Trebs

Last call then! Let me know by 6pm tomorrow (Saturday) if you are coming and have not yet told me!

Dan and I just landed in DC and can't wait to see everyone in a bit over a week from now!

I always love it when we get a feature from Libby Drew - having someone who has been there, able relate writing tips from experience, is a valuable experience. Here she talks about using the characters various senses in your writing. Enjoy! Don’t Leave Your Readers Deaf and Blind by Libby Drew “Stop! You’re scaring me,” Megan said “I’m not trying to scare you,” Steve soothed. “We need to talk.” “Don’t come any closer!” Megan cried. “Don’t be afraid, Megan,” Steve said. “I only want to help.” “But I thought— You’re not here to kill me?” “I never was. Do you believe me now?” Steve asked. “Yes,” Megan affirmed. Well, I don’t believe him. Out of context, I haven’t the faintest clue why Megan would either. Dialog without any sense impressions, thoughts, or feelings of the viewpoint character becomes totally abstract. It stops making sense. The reader gets lost. Don’t let that happen. I’m not saying insert epic volumes of purple prose. Just add enough to keep the reader oriented. A flurry of dialog doesn’t mean everything else should stop. Readers wants dialog—they crave dialog—but they’re not willing to be cut off from the rest of the story to get it. So how do we keep them connected? Let the reader SEE things that are happening as the characters speak. Let the reader HEAR things that are happening as the characters speak. Let the reader SMELL, TASTE, and FEEL. Give them tactile sensations. Show the reader any THOUGHTS the viewpoint character is having. Express the emotions of the viewpoint character. (Try to show and not tell, if possible. Megan didn’t feel terrified. She trembled.) Make the reader aware of the viewpoint character’s goal. “Stop!” Megan stumbled backward until her elbows hit the balcony railing. “You’re scaring me.” Steve halted, raising one hand to Megan while he reached into his pocket with the other. “I’m not trying to scare you.” He had a gun! The tremble in her knees spread to the rest of her body. She pointed a shaking finger at Steve. “Don’t come any closer!” A cold wind whipped at them both, plastering Megan’s silk blouse to her skin and sneaking up her skirt. It stung her bare legs and dried the tears on her cheeks instantly. Steve eased his hand from his pocket and held up a small envelope. “Don’t be afraid, Megan. I only want to help.” Megan squinted through her tears. That was her name on the envelope, written in her mother’s delicate hand. Her mother was alive? “But I thought— You’re not here to kill me?” “I never was.” Steve ripped open the envelope and showed her the note inside. Even from across the balcony, Megan could make out the scratchy “My Dearest Daughter” at the top, along with the date. January 1st, 2012. Less than a week ago. “Do you believe me now?” Steve asked. “Yes.” The relief stole the last bit of strength from her legs, and she sank to the cold concrete, clutching the railing as the tears overwhelmed her. She’d been wrong about everything. Could Steve ever forgive her? Because I know you won’t be able to sleep until you know… Steve did forgive her. Although he also wants to secretly kill her for being so whiny. I know I do, but maybe I’m projecting. Sense impressions and thoughts. Intentions. Emotions. Now the reader knows where we are. He has a physical impression of the place (the balcony), understands Megan’s viewpoint and why she’s scared, understands her plight and her emotional reaction to the threat, and in general gets involved in the scene. This is vital. Curing the so-called “talking head” syndrome is not about adding “he said, she said” so we know who’s speaking. (Actually, it’s usually about removing those things.) We need to keep the reader connected to the action in a subtle, peripheral way. Don’t leave your readers deaf and blind. Of course there will be times when dialog is very simple and straightforward and keeping the reader oriented will be a piece of cake. But there will be other situations where the character’s movement, the scene’s complexity, or the depth of the viewpoint character's thoughts, feelings and changing motives may require considerably more author interpretation. How much you put in depends on all those factors. In any case, you need to keep the reader in the story. Just because you see and hear the details in your head as you write the scene does not mean that the reader will by osmosis discern the same details. Good stories are ones we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Appeal to your readers’ senses. Involve them. ~Libby

