Jump to content

Trebs

Archived Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,151

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Trebs

  1. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    What a way to end (well, almost end) the year. We had a great week here at the GayAuthors.org News Blog. The week started with a wonderful project that Renee initiated - a round of reviews of the stories that made up our past 2004 Winter Anthology: Christmas. These now classic stories - seeing these reviews make these stories shine with new life. Daithi, aditus, podiumdavis, crazyfish, Lisa, LJH and Ron were the reviewers and we thank them so much for their time and efforts in completing this great project!
     
    We had a great Christmas with a new Tech Blog 2 - What's Coming, where Myr gave us a new update on upcoming new features, notably "Reading Lists". Based on the comments, I am not the only one to be excited about this upcoming change.
     
    We ended the week on a great note with two new Prompts from comicfan. I can see a lot of great "New Years" stories being generated from either of these two prompts and look forward to seeing what comes from the community. Please be sure to share what you have written in the Writing Prompts forum so the rest of us can see!
     
    So - how was YOUR week?
     
    Anthology Announcements:
    2014 Spring Anthology: Nature's Wrath - Due Mar 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is March 5th* 2014 Summer Anthology: The Backup Plan - Due June 8th *Note: Deadline is for submission into GA Stories. Deadline for Submission to the Anthology Editing Team is June 5th*

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Do Over by dkstories, Book 1 of Do Over Series (reposting)
     
    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    GFD Bloodbank: Nightfall by Comicality Book 3 of Gone From Daylight Spin-offs
     
    Take Flight by Cia
     
    9.11 by Mark Arbour Book 13 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    The Portal by Dolores Esteban
     
    My Only Escape by Comicality
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Thwarted by Renee Stevens
     
    By our Sponsored Authors this week:
     
    Timber Pack Chronicles by Rob Colton, Book 1 of Timber Pack Chronicles
     
    Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    Direct Confusion by Sasha Distan
     
    Confounded: Part II by Andr0gene, Book 2 of Confounded
     
    Born Wolf by Sasha Distan
     
    So Little Magic Left by Mann Ramblings
     
    Holiday Story Event 2013 - No Place Like Home For The Holidays: Running Home by Sasha Distan
     
    And on a final note, yet ANOTHER reminder from Renee: I'm starting to run low on reviews. If you are interested in reviewing, please send me a PM! THIS MEANS YOU!!! Please think about helping :-)
     
    As always... Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  2. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    We had a pretty active week here at the GayAuthors.org News blog. The week started with a review by Lisa of JBlakeview1's story Boystown.
     
    Our Wacky Wednesday writing tip of "Flashbacks: Friend or Foe?" sparked quite a bit of great discussion.
     
    Finally, our great writing prompts were back (after a week absence due to the release of the fall anthology) - and once again, comicfan lives up to his reputation as the best prompt-guru around. Check out his two new creative prompts and have a go at one (or both)!
     
    So - how was your week?
     
    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology: Recipe for Disaster - Due Dec 8th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Do Over by dkstories, Book 1 of Do Over Series (reposting)
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Thwarted by Renee Stevens
     
    Arthur in Eblis by David McLeod
     
    9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Take Flight by Cia
     
    In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    GFD 12: Blood Ties by Comicality, Book 12 of Gone From Daylight
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Pour Me Another by K.C.
     
    Broken Prince and Mismatched Eyes by layla
     
    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  3. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    The week started off on a great note with a review by Wicked Witch of Promising Author JMH's The Centurion Cycle.
     
    Wednesday, we had a great (and timely) article by Andrew_Q_Gordon on So you wanna be an Author - hope you took marketing classes. Andy gave us some great tips based on his experience - and timely as he just released his book Purpose yesterday! But whether you are writing an eBook, a published book or story that you are posting in GA.Stories, his advice is really good for any author and I hope you check out his article.
     
    And we were back in the prompt game with two wonderful New Prompts by comicfan - and Kitt has already taken up the gauntlet and written a response to one of them. Take a look and see what you can come up with - be sure to share it with the community in the Writing Prompts Forum.
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Fall Anthology: Pandora's Box - Due Sept 8th Announcing our Winter Anthology: Recipe for Disaster - Due Dec 8th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Picked at the Peak by Cia
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Belovéd by Don H
     
    9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    One Night by Cia
     
    Recovery by Nephylim
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings
     
    Life Changes by comicfan
     
    The Prophecy by Dolores Esteban
     
    Andy's Shorties by andy021278, Book 2 of GA Prompt Stories
     
    Pour Me Another by K.C.
     
    A Cook's Tale by Mann Ramblings, Book 2 of Ship Logs of the Santa Claus
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  4. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Hope your week has been going well. Here, we started with a review by Wildone of Hosted Author Krista's Something Unexpected!
     
