kitten

This post and the article linked is not a 'dig' at young writers! It seems to me that it is an encouragement to new authors of any age to persevere. The title of this article says it is addressed to teenage writers, but there are things in it which I found could be usefully applied to me - and it's a long time since I was a teenager! <http://whatever.scalzi.com/2006/04/27/10-things-teenage-writers-should-know-about-writing/>

This is a really enjoyable story. I liked it a lot! The conversational and somewhat quirky style is really easy to read and it has an intimate feel. The mysterious Connor is made even more mysterious by the contrast with the narrator's own mundane life. It is referred to above as a short story, but there will (I hope) be more to come, so I guess that the 'short' above means 'not long'. There were some things (e.g. Jessica?) that I think are typos and some things that sound to me like very odd usages of words. I'll send details in a PM. Kit

Being rather paranoid, when I'm working on the computer I back up all new and updated files to a second internal drive every couple of hours. Every night I back up all data files to the second internal drive and every weekend I do a complete clone of my main disk to an external drive. At least 3 times per year I put encrypted copies of my most important files onto DVDs and send them to a friend on the other side of the country - just in case al my drives at home get destroyed in a fire or flood. Kit

First of all, I must admit to being a technophobe and that I never read blogs, except occasionally if something specific s recommended or if I accidentally click on a link. Anyways, this story drew me in quickly, so that I soon almost didn't notice the blog format. Second of all, this is a good story, written in an unusual format, and kept me reading to the end. The comments from his online friends were well constructed and well placed to give a variety to the baseline story. They also gave the feeling of the 'online community' that prevented Joe from being too isolated. Third of all, I was hoping for a slightly happier ending. Maybe Joe couldn't hit a home run, but I'd hoped he'd get further round the field. However, maybe that's unfair of me - the endings to my own stories are not always totally happy-ever-after. Thanks for the story! Kit

Okay, maybe I'm not good at spotting cliches but this appeared to me to be a very original story told in a very matter-of-fact style. At first I thought that style was at odds with the tragic events described, but then on second thoughts it seemed that they were an excellent counter-balance. In fact, the style totally matched the dusty melancholy that one feels in such a museum. As with any good story, the ending seems open to different interpretations depending on the reader's own personality and life experiences. Was the ride into the sunset a ride of victory or defeat? My own personal feeling is that it was a good thing. Though belated, Brian is taking the chance of a fresh start. For so long he has been buried alive in the dusty old town, but now he is getting away from the dusty old life, created by his father and grandfather. Now at last he can start his own life. Kit

I very much enjoyed this story. The style of this story is very simple - and I say this as a compliment! The words have a beautiful simplicity, just as 'Little Raindrop' had, but unlike the 'Little Raindrop' this is a dark story that is perhaps not suitable for little children. As Graeme says, it is more like a fable, with several possible lessons. One lesson is that if your going to sacrifice someone as a messenger to your gods, you should be nice to them - that way the message given to the gods will be a nice one. The story drew me in immediately and as soon as the plans for the boy were revealed I kept looking for loopholes which would allow him to escape. I hoped that perhaps he be of no use as a sacrifice if he was defiled or if he was bleeding on the big day. Still, I did enjoy the ending. Thanks, Ieshwar! Kit

This was a most amusing story, written with the skillful light touch that I would recognise as 'typical of Graeme'. For some reason, as I was reading it, I imagined that it might easily be adapted as an episode of 'The Vicar of Dibley'. Just to show off my detective abilities (years of watching Poirot!)... Thanks for the gentle fun, Graeme! Kit

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Thank you, Dolores, for a very interesting and well-written tale. At the beginning I wondered a little about the very short sentences, but then at the end I realised - Having been interested for a long time in the history of the Roman Empire, and as I live within walking distance of the eastern end of Hadrian's wall, I recognised the situation as soon as the name Hadrian appeared for the first time. As Graeme said, it would be very interesting to know whether or not Terence knew that history before the session. There is speculation not only about the death of Antinous but also about his exact age, and he might well have been even younger than in this story. There is also no absolute proof that the relationship was sexual, though of course it is very likely. Also, it is said that not only was Antinous very good looking but also that he was charming, witty, and intelligent. Bearing in mind that that sort of relationship would have been known to Antinous before he met the Emperor and that Antinous would have deliberately shown off his charm, wit and intelligence to Hadrian, it is likely that Antinous wanted the relationship. After all, the Emperor would have had access to lots of pretty boys, so Antinous would have had to do something to make Hadrian fall in love with him above all others. Indeed, Antinous must have been very charming, because although Hadrian and his Empress apparently disliked one another, the Empress is said to have got on well with Antinous. They seem to have had a lot in common (e.g. they both loved hunting, philosophy, etc) and there is no doubt that Hadrian truly loved him. Hadrian was filled with grief when Antinous died, he declared him to be a god, named a city in his honour, etc. So, bearing in mind all the above, although such a relationship would certainly be abusive in modern society, it is unlikely that Antinous would consider himself to have been in an abusive relationship. Therefore, my own opinion is that there was no psychic link between Terence and Antinous. Kit