Welcome to the beginning of another week here at GayAuthors. I know personally, I could have used a much longer weekend. I loved the post on Facebook by George Takai, "I really need a day between Saturday & Sunday." Anyways, one thing to look forward to about a Monday is seeing a new featured story - this time we get a review from Dark of Moment of Clarity, by Author Jason Rimbaud. Enjoy! Moment of Clarity By Jason Rimbaud Review by Dark Status: Complete Word Count: 4,107 Jason Rimbaud is another author from California, a place called Belmont in the San Francisco area. Moment of Clarity is his only posted story. His hook caught my attention: Tobias was having nightmares, his boyfriend thought he was using drugs, and someone would not stop pounding on the door. In a world where everything blurred together, all he could hope for was a moment of clarity. Of course, I went into the story thinking it was about a nightmare, and I was right; however, what I found was something much more than ‘simply’ a nightmare. The story ratchets up the tension with one clever description after another. Each time Tobias hears knocking at the door, the scene changes, leaving the reader guessing at reality. Despite the hallucinations, I found myself rooting for Tobias. I wanted him to find reality, to find that happy ending. I was horrified by the news of Steven and the arrival of the policeman sent a chill up my spine. Jason Rimbaud has found a way to create a satisfyingly sympathetic character even amidst his creepy visuals. Of course, I’m partial to the serenity of Tobias’ final scene in the story, but there’s even a short epilogue for those who just have to know what really happened. Is it the pounding in Tobias’ head, the knocking on the door, or something more sinister? You decide! The moral in this story will leave you perhaps not jumping or laughing in joy, but heart-warm nonetheless.

This week has been a great week of announcements. For starters, if you will be in the DC area two weeks from now on Saturday, January 26 around lunchtime and would like to meet some others from GA, including Dan and myself, we're having a GA GetTogether. Check this topic for more info! We also have launched our GA book club, called the "Can't Stop Reading" (or CSR) Book Club, the format is that we'll announce a story to read at the beginning of each month, and then have a discussion on the story at the end of the month. So far there has already been a lot of interest and it will be a lot of fun to see how this grows month by month. Wednesday, Myr shared with us the Gay Authors State of the Site for 2013. A great read on where the site has come to and plans to move forward! Finally, Friday came and brought us two great new prompts - hitting milestone prompt 200 and 201. Try them out, or just stop by to see the wonderful prompt responses we get every week. So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens By our Hosted Authors this week: Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase Tentacles by Nephylim In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Circumnavigation by C James Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor by dkstories, Book 1 of Harry Potter Destiny By our Promising Authors this week: Someone called Soul Mate by SidLove The English Year by Jwolf Protector of Children by David McLeod Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Yay - and just to be sure, I just texted him (LittleBuddhaTW$ as well

Once again it is time for our weekly prompts thanks to the hard work of Comicfan. Best way to show your appreciation? Try one of these out, and please share it with the rest of the community in our Writing Prompts forum! Prompt 200 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story: strawberry, tea rag, bottle of soda, brownies, and cat. Prompt 201 – Creative Tag – The Cat Your cat has been bringing you presents. They aren’t the usual – no mice, birds, or anything like that. No your cat has been showing up with diamonds, gold nuggets, and emeralds. What is the story and where is your cat getting these gifts? Last week generated some fantastic prompt responses - I hope you check them all out at the Writing Prompts forum. The one that i want to highlight is to prompt 199 which gave a first line of "Here we go again" Here's what Andy021278 came up with: Good sweet beginning, eh? Check out the rest of his story here!

Hi - Sorry for the last minute notice on this, but since Dan (dkstories) and I will be going to DC for the Inauguration and staying through the following week, I invited a few people to join us and want to open up and extend out an invitation to anyone else who may be in the area to join us for lunch. It would be Saturday, January 26, 2013 (yes, 16 days away) at lunchtime in the Washington DC area. We're already looking at a group size of 14 and more are definitely welcome. I do ask if you are thinking of joining us, or KNOW that you can join us, chime in here or send me a PM. Andy (Quonus) as the DC native is helping to locate a place for us to have lunch, though you can also send me additional suggestions. Robert

Just tell them all, that as you're gay, if you were going to set David up with anyone, it would have been yourself and then no one would have to worry about any unintended pregnancies (offer to draw pictures if they don't understand this last aspect).

