Trebs

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!!!

Yay - Saturday and a start to a great spring weekend.... Well - spring if you live upside down like Graeme, though fall for all of us normal people ;-) Speaking of our antipodean friend, Radiant Renee Stevens has done a great review of a 2007 Anthology story written by Graeme - his End of the World. And on the subject of reviews - once again, we need help. If you are interested in helping us by reviewing a story here on GayAuthors.org, please let me know. We can't do it without your help. And now, please enjoy this review! End of the World By Graeme Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Anthology: 2007 Endings & Beginnings I’ve enjoyed most of Graeme’s work, so when I went looking for an old Anthology entry to review for the blog, I saw this one by him and decided to take a look. I hadn’t read it before and especially with our special anthology coming up that’s titled “End of the World” I thought it was fitting for me to read this one. This is a very bittersweet story about several colonies that have been built on the moon. Different nations have different colonies and the reason they are still moon bound quickly becomes clear as the reader finds out about the issues going on with Earth. The story is centered around Joshua, and to a lesser extent, his husband Chris. Joshua is the Admiral in charge of the United States Moon Base. He has many burdens to shoulder and depends on his husband Chris to help keep him grounded. It’s his job to keep everyone busy so that they don’t focus on what is happening on Earth. When they face the end of the human species, some hard decisions have to be made, and both Joshua and Chris are smack in the middle of it. This is a story full of turmoil and drama and I can safely say that I don’t recall a single moment of lightheartedness. The ending really surprised me and I wish there was more to the story. Maybe one day Graeme will write a sequel to this story to let us know what happens with these characters. Until then, Graeme shows his skill in pulling the reader into the story, though there’s a pretty good size twist at the end that threw me for a bit of a loop. The one warning I will give is this, if you are only interested in reading happy go lucky stories, then this one probably isn’t the one for you. Otherwise, why not give it a looksee and then leave Graeme a review to let him know what you think!

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!

The Mystery Story - Crafting a Tale of Suspense by Comicfan The mystery is one of those things that just can’t be jumped into. You really need to plan out a mystery before pen hits the paper, or in most cases before fingers hit the keys. There is a lot that happens in a mystery and it is important for you follow some basic ideas before you embark on such task. First up is the mystery itself. Did someone have something stolen? Was there a murder? Is it something that has been hidden for a long time? Not sure what you want to write about for your mystery, then turn to your local newspaper and see what jumps out at you. This will be your springboard for what you will create. Your detective is the next crucial part of the story. Who is it going to be? Will it be a teenager who has been all over the world, snotty and well read? Will it be the shy librarian who just can’t seem to get over her stutter? Maybe it is a pair of brothers like the old Hardy Boys? Whoever you decide to create make sure they are both interesting and have either flaws or skills that will help move your story in the right direction. The minor characters or sometimes the side kick is another important element. For Sherlock Holmes, his trusty Dr. Watson was a sounding board and a way for the reader to see what Holmes was really doing when he investigated. Sometimes this role is a close friend, the client, or even the hired help. Whoever you use may not be there to help. Is there the man who is out to stop your character from solving the mystery out of fear of another secret might be revealed? Maybe she is the villain out to prevent being caught? Or are they the mother who just doesn’t want to see their child hurt? Once you know who you are dealing with and what you are planning to have your character solve it is important to create the list of clues that will lead your character to solution of the mystery. If it is a case of a hidden family fortune, what clues did great great grandfather leave for his children to find the hidden gold? Where were the clues put, and how did one logically lead to the next? If it is a murder mystery how does the first clue left at the scene lead to the next logically? Remember, if you are having a cast of characters they will need alibis. Whose alibi will not hold up once all the evidence has been collected? Ever read a mystery and been taken in by the red herring? This is the clue that just seems to scream “HE DID IT!” Later on you realize you were so caught up in that clue you missed when the author casually mentioned the muddy shoe half hidden under the bed, which later proves to be pivotal to the real crime. A case of misdirection can be helpful and keep your reader guessing and interested in your story. Don’t forget the importance of setting in a mystery novel. There is the old house that the family has deserted that holds the secret to the family fortune. Maybe the seedy hotel where the body was found? The creaking stairs and near misses while trying to find the next clue. Then there are the dark alleys, foggy streets, and scary shops where your character can run into trouble. Perhaps the most important thing you need to know before you begin to write your mystery is how the whole thing will end. You don’t want to begin, letting the mystery build and then your character suddenly finds himself without any way to get the problem solved. Know how your snotty teenager finds the clues that direct them to the thief, or how the sweet old gentleman discovers the family fortune which will allow the family to stay together now that they aren’t facing the poor house. Mystery stories are real work. They don’t just happen. They take careful planning and sometimes include a lot of research before you ever begin to write. If you decide to take on this challenge plan it out, enjoy yourself, and take your readers on a ride that will keep them guessing till the end. We are waiting to see your mystery story and hope it is something you can be proud of.

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.

Short story - the lymphoma is back... for more details, check out this other entry.