Yeah, I thought it was a ghost story too! It was very well written and I really liked the ending. Just one thing though... Kit

Thus discussion seems to have drifted a little from the intent I had when I posted the original question and I apologise if it stirred up emotions. By 'non-gay' I did not mean 'straight' - I meant no romance or sex of any sort. Even if I wanted to do so, I wouldn't have any idea how to write a straight sex scene, and to be honest, romance, even gay romance, isn't something that interests me a great deal as a reader or as a writer. There seem to be a few such stories now: http://www.rainbowsauce.com/gayfic/gayscifi.html But I guess it depends when you were growing up how many of those were available. When I was a teen I read an average of about 6 books per week, some of it sci-fi. (Now I'm lucky to find time to read six books a year!) Anyway, I think that I remember some sci-fi that was at least gay-friendly (Ursula K LeGuin?). I understand what you are saying about identifying with gay characters, and I agree that it's great to have place like this for stories we can relate to our own experiences. It's even better for gay youngsters who are currently living with family, maybe in isolated places, to see that they are not alone in their experiences. However, even for us gay guys, sex and even sexuality are not the only things in life. As I gay person I can still appreciate the value of friendships between males that have no sexual or romantic involvement, and occasionally I might like to read or write a story dealing with such a friendship. I don't think such a story would be totally irrelevant to my life. Kit

Another excellently-well-written emotion-jerker from Tiff. I guess I'm in the minority here but... As far as I can see the only thing Utah did wrong was not to make an effort to avoid being caught. Yes, I know he probably wanted to be caught because he was 'tired of waiting', but I honestly see that as a weakness in his character. As for his mother - well, I don't want to start a debate, but I can't see any excuse for her staying with the guy. Any reason like finance or having to care for Utah doesn't make any sense to me. She should have got away sooner. Even if she'd lived, the psychological damage Utah would suffer from seeing the frequent abuse would be much worse than if the two of them grew up in poverty. Personally, if I'd been her I'd have had a knife ready and killed the guy as soon as he struck the first blow. Then she'd probably easily have a successful self-defence argument. So a great story that got me really involved, though maybe my reactions were not what the author might have expected. Kit

It's the name of the site and as with any marketing-type name I presume it should be interpreted as descriptive rather than definitive. However, if you want to take things literally... A. Gay Authors - Does that mean that non-gay authors are not welcome to post stories whether or not the stories are gay? B. The Place for Quality Gay Fiction - it doesn't say 'The Place for Quality Gay Fiction only' Otherwise not only would there be no place for quality non-gay fiction but there would also be no place for non-quality gay fiction. In which case maybe someone should go through and weed out whatever they consider is non-quality. C. The Place for Quality Gay Fiction (as opposed to 'A Place for Quality Gay Fiction') would mean there are no other places for quality gay fiction - which is rather insulting for awesomedude, crvboy, etc. D. What particular definition of 'Gay Story' would you like to impose? Does there have to be gay sex? gay romance? a gay main character? A teenager just wondering if he's gay but then deciding he's not? Is 'Brideshead Revisited' a gay novel because one major character and a couple of minor characters are gay? How about a story where a character never appears but is mentioned as having committed suicide because he's gay? A. I don't really see the relevance of this to authors posting too often. B. Do you really think that there are people queuing up to flood GA with non-gay stories (see D. above)? IIRC that was already dealt with satisfactorily - I think in the Admin Communication forum? My personal view (as stated at the time) was that it should be up to the author to decide how he/she wants to 'market' their work. My own feeling is that posting chapters too often, especially with multiple stories being posted at the same time, is not a good way to maximise readership. Kit

Okay! I will... Thanks to everyone for their input! Kit

That reflects how I feel, which is why I posted the question. On the other hand, if I don't post them then they certainly won't be read at all. Basically, I do as Chase says above and write what I want, and as I'm gay it's so far just happened to be that most of what I've written has some gay-related aspect. As I'm extremely lazy, and as my writing time is limited, I have to be really inspired to actually put in the effort to write a novel-length story. (which is why the sequel to Tapping keeps getting put onto the back burner!). At the moment I feel really inspired by the idea this non-gay-related story and have written 1.5 chapters in less than a week (a VERY fast rate for me!). But I'm not sure what to do with it when I've finished writing. Do you post your non-gay stories somewhere else? If so, where? Kit