Etienne

My stories, which revolve around mature men, have been well received. So I say, go for it.

Word Perfect 12 is simple (and simply the best). Open the story or chapter. Click on File. Among the options in that window are: Print and below that Publish to Click on publish and HTML is an option.

Maybe one will knock on your door one day. It does happen

My story concering a relationship between two men in their early 30s has been well received, so I would say you have nothing to worry about.

OK I have had this story 90% fleshed out in my head for several years. I have actually written the first page, introducing the characters. Something is holding me back, and I think I know what it is. I am afraid that once I start the story in earnest, I won't be able to stop - for anything. Is this normal?

In the fantasy realm, nobody does it better than Mercedes Lackey. Lots of same sex themes, particularly in the Last Herald Mage trilogy. The three titles are Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, and Magic's Price. These books can be read and re-read over and over again. They are part of a larger body of work built around the mythical Kingdom of Valdemar.

Am I the only nit-picky author that noticed this: Question number 2 on the survey ended with a dangling whatchamacallit.

That is a no-brainer. I would pick Vanyel Ashkevron, hero of Mercedes Lackey's 'Last Herald Mage' trilogy. Vanyel goes through a long and very convincing struggle before he finally figures out that he likes men. He also possesses a certain nobility of character that is all too rare. Lackey's 'Valdemar' books are worth the time and effort.

[So, I still haven

I cannot speak for other writers, but I end a story when I have put the characters through all of the experiences that I feel the need for. You should know when you have brought things to a conclusion and there is little more to be said. As for happy endings - I like happy endings. Life is full of unhappy endings, so why should we fantasize about unhappiness.

Well said. As I look back over finished chapters of my current story, I find chapter length is somewhat uneven. Looking at chapters that are not finished, I find that in some cases I am tempted to pad them with unnecessary text just to make them a tad longer and therefore equal to the chapters that preceded them.

Should a writer make a conscious effort to produce chapters of uniform length? In that same vein, how do you tell when a chapter is too short or too long?

Fine. Just realize that the board is mostly a one-woman operation, and it may be a while before Mary is able to reply.

Rainbow Community Writing Project http://www.rcwp.homestead.com/ It is a really nice board. Sadly, the webmistress had surgery a month ago, followed by complications, and is confined to her bed at doctor's orders. The board has not been updated since May 15th.

[2) Promote yourself! If you're just posting your stories in the eFiction section of the site here, you're really limiting yourself. Start posting your stuff at Nifty. You'll reach a much wider audience there, and will get even more feedback. Once you start getting a "fanbase," you can also start up a Yahoo! group, or maybe even your own small page at Geocities or somewhere (all of these things are free and easy to do). When you submit new chapters to Nifty, link back to the eFiction section and encourage your readers to come to GA and discuss your story in the Story Cafe forum. I have considered Nifty, as I have been reading stories on that site for years. I have not posted on Nifty frankly because so many of the stories I have read on that site are so sloppy - poor grammar, worse spellling, and just plain carelessness seems to be the order of the day at Nifty. There are, of course, many exceptions to that rule. After much soul-searching, I chose to present my efforts among more illustrious company, ie RCWP and this site.

I have read the stories on the Nifty archive for a number of years and have always been appalled at both the sloppy spelling and sloppy grammar in so many of the stories that I have read. This has prompted me to be extra careful with my own production, and I check things and then check them again. Every time I go back through a chapter, I find some little thing that needs to be tweaked or fixed. Question - how do you decide that you have done all there is to be done in fine-tuning and checking a story?

I don't think so, because not all porn is exciting.

In retrospect, I am not 100% certain that she was totally straight. I had just emerged from my comfy little closet, and she and a nurse friend of hers fixed me up with a gay acquaintance of theirs. Looking back over the decades, I sometimes wonder if she was 100% straight. However, straight or not, her instincts were spot on.

[ "So, has anyone here ever seen gaydar in action in real life, in situations where clues are not obvious?" Yes I have, on more than one occasion. I knew a straight woman in the early seventies, who always knew when she encountered anyone who was gay, even if they were not sure about it themselves, and I repeat always. I don't think she really picked up on specifics, she merely had a sixth sense of some sort and could 'read' people, for want of a better word. So, from my experience, it's real. To have it to the degree that June (her name) had it is very rare, but I have seen various people over the years with various degrees of gaydar.

I'm just wondering about this. I get so involved with my characters that I invariably become aroused when writing a detailed sex scene, as opposed to a brief mention of having had sex. Does this hold true for most writers?

I have a story about to be posted. There are two principal characters, and they speak in the first person. Many chapters into the tale, I want to introduce an additional character. For clarity this character might be more easily understood in the third person. Is this a great big 'no-no?'