So - the format for Toss-up Tuesday is... a toss up /ducking But then again, so is life. (ya, I should write greeting cards, eh?) You go along, having a great year, husband and kids busy with work, school and baseball. Your days are watching their games and practices or working on campaigns and convention plans. Then you go in for a routine follow-up, because of the lymphoma that you kicked four years ago. And on that July 5, 2012 day, instead of "See you in six months", I get "It's back." Now, unlike last time, the lymphoma is so "indolent" that it hasn't changed my blood counts (last time, my red cells were non-existent because my overproduced white cells were crowding them out). And in the four years since, they've come out with two new great drugs - Treanda and Velcade. So the next Monday, July 10, I started on Treanda. I get the chemo as an outpatient every three weeks for three days. Day one is about 5 hours, with an infusion of Rituxan (which I had last time and isn't really a chemo drug, more gets your body ready for the chemo drug). Then the 2nd and 3rd days, I get the Treanda over two hours. That first week, it was Monday Rituxan and Tues and Wed, Treanda. That first treatment, not only did I head from the outpatient infusion directly into work, on Thursday, I flew to Charlotte to check it out for our delegation. Two 14 hour days, followed by a flight back to California, day in Disneyland and then staffing a contentious endorsement meeting between two sitting Congressmen. And got through it with no problem. It was really remarkable how my schedule went for the next couple of months - the every three weeks went right on schedule, and still let me do everything I needed for work such as an Executive Board meeting, 10 days in Charlotte for the Convention itself, and various other projects and trips. I did get an occasional mild nausea or fatigue, but compared to four years ago when I was totally on disability and out of work for 13 months, this time hasn't been bad. To try to get it more aggressively, we did add Velcade to the mix and I have been getting more side-effects with this drug, but still overall doing well. So - could be moping and depressed, or could be thankful that they know sooooo much more about my particular type of lymphoma (Mantle Cell Lymphoma or MCL, one of the rarest of lymphomas - lucky me). And with gentle pushes from a loving partner, as well as a private Facebook community of others going through MCL in various stages, I'm actually taking this really well (mentally). It's interesting when someone just finds out, as did one woman at work in late august who asked "So, are you waiting until after the National Convention to start treatment, and was shocked to hear I've been doing chemo for over 6 weeks at that point, including a session the day before she had asked me. But it's also been awkward when someone goes "You look great - lost some weight? How'd you do it?" and my instinct is to answer "Oh, the lymphoma's back". Weight loss isn't drastic - down to 210 (from a high of 230 at the beginning of the year - I blame holiday foods). So, I figured I might make a post about this at some point, and now seems appropriate. Because going back to the title, a lot of life is just perspectives. We've had some great discussions here about criticism and authors. And I can see a lot of very good points - between that the criticism is needed to keep this a place of quality writing, to the fact that some of the talent we have here is great but very raw - and sometimes the misspoken harsh word in public can cause shame or discomfort and any of a variety of feelings of rejection. And since we are not ONLY a community of quality writing, but also a COMMUNITY of LGBT persons and their friends and supporters, it would also prove beneficial to remember to keep in mind that there is a person on the other side of that screen, that these are not writings or posts by nameless/faceless automatons. Heh - at work, I frequently get emails that are shouting diatribes, and when I calmly send an answer back on what happened, usually get a "Oh - I'm so sorry, I thought this was just an automated service and no one would ever reply". Someone else pointed out a lot of it is "tone" - and it is. But some of it is patience as well. And lord knows, I am guilty myself. I recently loved a first chapter of a story, and dutifully posted a review, but in addition to commenting on what I liked, did I really need to point out that there were two typos in the chapter - that all future reviewers could then see. Just as easy to take an extra twenty seconds and put that part in a private message to the author. Or I could have phrased it better... A good sarcastic rant may feel good to get out of the system, but is it always really worth it? Just my thoughts at 1:30 in the morning with a new chemo session in eight hours. But to me, worth it, as I really love this community, heroes, warts and everything in between. it's why I eagerly took on the role of "Member Advocate" for the site when Myr needed additional help, and though at first I was skeptical about being the GayAuthors News Blog person when Lugh and Myr asked me to, now I am glad as it helped re-connect me with a lot of GA that I was missing and lets me read so many great reviews (and the stories that got reviewed), as well as all of the other information we feature here. I hope you enjoy this blog and consider some of what I've said. Trebs (aka Robert)

As an author's husband, I am particularly bad about writing out authors - and I KNOW how important it is. I DO very much enjoy your writing - I can't tell you the number of times that I've gone back and re-read sections of Let the Music Play and Changing Lanes. I really love your characterizations of Trev, Shane, Lisa, Joel and so many others in the story - and the brilliant evil of Bridget. So to a fantastic author and I'll try to be better, not only with you, but with other authors I read...

October - time of pumpkin spiced coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, .... Ummm, excuse me while I grab a snack... Ok - um, back - where were we? Oh yes, our Featured Story! This week, LouisHarris gives us a great review of Never More Lonely by Hosted Author Cia. Enjoy! Never More Lonely by Cia Reviewer: LouisHarris Status: In Process Word Count: 2,050 I read this story because the title Never More Lonely hooked me. Then the first word of the first paragraph hit me, and I couldn't stop reading, not for a second. It tells the story of Owen who met Connor online and this line sums up the entire story for me. Maybe it's the fact that my inspiration isn't someone I know in real life. My sunshine is someone I've never even met.The pacing is fast and there is an element of suspense to the story. When I heard the bangs, I really thought there could be robbery or a murder taking place next door, but boy was I pleasantly surprised. The story grabbed me emotionally, and as you well know, emotion does it for me. I didn't cry or anything like that, but my beaming smile made even my yorkie smile, such was the effect. A great flash. It has all the elements of good story telling.(Anything less from Cia would be a disappointment). All the elements are there. Plus, I felt it was a good character building exercise. The descriptions of Owen and Conner mix well with the dialogue and narrative. First Impressions: I loved the strong, fast pacing. It held me glued to the screen straight through. Characters: Both are equally well developed and realistic. Intense personalities. Plot: Strong, well planned with a beginning, middle and end. realistic. Dialogue: Authentic. It gave me details of place and character. Content: Well, placed. Precision and clarity abound. Easy to follow. It catches and hold the reader with flair. Emotion/Imagery: Strong emotions from me towards the end, adds drama and realism to the characters. Likes: Skeevy, geeky,sleek, Final thoughts: A delightful, interesting read that I would certainly reread (and I have). Amazing characters by the way! Thank you for sharing this Cia.

