Trebs

ANNOUNCEMENT: If you hadn't seen the news yet, please help us welcome GayAuthors.org's newest Hosted Author - the one, the only (due to court injunction) - COMICFAN! Congratulations comicfan on your new status! Kids are back in school (or about to be) and I think that helped make Monday's Featured story feel even more relevant - The Paradox of Friendship by InTheMindofSunshine. Joann414 gave us one her fantastic reviews of this tale (which now has a sequel that's started coming out) and many of you related to the story as well. Check it out if you haven't already. Lots of member participation with our Wacky Wednesday item on Meaningless Words with a Purpose - including Sasha explaining what "Nghhhh" means. Hmm - I wonder if comicfan could use some of those words in a future Prompt Me! This week's entry did include a list of words, and also a creative situation that will be fun to read responses to (and we already have some). So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Fall Anthology: Pandora's Box - Due Sept 8th - TWO WEEKS AWAY! Winter Anthology: Recipe for Disaster - Due Dec 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Incomplete Recollections by Johnathan Colourfield, Book 3 of Summer Premium Anthology By our Hosted Authors this week: 9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Troll by comicfan 0300 Book 1 by David McLeod Recovery by Nephylim In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon Durch Ferne Welten und Zeiten by David McLeod The Secret Life of Billy Chase 7 by Comicality, Book 7 of The Secret Life of Billy Chase Prompt me not, for these are my prompts by comicfan Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont By our Promising Authors this week: Roadhouse Reds by layla Pour Me Another by K.C. The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

As long as it doesn't devolve into a discussion on politics, it can be either here or a blog. Lounge is for anything almost... I'm not positive about what exactly A.D. is referring to, but I think it more about the timing of the announcement, rather than the announcement itself (ie, "convenient" meaning the timing, rather than Manning being TG).

I saw a Facebook post about a reddit discussion on "Redditors who live in a country with universal healthcare, what is it really like" - from a US posted trying to get an understanding of health care in other countries, ones that do have universal healthcare. I posted a FB reply, but thought I'd share it here since many of you know my recent health history. Some other details - even with decent health care coverage through work, my out of pocket has usually been about $2000 per year, if not more. This year, because I had to get a lot of dental work done (chemo did a lot of damage at the gumline and could not do the bone marrow transplant until all potential decay was taken care of) - I paid $6000 just for that dental care (on top of what my dental plan additionally covered). While I was still with Dan, since he was self-employed, we had him as a spouse on my health and dental plan, and my "cafeteria" payments were a little over $900/month (pre-taxes but still). And then on top of this, in the middle of me fighting the lymphoma and trying to recover, there have been two incidents of the insurance company turning down payments, even though they were pre-approved. They eventually did pay the hospitals, but that was about 20 hours of my life in phone calls and follow-ups, while I was barely able to maintain myself (as in getting up, eating, not constantly curled in a ball on the bed). In addition to the direct benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ie, ACA or Obamacare), such as elimination of denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, allowance for parents to keep their kids on their insurance until they're 26, elimination of lifetime limits on health benefits, forcing insurance companies to spend at least 80% on actual health care - these are all great, but the act also has some other interesting provisions. One of them, is the new disclosures. My bills now have detailed breakdowns of what the hospital or clinic charged. The US government also has been releasing data on the healthcare costs - one of the many articles about this came out in May showing such things as how two hospitals in Los Angeles, just 12 miles apart - for the same procedure (hip replacement), on hospital charged $297,000 while the other charged $84,000. And based on my own bills, I can see it happening often because no one sees how much the insurance is being charged, so hospitals add on here and there to the bill up to what they think the insurance would cover (whether it happened or not), the insurance company rubber-stamps it, the patient just pays their copay, and everyone wonders why their premiums are going up the next year. One last thing I want to address - the cry of "We can't go universal coverage because the sponges in society will just have health care without working and the rest of us will pay for it." Reality - we're already paying for it, in covering emergency room visits for indigent patients who should have gone to a clinic a week earlier to have a simple round of antibiotics, but are now so sick that they require days of hospitalization. We pay for it when in the food service industry, which typically does not offer health care coverage nor sick time leave - workers are forced to come to work sick and diners go home to spread the cold/flu/whatever to the rest of their families, friends and co-workers. We pay for it when the GDP of this country is stifled because we have people working 60 hours a week, but still in poverty and with no health care coverage, and dying because of not being able to see a doctor about a tooth ache that develops into an abscess and kills them. Reuters reported last year, that it's estimated that 26,000 working-age adults die prematurely in the US each year, due to lack of health insurance. If a terrorist attacked a US city and killed 26,000 people, this country would be mobilized to react instantly and effectively. Yet because of the health insurance and related industries, the lack of universal healthcare in this country kills about that number each year. In California, we're lucky to have a Governor and Legislature who have embraced and moved to implement the ACA - and have already started showing health care savings in this state. Elsewhere such as Florida and Texas, the Governors have put up as many roadblocks and obstacles to implementation, and health care costs continue to rise and citizens continue to suffer. We know how to effectively manage a universal health care system - we've done it for many years for the U.S. Military. Why do we still allow so many to die?

