Valkyrie

We had a busy year here at GA, with five different events for site authors and poets to participate in. While we wish some of them hadn't been necessary, such as Carlos' tribute, the participation from readers and writers across all events was fantastic. While we're busy working behind the scenes on next year's slate of events, I thought it would be nice to recap what happened in 2024. We started out the year honoring a man who was a formidable presence on GA. His loss is still keenly felt, and it seemed fitting to continue his tradition of always posting something new on New Year's Day. In April, we honored National Poetry Writing Month by featuring our annual poetry anthology. In August, sneaky @Cia brought all the Secret Author stories out of hiding, and readers had a blast guessing which authors wrote what story. In October, we featured the stories from our annual anthology. Check out which authors got In too Deep! Finally, we had our first annual Prompt Team Event at the beginning of December. If you missed out on any of these events, it's not too late to check them out. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all who made these events possible - authors/poets, readers, the Anthology Proof Team, and my fellow admins for their behind-the-scenes help. You all made 2024 a great year here at GA! Stay tuned next week for some big announcements regarding 2025 events!

This is Cole at his finest! Well worth the read, if you haven't done so already.

It's not Christmas without watching the 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS I'm in the Die Hard is a Christmas category. I also love It's a Wonderful Life. Anything muppet, like Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas and the Muppets A Christmas Carol. And all the animated ones, like Rudolph and Frosty, and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, and The Little Drummer Boy.

We all impact others' lives on a daily basis, whether we know it or not. I think this is especially true as writers sharing our works with the rest of the world. Unless a reader comments or messages us, the impact we make is generally unseen. I used to teach therapeutic horseback riding to a group of kids from the Big Brother/Big Sister program. These kids had a lot of disadvantages in life, but they absolutely loved their experiences with the horses. It was a large group of kids, so we split them into two groups with me teaching one and the other instructor teaching the other. One day, a girl from the other group came up to me and reached into her pocket. "I have something for you," she says. She took out a crumpled up newspaper ad for jeans, which showed a woman with long brown hair in a ponytail (just like mine) petting a horse, smoothed it out, and handed it to me. "This reminded me of you." It was such a simple thing, but after I took it and thanked her, I pinned it to our office bulletin board and had tears in my eyes when I did so. I asked myself why I was so moved by this gesture, and the answer was because I had made an impact on her simply by being there. Let's explore how we impact others in ways we might not be aware of. PT Prompt #255 At your ten/twenty/whatever high school reunion, someone you barely remember comes up to you and thanks you for having a profound impact on their life back then. What happened in high school that left such a lasting impression? PT Prompt #256 Write a vignette where a background character impacts the main character's life in a way neither are acutely aware of. Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre 'prompt' in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

The deadline to participate in our second tribute to Carlos Hazday is fast approaching. I have created the threads for discussion and to paste the links to submissions. They can be found in the Writer's Circle: Carlos' stories continue to inspire readers; even those who didn't have the pleasure of knowing him. So, consider participating if Carlos' work has sparked inspiration, no matter how tangential. I have updated Comicality's tribute blog and will create the threads for that event closer to the deadline. It's not too early to start writing something to commemorate his legacy on our site.

There are few stories on the site that are this memorable after almost ten years. You should be... proud? And it's not just me not letting you forget, right @Slytherin and @Krista?

Oh yeah, that line always gives me chills. I waited in line overnight with my BFF for tickets for the Joshua Tree tour. The opening act was Stevie Ray Vaughn. Both concerts were absolutely amazing

Yes, that's another fave! I remember watching Band-Aid live and was so excited when my favorite bands came on. I was obsessed with U2 at the time. I always cry when I listen to that song.

@Lee Wilson Love Dominick the Donkey And TSO. @centexhairysub you posted one of my all-time faves - I actually just watched the clip of Bowie and Crosby yesterday I tend to favor the old classics like Do you Hear What I Hear (Bing Crosby version), Angels we have Heard on High, Little Drummer Boy, to name a few. I love the Barenaked Ladies' Christmas Album, especially God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Loreena McKennitt's Christmas albums. My mom and my aunt used to sing this God-awful rendition of O Holy Night every Christmas Eve. I used to cringe in the corner with my fingers in my ears, but my grandpa loved every minute of it. They haven't sung it since he passed, which is good for my ears, but I do miss seeing the smile on his face as listened to it.

Now we know what he had to run to Walmart for