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS: Again, don't forget, voting has started on the 2013 Anthology themes! This is your chance to have a voice in what our themes for next year are. Voting ends sometime on October 5th, but don't wait until the last minute, get your vote in now! Go to the Anthology forum and vote on the five 2013 theme choices! Also - Radiant Renee Stevens is taking a much-deserved vacation for a couple of weeks. We also are fortunate to announce that Andy021278 has joined the GayAuthors.org News Blog team. So, in the meantime until Renee gets back, if you have anything for this GA News Blog, (such as a review or tip), please PM Andy021278 or me. Thanks! We started the week looking at a great review of Furlough by Hosted Author Mark Arbour. After Renee had done a previous review of Mark's Wars End, she found out it was a continuation of this story - one that Mark even mentions he likes better than Wars End. Have you read both? What do you think? Tuesday, we had a feature on Author Feedback written by Renee that while the article was great, the comments were even better. With 18 comments so far, this is one of our most commented articles in some time. I love going back and checking to see if there are new comments on previous articles - and this is one where that was much worth it as we've continued to get new comments, including one fantastic one yesterday by The_Round_One that starts with the observation For our mid-week Author Showcase, we looked at a review by Andy021278 of Barrett The Beggar by Promising Author David McLeod as well as a review by LouisHarris of To Move Forward, by Author Randomness. Two great reviews of interesting stories that I need to put on my reading list. Thursday was a bit of a departure from our normal schedule, as in honor of Trevor Project Day, we highlighted both The Trevor Project as well as the It Gets Better Project, and PodiumDavis compiled and presented a GA version. After asking a number of site members, PodiumDavis pulled together their answers on "How does it get better" - great reading and again, be sure to check out the comments on this one! Our weekly writing prompts from the Prompt-guru ComicFan include a Challenge prompt as well as a Creative one - and we looked at a response to last week's prompt made by JamesSavik. I love going back to see how people decide to tackle these inventive prompts. Then we ended our week looking at a Blast from a Feb 2007 GA newsletter, with Literary Jokes. 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: GFD 12: Blood Ties by Comicality, Book 12 of Gone From Daylight Paternity by Mark Arbour, Book 12 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Ebook: Pricolici by Cia - available for purchase at Amazon and All Romance eBooks. City Under the Waves by Nephylim Never More Lonely by Cia Circumnavigation by C James Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia By our Promising Authors this week: Angels Ascending by JMH, Book 3 of The Centurion Cycle The English Year by Jwolf Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Saturday is a great time to relax, and for our GA News Blog, a time to look back. Here is a great and very humorous article from our February 2007 newsletter - "Literary Jokes". I hope you enjoy these as much as I did... February 2007 Literary Jokes A visitor to a certain college paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall that had been built on campus. "It's a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway," he said. "Actually," said his guide, "it's named for Joshua Hemingway. No relation." The visitor was astonished. "Was Joshua Hemingway a writer, also?" "Yes, indeed," said his guide. "He wrote a check." A linguistics professor was lecturing to his English class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative." A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right." A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell. She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes. "Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now." A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes. "Wait a minute," said the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!" "Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published." There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer. When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!" He now works for Microsoft writing error messages. A screenwriter comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. “What happened, honey?” the man asks. “Oh, John, it was terrible,” she weeps. “I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn’t notice the stove was on fire. It went up in second. Everything is gone. I nearly didn’t make it out of the house. Poor Fluffy is--” “Wait, wait. Back up a minute,” The man says. “My agent called?” How many science fiction writers does it take to change a light bulb? Two, but it's actually the same person doing it. He went back in time and met himself in the doorway and then the first one sat on the other one's shoulder so that they were able to reach it. Then a major time paradox occurred and the entire room, light bulb, changer and all was blown out of existence. They co-existed in a parallel universe, though. How many publishers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three. One to screw it in. Two to hold down the author. How many mystery writers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Two. One to screw it almost all the way in, and the other to give it a surprising twist at the end. How many screenwriters does it take to screw in a light bulb? Why does it *have* to be changed? How many cover blurb writers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A VAST AND TEEMING HORDE STRETCHING FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!! How many screenwriters does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Ten. 1st draft. Hero changes light bulb. 2nd draft. Villain changes light bulb. 3rd draft. Hero stops villain from changing light bulb. Villain falls to death. 4th draft. Lose the light bulb. 5th draft. Light bulb back in. Fluorescent instead of tungsten. 6th draft. Villain breaks bulb, uses it to kill hero's mentor. 7th draft. Fluorescent not working. Back to tungsten. 8th draft. Hero forces villain to eat light bulb. 9th draft. Hero laments loss of light bulb. Doesn't change it. 10th draft. Hero changes light bulb.

