BendtedWreath

Last year, there was definitely a variety in terms of genres. Like @drsawzall said, they were all worth reading. As for whether they will help you guess the authors this year, you never know. Those Secret Authors, as @Gary L says, are a sneaky, lying bunch! I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for this year's Secret Author guessing/discussion thread when it goes live. The speculations are just as entertaining as the entries! 🤣

I am pretty sure this happens no matter what. 🤣

I'm excited to hear of new entries!! Third time might really be the charm!

Don't worry, I haven't started posting it yet it will go "live" on July 21st, if all goes well.

Let's go! Happy early GA Anniversary to you. Happy GA anniversary to you, as well. Thanks to you and Cassie for that insight. And don't forget we're here for you. I wish that were my name. I can tell you the Ben is actually from Benedict. The rest I'll explain in a PM. 🤣

As does yours. I look forward to seeing more of your work! You'll hit your 3-year mark before I hit my 2-year mark! Congrats to you, as well! I also need to catch up on your work. It's always entertaining to say the least. Thank you! I'm still very much trying. 😂

The same goes for you! Looking forward to reading more of your work, as well. Right back at you, brother! The official 2 year mark is on July 24, so that's the week chapter 1 will be released into the wild. 😱 I'm not concerned in the slightest.

Dear forum friends and fellow authors, I didn't want to create a whole blog just for this, so I figured The Lounge was a good alternative. I want to thank you for all the support, encouragement (and, hell, even the joking and the teasing) over these last two years. As my 2-year GA-anniversary approaches in mid-July, so too does the posting of the first chapter I've ever written of a project I've been working on since July of 2024. I must deeply express that it was inspired by your work. I am not kidding. The only thing I've ever written before 2024 were school essays, with variable success. But after reading the rainbow of 2024 event Secret Author entries, the various writing styles, each conveying something meaningful... I was compelled to try to write something of my own. Then, I realized it was way too challenging to convey the story that came to mind in a single chapter. So, I ended up practicing on a few prompts while I started figuring things out (provided by the prompt team, highly recommended! Here are a couple of prompts from May). In my writing journey, I ended up working on a collaboration with @chris191070 that became its own series (The Amazing Friends), which helped me continue to learn and grow (one of which was even featured). We still have another collab to go, to hopefully end that series with a bang (not that we can't collaborate on another series after that, if we're so inclined). I thank @Cane23, @Lee Wilson, @ReaderPaul, @Valkyrie, @wildone, @Ticklishboy30, @Aditus, @astone2292 and everyone else that was mentioned in the series for humoring the cameos. A huge, huge thanks to @kbois, @CassieQ, @Jason Rimbaud, and @Thirdly for believing in me, humoring me, and for providing examples through your own amazing series (Hazardous, Glacier Bay, Hybrid Journey, Shifter just to name a few). My thanks to @drsawzall, @W_L, @E K Stokes, @Jeff Burton, @Bill W, @Headstall, @Vcs, @Gary L, @Kileoli and anyone else who stopped read my work, novice as it was. Last, but not least, my thanks to @Myr, @Cia, and the other mods for their patience with not just my bumbling around learning how to navigate but for all the other newer members over the last couple of years and beyond. What do you know, I said I didn't want to turn this into a blog-sized post, but it's almost up there in length! 😂 You have my sincerest gratitude and have all played a part in the completion of my first multi-chaptered story (or, at least, my first multi-chaptered story that is 11 chapters long)! Your sap of a friend, Ben

That is a feeling that transcends language and culture for parents who care for their kids. I've witnessed such grief, and felt it in a different way. It's part of why I stopped teaching.

This is definitely one of the genres I wouldn't have actively hunted for. Rest assured it's now on my radar.

Kileoli introduces us to someone he cares about. He may no longer be with us physically, but he will live on endlessly in this heartfelt letter.

This was beautiful and heartfelt. It must have been very difficult to write, but I am grateful you did, even if it did make me cry.

I am very late on this, but I did want to make one suggestion (if it hasn't already been suggested): Make the "My Reading History" its own button somewhere on the phone app for quicker access to it. Update: I just noticed that the proposed preview actually shows it as its own tab on the main menu. I take this back. The preview looks amazing.

Agreed! We have @CassieQ to thank for that section. All I did was briefly call back to that moment, as it also gave me a good laugh.

@CarlAccolla I see you've managed to figure out how to change your group from Member to Author and posted a couple of chapters on your first story already. That's already a great start! I'm looking forward to reading some of your work (though it might take me longer than most, as I have a very long reading list to work through). The advice I have at the moment: * Try to ensure the chapters are as edited as possible before posting them. * Be patient with uploading your first several stories (I'd say plan at least two days in advance of the actual day you want a chapter to go "live"), as the chapters do have to go through the moderation list first, and then you have to remember to hit the "publish" button after they've been approved (I myself have forgotten this on more than one occasion). * Read all event details carefully, as there is a different method of posting per event. Whenever you are ready to participate in an event, that is. * Don't ever be afraid to reach out to the moderators for help (or even other members such as myself). Either way, welcome to GA!

