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Oooooooo, baby! We are back with another round of GA's favorite blog game, Author Guess Who. Y'all know the drill. This month's mysterious author has answered a lovely list of questions, and it's your job to figure out who it is. So grab your magnifying glasses, put on an old fashioned detective hat, do a Sherlock Holmes impression, and get to work! Let's see what the anonymous author has to say... • • • • • What sparked the writing fire? How did your author story begin? As much as I enjoyed reading as a kid, I didn’t actually catch the “writing bug” until the late 90s, when I began interacting with some of my favorite fanfiction writers and even became penpals with some of them (when I used to draw fanart back then, it was all traditional with paper, pen, and colored pencils… so I snail-mailed them). One of those writers was not only kind enough to humor my antics but responded with sage advice on life and encouraged me to try my hand at writing because she thought my letters and emails were entertaining. I decided to send her my first attempt at an actual chapter, putting everything I had into making it entertaining and dramatic. This was when I also started researching things I didn’t know, like details about real FBI investigations and how much pressure a thin glass needs to actually break in a firm fist and, hell, how much money it took to rent a high middle-class space (I was in my mid-teens, I knew next to nothing). She couldn’t have been more impressed. That’s when I realized it took way too much work to write a crime novel and dove head-first into magical sci-fi, instead, where I could make things up as I went along. This laziness persisted until I turned 40.🤣 Oh, dear! It seems you have stepped in a puddle of radioactive goop. What superpower would you like to contract from it? My answer to this hasn’t changed for decades. While I’ve dreamt of flying and enjoyed the thrill of rollercoasters, the one superpower I would really want is teleportation. To be able to instantly “blip” from one country to another to visit a friend (you included, Aaron! I’d buy you lunch) or family member or to buy some delicious food after a stop at the bank to exchange currency would be the absolute best. Is there a genre of writing you haven't engaged in but want to? Historical fiction, but that would require way more work than a crime or mystery novel, so I’d have to be mentally stable and retired to take a shot at it. After being kidnapped by a mafia boss, you give him a piece of information that's vital to his operation. As thanks, he brings you to a sandwich shop and tells you to order whatever you please. Describe your ideal sandwich. Haha! Don’t you know that the best sandwich is a piece of longaniza sausage nestled into the butt of a freshly-baked bread? The butt of the bread ensures that the meat doesn’t slip and escape when you bite into it. Someone even wrote a song about it. 🤣 Do you have a specific schedule or environment (physical and/or mental) to write? Any silly rituals? Got to have your favorite coffee? I weaned myself off of coffee years ago because I realized I was suffering from withdrawal migraines every time I forgot to take my daily dose. If I focus hard enough, anywhere can be a good place to write. On an airplane, at a restaurant, during a break at work. So long as an idea strikes that I don’t want to forget or I’m motivated to work on something, I’ve been known to even text myself notes on my phone’s “note” app. The most significant driving factor is motivation, and I’m sure others feel this way, too. A plethora of ideas come to me naturally, and I try to jot them down. Unfortunately, there are times when I want ideas for the current story I’m working on, and my mind provides me with “pink, fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows.” That’s utterly useless if I’m working on a murder mystery (though I know some talented writers right here on the site who can spin the “pink, fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows” INTO a murder mystery without batting an eyelash!). Cue the intense music! No, like, this is super serious. You have one egg. How are you cooking it? If it is just the one egg, I would soft boil it for 4-5 minutes at boiling-point water. Then I would remove it from the heat and cool it off with cold water (or ice if I’m in a rush), carefully peel the egg and toss the shell, then drop it in a ziploc bag full of soy sauce and sweet mirin sauce in equal amounts to marinate overnight. A ramen egg that’s been marinated for 1-2 days bursts with flavor. What is something you are beyond proud of in life? I am proud of a few things, but I can’t think of anything that I’m “beyond” proud of. Let me think: I helped a lot of people over the years when they really needed it. After several failed attempts, I did get a Bachelor’s degree. I haven’t murdered or plotted to murder anyone. I finished several projects and stopped leaving anything incomplete. If you could live in the world of your favorite fiction novel/series, would you and which story is it? Aw, s**t. I have too many favorites to pick just one world! I’d love to be one of the many angels bustling about Aditus’s "Cupid Central" story, an imp/angel from Timothy M.’s series, one of CassieQ’s *****(I’m censoring myself because I’m sure I’m not supposed to talk about those guys yet), one of the many citizens of Jason Rimbaud’s "Glacier Bay", one of Kbois’s shifters, one of Lee Wilson’s empaths… I could go on for hours. Are you a dog or cat person? Both! Both is good. To finish off the interview, what's your favorite ice cream flavor? At the moment, it’s salted caramel with a hint of lavender. • • • • • Yoooooo! I'm getting lunch? I think I like this mystery author, whoever they may be. Don't worry, I'll buy dessert. Donuts? Fro-yo? If you think you know the author's identity, shout it out in the comment section below! If you don't, point a finger at someone and debate it until everyone believes you. Y'all have two weeks to figure it out. Toodles for now!