    Wednesday, we were pleased to be able to announce GayAuthors.org's first Anthology eBook: Best of 2006.
     
    Speaking of anthologies, Friday we pre-empted out weekly prompts (don't worry - they'll be back next week) for the announcement of our 2013 Summer Anthology! This anthology who's theme is "Roll the Dice" is now live and has so many great stories to read. Enjoy!
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    "Paid Premium Anthology": 3 Summer Themes - Due June 15th (OMG - LIKE TODAY!!!) Announcing our Fall Anthology: Pandora's Box - Due Sept 8th

    Get writing and submitting :-) Some of us want to do some new reading
     

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Binding by Lugh, Book 3 of Vega-5
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     
    Coupled in Synchronicity by Cia
     
    Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon
     
    One Night by Cia
     
    9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Take a Ride by Renee Stevens, Book 3 of The Adventures of Jerry & Chris
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Thwarted by Renee Stevens
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Prophecy by Dolores Esteban
     
    Pour Me Another by K.C.
     
    A Cook's Tale by Mann Ramblings, Book 2 of Ship Logs of the Santa Claus
     
    Hard Choices by comicfan
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    October 14, 1993 by K.C.
     
    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  5. Trebs

    Wacky Wednesday: Ask An Author #5

    By Trebs,


    Author Interviews
    Ask an Author #5
     
    Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors!
     
    In AtA #4, we had questions for authors comicfan, Cia, C James, and Comicality.
     
    In AtA #5, we hear from authors wrathofmagneto, naptowngirl, and C James.
     
    For their protection, the members who asked these questions shall remain nameless (unless they choose to reveal themselves). Please note that all author replies are copied as is, spelling errors and grammar eccentricities original to the individual.
     
    Today’s first author is wrathofmagneto. Sworn enemy of OSU (Go Buckeyes! LOL), Michigan-dweller wrathofmagneto sports a sexy mustache goatee and loves comic books and video games. He’s also lately become something of a journalist, check out his stuff here: examiner.com. For fiction, try his latest, Footsteps of Giants, a sci-fi story about a doctor reminiscent of the classic Sector General stories by James White.
     
     
     

    To wrathofmagneto: Has writing journalistic articles affected your fiction writing ?  

    Writing journalistic articles has given me a whole new outlook on and appreciation for researching different subjects. When you're reporting on something, you have to make absolutely sure that your information is 100% correct. Journalistic writing is a completely different style of writing than fiction, in that with fiction, if one or two details aren't correct, it doesn't matter as much, but in journalism, one wrong fact and you could lose readers, or even your job/position.  

    I actually haven't noticed all that much of an impact yet, other than the fact that it's been making me want to write more. Like I said, it is a completely different style. But I've noticed that if I start to feel fatigued writing one style, switching to the other seems to help a lot.  

    My writing speed is something I've noticed too. With journalism, Google will only put a news article in their Google news section if the article contains information 48 hours old or less. So it forces you to find the most up to date information, and write it as fast and accurately as possible. I've already noticed that my writing has gotten much faster. (it might not seem like it on here, haha)  

    (I'm doing like fifteen different things, not least of which is trying to get Google Analytics to work correctly so I can track my pageviews on my articles, lol)  
    Today’s next author is Naptowngirl. This beauty is a kind and loyal friend. She loves the forums and can usually be found there replying to the latest random thoughts. Her writing is far from random, however. Naptowngirl’s stories make you re-think the world and the people here with us. Her series Shades of Gray is a true love story with a touch of drama, but it’s not what you might think, as lawyer and main character Chase Montgomery has a lot to learn about love.


    To Naptowngirl: Do you tell people in RL what you write about?  

    Hahahaha....really great question. We writers discuss this often and the answer for me is a simple Yes and No. I don't hide what I write, I do however fill people out first. My children know that I write M/M stories, LOL even my 10 year old son, believe it or not. It's not a big deal to them. A few friends and co-workers know, oh and the cable guy knows also. My mom knows I write, but she doesn't know what. LOL  
    Last time, Hosted Author and perpetual King of Cliffhangers C James had a brief reproof from the member question regarding his story “For your Love.” C James finished this story in Feb 2011, but still continues to torment us with the 150 chapters-long uber-novel Circumnavigation. Now let’s see what else our dear goat had to say.


    To C James: What types of things do you do, if any, to get into the mood to write?  

    Hrmm.. Basically, get all my work done, so I have free time. That;s about it. Writing is recreation for me, so it's a bit like getting into the mood to watch TV for most people. (and I almost never watch TV).  

    To C James: In all of your travels, where is the one place you never tire of returning to other than home?  

    That's a tough one!! I don't go anywhere frequently so burnout isn't an issue. Once I feel I've seen enough of a place, I don't go again; there are too many other places to go.  