Book clubs have had a long and storied history - providing both social interaction for the members as well as providing a forum for discussion of books/stories that might otherwise have not received as much attention. Cia recently came up with the idea for a GA Book Club and the rest of us here at the GayAuthors.org News Blog thought it was a fantastic idea. Here's an initial idea of how this would work, as well as the focus for our first month's choice - Nephylim's Memories of Forgotten Love. So with that - here's Cia and the launch of GA's CSR Book Club! GA's CSR Book Club We have a fun new idea for the New Year for the Gay Authors News Blog! It's a new system for the wonderful story features that I have dubbed CSR ... Can't Stop Reading. That's right! We're going to have a book club. The first Monday of the month we will announce the chosen selection of a completed story here on GA, typically between the 20-90k range. You then have until the last Monday of the month to read the story. The last week we will host a discussion of the story in the weekly blog. We might offer up some questions for readers, or a lengthy review by a participant ... something to get the ball rolling on the discussion. Of course, if you don't finish in time to take part, and you want to avoid spoilers, you can always leave the author your thoughts in a review in GA Stories. "Wait!" you say. "What about the regular review set up?" Don't worry, other than the first and last Mondays, we will still be sharing regular in-depth reviews provided by the lovely readers here on GA (nudge nudge, we can always use more of these!). "How are the stories chosen?" you ask. "Don't we get a say?" Well, this time I chose the story, one of my favorites by Nephylim. I know, I know, autocratic of me, but it's really a great story that I think many readers will enjoy! Starting next month, you will get to help pick the story. We'll have a system set up on the discussion day so that members can let us know what they'd like to read next. So that's it ... not a big change, but one that I hope will help readers connect with each other and authors they know and love, or might not know at all! You can find the information on this month's selection below along with a link to the story that will also be pinned this week, as well as the discussion week. There will be a reminder link each weekend in the Weekly Wrap Up too! I really hope members will join in and enjoy this new program designed to enrich the GA community. Memories of Forgotten Love by Nephylim Length: 48,733 Rating: Teen Description: Noah wakes from a coma to find that he has no memory, none at all. As he slowly comes back to life, learning to walk and talk, being introduced to family and friend who are all strangers to him, he begins to realize that something is wrong with the picture he is being presented with, very wrong. Some thoughts from a reader: "This is a fascinating story that explores the true meaning of strength, and the reality of weakness of character in supposedly strong individuals who hide behind a show of strength to cover up their own weakness." - Stephen Discussion Date: 1/28/13

Great week here and hope yours has been the same. We started with a look at Hosted Author Shadowgod's story Vegas Sun - with a fantastic review from comicfan. For our Wacky Wednesday, we saw the latest installment of Yettie One's The Pulse Behind the GA Crowd - his series of interviews with this one with TetRefine. Finally we had our two new GA Writing Prompts and looked back to a year ago, with a prompt response from Cia. So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Empty Corners by Comicality By our Hosted Authors this week: Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Brought Home by Cia Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales By our Promising Authors this week: Protector of Children by David McLeod Seasons of Love by CassieQ The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle Footsteps of Giants by wrathofmagneto Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

For some of us, it's been a short work week, but Friday's are still a day to look forward to. We always look forward to Friday's here as that means two new writing prompts, thanks to Comicfan, our writing prompt's guru. These writing prompts are a great way to stretch the writing muscles - but when you do, share your efforts with the community in our Writing Prompts forum. Prompt 198 – Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following in a story – dish rag, a new shirt, a box of chocolates, a broken window, and a snowman. Prompt 199 – Creative Tag – First Line “Here we go again!” In a blast to the past, I took a look at some of the prompt responses from a year ago, and came across a response to prompt 98 that I loved. The prompt was "Here is the situation - Five years ago your life was falling apart around your ears. With no real direction left you sign on to take part in a government experiment which will place you and 9 other people into lock up with no communication with the rest of the world until the time is up. Tomorrow the doors will automatically unlock allowing all of you out. What has it been like? Who are the others? What is the project you have been working on?" Intrigued? Check out the rest of this great response by Cia! Enjoy!

