It is time for another Anthology Flashback. This week we are featuring Spring 2011 's People are Strange anthology.
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
Would you mind taking the time to leave a review for our writers?
I want to be clear right up from that I'm all for getting properly toasted. This toaster does the job and beeps when it's done. There is a bit of an issue when you go back to back if you are doing 4 slices for some reason. It does the job.
So, this week I wanted to plug a geekfest movie. As anyone interested in space can attest, this is an interesting movie. This movie is one of those rare occasions where I liked both the book and movie adaptations. Definitely worth watching if you haven't seen.
This Monday in my Monday Movie Mania blog, I posted about The Towering Inferno.
The movie was based on two books, that were also worth a read.
It's actually kind of fascinating how they took concepts from each book and made them into a unique movie that worked really well on its own. Oddly enough, I like the movie better than either book, but both books stand well enough on their own. They are worth a look if you're into disaster stuff.
This week's flashback brings us back to Winter 2010. Haunted. Check them out:
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
I thought I'd jump into the way back machine and bring up a movie that's even older than I am. I was big into disaster movies when I was a kid and there was quite the string of them of them in the 70's. This was a grand-daddy of them with a who's who from a couple major studios coming together. You had superstars of the time together in this thing. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. They have exactly the same number of lines. There are a ton of other recognizable stars of the day in there and the score to the film was done by none other than John Williams. (of Star Wars theme and Jaws theme fame, you heathen!)
Great movie. Top notch acting. Top notch special effects from a time before computers.
This week is all about help. We have a pretty extensive help system here on-site where we've taken the time to write up the answers to the most frequently asked questions. We've also made videos for some of the features on site to make it that much easier. So first things first, help your fellow members with a quick link to the appropriate help section. Help is on the red menu on every single page of the site. Don't be afraid to click the menu.
Help -FAQ - Brings you to the list of common questions. You can search for the what you are having issues with the "find on page" or "Search" function of your browser. (Ctrl-F in Windows) Or you can just read through the list. Links bring you to the proper topic in the FAQ database.
You can open a Support Request by clicking "Support". We prefer you don't do this for simple things, as it'll take awhile to get to you. You'll probably get a faster response to a topic on the forums. The only exception is Premium Content issues. Those you should use the Support Request for so that we can see your account information and can troubleshoot your issue easier.
Staff - Shows the list of our volunteer staff on-site.
Guidelines - These are the rules.
About Gay Authors - This gives you a bit of a history of the site.
15th Anniversary - This was the page we ran to celebrate our official 15th birthday.
Extras - Not everything fits where we'd want it and, to avoid scaring people, we hid some of the links here for those who wanted them.
Editors - List of Editors on Site. (These are people listed as an Editor on a story in the Stories archive.)
Beta Readers - List of Beta Readers (These are people listed as a Beta Reader on a story in the Stories archive)
Categories - List of Categories in Stories. Also available in side menu on the Stories Archive homepage.
Online users - List of members currently on the site.
If you wish to jump straight to the help topics, you can go here: https://www.gayauthors.org/faq/
As an example, here is a Step by Step guide to posting a story on the site:
Be sure to let us know if a help topic needs to be updated. Also, let us know if we need to do a video on a specific subject to make it easier to understand.
I originally about this book because of one of the authors, Bruce Coville (Monster's Ring) is a local author in the area where I grew up. I was read Monster's Ring I think in 5th or 6th grade as reading and discussion hour. Anyway, this is a great anthology from back in 1995 when I graduated high school well before it was common to see any gay-themed books published anywhere. This is an enjoyable anthology collection that is a quick, but worthwhile read. I really enjoyed the title story: Am I Blue?
For those of you with hobbies that involve building things, or remodeling the house or whatever, this saw comes highly recommended by my uncle, who is a professional contractor. Lowes had a nice sale on them, so I picked one up. I have a few projects on my agenda for this summer and next summer that this will be very handy for. Mancave stage 2 is scheduled for this summer. I'm making a nice workshop extension to my mancave. It will also double as place to relax on those great summer evenings. I'm sure I'll be posting more on that at some point
I've started my new job and I'm getting settled in. I'm hoping my schedule settles down soon as I've been going a bit bonkers. lol.
Anyway, we stealth upgraded the site a few days ago and since no one complained, things appear to be working well. We also updated the rules on the site on Sunday which triggered a request that you agree to the rules again. This rule updates and your agreement with them is now recorded so that we comply with the upcoming EU debacle, the GDPR. (General Data Protection Regulation)
This update has also put in place a new function in stories that I mentioned a couple weeks ago about allowing us to put the posting rules for Stories right there where you are posting your stories. I'll be updating those this week, so keep an eye out.
On a more interesting note, I got an update image from our programmer that deals with the User Interface improvement for sorting and filtering the story data.
