northie

Yes, and unless the individuals get several prods in the right direction, there's a good chance it won't improve. Food on demand doesn't help the situation either.

Yes, Eric has changed, yet that curmudgeon is still there, ready to lurch into action. Eric is just more likely to stop and think before he opens his mouth or mentally dismisses something. Thanks for your comments. 😊

Thank you! I somehow overlooked your kind comment. Apologies.

Yes, an unused part of Eric's brain and memory has suddenly jolted back into life. Another facet of his life is rejuvenated.

Excellent. Most of my family are or were gardeners to some degree. And it's easy enough to check stuff online if needed.

Isn't it! A much more effective offering than the previous chapter. The ending is one of my favourites.

Thank you, but I think this is one of the chapters where my inexperience shows through. Not enough backstory for either man - nothing on which to base their respective stances.

Thank you! A story from early on in my writing journey which I'm still very fond of.

Contact on that day is even more important than on any other day. Just a simple phone call - that's all it needs.

Yes, and I wonder how often that happens in real life. Maybe not so starkly but I'd guess it's pretty common.

Good for you. Commenting on stories is something you grow into, I think. I always enjoy reading whatever comments people choose to leave.

Thank you! One of my more eccentric offerings...

Even as a fledgling writer, it struck me as a great way to make the comparison without shoving it in people's faces. Thanks for rereading I hope Eric's story continues to stand up.

Your title made me smile. I'm sure these lines make more sense and serve more as a list of accomplishments than many an email that's landed his inbox. Those, I think, must be demeaning and a complete waste of time. Utterly performative. Your observations are, as usual, a delight and a joy to read and imagine, and you may continue to make them for as long as you wish.

It's well worth a read. Good, vivid writing, and a subject which, I suspect, resonates with a lot of people.

I enjoyed reading this a lot. It felt real - the thoughts, emotions, actions, and the way you wrote them. Bravo.

Hi, having discovered there's a Supporting Member category, I went to pay for 12 months worth on PayPal. When I got to the confirm and pay page, I clicked. It went away and thought for a few seconds, then returned to the same page. A second try produced a non-specific error message. Is the issue with them or with GA? A quick search produced no reports about PayPal being down. Laptop using Chrome.

The king or the kingmaker... Or both. One can't help suspecting there'll also be covert operations from (ex-) CIA, other intelligence agency or military operatives. I look on from the outside. It's difficult to imagine what it's like for you all when democracy, rationalism, and the rule of law are all under threat with no practical resistance outside of violence.

'Our evenings' by Alan Hollinghurst. My rating: 3 (out of 5) stars I don't read very much queer 'literary fiction'. Those I have, I've mostly enjoyed. This, though, was different. Alan Hollinghurst is a Booker Prize-winning author who's lauded and lionised. A new novel from him is something of an event. I read the description, ummed and aahed, then finally bit the bullet. It's a long read - 16 and a half hours - and for that, I want to feel engaged. Was I? No. Hollinghurst's writing style borders on perfect: word choice, story flow, descriptions all rise up off the page to paint their pictures. That was probably what kept me going. The narrative content didn't. Really, I should've read the blurb more carefully. I'm not a fan of slow, decades-spanning tales, so I guess I started on the wrong foot. The novel follows the life of Dave Win, who's half-Burmese, as he navigates school, college, discovering himself, and carving out a career in the theatre. Maybe it's because I haven't followed anything like the same path, but I didn't really relate. The amount of time spent while Win was at school in the 1960s and early 70s bored me rigid. Part of the problem was a lack of variety in tone. Every incident and thought and reflection hovered around the same pitch. There were no real highs or lows; no joy or hot, vivid anger. In the end, I 'flicked' through the last 3 hours or so, desperate to finish but also not to waste that amount of time on reading something unrewarding. Oh well, not one for the reread pile.

Thank you! I remember being surprised at how good this story was. It was my first time at really getting emotions into a story.

An ode for Valentine's Day as only you could write it. Truth - messy, inconvenient, and unfinished shines from every line. Bravo.

Wow, thank you for wading your way through this. 🤨😊 A very early piece written for my first antho ever. I'm still proud of it, though I've no idea what most people thought of it at the time.

Hi, welcome to posting your writing on GA. This link should give you some sense of the moderation queue process Please also bear in mind that site admins are volunteers and have their own lives outside of GA.

I am from a mystery solved. I am from an uncommon perspective. I am from humankind.

Thank you! I'm very pleased you enjoyed the story.