    I'm going to have to list several. The Falkland Islands, Italy, and the Austrian Alps. I love them all, for very different reasons. (I've only been to the Falklands twice, but I'm itching to go back. I've been to Italy and Austria quite a lot, but love going back.)  

    There are places I went once and didn't want to go back. The time I took a vacation in a war zone comes to mind (if at this point you're wondering if I'm insane, well yes, of course I am...) It was during the fighting in Croatia and Bosnia, and at the time you could still get vacation packages out of the UK to resorts in the region, and due to the fighting, they were cheap. So, I went, but it was not a relaxing trip, and the shelling kept me awake sometimes. (it was distant, but the small arms fire often was closer). I went back ten years later and had a much better time.  

    That’s it for now! For more info on these authors, go check out their stories, post in their forums, and/or catch them in chat!
     
    Coming next time: FishWings, Libby Drew, and Mark Arbour.
     
    Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark).
     
    Until next time!
     
    Dark
  6. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    REMINDER: our Spring Anthology submission deadline is right around the corner - March 8th for "A Night to Remember".
     
    ALSO - Earlier this week, we announced our newest Promising Author - CONGRATS again to Mann Ramblings!
     

    We started the week by having a great discussion on the CSR Book Club's February book - Nowhere Man by Jwolf. It was a great discussion and I can't wait to see what book will be announced Monday as our March book.
     
    Wednesday we had our latest look at the Pulse Behind the GA Crowd, with another Yettie One interview, this time with Nephylim.
     
    Finally we ended the week with two more fantastic Writing Prompts, and a look at Joann414's response to last week's prompt 213 - check it out to see what famous GA personality favors metallic heels!
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th Poetry Anthology "Whispers in the Dark" - Due April 15th Summer Anthology "Roll the Dice" - Due June 8th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Empty Corners by Comicality
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Dreams of Humanity by dkstories, Book 1 of Dreams of Humanity
     
    Belovéd by Don H
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    In The Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
    Tentacles by Nephylim
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The English Year by Jwolf
     
    Blind Dates by FrenchCanadian
     
    Cold Case by Dolores Esteban
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    The Luxorian Fugitive by Mann Ramblings
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  7. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    REMINDER: February's CSR Book Club feature is Nowhere Man by Promising Author Jwolf. Feb 25 - a week from Monday, we'll have our Discussion day so you have plenty of time to read this great story and join us in the discussion.
     
    Also, with our Spring Anthology right around the corner (March 8th for "A Night to Remember") - we're happy to announce our Poetry Anthology: Whispers in the Dark with submissions due on April 15th. Also, it's almost time for everyone to start thinking of their Summer Anthology: Roll the Dice which is due on June 8th. Look for more information coming soon!
     
    So, for this week, we started with a look at Author eliotmoore's Turbulence. Andy021278 gave us a great of review of this dark but interesting tale of life for a freshman at Riverview High School.
     
    Wednesday, we had the start of a brand new feature from Dark called Ask An Author. This week, we got great insights on authors furnishedsoul, podiumdavis and CassieQ.
     
    Finally to celebrate Friday, we had our weekly Writing Prompts, again from the mind of PromptGuru Comicfan.
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Spring Anthology "A Night to Remember"- Due March 8th Poetry Anthology "Whispers in the Dark" - Due April 15th Summer Anthology "Roll the Dice" - Due June 8th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    There And Back Again by Michael9344
     
    Empty Corners by Comicality
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Dreams of Humanity by dkstories, Book 1 of Dreams of Humanity
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    Blind Dates by FrenchCanadian
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    Protector of Children by David McLeod
     
    Secrets and Lies by Dolores Esteban
     
    Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  8. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    So as we end January and enter February, we started the week with our first wrap up for our Can't Stop Reading Book Club with Discussion Day. If you've read January's CSR book, Memories of Forgotten Love, by Nephylim, you can still head to the discussion in the link above to give your thoughts on this great work.
     
    For Wacky Wednesday, Yettie One continued his monthly Pulse Behind the GA Crowd, with an interview of KingdombytheSea. It is fantastic to get to know a little bit more about one of my favorite authors.
     
    Finally, we were treated to two more writing prompts from Comicfan in our Prompt Me feature. It was also very nice to see a new writing prompt contributor be featured as we showed Wicked Witch's response to prompt 201.
     
    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:
     
    Tests of Blood by dkstories
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Standing in Shadows by Krista
     
    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)
     
    Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The English Year by Jwolf
     
    The Nano Wars: Rebirth by JMH, Book 1 of The Nano Wars
     
    Juvenile Feelings by SidLove
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    Blind Dates by FrenchCanadian
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  9. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    REMINDER: The first discussion day for our brand new GA book club, called the "Can't Stop Reading" (or CSR) Book Club, is this Monday, January 28th. Nephylim's Memories of Forgotten Love is a fantastic read that even if you haven't started yet, once you start, you'll not be able to put it down until you're done and so you'll easily be ready for Monday's discussion. Give it a try so you can join us on Monday!
     
