Valkyrie

This is a good start, but I definitely want more. This has the makings of a full novel based on the snippets of world-building in this slice of life piece. I had to... slice... scallopini 😁 Pretty sure I know who wrote this one

I definitely related to Jake's reticence at going to his reunion. And can I just say that how the frick is the class of 2005 twenty years ago??? I graduated twenty years ago! Oh wait... with my Masters degree... Anyway, I haven't attended any of my HS reunions because I have no desire to go back to that time in my life. I thought this was a well-written story, and I enjoyed it. I'm glad Jake and Derek were able to finally reveal the truth of their feelings for each other.

I'd be highly skeptical of any quest led by Steve, although there's certain to be a high level of shenanigans.

Oh what a tangled web we weave... I'm glad it untangled and everything worked out perfectly!

Like for many others, Ozzy was an icon of my youth. I remember being on the bus in fifth grade and my BFF at the time putting a cassette in a tape deck and blasting Black Sabbath. It was my first introduction to Ozzy, and my BFF was considered the coolest kid around for doing that. Sadly, he ended up passing way too young after cleaning himself up after a troubled youth. Rock on, Ozzy and Cory. Rock on.

Well damn... I was not expecting that ending! I think the author binge-watched Game of Thrones before writing this Well done. It's not easy to surprise me.

Sweet story. You had me at steampunk cowboy

I remember when Rock Hudson was outed and the reaction surrounding it. Autobiographical or not, this was an interesting read. It's important to remember those times. Thank you for sharing this story.

I totally love that the theme is Reveal the Truth and we do everything possible to obfuscate it in the guessing process

You can place your guesses here. There will also be an official guessing blog after voting has closed and @Cia reveals the list of participating authors.

A very cute, well-written story. I enjoyed it very much. I have a couple of different authors in mind for this one, but I'm not going to make any guesses until I've read them all.

It's a good thing I have a student intern, because I'm sure as heck not getting any work done today

I can't wait to start reading! 😁

Every family has secrets. Sometimes the truth comes out, despite being buried for decades.

You can just send the name and the reason you feel they should be nominated. It doesn't have to be an extensive analysis of their work - that's what the author promotion team is for Just something like "I really enjoy their writing and feel it's among the best on the site".

I would highly recommend a laptop. I was very resistant about getting one when my last desktop died, but the portability is awesome. It's great being able to take the laptop with me when I travel. Personally, I think it's better to get a new one now. It really sucks having a computer die, then being without one while waiting for the new one. I have an HP Spectre and love it. Everyone who grew up in the '80s or before knows the only way to fix electronics is to smack the heck out of them.

If you want to nominate someone for promotion, then send @Graeme a PM. He's the head of the Author Promotion Team.

Steve's parents are very proud of him for trying his best.

If you are using MS Word, you can right click on the word and add it to the dictionary. That way you shouldn't get any suggestions or autocorrect.

It's a belief across many cultures that birds are messengers from beyond, especially after a loved one has recently passed. Many people also feel that animals come into our lives for a reason, often during trying times. Let's explore both of these concepts. Feel free to use these prompts as a jumping off point for a story for our upcoming Creature Feature anthology. PT Prompt #297 After a loved one passes away, an animal comes around in a way that makes you wonder if it's your loved one come back to visit. Who passed and what is the significance/symbolism of the animal? PT Prompt #298 Write a story from the POV of an animal sent to help someone. 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/

Let's see how many stories we get featuring penguins

Thanks for the reminder.

While we're all eagerly awaiting the reveal of the Secret Author stories, I thought it would be a good time to check in and see how those anthology stories are coming along! We can't reveal the participants of the SA contest yet (or I should say Cia can't. I have zero insider knowledge about it. Yes, it's that secret!), but we can openly talk about who's writing what for the annual anthology. I've already had five stories submitted to the proof team - which is a record this far from the due date! The SA contest has at least 20 stories, so let's see if we can try to match or even beat that number! I have several ideas floating around for the antho, and I really hope I get the ambition to write at least one of them in time. It may or may not involve drunk otters, superhero penguins, and alien capybaras Those of you who have working ideas or who have written their story already, feel free to pop a teaser in the comment section and let us know what to look forward to.