Continuing in our monthly feature Interviews by Yettie One, here is December's interview with member TetRefine (ya, two days late - but the week started in December so....) Enjoy! The Pulse Behind the GA Crowd by Yettie One I was really genuinely excited to be able to interview this months member. As a new comer to GA, one of the people that I noticed played an active role in the community here is none other than TetRefine, a young and vibrant 20 year old guy who at the time I joined, had just returned from an exciting trip to South America. Located in Philly, TetRefine is a Manic Poster to GA, and can often be found in the forum or chat rooms. I really wanted to find out more about the guy and so approached him for an interview for my series The Pulse Behind the GA Crowd. Happily TetRefine agreed and here are the results. “I grew up an avid reader,” says TetRefine as we discuss how he came across GA in the first place. “I’d never read any gay fiction, and one day came across a link on a site called The Gay Surf Report that I used to frequent. I figured that it’d be cool to check out some gay themed stories, and so GA became the place I spent a lot of time exploring the world of homosexual writings.” “My favourite story on GA, The Perks of Loving You, was the first full length story I ever read on GA, and I completed the first 10 chapters in one sitting. I’d met the writer in chat and he recommended that I read it, so I gave it a whirl. It is not a complicated or deeply reflective story, but it captured the angst of coming to terms with your own sexuality as a teenager in high school, and I actually got to contribute a piece of writing to one of the chapters,” he says with a sly wink. “And no, I won’t tell you which one!” “I guess I’m also slightly biased as the writer Camilo just happens to be my boyfriend,” TetRefine admits. “Other favourites include All I Wanted (an anthology short story), Social Skills, Second Shot and Chronicles of an Academic Predator Book 1.” I quizzed TetRefine about his favourite writers on GA and found that it is Mark Arbour that leaps out as a clear winner in his eyes. “I just love the way Mark is able to capture the time period in which his stories take place so vividly. I really feel like I am transported back to the time in which the story takes place. It is his attention to even the littlest, seemingly insignificant details that paint a truly amazing scene.” Other authors fondly reflected on by TetRefine included KingdomByTheSea, Comicality, Quonus10 and DomLuka. I wanted to find out a bit more about the guy himself, so dug a little. “I really love the Toucan as an animal. It is a stunning example of the vibrancy of nature,” TetRefine tells me as I dig. “I am ticklish,” he giggles, “But only in certain spots though.” “My favourite eye colour would be blue, you rarely see blue eyes around here, and gosh I’d love an Audi R8 (damn good taste in cars me finks).” Known fondly as “Little Man” by his uncle growing up, TetRefine told me that he believed that you can have love without happiness, so in his opinion happiness is more important in life. And if your taking him out on a date, A bacon cheeseburger with mayo, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and pickles with a side of seasoned Cajun fries and honey mustard sauce is the route to his soul. (Fussy eater much? Hehe) As we discuss the positive things of GA, TetRefine tells me that it has to be the Chat Room that stands out as his favourite feature. “I met a lot of great people in there (including my boyfriend of almost 3 years) and have had many meaningful, stupid, funny, heartfelt and dumb conversations in there. I also love the active debate of the soapbox, even though I am sure I’ve made a lot of people hate me due to my stance on certain issues.” “For me, the most positive thing GA has given me has been a sense of not being the only one. When I first came to GA, I didn’t know the first thing about being gay, and didn’t know that many others like me existed. I was a confused, naïve 17 year old, and through GA I learned so much. If it weren’t for Cia and all the help she gave me I don’t know where I would have ended up in life, as corny as that sounds. I had originally planned to sign up to the army, but through GA and meeting Camilo the plans I’d made in high school all changed for the better. Crazy as it is to think about, joining the GA community has really had a massive impact on my life.” In closing our chat together, I asked TetRefine what, if anything, he’d change about GA. He pondered this for a while before saying, “It is hard to think of an improvement as Myr and his team do such a great job in keeping things going. I guess I would like to see the rating system for non-authors go away, simply because I don’t think it serves any real purpose.” With that thought, I wrapped up our time together, and it is with much thanks for the candour and openness that TetRefine offered to me during out chat that made this interview so enjoyable. I hope that it is as insightful of a great young guy to you as it was to me. Next time you see him in chat, say Hi, I’m sure you’ll find he’s not got such a bad bite.

Everyone have good plans to ring out the old and ring in the new? I had a LOT of great times in 2012, and some not so great moments, but ending the year in a great mood after spending some real quality time with friends. Speaking of friends, it was also really nice to read this review by Comicfan of Vegas Sun, an anthology story that Hosted Author (and total studmuffin) Shadowgod wrote. I hope you enjoy the review and the story! Vegas Sun By Shadowgod Review by Comicfan Status: Complete Length: 9801 Every once and awhile I like to see what else is out there. I enjoy reading something by an author I don’t know so I will read a lot of new authors to the site. Occasionally I like to look at those who are the crème de le crème, or more commonly known as our Hosted Authors. Shadowgod as an author was unknown to me. Yes, I might be known by some on here but do you know how many authors there are on here? So like anyone else I occasionally take the leap of faith and try someone new. In this case I tried Vegas Sun, his entry for the anthology in 2007, Endings and Beginnings. Welcome to Vegas, the place with the nickname of Sin City. Neon lights, casinos, and all sorts of rotten people seem to fill this place as the story unfolds. Enter the youth known as Cody. Cody is a runaway, or a throw away, as we find out once the story gets going. As such he needs to make money and does it by entering into the world’s oldest profession. To say Cody is successful would be a great exaggeration. The poor boy can’t seem to walk across a room without trouble finding him. And it is after one such encounter that Cody, left beaten and black and blue, meets a cop with a heart of gold. What happens when Cody is beaten up and ends up in the hospital? Will his pride prevent him from taking a new chance offered him? What about the cop who seems so interested in him? Will the Vegas sun burn away his pride or will the night see him back on the corner? There is only one way to find out how this story ends, READ IT! When you do be sure to leave a review as well.