The system we are working eliminates the need for "advanced search" as you'll be able to build your search live right on the page and have the page update automatically. There will also be a few preset search options (like latest completed stories or most reviewed or newest stories under the Quick Search menu). This is a work in process, so there will be variation. We are working hard to make the system easier to use, but having it just as powerful in being able to find the stories you want.
I've mentioned in a previous blog that we have started tracking reading statistics on stories over time. We'll be adding stats features so authors can know how many people are reading their stories and if it varies by time. (right now, the system only shows totals). I'm happy to report that we now have over 3.3 million story views in less than 90 days. The data is still collecting, so when we roll out the new feature, it'll cover back to the start of 2018. We are working hard to make things better for everyone.
Authors, take note, there is a deadline fast approaching for the Novella Contest! We are also 6 weeks out from 2 anthologies!
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
This week's Anthology flashback is from Summer of 2010. The theme is Out of This World:
Our authors really appreciate it when you read and review! Would you mind taking the time to review a few of these stories?
I'll be in the market for a new keyboard soon, as the one I'm using to write this is very well worn. I've worn away the letters on about 10 keys and I'm looking to get a replacement from a different manufacturer. The settable LED lights appeal to my geekdom.
Of course... this keyboard also ties in with Hue, which I'm deploying all over the place.
I've completed my move, but my life is in boxes and I'm actively digging out. I am keeping it short this week and hoping to resume longer posts next week.
If you have not already signed up for our weekly newsletter, you should. Cia likes to sneak surprises in from time to time.
You can find it here: http://eepurl.com/cqQPIz
We also have a YouTube Channel, which I have placed a number of "How To" videos. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GayAuthors
If you have something you'd like to see a video on how to do, please let me know. I should have time very soon to record them again.
We also have a Google+ page, which is just because Google favors it for search results. You can find it here: https://plus.google.com/+GayAuthorsOrg
We do update it pretty much daily with blog links and occasional posts.
We have a Pinterest page. Be sure to follow us here. I've been pinning things for writing inspiration. https://www.pinterest.com/gayauthors/boards/
I try to pin a few things a day.
So, this week for my Monday movie mania, I thought I'd stick with a Christopher Nolan movie and recommend the Prestige. This movie was great. It has a few good twists.
I think I might pick up a copy in Blu-ray as I have on DVD.
This week's Anthology flashback brings back to Spring 2010 - I'd Never Do That!
Now in Alphabetical Order:
For Authors!
We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
I have been a fan of Tom Clancy's books since about 1991 or so when I first read Hunt for the Red October. The books tend to be almost the only books I read outside of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I'm a bit behind on the latest books that have the co-authors (since Tom Clancy is no longer with us) started up. I have spent many, many enjoyable hours reading his books. Patriot Games is the first of the Jack Ryan books. (Hunt for the Red October is 2nd, I think it is). He has 3 intertwined series. John Clark, Jack Ryan and Jack Ryan Jr.
We are currently testing a bug fix update to Stories, 2.2.4, that also contains a minor, but important feature. Site rules at the source when posting new Stories and new chapters and when editing them.
This is just a sample of the test code in process:
One of the issues we have at Gay Authors is that we have a lot of rules and standards that authors are expected to follow, but they are not always easy to get to. This update will place rule boxes right at the point of use so that authors will no longer have to search for the rules for a specific area.
This will help us keep to the site's visual standard and help authors stay within the rules. The ones listed above are samples and we'll be putting them in place when we update the site.
On a different note, my move will finally be wrapped up on Saturday and I'll have a week to settle in before work starts up again. This will let me spend some time writing and working on the site again instead of bouncing around like a madman.
This is an interesting movie. It is probably the only movie I know that you have to pay full attention in and stay engaged with because it is such a mind job. Literally. The special effects are cool. The concepts are crazy and the acting is interested. I quite enjoy the movie. If you haven't watched it, check it out. I added the top. You'll know what it is for after you watch the movie.
For Authors!
We'd also like to remind all authors that we have 4 Anthology themes for 2018 and a Novella Contest:
Contests
2018 Summer Novella Anthology - Due April 15th, 2018
Anthologies
2018 Spring Anthology: Now or Never - Due May 15th
2018 Spring Anthology: Encounters - Due May 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Fight Back - Due Nov 15th
2018 Fall Anthology: Good Intentions - Due Nov 15th
I picked this pair of beauties up back in October. What a great buy! I was eating microwavable soup for lunch at work. Soup allowed me to easily control lunch. These mugs work great for a can of Progresso soup. They paid for themselves very quickly since the canned soup is much cheaper than the microwavable soup.
Oh, they come in so many colors too. I went for the white since they were cheap.
This movie is interesting. The actors are cute in it. It does wander right into controversial teritory of course.
It's definitely worth seeing for the character development and tough topics it hits on.
