Ravenclaw

Good to see Brad having a nice time for a change. With all the workload, the people he cares for, his sons and always reminding himself of the past, it's really great to watch him recover.

I use a lot of graphics. For my last story I used autoCAD and Paint to draw out blueprints for my characters' homes, working places etc. I use to think of each character in a certain color or shades of that color. It makes it for me much easier to set the tone. Also, I'll go through a lot of information about their professions if they got one; how much they would make for real, where they could afford to live, what their hobbies would be and so forth. For example, for the last story I finished, I used to look at the pictures I made on my trips to places/cities. So, when a character is, for example, from Egypt, I use to put in a lot of info I have of the cities I visited. Though, the main place that my story took place was Vienna, so I used everything I knew about Vienna to set the right tone for my characters. And then, finally, the character's backgrounds: where they're from, what their families look like. So I draw a family tree on paper. I like to think about my characters' parents, best friends, relatives, colleagues... I want them to be as 3D as possible. Then come the details: do they own a car, do they like gadgets, what their phobias would be... It's a time consuming enterprise, but a worth one for sure.

So happy to see JJ stand his ground. Though, I think Brad would be as sneaky to kill off his son's career to have it his way. Oh, the plot thickens! The drama goes on. And for Will to back up JJ is just great. Shows that brothers in the end do make the best wingman.

Faszinierend. If they have superhuman strength and their captors are aware of it, I think they would use some "unknown" (read: made up) alloy made of two superstrong minerals or ores. I think that superhuman power makes plastic or fabrics look a bit unworthy of the plot. However, if they are wounded or deprived their powers, zip ties might come in handy. (I'd go with the alloy, because I'm more of a Star Wars/Trek guy, and who wouldn't want to own trilithium or Tholian silk.) But then again, it's your story so do whatever you feel would suit your plot best.

Thank you all very much for the feedback. Well, to say I'd given thought about the whole thing would be an understatement. It's been on my mind for months! I discussed this with the group of people I'd like to write about, and most reactions were very positive on what I was going to say. I'd even given them a short (half page) version of their characters (which I plan to use in the prologue) and what I thought would describe their motives and would do them justice as whole personalities. Some of them, of course, cried baby over a thing or two, like "I'd never do this!"/"I'd never go that far!" or "I'm not that shallow/mean/cheap!", but the thing is, we've known each other for over a decade now, and some of those people go back thirty years. And I've seen them laugh as well as fight and still make it through hard times. They're very much tight, I think. But I know for sure that introspection is a b*** and people always fail to follow their own actions and reactions, and as an observer I think I can do just that - be the mirror of their egos. Fact is, that through writing I wanted to vent some things which occured over a period of three weeks, which didn't come out of nowhere, but had been there, lurking in the dark, for years. I'm talking about strong emotions, resentments, envy, even hatred, brooding until they exploded over our heads. It's funny to think of drama, and say it happens only on TV. Because we dealt with real drama in real life. Not to spoil the plot, but to give just a hint: what started as a great vacation ended up a mess. Because people who've known each other for so long, never really discussed things that should've been talked about and then did some really stupid things. Those guys, like all humans, are flawed and messed up, and this is what I'm trying to show (not just to the readers out there, but to that same group of people I so much love!): that no matter what, no matter how hard times do become, people still love one another and care for each other. And this story, or at least a big portion of it does have a happy end. (I think!) I hope it will give closure to some chapters still waiting to have an end and it will bring closer friends who drifted apart.

Having a Will-type of friend who comes from a mighty family as well, I can say that even wealthy spoiled kids do grow up and mature over a decade or two. I've known a 16-year-old once, who would react the same as Will in many situations, like swinging his daddy's credit card every time he felt pushed into corner. But twenty years later I see a great, handsome guy now, who's turned from d*** to DILF, with husband, kids and home to prove. I know Will will get there one day and the tantrums will be just a funny memory. As for JJ... oh, boy, it was time to see him mellow. But if Alex messes up, we'll go Henry VIII on him.

Hello to the people of the page! As a "writer" I'm completely new here, though I've been following some authors over the past three years. My friends, however, have pushed me for a while now to go public with my own stuff. I've written tons of short stories (never in English!) but I never published anything anywhere. Though the idea to let some strangers have a peek into my "talent" was more blocked by my own fear of criticism, than the need to vent out and take it to the next level. There's something I always wanted to write about. Actually, I have a lot of it put down on paper already, but the thing is, that it's about a "chain of true events" that took place two years ago and I kind of played with the idea to use the real twelve gay, bi and straight people (which were part of those events) as my own characters and let them... well, play it all out. I was given consent to use their backgrounds and even to describe them in person, but was asked, naturally, to change their real names. Looking back, I must say that the summer I'd like to write about, was one of the best times I ever had. And since I'm here on Gay Authors, I know I can get more creative and ignore all laws of physics and thermodynamics and let the characters go wild. Now, here's the thing: I still wonder how far I should go, given the fact that those people really exist and that I am permitted to use some info about their real lives. Which brings me to the next question: should I go Mark Arbour and let them take on an adventure or Louisa May Alcott and make them sweet and mellow (which would be much less than what actually happened).