    For this past week, we started with a great review by Radiant Renee Stevens of No Strings, by Promising Author KingdombytheSea. This was a story that she wrote for the 2012 Summer anthology and is a wonderful read.
     
    Wednesday, we were again treated with a writing tip from Cia, this time on Character Interviews - a worthwhile way to create and explore the backstory of your characters.
     
    As always, we ended the week with thought provoking writing prompts from our Prompt Guru Comicfan. The one correction I have to give is while very cold, I still managed to keep all of my bits, thank you very much!
     
    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:
     
    Tests of Blood by dkstories
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     
    One Night by Cia
     
    Tentacles by Nephylim
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Kiss of An Angel by Comicality
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle
     
    The English Year by Jwolf
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    The Nano Wars: Rebirth by JMH, Book 1 of The Nano Wars
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!! (ps - stay warm.... Trebs go "brrrrr")
  10. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    REMINDER - our new book club, the CSR Club is reading Memories of Forgotten Love by Nephylim. Read it by January 28th, then come back here and join in the discussion!
     
    Also as a personal plug, if you'd like to meet me (or DKStories, or Quonus or a few other of our great members) - we're having a GA GetTogether NEXT Saturday, January 26 at Noon in Washington DC. Would love for more to join us - just send me a PM if you can make it.
     
    We had a great mid-January week here at the news blog. We started by looking at Darks' review of Author Jason Rimbaud's A Moment of Clarity.
     
    For Wacky Wednesday, we were treated to Libby Drew's article on Don't Leave Your Reads Deaf and Blind - valuable writing advice.
     
    Rounding out the week, our wonderful weekly writings prompts in Prompt Me came out, and we looked a Joann414 tackled both prompts from a couple of weeks back, with on writing response. Joann414 has been great at these responses and, as comicfan put it, "turning into a nice writer with some interesting twists to any given topic". Couldn't agree more!
     
    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:
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
    A Class by Himself by Comicality
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    Protector of Children by David McLeod
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  11. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    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!!!
  12. Trebs

    Writing Prompts #198 & #199

    By Trebs,


    Prompts
    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!
  13. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    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!!!
  14. Trebs

    Writing Prompts #196 & #197

    By Trebs,


    Prompts
    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.
  15. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    ANNOUNCEMENTS: Edit to Add: The Winter Anthology Desperate Ends is NOW LIVE! Check it out through this link! The Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World" deadline is one week from now, on Friday, Dec 14th. Also, Cia will be taking over these Anthologies for now, so please contact her if you have any issues - thanks!
     

    We have launched our second new Premium Story this week with Empty Corners by Comicality. This story will alternate weekly with Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens, which launched two weeks ago.
     
     
     
    Our feature story this week was Author Mark92's Let's Make Love and was reviewed by joann414. Mark is really becoming one of our sites more interesting writers and I encourage you to check out this piece.
     
    On Wacky Wednesday, Libby Drew gave us a very well received piece on getting from a first to second draft, or as she called it, The Writer's Yellow Brick Road.
     
    We ended our week with two new Prompts from Comicfan - "The Note" and "The Holiday". I encourage you to check them out and maybe try your hand at them.
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th - DUE TODAY (SATURDAY) Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    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)
     
    Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     
    City Under the Waves by Nephylim
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Orphic Revelations by Cia
     
    Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia
     
    Hercules III by CarlHoliday
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  16. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    ANNOUNCEMENT: The deadline for the Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends" is only ONE week away - Due Saturday, Dec 8th. The Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World" deadline is not long after that on Friday, Dec 14th. Also, Cia will be taking over these Anthologies for now, so please send your completed entries to her - thanks!
     
    ALSO - Now that Chosen of Honorus, Chapter 1 of Andrew_Q_Gordon's Champions of the Gods has concluded with the completed last chapter being posted last week, we have a new Premium Story that has premiered this week - Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens. This story will alternate with another new Premium story, with each being posted every two weeks.
     

    Our feature story this week was Comfort of a Blanket by Jack Frost - Comicfan reviewed this short story and found it "an interesting take on a young man just figuring out who he is."
     
    Our Wacky Wednesday feature was a continuation of the monthly interviews by Yettie One - this time, he turned the attention on Colinian and it is a great read of Colinian's thoughts.
     
