Carlos Hazday

At a little over 8,000 words, this short story isn't so short. But it'll feel like it is. You may become so lost in the narrative, the end will creep up on you. Told at a sedate pace, Changing Focus is full of reach descriptions and wonderful dialogue. Those of us with an independent streak will relate to Sean and his reluctant acceptance of help. Jason can best be described as a gentle giant. One of those good souls willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. Although it's a love story, the slow build up is refreshing after being constantly bombarded by the 'love at first sight' crap so many authors sling our way. I enjoyed reading it and believe so will you.

Psionic Corp - No Return is an enjoyable story which unfortunately raises more questions than it answers. The terse language used by the characters fits with a no-nonsense approach likely used by a military organization and fits the tale. But at times it could use softening to make it sound a bit more realistic and less stilted. Mike is a powerful young man who appears headed for greatness. His psionic powers, training, and family wealth seem to give him an unlimited future. Should he partner with a wealthy and influential schoolmate, the possibilities are frightening. There's a subtle commentary on wealth and its relationship to power I wish the author had spent more time exploring. I hope it happens in future installments. Finally, what apparently begins as an undercover operation becomes personal so fast I may sue for whiplash. This is one of those stories that would benefit from revision and expansion. The premise is to good for it to lay dormant.

This is the story to read if you're tired of teen angst and sappy love stories. If you've outgrown they gay men fixation on looks and perfect bodies. And if you've reached a point in life when you realize you have less years left that the number you've lived. its also a cautionary tale about the dangers of a sedentary, over-indulgent life. Maybe those gym bunnies can teach us a lesson about taking care of our bodies. A quick, tender tale about two men near the end of their lives who get a second chance. Well worth the time invested in reading it.

In April 2018, some eight years after this story was written, a Houston-based company announced it plans to open the first luxury hotel in space by late 2021. Club Leo may become a reality in the near future. Mr. James attention to detail is alive and well in this delightful short story. The science is present without being overwhelming and the fiction has no over-the-top drama. The suspense is enough to keep us reading and the splashes of humor will make you smile. I think you'll enjoy this.

And thank you for reading and leaving a comment. I love it when I hear from readers for the first time! Next nook goes live in two weeks, get ready for another fun ride.

@Tonyr The next book go live in two weeks. As for what's coming, . But feel free to start a guessing game in the CJ thread in the forums. It'll be fun to see what people think will happen.

Wonderful piece of flash fiction you'll enjoy. Presented devoid of adornments, this simple commentary on the human race isn't all that simple. Quick read with a satisfying aftertaste.

@Tonyr Thanks for reading, bud. And for the message. I promise the bleakness will dissipate.

In our 21st-century society is obsessed with image, a shop like the one featured in X-Dream Makeover is the perfect setting for a series of adventures. What or how much are we willing to sacrifice in order to achieve what we want? How far are we willing to go to transform ourselves. The four vignettes comprising this story give us a glimpse into human nature and the potential consequences of getting what we want. Isn't there an old saying about being careful what we ask for? Well-written, fast-paced, and populated with interesting characters, this story should be on your reading list.

