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wildone

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  1. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Feb 11 - Feb 18)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Well good morning, evening, maybe afternoon depending on where you are! Yes, sadly I will be doing the blog today so apologies are sent out to everyone I might mess up with me doing it  . Well now that we are done with Valentines week, let's take a look back on all of the different offerings this week. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology: Summer - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthologies
    2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th 2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th 2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th  
    Blog Opportunities
    Story Critique: Open to all GA authors. Sign up here.
    Ask An Author: Send your questions for your favorite authors to @Carlos Hazday (no questions = no Ask An Author)
    3 Story Promo: Open to all GA Authors. PM Renee Stevens to participate.
    Author Interview: Open to all GA Authors. PM Renee Stevens to participate.
    Favorite Self-Written Story: Open to all GA authors. PM Renee Stevens to participate
    Story Recommendations:  Open to all GA authors & readers. PM Renee Stevens to participate.
     
    Premium Updates:
     
    Harbinger by Cia *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    The Friendship Ring by Ronyx
     
    You Promised Me a Tomorrow by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Boy Valentine by Comicality
     
    Denied by Cia
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    I Could Tell by Comicality
     
    Insomnia by CassieQ
     
    Martyrs of the Heart by Cynus
     
    Mojo by AC Benus
     
    Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour; Book 8 of Bridgemont
     
    Promptings from Valhalla by Valkyrie
     
    Second Chances by Cynus
     
    Shadow Honor by Cynus
     
    So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Bless Me, Father by Parker Owens
     
    Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens
     
    Fractions for fun by Puppilull
     
    Georgetown: Over The Rainbow by Carlos Hazday; Book 8 of CJ
     
    Only Prompts by Mikiesboy
     
    Special Occasion Stories by Caz Pedroso
     
    ***Check out this GA Classic***

    Trials and Tribulations
    Billy Martin
     
    A coming of age story about Andy Collins and friends. As he deals with his sexual orientation, he and his friends must also confront abuse and murder in the small mining town of Pine Hills, nestled away in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky.
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  2. wildone

    Think Before You Type

    By wildone,


    News Archive
    You know when I’m writing a blog it usually means that we need to discuss a direction the site is headed in or recent issues on-site.
     
    First off, let me start by saying the site’s administrators and moderators are all personally very supportive of freedom of speech. The stories contained in our archive, for example, still run afoul of the laws in many countries where gay and erotic literature is deemed obscene and pornographic. But even a commitment on our part to free speech must inevitably be balanced against certain constraints necessary to keep the site online and build an inclusive community where all are welcome.
     
    I’m sure most are aware of how GA is funded, but I'll review for those that are not. When Myr first started the site, he covered the costs out of his own pocket. Needless to say that was a long, long time ago. And as the site grew over the last fifteen years, and boy did it ever, GA had more and more costs. Those costs became unmanageable for one, or even five or six people to shoulder themselves. Thoughts were bounced around to do pledge drives, much like a certain Wiki organization regularly does. Luckily, in the end we were able to weigh the advantages, and the cash, that Google AdSense can provide to the site. This allowed us to continue to remain completely free by including advertising on the site rather than having pledge drives to pay the expenses. Eventually costs soared and we had to re-evaluate our funding choices again, and that’s when we came up with the Premium membership option. This still makes 98% of the site free to all members. In our opinion, this was a win-win scenario as the site remained online with the combined funding and our Premium members get to read stories that would otherwise not be available on-site.
     
    As I mentioned earlier, there are constraints imposed upon the site by participating in the Google AdSense program.  Google often changes their policies and decides what content, or speech if you like, is allowed to exist on sites that carry their advertisements.  We must therefore make certain trade-offs at times and implement new policies to protect the site’s primary revenue stream so that we remain in Google’s good graces and also do what’s right for our community.
     
    We had a discussion going on in a topic recently which involved some words that included, and this is my summary, racial slurs and vulgar terms. I don’t think I need to spell them out or obfuscate the words by replacing the letters with ***s. Think of words that you probably hear in everyday speech or maybe in movies. Words that most wouldn’t use in polite company. These words now have a filter on them that will not allow the post to be public unless it is approved by one of our moderators. So if you are typing up a post, and it doesn’t immediately appear, it might be because of the language within the post. I must thank the people who were involved in that topic for working with us to get their posts edited in a way that meets these standards.
     
    Personally, myself, I have issues with racial slurs or racially hateful names/labels, and bigoted and sexist language. I also realize that others don’t see this speech as an issue and get upset at the idea of not being able to freely use it.  I know here at GA, we strive to be an inclusive community where our guests and members feel welcome, and some of our site’s visitors include minority groups that might feel targeted by this language. Why would we want to be a place that openly welcomes and supports members of any sexual orientation or gender expression, but in turn have racially hateful language making them feel like a minority within a minority? One member shared with me his own experience that there are some major ethnic groups that feel like ‘gay groups’ can be as alienating, if not more so, by their language and derogatory slang used to refer to them. Is this really what we want for GA? I do realize that maybe certain words are used in your circle of friends, or maybe within your family or your area of the globe, but that doesn’t justify their use on this site. If we had someone join and find a fair bit of language that they find hateful, what does that say about us as a community? Do you want them to feel unwelcome?
     
    There are a few ways that we are allowing certain language which might be considered ‘real language’ by some to remain visible. In Stories, if you want to keep your characters real and you feel the only way to do that is to use language that you won’t find on Network TV, then you can do so—as long as the story is rated Mature. The Pit is also an area not open to Google AdSense so, if needed, these words will be permitted there as long as they are not being directed at others. Other than that though, we will be enforcing automatic filters going forward and not allowing certain words that I’m sure you all know to be used on our Forums. And, as always, if you are making a personal attack on someone using any language, this will be treated as a personal attack first and foremost. 
     
    The next category to discuss is vulgar words. Without using the actual words or *** again, I will specify the slang use of a female’s vagina will not be allowed on-site except for the same guidelines as the racially-charged words above. I really don’t see how a conversation is made better by using this word. Once again, I realize this is only me, but in general it is not used in polite company.
     
    So what exactly does this mean going forward? If a restricted word is used in a post on-site, your post will not be seen and the moderation team by alerted to your post with the following warning: 
     

     
    The Site Moderation Team will contact you and review that the post made contains a word that is not acceptable on our Forums and give you a copy of the post so you can modify and re-post it should you choose.
     
    If the post appears in the Pit it will be approved as long as it isn’t being used as a personal attack on someone.
     
    It will be up to you to determine if you will be posting again. I’m sure you can be creative enough without trying to get around the filters to get your point across. Unfortunately, if your creativity is just hiding the word with other symbols like ***, spelling or similar words that will sound out the word, they will be blocked too.
     
    There will be no warnings or punishment if you get a message of this nature for a post unless staff are forced to moderate a member’s posts repeatedly when it is clear they have been made aware of these rules. Remember, though, that Rules Lawyering is not allowed under the site rules already. Please understand that we are doing this entirely to protect not only our members who may be alienated by this language, but to protect the revenue that keeps the site online.
     
