northie

OK... So, how do I like my eggs? As far away from me as possible. 🤢 Favourite story on GA? I'm a notoriously bad reader and I prefer to listen nowadays. Anything by @Headstall, @Parker Owens, or @Carlos Hazday at least grabs my interest, if not my prolonged attention. 🤨 What brought me to GA? Probably Nifty's severely out-dated 'Best of the web' listing which pointed me to other story sites. Book title for my life? Revelation(s) Favourite soup? Not home made... any Indian-spiced lentil & vegetable.

Thanks for keeping the tradition going, guys, though I'll admit to not finding the time to actually use any of the prompts. 👀🤨😄 When I started out, prompts were a godsend and sent my imagination off in so many directions.

Thanks W_L. Glad you enjoyed it.

I reread this recently. Has my view changed? Nope. If anything, it reads even more as a commentary of our times. And I still haven't tried writing in the 2nd person... 🤨😄

I think your experiment generally works well. You delight in making language work for you. Having said that, in the spirit of constructive criticism, I felt the second stanza was slightly less effective. The imagery is great - hollyhocks, bees, and (your) trumpet vine, but the demands of the rhyme scheme mean the language is twisted about. To my eye / ear, it lacks the flow of the other stanzas. Elsewhere, I'm puzzled how Frere Jacques can be a rhyme for unlock and mock. Am I missing something? On this side of the pond, Jacques is Jack-es. Maybe I'm being cloth-eared. 🤨😄

Another one I missed. 😳 Same here. I don't think I'll ever get the Alexa etc kind of system. Unless some change on my life forces me to. They do have their uses.

👀😱😄 Sorry I missed this. Thanks for the information... maybe. 😬

I don't, yet I read this and loved it. 🤷‍♂️😄 It's the Gary charm - the story, the ambience, the characters. The writer in me admires and studies the craft on display. Short for Gary, this story is complete and well worth a read. That's not just my recommendation or spike's - Gary's legion of fans have made their views known.

I've been lax in reading everyone else's contributions but wow, such a varied and impressive turnout. Anniversary as a theme was just about perfect. Unifying, yes. Allowing a multitude of interpretations, also yes. For me, that's what an antho should be all about. I think everyone involved can give themselves a celebratory thumbs up.

Thanks, Gary. That's very sweet of you. Anthos are always a time for experimentation in my book.

The venue's changed. The content hasn't. 🤨😄

Excellent. 10/10 for deduction and observational skills. 😉😁

😄😘 It did cause me to make some necessary additions, so...

Don't worry - I'm winning. Stories read today (apart from my own) 0.

Thanks, Carlos. I had great fun writing it.

Thank you for reading the story not once, but twice.

Tut, tut. Better luck next time... 😉😄

I hope so. She had a great sense of humour, I think, and probably little time for fools.

Yes, though it didn't start out with that intent. I like the lime green crocs as well.

Way to dampen my writerly ego. 🤨😄 Thanks for your help as ever, dear friend.

You're very kind. Thank you.

Thank you! It was fun to write.

I didn't want to make it too obvious - that would've spoiled the fun.

So are so many people. It's one of so many things which can colour, plague, and sometimes warp a queer individual's understanding of themselves. Sometimes I think those who reach such an understanding should be congratulated. Or maybe I exaggerate... 🤷‍♂️🤨😄

If you haven't caught them yet, there's a ton of stories celebrating GA's anniversary out on the story page. Here's the general link: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/category/156-2022-anniversary/ Two of them are mine, both very different. One's autobiographical; the other's a gentle, affectionate satire. So what else am I up to? My main preoccupation is a story (as yet unnamed) which was originally destined to be my entry for the Anniversary bash. Standing currently at 12k words, it's the story of two different people whose paths cross. And keep re-crossing. What happens between them? It's also the first time I've set a longer story mostly in the North East of England. More news when I know it. The reworking of Eric's story hasn't started yet. I expect that to get going over the winter months and see where it takes me.