And we’re back. Sometimes I wish a few of my favorite GA authors were still around. I have questions about what inspired them to write a particular story, how they decided on locations, or even how they settled on a character’s name. Unfortunately, those I’d most be interested in asking aren’t around these days. Will you face the same regrets I do in a couple of years? Think of one of our new hotshot writers and send me a question. I’ll get it answered and we can all learn a bit more about those who entertain us. • • • • • @Dodger Well-known for his distinctive avatar and having published ninety-five chapters of his long-running story The Cockney Canuck, Dodger is not a one-hit wonder. I’ve enjoyed reading several of his short stories and this month’s question is about a different ongoing story: The Church and the Tradesman. • Your The Church and the Tradesman is a highly original and engaging work. How did you get inspired to create these characters? • Most of my characters are loosely based on people who I have met in real life and The Church and the Tradesman follows the same principle with the exception, unsurprisingly, of the unruly and thoroughly dislikeable pop star, Tyrone. It’s definitely not fan-fiction so I’m not going to throw any names out there but his character is based on the typical, manufactured, teenage, pretty boy, pop idol. Needless to say, I’ve never met anyone who falls into this category so it’s possible that Tyrone’s personality isn’t an accurate representation, but I like to think it is. The protagonist Andy, his friend Jazz, and sly colleague Bob are all slightly exaggerated variations of people who I met or worked with whilst living in the UK. They do, however, come from completely different backgrounds and environments and their paths in real life would probably never cross. I just thought it would be fun to put them all together and throw in a pop star for good measure. The inspiration originally came from an iconic gay nightclub in London that was nicknamed ‘The Church’ because of its unusual opening hours. In the story, this is the spiritual home for Andy’s gay alter-ego and a counterbalance for his very straight weekday job with Bob. This bizarre, hardcore dance venue, only opened one day a week on Sunday mornings from 4 am until 1 pm and gained notoriety in the nineties following a number of high-profile sex scandals. In its day it was probably the most infamous gay nightclub in the world but a reputation for sleaze and drugs inevitably led to its closure. Mercifully, I was never old enough to attend church when I was in England but I once had the dubious privilege of meeting some ex-members of the so-called ‘congregation’. Their vegetated states and vacant expressions were enough to convince me that the stories that I had heard about this place were probably true. This was supposed to be a light-hearted story but it does touch on the very serious problem of drug abuse, which I do not condone but could not ignore either. Drugs play a very big and very destructive role in Andy’s life and it was difficult for me to write about this without glamorizing it in any way. I hope I did okay. • • • • • @Dabeagle & @Cynus One question, two top dogs in the GA greyhound track– talk about a perfecta. I gambled and posed the same question to both authors in one message so they could read each other’s responses. Here’s what they had to say. • Dabeagle has just finished writing a story The List which is set in the universe of another writer's creation: Cynus' Weightless and Fearless. I'm curious as to the effect on both writers. Cynus, with someone else using, inhabiting, and possibly changing his own world. And Dabeagle about the pressures of writing something knowing that another author was likely to take a close interest in what resulted. How much collaboration was there? Or did Cynus hand over the characters and their environment and let Dabeagle get on with it? What attracted Dabeagle to those stories in the first place? • Dabeagle For me writing with others is old hat. Some of my best ideas and stories come from discussion and brainstorming with other people. I had worked with Cynus before - he's a relatively old friend - and we'd been successful in our plotting and execution of the story we'd wanted to tell. With respect to The List, Cynus had put out an invitation for people to come write in his universe. That particular thing isn't something I do. I have borrowed characters, with permission, such as Craftingmom's Devyn Kennedy. Sometimes a character, usually a secondary one, resonates strongly with me and I'll be moved to write them. My motivation in this case was to create characters that could interact with the existing universe yet be individual. I follow some basic rules or guidelines when working with other's characters. First is not to change them in order to suit me. For instance, breaking up a couple for my own use unless the original author approves. For instance, Cynus had already told me that Angie and Travis wouldn't last, therefore opening a door. I'd never have broken them up on my own. Secondly this sort of thing needs the blessing of whomever you're either working with or, in this case, whose universe you're playing in. Cynus was very supportive and loved Parker and Shane which made things much easier. I asked him a lot of questions in order to stay true to characters as well as not running afoul of any plans he had made in terms of new stories. So this wasn't a collaboration in the traditional sense, but neither was it a carte blanche. As I completed scenes or had ideas for new ones I'd often chat with Cynus via text or once a phone call. Communication is essential, for me, to create in a situation like that. I didn't feel a great deal of pressure as Cynus was involved in my idea process and read things as they got done. As far as what attracted me to them, I've read most of Cynus's work and given him critiques as well as sought critiques from him. I liked his characters and thought it would be fun to start out on the ground floor, as it were, and see if things would go like my Sanitaria Springs series. Primarily, though, I did it because Cynus is a friend and I felt I could do it. If this had been in some of his other universes, I'd have not had the ability. • Cynus Dabeagle's being a bit kind to me here. The perk of answering second is being able to read his response first, and I intend to take full advantage of the opportunity. There was a point in time where I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as an author. I felt I wasn't properly connecting to my readership, and that I wasn't having the level of success I felt capable of reaching. I kept complaining to Dabeagle about how no one ever wanted to write with my characters, and I questioned if that meant they weren't lovable enough. It sounds silly, I know, and in hindsight my mind really wasn't in the best place at the time (If you have any doubt, check out the note at the end of "Weightless"). Dabeagle knew I wanted someone to care about my work in that way, and he was generous enough with his time and talent to accommodate my self-pity. I'm grateful to him for that, even if it didn't quite pan out the way either of us expected. That was a rough time for me, and his willingness to contribute to my universe was in fact something I really needed emotionally. We'd collaborated before on Sanitaria Springs stories (where Dabeagle fell in love with one of my characters, Logan Whitmore), and working with him has always been fairly natural. With respect to the world/setting, I gave him fairly loose rein. The only areas which became tricky at all involved his use of my characters, but through extensive communication I think we handled that very smoothly. Shane and Parker are delightful--I have a soft spot for Parker especially--and I think they play well with my characters. For the record, if anyone else wants to consider a collaboration (or sponsored fanfiction) in my worlds, please feel free to talk to me about it. My characters always need friends, and if you're as good at collaboration as Dabeagle, we'll create another great story like "The List". • • • • • @MythOfHappiness Although no stranger to prose, MythOfHappiness has delighted many a reader with poetry. In my continuing effort to highlight GA poets, here’s another one for you. • You write so beautifully in poetry about images and experiences common to so many of us. Do you see poetry as a way to tell stories and share experiences? What led you to share your gift for image and word in poetry with everyone? • I write because it makes me happy. I can't really do anything else artistically, I don't play any musical instruments, I can't draw worth anything... writing is kind of all I have. I publish on here because I want to improve at writing and because if I didn't, I wouldn't ever finish anything I started. My drive at home is half-full of stories and poems I began to write but never finished. I'm not good at ending things, I guess. Thanks for asking. You're the first person to ever do so, and it really surprised me when I opened my GA account today.

