Valkyrie

Great interview! My surprise was that he chose to be an owl instead of a wolf. But I can totally see him as an owl, so it fits

Snow in October isn't unheard of around here, although it generally starts more in November. Twenty years ago we had a surprise October snowstorm that decimated the area. Good ol' lake effect set up right over where I live. All the trees were in full leaf still, so two feet of saturated, heavy snow, brought down so many trees and branches that it looked like a hurricane came through. I remember leaving work and thinking it's just flurries. It's October... it will stop and melt right away. Nooooooopppeeee... I was just able to make it down my street and into my driveway. I'll never forget the sound of all the cracking trees. My poor hawthorn tree in my front yard folded like an umbrella. I was in the middle of watching CSI when the power went out. It didn't come back on for two weeks. My mom made me come stay with her because they had a woodburning stove, so at least there was heat. I told her if I'm coming, the cat is too, which she begrudgingly agreed to. We also took in her 90 year old next door neighbor. Thankfully my aunt never lost power, so her house became the meeting point for all of us to get a hot meal and do laundry. No snow yet this year, but it's definitely been cold enough overnight. We've had frost overnight for about the past week. My furnace was so happy to be useful again, that it decided it didn't want to turn off, so I'll have to call the furnace repair place tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's just the thermostat and won't cost me an arm and a leg. For an area known for massive amounts of snowfall, you'd think people would be better at driving in it. Sadly, a lot of them drive like @centexhairysub When I used to work in the snowbelt, I'd play "count the cars in the ditches" on the way to work when we got snow. The record was over 20. My biggest pet peeve when driving is tailgaters. Get the eff off my a**, unless you want to go much slower, hoser.

It sounds like the issue is more that our Anthology doesn't fit your definition of an "Anthology". Our anthology stories are all grouped together under the same theme. Finding them is as exactly as Krista described. I already said the Anthology hasn't finished posting, so there are more than 2 stories for Horizons. I don't release final numbers until the final week of posting. What I meant when I said we handle the anthology the same way, is that the way we post has always been the same. The anthology is a fluid thing, and I have done quite a few site polls, threads, and blogs about what site readers and writers want. The guidelines are adjusted every year based on constructive feedback and things we feel need changing. Calling this anthology "messy", and the fact that we have lives and demands outside of GA and are volunteers "excuses" is not the way to effect change. A lot of site staff have gone through challenges this year that nobody should have to go through; yet, we've still kept the site open and running, and held all site events as scheduled. If that's an excuse, well excuse me while I don't particularly care. And excuse me while I go plan the next site event.

This is not the rest of the stories. The Anthology publishes over several weeks. The way we handle the anthology hasn't changed in the thirteen years I've been on this site, with the exception of releasing them in batches vs all at once. Without complaint, I might add. I don't know what else you want from us. I forgot to feature the blog, which I will remedy now. I'm also going to add the new blog to the banner announcement, which I was planning to do this morning anyway. I already outlined ways to find the antho stories if you're so inclined. As Cia stated, we're all volunteers with outside jobs, personal issues, and lives. We can't please everyone, apparently.

This year's anthology started off last week with a bang! The number of comments and reviews are impressive, so keep it going! This week, we have five new stories to read, along with Chapter 2 of Myr's story from last week. Ready, set.... Check out Chapter 2

The Anthology blog can be found by searching under "blogs" or under "stories" by searching under "anthologies". It was also linked to in this week's Weekly Wrap-Up on the front page. I've added a banner announcement with the link to the blog, so it can be found there as well.

It's heeeeerrrrrrreeeee.... We've been anticipating these stories all year, and now it's time to release the Kraken! Uh... anthology stories. With two themes this year - Horizons and Unspoken- we had several authors take up the challenge and write stories for both themes. So, without further ado, enjoy this week's anthology stories! Don't forget to react, comment, and leave a review! The anthology will post over several weeks, so if your story is not listed here, fear not! It will be posted over the next few weeks. The first two stories are for Horizons, the remainder are for Unspoken.

Anything by Addy is definitely worth checking out! Especially vampires 🧛‍♂️

My birthday is in June, and I'm a Gemini. I don't make a big deal about it, but I do like it to be acknowledged. I like to go out to dinner, although it's not always on my actual birthday. This year's bday kind of sucked, though, since I spent it super sick in the hospital Hopefully next year's will be better On another note, don't forget to post your links to your anthology stories, once they've been returned from the proof team.