    Is it really worth losing the nearly 124,000,000 words entirely over the use of a few words?
     
    I encourage you to use this blog to discuss the issue now, instead of having to rehash it later. Can we just do it without the use of certain words?
  3. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Nov 12 - 18)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Wow, another week in the bag! I know a lot of our American friends are busy getting ready for US Thanksgiving this coming week, but lets take a look back at the GA News Blog for the past week and see if there is something that you are thankful for early .
     
    On Monday, Renee brought us a review by @Puppilull for the Feature Story this week; Personal Banking by @Refugium.  Good comments and feedback to entice you to take on another story to read.
     
    Wednesday, Renee brought us a new feature that can could will may help me a lot In Common Editing Issues #1, @JayT, brings us some common editing issues. The great thing about these blogs is the great interaction between the members. This one definitely brought up some discussion. Did I mess up on my commas ?
     
    Friday Renee brought us the ever popular Writing Prompts from @comicfan. This weeks were Prompt 626 and 627:
     
     
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
     Premium Updates:
     
    Angel's Heart by Nephylim *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    Denied by Cia
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Cider Press by Parker Owens
     
    Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens
     
    Georgetown: Roar by Carlos Hazday; Book 7 of CJ
     
    The Poetry of D/s by Mikiesboy
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
     
     
  4. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Nov 5 - 11)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Another week has passed here at the GA News Blog and in the true fashion of not having Renee here, I forgot to feature our Friday Weekly Prompts. Many of you got to see it, but apologies to you who did not. Luckily you can still see it here and participate during the week. Lots going on and lots of new chapters from our Signature/Promising and all authors on site as well!
     
    On Monday,  Cia introduced us to the November Can't Stop Reading feature. This month it is @Graeme's Street Life. I've read it and can definitely recommend it
     
    Wednesday was our fairly new feature that is turning out pretty popular. This week on the Favourite Self-Written Story, we had @Carlos Hazday , @lomax61 , and @Headstall tell us about one story that they wrote.
     
    Friday, Renee brought us Writing Prompt 624 and 625. Once again, sorry this wasn't featured at the top of the homepage.
     
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team***
    2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017 **please contact @Valkyrie** Anthology Theme Selection - Part 2: Voting Open to Authors! Voting closes Novemember 14th at Noon MST.  
    Premium Updates:
     
    Angel's Heart by Nephylim *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    A Man in a Room, and other poems by AC Benus; Book 6 of Verse
     
    Cards on the Table by Headstall
     
    Cozy Contemplations by Headstall
     
    Denied by Cia
     
    One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse
     
    Rivers of the Dead by Cynus
     
    So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews
     
    Translation Trashbin by AC Benus; Book 7 of Verse
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Cider Press by Parker Owens
     
    Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens
     
    Georgetown: Roar by Carlos Hazday; Book 7 of CJ
     
    Only Prompts by Mikiesboy
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
     
  5. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Oct 29 - Nov 04)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Renee is off, so I will be helping out for the next few Weekly updates. Before I start, if I make any mistakes, blame @Valkyrie . Actually, no, we need to thank Val for stepping in and helping out in a pinch for anything to do with the Anthologies. As per this announcement, please send all anthology proof requests to her. Thanks Cat, er Penguin, er Val
     
    https://www.gayauthors.org/announcement/347-attn-anthology-authors/
     
    So let's jump in to the week's summary and see what you may have seen and what you may have missed.
     
    Monday, Cia led us off on the October CSR Discussion Day:
     
    Tuesday was the big reveal! We found out who wrote the stories in the Happy Halloween contest. I was nada on all my guesses Congrats to the winners!
     
     
     
    Wednesday Renee brought us the missed monthly blog that is now renamed and a slightly new format:
     
    Finally on Friday Comicfan brought our ever popular Writing Prompts. This week was prompt 622 and 623.
     
     
    Contests
    2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018  
    Anthology Announcements:
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team***
    2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017 **please contact @Valkyrie** Anthology Theme Selection - Part 2: Voting Open to Authors!  
    Premium Updates:
     
    Angel's Heart by Nephylim *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Brittle as a Bird by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    Cozy Contemplations by Headstall
     
    Denied by Cia
     
    Promptings from Valhalla by Valkyrie
     
    Rivers of the Dead by Cynus
     
    So Weeps the Willow by Cole Matthews
     
    There's No Place Like Home for the Hallowdays by Cynus
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Cider Press by Parker Owens
     
    Disasters, Delights and Other Detours by Parker Owens
     
    Fractions for fun by Puppilull
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
     
  6. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Jun 11-17)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    We are now half way through June, oh my . We had another exciting week here in the GA News Blog including the news of our newest Signature Author, AC Benus  . So let's recap up the entire week.
     
    Monday:
     
    Tuesday
    Friday
     
    Premium Updates:
     
    A Closed Door by Andrew_Q_Gordon *Premium*
     
    Negative Splits by Cia *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Reggie's Journal by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    A Man in a Room, and other poems by AC Benus; Book 6 of Verse
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Poetry by Renee by Renee Stevens
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Choices by LitLover
     
    Cozy Contemplations by Headstall
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Ripped by craftingmom
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Walls by Carlos Hazday
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
     
     
     
  7. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (June 4-10)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Okay, so let me start out with a possible apology. I wrote the update earlier on and thought I saved it as a post dated blog. If anything pops up in the future saying it is today's wrap up, I do apologize   I wonder if this is covered in the GA Users Manual
     
    Anywho...... It was a busy week in the GA News Blog. We had an extra feature this week! Make sure you check out Myr's Tech Blog post from yesterday to see about what has happened but also what is coming
     
    Monday:
    Wednesday:
    Friday:
    Saturday:
    Contests
    Halloween Short Story Contest - Due September 15th, 2017  
    Anthology Announcements:
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017  
    Premium Updates:
     
    A Closed Door by Andrew_Q_Gordon *Premium*
     
    Negative Splits by Cia *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Reggie's Journal by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    A prompt a week by comicfan
     
    Dribbles by Cia
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Promptings from Valhalla by Valkyrie
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Bits n Pieces by Mikiesboy
     
    Choices by LitLover
     
    Cozy Contemplations by Headstall
     
    Fractions for fun by Puppilull
     
    Pride Month, and other Haibun by AC Benus
     
    Prompts 2017 by Caz Pedroso; Book 4 of Prompt's
     
    Ripped by craftingmom
     
    The Watcher: Book Three... Farewells by Headstall
     
    tim's Fast n Flashy Fiction by Mikiesboy
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
     
  8. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up May 21 - 27

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Well good day everyone With Renee still off enjoying some holidays in the mountains, being the Crazy Mountain Lady that she is, and Cia deserving at least one day of rest, I have been threatened volunteered to do the Wrap Up this week . Lots happened this week on the blog so lets summarize it all up. Another way to get the news is to sign up and have it delivered straight to your inbox with Gay Author's weekly newsletter which goes out every Sunday.
    psst, I'm reading Unforgivable and really loving it!!!
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017  
    Premium Updates:
     
    Negative Splits by Cia *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    Reggie's Journal by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday
     
    Agenda 21 by Comicality
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Waiting Outside The Lines by Comicality
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Buy One, Get Two and Three... by Caz Pedroso
     
    Choices by LitLover
     
    Cozy Contemplations by Headstall
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Ripped by craftingmom
     
    Slocked Affections by AC Benus
     
    The Gay Experience by AC Benus
     
    timmy's poetry by Mikiesboy
     
    Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
     
     
  9. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Dec 25 - 31)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    :music: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :music:

     

    Well I hope everyone had a great night bringing in the New Year. I know I did The great thing about celebrating the New Year is not to forget everything that has happened in the past year, but also to look forward to what will come in the New Year. We will all be experiencing some changes coming up and I'm excited about it and looking forward to looking back next January 1st and seeing where we have come.
     
