Valkyrie

I've always been an avid reader. I was always super excited to get the Scholastic flier and circle all the books I wanted to order. Of course, they were always the horse-related books. I loved reading Hardy Boys mysteries, The Black Stallion series, Marguerite Henry's stories, the Little House on the Prairie books, and of course, LOTR and the Hobbit. For ages, I would read the Little House books, then when I was finished with the last one, go right back to the first one and start over again. I have an uncle who also loves to read and he let me borrow a lot of his books, including his third edition LOTR set with a really cool map of Middle Earth.

The deadline for the 2024 Anthology - In too Deep - is fast approaching! I'm about halfway done with my own story. It's based on some experiences I had while visiting England earlier this year. Comment below if you're planning on participating in this year's anthology, and feel free to post a short teaser! There's still time to get a story written and submitted, even if you haven't started yet. Don't like the theme? Remember that the theme doesn't have to knock us over the head, as long as it's there in some form. Here is the link to Anthology 101, which should answer any anthology-related questions. Now stop reading and get writing!

I think you need to work on your dance moves, Steve

John Denver - Moreton Bay - YouTube (at 2:48 M, time reference) I love John Denver

I want to know what has @Myr in such a good mood, based on all the recent words of the day

I use a mixture of both. A lot of my stories have elements from my personal life, but not everything I write is drawn upon personal experience. Every author is different, so what works for one person, may not work for another. The best thing to do is experiment and see what works for you. That's one of the purposes of having the weekly prompts.

No, those are not counted. Just the story text.

A good story needs some kind of conflict. It doesn't have to be over the top drama, but there needs to be something for the character(s) to work toward overcoming. So, let's get conflicted! PT Prompt #241 Create a conflict. Then add conflict to that conflict. Then add even more conflict. There cannot be enough conflict in this story. PT Prompt #242 Write a story with an unresolved conflict that still has a satisfactory ending. 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/

First, the deadline for the 2024 Anthology - In too Deep - is fast approaching, so I hope there are lots of authors working on getting their stories ready for the proof team! Mine is about halfway finished, and I can't wait to share it with you all Second, if the title of this blog entry has you twitching in the corner clutching your blankie, then you're just the person we need! We need people with a good eye for catching spelling errors, misused words (such as they're, there, their), incorrect grammar, and punctuation. Proofreaders are NOT editors. Stories submitted to the anthology have already been edited and beta read, so we do not make editing comments outside of what I outlined above. If you feel you can stay within those parameters, please PM me, and we will go from there.

And I'm assuming that dig was for @Krista?

Things that happen in childhood can affect us throughout life, whether minor or profound, positive or negative. Sometimes these things can cause issues later in life, especially if they've been repressed. Or maybe they manifest as quirky habits. In my family, we don't say "cheeeeessseeee" when we have our pictures taken; we say "fuzzy pickle". Don't ask me how or why that started, but it's something we still do. I'm almost obsessive about being on time. My grandma insisted on being twenty minutes early to everything. I'm not quite that bad, but I had a friend once joke that if I said I was going to be there at a certain time, she could look out the window at that exact time and I would be in the driveway without fail. I also have some quirks that are born out of childhood trauma, but I won't go into detail about those. I'll just say that my reactions to certain things are sometimes misconstrued, and it's caused me issues at times. Childhood incidents can be a great way to flesh out our characters' personalities and give them some unique quirks. So, let's go back in time and do some exploring. PT Prompt #237 Your character has a unique way of celebrating special occasions. What is it and how did it start? PT Prompt #238 Create a character whose quirks are affecting their relationship with their partner. What is the quirk? How is it affecting the relationship? What is the origin of the quirk? 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/

Entries for the Secret Author contest are due in less than a week! Send them to Cia and remember to keep your participation a secret...

Well now you have to read it

I had a lot of run writing these, and loved to see @Aditus' take on it as well. It was a pleasant surprise to see this featured, and I love the banner!

It's never too late to write a prompt If you need an editor, you know where to find me

The SA contests are a lot of fun to participate in, whether you're an author or reader. I think the best part is the guessing and seeing who gets the most authors correct!

