Ibsu

I would actually suggest a flashback mechanism. Start yourself with two timelines in each chapter - the first part is about present, and then the next part incorporates a moment that ties into the present, those moments coming in chronological order through the chapters. Yes, it means quite a bit of rewriting. A similar thing happened to me in a large, as-yet-unreleased story. I waved my hands over the introduction (because I'm really not good at them) and kind of skipped over the hard parts, thinking that I would just weave a thread through them. Unfortunately, what I found out is that those hard parts were goiing to result in a large plot hole and an overpowered main character. So, here comes the major rewrite where instead of the protagonist being a Ph.D student in Physics (of which I don't know nearly enough to write!), he's an artist. Who, it's going to turn out, really wished he would have gone through a few more science and engineering classes. Sometimes the rewrite is the solution.

It's most difficult when you can't actually move to find a job. Other than writing, what are your qualifications? What are you looking for?

There are whole sections of gay fiction in the bookstore. Unfortunately, most of them are relegated to the gay and lesbian section. Anne McAffrey's Pern series had many major gay and lesbian characters, but it was fantasy and tied to the mythos of the realm.

White boxers - I'm boring.

I still love music videos. In fact, I see them all the time on Yahoo's Launch. Seriously, the music video in American culture is an art form, and I don't think it's going to die off completely, it will merely morph. We've already seen things like AYB go across the net, will that too happen with other music? I'm trying to remember the songs with the angry kitties, but there's another example.

Augh - you have now introduced me to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Did I really need to know there was a progressive rock version of Pictures at an Exhibition? Okay, maybe I did. Now I'm going to have to listen through their catalog, and I'm blaming you.

Ethan: I wish that Rhapsody had that song - looks like a good one! As for me, maybe Absolutely Bill's Modd from TMBG? I was born in a lighthouse, my mother was the sea I crawled to school each morning, when it occured to me That life's just a mood ring we're not allowed to see And this is what it said to me My room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane Now listen all you swingers, don't you try to tag along I know monkey see, but monkey's dead, for you it would be wrong Put a dime in my jukebox, you'll only hear this song And it won't be fun for long Because my room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane Thank you Thank you My room is comfortably small With rubber lining the walls And there's someone always calling my name He calls when I'm alone And he calls when I'm not home And he calls when I'm stuck out in the rain I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane I'm insane

Oh, I posted the first chapter of a novel I wrote, having written the entire rough draft and thinking I was going to post as I edited. (The problem, of course, is I came across a plothole that took months to resolve, and now I'm having to do a complete rewrite.) But, I got three email. Four were positive, and the fifth was negative. However, he didn't bother to complain about the story. No, he was offended by my disclaimer! Oh, and the offending line? "Kiddies, read your Bible like mom and dad say, or you'll burn in Hell like me." Now, I've said many insensitive things about Christianity, having left the religion a few years ago, but I didn't think of this as a pointed attack. This was from a man self-described as over 50 years old. *shrug*

I have three stories in various stages, none of which do I think are fit for consumption just yet. That said, the sex scene to me all depends on the narrator. Is the narrator passive? agressive? self-assured? timid? experienced? If it's two virgins, for example, the reaction might be very descriptive of the actions, but the effect acheived might be "that's it?" If it's a committed relationship, I'm looking for the emotions. If I'm describing a sex scene like that, there's probably some sort of context, and I'll try to draw some of that in. I like to find humor in sex. Humor is a great way to develop a character. How does a character react to an embarassing situation? If it's first person, how does he excuse it? When he accidently rolls his partner off the bed, especially... But most of all, I want sex to be there for a reason. Certainly, if it's a thousand line get-yer-rocks-off story that's one thing, but if the characters or plot's important, I want sex to advance it! Otherwise, I'll just skip it.

I think it's anything made by Versace.

Wow. That's an inspiring story, Rainbow! I wonder if we in the younger gay community truly appreciate the path that was paved for us. I can read about the history, of Stonewall (for us in the US) and ACT-UP, but I remember being on #gaychristians and listening to those who were either cheating on their wives and feeling guilty or trying to figure out how to come out to their family, and I just couldn't figure out why they exposed themselves to theat drama in the first place. Perhaps it was hard for me to fathom earlier the public pressure one had to marry. I mean, I had it myself but certainly not to the extent of even twenty years ago! (Especially 20 years ago with the emergence of AIDS...) Oh, and I revise my previous comment, Julian. I still suggest starting to work out, because either way it will help you. If you decide not to come out yet, it will keep them off your trail. (after all, "real men" work out, right? *laughs*) If and when you do decide to come out, you will have a better chance at defending yourself and you'll also be bucking their stereotype, making it more difficult for them to just dismiss you as anything but a real man. (Edit: the original post was a little unclear.)

I was a late bloomer. My first female kiss was at 17 when I was in my religious phase - it felt like kissing a sister or something. I'd realized I was gay but thought God would change something in me or something. So much for that. So, at 21 when I left the church and Christianity, it was a few weeks and I basically outed a friend to himself. One night we decided to experimen. I wasn't too attracted to him, but he was safe and that's what mattered to me at the time. So I went over there, we talked for about 2 hours dancing around the subject, and then I just kind of broached it, and we just started. He was a horrible kisser. *laughs* - he had the open-wide-enought-to-chomp-off-head technique down. Of course, being my first kiss, I was just kind of like - so this is what a kiss is? (incidentally, we moved to his bedroom, and he came while I sucked on his nipple. I never even got his pants off, or mine for that matter. I aborted the session at that point. ) So what I really think of as my first real kiss was a month or two later with my first boyfriend. We were walking around the neighborhood on a first date after we'd eaten dinner, and before the end of the date, he asked my permission for a kiss. I think he was a little worried that I was going to freak out or something, but it was romantic to me... (oh... on an unrelated note, I just had a delivery team for a new tv stand/cabinet... one of them I wanted to just strip down there - tres cute. : )

I was just watching Kurt Browning on the Today show... he *has* to be gay... Heck, he said that Michael Bolton was a hottie with the blush sarcasm rather than the sneer sarcasm.

Well, if you lived closer (of course, you might and I didn't know it I'd have suggested Super Kmart - they had really cheap turkeys if you bought 20 bucks of groceries. Heck, I would have cooked you a turkey. I've never done one before, but I've watched alton brown!