    So for the final time, we will look back on the last week of 2016 for the GA News Blog.
     
    We started out on Monday right out of the gate with Cia having the CSR Discussion Day where Kuragari129's story; My Life Started At The End Of The World was discussed. Cia started off here nail biting investigating style where we learned that Kuragari doesn't eat enough fruits and vegetables . Cia, being a mom, was able to overlook this and move onto other questions relating to his writing on site . Make sure to pop by and see the responses.
     
    Next we had Myr make another entry on Tech Tuesday. This week Myr shared with us some more information about the upcoming changes to the site were we may have to adjust our minds around the difference between a Review and a Comment. Personally I like what is coming as it should enable both the authors and the readers the ability to communicate back and forth with the comment part, yet still review that will be peer promoted to give you an overall idea of the story. Myr included some screen shots of both the upcoming feedback tools. Now, hopefully I got that right as I'm still trying to figure out what the difference is between a forum, topic, thread etc. Even if you do have troubles with the wording, I'm sure this will be easily caught on by all.
     
    Wednesday Renee brought us a new feature that we haven't seen before called Favorite Self-Written Story. This is a different approach to what usually relies on others opinions of stories to be reviewed. This time Renee asked authors what their own personal favourite story is that they have penned. This time she asked Valkyrie, Craftingmom and Mann Ramblings. In addition to finding out what the story is, we also learned the why.
     
    Friday was a return to the Writing Prompts which always seem to get some takers to the challenge of creating something new. Renee and Cia approached this one a a bit differently being the last one of 2016. The first one of two that are New Years related was your thoughts at the moment 2017 begins. Looking back at last years resolutions and what you want to have for new ones in 2017. The second prompt was you receiving an envelope with a mysterious note inside; "I've been waiting for this chance to accomplish last year's resolution, so please meet me on the patio at 11:59". Lastly Renee shared some of the responses to Prompt 544 from JohnAR, Timothy M., and Jamessavik.
     
    Saturday Renee updated us on the 2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences. We had a great response to the 2016 Anthologies so maybe hunker down at start off 2017 with a great anthology to share with everyone! You have until April 30th to git er done! Reading some status updates the other day a certain wolf I believe is 20,000 words in already. Jeez, bet they have next years Christmas shopping done too!!!
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: For the immediate future, please copy in Cia on all Anthology PM's to Renee
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 30th, 2017 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017

    Premium Updates:
     

    Studly Ranch Hands by Renee Stevens *Premium*
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    Innocence & Carnality - Part Two by Mann Ramblings; Book 2 of I & C
     
    Mental Games by Bill W
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Studly Ranch Hands by Renee Stevens
     
    Temporary Dads by Graeme
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Confide/ant by Sasha Distan
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Of Prophets, Saints and Sinners by AC Benus; Book 8 of Christmas at Famous-Barr
     
    Tiger Winter by Sasha Distan
     
    Walls by Carlos Hazday; Book 6 of CJ
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
  10. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Dec 18 - 24)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Well this is an eventful day in many places in the world....
     


    Merry Christmas


     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    Happy Hanukkah


     
     
     

    I'm sure many of you have already opened your pressies and getting ready to have a feast! If you don't celebrate either of these traditions, we all wish you all the very best on these happy days to everyone, everywhere!!
     
    So let's look back at the week that was.
     
    Monday we started off the week with Cia doing up the December Signature Feature. We learned the that December is Valkyrie's Alex's Legacy. Valkyrie shared some of her favourite reviews she received on the story. Also, we were given the banner that we can download to our signature if you choose.
     
    Tuesday was a day for Myr to take over and give us another addition of Tech Tuesday. Myr updated us all on the workings going on behind the scenes with the upcoming launch of the new IP Board Software that drives our site. There has been 2 years of updates that we have passed on and now we are getting ready for 4.1.18 to drive our forums. Expect more blog posts as we move even closer to the launch in early 2017. Also a big thank you to everyone who had helped out with the beta testing!
     
    Wednesday the we featured Valkyrie's story Alex's Legacy again! This time it was the Signature Excerpt from this popular story. We learned that she actually got the story started from a prompt. Just shows that Prompts are a great way to get ideas coming to life. Val also shared an except that meant the most to her!
     
    Then on an different Thursday post, we finally found out the much anticipated release of the 2016 Special Anthology "Rewind" was made live! We have 12 new stories that everyone had an option of choosing any past themes. Not only that, Headstall won a prize given out for authors participating. We also learned of another contest running that every story you read, and review, you get entered into another draw for some great prizes. Make sure you check out every one of these great entries as well as leave a review to show how much you appreciate the authors for making the effort to participate! Also, maybe pop onto the many members profile page's of the Anthology team and leave a nice thank you for their work on their profile feed.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: For the immediate future, please copy in Cia on all Anthology PM's to Renee
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 30th, 2017 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017

    Premium Updates:
     

    Studly Ranch Hands by Renee Stevens *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    The Red Wagon by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    Bill's Christmas Gift by comicfan **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Faeries Anonymous by Valkyrie **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Innocence & Carnality - Part Two by Mann Ramblings; Book 2 of I & C
     
    Maelstrom by Valkyrie **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Mental Games by Bill W
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Release Me by Comicality
     
    HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont
     
    Temporary Dads by Graeme
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    The Legend of Treehaven Woods by Valkyrie **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    An Advent Calendar by aditus
     
    Boxed In: A Christmas Story by Headstall **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Daddy Issues by Sasha Distan **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Family Matters by Sasha Distan **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Finding Refuge by Headstall **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall
     
    Of Prophets, Saints and Sinners by AC Benus; Book 8 of Christmas at Famous-Barr
     
    Stepping Through the Mirror by Headstall **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    The Egyptian Pantheon by Sasha Distan
     
    Tiger Winter by Sasha Distan
     
    Trade Deals by Sasha Distan **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Voli Me Tangere by aditus **2016 Special Anthology: Rewind**
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
  11. wildone
    **Special Announcements**


     

    Many of you have spoken and we have listened. Have you ever had to decide how many of your likes to use within an 24 hour period and were limited and unable to like everything you wanted? Well starting today we are happy to announce that there is no limit on the likes you can use in a day!!! The only exception will be the Newbie Group that will be increasing from 3 to 20 a day. Just so you know, if you are a Newbie and want the unlimited feeling, you only need to make one single post to get out of the Newbie Group
     
    Also we are consolidating the numbers needed to move out of Moderation Queue and Peer Review Queue as well. With more likes being available, we are sure most can get more, more quickly. In order to consolidate you will need 150 likes to move out of the Moderation Queue, and we have lowered the number from 200 to 150 to move out of Peer Review.
     
