ReaderPaul

Thank you, Myr.

The most readable version is at: http://storycove.us/ after which you have to click "Complete Author List," then choose Tulsa Driller, then click Tales From the Ranch, then click "enter", then on the upper right click "Chapter/Page", then go to the selected chapter. On Nifty, go to: http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/rural/tales-from-the-ranch/ and select the chapter. The format is much easier to read on StoryCove.us, but harder to start reading.

The story is called "Tales From the Ranch." The author is the late David Dillon, writing under the pen name "Tulsa Driller." There are 55 chapters in Book 1 of Tales from the Ranch, and 20 chapters of Book 2 were written before David's untimely death. The first two chapters of Book 1 feature the sons of the ranch owner; then the focus starts shifting to the two main characters of the rest of the story, Dale and Craig. Cia or Myr or Renee Stevens, or another admin, do I have permission to mention the two websites where this story is located? I am almost certain David Dillon/Tulsa Driller never posted the story on GA.

Seen on a sign: "This, too, shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass."

“Unusual doors often take you to the unusual worlds!” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan (I have to confess, I was driven to search for quotes about the subject of doors by reading "The Odd, Onward Door," by Geron Kees. An excellent story., available here on GA.)

There is a good reason I am only giving this five stars. I really would like to give it seven stars, but the system limits me to five, instead of seven out of five. The story starts in a rural setting, as Derry and his boyfriend, Caleb (nickname: Cally) are having summer fun on the farm of Derry's Granddad, Mike. Cally has discovered an interesting anomaly on one part of the farm; he shows Derry, and an adventure begins. The action builds gradually, and flows naturally. Each preparation, each discovery, adds to the story. There are only five characters in the story-- Derry, Cally, Granddad Mike, Derry's mother, and Difris (in order of appearance and speaking role). Various adventures take place, each proceeding with reason from a previous one, and it comes together in a harmonious whole. An excellent read. Looking forward to sequels.

Another search engine to check is www dot ixquick dot com because it sometimes gives different results than Bing or Google. Ixquick is a Dutch search engine available in almost 200 languages. It is also the most PRIVATE of the search engines, because it does not record your IP address. (IP stands for Internet Protocol. Every mobile/cell phone, tablet, or desktop computer has a unique IP address.) One might have to address ones search settings on Ixquick. They tend to reset back to "Moderate Safe" search levels after a few hours.

The story sounds like "Kidnapping is Always an Option," by HinderToyBL. The link to that story is: There are 28 chapters so far. Once you go to the link, scroll down to get to the chapter listing. If that is not the right story, I'm sorry. The one above is a very interesting story, but may not be for everyone. Some may not like the sci-fi/fantasy aspects.

I was disturbed to find that Leon and Kirk had lied. However, things like that do indeed happen in real life. I look forward to seeing the story as it progresses.

I look forward to when this story and your others which are not yet finished continue. I enjoy your writing and especially the reasoning and dialogue you put within the stories. But real life must come first. Yet know, R. Eric, that I will be watching for your stories with eagerness.

This story reminds me of the original Hardy Boys stories (from the 1920s to the 1950s) in many of the ways it is arranged, but with gay twists. There are multiple levels to the story, ranging from detective story to suspense to tribute. The use of logical deductions (and sometime misdirection) by the characters in the story. There are some 1940s stereotypes used in the story for effect. The story is quite reasonable from the initial premises. "Accidents," attempted murder, rare snakes, illusionists, best friends, and more-- all play parts in the story. Different characters reveal their strengths and weaknesses as the story unfolds. All in all, a good story, invoking nostalgia for some of us, and yet the story is logically constructed with plenty of the element of surprise. Should the author write an eventually sequel short story, I would certainly read it. Paul

Plagiarism burns me up. Twice I have found one particular author's story or stories on websites not authorized to carry those stories. In one case, the story had been edited to make minor changes to the names-- example: Bobby was changed to Bob; Andrew changed to Andy, David changed to Dave, Bill changed to William, and so on. On another website his stories had just been stolen. I reported this to the original and actual author, and he managed to get the stories taken down-- eventually. Another case was NOT plagiarism. One author had written another to get permission to use some similar situations in the story being written, and the permission was given. Both authors graciously acknowledged the other's efforts, and the result was good for both authors. Another case was not on the Internet, but one author acknowledged that he was inspired by a long-dead author's story, and then used the original premise in a totally different way, with credit given, and differing situation and characters. Thanks to the Admins here for being so careful.

James, I agree that since it is fiction, go ahead and post as you were planning. I don't remember you specifying a year in which this happened, but if you did, just put a chapter note on any Galveston related chapter. You are not being disrespectful.