I like the twist here. What's a miss for some is a direct hit for others. Reading this the night before my long commute tomorrow in the remnants of Beryl probably wasn't the greatest idea Now I'll be extra vigilant! Thanks for taking on the prompt!

He who smelt it, dealt it Gay Rodeo is totally a thing. There's even an association for Gay Rodeo events. I think it's awesome Stampede has a Gay Day I've been watching some of it on CBC, although it's also the Spruce Meadows Pan American tournament, so I've been watching that too. Today is Derby day! Well I'm not too far from Toronto, so it's a short drive

We've all had moments where all we can do is say "oh, sh**" and then either brace for the inevitable or stare in disbelief as the inevitable cockily saunters past. For example, I was driving home from work one day and was sitting in my car at a red light. There was one car ahead of me. The light turned green, and the car ahead of me proceeded through the intersection. For some reason, I didn't go right away. I hesitated and allowed a good couple of car lengths between us before proceeding. I then slammed on my brakes to avoid the driver who blew through the red light, narrowly missing me. 🤯It was like one of those slow motion movie scenes. I could clearly see the driver and his passenger and the looks of terror on their faces when they realized the light was red, followed by them bursting into laughter. I wonder if they realized how close they came to something that would have ended in tragedy, because they were going around 50 mph and would have t-boned me on the driver's side had I gone through as normal. What caused me to hesitate, since I was paying attention and not distracted, and am normally pretty prompt about going when the light changes? Let's explore and break down scenarios like this one. PT Prompt #233 Write from the POV of a guardian angel to an accident-prone individual. PT Prompt #234 You have three near-misses on the way to work. What happened, and how were they avoided? 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/

Before I get into today's blog, I want to wish our neighbors to the North a very Happy Canada Day 🍁 and my fellow US citizens a Happy Fourth of July! 🎆 I thought it would be fun to get some history and insight into the GA Anthologies from the Grand Poobah himself, our founder and fearless leader @Myr. So grab a cuppa and and enjoy this interview before heading out to any festivities today. What prompted you to start the GA anthology? Let’s hear some GA history! The first anthology was in 2004 and we wanted to do a Christmas themed challenge. It was a small start with about 10 entries (Though only 7 are still visible). It was successful, but we had a very small staff at that time and we didn’t do another until 2006. We decided to do them quarterly for a while, one for each season and the first theme where was a Day of Silence. We have maintained at least 2 anthologies per year since then. What anthology had the highest number of participants? The first poetry anthology in 2011 had the highest number at 26. On the story anthology side, we have two entries tied at 24 stories each with 2008 – Spring – Living in Shadows and 2022- Anniversary Why is the anthology important to you? The anthologies are a good way for writers to come together as a community and showing people the many different ways people can interpret a theme. It is also an excellent showcase for authors, new and old, to introduce themselves to the community and build an audience. I know I have more readers from people checking out my anthologies. If only I had more time to write, eh. What’s your favorite anthology story that you’ve either written yourself or read (or both)? My first anthology story, Nick Cringle, always has a special place in my heart. I enjoyed dropping hints and got some genuine surprise from a few readers. It’s not like I’m every going to write a straight up fiction story after all. Where do you see the GA Anthology in ten years? I very dearly hope that it is still going strong in ten years. I’d like to see more authors jumping in (and some more volunteers to help us out too!) What advice do you have for new anthology participants? I very strongly encourage everyone to jump into the anthology for a number of reasons. Selfish reason first, it’s always good for Gay Authors to have more new content to share with everyone. But on the self-interest side for authors… The anthology is the best way to attract new readers! It is a self-contained sale pitch that says “here I am, this is what I can do. You like this story, come read my other stories”. We actively promote the anthology stories multiple times and we have members that make it their mission to read all the entries. It can be intimidating looking at the list of rules, but really, it’s just writing a self-contained story that has been edited and is your interpretation of the anthology theme. And you, the author, are the arbiter of that interpretation. Don’t let it scare you off. Bend it to your will and show others your vision. Gay Authors Anthologies are a gift to our readers and our authors. Carpe Diem!

That's what you think...

I feel like Scooby Doo needs to be mentioned here.