    Now don't be afraid to like this blog as it won't go against your daily total (shameless solicitation on my part )
     
    And now to our regularly scheduled Weekly Update to see what has happened over the past week.
     
    Monday Renee introduced us to the Featured Story; A Taste Of Desire by Arazon. Timothy M was very helpful in providing a great review of this completed story to us. After reading the review it piqued my interest and now I'm reading it myself. Always great to find something new to read that you weren't aware of before.
     
    Wednesday we received some Writing Tips to help any of our New Authors, but really is good for the experienced ones too. Two of our popular authors gave us some great tips. Aditus shared with us all how to he handled Starting Out with posting stories. Being around a while myself, I can personally attest that what he shared is great advice and many of our authors have followed this advice themselves. Next Graeme gave some invaluable advice on Planning your story. There is multiple ways to tackle this issue and Graeme reviews some of them. I guess the key piece of advice is to have a plan when you start.
     
    Thursday gave us all an update on the 2016 Special Anthology. If you haven't checked it out already, please do if you have contributed a story to be featured in this first time reboot of all past Anthology themes. Even if you are not contributing, it is a good chance to plan out what you are going to want to read. If by chance you didn't see your story, please contact Cia and Renee as soon as possible.
     
    Friday Cia gave us our Weekly Prompts for the week. Prompt 544 has a first line of It's time to bury the hatchet. Hmmm, that can be taken several different ways. Which way will you choose to interpret this one? Prompt 545 seems like a great one for this week. The tag is a Party Nightmare. I'm sure most can relate or sympathize for others on this one. A total disaster is about to break loose hours before the family is about to arrive for your first ever Family Holiday Party that you are in charge of. Finally Cia featured Timothy M's response to Prompt 543.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: For the immediate future, please copy in Cia on all Anthology PM's to Renee
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 **Now Closed** 2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 30th, 2017 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017

    Premium Updates:
     

    Studly Ranch Hands by Renee Stevens *Premium*
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday
     
    A Class By HImself by Comicality
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Innocence & Carnality - Part Two by Mann Ramblings; Book 2 of I & C
     
    Mental Games by Bill W
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Temporary Dads by Graeme
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    An Advent Calendar by aditus
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall
     
    Of Prophets, Saints and Sinners by AC Benus; Book 8 of Christmas at Famous-Barr
     
    Tiger Winter by Sasha Distan
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
  12. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Nov 27-Dec 3)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Renee will be taking a bit of time off from the Site Blog but will return soon. I will be doing the weekly wrap up for the immediate future, so lets hope I don't mess it up
     
    Monday we started the week off with the November CSR Discussion Day of Comicality's Between the Lines. Cia had a lengthy interview with Comicality about not only the story but also what motivates him to believe he is writing a good story. A lot of tips and information from one of our most read authors at GA.
     
    Wednesday on December 1st, we learned about a first here at GA. Cole Matthews, Valkyrie and Aditus all shared with us a project that they are working on called Advent Calendar. This will be 24 short pieces by the 3 authors posting every day up until Christmas. To add some fun, the 3 have a topic where you can try to guess who penned the pieces and a big reveal at the end of the week. Make sure to pop in daily to see the story posted by Aditus and then try to not only guess the author, but participate in the discussion.
     
    Friday was our Prompt Day and we had the Second Chance Prompts #509 & #511. 509 is a creative prompt that is based around a Tire. Mainly a flat one and no working spare and encountering a person from your past that comes out from the Auto Club. 511 is a creative prompt called the Child. Things aren't normal in the neighbourhood when a new family moves in and they have a child. What is it about this child that has upset the normal day to day activities of the neighbours? Sounds interesting, eh?
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: For the immediate future, please copy in Cia on all Anthology PM's to Renee
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 30th, 2017 2017 Fall Anthology: The Fall Out / Secret Spaces - Due November 15th, 2017

     

    Premium Updates:
     
    Disastertastic by Cia *Premium*
     
    Studly Ranch Hands by Renee Stevens *Premium*
     
    Classic Updates:
     
    A Christmas Eve Awakening by Ronyx
     
    Door Number Three by Ronyx
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    319 Winesap Lane by CarlHoliday
     
    A prompt a week by comicfan
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Innocence & Carnality - Part Two by Mann Ramblings; Book 2 of I & C
     
    Mental Games by Bill W
     
    Mine! by Cia
     
    Temporary Dads by Graeme
     
    The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 2 by Bill W; Book 11 of The Castaway Hotel
     
    Waiting Outside The Lines by Comicality
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    American Steel by Carlos Hazday
     
    An Advent Calendar by aditus
     
    Fallen Pride by Sasha Distan; Book 7 of The Best Circle of Hell Stories
     
    Headstall's Reflections by Headstall
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall
     
    Right Where We Live by AC Benus; Book 5 of Christmas at Famous-Barr
     
    Tiger Winter by Sasha Distan
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
  13. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up (Sept 11 - 17)

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    In case you haven't guessed it yet, Renee is still away . If she isn't back soon we might have to send out a search party. Both Cia and I are exhausted with picking up her slack
     
    So here is what happened this past week.
     
    Monday, we usually would have a story featured in the Featured Story blog. This week, Cia gave us some insight though a review by Aditus on Mikesboy's poetry for NaPoWriMo. This appeared to be a great success as there is 2 pages of comments left for the feature. It is good to see some of our Poets getting the recognition they truly deserve.
     
    On Wednesday, Renee shared with us in the Premium Promo, a story by Layla entitled Desolation Angels. We received a excerpt from this interesting story. If you want to read it, make sure to pop by the blog to find out how to get this great story plus many more if you sign up for a Premium Membership. All the details are in the blog.
     
    Thursday was a big day for a big announcement. A.J. and The Author Promotion Team announced to the site that Valkyrie was our newest Signature Author!! Valkyrie has amassed a large amount of stories as well as been a frequent contributor on site as an editor, reviewer, and winner of Last Post Wins . Make sure to pop into the blog or her topic in the Signature forum to congratulate this deserving person.
     
