Radames

I'll second that request for a "How to..." section, although I imagine it would take time to develop, time that someone might rather spent writing fiction (which would please us readers). Dunno. Really, I don't have much problem replying to a topic. I only need to know how to post a story so the formatting isn't lost in the process. In any case, I've read the stories, and send congrats and thanks to all the authors. The stories are good. Some are tearjerkers. Some still need some editing. All of them were touching, in one way or another.

If an author asks for feedback, I feel obligated to provide an honest opinion. If I don't like something, I try to follow this outline: Say something nice Say something constructive Say something else nice If I cannot come up with two nice things to say about a story, I probably won't respond to the author. But then I'll feel guilty. How hard can it be to come up with two nice things to say!

Myr,It's only been a few weeks, and I've already forgotten how I found gayauthors.org. Sigh. It might have been a Yahoo search, though, so I guess I'm supportive of webcrawlers in general. However, are webcrawlers able to get in restricted areas such as Sneak Peeks?

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I *like* erotic stories, and I like stuff where the sex is only implied, also. I mostly read first time sex stories. It's fine if the first-time sex blooms into a long-term relationship. However, I've not found many stories I've enjoyed that start with two older out gay men. I don't know why -- perhaps there's not as much drama in that. For any story, I want to know why they decided to climb into bed together. I can't stand it when a story _starts_ with two guys having sex. The intro doesn't have to be long, but it should tell me why I care about these two guys doing "it". First time sex doesn't have to be between twelve-year-olds. And that's probably not realistic anyhow. I have a "friend" who was 28 before he decided/admitted he was gay, and it was another six months after that before he acted on it. And no, he didn't turn into a slut immediately. It generally takes awhile to build up to full slut status. The best stories have at least a hint of truth to them, particularly about the sex. Throwing in something truthful (like how your butt gets covered with sand when you try to have sex on the beach) helps make the wild orgy scenes more believable. Write what you know. There's no need to describe every thrust -- I have a *vivid* imagination.

We're having steaks I found on sale yesterday because the darned frozen turkey I bought a few days ago is still hard as a rock. Sigh. Plan ahead. Note to self: NEVER go to the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving again. I'm thankful for a lot of things. One is that I'll probably get to spend a lot of time writing today. It's become my new all consuming passion! Happy Thanksgiving to every one in the USA, and general best wishes to the rest of the world!

I've read some great fanfics about Harry's last two years at Hogwarts. JKR will have to work really hard to top some of them. Maybe that's why her next book is taking so long. <grin> From what I've read about her, JKR pretty much knows what's happening in the remainder of the story. She keeps detailed character information. And of course, she has an editor who helps insure continuity. I'm writing a serial story, and after writing five chapters I decided to make a major change to the beginning. I wasn't happy with the main character's motivation. The change had a domino effect and even though I've gone over everything at least three times, I still am finding names/dialog etc. that no longer fit. This is darned difficult! Right now, I'm not keeping background notes on characters/plot/settings and so forth, but I figure I will need to start doing that before the story gets much longer. --Radames

I enjoy all the categories, although I consider myself a highly selective reader--within each category, at least. I got started in fanfiction by reading Mercedes Lackey's Darkover series. She encouraged readers to explore parts of her world that she didn't have time to consider. I like to see that in Harry Potter fanfics. I've been thinking of writing something about the economics of wizardry (how dry I am!) Freethinker, I'm with ya in wondering when my teen years become "history"! But first time love/sex/whatever is universal, so your words are timely. I'm excited about the proliferation of blogs on the net--it's become a heck of a lot easier to see what's going on in the minds of teenagers (and everyone else) today. Has anyone used blogs to learn about current slang, feelings, etc.? --Radames

Thanks movieguy47 and Crackerwriter and everyone else who posted welcome messages! And to Myr who e-mailed a greeting. As a shy, naive newbie, it feels to know there are supportive people out there. --Radames

(newbie here--first post) I HATE getting near the end of a story and finding it's not yet finished. Thank goodness some websites can send notifications when new chapters are posted. I probably make an effort to follow up on 10% of the unfinished stories. When I do, I usually skim over previous chapters to get re-familiar with the plot. I'd prefer the whole story get posted at once. Having said that, let me add that I'm grateful authors write anything at all and I'll take what I can get. It seems to me writing and posting one chapter at a time limits you--it is difficult to make a correction if you find a story line isn't working like you thought it would. When you do write/post a chapter at a time, do you have a tight outline already written out? IMHO, this isn't comparable to Harry Potter and other serial novels. In those, each book has a complete story. JKR would not be safe anywhere in England if she'd published that last book without the final three chapters! Taking too long between books does risk losing the audience--I will probably not read the next volume of the Clan of the Cave Bear series because it's been just too darned long. --Radames