Valkyrie

This is perfect for the spirit of NaPoWriMo. Spring definitely brings all the weather, sometimes in the same day! Thanks for taking on the prompt

Since National Poetry Writing Month is fast approaching, along with the Poetry Anthology, I thought it would be the perfect time to feature some poetry prompts! PT Prompt #213 - Poetry Write a poem about a feeling without explicitly naming what that feeling is. PT Prompt #214 - Poetry Use spring as your springboard to start a poem. Embrace the fickleness of the season! 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/

Why did I choose April to feature the poetry anthology? I thought it would be a perfect way to feature our site poets during National Poetry Month! April is the month to celebrate all things poetry; so read, write, and if you're daring, participate in the NaPoWriMo writing challenge! NaPoWriMo stands for National Poetry Writing Month. It's the sibling to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. So what is this challenge I speak of? Simple. Write one poem per day (30 total) during the month of April. Or I should say write one poem per day average. If you skip a day and write two in one day, the challenge is still met. There are many sites where you can get daily poetry prompts in April, or you might decide on a theme for the month. Or write a mish mash with no cohesiveness whatsoever. The goal is to write; not to write masterpieces. It's a fun time to experiment with form, rhyme, or style. Many GA poets have taken up the challenge over the years. In general, participants post weekly throughout April. It's quite interesting to see different takes on the same prompt, or what someone has chosen as their theme for the month. I'm happy to say we've had a great turnout for this year's poetry anthology, so I will be featuring anthology submissions during the entire month of April. There's still time to participate, so check out the guidelines, and feel free to participate, even if you are new to poetry!

Hey, it's not my fault we all need gas masks when you enter the room

It can be rather odiferous when @wildone walks into the room... 😁

There's still time to get some poems written for the 2024 Poetry Anthology - Seasons! We're already seeing some submissions come in, so let's make this a great anthology! We need participation for these anthologies to continue, so even if you're new to the art of poetry, give it a try and see where it takes you. A great starting point is checking out @AC Benus's prompts in the Poetry Forum. https://gayauthors.org/forums/forum/369-poetry/ Guidelines can be found here: So who's in?

As opposed to beknighted.

I'll definitely have to check this out! I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Libby so far. I'm looking forward to the interview I ran track in high school too. In addition to competing in horse shows. 🏇

We had all the weather in one day last Wednesday. Just ask @Dabeagle 😁

You forgot the part about Niagara Falls. I'm not a beer drinker, let alone green beer , but I will definitely have some corned beef and taters!

Going over the falls in a barrel is a long-standing tradition. I'm not sure why you're so against it.

We're just a couple of weeks away from drinking green beer and eating corned beef and cabbage, so let's celebrate all things St. Patrick's Day! PT Prompt #207 HR calls you into their office based on a report of an unfortunate pinching incident on St. Patrick's Day. Who made the report, why, and is it true? PT Prompt #208 After a night of drinking too much green beer and Guinness, you wake up in a strange bed that's much too small for you. Next to you, fast asleep, is a guy dressed as a leprechaun. Convinced the beard is fake, you pull on it, only to discover it isn't, and then the guy wakes up, not too pleased to be woken up that way. What happens next? 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/