Prom-proma-proma-prompt me... I wanna feel dirty... Thrill me.... Errrm - I mean - welcome to Prompt Me Friday! Here we look at fantastic writing prompts provided by the Prompt-guru himself, Comicfan. This week's prompts are: Prompt 170 –Challenge Tag – PoV Write a story from the point of view of an item that has been in your family for years. What story does this item have to tell? Is it great-grandma’s chine or grandpa’s watch? Maybe it is the ring your mother bought as a girl? Prompt 171 – Creative Tag – Helping Hand Tired of seeing the community in trouble you begin a program called Helping Hand. What is this program does? Great prompts aren't they? Try one (or both) and share with the community in our Writing Prompts forum! JamesSavik is no stranger to the Writing Prompts forum - in fact, he took on BOTH of last week's prompts, in very creative ways. His response to Prompt 168, a deceptively simple intro phrase of "Now why on earth would I do that?" led to this new story of his: Intrigued? Well, here is the rest of his prompt response - enjoy. And don't forget to try out one of this week's prompts!

The Trevor Project is national organization in the United States, dedicated to providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth since 1998. They provide a toll free lifeline at 866-488-7386866-488-7386. The Trevor Project has set today, September 27 as "Trevor Project Day." This is part of National Suicide Prevention month and their "Talk to Me" campaign. A second organization started up in September 2010. The It Gets Better Project was started by author/columnist Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller, to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. In response to a number of students taking their own lives, they wanted to create a personal way, through videos and other messages, to tell youth that yes, it does indeed get better. In honor of Trevor Project Day, Podiumdavis reached out to OUR GayAuthors.org community and asked them: Admin: JSmith It gets better doesn't only apply to gay teens. It applies to everyone. Life is a series of challenges that everyone attempts to overcome. When you overcome those challenges, that's what defines you as a person. It gives you the strength to carry on in life and improve not only your life, but those of others as well. Being gay doesn't define an individual. It's only a small part of someone's life. Once they accept it and learn to love themselves, life can only get better. Author: Mark92 Don't really know what to say, but it's about the Trevor Project. I don’t know if you know or not? But I have attempted many, many times. Not because I'm a teenager or that I am gay. My circumstances and the situations I find myself in are the cause. I am trying to keep the depression thread going, and it seems to stand up on its own now. The reason I wanted to write this is because of what helped me. These days I rely on a few kind words from the depression thread, or sometimes a kick up the arse, from friends here and Stuby. But before GA there was just me, alone. I've been so low I have choked on a gun barrel before, even had a row of cartridges ready. That would be the easiest and quickest way. My remoteness and the medication I take, would sort the rest. What has stopped me are my animals. Who would know they were here with nobody to look after them? Not just the farm animals, but my pets, my three cats and faithful friend Max my dog. He knows when I am down and puts his head on my knee. Having that responsibility stopped me. Without me they would die. I completely forget about my troubles and concentrate on their needs. It helps me, it might help others. Author: K.C. First, I'm almost 40 so both the "It gets better" and the "Trevor project" were not around when I was growing up. When I was 14 one of my classmates committed suicide. It was the mid 80's. He had not come out, but at that time most teens (even myself) kept our sexuality to ourselves, so we may never know if that was the reason or not. I've had my speculations but I do know that he was bullied. I never participated yet I didn't do anything to stop it either, which I regret to this day. Over the years, I've thought about him during special milestones in my life, ones that he would never experience. It gets better...I wish someone older and wiser would have told him this. Almost 10 years later, I almost took my own life. It was startling how little I cared for my own life. My actions were a wake-up call. 15 years later, I know for a fact that it gets better. I would have missed out on so much if I didn't take it day by day...and just breathe. It gets better. Author: Curti As you get older you realize that the people’s opinions that matter are the ones that love you no matter what. Everyone else really isn’t important. You'll learn that every person you meet will come and then go; the most important thing is being true to yourself. The day that you love and accept yourself fully without the least bit of degrade then that will be the day that you just don't care what others think and essentially you'll be as happy as you can possibly be. Author: Johnathan Colourfield Trust me, it does get better. Five years ago, I was a shy embarrassed teenager; I hated even looking at myself in the mirror. Five years later, I'm far more confident than I was and I’m a successful university student. I never gave up and I was strong for myself; no one else. I focused on what I wanted and I became more confident as a person. Sure, I’m not all the way there yet; but I will get there! And so will you! Editor: Harcallard I grew up in a small southern town where being gay was unheard of and very seldom seen. I guess you could say I come from the most redneck family you ever want to meet. I knew early on that I was attracted more to guys than girls. I tried to do the things my cousins and other family members were involved in. I can hunt, fish, work on cars, etc... However, this still did not change the fact that I was attracted to guys. I was close to one of my cousins and we were like Siamese twins. However, that quickly changed the day that he found out I was gay. He yelled, screamed, and even punched me. I felt extremely betrayed and hurt. He has not talked to me in over 30 years. Several of my family members still to this day do not speak to me. If it had not been for my oldest cousin, I do not know where I would be today. He never once judged me. Instead he hugged me and let me cry on his shoulder. He was an outlet for me to come to when I needed someone to be there for me. I can never repay him for the love and kindness he should me that day. I was given the best advice from him when he told me to live my life and be who I am. Then find someone who can love you and you in return. This is the mantra I have lived my life by today. What I am trying to say is if you’re suffering and in pain, find someone you can talk too. You may not believe things will get any better, but take it from someone who has been there, it will get better. Call Send SMS Add to Skype You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

