Carlos Hazday

“He looks hot in that outfit. I’d fuck ’im.” The well-aimed elbow to the stomach made CJ grunt; Owen apparently did not approve him ogling the uniformed man. “Don’t be a wanker. We’re getting married in a couple of weeks. This trip might substitute for buck’s night but that doesn’t mean you get to sleep with the entertainment.” CJ thought it funny Owen referred to the world-renowned guards in front of Buckingham Palace as entertainment. The overnight flight from Washington delivered them

Dragon But don't tell me either way

Welcome to a special edition of Ask an Author. Some members may not realize the individuals who help Gay Authors thrive are themselves authors. Most of them have stories on the site. My thanks to Renee Stevens for the suggestion leading to this blog entry. @Renee Stevens provided the inspiration for this edition of Ask an Author so let’s start with her. Im hoping she gets to read this before Baby J comes bounding out! This is her take on an issue that has been previously discussed on Gay Authors. • For any of the lady staffers who write the stories: I've always wondered how straight ladies got into writing gay fiction. Not sure I've ever seen it asked. • • I can't talk for all the straight women who write in the M/M genre, I can only speak for myself. I can't even remember how I got into reading the genre, but I became part of a gay fiction group and met some wonderful people. At the time, I was writing M/F romance and a couple of my new friends read what I wrote, but other than that, I never really shared my writing. The more I read, and the more I saw how supportive the group was, the more I thought about trying my hand at M/M romance, especially as I had the people available and willing to answer any questions I might have. My first story, Eternity, was received rather well, and those I had read it had no problem telling me if I had something wrong, or if my characters weren't acting or doing like they should. After I finished Eternity, I wasn't really sure if I had done the story justice, but the community I had become involved in was so supportive and encouraged me to write my next novel, Puppy Love. After that, I never looked back. • • • @Cia's name has been known to strike fear in many an author. She’s the gatekeeper when it comes to moderated stories and has the difficult task of sifting through posts by newer contributors. I’m not going to lie and say she’s a pussycat; I’ve suffered the pain of her communications. However, she’s a talented, published author with plenty of experience under her belt. I bristled at her comments on my first ever anthology submission, but once I calmed down, I took her criticism to heart and my writing’s better because of it. She can critique my work any time she wants. • You write in a bunch of different genres. What is your favorite genre to write and what is your favorite story of yours in that genre? • • I'm an eclectic writer as well as reader. I like to try a little bit of everything, and generally enjoy most of it, because, helloooo, we're talking books! I love the written word, to the point I have an appointment next month to get a tattoo of a multicolored galaxy coming out of an opened book and the quote "open books lead to open minds". That's also a pretty good indicator of my favorite genre, which is definitely science fiction. I'm a huge geek when it comes to research (though I sometimes play a little fast and loose with actual science as it morphs into fiction) and I love creating alien worlds and species. And when I write sci-fi, I feel more creative and inspired, so writing flows easier for me too. As for my favorite book... that is so much harder to decide, and I could never pick just one book or author! The genre leads to stories that are all so different, and I enjoy them for those differences. I began my journey through alien worlds on dragonback and singing ships with Anne McCaffrey, and she remains one of my favorite authors of all time, but the intriguing concepts and complex societies spanning the universe in Dune by Frank Herbert really cemented my love of the genre when I was twelve. If I had to pick my favorite MM authors who've written science fiction eBooks I love, I'd have to say it's a tie between M.A. Church and Lexi Ander. All of those worlds and styles I've read over the years have influenced me, and I think one of my favorite worlds and stories is one I've barely written, actually. Coupled in Synchronicity was a short story for an anthology where I played with Jung's theory of synchronicity in a sci-fi theme setting. Writing it led to a plot bunny of epic novel proportions that I still can't decide how to write. A romance? A bromance? Post it free? Expand my publishing to more traditional publishers and try my hand with a 'nomance' at all story? Do one of the first two options and self-publish? Until I figure that out, I just can't seem to get going on the story since the two main characters' relationship has to be defined first. But that would be the first chapter of the story, so everyone can check it out and share their thoughts