Wayne Gray

Thanks, Chris. Even in socially liberal places, it's an act of courage to simply hold the hand of my husband. And it shouldn't be. Maybe someday.

Myles and Jace are roommates, and Myles doesn't understand why Jace feels so strongly about Pride. A bet is made; a lesson is learned, and Jace gets to see Myles's true colors.

I ... don't know how to explain this one without wrecking it for readers. Just know you will be in for a treat. Take it for a spin, and allow yourself to surrender to the Devil. 😈

Wow ... this was awesome! Great job, kbois! It's a fantastic take on "Pride," it really is. Nicely done. Seriously.

Yessss. Let the cliffhanger ... FLOW within you! Soon, you too will join me at ... THE CLIFFSIDE!

WHAT??! The woman, @kbois, who referred to me as "Cliffhanger Harry" is now guilty of one herself? Well. My, oh my.

I'm still waiting to find out what spawned this flurry of notifications!

Thanks, Ford! I've improved a bit, thanks to Thorn's editing, and his instruction too. The next chapter is unedited by Thorn, though. It's just me and my Grammarly program (not perfect, but it does help). If you find anything wrong, by all means let me know. I'll never be a comma wizard, but that's okay. 😄 I hope you continue to enjoy these. I really like writing them - they're fun forays into the world of the campground!

Et tu, tim?

Hey! And I like how you didn't even tag me, so I couldn't defend myself! I see how you are! 😛

Just post date it for 21 June, Noon. That's the only thing that needs to change from my post above. I saw your post on the submission string, but I can't see your story. So you're probably good!

Thanks, @Mikiesboy! I changed my post date. I thought I had found every post associated with the event, but I guess not.

Ok! Yes, @kbois, post dating works. Be sure, on the last page before you submit that you’ve unselected the “publish now” box and you’ve entered a day/time prior to the cut-off on 19 June. I have mine set for 1 AM (PST) 19 June. I just linked it in Renee’s thread. Now, we wait! 🙂

Here’s my submission. It’s post-dated to drop at noon (PST) on 21 June. Thanks for getting this together, Renee. 🙂 EDIT: Changed the post-date to jive with instructions in another post.

Thanks for giving it a try, Reader. Hrm. Were you able to see/click on the single chapter in the story home page? If not, I think it's working how post dating is intended to work. If you can get into the story and read now, then something's not right.

Thanks, that makes sense. I think I did it. Can someone try and follow this link? It shouldn't work until 1 AM on 19 June (when I set it up to post), I don't think, but I am curious if it does.

"I mean, why do gays need Pride anyway? If you want to prove you should be treated like everyone else, why have this thing just to celebrate how different you are?" Jace shot an irritated look at Myles, his very straight, usually cool roommate. "Because straight people aren't attacked or verbally assaulted in the street for holding the hand of the person they love. That's why we need Pride. And it's why I'm going tomorrow." Myles curled his lip, never looking away from the screen. He p

I think you're right. It's just odd the second instruction didn't include the post date bit, so I wondered if it was still necessary. Okay. I think I'm going to go try and set it up, and we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Yeah. Other than that first author, I just don't see anybody else posting ... which makes me wonder.

Okay. Maybe I am just being very dim ... but I'm wondering what the requirements are for submitting our Pride short stories. In one post, we're told we need to post date the stories. In the next, we're told to copy the link into the thread without mention of post-dating. Can someone with access to the Writer's Club look at the threads and tell me which is what Renee intended? I messaged her yesterday, but she hasn't replied. Thanks!

Happy Sunday, all. 🙂

This is going to speak to your first point ... plotting. When I began writing Guarded, I did so with only my "character spreadsheet." It listed ages, description, quirks, relationships to other characters, and some comments about each that didn't fit anywhere else. But as I got into the story, I realized there was no way I could capably track every single plot point. And with Guarded I had to! Writing a suspense/mystery was something I'd never done, and I found it challenging in new ways. So I started "commenting" in Google Docs. IE: "Don't forget, Paul hasn't seen his new driveway, make him react when he does." Even that got to a point where it was too unwieldy to reference, because sometimes my notes were in different chapters (documents). So I started doing small, bulleted outlines of all the scenes I planned for the chapter. I'd put this mini outline at the first of each chapter, and as I wrote the described scenes, I'd delete the bullet point. And these bullets really were short. I didn't have a desire to write the scenes twice; I needed just enough to track what I wanted to happen. Now, I outline most stories before I write. I know this won't work for everyone, but I've found it does for me. Find that happy medium. I now can't write at all without a character tracker of some sort, even for short stories. But I don't always outline everything. It just depends on how much plotting I need to do to get to the desired end. If you're standing at the crossroads of wanting to write a more complex plot (particularly with foreshadowing) and spontaneity, then tinker with things. Broad outlines can work for this. They can keep you pointed in the general direction you want, while allowing freedom within each outline entry. Good luck in your journey. It can be frustrating, but it has potential to be fun too. 🙂

Thank you, belisima! I'm so happy you enjoyed this story. Joe deserves to be happy, and so far he has never even gotten a chance to try. But now, maybe he can start on that path. There's more of these little stories to come. Stay tuned!

I couldn't agree more. 🙂 Thanks for reading, Kitt.

A great story. I could feel Craig daring to dream while under the influence of James's disarming approach to life. Though, like many have said, it does beg for more. Well written. Thank you.