. Spike's a big bully who has repeatedly tormented your protagonist by stealing his car, outing him to his parents, and even assaulting him after a football game. Write a short vignette about Spike and how he cares about his disabled sister. How he reads to his great grandmother in a nursing home for dementia? Or some other way he cares for someone other than himself. #170 - Rachel has repeatedly cheated on her new girlfriend, Emily. She continues to lie to her, gaslight Emily about her infidelities. Rachel even convinced Emily's friends that she is the cheater, and not Rachel. Write a short sketch about Rachel losing her brother to cancer and how she still goes and visits his roommate from when he was getting chemotherapy. Tell us about Rachel's love of birds and how she took one to a veterinary clinic and begged for them to help with a broken wing. Or think of something else about Rachel that makes us feel good about her. Let's try some sympathy for the devil!!!!

We love fairs. State fairs, county fairs, Renaissance Fairs, little neighborhood fetes, and any other get-togethers that feature foods on a stick, or a turkey bone, deep-fried, that make you a little queasy when you sit on swirling, spinning, acrobatic carnival rides and offer something fleeting and fun. Fairs offer face painting, the biggest pig, high stepping marching bands, and blinding lights mixed with colors and music that overwhelm. All these are things that provide a backdrop for an showy setting. They also give a writer the opportunity to nestle ordinary people into extraordinary places. Let's try our hand with these little gems! #163 - You walk into a maze of mirrors. A bright light beckons to you on just the other side of the hall. When you get to the other side, you meet face to face with a monster. Who is this monster and what does it do next? #164 - There is a fortune teller in a gaudy tent in the far corner of the carnival. This fortune teller doesn't look like an ordinary, typical gypsy or mystic. What does he look like and what does he tell you? Have fun and let's get the wild rides of the carnival whipping around in dervish delights! Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

The lazy days of summer are nearing their end. With it go the sunny mornings at the beach, a hamper filled with cold, refreshing food and drink. Slipping away are the baskets with containers of fried chicken, potato salad, and a bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc. Before you know it, the hot dogs and ice cream from the back of a food truck are driving down the dusty road away from you. In the meantime, let's practice writing about some food and crafting scenes around the sight, smell, taste, touch, and even sounds of sharp-edged potato chips, steaming plates of barbeque ribs, and crunchy, mouth-watering cole slaw. PT #157 - Write a scene where a character accepts a food challenge, and it doesn't go well for them. PT #158 - Begin and end a vignette with a reference to food: like a slice of cheesecake slathered with cherries; a beer that conjures up a distant memory; or a hated, despised sandwich that sets off a series of events. Make sure the food both evokes the scene and finishes it as well. Have fun!!! Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

I've been enjoying some especially bad pulp fiction books, gay features with racy, but certainly not graphic, stories like: 'To Want a Boy', 'Summer in Sodom', and 'Queer Pen.' These are the pulp fiction books ordinary gay men would buy for stories about other gay men. Most had a kind of morality tale embedded within the story where despite the main character's best efforts, he couldn't resist his urges. Or, conversely, blameless, innocent men were lured to their destruction by vice and weakness. These were the stories that COULD be told in the 1930s through the 1970s, and they are barnburners. Hilarious, sad, touching, and even a little poignant. These books were churned out by small and vanity presses, but within the formulaic plots, moral imperatives, and shady imagery, some of these writers shined. They created characters who were more than just caricatures and emotions that were real. For fun, let's pose a couple of the formulaic scenarios, and see if you can carve out characters we care about and plots that hold promise, in short vignettes. Prompt#153 - Queer Pen - A gay man is trapped by an undercover vice squad policeman. Let's hear the story from the perspective of the cop, who just so happens to be secretly gay. Prompt#154 - Summer in Sodom - A couple are invited to a beach resort in the wilds of Long Island. While she is plied with booze and entertained by a gallant tennis instructor, her fiancé is seduced by the owner of the resort. Let's hear the story from the viewpoint of the resort owner. How does he choose his quarry and manipulate his victims? Let's see some good, old-fashioned scandals spew forth!!!! Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

Character development is not an easy, or formulaic, task. Many of us read and write stories that are character-driven. We fall in love with a character we create, or read, and follow their life and events as they unfold. This means a writer can create the character's habits, quirks, strengths, weaknesses, and reactions through the use of narrative. However, there are times when a writer needs a back story for a character, a motivation, a sort of history that helped form the character's personality. That's when an origin story in a character sketch can be helpful. As a writer, we may never even put our character's 'origin story' in the narrative. Maybe you leak the origin story between the lines. Perhaps the origin story is known by other characters who then insinuate the motivations behind behavior. There are several ways you can use an origin story, including using it as the character reveals their most intimate secrets. There are lots of possibilities. So, let's practice this art. #147 - Your character had a birthday party when he was eight. Nobody showed up. What did he do? What happened next? How did it change him? #148 - Your character was six when her mother won the lottery. Before that, they lived in a shared one bedroom apartment with two other people. How did this affect her? What did she think of her life before the money, and then after? How did her circumstances change her feelings about herself?

At the heart of every scary story is a nugget of truth. We use fiction and storytelling to process emotions including fear, terror, and that lingering emotion called anxiety. As writers, we need to use life experiences to flesh out our creations. Fright isn't just about dark nights and ghosts. It's about what's unknown and about what we know only too well. Let's practice that channeling of our most negative emotions. #139 - You are a camp counselor. Make up a story that will scare the bejeezus out of your eight to ten-year-old campers. #140 - Think of a real life frightening experience that you had. Now, create a character and have them tell that story to someone else. How do they feel? How does it still affect them?

Recently our cat Boo had an infection. It was difficult, both emotionally and mentally, dealing with his illness and his suffering. He is part of our familiy, there when we get home, when we wake up, and go to bed. He's Randy's most constant companion as he works at home. But animals can't tell us what's wrong. They communicate pain, discomfort, and other physical experiences the best they can, but how much do we really know? That made me select the following two prompts. #135 - An opinionated talking animal gives you a lecture on all the ways you need to improve yourself. What is the animal? How do you know each other? What is the lecture about? #136 - Write a dialogue between two dog walkers who only know the names of each other's dogs. How does this conversation convey who they are? Let's see what these animals can tell us about ourselves.

Prompts are about creativity, trying new things, and exploring your talents. They are meant to stimulate storytelling, make you stretch and hone your craft, and practice things you aren't comfortable doing. For example, I don't like writing dialogue. I always feel like it's somehow stilted or unnatural. My tendency then would be to avoid dialogue using it sparingly if at all. However, using your words is like exercising a muscle. It will only get better with use. So here are a couple of prompts that made me squirm while doing my mental calisthenics. Prompt #129 - Create a vignette or story using only one side of a conversation you're overhearing. Prompt #130 - Invent a new word, explain its origin, definition, how it's used and the context for it and make that into a story or vignette.

Well earned and therefore you need a treat. I know this is your favorite!

Exactly! As we talked about, prompts stimulate, explore, and provoke writing. We had such a blast!