Carlos Hazday

Thanks, Tony. I've noticed some GA Authors tend to rest on their laurels after a while (particularly many promoted authors) and I don't want to emulate them. Because I will not begin publishing anything until it's done, another multi chapter story with larger word count might mean a long hiatus between offerings. Instead, I'm focusing on shorter stories so I can build an inventory before I tackle something larger again. Sounds like Chipper has his own 'old-boys-network' to call upon when he needs help. When his sister is in trouble, and he asks for help, they'll jump in no questions asked.

Thanks, bud. Happy with a Chipper stand-alone tale?

Fair enough. After years of reading comments left on stories using a similar approach, I expected a certain level of dissatisfaction from some readers. I did it because it was a challenge. Could I string together a series of short chapters into a comprehensive tale? Strip everything down so there are as few superfluous words as possible? I don't want to write stories burdened down with unnecessary details. One of the issues is the serial posting which I tried to ameliorate by publishing twice a week. I suspect if read as a novella instead of individual chapters, the level of dislike would diminish. Help me out here. You say you don't like the format for "this type of story." That suggest you might find it enjoyable under different circumstances. What type of story do you think it would work for you?

Damien is not a good person. What he may have failed to realize is Cristina's not helpless. Her brother will defend her, and he obviously has some strong supporters himself.

I had Chipper call it rape because that's what it was. Our society has in the past deemed forced sexual encounters acceptable when between married couples, but assault is assault.

A while back I realized I had a bunch of great characters eclipsed by CJ. Singer is my attempt to shine the light on one of them. It's also a challenge to see if I can draw readers to something other than a CJ-centered story. I may have tinkered with the format, but the style and tone will be similar. I did tell someone I always felt CJ and Chipper were more alike than any of their other friends. Don't tell anyone but there'll be a Christmas story in December featuring CJ, Owen, and Liebe.

The music business is complicated and most of us fail to realize performers are surrounded by support personnel. It helps when you have a network of individuals you can trust. They might just help keep the sharks at bay.

It is Chipper's story and he will be at the center of what happens. But he's no hermit and has close friends who'll provide support. Michael and Blaine at first and now CJ and Ethan. Sorry to tell you I think this is the last time CJ's name gets uttered. LOL As for chapter length, all the chapters will be around 1 thousand words. I wanted to flex my writing skills and tried to be concise to fit the word limit. You know I'm not one for excess verbiage and in this story I tried to strip everything back to bare bones while still making it interesting. Let's see if I can do it.

Unfortunately, Cristina's situation is not rare. We become infatuated with someone or fall in love and fail to see what others think is wrong. It's the story behind many abusive relationships. Juggling school, the competition, and now his sister, is going to be stressful. At least Chipper seems to have staunch supporters. He called on his friends and they responded. Let's hope Cristina listens to Ethan when he meets with her.

News spread like a wildfire burning through the Florida Everglades. By week’s end, it seemed everyone in the Frost School knew one of their own would be a contestant on The Voice. People Chipper had never met came up to him offering congratulations and wishing him luck. His first stop after returning to campus was Dr. Pierce’s office to thank him. The man was elated and set about helping his student plan his next steps. A lawyer teaching the business of music reviewed the contract th

Serena Williams is a BEAST! That was an epic match I just watched. Sports night so now on to the NFL opening night. That will be all.

How can you miss him? We just read about him in the prologue! He gets mentioned in the next chapter. Hope that helps.

Do twice weekly postings help? This will be a feel-good story. Mostly. I've always thought Chipper and CJ had the most similar personalities and I tried to show that a bit more here. Those two could be brothers as far as I see it.

Must have been big if Katie and Peter brought it up! You mean you missed that before? LOL

A poem for non poets. Perfect simplicity and a great interpretation of the theme.

Not bad, Sis. Even though poems rarely do anything for me, I lik d this one. There's a terse mess to it I enjoyed. No wasted words.

Did I catch you napping when the story went live? LOL Anyway, we're gonna have to talk. If people pay attention to comments they'll start believing I write 'sweet' stories instead of controversial ones! I just started plotting another adventure for these three; we may get second story early next year.

Awww... you make me blush. Sometimes it's good to mix things up. Like starting the story at the end. In this case, more happens after that initial TV appearance, but I'll still fill the chapters with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll to keep it interesting.

Glad you liked it. Don't tell anyone, but this was their cameo in the story. However, CJ, Owen, and Liebe will return in December in a Christmas story.

