Valkyrie

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.

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.

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.

There are two different observances in July that I'd like to honor with prompts. July 14th is International Non-Binary People's Day - halfway between International Women's Day and International Men's Day - and is aimed to bring awareness to issues faced by non-binary people. July is also Disability Pride Month. It commemorates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and celebrates the accomplishments, experiences, and challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. Be sure to scroll to the end of the blog for a couple of recent prompt responses. PT Prompt #295 Write a diary entry from the POV of a non-binary person. Feature everyday interactions and experiences that subtly challenge assumptions about gender. PT Prompt #296 Many disabilities are "invisible", but still have a profound impact on an individual's life, such as autoimmune or cardiovascular diseases. People with these type of disabilities are often gaslighted by medical professionals, colleagues, and even their own friends and family. Write a story featuring a character with an invisible disability and their encounter with someone who doesn't believe they are actually disabled. 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/ Yesterday was capybara appreciation day, and while I don't think @wildone truly appreciates these cute creatures, he did take on my word list celebration prompt featuring capybaras. Read at your own risk! @BendtedWreath took @Aditus out on a date. Wait... uh... he was late to the date... uh... he wrote about Addy's date prompt Be sure to check that one out as well!

@Slytherin nicknamed me Penguin, after the cat in my first multi-chapter story. So it's a dig at me Steve and I have a friendly(?) rivalry over penguins and otters. For those not familiar with the Pepsi reference, I wrote a prompt story ages ago about a zombie apocalypse that was cured by spraying the zombies with Pepsi. It's become a running site joke

Today is National Capybara Appreciation Day

There are lots of secrets surrounding our Tell the Truth - Secret Author contest, but one thing that's not a secret is the due date for story submissions! My beta reader is twitching in the corner because I used "secret" three times in the same sentence There's less than a week to go, so get those finishing touches put on your stories and get them sent off to @Cia. Just don't tell anyone about it It won't be long now until we can start the guessing game as to who wrote what, which is always super fun to participate in or even just to read the guesses. Submission guidelines can be found here:

Now I'm afraid of my bubblewrap They need to introduce giant mutant otters to eradicate the capys, although if they pattern them after Steve, they would definitely be in trouble. Great take on the prompt, although this is even more proof that it's better to not piss you off

That reminds me... Joey Chestnut actually ate 70.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes, not 40.5 And yeah... gross.

I used to work at a big equestrian center downstate and a big storm was predicted in the evening. We had a lot of horses turned out, so we kept a close eye on the weather because metal horseshoes in wet pastures during lightning storms is not a good thing. When the storm approached, it was a literal black wall of clouds creeping toward us. Very Lord of the Rings/Armageddon type stuff. We managed to get all the horses from the top pastures into the barn, while a couple of people ran down to the lower pastures to get the lesson horses in, even though the storm had hit at that point and we yelled at them not to. We stood just inside the barn, trying futilely to see through the wall of torrential rain, when a lightning bolt flashed and thunder boomed immediately afterwards. I felt the hair on my arms stand up, and we all screamed and ran away from the door. It turned out the bolt actually hit the lower barn. The people had thankfully made it inside with a group of lesson horses and they told us the lightning actually arced across the blanket racks. Terrifying!

Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north and Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans! In the spirit of celebrating, let's explore various ways to do so. PT Prompt #293: You're a competitor in a major competition in your sport and will clearly win. Knowing this, you celebrate too early, which costs you the win. What happened and what is the fallout? PT Prompt #294: Use the following words in a story: balloon, cake, capybara, fireworks, flame-thrower, bubble wrap 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/