We've got a wonderful midweek treat for you... First, Andy021278 gives us a great review of Promising Author David McLeod's Barrett the Beggar. Then we have an equally compelling review by LouisHarris on Author Randomness' To Move Forward. Take a look at these reviews and hopefully check out one or both of these stories. Enjoy! Barrett The Beggar by David McLeod Reviewer: andy021278 Status: Complete Word Count: 13,404 This is the first of David McLeod’s stories I’ve read, and I was drawn in from the very beginning. David McLeod has created a truly believable medieval world as his setting for the story, and he has populated it with barons, princes, a powerful clergy, and of course beggars. The story starts with one of the central characters, Will, entering the city of Norfolk. The first thing he sees is a beggar being mistreated by three local tweens (which unlike the modern meaning, seems to indicate older teens), and it both shocks and angers him (being a tween himself). Down an alleyway whilst trying to find somewhere to sleep, he meets another beggar; the eponymous Barrett. Barrett informs him of dark goings-on, of people being abducted and pressed into service by the city of Eblis; and worse it seems that the local clergy and the town’s Council are complicit in the abductions somehow. Will and Barrett quickly become friends and allies, and they both quickly get drawn into this conspiracy. They look for a place to sleep, and they meet Edward who runs one of the local inns. He agrees to let them stay at the inn, in exchange for providing manual labour. Edward seems a nice enough person, trusting and caring and he honours the old ways, but he hides a secret; one which could bring serious trouble to Will and Barrett. Edward’s son was one of the abducted, so just how far can Will and Barrett trust him? Though, Edward is not the only person hiding a secret, so is Will; and Will’s secret is much bigger. Join a world of secrets, conspiracy, and what story isn’t complete without a little love thrown in? But watch out for the Semblers (people who can tell if you are lying to them). For there having been no editor or beta involved in this story I was impressed with both the standard of grammar and punctuation, and the flow of the story. This was a truly enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading another of David McLeod’s stories. To Move Forward by Randomness Reviewer: LouisHarris Status: In Progress Current Word Count: 17,381 I came across To Move Forward on a lazy day when I had nothing to do and I'm glad I read the first chapter. It propelled me to wait for the next and the next and the next. Okay, there are only four chapters so far and I'm looking forward to the next four because I am totally engaged by the characters thus far. The blurb reads: Patrick has been unable to let go of the past. He finally decides to make an attempt to move forward but realizes there may be more chapters to add to the old story before starting a new one. Ben and Patrick HAD been more than friends at college before they went their separate ways.Ben obviously had a major impact on Patrick's life once upon a time. In the years that followed, Ben married and Patrick remained true to his sexual orientation as a gay man. Patrick takes life seriously. This is a good thing, considering that he has recently had a fallout. By chance he and Ben meet at a fair, where Patrick discovers that Ben is divorced. Suddenly, Patrick is thrust into Ben's life once again, and he has no idea what he is getting himself into because, as much as Patrick desires Ben and vice versa, there are skeletons in the cupboard that are dying (excuse the pun) to be laid to rest. Indulge with me for a moment as I reveal exactly what Ben and Patrick have confided in me, you see, I have become one of their best friends, and as much as the author knows and talks to his characters, I do the same, especially with characters who invoke in me certain emotions: Ben wants readers to get to know him better. He has good qualities. He lives in the present and is a good listener. He wants readers to tell him when he goes wrong. He wants readers to care. He will not force Patrick into anything he does not want to do. Ben is patient and caring too and he's unforgetable. He knows that Patrick has other friends, but he's a little worried that Patrick isn't sharing all the details of his life with. Patrick's friends, just as Ben's friends, are an inmortant part of their past and future. However, he is leaving the choice up to Patrick. This is Patrick's response: Patrick is cautious because he doesn't want to get hurt . More to the point, he does not want to be hurt by Ben. His other friends, (Greg, Rob, Emily, etc.), he can deal with, as long as he knows that Ben would stand by him. Yes, others give character. Who does define me? Does who change definition? Friends? Confidants? A Lover? Yes, we are reunited. Where do we go now? Do we ignore these past years? Apart? Lonely? Still longing? Yes, Ben told me he missed me. What does that really mean? Does he miss me in his life? As a lover? A toy? Friend? Yes, the words can make me weep. How do I tell him? Do I toss caution aside? Blurt it out? Confess? Confide? Yes, I have waited many years. When is the right time? Do I be ordinary? At dinner? A party? Fair? Yes, I have waited too long. Do I need do this? Why extraordinary? To breathe, to live, To Move Forward. Randomness. I love it. It is well written and struck an emotional lump inside me. The writing is fresh and elegant. I look forward to following Patrick's journey. I hope every chapter will allow me to express my feelings. If there is one story you read this year, make sure it is To Move Forward. I certainly cannot move forward without the next chapter.

No problem Terry - I got rid of the duplicates

For today's toss-up, Renee Stevens gives some good thoughts and important questions on author feedback. We hope you enjoy... Author Feedback by Renee Stevens Today, as our Toss-Up Tuesday, we'd like to focus on reviews, both negative and positive. It's no secret that many author's on site thrive for feedback. For myself, I absolutely love to get reviews, I'm sure my eyes light up when I see that little notification that I have a review waiting for my perusal. I don't mind getting contructive feedback from my readers, if there was something that didn't make sense then I would love to know. However, this is a double edged sword as far as I'm concerned. While I don't mind the majority of critical reviews being public, I think that any that are overly critical should be sent privately. The majority of us on site are not professional authors. Many of the authors on site are posting their first foray into writing. Instead of discouraging them and saying "don't post if you can't take the criticism" please take a moment to think about if you really want to risk discouraging a new author or if doing the simple kindness of PM'ing the author with your criticism is a better route to take. Bill W said it best in December of last year and I would like to take a moment to share his post with you: As this was nearly a year ago, some people have for sure noticed that Bill is still active on site and is still writing. What I would like everyone to focus on is the rest of his post. What are your thoughts on this matter? Should overly negative and critical reviews be posted publicly?