    Finally, we closed out the week with Prompt Me - giving us two new prompts on "The Job From Hell" and "Ghost". We also looked at K.C.'s take on what happens when you send the wrong file to a publisher.
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th - ONE WEEK FROM NOW Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Challenging Fate by Renee Stevens
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     
    Empty Corners by Comicality
     
    Hercules III by CarlHoliday
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Orphic Revelations by Cia
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Shorties by Renee Stevens
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    Refuge by David McLeod
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    Someone called Soul Mate by SidLove
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  17. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    ANNOUNCEMENT: It may seem like a long time away, but the deadline for the Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends" is only two weeks away - Due Saturday, Dec 8th. The Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World" deadline is not long after that on Friday, Dec 14th.
     

    We started this week with a great review from Johnathan Colourfield of Wintery Wanderland by Promising Author Formosa. How did Johnathan feel about the story? One hint from his review: "This story was a masterpiece in terms of its suspense.
     
    Our Wacky Wednesday featured an article from Libby Drew on Participial Phrases and based on the comments, was well received and a great article.
     
    Prompt Me this week was fantastic with two new prompts from Comicfan, as well as a look back at a response that Cia wrote about a year ago. The real treat though is in the comments as we already have three... um, flash "fiction" responses. I least, I think they're fiction ;-)
     
     
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Chosen of Honorus by Quonus10, Book 1 of Champions of The Gods <- Chapter 1 is now complete
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia
     
    City Under the Waves by Nephylim
     
    Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    Orphic Revelations by Cia
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    GA Writing Prompts by Dolores Esteban
     
    Circle the Noun by JMH, Book 2 of The Watch
     
    Someone called Soul Mate by SidLove
     
    Spirit of Vengeance by Hamen Cheese, Book 2 of Adamagika Series
     
    The English Year by Jwolf
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  18. Trebs

    Writing Prompts #184 & #185

    By Trebs,


    Prompts
    Welcome to the end of the week and a chance to unwind and relax. Or - wait, before you do - maybe try your hand at a writing prompt? Thanks to the genius of our Prompt-guru Comicfan, we bring you two great new prompts. And one of them is a poetry writing prompt - and come on, you know that sometimes the best things happen when you get pushed outside your comfort zone, Whether it is the poetry prompt or the "Tag" prompt - please share what you come up with in our Writing Prompt forum!
     
    Prompt 184 – Creative
    Tag – Poetry
    Describe an event in your life in poetry. You may use any form you want but the poem should not be less than twenty lines.
     
    Prompt 185 – Creative
    Tag – The Meal or the Mate
    You entered yourself into a contest. The end result being you could win a million dollars, a mate, or both. Tonight the entire thing boils down to the food you cook for the last two possible mates. They will be blind judging the food you and your competitor make. After they have scored the food, you will have an hour to spend with both of the remaining contestants. They will be judging your conversation skills and what you discuss is up to you. The only subject you can’t discuss is what food you cooked for them. What food do you make and do you end up winning the money, one of the mates, both or nothing at all?
     
    A prompt doesn't have to be a poetry prompt to produce a good poem, as Mark92 shows us in his response to last week's Prompt 183 - The Mentor. Here is his response:
     
  19. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    So, I started a bit of a firestorm in yesterday's blog. Short story - we're looking to change the format of this GayAuthors.org News Blog from daily to four times a week. As I said yesterday, nothing is set in stone so if you haven't yet, let us know your thoughts.
     

    Otherwise for this week, we started the week by looking at the GA story with the most number of reviews - Paternity by Hosted Author Mark Arbour. In reading the reviews for this story, it is obvious why Mark is such a popular author.
     
    Toss-Up Tuesday brought us a feature on Feedback - and we thank C James for his contribution to the blog. Very interesting reading and as usual when a topic such as this comes up, great comments from the community.
     
    We missed getting out to you an Author Showcase this Wednesday, but Cia was gracious enough to post and let everyone know what happened.
     
    We got back on track with a Tip Thursday on PM Attachments - and how to clean up your GA private messenger.
     
    Friday's Prompt Me delivered two great new prompts from our Prompt-guru Comicfan. We also looked at a prompt response from joann414.
     
    Then yesterday... umm... what was yesterday again.... Oh ya - firestorm. See above ;-)
     

    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Chosen of Honorus by Quonus10, Book 1 of Champions of The Gods
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     

    Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia
     
    Orphic Revelations by Cia
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont
     
    The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     

    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    Refuge by David McLeod
     
    The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen
     
    Protector of Children by David McLeod
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  20. Trebs

    Featured Story: Unconditional

    By Trebs,


    Featured Stories
    It's always fun looking back in time - this time, to our October 2006 issue of "The GAzette", GayAuthors.org's previous newsletter. In this second issue, was a Poet's Corner, that I'd like to share with everyone today. Disclaimer - normally I post these past newsletter items as they originally appeared, but for this one, I did edit it to update the links to Luc's forum and to the Poetry Discussion forum. Enjoy!
     