We're not only at the end of another week, we're almost at the end of another month AND another year. I hope 2012 treated you well, and 2013 will be an even better year for you. Here at the GayAuthors.org News Blog, we had a pretty good year, though with some growing pain changes as we experimented with various formats/schedules. You've given us a lot of comments and feedback, as well as a ton of member created content to share with the rest of our community here. On behalf of the "staff" of the News Blog - I want to say thank you! As to this specific week, we started with Wildone giving us a review of Author Andrew Todd's "Riding Lessons". And if you're a fan of this story, I hope you've noticed that Andrew has started releasing chapters of the sequel, "Lessons Learned", as well as giving us an "Interludes" chapter. Wacky Wednesday gave us another great writing tip from Libby Drew, this time on "Write What You Know" Doesn't Mean Show Off. Our weekly Prompt Me prompts this week gave us "The Billion Dollar decision" and "Photographic Proof" - and we looked at how Asmita, a relatively new community member responded to last week's Prompt 194. So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens By our Hosted Authors this week: Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) The Bully by dkstories Belovéd by Don H The Conversation by dkstories In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Circumnavigation by C James Tentacles by Nephylim Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales By our Promising Authors this week: Prompts? by CassieQ Protector of Children by David McLeod The Guild Book I by JMH The Nano Wars: Rebirth by JMH, Book 1 of The Nano Wars The English Year by Jwolf Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Holidays are wonderful lazy times.... Um - and so, sorry about the delay in putting up this week's prompts. We are always thankful to Comicfan for giving us two more wonderful prompts - I hope you might write a response to at least one of them, and please be sure to share with the rest of the community in the Writing Prompts forum. Prompt 196 – Creative Tag – The Billion Dollar decision. The future has seen too many children being born with either birth defects or low intelligence. In addition there has been a decline in males and females who function correctly sexually. The world government has taken to sterilizing both males and females found to have any sort of deficiency in their chromosomes. When dragged in for a checkup your dna is found to be coded grade A. No mutations, signs of cancer, heart disease, and other major illness do not appear in your family records. You have been chosen as breeding stock. If you agree you will never have to work again but your sexual reproductive parts no longer belong to you. You will have every luxury ever created, but you basically will live in a gilded cage. Do you become government breeding stock or take sterilization and choose who your partners will be? Prompt 197 – Creative Tag – Photographic Proof You have a bet with your best friend where the winner gets what they have wanted for a long time from the other. The bet hinges on getting photographic proof though. What was the bet and what did you have to take a photo of? From last week's prompts, we have a great response from Asmita, a relatively new community member. To the prompt #194 of "You were found unconscious on board a boat that can carry about sixty people. The boat is empty but there are clothing and things belonging to many different people. The police question you to find out what happened. Why were you on the boat and where are the rest of the passengers?" she came up with the following: With this great start, I'd love to see where her story goes. And that's the wonderful thing about these prompts, so many people can start with the same initial concept and go in so many different and fascinating directions.

For those that celebrated it, I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday. And for those that don't celebrate it, I hope you still got a good haul. Now on to Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Post-Festivus winter sales, and the ever important Pre-New Year's Eve creative writing exercises ("This year, I *WILL* stop gagging everytime I see the neighbor's newborn", "This year, I promise to exercise... starting next week - or, by the end of the month... well, maybe..."). And to help you with your writing, here is another lovely tip from our own Libby Drew. Enjoy! ‘Write What You Know’ Doesn’t Mean Show Off We’ve all heard the saying “write what you know.” It’s made the rounds because it’s valuable advice. Not that a writer can’t earn a living making up stuff like evil unicorns and sparkly vampires, because some people obviously can, but you can also use what you know. You’re smart. Capitalize on it. Your special area of expertise, whatever it may be—doctor, computer programmer, horse groomer—is useful. It’s previous research. It’s gold at the end of the rainbow. Readers enjoy learning new things, and they’ll appreciate that your details are authentic. What else might you bring to the table? Maybe your vocabulary is better than the average bear’s. Perhaps you’re well-traveled. These are all things that will help you write fiction. But beware! Just as too little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, too much erudition can doom your story. Don’t show off. Good writers never show off. They don’t load their prose with facts that won’t advance narrative. Nor will they purposely use big words when simpler ones will do. Talented writers introduce their expertise unobtrusively. They sprinkle it over their dialog. They mix it with senses and impressions. They also remember that people don’t like books filled with fancy words they don’t understand. Because, here’s the bottom line: Readers don’t care how smart we are, or that we’re walking thesauruses. They just want a good story. If we show off in our copy, they’ll abandon our fiction faster than you can say ‘zombie attack.’ Perhaps you’re writing a scene in which your character is baking a cake. If you find yourself waxing poetic about confectionary sugar and egg whites, stop. Take a deep breath and examine whether you’re letting your career as a pastry chef get in the way of your career as a writer. (If you’re not a pastry chef, seek professional help.) It’s a fine line, but the more we practice, the easier it gets. Very complex ideas can be explained in simple language. And we can give readers lots of fascinating facts and details without coming across like blowhards. Practice moderation. Work your knowledge into the narrative slowly and subtly. And if something isn’t relevant to the scene, scrap it. ~Libby

