MrM

I can’t stand it . . .

Yay. Now I can blather at people senselessly!

I forwarded it per your message. Thanks

Is your email back up? I sent my submissions but then just read your email about having trouble. let me know if there is another way I can send to you.

“....right?”

Dawwww! Scotty with the waggley tail! 💓💓💓💓💓

~

@Comicality pound it! ~fist bumps~ @Blue Dhalia now you have a story of your own to tell! ‘Levi and the Blue Dhalia’ sounds appropriate!

Don’t worry, I cry each time I read this too!

Thanks Darlin Dahlia’! Chandler is necessary for later things concerning Brandon. So much so that I’ve started his facet of the story in his own entry called In Chandler’s Hands. He is the true older gay friend I wished I’d had growing up and struggling. Later in life, looking back in my 20-20 hindsight, I actually did have one or two ‘Chandlers’ in my life who were instrumental in getting me to the next stage of my development and, remembering their council, it comes through Chandler here. Hopefully, he’s a template for what any of us adult gay guys can be for our kids. Because, all Gay children are our kids in a way. Everyone needs a roll model growing up and its important for us to be that for someone if we can. Comsie sneaks in his own ‘Chandlers’ quite often in a lot of his stories. One such ‘Chandler’ is Comicality himself from GFD! I think, in Billy’s case though, he’s referencing a boy with a very strong center who sees what he wants and has the courage to pounce on it, even if he tends to leap before he looks! He rarely questions his own state of being. He questions what he does to other people and tries to learn from his mistakes and do better, but he does not have the fracture in him that Brandon has within himself. Billy is more apt to question those who have authority over him who tell him who he is ‘supposed’ to be. Billy recognizes that he is what he is and anybody that doesn’t agree with that is, basically, wrong! His insecurities come from trying to avoid these people so that he can live his life as he wants to live it while understanding that he’s still a ‘kid’ and has to tough things out until he can finally get free of things. Brandon doesn’t even have his center yet! Brandon questions himself! All his life he has been taught that one can’t trust themselves when it comes to their desires. It is a very Catholic attitude. You must not want what you want because what you want is almost always wrong! MINDFUCK TIME! You can see through this in his horrified reactions to getting caught and staying secret when he and Billy finally get together. Brandon is not only hiding from his Dad’s judgement of him, but also he is hiding from his conditioning that keeps beating him with “What you are doing is evil. What you are doing is a sin. What you are is evil. What you are is sin!” In this way, Brandon is me. This, topped with the devastating loss of his mother and the partial loss of his dad to grief, has left Brandon something of a shattered mess! He needs a Chandler!

Case in point: I recorded Empathy Test on Friday. I didn't realise it until Isaac Howlett, the lead singer here, said that the performance I saw was their first in the US as they were allowed to tour with a more US known indie act. Empathy Test has crowd funded two of their albums and, to me, they are one of the best bands I've ever heard! I love to include them on a number of my soundtrack thingies I do for stories because, oddly, their music ties in so well to a lot of plot lines I reference in those playlists. Excuse the somewhat shaky video, I was using my iPhone and trying not to wiggle dance too much :

Brian, many years later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm a few minutes from home in Fælledparken, a lovely park near central Copenhagen where I have lived and worked for these many years. It is here that we moved after we were married in Kakslauttanen and enjoyed a long honeymoon with my Snowflake's family. Such precious memories . . . I'm sitting on our bench, here, looking at the lake and the beautiful fountain at its center. Denmark is such a gorgeous place in Autumn, though the cold comes

Snowflake ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Haloo! Hehehehe!" I turned. For a short second, I saw him standing there in the snow and then he ran off back into the trees quicker than a wink! I thought for sure that I was seeing things. After my emotional ‘outing' with Brian earlier in the day, I had to think that it was my overwrought mind playing tricks on me in the constant twilight. But, my crystal clear eyes are adapted for these conditions. Growing up here, the semi-dark, with the snow and th

I salute you, Thorn! You are more than good enough to be published anywhere, but I do agree that there is a definite bent by 'Serious Publishers' to avoid Gay stories and authors at all costs. Many Gay and Allied authors take to including gay themes into there stories as central parts of their plots, but do not market them as 'Queer Fiction' as a category. Anne Rice, one of my muses, was a pioneer in getting Gay content published through her Vampire Chronicles. But, since her genre was 'horror' the publishers felt safe to push her Interview With A Vampire forward even with the edgy content. It was the 70s, though, and that was a much richer time for authors to find acceptance and have creative freedom than today. The world of publishing has become so corporatised that, just like music, if it doesn't fall within a very narrow band of 'Publishable' parameters, then they won't even bother with it. I think it was brilliant of Amazon to create a self-publishing system to give we 'underground' authors a chance! ~~~~~~ "And of course, self-publishing comes with a necessity for self-marketing, which can easily be seen as narcissistic." I know that @Comicality self-publishes his stuff and has a whole blog, forum, and website universe dedicated to marketing his stories and supporting others in the Gay Teen Romance genre. It is one of the reasons his stuff is some of the best known out of our 'tribe' here. I am a big supporter of shameless self-promotion . We work hard on our stuff and if nobody else is going to put us out there to see then we have to do it our own damn selves! Comsie has encouraged me to self-publish as he does. He thinks my stuff is marketable enough to draw paying readers. I am seriously considering it but, like you Thorn, I consider it a plunge in the dark. It will take courage. So, again, I applaud your courage and I shall make you another role model for success as a Gay Author! This week I just completed one of my longest running stories and, after some editing, revisioning, and plot normalisation, I may make it my first self-published title. I believe in this story and have a feeling it might work as a good start. It has all the right flavour notes for a Gay Romance, for my tastes anyways.