     
     


    Poets' Corner


     

    Poetry is a growing area at Gay Authors. In recent months we have seen an influx of highly talented poets, so it's only fair that they get the recognition they deserve, both on the site and in the newsletter. For that reason we have decided to include a "Poets' Corner" in the newsletter to discuss some of the poetry you can find on the site.
     
    For the first edition we decided to look at the works of a gifted poet and GA Hosted Author, Luc. Since joining the site in March of this year, Luc has shared more than a dozen of his own original compositions in addition to his stories. Below are reviews of two of his poems, "I Don't Know Who I Am" and "Unconditional". If you want to discuss his poems or these reviews then please visit his forum. To discuss the works of other poets at GA you can also visit our new Poetry Discussion Forum.
     
     
     


    Poetry Review


     
     
     

    In Luc's poem Unconditional (right), he explains how the narrator rejects attention and love from another person. In each of the first four of the five stanzas, the narrator talks about a different way someone cared for him but how he retaliated and only ended up hurting the person.  
     
     

    What I like best about each of the first four stanzas is the smooth, flowing rhythm of the first two lines and the disjointed, emphasizing rhythm of the last two lines. The smooth rhythm of the first two lines of each stanza makes me think that maybe the narrator quickly, as if it were an automatic reaction, blocked the love he was receiving from the other person. Since the last two lines of each of the stanzas are more disjointed, it makes me think that the narrator may have had some qualms about what he just did, and maybe is realizing what he is doing.  
     
     

    The last stanza shows how the character still loves the narrator unconditionally, even though he may have hurt him in the past. My favorite image from Luc's poem is the line “he offered me his heart; and I ripped it from his chest; throwing it to the floor; to lie among the toys.” I love the image of an injured heart laying on a floor cluttered with toys. It makes me see the heart as something that would get tripped on, or something that just clutters things.  
     
     

    It also may show the childishness of his heart and maybe the worthlessness of it depending on your interpretation of why the narrator sees the other person as he does. “Unconditional” shows the actions and feelings that go along with being hurt emotionally and it shows the wall that is put up to avoid being hurt again.
    In another of Luc's poems, I Don't Know Who I Am , he masterfully provides a glimpse into the mind of someone who has lost all sense of who they are, someone who feels disconnected from the world, from reality, from everything that makes us what we are.  
     
     

    The poem really describes how everybody feels at times - disjointed, uncertain, afraid and confused. The poem begins by talking about friendship and love, but how even with the love and tenderness of friends it's still possible to feel alone. When he says "I look in the mirror and don't see anyone there" you get a real sense of the emptiness the narrator is feeling. By the end of the poem, you're almost left with a sense of hopelessness, as though nothing and no one can fill that hole inside.  
     
     

    Regarding his work, Luc said, “ Poetry is a picture of the inside of my soul, painted with words, which sounds so stupid, but that is what MY poetry is to me. I don't follow any specific style. I pretty much go with what fits the words and the feeling behind them. ”  

    Silven & Redlightfeeling
     
     
     


    Unconditional


     
     
     

    by Luc


     
     
     

    he offered me his smile


     
     
     

    and I wiped it from his face


     
     
     

    my words so sharp


     
     
     

    they cut deep into his skin


     
     
     

    he offered me his hand


     
     
     

    and I pushed it away


     
     
     

    refusing even to touch


     
     
     

    that small thing that holds my heart


     
     
     

    he offered me his words


     
     
     

    and I turned a deafened ear


     
     
     

    not wanting to listen


     
     
     

    to that voice that sings my soul


     
     
     

    he offered me his heart


     
     
     

    and I ripped it from his chest


     
     
     

    throwing it to the floor


     
     
     

    to lie among the toys


     
     
     

    and still he offered me his love


     
     
     

    with arms so tight around my neck


     
     
     

    and tears that shed forgiveness


     
     
     

    reminding me it was unconditional


     

    © 2006 Luc
  21. Trebs

    Writing Prompts #176 & #177

    By Trebs,


    Prompts
    I recently read a great short story that originally started as a Prompt response. These prompts have helped generate some fantastic reads - and with this week's prompts, I'm looking forward to some more great responses. Try one (or both) of these prompts and please share them with the community in the Writing Prompts forum.
     
    Prompt 176 – Creative
    Tag – The Mythical
    Your child has just told you they found something and want to keep it as a pet, but as they describe it to you, you smile thinking of all the stories you read as a child. Positive they are just imagining things you follow them out into the yard where you see it. What is it your child has found?
     
    Prompt 177 – Creative
    Tag – Thief
    You went to the grocery store to pick up the essentials. You walked into the middle of robbery. What happens now?
     
    As I mentioned up top, I read a great prompt response recently. The Prompt was one of our Special Anniversary prompts: "You knew you had been asked to save that date for a special occasion, but so many things have come that you forgot why. What was the reason you were to save that date?"
     