Good choice, Cia. I'll work on a review tomorrow.

@bry767 Thanks, Troy! It's great to hear from you. In case you missed my status update from last Friday, The next installment in the series will begin posting on April 20. I look forward to hearing what you think.

You will laugh and you will cry. You will love and you will hate. And then you'll start on the second chapter. I'm not a fan of teen angst and this story has it in spades. The author resorts to the old approach of making the main character oblivious to certain things in order to force the dramatic events and it's often cheesy. I spent most of the time wanting to slap Owen around because he was being so stupid. Characters not expressing their feelings is a cliche but once again it helps show how lack of communication is at the root of many relationship problems. Fairly well written, the story would benefit from completing revisions the author acknowledged had begun. Too many misused words will make you cringe. Wait! Don't run away. Even though he's stupid, Owen's an extremely likable character and so are Aiden, Tony, Chris, and most of the supporting cast. If my criticism above leaves you thinking I hated the story, you're wrong. This is the third time I've read "The Long Way." Imperfect but worth a look.

Thanks for reading and the continued support, M8 Even though the sad chapter generated tons of reactions, I'm not planning too many more like this one. They're tough to write and I also want the series to be uplifting. At the same time, people die in real life and I felt it was appropriate to show it. Guess the dads agree with you. They sent flowers to the hospital to cheer Liz up but afterward made a donation to a charity in her honor. Her ashes will be part of her Australian home for the rest of time.

Thanks for reading, Jack. I hope you enjoyed it even if it was through misty eyes.

Thank you. Your comment and many others left on this chapter and the preceding ones leave me shaking my head. I have a huge ego but it's still hard to reconcile the praise with me being the author receiving it. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my efforts would attract such a wonderful group of followers. I'm humbled.

It does make sense. I won't spoil it for future readers but when CJ and his cousin Rod take a road trip later in the series, a few details of Brett and Cesar's lives pre-CJ is revealed. They were typical urban, affluent, young gay men and had to learn how to be full-time parents.

@Potterslashfan I'm not planning a long hiatus...

@JeffreyL Thanks, Jeff. The length of my chapters has crept up over time so these short ones are rare. There may be a few more in the future when there's a significant event involved. I kinda like the focus not being diluted by something else.

I knew the song I wanted to use and when I went looking for the video I was surprised it was an homage to Iz. Seeing his ashes being spread over the water inspired the spreading of the girl's in the vineyard.

Welcome to the Hotel CJ Such a lovely place 'We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!' Too bad your first taste was a chapter riddled with sadness. Those tend to be rare, I'm more of an upbeat type of writer. But I'm glad your first taste of my prose moved you. Thanks for the praise.

@pvtguy Thanks, Tony. I'm still fumbling my way through the story but I keep trying to make it as engaging as possible. Next book will be longer so there'll be more opportunity to bond with our boys.

Thanks for pinch-hitting for me while I was offline, Spikey.

@Potterslashfan The SD reference should be clear by now. Skinny was a joy to interact with and he's missed by many. As for what's coming, we have a wedding to plan so anything after that will have to wait. And any over-the-top plot twists will also have to wait. I'm not bringing in the unknown, surprise relatives until much later! Thanks for reading and the praise, bud.

@Cris L YES! Mission accomplished! I think you had lots of company starting with the author tearing up a bit each time I worked on the chapter.