Valkyrie

Very well done! This poem showed brilliantly the process of realizing a relationship is toxic and then telling the abuser they no longer have power over them. Abusers and narcissists are master manipulators who, unfortunately, make it easy to fall for their BS. Once those glasses disintegrate, it's liberating, but also quite understandable to question what you ever saw in them. Nothing shocks a narcissist more than to be called out on their behavior. I love how the narrator in the poem finds their courage and stands up for themselves. I think this is one of the most powerful lines in the poem. The violence in the end was absolutely justified self-defense. The abuser tried to stop the narrator from leaving, so defending himself to get out of the situation was totally warranted. Celebrating the anniversary of gaining freedom from an abusive relationship is something to be commended. This poem is raw, emotional, and ultimately triumphant. Thank you for sharing it with us

No theme, although for a while I went with names starting with A. Alex and Adam were my first two cars, followed by Adam 2 (I know... not very original, but they were the same color, make, and model ). Then I went with Simon and my current vehicle is Drogon.

I really liked the descriptions of the pond and the woods and the personification of the wildlife. You showed us the nature of the boy/hare without explicitly telling us, which worked nicely. It's a shame that 'progress' is measured by the destruction of nature. The desolation of the once-beautiful woods that held such memories for the boy was heart-breaking, as was the discovery of the dead deer and hare. I was really hoping the hare had somehow escaped the fire. It was also sad to see the boy living in one of the condos at the end, instead of out in the woods as he initially desired. Thank you for sharing this story and participating in the anthology!

This is a lovely story of remembrance. Cars can have such a special place in our lives and evoke fond memories. As a kid, it was always a big deal to name the car when we got a new one. It's still the first thing I do when I get a new car. I really enjoyed this story. Thank you for participating in the anthology!

Speak for yourself

A fitting tribute for an incredible woman. The whole world mourns her loss.

She was the epitome of grace and a true servant to her people. She was also an avid horsewoman and patron of horse sport. She did a lot to preserve endangered breeds and promote horsemanship. I mourn her loss with the rest of the world.

I see you guys are blowing the reading challenge out of the water too. Wow, that's a lot of comments and reviews for the first day of anthology stories! Well done, readers! If you read @Headstall's poetry early today, you might want to check it out again because Chapter 2 posted a little while ago. Due to limitations of the system, we weren't able to post both chapters at the same time. We'll let you know if that changes, because there's a few submissions in the coming weeks with multiple chapters.

We did it! We asked, and boy did you guys deliver! I can't think of a better way to honor and celebrate GA's twentieth anniversary. YOU ALL ROCK!!!!! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the incredible support for this anthology. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! 😁 So now let's remember my challenge to readers... read, read, read, comment, comment, comment, review, review, review 😁

Between writing my anthology story, proofreading, editing, writing the blogs, watching the Kids in the Hall reboot, the new LOTR, and the Continental, plus this pesky little thing called work, I have no idea which way is up right now What do you think inspired the blog post? I heard that song was like "That's it!" I meant to include it in the blog, but well, see above So thanks for posting it!

Of course you were missed Sorry to hear about your struggles. I know what it's like when depression hits hard, and it's not fun I tend to go radio silent when it happens to me too. Your travels sound amazing! One of these days I'll hop the pond myself and get to Europe. I've been learning German for over two years now. Welcome back!

I'd be pretty freaked out if someone approached me like that. I hope things start looking up for Adam and Mikey. It seems like they already are. Hopefully his dreams will come true. You're really on a roll with the prompts. Keep it up!

So you suddenly forgot?

@QuilahYes! This! Authors have to start somewhere, and the first step is putting yourself out there. I totally get how daunting it can be, but Mrsgnomie is so right in that's how you build relationships. My team wasn't built overnight. We read each other's stories and kind of went from there. Participating in the prompts and the anthology is a great way to start. Prompts are shorter works that get yourself out there on a less-intimidating basis. With the anthology, you'll get your story looked at by one of the proof team members. I learned a lot from the proof team when I first started writing. A lot of us cringe at our early work, but it's because we've grown as writers. So my advice would be to start! You can only go up from there

Having a good team is essential for anyone who wants to improve their craft. Otherwise, we have no idea what our strengths and weaknesses are. Sometimes we may think we're strong in one area, but it takes another set of eyes looking at it to tell us that maybe we're not as strong as we think we are. I rely on my team to tell me when something is lame or when what's in my head isn't coming across on the page. Talking it out with them is sometimes a much-needed step in my writing process. I currently don't have an editor, but I am a very strong technical writer, so my needs are more for beta readers. I work with two beta readers who have become close friends of mine. It's a reciprocal arrangement, since I edit for both of them. We are quite comfortable telling each other when things don't work. That doesn't mean I'm averse to working with an editor; I'm definitely not! I just don't have anyone to fill that role at the moment. Even the best writers miss things sometimes. For an author who wants to build a team, my suggestion is to find, at a minimum, a good editor and a good beta reader. A good editor will also make beta comments, so that's two sets of eyes looking at the story in-depth. When looking for a potential editor, check out stories they have edited for others. If the stories are consistently (and across multiple authors) riddled with errors, then keep looking. I totally understand not all of that is on the editor, since it's up to the author to accept or reject changes, so if the editor is an author themselves, check out their own work to see how well-edited it is. I have worked with a lot of different authors here as editor and in my role as proof team leader. I will offer a few things to keep in mind when working with your team. First, we are doing this on a volunteer basis. Editing is a time-consuming process. Your editor and beta readers are taking time out of their schedules to do you a favor and look at your work. THANK THEM! You would think I wouldn't need to tell people this, but I can't tell you how many times I have returned stories to people with no response back. Whether you agree with what your editor/beta reader has said or not, at the very least, thank them for their time. Also, don't be afraid to say no. Sometimes the dynamic between authors and an editor/beta reader just doesn't work. It happens, and it's okay to move on to someone else who may be a better fit. Lastly, be patient. We all have lives and some of us work full-time in addition to writing/editing/beta reading. Hounding a team member because they haven't returned your story/chapter in three days is annoying. Checking in is perfectly fine, but be considerate of their schedules. The Writer's Circle here on GA has a section where authors can request editors and beta readers. It might take a while to find someone to step up, but don't give up! It takes time to build a good team and develop a rapport and working relationship with them, but it is so worth putting in that time and effort. I wouldn't trade @Cole Matthews or @Aditus for the world.