Yes. Comsie has been sidetracked by technical issues with his computer so he's trying very hard to get his updates to everything in order. I've been dealing with some illness and real life crap this summer so my output has also been way down. I apologise, I'll have more Brandon coming up soon. I did just finish one of my long running stories, Snowflake, so once I have that finalised and published I'll probably work to finish up Blog #1 for Brandon so we can get on to some 'Hot Buttered Boy Love,' as The Master calls it, in Blog #2.

ChanChan is a boner-fied bully smasher. This, also, has not been his first run in with Karl and, later Jason. Some of that is surfaced in the spin off to Brandon and Billy Chase:

I can tell you of my Dark Passengers through a story I’m getting set to write for Halloween this year. You might call them .... Legion! This time Death wears many faces

I have a someone like that. He's into me in that way, but I'm not into him that way. It's sad, really. He's such a nice and good person. He is a compliment to everything I am. Steady, focused, calm, collected. LOL But, I just don't have the 'hots' for him. I think he does me for some reason. Maybe not as much as a couple of years ago though. I've been having weight issues recently and he's a health fanatic.

Well there are OTHER things more satisfying, but we shouldn’t get into that now. I was talking about EATING the bread you pervs!

Actually, your point is, of course, quite valid and having such technology to allow folks who can’t knead or mix things by hand is a wonderful thing. I shall, myself, be needing to use the KitchenAid I have after the next few years. My carpel tunnel syndrome in my right hand is starting to worsen and after the surgery I probably won’t be able to do much more than type and hopefully write with my hand again. I am right handed so that will be a problem for any strength bearing activities with that hand for a long while. That said, if a person is able to do so, I would greatly encourage folks to knead bread at least once in their lives. It is one of the most natural and satisfying things a person can do and a great workout!

Yes, but I’m mean, judgey, and unsympathetic to the weaknesses of huuumons! So There! 😈

This is a nice thing to pair with the salad. I use whole wheat along with the bread flower to make it a little more fortified. I'll share it as the video because it is what I used to learn how to make home made pita bread. I like that the dough is kneaded by hand the way it should be. Not with a freaking KitchenAid. Also, I like this video, because Akis is freaking HAWT! I told him as much as a comment and he gave me a virtual heart, so .... I may have to move to Greece now.

That's the beauty of it! I learned how to make it when I used to be able to grow things. I can only grow my fresh herbs now coz of urban living with Twinks that don't eat.

This is a staple of mine during the summer months when the major components of this recipe are at their seasonal freshness. To change things up, use cantaloupe, watermelon, or another favourite melon of your choice. They are ‘cucumbery’ because cucumbers and melons are cousins! You can actually mix both together for something very interesting texturally! Καλοκαιρινή σαλάτα Kalokairiní saláta Summer Salad (also known as Village Salad) Main Ingredients: 1 English Cucumber, peeled or unpeeled per your taste, seeds removed, cubed 1/2 of a red onion, peeled and diced 2 pref. Home grown or organically grown, naturally ripened on the vine tomatoes or those little grape tomatoes from the store, cut into bite sizes. If grape tomatoes, slice in half so that the juices mix with the cucumbers and onions. 1 garlic clove, grated or minced 1/4 Cup of chopped parsley 1/4 Cup of chopped mint, if available 2 Tbsp. Of chopped fresh greek oregano or 1 Tbsp. Dried oregano Salt and Pepper 1/4 Cup virgin Greek olive oil, first pressing if available 3 Tbsp of balsamic or red wine vinegar Plating Garnishes, all optional: A bed of greens of your choice. Whole leaf spinach and Romaine lettuce are my personal favourites. Grilled chicken, fish, octopus, or other seafood or poultry. Nuts of your choice. Walnuts or Pistachios are traditional for the Turkish version of this salad. Sliced goat or sheep Greek imported Feta cheese from whole brined block, if available. Regular crumbled is ok, just not as creamy and delicious. Whole Kalamata Olives with pits, because they taste better. Remember to serve off to the side of the plate or in separate bowl so that diners won’t mix them in the salad and bite down on one and break their teeth. Extra salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil to taste A dusting of extra oregano, mint, and basil leaves if you prefer. Mix all main ingredients in a glass bowl or container. I prefer to use a glass Rubbermaid container because this salad actually gets better when left to marinate in the refrigerator. It can keep for a week this way! When plating, layer your salad first on a bed of your chosen greens, then the Summer Salad mixture, then the optional meat and/or Feta cheese. Drizzle and sprinkle with vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Serve Kalamata Olives off to the side of the plate or in a separate bowl possibly with another slice of Feta and an extra dusting of herbs if you like. Serve to guests and make sure you keep a plate for yourself aside because when I make this salad it usually disappears virtually instantaneously.

I store most of my work on ICloud and they don’t review anything there. Those that read my stuff know that it can get quite racey. If all that you have is above board and not in any way illegal in the US and A then no one is going to bother you. ICloud’s simply a network drive to store stuff. They don’t have ‘community standards’ other than whatever standards the law insists upon which covers your local drives too and, these days, ALL of that stuff is subject to investigation if the Gob.ment decides it needs to screw with you. The sucky thing about ICloud is that you have to subscribe with real-live-money if you want to expand your share space. You get a rather large amount of space when you sign-up, but any more than that you have to pay for. I agree with @Shadow086 that Apple is a better way to go. It isn’t as good as it once was, but it’s rate of degeneration has been much slower than that of Windows. Each new version of Windows that comes out I lose shtuff. I live in fear that if my autobackups fail that I’ll lose work. It shouldn’t happen to a dog. I’ve not had these issues with any of my Apple products and ICloud is cool because it allows me to access my stories from anywhere on any of my Apple devices. So, the only excuses I have for being slow in writing are personal issues like illness, writer’s block, idiot roommates, and indolence.