“Talent alone won't make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: 'Are you ready?'" ~ Johnny Carson

Such mutilation as spine-breaking is unacceptable. I have close to 7,000 physical books, and value all of them (some much more than others). I have had too many returned in poor condition or not returned, and only rarely do I loan books at all. Less than a month ago I finally got a Kindle app because some things were way too expensive to find in physical form.

Yes, I do care! On Nifty a long time ago, I read a story where the shortest chapter was 35,000 words, and the longest was 70,000 words. With the exception of the first chapter, about 45,000 words, all the chapters could easily have been broken into two or three or even four parts. I no longer have a reading speed of 1000+ words per minute, so that makes for too long of a read when one also has to exist in real life with many interruptions at home. Only about three or four authors can hold my attention now for those extra long chapters or over 20,000 words. At this point, on Gay Authors, Dabeagle can, CraftingMom could, if the chapters were that long, and R. Eric can, and Cynus can, Timothy M, the super-talented Geron Kees definitely can, and possibly Rob Colton and Mark Arbour, and MrM. (I reserve the right to discover others.) There are a very few on other websites as well than can. If there is a way to split the chapter so each chapter is less than 20,000 words, that is often good, because life can get in the way. Since many authors do not approach that number of words in a chapter, it is rarely a problem.

Quokka, this is one of your best stories so far. Having plenty of dialogue is a good thing. I like Jasper, Simon, Kirk and Leon in addition to Anton and his immediate family. I'm hoping Simon gets featured a little more in the rest of the story.

Geron Kees, I loved the story. Any chance of a sequel, eventually?

SolarMaxx, thank you for the update. I am not surprised at what you have told us. A friend of mine was married to a woman over thirty years, and they have two sons--one gay, one straight with 5 or 6 kids. His ex-wife loves both sons, and is fine with the gay one as well-- but could not stand the idea that HER husband might be bisexual. She had broken promise after promise to him for years, and then wondered how he could divorce her. He got stuck with the entire house payment, even though her income is at least as much as his, and she got the house. I am glad you were able to be there for your nephew, and hope your wife is holding up okay, as well. Considering the parts of your family situation you have shared. do not be in any hurry to reveal your bisexuality to your nephew or anyone else. At this point it probably would stir up more flames instead of helping the overall situation. The full reasons I have for advising that would take much too many words to explain at this point.

Tonight, I was being logged out after 5 to 10 minutes of inactivity (as in not posting anything). This is the first time for some time I have had that problem. I use Windows 10, and Chrome browser, most of the time. Any ideas why it might have suddenly started doing this? While it is only a minor annoyance to sign back in, it is somewhat annoying.

I look forward to seeing how this develops, R. Eric. Great so far. Good to see Stan out with them. I look forward to seeing how Wayne and Amir and Amasis are able to help the company with some of the foreign concepts by looking at things, sometimes, at a different angle than the Americans.

Wow, James, when you put action and plot twists and intrigue and villainy together and stir well, it come out great! Looking forward to the future chapters.

So far I have not been kicked out unless I try to have more than 18 tabs open at once, or in case of power failure. I always use Chrome or Firefox (usually Chrome) for Windows 10, and have it set for Private Browsing except for the stories of James Savik. My Chrome settings, when i downloaded Chrome, have a long time setting before logging off (although refreshed each time I use that website). Unfortunately, I don't remember HOW I got the lengthy logoff setting set in the first place.

I look forward to future chapters, R. Eric. You certainly handled the last two chapters differently (and much better) than I expected. Just when I thought I had most of it figured out, BOOM! Change time. Very well done. Colin, Devon, and Willie have all undergone the serum at least twice, and therefore have something in common that many others do not. Maybe they should form a small, exclusive, club-- the multi-serumers-committmenters (multi-serumizers? Multi-serum-experiencers?) Surely Devon can find an name and initials for it! Since Mitch showed up, Rain Stevens might show up next with Eric Mitchell. But since no one has commented how much Devon looks like Eric, they might not be in this story....

I thought this chapter was exactly the right length for the angst involved on the part of both Ava and Bryan, and possibly Rob as well. It has been less than 20 years ago that I admitted I was bisexual to myself, let along anyone else. Most of the world and those close to me do not know yet. What attracted me to this story was the title, since I knew that "beards" are people who help cover up for each other's gayness by appearing to be boyfriend and girlfriend in mostly homophobic areas. I've read at least two other well-done stories about beards, and a couple not so well-done. So far, this is indeed well done. Now, for a question to be answered in a future chapter: Does Rob know about Ava?