Hard to believe we're in the last week of September... Hoping you're enjoying your fall, and at the same time - here's a great review by Radiant Renee Stevens to get you through your day! Furlough by Mark Arbour Reviewer: Renee Stevens Status: Complete Word Count: 5,206 Back in May I did a review of Hosted Author: Mark Arbour’s story Wars End. In the comments, he had made the comment that it was a continuation of one of his previous anthology stories, Furlough. I didn’t know that at the time, but he also said that he liked Furlough better as well as gave some insight into what prompted the two stories in the first place. I decided I needed to read the other story so that I could form my own opinion on which I like better. In answer to that, it’s a really tough call as I really liked both of them. Furlough has the two main characters, both of them soldiers during World War I. Jack is a soldier from Canada who is on leave in Paris. He quite literally trips over Gabriel in his quest for two. There are a few misconceptions from their first meeting, but rather than being humorous, they are heart wrenching. Both men are suffering from what they have endured during the course of the war. For Jack, the majority of his issues are on the inside, for Gabriel, he has much more permanent, and physical, problems. Both of them need to find some type of healing, but for Jack, he only has a few days before he has to go back to the frontline. This tale goes through so many emotions for being such a short tale that it really showcases Mark’s ability to draw the reader in and make them empathize with the main characters. In my opinion, there are very few authors who can really make a reader care for the characters in a short story, but Mark is definitely one of them. If you haven’t already read this story, I highly suggest that you do so. I seriously doubt that you will be disappointed. Also, if you enjoy it, I would recommend that you immediately go and read “Wars End.” Together the stories are just over 11,000 words. Also, if you enjoy them, then why not leave Mark a review and let him know! To read my previous review of Wars End as well as see what was Mark’s inspiration for the two stories, visit the other blog entry here.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Don't forget, voting has started on the 2013 Anthology themes! This is your chance to have a voice in what our themes for next year are. Voting ends sometime on October 5th, but don't wait until the last minute, get your vote in now! Go to the Anthology forum and vote on the five 2013 theme choices! We're now officially into Fall (or Spring for those of you who stand upside down) and we've had a great week here at GA. We started off with a look at Red's Rescue by Hosted Author Lugh. Dark gave us a great review of this story Lugh wrote for a 2007 anthology. For Toss-Up Tuesday, K.C. treated us to a very insightful Interview with Carringtonrj. Wednesday, not only did we put out a call for more reviewers (and a few have already stepped forward - THANK YOU), we also had two great reviews - Cia reviewed Promising Author Razor's story When I Fall Asleep, and Andy021278 reviewed Zoila Lily's Rexer. Two great stories to check out! Continuing with past tips on beta readers, Dark on Thursday gave us "Working with your Beta Reader" with actual examples of changes that were helped by his beta's - a really interesting comparison. Comicfan's prompts for this week are fun and already have some takers - check them out and see what you might come up with! We finished the week, not looking back as usual, but looking forward - specifically to next Thursday and the upcoming Trevor Project Day. There is still time to contribute to our GayAuthors It Gets Better post that Podiumdavis is compiling. Check out yesterday's post for full details. 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: Legacy by Altimexis, Book 29 of Naptown Tales In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Never More Lonely by Cia City Under the Waves by Nephylim The Prompt File by Lugh By our Promising Authors this week: Protector of Children by David McLeod Choices by KingdombytheSea Reach by CassieQ The English Year by Jwolf Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Did everyone enjoy Anniversary Week? We started the week with a review by Cia of Hosted Author Myr's Terran Confederation - Jeremiah. See, not only does he bring us all this fantastic website for the past ten years, he writes too! For our Toss Up Tuesday, we then continued with an interview with Myr! Wednesday, we had a bit of a change up and instead of our usual reviews, we had some thoughts from one of the other original GayAuthors.org authors - Comicality. It was a great read to see Comicality's thoughts on GA and the past ten years. Thursday, September 13th was the actual tenth anniversary itself - and for the occasion, Myr gave us a great article showing the state of GA through the years. Instead of our normal prompts, for this week, we had two anniversary themed prompts - but no fear as to their quality, as they still came from the prompt-meister himself, Comicfan. And then to end the week, we looked back at a December 2006 newsletter that also had celebrated the beginnings of GA - and interesting to note the changes since then. 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 City Under the Waves by Nephylim A Legend is the Key by Cia Circumnavigation by C James By our Promising Authors this week: Remember my Heart by Dark The Game by Dolores Esteban The English Year by Jwolf Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