Thank you to all who voted for the 2024 GA Anthology theme! We had six great themes to choose from, and the votes have all been tallied. So now it's time for the big reveal! The 2024 Anthology theme is... In too Deep I already have a few ideas swimming around for this one. Please see the guidelines below, and it's not too early to start writing! 2024 Anthology - Due: October 1, 2024 2024 Theme is: In too Deep Feel free to interpret the theme in any way you want. The anthologies are not exclusive, but inclusive, so don't worry if you think your entry has only a tangential link to the theme. If you are inspired, then write a short story, poem, or play! Please read these submission guidelines carefully. You may address these themes in any style or genre you choose. Be creative! However, please note this is an anthology of short stories. By definition, a short story must stand alone and not require reading a prior story. It therefore cannot be a chapter in a serial. Who may participate: Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate. However, you must be a member here at GA with author or poet status (which is free and can be purchased through the Activities tab: Store link). Please RSVP to the 2024 Anthology In too Deep event (can be found by accessing the activity tab, then events) to receive reminders and also to give the anthology team an idea of number of participants. Submission Guidelines Submission Date: October 1, 2024 Please Note: Submission date is for submission to the Anthology Proof Team. Non-Poetry No Story Limit: Each story submitted must meet quality and editing guidelines. Each story posted as its own submission Minimum word count per story: 1,000 Maximum word count per story: 25,000 Poetry Unlimited number of poems, up to 10,000 words total Posted as a single submission (a collection) Submission Procedure *Please read carefully* Once your story is complete and has gone through your beta and editing team, please complete the following steps: Contact @Valkyrie via PM. Include in the PM the following information: Title, original editor, genre, synopsis, word count, and excerpt in the body of the PM. Attach your story file as a Word document. Please send as a .doc or .docx if possible. We have had issues with .odt documents. You will be paired with a proofreader from the Anthology Proof Team who will perform a final proof for the anthology and return the file to you. *Please Note: Prior editing required before submission.* Once you receive your proofed file, complete your edits and submit your story into the GA Stories Archive. For help, please read How do I upload my anthology entry into GA Stories? o Make sure the story stays unpublished (DO NOT click on either the publish or publish now buttons for the story itself or later when adding a chapter/chapters.) Select “Fiction” as the category. It will be moved later by staff. A maximum of four chapters may be included, but submitting the story as one chapter is highly preferred. Due to site limitations, if there are multiple chapters submitted, one chapter will post every 24 hours. This is not something we can change. When submitting multiple chapters, DO NOT SET A DATE for the ‘story’ or the chapters. Site staff will set the dates for you once they are moved to the anthology category. The ‘story’ and first chapter will publish on the anthology release date, and subsequently, additional chapters will post every 24 hours after that. Not following this guideline results in a LOT of extra work for staff, and you will risk your story not being included in the anthology. Mark your story status as COMPLETE. Only completed stories are allowed in the anthologies Please note that once you submit a story it will NOT show up in your list of stories until the anthology has gone live. Copy the URL for your story (not a chapter page) and paste it in the announcement thread in the Writer’s Circle so your submission may be checked to ensure it meets submission guidelines and is moved to the anthology category. ***Please do a visual check of your story once it has been uploaded to ensure that it posted correctly. If it did not, contact @Cia or @Valkyrie. IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT do ANYTHING with your story once it has been submitted to the anthology. We lock edits to anthologies, but we can only lock so much and making ANY changes can cause issues with the system. If there is something with your story that absolutely needs fixed, added, etc, PLEASE contact @Cia or @Valkyrie. Thank you! Extensions Occasionally things happen that prevent an author from meeting the deadline. If you need an extension, contact Valkyrie before the deadline (not the day of or after), and something may be able to be worked out. If you have NOT made arrangements prior to the deadline, your anthology story will not be included. You are welcome to post your story independently and include a story note stating it was originally meant to be part of the anthology. Story Titles Please do not use the anthology themes or your GA Username as a title. Be as original as you can. In case of duplicate titles within the anthology, we will request that titles be changed. Unacceptable entries & Content Warnings Entries that are obviously unedited (containing many errors) or that violate site guidelines will be either declined or changes may be requested as a condition of entry. For information on what is considered to be unacceptable, please see the Story Content Rules FAQ. Please include a Content Warning in the story notes if your story contains sensitive content, e.g.: abuse-physical, mental, sexual, extreme violence, taboo topics, etc.... Previously posted stories (whether at GA or elsewhere) are not eligible for inclusion into the GA anthologies. Editing All entries MUST be edited prior to being sent to the Anthology Proof Team. If you need an editor, please visit the Editors section of the Writer’s Club to request one. Please make sure to follow the guidelines when requesting an editor. The proof team is under no obligation to provide a proofread of a story until it has been edited. Proofreads should take no more than 72 hours once you have been paired with a proofreader. If you have not received your story back within 72 hours, please contact Valkyrie via PM. If you send your stories in within the last 48 hours of the deadline, you have 48 hours after receiving it back to upload it in order for it to be included in the Anthology. Copyright As with all content in GA Stories, the rights remain with the individual authors. Your story will post with a simple 2024 copyright notice, using your GA user display name. If you have another preference (for example, a different name, or a Creative Commons license, or specific copyright wording you'd like to use), please include that with your submission. However, with this anthology, by submitting your story, you are giving GayAuthors.org first worldwide rights with 14 days exclusivity. What that means is you are giving GayAuthors.org permission to archive your story on its website, distribute it via RSS, kindle, iPhone, iPad, eyeball… and you agree not to publish it anywhere else for two weeks. If you later decide to post your story at another site, please mention at the beginning or end of the story that it was first published as part of the 2024 Gay Authors Anthology – In too Deep and include a link back to GA if possible. If you have any questions, please post them in the Anthology Forum.

My army is very real, thank you very much. 😁

I tried my best to give answers people probably wouldn't know about me. Looks like it worked

Hmm... both of these are tempting, but I really want to know what that voice is saying...

If I even look at coffee, I won't sleep for a week

Not to be confused with 'commode'. Unless it's a commodious commode, in which case try not to fall in

I'd like to extend a huge thank you to the Anthology theme selection committee for submitting some pretty awesome themes to vote on! It was not easy narrowing down the entries. In fact, we ended up with a top six instead of a top five! We are trying something a little different this year to select our top theme. Please click on the link below to rank your top three choices. The theme that has the most votes for first will be our 2024 anthology theme! https://gayauthors.org/surveys/index.php/459382?lang=en Thank you @raven1 @CassieQ @Aditus @drown @E K Stokes @northie @astone2292 and @Gary L! And thank you to @Myr for creating the survey!

Momism: Does the Pope sh** in the woods?

Aww poor kitty. I hope karma hits those a-holes swiftly and hard Glad to hear she has a great home now

I'll have to think about this one. The author didn't give us too many clues to go on, although I can think of a few cat people on site. 😺

That's great news about your friend! Hopefully they will continue to remain sober My resolution to walk more was thwarted by some health issues, but now that I'm feeling better, and the weather isn't as yucky, I am back on schedule 🚶‍♀️