Between editing, proofreading, and writing for the anthology, along with things being crazy at work, my brain is a bit on the crispy side at the moment. So let’s get right into this week’s prompts. PT Prompt #79 You are hiking through the woods when you encounter a wooden sign with the following words written in red, dripping paint: I’d turn back if I were you. Do you turn back or continue on the path? If you continue, what do you encounter? PT Prompt #80 Your character is a stay-at-home parent who sleepwalks. Use the following phrases to lead you into a story about that character: awfully big shoes to fill, and the quest continues.

I don't think I'm ever done

We never announce the date the anthology will go live because there are too many variables in play and people get upset if it has to be delayed. With the number of stories received this year, plus the cache issues, we'll have to ask for everyone's patience while we get everything sorted, organized, and ready to launch.

Today is the last day to submit stories to the proof team for inclusion in the anthology. I feel like we need a New Year’s Eve type countdown as we approach midnight, EST, complete with champagne and confetti. Of course, there’s still work for the proof team to do, but we’ll be able to take a break soon. Maybe. So the big question with this year’s anthology is “did we reach the goal of twenty stories?”. Well, I’m going to let the question go unanswered until the antho goes live. But I will say give yourselves a round of applause and a giant pat on the back because whether we met the goal or not, we’ve got quite an impressive and unique variety of stories and poetry for your reading pleasure. I will also say we’re very close to twenty, but I won’t say which side of the number we’re on. You’ll have to tune in over the next few weeks to find out. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone involved in the anthology. The proof team, @cia, @myr, authors, poets, readers, editors, beta readers, and everyone who commented on my anthology blogs. You guys are all rock stars! Now I’d like to issue another challenge. Now that the stories are written and ready to go live, it’s time for readers to step up. Instead of reading only the stories written by your favorite authors or poets, read all of them and give the anthology your full support. React to the story, chapter, and leave a comment. Authors love hearing from readers. The stories will be spaced out over the course of a month, so that will make it easier to read all of them. Finally, another reminder for authors/poets to post the links to their works once they’re returned from the proof team. PM either me or Cia and we’re happy to help with any issues.

The Sound of Silence is one of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel songs. Combining the two prompts worked really well for this story. I was glad to see you continued it and that the two men were finally able to connect.

Great interview! I didn't have time to read the story, but it sounds really interesting.

That's what happens when you piss off Thor

Yes, still time to get those stories in! Let's give the proof team a very busy week! A huge thank you to @Myr, @Cia, and everyone working to squash the cache bug. I can only imagine how crazy it's driving everyone

The anthologies are an important part of GA, and have always been eagerly anticipated by both authors and readers. We’re in the final stretch for this year’s anthology, with the deadline for submission to the proof team a week away. That’s still plenty of time to complete the final edits and get stories to me by or on September first. I’m going to let the final number of stories be a surprise, so you’ll have to wait until it goes live to find out if we met our goal of at least twenty stories. The anthology wouldn’t exist without the support of site members, and that can happen in a variety of ways: Authors and Poets – write, write, write! We want to read your stories and poetry, and, as we discussed last week, it doesn’t need to be a 25k novella (unless that’s what you want to contribute), but can be a 1k flash fiction piece or anything in between. Writing for the anthology is a great way to get new readers and also to give back to a site that has given so much. The link to the theme can be tangential, so if the theme isn’t speaking to you, it doesn’t have to smack the reader in the face as long as it’s there somewhere. But that’s a topic for another blog post. The anthology is open to all site authors and poets, so even if you’re new to writing, give it a go! We’ve had authors/poets contribute their first stories to the anthology before. So as long as it fits into GA’s story guidelines and has gone through an editor, send it on! Readers – read, read, read! Authors love reader feedback. At the very least, leave a reaction or recommendation. Remember to leave a reaction for both the story and story chapters. Story reactions help get authors recognized on the recommended stories list. Even better, leave a comment and/or review. Editors – edit, edit, edit! In the months leading up to the anthology, there are usually quite a few requests in the Writer’s Circle from authors looking for editors. Stories must be edited before being submitted to the proof team, and it can be difficult at times for authors to find someone to edit their story, so stepping up to help make these stories the best they can be is a fantastic way to support the anthology. Another way for editors to contribute is to join the proof team. Having more proof team members will help ease the backlog we sometimes experience when a lot of stories are submitted at once. Anyone interested in joining the proof team can feel free to message me, and we’ll go from there. Finally, I wanted to give anthology authors/poets a reminder to post the links to your story in the anthology links thread in the Writer’s Circle once they’re returned from the proof team. If you have any questions about the process, message either myself or Cia and we’ll be happy to help.