This isn't the first time we've celebrated the beginnings of GayAuthors.org (nor will it be the last). In December 2006, we had a great newsletter entry that we want to share again with you, in this Blast From the Past. We also have a bit of an update posted below the entry. Enjoy! Dec. 2006 A Man, A Computer & A Dream The Birth of Gay Authors It was September 13, 2002 when the vision of one man began to become a reality. That late summer day would change the face of online gay fiction and substantially raise the bar for a quality fiction site. Tired of having to dig through fiction super-sites for quality stories, the idea formed that a site was needed that didn’t have your run of the mill smut, a place where people could go and click on any story and find a quality piece of writing. With this vision, a years worth of planning and hard work the day arrived that GA was born. With its first and then its only hosted author, Comicality, and about 75 members GA persevered through its first year, each year there after gaining members and more authors such as DomLuka and Bill W, soon to be joined by dkstories. All these great authors had fans, of course, and they had plenty to say. This was the reasoning behind the birth of the forums, which came just under a year later in July of 2003. Fans got the chance to talk about their favorite stories, to have open discussions and be part of a community that was growing rapidly. Everyone has their favorite authors, favorite stories and favorite features. There’s something for everyone at GA. I asked Myr, the man behind the dream, what his favorite feature is and his reply was: “For a long time, it was the Story Archive. I programmed the original one. I also did extensive medications to the current one. At the moment, I’m working on the design specs for the brand new one. I don’t really have a favorite feature now. I think now that is the combination of everything, including the community.” Getting a site such as GA up and running and molded into what it is today was no easy task, but through hard work and diligence it has been accomplished. For Myr, the rewards have been well worth the effort. He says that, for him, the best reward has been, “The kind words of thanks from teens and others along the way that said that Gay Authors made a big difference in their lives for the better.” This past year has seen immense growth for GA, with new authors joining, new features and facilities emerging and so much more still to come, even Myr never imagined the site would get so big. “We’ve gone through a lot of servers now because we kept outgrowing them all," he told me. "We are now on our dedicated server, of course.” From seventy-five members the first year to just passing the 3,000 member mark last month, and now having over 55,000 posts, 18 hosted authors, 8 shared hosted authors, and a place for up and coming authors to post their works, the numbers themselves speak for the immense popularity and quality of the site. GA has indeed become a dream to be proud of. For all the lives it’s changed, all the entertainment it has provided and all the friendships the community provides. A man, his computer and his dream have changed the face of story sites for the better and forever! Pretty cool, eh? And look at those statistics. From passing 3000 members in Dec 2006, to 13,097 this week. And instead of 55K posts, we have over 374K posts. We went from 18 Hosted to our current 31 Hosted Authors, and from 8 "shared hosted" to 28 Promising Authors - and we're still constantly recruiting and reviewing authors to build up these pools. And we have a lot to build from, with an overall total of 701 Authors who have currently written 2606 stories, comprised of 15,566 chapters (for a total of over 65 MILLION words). We're also VERY proud and happy that for these stories, there have been over 36 thousand reviews! - Trebs

How can we have an anniversary week, without anniversary prompts? But oh - Comicfan, the ever resourceful has solved this dilemna with these two wonderful writing prompts. As always, we hope you share your responses with the community in the Writing Prompts forum... Special Anniversary Prompt #1 Tag: Anniversaries Anniversaries are always something special and unusual. What makes the one you are attending that way? Special Anniversary Prompt #2 Tag: Save the Date I know I had been asked to save that date for a special occasion but so many things have come up I forgot. What was the reason you were to save that date? Looking back on past prompt responses, what would be more appropriate than a prompt and response posted about a year ago. Prompt #66 was: Dolores Esteban wrote a wonderful and fun response, The Quest. Here's a taste of it: Love it as much as I did? Check out the rest of The Quest.

Oh SWEET! Didn't know about the print option. That'd be great for downloading a story before getting on a plane...