    Friday, Cia finished the week up by throwing down the gauntlet to see if they were any takers to this weeks Writing Prompts. This week #530 had a first line of "Pull over, I'm going to be sick" . #540 had a tag of The Flood. Lastly Cia feature Sasha Distan's return to the prompts with giving us a glimpse of prompt #526 entitled East-Jesus-Nowhere.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28th, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016 2017 Spring Anthology: Jagged Edges / Unintended Consequences - Due April 28th, 2016

    Premium Updates:
     
     
     
     
     
    Journey's End
    by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium*  

    Signature Updates:
     

    Jabberwocky
    by CassieQ; Book 3 of Not The Sun  
     
     
     
     
    Left Without Words
    by Comicality  
     
     
     
     
    Leopards Leap
    by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards  
     
     
     
     
    Mental Games
    by Bill W  
     
     
     
     
    Mine!
    by Cia  
     
     
     
     
    Shelter
    by Comicality; Book 1 of Shelter  
     
     
     
     
    Weightless
    by Cynus; Book 2 of Less is More  

    Promising Updates:
     

    Caesura
    by aditus; Book 2 of The King's Mate  
     
     
     
     
    Falling Apart
    by craftingmom  
     
     
     
     
    Headstall's Reflections
    by Headstall  
     
     
     
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise
    by Headstall  
     
     
     
     
    One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets
    by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse  

    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and Review!
  14. wildone
    Howdy, I hope you are all enjoying the weekend I know I am, and I know Renee is as she is off camping!
     
    Monday brought us our Monthly CSR feature from Cia. For July it will be featuring the story The Window Washer by Zenith. I might have to look at this one as the short description has piqued my interest.
     
    Being the first Wednesday of the month we got another look into the minds of some or your favourite authors with Dark's monthly Ask an Author spot! This month Dark grilled popular authors Cole Matthews, M.A. Church, Riley Jericho, and Carlos Hazaday.
     
    On Friday it was back to our weekly Author stimulation exercise of Writing Prompts. This week featured prompt 512, using a list of words and then 513 with a tag of Marked for Death. Renee also featured two responses; one from JohnAR and one from jamessavik.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided / The Forgotten - Due October 28, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016

    Premium Updates:
     
     
     
    Journey's End
    by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium*  

    Classic Updates:
     

    Asher
    by Dabeagle  

    Signature Updates:
     

    The Best Year
    by Krista  
     
     
    Fearless
    by Cynus  
     
     
    Mine!
    by Cia  
     
     
    Mental Games
    by Bill W  
     
     
    A prompt a week
    by comicfan  
     
     
    Leopards Leap
    by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards  
     
     
    William Walter Williams
    by CarlHoliday  

    Promising Updates:
     

    One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets
    by AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse  
     
     
    Caesura
    by aditus; Book 2 of The King's Mate  
     
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise
    by Headstall  
     
     
    The English Year
    by Jwolf  
     
     
    Wini and the King of Someplace
    by AC Benus  
     
     
    Life Seed
    by albertnothlit  
     
     
    Falling Apart
    by craftingmom  
     
     
    Storms
    by Thorn Wilde  

    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  15. wildone

    Thoughts On Orlando

    By wildone,


    Memorial
    Shock, anger, sadness, resentment, and thoughts of revenge.
     
    Those are the thoughts and feelings I am personally dealing with this morning waking up to the news of what happened early today in Orlando, Florida.
     
    I’m sure there is much more we are all feeling and trying to work our way through right now.
     
    As of the last report on CNN, there are 50 dead and 49 injured in a mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando called Pulse. It happened at 2 AM just around closing time. The gunman, who the FBI have reported as having ‘radical Islamic views’, parked his van outside the club, started opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle and handgun in his possession and continued into the club where he took hostages and continued his slaughter. Police SWAT teams swarmed the club 3 hours later and shot the gunman.
     
    I’m sure this account will be changed as more information comes forth.
     
    All of our thoughts, and if you are religious, prayers go out to everyone affected by this not only there in Orlando, but wherever you are as well.
     
    The fact that this now has been the deadliest mass shooting in US history, I can’t help but feel the above emotions on the fact that so many lives have been lost, with the added weight of knowing that the gay community was specifically targeted.
     
    We all know that our identity is hated by certain groups of people, but the fact that someone went so far as to target a large group of our community is really troubling to all of us. The idea that terrorism can make us afraid and question how we live our lives; this is the real blow to any community touched by heinous acts of terror. Will I feel safe going to a pride event, will I be okay to go to a bar, and will I be okay openly saying that I’m LGBTQ?
     
    The one thing that helps is talking about this. How do you feel? What are your fears? Put them down on paper or share them with us here. Writing this has me looking at the tragedy a bit different. Maybe even a glimmer of hope?
     
    If we can learn from the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, we need to show our support, but more importantly our resilience. Go back to the club, go to a Pride event, and don’t let this stop you from being who you were born to be!!
     
    Some other thoughts. Yes, religious ideology may play a role in this, but please remember that a small group of radicals or maybe even one lone wolf is responsible for this. Don’t condemn an entire religion or race just because this person may have been associated with a radical sect that isn’t reflective of the entire group. If you are in favour or against gun reform, don’t hate the people who are on the other side of the fence. Go out and join a group you identify with regarding guns. Be it the NRA or the anti-gun lobby, join, and make your voice known. Most importantly, learn from this and talk to your opponents rather than lash out at them.
     
    Generally, blogs are open for politics and religion. Due to the tragic nature and the sensitivity of this subject, even though I have touched on religion and politics here, please do not post comments on those subjects, they will be deleted without notice. The Pit is open and ready to have your discussions on those matters. What we would like this blog to really be about is empathy for the victims, your feelings, your fears, your resolve, and your hope.
     
    Steve
    On Behalf of the GA Site Administrators
  16. wildone
    Wow, Renee takes the weekend off to be a mountain lady and she leaves me in charge of the Weekly Wrap Up. To top it off she changed the format on it too!!!
     
    Well since Valkyrie was the only one to weigh in last week and said she had no preference of which format, I will use the old one
     
    On Monday we had a Featured Story of Song and Dance by Headstall. LitLover did a very good review which sets up the story and will pique your interest to check it out.
     
    Tuesday Renee did a Premium Promo and featured a story by wolfwriter called A Chance At Love. Not only did we get a synopsis of the story but also an excerpt from the story as well. If you want to help keep the majority of GA free, make sure you stop by here and see how you can help.
     
    Thursday was a special day when AJ posted in the Gay Author News that we have a new Promising Author promoted to the ranks on the site. Albertnothlit has a few stories to check out that he has contributed in just over a year stay here at GA.
     
    Friday saw our count-up to 1000 continue with the ever popular Prompt Me with Weekly Prompts 502 & 503. The weekly prompts this week were:
     
    Prompt 502 – Creative
    Tag – List of Words
    Use the following words in a story : a cop, a statue, a ship, a pink ribbon, a bag of candy.
     
    Prompt 503 – Creative
    Tag – The Exhibit
    You were told by your lover that you had a date Saturday morning and you were to dress up. When the time comes you find yourself dragged to see local museum to see an exhibit of your favorite eork. What was the exhibit on and what happened?
     
    Renee also put up some links to the previous weeks prompts by Timothy M, Mikiesboy, Hunter Thomson, and JohnAR.
     