Hi there! Although I have a couple of questions and responses predating the ones in this issue, I felt these responses were time sensitive. The question came in soon after someone claimed Ask An Author only featured established, popular authors. Wrooong! The member who sent in in suggested asking it of newer authors and provided a short list of candidates. Here’s the message I sent out: In case you haven't come across it, the first Wednesday of every month I coordinate a blog feature. Ask an Author's predicated on readers sending in question and authors answering them. I keep the identity of the person asking confidential; some of our readers are truly shy, but one sent me a question to ask you and a couple other new authors. Would you mind replying to the one before and forwarding the response to me? Thanks! As you're recently arrived at GA as an author, how have you found your experience posting and interacting with readers? And here are the responses I received: @James Carnarvon I have found the whole experience incredibly positive and encouraging. Unlike many GA authors perhaps, I had sat on my finished story for many years before sharing it with the world, and I was pretty nervous about letting it out there. The great responses I started to get right from the beginning gave me confidence to keep posting, especially knowing that the story gets better and better after the first couple of chapters. The 'Likes', 'Loves' and other reactions are great as far as they go, but the really fascinating feedback is the chapter-by-chapter comments, whether they are simply expressing appreciation for the writing or speculating on what might happen next. I think I mentioned in one of my own comments that to have people commenting with such insight and obvious engagement into the story and its characters, well, there's really no greater vote of confidence for a writer. Comments that offer different viewpoints are also welcome. There was one particular plot development in my story that did not convince everyone, and it was good to see that the readers here are not afraid to offer constructive criticism as well as positive comments. In a way, it added value to all the positive comments I had received. If I do find time to write anything else that fits GA's brief, I would have every confidence about continuing to post here. @btaoc1963 So far, the experience has been great! GA has more feedback options than I'm used to, and it's nice to see reactions as well as comments from readers 🙂. As far as posting, GA is more structured than most sites, and as a creative person I'm not always good at following directions lol. I sort of tend to 'wing it' which gets me into trouble. I'm still learning a few ins and outs but I truly enjoy the site, and I'm glad I came across it. GA is definitely a good home for my story. @Mac Rountree The experience has been totally positive. I am trying different writing techniques and readers are noticing and commenting. I find that feedback very helpful as I work on new stories. I was struggling with the ending to a story and a reader commented on the chapter I had posted that he hoped that the characters would return to where they started. Bingo! That was exactly what I needed. I would probably still be struggling if not for that comment. The generosity of people to read and comment has been very gratifying; especially when they are asking for more! The bottom line question though, is: am I able to write a story that readers find compelling. I think the answer is yes. I have three stories posted at this time. One story has one more chapter and a second story has four more chapters. The manuscripts are completed and I am posting them on a regular schedule. The third story has just started. I already have seven chapters written and couldn't wait to finish it before posting it for readers to read and respond. The response has been positive. I am also working on a story that will start on December 1 and will have daily postings until January 6. There is a through narrative of two men who fall in love in college. This is layered with the Christian seasons of Advent and Christmas and the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. There are specific scripture readings for each day during that time and I am weaving the readings and the narrative together. I hope that the readers enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it. I am grateful for having gayauthors. I follow several stories on here and greatly admire the quality of writing I find. @GabrielCaldwell Hi, I haven't been here long, and I've only had one reader message me directly. This site is different to another site where I've posted because readers can comment at the end of chapters. I was a little nervous about that, as I imagined it might be like the YouTube comment section, but so far it's been great. All of the comments have been encouraging, and someone pointed out a minor error, which was helpful. I've been enjoying it so far! If the individuals who didn’t respond in time do so in the future, I’ll feature their responses in a future issue. In the meantime, now that you’ve met these four, say hello to them at some point. You should also check out their work. I’ve read some and enjoyed. We’ve established the blog is not limited to a certain type of author so send in questions for anyone. When answered, I’ll feature them.

how Chopper does? LOL Your fingers got away from you. Liebe would be 5 months when this takes place, so I pushed her having used words a bit. But I figured she inherited the gift of gab from her father and started early.

LMAO I haven't been gone that long. Although the big story ended in June, I posted something in both July and August. I figured some readers would dislike the 1k word chapters, but I've upset some before when I've switched formats. Between the first 5 books and Walls, I went from day specific events to a monthly format highlighting one or two items. Then I used the quick scene shifts that drove some people nuts and left them wanting more from each scene. There's some of that in this story, but for the most part it's one event per chapter. I hope you let me know how you end up liking it when we're done.

Thanks! If by some miracle this story was ever actually published, illustrations would be indispensable. The section of the page holding the actual chapter/story is meant only for words. No images are supposed to be used. The illustration descriptions I used were my workaround. Anyone reading this and wanting to try their hand at rendering one of my descriptions get in touch with me. I do have pictures of what I think the dads and the girl would look like.

Damn! Did CJ misplace Lola?

My favorite cliffhangers: An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild mountain goat (genus Capra), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa, and East Africa.