Carlos Hazday

I'm retired, my time is my own, and I live near the beach in an area full of frisky gay men. Do I have to include the motorcycle and leave the sling up when I trade?

I've been thinking a lot about children stories lately. Because of the one I wrote and When imagining what two modern parents would find suitable for their daughter. Most of the ones we grew up with, and Disney glorified in Technicolor, portray females in need of saving by a man. And don't get me started on violence. I wouldn't want my kids reading/watching them until old enough to realize that's not real life. What good is it telling girls and boys they can accomplish anything, when they grow up with tales of Prince Charming saving the damsel in distress? I blame my violent nature on Bugs Bunny.

Love the concept. Half the stories on GA would be better if the authors cut the word count by half.

Cinderella, you murderous bitch... Interesting. I look forward to the next ones. Edit: Cool banner!

Thanks, Rick. Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, Dolphin Delivery could be the first installment in a series, but we'll have to wait for a second story. I'm juggling so many damn projects I'm scared I won't do them justice if I keep adding new ones. Let's see what 2020 brings.

Prince Charlie or Argyle dress? LMAO, aren't you impressed I know the difference? (Thanks, @dughlas)

Be back in a bit, need to check the site out. LOL

Not bad. The heat and humidity seem to drain my energy faster the older I get. Yesterday I was running around on the motorcycle and after 15 minutes all I wanted was back in the AC. Otherwise trying to stay out of trouble. Working on edits for a Christmas story and s l w l y writing something to kick off 2020. Trying different styles and subjects so unsure what type of reactions I'll get. I'm kinda happy with how Dolphin Delivery was received considering the subject matter. How the heck are you?

@Kitt Thanks! I never go in that place so he was missing as far as I'm concerned. LOL I want him to beta read something involving kilts.

They are. Good going. I assume I can add a new book to the series and rearrange the order in the future?

Morning, everyone. I haven't seen @dughlas around GA lately. Has anyone heard from him?

@Talo Segura Growing up in the tropics, afternoon heat was a given. Dogs have enough sense to lay down during the worst of it; smart humans follow along. Is that why I love naps and some guys call me a dog?

During the dog days of summer, most South Floridians yearn for cooler, drier weather. If you are unfamiliar with the expression, it refers to days being so hot even dogs want to lay around moving as little as possible. August is the time most of us want to move to the Carolinas’ mountains to escape daily rain, tropical storms, and hurricanes. The Signature Authors profiled this month are well known and don’t require introduction. I’ll shut up now and let them answer their questions. @Comicality • You are a prolific user of sequels and serials and have a lot of stories on the go, Gone From Daylight and Savage Moon come to mind. What keeps you motivated and what do you gain by doing serials and sequels? • • • "Well, to answer all questions at once...it's the readers. The feedback makes all the difference in the world to me. So that is my number one motivation to keep going. When I was growing up, I was super heavy into comic books. I still have many of them to this day. And, honestly, comic books taught me everything that I know about character, dialogue, tension, foreshadowing, flashbacks, plot twists...and the best part was that I got a chance to come back every single month and catch up with fictional people that I had grown and evolved with over an extended period of time, and I LOVED it! I never thought I'd see the day when movies or TV shows could be treated the same way, but now you see it all the time. And it works wonders. So being able to build on my characters one chapter at a time, share them with a vocal and participatory audience, and actually feel the energy of having them enjoy what I do, is my biggest inspiration. It might take me an entire year or more to finish a whole story from start to finish, and that's if I'm LUCKY! I can't imagine going that long without some type of positive reward or constructive criticism from my audience. Without their support, I think I'd feel like I'm just typing away at this keyboard for nothing. So I treat my stories like comic books. I post new material, I get good feedback, I come up with new ideas all the time, and my readers get to see the process unfold as it's happening. They grow with the story. It creates a momentum and an excitement that helps me to keep building and challenging myself to complete whatever vision I had in mind from the beginning. I hope that answers the question! And thanks! :)" • • • • • @Krista • Looking at you library here at GA, you don’t seem to use sequels or serials but have a nice collection of stand-alones. Is there anything that keeps you away from bringing more of the characters your readers love? • • • My answer would be that it is the way I view sequels. Most of my stories are stand alone, so if I were to write a sequel or make a story into a serial then a lot of changes would have to happen. I have started a sequel in the past, but I doubt that people would have enjoyed it, because it was so different than the original. That is how I feel sequels should be though, if you created a story and completed it, any story involving those characters should be different with different themes and obstacles for the characters to overcome. The story I mean is, "Are You Christian," and the story ended on pretty happy terms. The sequel would then have to be - for me to have the motivation to write it - darker with new themes. It would no longer be a coming out story, so I would have to come up with something else. I was going with drug abuse and depression as main themes and I doubted my readers would want to see that huge of a transformation for the characters that would be involved. Also motivation and time. Most of my stand alone stories are about High School students maneuvering around coming out and being younger. I don't really have the motivation to do those kinds of stories anymore so stories that involve those characters here are either still going to be in high school or freshly out, wouldn't really be strong motivation for me. I feel that my current style of romances don't translate well to sequels overall as well. So I just don't work on making the attempt. • • • • • @AC Benus • What is it about sonnets as a form that keeps on inspiring you? • • • Thanks for the question. This gave me pause when I first read it. To me, various poetic forms are just tools. So to translate this question to another discipline, would you ask a carpenter what it is about a hammer that keeps inspiring him? He may have a long personal history with a certain hammer, and knows he can reply on it, but the tool itself is just something he calls on to build an end-result. More precisely, Sonnets are a key to me to unlock the universe. Basho had such a key with Haiku and Haibun. Villion’s was the Ballade. The discipline required to master these forms opens up the freedom to say any and everything. A quote I leaned as a teenager from an old Night Court re-run sums up this artistic principle best. “Mastery appears in limitation of form, and order alone can give us freedom.” And none of us should wrestle in disagreement with the likes of Goethe • • • • • A short installment this month; there’ll be a longer one in September. But I need questions for after. If you want to get to know ANY author a bit better, this is your chance. I forward the questions anonymously so if you’re shy, I’ll protect you. LOL