It was well into their second month of trekking on foot and Malik was used to their seclusion and rough living. - Reminds me of soldiers and how they grow accustomed to sleeping on the ground surrounded by nature and then have to readjust. “She like me,” Malik said. “We go!” - Can anyone blame him? “Hooman?” Rhaelce repeated. - Yes. “Yes,” Rhaelce picked up a large branch and slid it slowly through the air, making a faint whistling sound. “Rizsa.” - His acting it out with sound effects and everything is peak. I like this side of Rhaelce. She smiled and stood up, executing a tiny bow. “Konnichiwa.” - 😂Haha. Crud. That's immediately what I'd think if I didn't know even the most minimal of Japanese. “Do you speak English?” he asked, catching her gaze. The sun reflected in her dark eyes, making them seem to glow./In a slightly accented voice, she answered./“Yes.” - Thank God. She smiled. “Well, English is not my native language, I learned it in school. It’s not very good.” - I beg to differ. Malik figured she was being modest. She hesitated before speaking and her voice had an accent, but he could understand every word. - I'm relieved he can understand her that well. It would have been rough trying to learn Japanese on top of Rhaelce's language. Shuza. - My favorite. “We saw you, on the other side of the river, and we… tracked you.” Malik decided “tracking” sounded better than “spying” or “reconnaissance.” - Haha! "We're not stalkers, we swear." “A year?” Malik breathed./Chihiro shrugged. “I haven’t found a way back anywhere else. Don’t you want to go home?”/Another question that didn’t bear thinking about. - You might have to start getting used to the idea that you both had a one-way trip. “Shuza wants to know if we can sleep on the ground if we take turns being on watch.” - Part of the reason Shuza's my favorite. Always a good idea to take turns keeping watch.

Rhaelce set a grueling pace, alternating between a quick trot and full-on running, but Malik found that he didn’t mind. He liked the physical exertion--it dulled the pain while his mind tried to process what Rhaelce had told him. - That's as valid a grieving method as any. Turns out Malik could not climb. - 😂Relatable. I was never able to climb trees, even as a strong and gutsy kid. These trees sound thick. “What hurt Naivres?” - The question on everyone's minds. He wondered what kind of mountains they would find. Probably wooded, like the ones that wound through Appalachia, rather than the stone monuments of The Rockies. - And here I'm thinking rocks and snow.

We've even snuck onto one of the lists!

Not sure, but I'm glad I gave the series one more pass through for typos before @chris191070 and I post the next story.

He heard the gargoyle's wooden body creak, and the head tilted slightly back so that the eyes seemed to look upon him. And then there was another creak, and the gargoyle smiled. / So did Jamie. "I take that as sign that all is well in the shop. Thank you, Snave." - For all we know, Snave's smile could mean "Oh, it's been burned to the ground, so you no longer have anything to worry about. It's no longer there." Flitch moved closer. "Fascinating. A life transferred to such as these." One of his appendages raised and waved at a nearby ghostly tree. "He was as you, once."/Jamie was stunned. "Snave was once human?" - I'm as shocked as you are, kid. "We are deep in the nether," the gargoyle returned. "It was here you forged that which you wear upon your chest. The Merry One." - The lens is that happy-go-lucky? "I see the love between you, even as my brother does, Jamie. Thorvil knew of my own desires, and while he did not understand them, he never ceased his love for me. Likewise, he has not let his knowledge that the two of you are in love stop him from loving the two of you. In this, my brother will always be a wonder in my heart." - What kind souls, both Thorvil and Snave. I'm glad they found a way to give Snave his voice back, in a manner of speaking.

On the subject of escape:

Dark mode helps with dyslexia. I always read in dark mode whenever it's available.

He didn’t cry earlier, and he didn’t plan to start now. - I can relate. Though I always fail to hold back. He spoke for a short while and led what appeared to be a prayer, as the participants would sometimes respond collectively. - It really is amazing Mythe got any words of the prayer out. For a moment, Mythe lifted a shaking hand and Malik felt sure he was about to take it, but instead Rhaelce stepped forward and took the torch instead. - There it is, there's Mythe's breaking point. Rhaelce really came through for the family in that moment. It's painful to witness, but no less admirable. It took a while for Rhaelce to shift his gaze away from the smoldering pyre to Malik standing there. He didn’t say anything, but took the proffered hand and got to his feet. - What a show of trust. There were no tears, but Malik could feel the way Rhaelce shuddered with each exhale, the shaking inhale, as if trying to breathe through that many layers of grief was physically difficult. - You have a gift for portraying grief catered to the character. Rhaelce's frustration of not having been there to fight whatever claimed Naivres's life, a fight he very well could have lost, and his need to let that anger with himself out through fighting truly befits a warrior mindset. As for Nyrra and Mythe's decision, I still find it a bit extreme. But parents in grief could have very well taken to blaming someone else to process their own grief.

I think you've done better than most, and firmly believe that the forum as a whole appreciates you, myself included.

Raimey was covered, ankles to neck, in a soft blue suit of clothing that looked so perfect for sleep that no other use could be said for it. The clothing was loose and airy looking, and suggested that the wearer would find its touch against the skin most pleasing. A pair of light blue sandals adorned Raimey's feet, completing the outfit. - Adorable. In the near darkness of the room, soon filled with quiet breathing, there was the tiniest creak of stressed wood, as Snave looked upon his now three sleeping charges, and smiled. - Snave working overtime. It was truly a wonderful thing that the prince had made here - a place where love could be shared without fear or anxiety. - Agreed. There were steaming sausages and hot porridge with sweet sprinkles, and tossed eggs cooked into omelets with cheeses and pork cubes mixed in. Cups of sweet juice were placed before them, and serviettes offered; and then the kitchen staff retired again. - I'm craving eggs and sausages now. "Yes. So we will ask the next most likely one to know. Someone even older than the Master."/Garvin frowned...but then he smiled. "Oh! You mean --"/Jamie nodded. "Yes. Let us just hope that Wanda Pegfoot is in when we get there." - The kind Wanda! Wonder what Wanda will think about their plottings.