ReaderPaul

Eric's grandmother was wise to give the advice she did. The more I see David and Edmond, the more I like them. The terraces and greenhouses will be more productive the second year than the first, since valuable experience will have been gained in the first fall, winter, and spring following their construction.

I was impressed with the sensitivity Peter showed in taking Olek to the roof to look out over the city after the attempted terrorists/invaders were dealt with. He is becoming more independent and thoughtful, gradually. Olek's reaction, in crushing the glasses and his after rant, was priceless.

I look forward to reading more in this story. Those must be really big and/or efficient fuel/fuel tanks, to allow the ship to get into orbit around multiple planets, and then accelerate away again. While the mathematical "slingshot effect" on various planets' and stars' gravity wells can be done, minimizing fuel usage, there would be a lot of fuel usage for each planet orbited. (Of course, as the fuel is used, then the ship becomes lighter, but it still takes a tremendous amount of fuel.) Even so, this is shaping up to be an interesting story.

Have you considered a continuation from this point featuring Zek and Gabe? Or perhaps featuring those two more in Cinderfella 3? As far as other fairy tale adaptations, instead of Snow White, how about Prince Silver and the Seven Giants? Maybe The Big Merman? Human versions of the Three Little Pigs? ( I once saw a fascinating children's book titled, "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.) And Wikipedia has an article titled, "List of Fairy Tales," with hundreds of titles listed.

I may have missed this because of how many posting there were on that day. I really like this chapter I just discovered. I really appreciate this alternate world you have for the setting of the story. I am guessing the photographers from the University will also be at the proposal. I hope to see them featured a bit more, as well. Too bad that Ted probably will not be at the proposal. He seems to be an interesting character. Also, I like the way you are switching back and forth among your stories. Please continue the interesting writing.

Looking forward to when you continue this great story.

An interesting story. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Wonderful chapter. I look for your stories every time I go to GA. So many great developments in recent chapters and in this one.

Great start! It reminds me just slightly of another story, but there are many and major differences. I predict the new companion/slave knows more of the language than he lets on. Any idea when the next chapter might be posted?

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.