    So, one fantastic writer took this and came up with a great short story called Time Out For a Life - here's the beginning of it...
     

    So - what do you think Raymond will do? Check out the whole story here!
  22. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Announcement: As we've recently noted, we're working with our Hosted Author's to promote their eBooks. A few weeks ago we were proud to announce Cia's eBook Pricolici, and in today's "New Reading", we have Lugh's eBook Catara - which has a surprising ending. This is just the start and we look forward to working with more of our author's in the future and, as always, are exploring other ways of supporting the authors of this site.
     

    October is almost half over - this year has been passing so fast. Though for those in the US, I'm guessing you'd wish it'd go faster so the constant barrage of election ads would be over. Oh well, this too shall pass.
     
    As for out GayAuthors.org News Blog, we started the week with a great review of Hosted Author Nephylim's Memories of Forgotten Love. I loved reading this story when it was an entry in our first Novella Contest.
     
    For out Tuesday Toss-Up, we had an Interactive Day - where we mainly looked for feedback from the community. Letting us know what you think ALWAYS helps us - so leave us comments or send us a PM anytime you have something you want us to know.
     
    Our Author Showcase at midweek looked at a review of Promising Author Dezlboi's Facing the Demons, as well as a great review by CassieQ of Author Stellar's Hidden Sunlight. I love seeing comments like the one Joann414 left "Cassie, I am not much into sci-fi either, but you make me want to read this by your review." Thanks for the comment Joann414, but even more - thanks for the review CassieQ!
     
    Oh - did you know YOU can write reviews too? If you're interested, just contact Andy021278, Renee Stevens or myself!
     
    CassieQ also helped us out on Thursday with a writing tip on Using Description. Again - shameless plug - we love articles like this.
     
    For our weekly Writing Prompts, we thank our Prompt-Guru Comicfan for two really interesting creative prompts. We also featured a past prompt response by a relatively new member who had a great beginning for a story come out of Prompt 156 from this past summer. I really hope he continues his story!
     
    The week closed with our Blast to the Past, looking at an article from our October 2006 newsletter - a transcript of an "Author Chat" that we had with Hosted Author Viv.
     

    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Chosen of Honorus by Quonus10, Book 1 of Champions of The Gods
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     
    Standing in Shadows by Krista
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     
    Catara - the ebook by Lugh - available for purchase at Smashwords
     
    Forging Trust by Renee Stevens
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Never More Lonely by Cia
     
    Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
     
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Nano Wars: Rebirth by JMH, Book 1 of The Nano Wars
     
    The Mark by JMH
     

    Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!
  23. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Sorry about the lateness of this Weekly Wrap-up - been one of those Sunday's already here.
     

    We started the week with a review by LouisHarris of Hosted Author Cia's Never More Lonely - a story that LouisHarris concludes by saying "A delightful, interesting read that I would certainly reread (and I have)."
     
    On Tuesday, we had a personal essay on Perspective, how viewpoint is important when confronted with unexpected health issues, and also important when considering literary criticism - a lot of the reaction is based on perspective...
     
    Wednesday for our Author Showcase, we were treated to two reviews by team member Andy021278, first of Promising Author Comicfan's Red, and also of Author Hayven's Dancing.
     
    On Thursday, Comicfan gave us a great tip on The Mystery Story - Crafting a Tale of Suspense.
     
    This was followed by our Friday Prompt Me with two great prompts by Comicfan. We also looked at a past prompt response - a beautiful poem by Mark92.
     
    We then ended our week with a Blast From the Past - a review of a story from our 2007 Anthology. The story was End of The World by Graeme and reviewed by Renee Stevens.
     
    So - how was your week?
     

    Anthology Announcements:
    Winter Anthology "Desperate Ends"- Due Dec 8th Special Mayan Tribute Anthology "End of the World"- Due Dec 14th

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    Chosen of Honorus by Quonus10, Book 1 of Champions of The Gods
     

    By our Hosted Authors this week:
     
    Standing in Shadows by Krista
     
    Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales
     
    The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase
     
    Never More Lonely by Cia
     
    In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs
     
    Circumnavigation by C James
     
     
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Shunning by JMH
     
    The Mark by JMH
     
    Protector of Children by David McLeod
     
    Tower of High Sun by JMH, Book 1 of Of Sun, Moon, and Stars
     
    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!!!
  24. Trebs

    Writing Prompts #172 & #173

    By Trebs,


    Prompts
    What better way to unwind after a long week, than to glance at a writing prompt and just let your mind and fingers go. Don't think - just type and see what you come up with.
     
    Sound like fun? Well, thanks to these two prompts from Comicfan, it should be. And please, once you've come up with something, share it with the rest of the community in our Writing Prompts forum!
     