Want to play a game? Wait, what? Ack! Someone get this weird puppet-looking thing and red tricycle out of here! But how 'bout it, gang? I'm dusting off Author Guess Who and itching to get a few authors in the interview booth. For those of you not familiar with AGW, it's a lovely blog game where one of GA's authors answers some interesting (sometimes strange) questions, then you, the readers, have to guess who it is! For example: If you step on the purple portal pad with the sign, "Free Teleportation," where are you going? Favorite fictional character from any media. What prompted you to write your first story? You're making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Describe your ingredients. Type of bread? Crunchy or creamy peanut butter? Jelly, jam, or preserves? And many others! This little game has a few uses for our community. First and foremost, it's an absolute hoot! C'mon... The accusatory finger-pointing is the highlight of my day, personally. Second, it serves as a wonderful way to promote hard-working authors who want to put their names out there. No need to wait for an invitation, either! Just send me a personal message, saying you want to participate. As a thank you for being a guinea pig participant, you'll get to include three of your stories/collections in the reveal edition as promotion! How neat is that? If y'all want to check out some of the previous AGW editions, click or tap HERE to view 'em! So, let's recap. Any and all authors can nab a little bit of publicity, and we can have some fun and giggles in the process! I call that a win-win, folks! Don't hesitate, send me a PM and I'll send some questions your way!

Sincere apologies. I will fix that when I get around to editing this story. Being a hobby writer, I don't go to proper length for researching small details I may be uneducated about. For that, I apologize. It's unacceptable, and I'll use this as a learning experience for the future.

Apologies all around. I'm running a little late with posting, but I'm also a little under the weather. I blame the fluctuating temperatures. Sixty-five Fahrenheit in January, then back down to near-freezing? Nonsense! But I'll tell you what isn't nonsense, and that's this month's interview for Ask An Author. We got GA's finest Signature Author when it comes to historical fiction, folks. Before I go back down for another nap, here's @Mark Arbour! • • • • • Mark Arbour 33 Stories / 6,722,174 Words Okay, Mark, when did the writing begin? Here on GA, the first story of CAP started posting in December 2010. Was there anything before? I actually started writing in 2008, and I posted on GA before 2010. We had a big switch to a new system in 2010, and all of the copyright bylines changed to 2010. The first place I posted was Nifty. How do you manage to have two incredible series on the go at the same time and yet so wildly different? First of all, thanks for calling my sagas 'incredible'. This actually works out well for me, because sometimes I'll hit a mental dead end on one story, so if I still want to write, I have another one to focus on. What is it like to handle reader expectations as such as successful author on GA? The readers here are awesome! I have known some of the people on this site for 20 years! My readers understand that life sometimes steps in and derails me, and I get gentle pressure if I haven't posted in a while, but I find that if I'm relatively consistent, they're happy and I'm happy. And when I have challenges and I share that with them, no one rallies around me more strongly than them. Between the two series do you have a favourite? I really don't. Which one is my favorite depends on my current mood. Looking at it, you'd think it was CAP because there are a lot more chapters in that saga, but that's not really representative of how I feel. Bridgemont just takes a lot more research so it is slower. And is there a favourite character for you, between Will and George, for example? Let me answer that a different way. I was asked recently if I was like any of my characters. When I was younger, I was most like Brad but without his self confidence. As I've gotten older, I've gotten more thoughtful, so start with Brad and blend in JP. JP and Granger are my aspirational characters. The research for Bridgemont seems impeccable. How do/did you go about it? That is a lot of work. For example, I was just working on the scene where Granger meets Napoleon, so I had to dig around on the internet to find floorplans and pictures/paintings of the Tuileries. The thing that makes it easier is that I've been a fan of that era since I first read "Beat to Quarters" by CS Forester when I was 12. Probably the biggest challenge (and my favorite Bridgemont story) was Odyssey, mostly because of the timing. The bookends were the Spithead Mutiny and the Battle of the Nile. My biggest CAP research challenge was 9-11, because that is still such a raw wound, and the last thing I wanted to do was screw it up and piss off someone who dealt with a loss on that fateful day. You often refer in comments to your “team”. What is their role? I could not do this by myself, nor would I want to. I have editors who try to catch my errors and I have beta readers who help me keep the story consistent. Sharon (SAT8997) was my first editor and stuck with me throughout my writing, although now she kind of lazily sits on the sidelines (ducks). Methodwriter has been my muse for the CAP saga. I also have what I call a meta-editor, who does both functions (editing and beta reading) and must be incredibly detail oriented. That person is basically my right hand 'man'. For years, that function was filled by Peter A. Nonymous, but sadly he was struck with dementia. He still helped me out, but as it took over more and more of his brain, it became harder for him to edit. I was really hit hard by that, and contemplated quitting writing, but then Impunity volunteered to help me out, and she is absolutely amazing. She is the main reason I persevered. Finally, just how do you stay so productive? The productivity usually comes from an idea. I'll be thinking of my sagas and I'll dream up a new plan for the characters, and that will almost possess me. I'll crank out a bunch of chapters, then calm my ass down and focus on editing them. My team will tell you all about it, because we'll be coasting along and then suddenly there are five chapters posted for editing. • • • • • Thanks for the interview, Mark! It was fun to read your responses. As for the rest of y'all, make sure to send me some questions for future Ask An Author articles via PM. If you can't come up with questions, you can list an author for me to send some of my own! Until next month!