Wedding in kilts? You better invite me or share pictures. Great news my friend. Congratulations to you and your boy. Give him a hug for me.

Pete, if we were closer I would kiss you! While growing up, there used to be a giant neon sign on the side of a building downtown (CBD) Pretty sure it was the largest Coppertone advertisement in the world. It even has its own Wikepedia page. When the building was demolished, the sign was stored, restored, and eventually found a new home. That old sign and similar commercials inspired that little line in the story. I'm overjoyed someone caught that little egg. Thank you!!!!

Thank you, John. I really like hearing from readers who rarely comment, it gives me insights into why people read my work. Hope you give some of my upcoming stuff a look even if the next few are not part of the CJ series. Carlos ps Just replied to your message on the other site.

One new story missing from the list above. NOT Steve's fault; the post-dating system and I had another one of our frequent spats. I'm at a point it doesn't really matter, but I think the first ever children's story posted on GA (someone correct me if I'm wrong) needs a little publicity. I want a comment from you, Steve. You can read it to your nephews.

Hey, did anyone notice the two TOP STORIES this morning? @AC Benus translated poetry and a kids' story. How about that for diversity and inclusivity?

The usual summer pattern in South Florida used to be hot and humid morning that built up clouds in the Everglades and dumped rain on us in the afternoons. You could set your watch by those 3pm showers. These days, climate change has us all messed up. The last few days it was overnight and morning rains but this weekend we're back to normal.

I sent the first chapter of a Christmas story out for editing this morning. It's now time to get serious about writing what I want to post Jan 2020. Had some mixed reactions to the opening section I shared with a couple of people, so I need to figure out where I'm going.

Awaiting the afternoon storms at home. I have a little writing and accounting to do. Funny how the hobby sounds more appealing than work.

Thanks again! I've come to realize I have a certain style to most of my writing, with this story and the next couple I have in process, I'm trying different things. In the end, I like the place I was at at the end of the CJ series and have decided not to tinker too much. Let's just hope I keep learning enough about commas my editors enjoy fixing ewer in the future.

Guess you liked it and are willing to help me again? Thanks again, Def!

The last time I danced all night in NYC, Junior Vazquez was the headlining DJ. The man's now 70 and I'm 61 so you can imagine how long ago that was. Thanks for bringing back fond memories, Matt. You're the son I never had that I can live vicariously through these days. ps- Calling me Papi is optional.

Thanks, Chris! Something a little different than my usual, but hopefully it shows I'm more than a one-trick pony.