    This week's prompts:
     
    Prompt 172 – Creative
    Tag – List of Words
    Use the following words in a story – pillow, evergreen tree, rabbit, storm cloud, and fishing rod.
     
    Prompt 173 – Creative
    Tag – Birthday
    The oldest person in the world is about to celebrate their birthday and you were sent to interview them. What lesson or story did they have to tell you?
     
    Prompt responses can come in many ways - and to prompt 170, we were honored to have a beautiful poem as a response. The prompt was:
     

    Mark92 took this and ran with it in a way - I hope you enjoy what he wrote as much as I did.
     
    Deep within the virgin soil
    I dug up a golden coil
    On is sat a jewel of old
    It is amber, I am told
    The warming colour held a spark
    A light that shines out from the dark
    Words are written inside this ring
    ‘Luck to you this ring will bring’
    I cleaned it off, and made it shine
    I wished for Stuby forever mine.
     
    Now - *that's* how it is done!
  25. Trebs

    Featured Story: Red / Dancing

    By Trebs,


    Featured Stories
    Thanks first to our new team member Andy021278 for writing these two great reviews - first of Promising Author Comicfan's Red, and then of Author Hayven's Dancing. And rather than blather, I'll get out of the way so you can enjoy his reviews, and then hopefully go check out these stories! Enjoy
     


    Red


    by



    Comicfan


     

    Review by: Andy021278
    Status: Complete
    Word Count: 10,773
     
    This is one of Wayne’s fairy tale remakes for which he is well known, and like many of his stories, is a brilliant read. There are elements that are instantly recognisable as being from the source book, “Little Red Riding Hood” (the woods, the path, a wolf, a red cape), and a few that may not be quite so obvious. Wayne’s skill with these remakes comes from his innate ability to turn things on their head, twist them inside out, and flip them back to front; so you’ll never know how this story is going to end, until it ends.
     
    Wayne’s world is set after both a disease and a meteor shower have ravaged the Earth, and nearly wiped out its population. Humanity has only avoided extinction with thanks to help from three ancient races that were previously thought to be nothing but myth (vampires, werewolves, and elves); however, their saving of humanity has come at a truly horrific price.
     
    Children, on their eighteenth birthday, are given a cape of a particular colour, and told to travel to a neighbouring village on some pretext; in fact, the children are being hunted by one of the three races for either food or a mate. Only the race to which the colour cloak belongs may hunt the child; and there are five colours of cloak.
     
    The blue cloak belongs to the vampires (who seek either food or a mate), the light brown cloak belongs to the werewolves, (who seek either food or a mate), and the green cloak belongs to the elves (who also seek either food or a mate; though they rarely choose a mate).
     
    The wearer of the white cloak is said to be a truly exceptional child; they are being hunted as a mate by all three races, but they may never be harmed for any reason.
     
    The red cloak is perhaps the darkest of all, and it is the red cloak that has been given to Nock on his eighteenth birthday. The red cloak indicates a free for all; hunted by all three races, and hunted for food or a mate.
     
    A child will only be safe by reaching their destination before nightfall and by obeying the rules; two simple rules that surely anybody could follow. Providing a child never talks to anyone, and they do not wander from the path, whilst on their journey, then they will be safe.
     
    Nock is about to find out the hard way what happens to those who do not obey the rules.
     


    Dancing


    by



    Hayven


     

    Review by: Andy021278
    Status: Complete
    Word Count: 1947
     
    Kameron Milac, who is planning to become an investment banker, for some reason, chooses to take contemporary dance as an elective. He was forced as a child to take ballet, and after being bullied over it, finally quit at the age of fifteen; but Kameron thinks the course will be easy credit.
     
    He is assigned his dance partner, Michael Bink, and after getting over his initial shock at being partnered with another man, Kameron comes to enjoy their rehearsals together over the semester. The scenes surrounding their dancing are particularly well written, the emotion flows off the page, and it is impossible not to get wrapped up in the scenes.
     
    For their last dance, they are given the theme of “bitter love” to interpret. As they rehearse more and more, Kameron comes to realise that this is going to be his last ever dance with Michael, before he moves on with his planned career.
     
    However, by this time, Kameron finds that he is enjoying the feel of Michael’s skin, and all he can think about is Michael’s smell. Oh yeah! Kameron has it real bad, but what will Michael’s reaction be when Kameron reveals his feelings on the big night?
     
    Since this story was inspired by the song “Dancing” by Elisa, and I had never heard of the song, nor did I have a clue who Elisa is, I figured I’d better YouTube the song and get a clue. If you are not familiar with the song, then I’d suggest listening to it before reading this story; as (in the author’s mind) the last dance is set to this song.
     
    Forgiving a few niggly grammar and punctuation issues, this is a lovely read for such a short story. If, or when, Hayven posts another story, I’ll definitely be reading.
×
×
  • Create New...