Former Member

A great concept! It's also very informative

The worst part of this story is that there are ‘Smiles’ out there today being beaten by their genetic donors or ‘guardians.’ Maybe it’s because of misplaced blame and anger. Maybe it’s because of sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s horrible when a child decides that living on the streets is better than staying at home. It’s disgusting when a ‘guardian’ forces a child to leave because they don’t want them. Homelessness is not something that anyone should be forced to choose! People who despise the homeless do not take the time to understand why they are homeless. It’s easy to lump them all together and reject the entire group. But it’s difficult to not be compassionate once you learn the reasons why someone doesn’t have a home. It could be that they’re working, but their income isn’t high enough to pay for housing. It could be that medical debts prevent them from being able to afford housing. It could be that they’re escaping from an abusive relationship. It could be they’re escaping violence and chaos. It could be mental health issues that prevent them from being housed. It could be that they’ve lost their job and cannot get another one. It could be any number of other things, but it’s much easier to blame the worthless, smelly, lazy bum who’s sleeping on the sidewalk, getting in your way – or the penniless refugee who is seeking asylum who has arrived uninvited and unwanted. Perhaps your story will encourage someone to feel more compassionate and help someone in need. Or at least, instead of a grimace or any angry word, offer a simple smile… ;–)

@Laura S. Fox, could you read the Epilogue during Jack’s memorial service, please? ;–)

This is why the only horror movies I’ve seen were chosen by my friends! And why my favorite horror movies are really only semi-horror: An American Werewolf in London (horror/comedy) and Alien (horror/science fiction). I’m glad I’m reading this just after noon! ;–)

In other words, Robbie is a typical teenager. ;–)

I can come up with wild ideas, but I cannot flesh out the details – especially dialogue. A few of my less radical suggestions have been acknowledged as having been incorporated into a few stories by one author. It would be fun to see what two or more authors might come up with from the same suggestion(s). ;–)

Have Mark and Mrs Hodges met in the past? Do they have an unexpected connection? Will future Mark and Mickey combine their skills to help set up an LGBTQ Center in their town with Mickey designing the facilities? ;–)

So any wild speculations I come up with won’t affect the story! I wonder if I can figure out anything before it’s revealed otherwise? Or if I can come up with something that will inspire a new story (by @Arran or anyone else). ;–)

Well Nicola and Daniel have seen all of Robbie, haven’t they? A naked Robbie would not be anything special to a nurse like Susie. Only Amy and Donnie might find the view interesting and unusual. ;–)

Maybe she told him she knew about all the underaged hustlers he was picking up even after they got married and had kids… ;–)

The Preacher’s Kid spin-off side story: Donald’s Second Chance! ;–)

But does Donnie want to shatter the image he thinks he created of the perfect Taylor family? ;–)

Rory has come a long way. He didn’t get upset about Robbie flirting with him. It must be because of Rebecca. ;–) Things are clearly wrapping up with Jo. Robbie thinks she isn’t getter him to do things, but obviously she managed to get Robbie to call Conner. And Conner isn’t too upset with Robbie. I hope Rory has explained some of Robbie’s problems to Conner so he understands why Robbie hasn’t wanted to be around him. Conner makes a good interim boyfriend until Robbie and Tom can finally be reunited! ;–)

Oh great! A drunken Donnie for the holidays! Just what we all need… ;–)

All those NSFW images I send you? ;–)

As soon as I saw ‘Dear Evan Hanson,’ you were the first thing I thought of! Naturally, there’s a whole group of musicals that I identify with you (including Newsies). You share your joy with us so freely! ;–)

Then you’ll love what some of us have found ‘between the lines’ in the Comments for the next last couple chapters (and in the Topic) – well, maybe not what I came up with! ;–)

I’m a really bad friend. I think I’ve only read your stories when they’ve done those secret author theme contests. None of the Jacob & Marcus Tales seem familiar (based on titles and synopsis). I avoid poetry and fan-fiction. But you’re right, I have enjoyed the stories I’ve read. This suggests I really should read more of your work! ;–)

There are ‘believers’ who are naïve enough to trust any person or organization that cloaks itself as religious. Entire religions are based on this deception. Organizations are given wide latitude to practice discriminatory and anti-competitive behavior by the US justice system.

There is an avoidance of content by and for women, people of color, LGBTQs, and others who are not middle- or upper-class, white, Protestant, males. Those are the same faces you see when you look at most US corporate boards (with only token representation of others that doesn’t match the population). Those are usually the faces of the so-called experts interviewed on US network TV (except PBS). It’s what they are most comfortable with and what they feel is most profitable – and that’s their sole motivation.

I laugh because I have been diagnosed with both also! ;–)

Shhhhh! Administration might hear and steal your idea! Everybody’s a critic. It’s not how I would have done it, but I’m neither the target audience, nor the designer. It’s distinctive and the text is clear and easy to read even in tiny images. You can find similar images for your other books too. The big plus is that you’ve sized your name bigger than the title, so when you publish your next books, you can do the same to build a following that looks for your name! I’d try to maintain some consistency between books, especially with your name. Build a brand. Get readers to seek out your work. ;–)

I think once you become a successful self-publisher, you’ll have at least a couple of GA authors either asking you to publish their work or asking you to give them advice on how to do it themselves.

I used to manage a bookstore (I was a horrible manager, by the way, I couldn’t motivate my staff to do as I asked). This was back in the early Nineties and Amazon wasn’t a factor yet. There was an incredible amount of really badly written trash being published by established (very tiny) publishers. Because of the location, I was allowed to order LGBTQ books from additional publishers by the corporation that owned the store. There was a title that sounded mildly interesting, so I ordered two copies. They accidentally sent me twelve copies instead. It was a horribly written story about a planet of Gay men. The mechanical technology they used to procreate broke down and they were facing a crisis with no new babies when they discovered a solution: one of the horny guys decided to masturbate using the fruit of one of the local plants. Oddly enough, the fruit was able to become ‘pregnant’ somehow. Crisis averted. While there weren’t any misspellings that I can remember, it wasn’t very well plotted. If it was supposed to be erotic, it missed on that count too. The only good thing about it was that it wasn’t very long. It wasn’t even entertaining as a bad story. Around the same time, I read the Lambda Literary Award and James Tiptoe Jr Award-winning book by Nicola Griffith, Ammonite. Coincidentally, it featured a somewhat similar premise. An embargoed planet is discovered to still have a population long after its female-only inhabitants should have died off. Nicola’s story has a very novel and creative explanation for how the residents are able to reproduce – and it doesn’t involve either a mechanical device or an unlikely vegetable impregnation coincidence. This proved to me how much easier it was for some authors to get published than it should be. I would be willing to bet that the author of the badly written Gay story was white and middle- or upper-class. There was a certain entitlement that bled through the story. Even more than when people picked up physical books in a physical bookstore, the visuals are incredibly important. If the very tiny image isn’t enticing enough, people aren’t going to click to see more about the book. The title is also important and can affect the clicks too. Once you get to the book’s page, the synopsis needs to capture attention without giving too much away – a very tricky balance.

[Putting on my pretending-to-be-a-therapist hat.] This sounds like your depression speaking. [And if my pretending-to-be-a-therapist self were talking to me, there’d be references to my cognitive dissonance too.] [I think it’s fitting that my pretend self is diagnosing myself.] [Maybe you should ignore my non-sensical ramblings.] [Especially because they’re enclosed by pretentious bracketing.] ;–)