with me! . • • • @Graeme, one of our prolific Aussie authors, has over fifty stories on GA. He’s recently begun posting the fourth installment of his Lilydale Leopards series; if you’re not familiar with his Aussie Rules Football team, you should be. I’ve enjoyed following the antics of the delightful cast of characters. • With the release of new Leopard story I’m curious. Graeme has very detailed storylines... How do you go about planning a Leopard story? How long is the process? • • Actually, it's more the research that takes the time than the planning. The planning is usually restricted to working out some major events and how I want the story to end, and that's about it. When I write, I simply head the story in the direction of the first major event and see what happens. The writing is a discovery process for myself, too! While it may look like I have things plotted out, one of my talents is furious rationalisation after the event. I can usually come up with a reason for something that justifies what's happened before. My favourite example is Matt's motivation for his behaviour in Heart of The Tree. When that motivation is revealed, it ties everything back to the start of the story, and looks like it was all planned, but it wasn't. I came up with that motivation when I was writing that late chapter. Research is where I tend to go overboard. For example, I went down to the level of identifying which California district Mason's mother represented in the Assembly, and which Congressional district she was running for in the primaries. They're not mentioned explicitly in the story, but that research gave me demographics, crime rates, historical voting patterns, the distance to the school that Mason intended to go to, etc. And that's only one of the items that I've researched during the writing of the story! • • • @Myr is probably missing chunks of hair from pulling them out while dealing with software update issues. Although most of his time is dedicated to the nuts and bolts of running our favorite site, he’s also an author. His Harry Potter fanfic and Science Fiction stories are a treat. However, the question we’ve asked him to answer gives us a bit more background on GA’s boss man. • First, thank you for all that you do for us at GA. I can’t impress how much your efforts and that of the team mean to us. We’ve been learning a lot more about you recently, with the blogs and such. The world building in your Sci-fi and magical realms is nothing short of amazing. However, this question is not about your writing. We know you have an extensive and varied book collection so, tell us, what is the most ridiculous fact you know? Tell us something we’d be surprised to learn about you • • I haven't really ever talked about it on GA, but I've been obsessed with trains of all sorts since I could walk and talk. To the point that I spent several hours while at Disney World, chasing the train and monorails around getting pictures. Or in the case of the Monorail, back when it was still allowed, getting video from the front seat up with the driver. A fair few of my books are dedicated to trains and model railroading as well. I'm currently working on a very sizable room so I can build a very sizable model train empire. It's a great hobby for getting away from the stress of things. • • • @Mann Ramblings is a man of many talents and I have a soft spot for him. Get your minds out of the gutter! He took a chance on a newbie author and any success I’ve had with my writing owes a lot to his patience and guidance. I’m giving him some time off so we can hopefully have something new from him in the near future. (I know I’m gonna pay for the time off comment.) I’m stretching the staff definition to include him since he’s a member of the GA promotions team. • I noticed you are using a different name on other sites. Is J. Alan Veerkamp your real one? If not, how come the change in pseudonyms? • • J. Alan Veerkamp is a new pen name I created after a discussion with my new publisher. There was some concern that having a pen name like Mann Ramblings which is a play on words, might make my writing seem less serious to the main public. So with that in mind, I put together the new name which is a combination of aspects of mine and my mother's maiden name. I did it to honor the side of my family where all my creativity comes from and who have given me unwavering support in all of my endeavors. In spite of it all, I decided not to change my identity on GA, because I didn't want to create additional confusion and I didn't see the need on the site that started it all. • • • That’s it for this month. Remember to send me any questions you may have for GA authors, and I’ll do my best to get them answered for you.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's easily confused.

Promising start. Well written, characters with some complexity, and an interesting take on dragon lore. One complaint: Having a character use a mirror to describe himself is one of the oldest, laziest tropes in literature. I nearly stopped reading when the squire pulled out the silvered fragment.