    I also want to give a shout out to Slytherin or LBO for making sure we have topics set up every week in order to post the responses to.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team
    2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided - Due August 26th, 2016 2016 Winter Anthology: The Forgotten - Due November 26th, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016

    Premium Updates:
     
     
     
    Journey's End
    by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium*  

    Signature Updates:
     

    Third Shift
    by Cole Matthews  
     
     
    Mine!
    by Cia  
     
     
    Innocence & Carnality
    by Mann Ramblings  
     
     
    From the Cup of the Worthless
    by Cynus  
     
     
    Songs of the Mongoose Tribe
    by Cynus  

    Promising Updates:
     

    One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets
    Book 5 of Verse by AC Benus  
     
     
    My Twentieth Year
    Book 4 of Verse by AC Benus  
     
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise
    by Headstall  
     
     
    Writing prompts
    by albertnothlit  
     
     
    Life Seed
    by albertnothlit  
     
     
    Falling Apart
    by craftingmom  
     
     
    Headstall's Reflections
    by Headstall  
     
     
    Scraps from a Diary
    by AC Benus  

    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  17. wildone
    Hi Everyone, a little late today as I was sleeping on the job Renee has taken some much deserved time off and will be back later.
     
    This week in the GA News Blog we had a couple of different posters.
     
    Monday started off the week with Cia announcing the May CSR Feature, London and Love By Carringtonrj. The invite is out to all to read and then review and discuss this 45K story later on in the month. Make sure to add it to your reading lists for this month.
     
    Wednesday, I made a special appearance on the Blog to discuss new guidelines regarding the posting of images and links to the site. Due to recent events GA has to change and enforce these to ensure our revenue stream continues to make the site nearly 100% free to Members and Guests.
     
    Friday the Weekly Prompts were missed for a week for a big announcement. AJ let us know that Cole Matthews is now a Signature Author!! Congrats to Cole and make sure you visit this blog post or his forum post to ensure you pass on the congrats to this much deserving Author.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team**
    2016 Summer Anthology: Wicked Games - Due May 26th, 2016 2016 Fall Anthology: Blindsided - Due August 26th, 2016 2016 Winter Anthology: The Forgotten - Due November 26th, 2016 All Pre-2016 Anthology Themes - Due December 14, 2016

    Premium Updates:
     

    Journey's End by M.A. Church; Book 2 of The Harvest *Premium*
     
    Signature Updates:
     
    No Flash by Cia
     
    Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings
     
    From the Cup of the Worthless by Cynus
     
    The Best Year by Krista
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9 by Comicality; Book 9 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Leopards Leap by Graeme; Book 3 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    Promising Updates:
     
    Morningstar: The Malaise by Headstall
     
    Falling Apart by craftingmom
     
    Gay Metal by carringtonrj
     
    One Hundred and Fifty-Five Sonnets AC Benus; Book 5 of Verse
     
    ...And All Shall Fade To Black by layla
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  18. wildone

    Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

    By wildone,


    News Archive
    On the site for the last while there have been discussions with the members on the public forums as well as privately in our Staff forum about the use of pictures and what is allowed on GA and what isn’t.
     
    As a site we strive very much on keeping most of GA free for all our members and guests. Our main revenue streams are Premium Membership and ad revenue from Google Ad Sense. Our Premium members contribute monthly or yearly to help defray the server costs as well as the helping to run the popular contests as well as soliciting Premium works. Google Ad Sense is applied to the site needs the same way. The staff are all 100% voluntary, giving generously of their time.
     
    We have been evolving as a free webpage over the years, from our early beginnings to our current format which will be updated even more in the near future. One of the aspects of the site that is very popular is the Gallery Bar at the top (if you haven’t closed it) of the Forums page. Those pinned images also take visitors to the public member galleries with personal albums where there are even more pictures.
     
    Recently an active topic started up in the Lounge where we got down to what constitutes a copyrighted image and what kind of images are allowed on the site. If you haven’t seen that topic or would like to read it again, it can be found here. Mentioned in that topic is that Google Ad Sense has some certain rules regarding what images can be allowed when shared with a Google Ad on the same page. If you click through our pages, you most likely will see a Google Ad at the top or bottom of the page. This helps create the revenue to keep the site free.
     
    Google Ad Sense rules are what we, the Administrators of the Site, have used as guidelines to protect our ability to use their program. They are:
     
    Not allowed:
    Nudity Strategically covered nudity (eg: arms and legs covering genitals or breasts) Sheer or see-through clothing Lewd or provocative poses Close-ups of breasts (women), buttocks, or crotches Partially clothed underage persons (below 18 years of age)

    There will always be images that push those boundaries, and we, as a site, will now be more proactive in monitoring these basic rules. These will be for images posted to our galleries, images in member Avatars, Blogs, and also but not least, images linked in stories or topics. We included the last rule because as a site we strongly discourage minors from posting images of themselves. This is a basic internet safety precaution and we will continue to stress this. These images won’t be banned, but we ask that underage members take into consideration their own personal internet safety by not posting searchable images of themselves or friends who haven’t given permission for their image to be on site.
     

    Going forward, you will be notified of these rules when uploading pictures in the Gallery and on your profile for your avatar. The no links rule will be upon the individual members to police themselves and, if reported, the Forum Moderation Team will investigate. In the past the FMT hasn't really leveled warnings as there was a grey line on what was allowed. Hopefully with these clearer rules, we won't have to investigate more because members will understand our reasoning and adhere to the rules. Please also understand that we know you can turn on any major sports channel and see male divers/swimmers in their ever revealing speedos, but this does not constitute what normal dress is. If you want to post a picture of shirtless male, we don't want to see him in either his underwear or his speedos.
  19. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    So have you woken up today with a candy hangover? Or worse, for those of age, a real hangover from partying too much? Well time to pack away the ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and drama queens (like that will happen ).
     
    We had a little different week here at the GA news blog for this most festive weeks of the year.
     
    Monday saw our monthly CSR Discussion Day. This month we not only had 1, not 2, but 3 stories, hahahaha (done in my best Count voice). Three stories were up for the month to be read and commented on. Gee Whillickers, Cynus and Bill W were our featured Authors. Cia asked all 3 some questions about their own experience with Halloween and how it played into their stories.
     