Riding Lessons by Andrew Todd Review by Wildone Status: Complete Length: 132,747 Relatively new member and Author here at GA (Beginning of this November), Andrew Todd, joined GA and began to share a story that he was posting over at another site . After reading the first chapter of Riding Lessons I was instantly hooked. Zac, the 15 year old loner, had big plans for the summer working at the library helping kids out with reading and other tasks to be looked after. This was right up his alley as he tended to shy away from kids his own age, adults, and I would even say himself. Like all great plans by a teenager, they are quickly ruined when his mother announces that he will be working at a local ranch helping out with the care of horses and doing trail rides for customers. Being that Zak had never even owned a dog or any other pet in his life had him doubting that he would last the first day. Not having the least interest in learning anything about horses found him promising his mother that he would give it a try at least, but in his own mind he knew it wouldn’t last. The first day arrived and he found himself getting up early, his mom giving him a ride to the Triple J Ranch. Needless to say, the idea of shoveling horse manure doesn’t have him too ecstatic of the looming summer job. Mom dropped him off, then after getting knocked on his ass by a greeting from the ranch dog-a golden retriever named Ember-he meets Mr. Jones to find out his fate. Mr. Jones is a nice enough man Zak confesses to that he has never been around animals in his life. Mr. Jones questioned this immediately with the way that Ember took to Zak. After looking back at the story, I don’t think either could predict what was in store. After an explanation of what he would be doing that left Zak wondering about a horse with 17 hands , Mr. Jones has to leave Zak to go tend some chores in another barn. He was to wait for another ranch hand by the name of Dusty to show up for work and get acquainted. When Dusty appeared and introduced himself to Zak, sparks began to fly. The 16 year old half Native American Kiowa and half Anglo-Saxon with the long black hair tied back in a ponytail made Zak swoon. After Dusty got his hand back from the slack jawed Zak, Dusty went to check on Mr. Jones who was tending to a mare who was about to foal. Zak, curious, walked around the main barn and slowly becomes acquainted with some of the horses living there. Finally walking down one wing, he found a lone stallion being kept by himself. Zak, not knowing any different, approached the horse and noticed the water bucket turned over. Slowly Zak entered, grabbed the bucket and went to fill it up for the horse. Coming back to the stall, Dusty returns and was shocked to see Zak about to re-enter the stall. Yelling for Zak to stop, Dusty was extremely concerned, as the last person to enter the stall of Onyz, the stallion, spent the night in the hospital. Without giving away the whole story, which I could easily do, I will let you find out how the summer turns out . Several things appealed to me throughout this story. First off the rural setting and the involvement of horses made me yearn for a childhood that I never had myself. I’ve always been drawn to horses as I know nothing about them myself. The depth of knowledge the author has of horses is amazing. Second, the easy going ‘simple’ nature of the story drew me in. I don’t mean simple as a put down. More so the flow of the story with the characters being easily developed and the conclusion of each chapter making you feel like you are on the ranch with the boys. Lastly, there is enough romance in the story to keep you interested in a way to not be overdone and does not take away from the plot and characters. Riding Lessons is now complete and is a very enjoyable read. I would highly recommend it to any reader who wants to be captivated by the story and the characters, even if you don’t think of yourself as a horse person. Richard Todd’s descriptive nature of writing can make even the most dedicated urbanite escape to the reality of the Triple J Ranch. I sincerely hope that he has more ideas for stories that he will share with us. If Riding Lessons is any indication of the quality of work we will see in the future, then my click on Follow This Author was definitely worth the effort

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Be sure to check out the 2012 Mayan Tribute Anthology - now LIVE! We started off the week looking at a returned story - The Beard by dkstories which is now back and complete on GayAuthors.org. For our midweek Wacky Wednesday, we are grateful once again to Libby Drew for her writing tips, this time on No Warm-Ups Required. And since it looks like we survived the end of the 13th baktum, we were all able to see the new weekly prompts from Comicfan in this Friday's Prompt Me. Now the bigger question - did you celebrate the 14th baktum by trying one of them? So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Empty Corners by Comicality By our Hosted Authors this week: A World Changing Gun by Cia Rich Boy: Awakening by dkstories Jessie-101: Online Celebrity by Comicality The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) By our Promising Authors this week: School Time Tripper by comicfan The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Protector of Children by David McLeod Someone called Soul Mate by SidLove All Flowers Grow by Dolores Esteban Loving Sam Lynch by Skylights End of the Beginning by comicfan Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Well - since the world ended, no one is reading this, right? Heh - just in case, I guess I should let you know what this week's writing prompts are. I mean - maybe our Prompt-guru Comicfan knew something the Mayans didn't, because we have two new prompts from him. So - if we're all here tomorrow, check out these prompts and give one (or both) a try. But when you do, please share with the rest of the community in our Writing Prompts forum - cause you wouldn't want bad karma because you decided not to share, eh? Prompt 194 – Creative Tag – The Boat You were found unconscious on board a boat that can carry about sixty people. The boat is empty but there are clothing and things belonging to many different people. The police question you to find out what happened. Why were you on the boat and where are the rest of the passengers? Prompt 195 – Creative Tag – The Fey Things have gone wrong and you are left with no choice. The only way to possibly make this right is to cut a deal with a member of the Fey. Everyone warns you that any deal you cut will only favor them. When the time comes you meet a totally captivating Fey who agrees to broker a deal with you. What is the deal and why did you have to make one with a Fey? So as usual, in addition to giving you new prompts, we look back at past prompt responses. And as I guessed, last week's prompt 192 gave us quite a few ... interesting responses, notably by our Infamous Trio though layla's entry was great as well. Rather than just highlight one response, I urge you to check out the full thread here. I mean, with a prompt of "Use the following words in a story – baseball, handcuffs, torn pants, dollar bill, and a nun." - well, it is no wonder that we got such humorous prompt responses.

