Graeme

As someone said to me once, what's the point in having a large number of posts if they weren't for a purpose? I like the idea of reaching targets, but you also want the posts to be useful. I could rack up 1000 posts without a lot of problem (it's only 100 posts a day for 10 days -- that's not too many), but I sincerely doubt there will be any intelligence in them... Graeme PS: That's not to say that there's any intelligence in my current posts, of course.... You can't have everything!

I went for "Water Fountain" as the closest answer. Most of the time it doesn't have a name -- it's just the place where we get some water if we want it. "Water cooler" is a common name here in Australia, but I can live with "Water Fountain". Of course, that assumes they've stocked it with water. There are other options....

Best wishes and good luck. If the counsellor is worth anything, they will be helping your mom accept what you have told her, and helping you with any feelings you may be going through as a consequence of coming out. *fingers crossed* Graeme

I only really started to accept myself a couple of years ago, so I never got the chance to tell my dad. I haven't told my mum yet, and may never, because it's largely irrelevant. The only "parents" who have been told are my in-laws. I told my wife a couple of years ago and she took it so badly she needed the support of her family to get through it. While there was some initial tension, none of them have ever said anything directly to me, and it's clear that all of her family accept me. I still don't know if they accept that I'm gay, but as my wife and I have made a commitment to stay together, it doesn't really matter. My fondest memory is my sister-in-law's husband who made a point of coming up to me last December to shake my hand and wish me a Merry Christmas. My wife and I had been nervous about him, because he has a gay nephew that neither he nor his brother have spoken to in years, but he showed me very quickly that things hadn't changed as far as he was concerned.

Your Linguistic Profile: 45% General American English 30% Yankee 20% Dixie 0% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern Okay... I've obviously been watching too much American TV. I need to improve my general AUSTRALIAN English percentage

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

I've pretty well spent most of my life with the metric system, but for some reason I still think of people's heights in feet and inches. It's the ONLY thing that I don't think in metric... and I really don't know why.

I'm lucky in that I've got a few beta-readers who aren't shy about pointing out things that they feel aren't realistic, so most of those things are ironed out before the chapter is published. It slows down the overall process, but the benefits are tremendous. I'll support that. Even a "Thanks for the email" reply shows that you've read the comment and appreciate it. Graeme

To me, the message board part of the site is a community -- the second such that I've found. The first one I joined played a major part in my accepting my sexuality and in coming out of the closet (even if only a short way) and I know that by fostering friendships across the internet, it's helped at least one other person the same way. I already have the feeling that this site is the same. We are a group of like-minded people who support each other and this place allows us to relax and be ourselves. That doesn't mean that there aren't disagreements and fights, but overall it's a place that encourages -- and that's the core of any community. The stories may be the body, but the forums are the heart and the members the soul of GA.

I agree that most authors will take any feedback, positive or negative, but they would prefer ones that explain why the feedback if postive or negative. Another form of feedback that I personally appreciate is the reader that gives their opinion on what's going on, because it helps me see if I'm getting my "message" across, or just another way of viewing things. A couple of readers that I really appreciate getting emails from live in a quite different culture to me, and their perspective on things is always interesting. HOWEVER, I also know of at least one author that pulled up and left the internet for a period of time because they received some negative feedback, so that requires clarification. Negative feedback of a technical nature (eg. typos, story flow, questions on grammar, etc.) are generally well received. Negative feedback on story content (eg. boring, subject matter not liked, don't believe it's realistic) is more problematic and should be handled carefully, if at all. It's a subjective area and just because the reader doesn't appreciate it, that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with the story. In these situations, unless a relationship has been built up with the author through previous emails, it's probably better to just leave the story and move on without saying anything My opinion only, of course.

To prove that reality is stranger than fiction.... When Australia changed over to the metric system, the comedians had a field day over the fact that dual measurement rulers (ie. with both metric and imperial measurements) had become illegal imports -- joining guns, bombs, narcotics, ....

The Eggman? THE Eggman?!? WELCOME! It's great to see you here! Graeme

Happy Anniversary, Nick! That puts me almost one year behind you... but I'm not going to even attempt to catch up.

Thanks, C James and Kevin! I didn't realise how many people have been enjoying my stories. On that note, back to the word processor....

A lot also depends on your interests. Besides here, you can try CRVBoy, DeweyWriter, AwesomeDude to list a few (the ones I tend to visit). Not all sites list completed stories, though (AwesomeDude does).

Personally, I'm up just after 5am so I can have breakfast, and then drive an hour to where I work for a 7am start. I don't have to start at that time, but it means I beat the peakhour traffic and I can also leave early and get home at a reasonable time. As for school, my understanding is that school in the USA can start quite early, but it varies from school to school. Someone in the USA should confirm that. In Australia, they typically start between 8:30am and 9am, so there's time for a teenager to do some training beforehand, or, alternatively, sleep in....

Thanks, everyone I'm busy working on Heart of The Tree but I'm hoping I'll do some more short stories soon -- it's just a case of waiting for inspiration to strike. Graeme

I've had a few member suggest I join, so I thought it was about time I did.... There's no rule against crazy Aussies, is there? Graeme