    Wednesday was a very, very, very special treat with Renee giving us our 4th Word Search. If just the thought of doing a word search hadn't scared you away, then the fact that she scrambled up the words that you had to find must have sent everyone screaming and pulling their hair out. If you didn't get it all figured out, here at least is the unscrambled words:
     
    Ghost, Pumpkin, Happy Halloween, Candy, Costumes, Bats, Spiders, Spooky, Trick or Treat, Scare, Jack-o-lantern, Haunted, Mummy, October, Witch, Vampire, Skeleton, Boo, Haunted House, Candy Corn, Monsters, Werewolf, Goblin
     
    Friday was the most skariest Prompt Me! in a long, long, long time, as I had to do it for the first time. Actually it wasn't too bad as I took a couple of Comicfan's previous prompts from a couple of years ago. Both were creative ones, the first being a First Line of "Because, I'm leaving you". The second was using a Tag of 'Murder'. There may have been some insinuation that I may be eliminating certain staff here at GA, but I'm totally innocent . We also looked at prompts from the previous week by JohnAR, jamesavik and albertnothlit.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team**
    2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd

    By our Promoted Authors:
     

    The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton; Book 3 of Galactic Conspiracies *Premium*
     
    The Holly and the Ivy by aditus; Book 1 of The King's Mate
     
    Reece's Choice by Renee Stevens
     
    GFD 12: Blood Ties by Comicality; Book 12 of Gone From Daylight
     
    Sword of Kings: Tempered by Fate by Bill W; Book 3 of Sword of Kings
     
    The Caretaker by Rob Colton
     
    Fortitude by Cia
     
    Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings
     
    Avery & Matt shorts by craftingmom
     
    Aber Zombie and Finch by Graeme
     
    Veil of Shadow by Stellar; Book 2 of unnamed
     
    PIERRE and the AMBIGUITIES – A Filmscript by AC Benus; Book 7 of The Secret Melville
     
    Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle
     
    Grip by Topher_Lydon
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  20. wildone
    Hi Everyone
     
    Turns out that I'm helping out in a pinch with this weeks Prompt Me! blog entry. Our prompt guru Wayne, aka Comicfan, and Renee are shall we say 'indisposed' for now.
     
    Since I'm not an expert here, I thought I would copy a Prompt Me! that was originally posted on October 17, 2013 by Comicfan. I thought why not give this another go to share your Spooktacular writing skills with all!
     
    Prompt 270 – Creative
    Tag – First Line
    “Because, I’m leaving you.”
     
    Prompt 271 – Creative
    Tag – The Murder
    You had been invited for a vacation, and happy to get away from your daily life quickly took it. Once you were dropped off at the island, you found you were one of only four people there. All of you had been invited, but none of you seemed to know the host, and you all seemed to be stuck with no way off. There was the fully stocked house, a pool, and all sorts of luxuries, but no phone service and no way off till the boat came back. That first day was great until the storm hit, knocking out the power. You went in search of everyone else, the group of you all came upon the body of one of the other guests. Who committed the murder and why? Will you survive to get off the island?
     
    And no, I did not murder Renee or Wayne or Cia......yet
     
    Last week there were 3 responses to the two prompts given, lets take a look at all 3.
     
    Prompt 457 Creative: "To say you loath spiders would be a gross understatement. However, you woke this morning and couldn’t see out your window, there were spider webs as thick as a curtain just outside your window. As you make your way around the house you see them everywhere outside. What is going on that you have so many spiders at your house?"
     
    We have this Halloween themed story by albertnothlit called The Pact
     
    Prompt 456 Creative: “How did I forget his birthday again?”
     
    First was an entry by JohnAR in his 41st entry in Metaprompts
     


     

    Second was an entry by jamesavik which is a continuation of Cadet Cruise
     

    Remember the prompts are here to help you write, explore new ideas, and try things you might not otherwise attempt. For our readers we ask that you comment on any story you might read, hit that like button, and tell your friends what you have enjoyed reading. Nothing like helping to boost a writer's readers like word of mouth. 'Til next time, be safe and be well.
  21. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    So the seasons have changed from Summer to Fall in the Northern Hemisphere and from Winter to Spring in the Southern. Hoping that you are enjoying the changes in your area Shall we see what happened in the GA News Blog this past week?
     
    Monday was our monthly C S R Discussion Day with Cia doing an interview with Graeme. Some different questions were asked by Cia and then you, the readers took over and asked your own questions of him. Although there is a major time difference it went over without a hitch. How many times have you been able to have your answer come back before you actually asked it in time?
     
    Wednesday took a different spin for our Premium Discussion. Cia outlined how any of our Writers who may be motivated to write a Premium story for the site can, and how you can earn cold, hard, cash for your efforts! This is great opportunity for our Authors to receive some revenue or receive help in getting your completed story so it can be published. Once again, this is small way that we thank our Premium members for helping keep the vast majority of the site free for all.
     
    Friday had the prompt guru Comicfan give us our weekly dose of Prompt Me! Two new prompts were shared by Wayne. First being a list of words for a creative prompt; an apple, a farm, hay, a horse, a diamond ring. Second was another creative prompt of 'A Fair' . This week Wayne shared some responses to the 'What did he just say?' prompt by featuring Puppilull, ATrueFan, Parker Owens, James Savik, Thecalimac as well as Timothy M. Looks like it was a good response.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team**
    2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd

    By our Promoted Authors:
     

    The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton; Book 3 of Galactic Conspiracies *Premium*
     
    A Fool's Thoughts by aditus
     
    2015 Prompt Responses by Valkyrie
     
    Fortitude by Cia
     
    Reece's Choice by Renee Stevens
     
    HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont
     
    Sword of Kings: Tempered by Fate by Bill W; Book 3 of Sword of Kings
     
    Destiny - a novel by AC Benus
     
    Cosmic Inception by Cia
     
    Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings
     
    Gay Metal by carringtonrj
     
    Global Explorer II by David McLeod
     
    Toy Soldiers by Dabeagle
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    The Holly and the Ivy by aditus; Book 1 of The King's Mate
     
    Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom
     
    The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 9 by Comicality; Book 9 of The Secret Life Of Billy Chase
     
    New Kid In School by Comicality
     
    Shelter by Comicality; Book 1 of Shelter
     
    Space Pioneer 4 - Akar Kazbek by Dolores Esteban
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  22. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Wow, what a great week. Hoping the weather was great where you are, we hit 3 record breaking days for the past 10 years here so enjoying being indoors for a while and working on the wrap up.
     
    First off, the voting for the first round picking the 2016 Anthology Themes is now closed. A very big thank you to everyone who contributed to narrowing down the number of great ideas. GA relies on you the Members to help drive the direction of these special events, and sincerely appreciates your input.
     
    The week started off with the blog reviewing our Feature Story. This week it focused on our month's Signature Author, Dolores Esteban's story Cold Case. Cia contributed a great review which has now piqued my interest and I have added it to my reading list. Also there is the link where you can download the Signature Background for the month as well. Check the story out and make sure you leave a review.
     
    Wednesday was a followup with Interview Wednesday with Dolores Esteban. Dolores agreed to sit down in the dark and dank interview room at GA, with a single light shining in her face, a dripping noise coming from the corner, handcuffed to the table and the smell of second hand smoke in the room....okay, got carried away there . Cia asked Dolores some interesting questions including where she got the inspiration for Cold Case. Surprising to me, Cold Case spun out of a Prompt Friday prompt from Comicfan. Great to see that what started as a prompt response turned into a full story.
     