With Anniversary week in full swing, we're making a substitute for this week's Author Showcase and instead of reviews of two GA Authors, one of them a Promising Author - this week, we're thrilled to offer this piece from one of the first GayAuthors.org authors, Comicality. Radiant Renee Stevens reached out to Comicality, and wrote the intro for this. We hope you enjoy! We are bringing you something that was written from the heart. We all know what GA means to us and so I wanted to see what some of the earliest members thought of the site and how it's grown. In this avenue, I contacted Hosted Author: Comicality. He was with the site from the start and has seen every change that has happened. He knows what it was like from the start compared to what it is today. Comsie was gracious enough to provide us with a wonderful little piece to help us celebrate Gay Authors 10th Anniversary! Thank you Comsie! - Renee Stevens ***** Wow...how time flies when you're having fun, right? Am I really getting that old? Hehehe! One has to wonder what would have happened had things gone differently. If that one chance meeting online all those years ago had been missed by a fraction of a second. As one of the very first authors to appear on GayAuthors, I've had the pleasure and honor of seeing it grow into the amazing place that it is today. I got to see the boards become populated with a loving and caring community. I got to see the roster of talented authors get bigger and bigger every month. I got to see the support, the feuds, the anthologies, the many different designs and set ups...it really has been one hell of a ride for all of us so far. And I expect that the ride will only get more exciting from here on out. When I first started writing, I had a dinky little website that I built with the best HTML that my 'non-techie' mind could come up with. Unfortunately, the server that I was on at the time was going through a rather homophobic stage at the time. They didn't want to have anything to do with gay fiction. CERTAINLY not gay TEEN fiction. I was storing all of my files there, a ton of notes and stories and ideas. Then one day...poof. All gone. I got a rather cold email from them saying that my account had been erased, and that my content violated their terms of agreement. I'll never get that work back. That was a devastating blow, as I was writing like a madman at the time. Hearing the news, one of my readers said that he would pick up the site and host it for a while. Then, once things got rolling again...he vanished from online. And I had no way to update or even erase the site. For all I know, it might 'still' be floating around in cyberspace again. No warning. He just disappeared. And I was feeling really down about it, because it was starting to look like I'd never be able to settle into a place that I could call home. In comes Myridian.... I have to admit, when he offered to host my site for free, no questions asked, hehehe...I kinda felt like, "Here we go again." But I took a chance. He really seemed like he believed in me and what I was trying to do with my writing. So I thanked him and said "Let's do it." The server had a different name back then, I think. Hehehe, what was it? Like 'a site' or something? Hehehe, well, it wasn't GayAuthors yet. But what happened after that proved to be a match made in Heaven. He truly saved me from vanishing from the net completely. Because after the second incident, I had lost my inspiration and felt as though I just didn't have the strength to rebuild a third time. But Myr believed in me, and together we made an effort to start all over from scratch. That wasn't easy. I had to switch to a new service for the message boards, my previous readers had no way to find my new site location...it was exhausting. But I kept writing, kept advertising, trying to bring people in whenever I could. And in time, as the Shack grew, GA grew, and vice versa. We basically leapfrogged over one another to get more and more attention from a public that was looking for stories with a bit more substance than what they could find in a lot of the free sites online. By the time GayAuthors had become official, it had become synonymous with quality gay fiction. Romance. Emotion. A place where people could go, and leave feeling better than when they clicked on that link. And that's something really special, you know? I'm honored to be a part of that. I truly consider Myr a close friend of mine. Over the years that we've been in contact, it has almost been a good time. Hahaha! Except for a few 'high spirited conversations' that occur from time to time. But if there's no conflict, then it's not a real friendship, is it? There have been many times when we would catch each other online at the same time, and end up talking for an hour or two. LOL! With neither ONE of us getting our online work done. But it's still fun! Sometimes Myr is stressed out, sometimes I'm stressed out, and we can talk about it. We can let off steam and get back to normal. And sometimes, we're both so busy (or exhausted) that we can barely get in a quick hello. If that much. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. This past June, Comicality's Shack Out Back celebrated it's 14th year online....and that wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Myr and GayAuthors. It is because of GA that I'm still around at all. And I am forever grateful. There's nothing that he can't ask of me. And even if I give him grief, bitch and moan and complain about it...I know what this place has done for me....and I know that I owe them a debt that I can never repay with anything other than the words from my heart. And they can have it. Forever and always. So happy anniversary, GayAuthors! Websites have come and gone over the years, but we remain strong! We just keep growing and getting better! Not many people can say that! So raise your glasses, folks! My every success is due to the kindness and understanding that GA gave me way back when people were still saying 'Comicality who?' Let's wish them well for another ten years! To you, and to all of the amazing talent that you've sponsored on the site! Love, Comsie....

Thanks all - and it was a great birthday. After 10 days in Charlotte (including a great visit with SonoLuminus), I landed back home at 1pm, got picked up by Dan, then we and the kids headed to Mountain View (2 1/2 hours away) for a Linkin Park concert (one of our favorite bands). Was a fantastic concert, and we made it home at 2:30am. Exhausted but great day overall...

Can you feel the love tonight.... <ahem> I mean, are you loving our Anniversary week entries so far? Today, for Toss Up Tuesday, Radiant Renee Stevens interviewed the one, the only - MYR!!! We hope you enjoy! Interview with Myr Interviewer: Renee Stevens What prompted you to create GayAuthors.org? I wanted to put all my favorite stories in one spot. So, would it be fair to say that GA surpassed your expectations and grew beyond what you originally had planned for it? Oh yes. Quite so. Ok, it's got to be stressful working full time and keeping GA up and running, especially when you throw school into the mix. How do you manage? A distinctive lack of a personal life. In looking at your list of stories, most of them are Harry Potter fan fic. What appeals to you the most about Harry Potter? When I first started sharing my writing, I decided to write to appeal to a very large audience of readers. To this day, I get far more feedback on my writing from FanFiction.net then I do here on GA. I have leveraged this and the feedback to improve my writing over all. And I just happen to love Harry Potter stories. That would definitely help . So, you've been writing for quite a while, what is something you have learned that you think all authors could benefit from? Try to have at least an idea of where you are going before you start. What are some of the things you are most proud of the site doing? I'm rather proud of our story hosting software, GA.Stories Why are you so proud of the hosting software? Because I spent so much time studying how stories were hosted here and elsewhere and the older, clunkier software we had, eFiction. I designed GA.Stories to answer all the problems of the old systems while giving us a path forward. We're coming up on two years of using it now and it has proved to be very successful at improving the reading experience. What further developments would you like to see happen? Well, we are always looking at ways to improve the reading experience and increase the feedback to our authors. Out of everything that has changed on GA over the last ten years, what surprises you the most and why? The amount of crazy straight women hanging around. Shouldn't that be obvious? The site is constantly on google and others as we see from the main forum page, what does that mean for the site? Google, Bing, Facebook and others are constantly on the site updating their search engines. It makes GA easier to find and more likely to pop up in search results. So, theoretically, it might help bring more authors and readers to the site. Yup Okay, out of all of your stories, which one is your favorite and why? Nick Cringle. I wrote it for the first Anthology we did on the site and it tends to reflect my general humor. Is Nick your favorite character as well? If not, who is? Probably Jeremiah in Terran Confederation - Jeremiah. He was challenging to write because his emotional response is... different... from others. What is one thing most people on GA would be surprised to find out about you? That I'm not an ogre. Anything else you'd like to tell the members of GA? (Like maybe how to stay on your good side?) Be kind, review what you read.