Carlos Hazday

LMAO - How about we wait until after the wedding at least? Those unwed pregnancies can be trouble.

As usual, too damn short. But also as usual, incredibly satisfying.

These are from the original real estate listing of the house CJ and Owen purchase. Please remember there will be lots of modifications made to serve my purposes.

If I didn't keep my hair so short I'd be pulling it out in chunks. Trying to reply to comments on my latest chapter's been frustrating to say the least. 😒

As I previously mentioned, I take certain liberties with properties owned by the family. The Valero gas station mentioned in ATGB III is a real development but I'm putting a Cuban restaurant on the ground floor. This is what the new building looks like at the intersection of M and Pennsylvania:

Like I said before, this book's more about CJ and Owen than anyone else. Harley's enjoying living in the Sunshine State. The chapter Mann's currently editing has Owen getting all legal in another circumstance I think you'll like.

Harley made an appearance in this chapter but I've been trying to keep the focus of this book on CJ and Owen in anticipation of the wedding. However, you'll be treated to an entire chapter with only CJ, Owen, and Harley in the very near future. As for the house, CJ and Owen are buying it with their own money. Brett and Cesar are simply loaning them the money instead of them going through a bank. Because of tax laws, if the dads were to buy the house and sign it over to CJ, there would be a huge gift tax owed. By structuring it this way, CJ will be able to make monthly payments out of what his investments generate. he trust fund originally established by Brett's grandfather for any potential heirs (combined with whatever money Cesar set aside before Brett came into the picture) has already paid those taxes and the dads can add almost 25,000 a year without paying any taxes on that amount. I tried to balance the amount of financial detail I provide. Being an accountant, I can talk money and taxes but most people would get bored.

Bingo! I've taken my time getting to this point but Ozzie had to be comfortable with the money or their relationship couldn't have worked out. He may not spend it as fast or easily as CJ but half of it is his. That's what all the prenup hoopla was about. I'm sure seeing how CJ stood by him against the dads had to give him a warm feeling and the realization they would be real partners.

Paddy and the rest of the Squad will get lots of ink the closer we get to the wedding. He may not have had a big role due to being younger, but he's an integral part of the group. He'll graduate from high school about the same time CJ and Owen get married and then head off to college. But we'll have him around for the next two years.

Thanks, buddy.

Owen has gone from being a pretty face to someone CJ relies upon and trusts. We'll see more of that in the future. Their relationship keeps evolving and hopefully becoming stronger.

LMAO I started plotting the house purchase about a year ago. At the time I went on Zillow searching for prospects and settled on this one. Coincidentally, the house's actual sale took place the same day as in the story and the price reduction is also real. When I was in DC last month, I visited the place. It's going through extensive renovations and I tried to talk my way inside but the workers told me the owner was inside so they couldn't let me in. As with most property owned by the family, I'll be taking liberties with the descriptions. Started off by me giving it an extra floor! I did walk around the neighborhood to get a feel for it and ended up at Lincoln Park two blocks away. Chatted with a young woman while her young daughter ran around and after explaining about me writing a novel, she gave me lots of info on the neighborhood. Internet research supported by reality is always a thrill. They get the house back at the end of 2019 and CJ graduates from GU in 2020. The next book ends with his graduation so we'll get to see the work on the house begin.

That was fun. Pulling out the old knob and tube wiring when I had my place rewired.

Stay tuned, I plan on describing some of the issues they encounter once they have the house back. Not only do they have the resources but the family being in the construction business has to help.

Thanks, Tony. Hope you liked this one better.

The last home I owned was built in 1926. Not as old as the one the guys bought but I was only the second occupant and the elderly lady who had it built and lived in it until she moved to a nursing home didn't do much to it. Talk about a money pit!

No matter what Ty and Randy may think, CJ and Owen are no dummies.

The end of November approached and the Prospect Street house was again full of friends and relatives. CJ and Owen asked their realtor, Dasan Turner, to walk them through the house they were trying to purchase in the Capitol Hill neighborhood one more time. The owners had removed all remaining furniture and personal items; the place was empty and ready to be shown off to the Illinois and Florida relatives. Tyler Scott flew in from Chicago in late summer and coordinated his inspection of the p

Springsteen on Broadway honored by Tony Awards https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bruce-springsteen-to-win-special-tony-award-for-hit-musical-w519702

Some of our more casual members or visitors may not realize most of Gay Authors' staff are also authors. Or that @Renee Stevens, who I work closely with on these blog entries, is pregnant and will be taking some time off when Baby J's born. I'm running out of questions and she suggested something I'd like to do before she takes her break: An entire Ask an Author focused on staff authors. Let's make it happen. I have a question for @Cia I'll be sending her later today. How about y'all pitch in? Send me a question for any of our site administrators or moderators who have stories on GA and I'll push to get them answered and published next month.