    Friday, Cia took over the blog for Friday's Prompt Me. Comicfan this week presented us with two different prompts. First Creative prompt was for all the Anne Rice or Stephanie Meyers fans out there; Vampires. If you think you can do better than the two them, why don't you give a stab at upstaging them . The second one was creative as well with using the following words; a clown, a motorcycle, vacation tickets, chocolate cake, and a ring. Sounds like a good horror story theme. Lastly, Cia featured James Savik's response to Prompt 437. Great job James!!
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team**
    2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd 2015 Winter Anthology: Blackout - Due December 3rd

    In Premium
     

    Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim
     
    By our Signature Authors:
     
    Veil of Shadow by Stellar; Book 2 of unnamed
     
    Cosmic Inception by Cia
     
    Innocence & Carnality by Mann Ramblings
     
    Global Explorer II by David McLeod
     
    Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W
     
    Space Pioneer 3 - The Yanara Archives by Delores Esteban
     
    Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    Black Widow by Mark Arbour; Book 16 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    By our Promising Authors:
     
    Presence by carringtonrj
     
    Lie of the Serpent by craftingmom
     
    Destiny - a novel by AC Benus
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  23. wildone
    Read a very interesting article, which didn't bring in politics
     
    The Declaration of Independence
     
    The right to Life; the upholding of Obamacare to ensure all Americans have the right to live and have access to the medical treatment to pursue that.
     
    The right to Liberty; States removing the Confederate Flag and symbols of the flag which is looked upon by the majority of Americans as being as a symbol of old attitudes and discrimination.
     
    The right to the Pursuit of Happiness; Marriage equality allows all Americans to pursue marriage which some would call the most significant symbol of happiness.
     
    I think that the US had a giant correction to make this document even more true and meaningful once again. Even in the 2000's, shy of 250 years later. Also this declaration was the document that some will argue framed the US constitution.
     
    My congratulations is not just to the US for the Marriage Equality, but to all Americans for what may be looked back upon as one of the most historic weeks in the history of US in hundreds of years
     
    Please note that the first and second many be contentious among different members. I just feel if you look at America as a whole, this is a good example of progress. I'm not looking for an argument, but, if you so feel to argue against the points I won't stop you, just I won't respond
  24. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Wow, what a busy week here at the GA News Blog. I don't have time to be my witty self today We had one of our busiest weeks since we went to our new format.
     
    Monday we kicked off the week with the CSR Discussion Day with the Author of Penguin joining everyone in the blog for a live chat. Valkyrie participated in a grueling interview with Cia earlier where we learned Valkyrie dressed up for the questions in a pair of jeans and a purple t-shirt . Several Members weighed in later in the day to ask her some questions which she very promptly answered.
     
    We took a breather before Wednesday when a popular feature reared its ugly head (notice no apostrophe in its) The Grammar Rodeo #4 appeared where Cia tried to convince everyone that grammar is fun . Although the blog was meant to feature Singular and Plural Subject/Verb Agreements, this lead to interesting lessons on different topics including its versus it's. Make sure to check out all the other topics brought up in the discussion. Fun, eh?
     
    Thursday we had a Special Announcement where craftingmom was named as our newest Promising Author. There is now two pages of Congratulations in that blog if you want to add your name, or, you can visit the Forum Announcement too.
     
    Friday we rounded up the week with the Prompt Guru Comicfan presenting this weeks Prompts. Two new ones were presented; Creative First Line of 'He put his hand where?', and one with the tag 'The Interview'. Finally in recognition of craftingmom's promotion, Cia featured her Prompt response from the week before.
     
    Usually that would be enough, right? Well no, we didn't stop there!! Saturday we learned that the Signature Author of the Month will be Bill W and his story Crash Landing. Also included was a quick accolade from Foster as well as the desktop background. Make sure you download it for the month of June.
     
    Bulletin ..................... Bulletin ..................... Bulletin
     
    The month of June here at Gay Authors we are celebrating Pride Month. We're going to run a fun scramble in Games & Humor every Sunday. The scrambled words? Titles and author names from stories here on GA! There will be 10 every week posted in a topic and then you PM your unscrambled answers to Cia. DON'T post your answers in the public areas of the site--or you hurt your chances of winning!


    What are you playing for?

     

    First Prize: A year's digital membership to Out magazine
    Second Prize: 2 Months Premium Access
    Third Prize: 1 Month Premium Access
     
    Rules: Both parts of the scramble must be correct to count. The person with the most correct answers at the end of the month wins the first place prize, 2nd most correct 2nd, etc... If there are ties, Random.org will be used to determine the winner, and those not winning will be entered in the 2nd and then 3rd place prizes as necessary.
     
     
     
     
     



    PLAY THE GAME

     

    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team***
    2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd

    In Premium
     

    Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim
     
    By our Classic Authors:
     
    Ticking by Dabeagle
     
    By our Signature Authors:
     
    Cosmic Inception by Cia
     
    Force of Nature by Krista
     
    Fortitude by Cia
     
    Global Explorer II by David McLeod
     
    HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont
     
    Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W
     
    Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Delores Esteban
     
    By our Promising Authors:
     
    Presence by carringtonrj
     
    Beneath the Current by craftingmom
     
    2015 Prompt Responses by Valkyrie
     
    Sanctuary by Sasha Distan
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
  25. wildone

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By wildone,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Renee is away for the weekend attending a wedding. Since she isn't here, you are all stuck with me. Let me say that for a small fee, I will be selling pictures of Renee in her Bridesmaid dress
     
    On Monday for our Featured Story, it was for our Signature Author for the month of May, Krista. We had her 2008 Anthology "Finding Alex" featured. Suvitar wrote a great review of this story and I believe enticed a few of us to go back and read it for the first time or maybe the second or third times.
     
    One interesting part of Suvitar's review was her second last sentence; "This is one of those stories where characters and the plot left me wanting more." Well, in a departure from the usual way of doing things for the Signature Author Wednesday Post, Krista took some time to write us a great Extended Scene to give us a glimpse at what happened after the story concluded. Quite a few of us were brought to tears with this gripping look into the future.
     
    One last thing about Krista, does anyone know what 232 days is to her?
     
    Friday was another couple of prompts from the ever popular Prompt Me! Comicfan supplied us with another two to get our creative juices flowing over the weekend. This week the first Creative prompt was Bombshell. I'm sure we have all lived though one of those. The second Creative prompt was to feature the first line; "But why would you want me to meet you there?" In addition, Renee featured a sample of two of the previous weeks prompts as penned by John AR as well as Atruefan.
     
    Anthology Announcements:
     
    ***NOTE: All Deadlines are for submission to the Anthology Proof Team***
    2015 Summer Anthology: Road Trip - Due June 3rd 2015 Fall Anthology: Blurred Edges - Due September 3rd

    In Premium
     

    Pretty Little Thing by Nephylim
     
    By our Classic Authors:
     
    Ticking by Dabeagle
     
    By our Signature Authors:
     
    Streak by Mark Arbour; Book 15 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Cosmic Inception by Cia
     
    Force of Nature by Krista
     
    Global Explorer II by David McLeod
     
    Sword of Kings: Tested by Adversity by Bill W
     
    Fortitude by Cia
     
    Leopard Spots by Graeme; Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    Space Pioneer II - The Titan Plot by Delores Esteban
     
    By our Promising Authors:
     
    Poems by Carringtonrj
     
    Barbed Wire Heart by Cole Matthews
     
    Sanctuary by Sasha Distan
     
    The Hollow Hills by Valkyrie
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!
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