Here's hoping the joy of remembrance outweighs the sadness of loss.

@northie Not sure how I feel about that comment! LOL Series readers probably don't care after they're hooked but at the same time it's hard to attract new ones while in the middle of book 9. Whenever I gat around to a new multi-chapter story I'll most likely use titles again. I think titles are more important in serial postings than in the real world. Peddling a chapter at a time is harder than trying to sell a whole book.

The first 72 chapters of my CJ series were all Bruce Springsteen song titles. Not sure how I started that. Probably began writing during one of my periodic binge listenings. I've experimented with several other approaches since. My current method is to use the initials of the story title and Roman numerals. It makes it very easy to know what chapter and story notifications about reactions or comments refer to.

A star is born! I saw it happen. One guy leaning against a wall with another one kneeling in front of him. And it wasn't even Mardi Gras or Decadence. I was there for a convention and had a few fraternity brothers with me who wanted to experience a gay club. I decided Rawhide was not the place to take them.

No practically about it, Decadence is as decadent as you can get. Mardi Gras debauchery with extra testosterone. Careful around Rawhide, you may see sexual acts right on the street. Hmmmm, I heard all this from a friend...

From personal experience: The balancing act is tough, reaching equilibrium even more so. You will likely have lapses in both directions. But in the struggle to find the right spot, there are many valuable lessons I learned and I'm certain you will too. Happy Pride, Matt.

I thought of that! I think the series has as many female readers as males and figure someone would pipe in. Glad you enjoyed the respite before the wedding-related shenanigans commence.

Takes one to appreciate another one?

Thanks, Def! CJ was surrounded by older men when he first came to DC and their influence was significant. I have a feeling his interactions with them will become even more significant in the future.

Don't feel bad. I'm sure he doesn't mind the number of guests. He's just frustrated by the process so he took himself out of the equation.

LMAO I swear, my readers are a bunch of horn😈dogs!

check your private messages...

Thank you, my friend.

@Okiegrad Ritchie's gotten more ink in the current book and will do so again in the next one. I'm not commenting on his dinkus. LOL

Search for Francisco Lachowski. He's a Brazilian model, married with a couple of kids. The reason I initially picked him was because of this photo:

LMAO - You can imagine Owen to look any way you want. That's a picture of Alexander Ludwig. I initially useda shot of what he looked like in Hunger Games. For the past few years, he's starred in Vikings and has bulked up considerably. One big change I've made is his body hair. Ludwig has more on his chest than Owen and I've also kept Owen blonder.

@Daddydavek Even the most accepting of straight men will balk at hearing some details. Harley, the most easygoing in the group freaked out when he saw a guy blowing another one through a plate glass window at Parliament House. I picked the ANC because it's not a full-blown political office so an upperclassman in college could handle it. Quincy's no dummy, he's realized CJ's a winner and is ready to hitch his wagon to that horse. I considered a run for the School Board but this seemed a more likely path to follow. But if CJ wins and doesn't embarrass himself, he now has a bunch of well-off supporters who may back him if he does run for the School Board or even City Council. As for timing. I considered accelerating the posting timetable but then the hiatus between this book and the next one would have been longer! I don't think you'd like that.

Thank you! I always get a thrill when long-time readers comment for the first time. It gives me a chance to learn a bit about CJ's followers. Yuck, hiatus are a necessary evil since nobody in my support team does this full time and even I need a break between books. The wedding you'll get in a few chapters, we'll find out the results of the election in the next book.

The tunnels were used for two reasons: to give CJ and Carson a bit of solo time. Carson hasn't had that much time with the group and I want to show him being blended int the group. Secondly, I keep trying to show CJ's mischievous side. He's willing to break (and enter) some rules and I'm sure he thinks he can talk himself out of any trouble they may get into. Thanks for reading and the comment!

Thanks, Wes. Just trying to move the story along here. The pre-wedding festivities start in the next chapter.