Anthology Stories are due today! Get those final touches done on your story and send it to me by midnight, EST tonight so I can get it assigned to a Proof Team member! There are lots of burning questions... Did we break the 20 story barrier? Who participated? How many stories did they write? When will the stories go live? Which theme has more stories? Of course, I'm not going to answer any of them now You'll have to wait and anticipate!

No otters?

Haha that's exactly how I cook too My mom and I laugh about how we tell if something is done by the smell

My favorite animals are cats and horses, although penguins do figure in there as well I also love capybaras. They've fascinated me ever since I first saw their exhibit at the Buffalo Zoo when I was a kid. On another note, get those antho stories in! This is turning out to be a fantastic anthology, and I'm hoping we break the 20 story barrier Fall food is my favorite. Pumpkin spice all the things!!!! Make fun of me if you want, but there's nothing more comforting than Fall warming spices. I need to make a batch of my cheesy broccoli and ham soup. Soooo gooood. Chicken pot pie sounds lovely, unless it has puke spheres (aka peas) in it.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! It seems the genre idea is popular, and it's nice to know the rewinds are appreciated. I'm thinking something like a rotating schedule each month to include a series of articles on writing for specific genres, author interviews, and anthology rewinds.

First, a reminder that the deadline for this year's anthology is fast approaching! The Proof Team is hard at work, but keep those stories coming in! I've been brainstorming some ideas for the anthology blog, and I wanted to get input from authors and readers of the anthologies. Please tell me what you'd like to see in future anthology blogs, and I will do my best to make it happen. 1. Anthology Rewinds - re-featuring past anthologies 2. Writing tips - such as grammar, punctuation, character development, etc. 3. Author interviews 4. Writing for specific genres 5. Tell me your suggestions

Congratulations! Well-deserved!

I was forced to get a cell phone well after they became the norm for most people. I don't remember the year, but it was a very basic thing that couldn't even text. My next phone was "fancy" because I could text from it and even take crappy pictures. I think my next phone ended up being an iPhone. It was my first smartphone and I got in 2020 and still have it I am grudgingly going to upgrade at some point though, because it's pretty much out of memory and I haven't been able to update the OS in a while.

Stories do not need to be posted by October 1st. That's the deadline to get stories to me for proofing. We allow time for authors who submit on October 1st to get their proof done and link(s) submitted after that date. Of course, the earlier the better. I'm working on anthology stuff today so will be sending out PMs as I get volunteers.

Anthology stories are coming in, which is great! I'll be working on getting authors paired with proofreaders soon, by the weekend at the latest. I'll link to the full submission guidelines at the end of this blog, but I wanted to give a Cliff Notes version since we just had the Secret Author Contest and the submission guidelines are different for each event. Anthology stories need to go through the Anthology Proof Team for a final check before being published. The Proof Team does not replace an editor. We are looking for anything your editor might have missed, and to ensure the story follows site guidelines. We're looking for things like punctuation, spelling, misused words, and formatting. We do not beta read or make comments based on content. So, once your story(ies) are edited and beta read, then you'll send them to me in a PM. I'll need metadata, such as who your editor/beta reader(s) are, word count, genre, and a snippet from the story. This is so I can pass that information along to the Proof Team so they can decide what stories they are interested in proofreading. Attach the file as a Word document. It needs to be .doc or .docx, otherwise I can't open it. Please do not send links to Google docs or a link to an already uploaded story. I will then assign the story to a proofreader, who will be in contact regarding the story. Once it's proofread and returned to the author, then the author uploads the story per the instructions in the attached guidelines and posts the link in the Anthology Links thread in the Anthology Forum in the Writer's Circle. Which reminds me, I probably haven't done that yet...(I will soon!) If the link is not posted in that thread, then I will not include it in the anthology. To summarize: 1. PM Valkyrie your story 2. Make changes suggested by proofreader 3. Upload story and leave unpublished 4. Post link in thread This summary does not replace the full guidelines. The answers to any questions should be found there. If not, PM me and I'll be happy to respond. There's still time, so keep on writing!

This story sounds right up my alley! I'll be sure to check it out

I would suggest looking for an editor now. Sometimes it can take some time to find one. If you don't have any luck, then do your best to self-edit it and we'll go from there. And don't worry about dropping the ball. There's plenty of helpful people on the site, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

That's after the stories go through the proof team. Authors should send them to me first, as an attached Word document, then after the proof team sends it back it gets posted, but not published.

Check out the anthology guidelines I linked to in the blog. If you still have questions, then PM me