Sh-hoosh! I'm already popping my ego's balloons. It's planning a prison escape.

Jokes aside, I'd prefer to not to cause any headaches regarding numerous submissions. I know Anthology posting is typically done in batches on a weekly basis over a month. While I'd love to go absolutely bananas with this theme, I'd rather not cause issues or hindrances for the posting team by offering so many stories (of which, I refuse to hover the 1k word minimum for quantities sake).

⬆️⬆️⬆️ = me when the anthology starts posting. Already got 3 plots fleshed out. What's another two... or four... or ten?

Just for verification. A story submitted is to be one chapter (plus the prologue, if included), right? Not me trying to avoid one of my 4 chapter shenanigans I've attempted in years past...

*looks at the theme*

Adding it to my reading list 💜

Always happy to send my readers down a different path. Wait... Watch out for signs with red paint, will ya?

I'm a Moons Over My Hammy kind of guy. Also, is it bad I didn't get the Florida joke in that name until about six months ago?

Please refer to the below comment.

So... Now's not the time to mention I cooked BBQ bacon mac & cheese?

Pfft. You should've messaged me. We could've traded. Pretty sure Val would've pulled us aside and whispered, "Listen here, you two..." Also, do you not know about the "14 werewolves behind the Denny's dumpster" rumor?!?!?

It's almost as if... The werewolf's mind worked the same.

Peace. Relaxation. Who knew Frankie Hudson needed one? He’d tell you– him, himself, and no one else. The retail world, even in a small-time consignment shop, never stopped for him. The regular customers made frequent comments as to why he was always working. His general manager abused his offer to work every weekend. He scoffed. “Should’ve known not to say that shit in the interview.” Three years later, this was the third weekend he had requested off during his tenure. From his campsi

Frankie was often misunderstood in the public eye. So imagine his surprise when someone unexpected can keep up with his warped mind. All he had to do was take a vacation.

CONGRATULATIONS, LADY!!! The purple-people-eaters will miss ya, but promotion well deserved 💜

Always gotta doll up the pizza.

Can anyone guess how many Swiffer dusters I needed to clean this blog? Oooo gurl, she was dusty! Even my fingers don't know what to type here. Have I lost my touch to interview our fellow authors? Surely not, but good thing I had a lovely chat with @chris191070 before this year's Anthology event started! All praise the Ask An Author piggy bank. In case y'all forgot how Ask An Author works, I have the wonderful pleasure of interviewing an author on GA on behalf of an anonymous reader. With a few questions, we get an inside look at the author's reasoning for what they do. Anyone can send me questions for any author, but I do ask for you to keep in mind the author's activity. If they haven't been online in a hot minute, I might not get a response. Without further procrastination, here's this month's article! • • • • • chris191070 33 Stories / 303,663 Words What inspired you to start writing for GA? Had you been published on any other site before? Having been a member for so long, reviewed so many stories. I thought I would try my hand at writing. I did write when I was at boarding school, usually a form of punishment. I chose GA because of its community and the way you can interact with your readers. I note that at the beginning you had a co-author, how did that happen and what was the experience like? It started with him as my editor, but he gave me so much help at the beginning, I listed him as co-author. Where did your inspiración come from? I’m intrigued because although being from NW England many of your stories are situated in the USA, is there a reason? My Mum was born in USA, so I had American Grandparents, a Great Aunt and I still have an Aunt and Uncle who live in the States. So whilst I have never visited the USA, I learnt alot about the country from my family. How would you sum up your life as part of the GA experience? What has been the best thing that has happened to you here since you joined 7 years ago? The great stories, from the amazing authors and the community that is there to talk to. Finally, any suggestions for those who are avid readers but who haven’t take the plunge into writing yet? Read, Comment, Review stories and just give it a go. There is plenty of help available on GA if you need it. You'll find no one bites on here, just show courtesy if/when they criticise what you have written and take there advise. • • • • • Thanks for the interview, Chris! As for the rest of y'all, make sure to send me some questions for future Ask An Author articles via PM. If you can't come up with questions, you can list an author for me to send some of my own! Until next month!

I giggled so hard at this. One of Nico's go-to lines is "How dare." Thanks, doc!! Glad ya liked it.