Jdonley75

I'm gonna have to go ahead and jump on this bandwagon and say that while you might not have a sequel in mind, I along with everyone else would not mind at all if there was one. Reading it a second time (yes, I already read it twice) these are really good characters and I would love to see where Dave and Tor's story goes.

Wow. One of the best stories I've read in a long time. You had me hooked from the very beginning.

So... what you're saying is... she left an impression on you that's lasted for years. I swear. I'm not laughing... 😜

I have a lot of regrets. One really big one. Had I known how abusive he was (emotionally more than physically) I would have never met him after work for coffee and playing cards. It was my biggest mistake to get involved with him. Had it not been for him, I know my life would have been a lot better. I know a lot of people say that all the events of your past make you the person you are today but with him, there was no good found there. I would be a much happier and more trusting person if I had never met him.

*googles* Oh... well... there we are then.

Writing out some of our feelings on the page help us to acknowledge them and ultimately deal with them. You did a good job expressing yourself. I'm looking forward to your next outing.

Thanks. Nearly sprayed soda all over my screen when I read that last part. 👍

When he did my phoenix tattoo (my first one) It was fine and it was really more like really sharp pinches until he got to my back shoulder for one of the wings. That hurt like a #$^%@.

Oh, that's right. Pain. I forgot about that part. What worked for me was watching him do the work. I got so fascinated by the process that I forgot about the pain. But, I'm weird like that.

My first story had a title I can't even remember now. And I rewrote the blurb as many times as I did rewrites on the main story just to make sure I kept it interesting enough to get someone to open chapter 1. I think I wrote up the blurb maybe halfway through writing the story to but I can't be sure. But, yeah, spot on as ever about how important they can be.

One phoenix and one dragon. Still thinking about getting more.

Ok. Haven't tried this prompting stuff before but it did shake a story loose out of my head.

My only encounter with gay characters has been Dragon Age: Inquisition. There are plenty of them if you know how to romance them. Obviously, Dorian was available but so is Iron Bull. But, other than those I haven't seen any. Although, I'd swear Prompto from Final Fantasy XV has to be a little queer.

Of all sad words of tongue or pen the saddest are these, "It might have been..." - Unknown I don't remember the source. It was in a book I read back in high school and that was a couple days ago. 😉

I knew there was a reason I woke up so #%$&ing early on a Sunday.... Awesome way that all went down. Luke deserves worse than what he got. It'll be interesting to see where Nate ends up. I sincerely hope someone stops Dustin from doing whatever the hell he's got planned.

Yeah. Just a little bit.

Maybe in the near future, Dustin can talk to Brett about his murderous dreams....

I like using dialogue to help establish a character's personality. It's easier than writing two or three paragraphs of a character's inner thinking all the time. Having them speak and express themselves can go a long way with less effort. If I were to add anything to this article, it would be that no character stands in place and delivers their lines. They're usually sitting or doing something. If it's dialogue taking place in the kitchen between two characters, it's a good hunch that they're doing something at the same time they're speaking to each other. Weaving their actions, words and the tone and expression on their faces can paint a vivid picture that if done well, will put the reader right there in the room with the characters. And unnecessary dialogue (stuff that isn't important and would slow down the story) could be boiled down to a paragraph giving the general idea of what the characters discussed. And what exactly is it? I say it's like porn. You know it when you see it. Love reading your articles. Always looking forward to the next one.

IF Dustin's test comes back negative... Been reading this long enough to know better than to assume. 🤣

Well done. That last line is ominous, though...

Heh. Yeah. Read it now before I finish the next installment. 😜

Having known a couple people who are HIV positive, it's true that you can go on living a normal life (the concept of "normal" with one of them in particular is harder than pinning jello to a wall). Dustin, however, is in the middle of having a bit of a breakdown. And when that happens, logic and reason fly out the window. I'd bet my last nickel that Luke probably has a horrible poker face and had Dustin not immediately jumped into panic mode he would have called BS on Luke's story.

Exactly. He saw a possible light of hope and was just starting to get comfortable with the idea of reaching for it when it was suddenly snuffed out. Cold, dude...$#%&ing cold.... 👍

Kind of makes what I put you through with Jacob and Kyle seem pretty tame now, huh. 🤣

Yeah. I got the same feeling too. Didn't really shock me because I saw that as a "simple" solution but at the same time, that really screwed Dustin up in about three different ways.