The Beard by dkstories Reviewed by: Trebs Word Count: 77, 013 Status: Complete So many gay stories are based on tired storylines - the best friends agonizing over the other knowing their attraction while all around them can see they're in love, or the gay boy kicked out of home only to find the perfect family and boyfriend, or that most classic cliché of the hunky rich jock falling in love with the poor geek/nerd. Once in a while - rarely though it happens - an author will break from the pack and turn a cliché on its head. And so it goes that dkstories (a.k.a. Dan) has given us such an occurrence with The Beard. And for those that have had the pleasure to read other stories by Dan - you know that you can never exactly expect what may comes next. Do Over, Waiting for the Sign, Dreams of Humanity - all involve elegant plot twists that leave you wondering why you didn't see them coming, while at the same time just wanting to see what's next. Now to be fair, I should disclose that in addition to being one of Dan' biggest fans, I also happen to be his husband. Also I want to note, though Dan has been absent from this site, he has returned and is starting to repost his various stories. One of those that he has finished reposting is The Beard. I'm thrilled because of the stories he has written, it is one of my favorite. The story starts off with Dale at work - a greasy fast food restaurant named Darlow's, when Cole stops in to order a chocolate milkshake. They know each other from high school, share a few classes and even worked on a project together in the year prior. But Dale know's Cole is out of place here - he doubts Cole has ever been to Darlow's before. Plus, Cole was Mr. Perfect: So why was Cole here? After a round-about conversation over lemonade and berry pie, with topics such as the school slut to what activities Dale used to do with his dad, and how's Dale's mother's health was, Cole finally gets to why he showed up and wanted to talk to Dale. To say that Dale didn't see it coming would be an understatement, but he soon figures out what is going on and why Cole needs him. At 77K words, The Beard is a wonderful novella that will leave you smiling and wanting more even though the story is complete onto itself. While Dan has not committed to writing more of Dale's story, I am one of many who have been asking for a sequel. Plus, there are certain characters that come into the final chapters of the story, that provide a tie-in with some of Dan's other creations. So - while admittedly biased, I highly recommend The Beard and hope you may have time to read and enjoy the story as I did!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Winter Anthology Desperate Ends is LIVE - check it out through this link! And how was our week? Well, we started the week with a great review by Dark of Promising Author Jian_Sierra's poem "Come With Me." Andy021278 then gave us a great Wacky Wednesday with his piece on The Infinitive: To Split or Not to Split. And finally, Prompt-Guru Comicfan gave us two new prompts in Prompt Me - including one that challenges writers to come up with a response that includes "handcuffs", "dollar pants" and "a nun", along with two other phrases - or as one posters noted "Me is having bad thoughts"!!! So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens By our Hosted Authors this week: Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Rich Boy: Awakening by dkstories Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales The Beard by dkstories Orphic Revelations by Cia Circumnavigation by C James By our Promising Authors this week: The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Protector of Children by David McLeod Tower of High Sun by JMH, Book 1 of Of Sun, Moon, and Stars Confounded: Part II by Andr0gene, Book 2 of Confounded The Escape of John Doe by comicfan The Prompt You Say! by comicfan Someone called Soul Mate by SidLove Refuge by David McLeod Fair Enough by Dolores Esteban Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

REMINDER - Today is the deadline for the Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World." If you have any issues posting/etc with the anthology, you can contact Cia, who is the temporary anthology coordinator. So, after you finish posting your anthology story, come on back here to try out one of our new writing prompts, courtesy of Prompt-Guru Comicfan. Please share what you come up with in our Writing Prompts forum! Prompt 192 –Creative Tag – List of Words Use the following words in a story – baseball, handcuffs, torn pants, dollar bill, and a nun. Prompt 193 – Creative Tag – The Rain Storm A huge storm has brought down buckets of rain flooding the area. However, as the storm leaves the rainwater has uncovered something completely unexpected. What was found? One of last week's prompts, #190, gave the following scenario: "You came home to find a note that listed everything about you, including your last lover, and where you hide your toys. There isn’t a thing listed in that note that is wrong. The bottom line tells you to meet the sender tonight at a very private and expensive club. You are even told what clothing of yours to wear. Do you go?" So - how did jamessavik play it out? He's got more here - but trust me, the last three words of his response are gonna have you glaring at your computer screen... Enjoy!