And we’re back! My inventory of questions is rapidly diminishing and unless I get some new ones, I may start making some up for myself. You wouldn’t want that would you? Pick an author we haven’t featured, ask a question, and let’s see what they have to say. Aren’t you curious about what type of sneakers someone wears? Or maybe how they go about naming chapters or characters? Anything except for XXX matters is fair game. @Hunter Thomson has agreed to a return engagement. Our politician/jock from the Great White North was gracious enough to share a bit more about himself. • Your stories tend to have a sporting theme or background, is this a reflection of your own experiences in high school? In other words, were you, or are you still a sportsman or like most of us, an armchair fan? • The short answer is yes, this is a reflection of my experiences in high school. I started playing baseball when I was four years old, and I retired from the sport once my high school days were over, as I did not make the cut on the university team I tried out for. I spend most of my curling now, and I've been doing that for the past fifteen years. There's no plans to write a curling based story right now, I don't think there's enough of a market for it either on Gay Authors or in the world at large, although I suppose if I did write a gay curling romance it would be the best-seller (only seller?) in its field. I'm actually heading to my third regional playdowns the December 9-11 weekend, so I still play rather competitively. • You can find Hunter’s stories here: https://www.gayauthors.org/author/hunter-thomson/ • • • • • @northie also returns for her second appearance in the rebooted Ask an Author. If you haven’t been following her Never Too Late, I suggest you check it out. Fairly well written, the story’s a look at the budding friendship between an older gay man and a younger one. No, you pervs, it’s not about sex. It’s about the plight of a closeted man in the sunset of his life. • Short stories seem to be your forte and you definitely have the knack, but it can be a challenge for a lot of authors to tell a complete story in a limited amount of words. I think that it takes a certain amount of discipline to write short stories; are you naturally quite a disciplined person? • Thanks for the compliment. Am I self-disciplined? Yes and no … If I'm working to any kind of deadline (at home or in my job), then, yes, I can be disciplined in how I operate. Otherwise, I'm dreadful. 'Tomorrow' is one of my favourite words. I aim to write something every day, whether that's original writing, writing up, editing, or otherwise making alterations. As for the stories, mine vary wildly in length. The shortest is 500 words ('An Uncommon Daisy') and the longest is something over 16,000 ('The Bard's Tale'). When there is an actual word limit imposed (as some of Cia's writing games do), that certainly adds self-discipline into the equation – the story can't just run its course, but must be planned, then contained, refined, reduced as necessary. • You can find northie’s stories here: https://www.gayauthors.org/author/northie/ • • • • • @MacGreg continues the trend. This is the second time we hear from him in the past few months. Previously, we heard about his story Dissonance. Mac’s one of those gifted authors who share stories and poems and this time around he talks about his poetry. • You write both prose and poetry. What do you feel that poetry does for you as an artist/author that prose doesn't? • Good question. Writing prose is creating a story. It involves building a scene, developing characters, pulling the reader into the moment and letting them stay there for a while as the plot unfolds. Like most authors, writing prose gives me a platform to express myself and create fictional people, places, and experiences to share with others. Poetry is a similar outlet for me – but the impetus for writing it comes from a very different place. It derives from a deeper, unconscious source and is much more emotion-driven. It allows me to express myself in a less-structured way than prose (I tend to forego poetry patterns like rhyme, line length, and meter - sorry, poets). Because of this free-form style, I’m able to expel what I’m feeling in short order, sort of like purging something. Get it out, move on, and maybe a few readers will find value in it along the way. • You can find Mac’s work here: https://www.gayauthors.org/author/macgreg/ • • • • • We’ll see you back next month but only if you send me enough questions to pass along.

Way too short. Now I know how my readers feel at times.

Sounds like I need to read 90+ chapters real quick...

I posted a link to Imagine Dragon's "Whatever it Takes" since it was the song CJ listened to during the train ride to New York and he claimed it was his new anthem. The following is from a review of the song on The Pop Song Doctor website. I think this describes pretty well why CJ identifies with it. His drive and ambition could take him far and we know CJ's relentless when he wants something.

Dude, I'm so proud of you. You took my half-baked comments, ran with them, and did a great job. You're a good writer. As for dear old dad, I feel sorry for him. He's out of his depth and doesn't seem to have the tools to deal with his family. Much less his own PTSD. Keep it up, buddy.