To give credit where credit is due - I just posted the blog, Andy021278 actually wrote it :-)

Happy 12/12/12 to everyone - and to celebrate, here is a writing tip piece by Andy021278 that we hope you find useful. Enjoy! The Infinitive: To Split or Not to Split by Andy021278 We’ve all seen it. We’ve probably all hurled expletives over it. And more than one of us has probably fretted over it at some time or another. It’s that annoying grammar check in MS Word, and other similar word processing programs, which tells you that you’ve split an infinitive. Well, just what is an infinitive, what have I done to split it, and why am I in trouble for doing it? First off, let’s deal with describing what an infinitive is. Infinitives 101: At its most basic, an infinitive is a form of a verb. Verbs are those “doing” words we all know, and love, and use so often: going, drinking, writing, running, jumping, eating, etc. Now it’s important to understand that there are two types of infinitive: one is the bare infinitive, and the other is the full infinitive. The bare infinitive is the uninflected (or basic) form of the verb that we find in the dictionary: go, drink, write, run, jump, eat, etc. The full infinitive places the marker “to” in front of the bare infinitive, giving us the verb form that we are more familiar with seeing in stories: to go, to drink, to write, to run, to jump, to eat, etc. It is the full infinitive that gets split, as it is impossible to split the bare infinitive. How have you managed to split an infinitive? Well, let’s look at what is arguably the most famous split infinitive known to exist. It has been around since September 8th 1966, and it is found in the opening credits to Star Trek: The Original Series. The split infinitive here is “to boldly go”. As you will (hopefully) remember from earlier, the infinitive is “to go”, and it has been split by inserting the adverb “boldly” in between “to” and “go”. So, a split infinitive is simply where one word (usually an adverb) has been placed in the middle of an infinitive. It is also possible to have compound split infinitives (this is a very modern term, and until the late 20th or early 21st century were simply called split infinitives), which have more than one word (usually an adverbial phrase) in the middle of an infinitive (e.g. to more than double, to completely and totally eradicate) Why am I in trouble for splitting an infinitive? The whole thing about split infinitives being regarded as heresy and anathema stems from the 1800s. Several cases were stated against splitting infinitives by various educated and learned people throughout the 19th century. One argument against splitting infinitives has been that in learned languages in use at the time, such as Latin and Old English, it is impossible to split an infinitive; however, this is because in those languages the full infinitive is a single word. So it was felt that the rule about not being able to split infinitives should be applied to English with the same veracity. The earliest record of regarding split infinitives as a solecism comes from an anonymous American writer in 1834: Then in 1840, Richard Taylor condemned split infinitives as a “disagreeable affectation”, and in 1859, Solomon Barrett, Jr., called them “a common fault”. However, the whole split infinitive heresy didn’t really take off until Henry Alford addressed it in his Plea for the Queen’s English in 1864: The truth of the matter: Actually, you’re not in any trouble for splitting an infinitive. There is not now, and nor has there ever been, a strict grammatical rule against splitting infinitives. There are pedantic linguists out there who will still chastise you for splitting an infinitive, and they will not rest until you have corrected your butchery of the language of Shakespeare. However, keep in mind that even the Bard himself split an infinitive in Sonnet 142, and the Oath of Office of the President of The United States contains the split infinitive “to faithfully execute”. In fact, in many situations the split infinitive allows for clarity and unambiguity in a sentence. Consider the following (the split infinitive is underlined): She decided to gradually get rid of the teddy bears she had collected The following are ways of unsplitting the split infinitive, but as you will see, it leads to confusion as to what the sentence actually means (these are all revisions of the above sentence, but which one means the same as the original? Obviously, none of them do): She decided gradually to get rid of the teddy bears she had collected She decided to get rid of the teddy bears she had collected gradually She decided to get gradually rid of the teddy bears she had collected She decided to get rid gradually of the teddy bears she had collected So, do you use one of the sentences without the split infinitive, or do you use the sentence with the split infinitive? Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting that you go out there with a meat cleaver, find every single infinitive, and split them in new and interesting ways. What I’m saying is, when you are writing your story (or anything else) and MS Word flags up a split infinitive, you need to go and make yourself a cup of coffee, have a biccie and say “To heck with it”. A notable exception: However, as one small contradiction to what I’ve just said, I would suggest that in any kind of formal writing (such as college/university assignments or academic papers being submitted to professional journals), or if you plan to submit your story for publication, it is recommended that split infinitives should be avoided like the proverbial plague. This is because there is still a pervading view in the academic world that the split infinitive is the sign of weak writing