Uh oh... I played Candy Crush on FB when it first came out but stopped playing all of my Facebook games. Didn't know they had a iPhone version.... <shudder> um... maybe I can... no... must resist...

Anyone else playing it? I just picked up the starter set (for PS3) last night, as well as one of the three-figure expansions (Mike/Mrs Incredible/Barbossa) since Toys R Us was having a buy one, get one 50% off sale on Infinity products. I don't see myself ever getting any of the Power Disks - cute (though money-grubbing) concept, and I can see kids trading them but they don't add a ton of value to the game (well - not that I can see so far). Having fun with it, just barely brushed the surface but can see the potential and though a little pricy, seems like it will be worth it in the long run. The graphics are fantastic and so far the game play is fun - not too challenging but not too easy either. I can't wait for a Disney playset and characters like Mickey but the current playsets and characters are a decent first offering. I haven't played with Toybox yet but from reading, like the concept. So - anyone else?

Not everyone knows that GayAuthors.org has a number of sister websites - also operated by CDEJR Web Services Inc for various purposes. One of those sites, fictionstoriesonline.com is the source of today's blog and we thank FSO for allowing us to use it. Meaningless Words With A Purpose What's a meaningless word? How could one have meaning? Well, I'm talking about interjections! What is an interjection really? Well, it's a word that doesn't have any part of speech but is put in a sentence to indicate an emotion. Sometimes they're not really even words, but through their use, they've come to mean something. They can be very useful, though I believe they should be limited to dialogue. Below is a list of frequently used interjections and their commonly held meanings. Feel free to add to this list, as it is by no way complete. Mmm: Indicates thought or sort of a lazy pleasure Mmhmm: Indicates agreement Aha: This indicates triumph or a sudden moment of understanding. Um: Is just a place holder for a pause, but sometimes expresses confusion. Oh: Very versatile. It can express surprise, pain, pleasure, add emphasis to a statement, Oh my god! or could be used to indicate a question with the addition of a question mark, Oh? Hmph: This one is very Scottish sounding, lol. It expresses indignation or annoyance. Ew, Ick, Ack: These all can express disgust. Duh: Expresses disdain to someone who is being dense. Eek: This could be fright or an unpleasant surprise. Bah: Indicates derisive dismissal. Shh: Indicates a need for silence. Aw: This one is also versatile, it can be disappointment or if extended, it could be an expression of sympathy, like awww. BTW - did you know that we're on Facebook too? Give us a "Like" to see updates...

New CJ sighting - not sure who he's having to fight tho

FYI - The Paradox of Friendship is this week's Featured Story in the GayAuthors.org News Blog :-)

There have been times where I've cajoled and pleaded for someone to write a review - today's review and the next few that we have, are all from readers coming to me and saying "I just read a story that I want to write a review on - can I?" I hope you enjoy this great review by joann414 of Author InTheMindOfSunshine's The Paradox of Friendship! The Paradox of Friendship by InTheMindOfSunshine Reviewed by: joann414 Status: Completed Word Count: 143,832 Many times you read a story and try to figure out how the title pertains to the story. You won't wonder that after reading this fantastic piece of work. All you've got to do is read to get a clear meaning of paradox. I felt like I was in a game of connect the dots for geniuses and I was determined to master the game! Nix is your all-american, athlete, popular, in the click high school boy. Spencer is his opposite He's the invisible, insecure, poor high school nobody. This strange mix of personalities weaves a plot to be reckoned with, the challenge of being able to figure out what's going to happen next and who's going to have to deal with the aftermath that drips down from someone else's actions. After Nix gets between Spencer and two of his homophobic friends, the two become firends. Did I say friends? I meant, they become something. "shrugs" You'll have to make that call when you read it. I found myself confused, intrigued, but desperately seeking answers that seemed to be right in front of me throughout this story., Little,did I know. Nothing is as it seems. Nix has a host of friends, that have friends, that have friends. Yeah, I meant to write that twice. I pieced together, connected dots, and read on to find that once again, I was wrong. It was him,,no, it was him. She's a bitch, but, oh, she had a reason to be a bitch.. What? This girl is harboring a deep, dark secret, and Nix knows. Why doesn't her boyfriend? What happened that night, and who caused who to get killed? Wow, what an unholy mess! Yep, I just sent you a jumbled, figure it out yourself when you read it. If you do choose to read, you'll thank me for recommending it. I started reading it and couldn't stop. Forty-two chapters of homophobia, mystery, bdsm,rape, and friendships bleeding into friendships that you would've never guessed was friendships. Or, was it just a paradox? The title says it all. Let me throw one more thing out here. There's some pretty heavy stuff in some chapters, and a few of the reviewers slapped the authors hands, unjustly. The warning is there at the beginning of the chapters. Read the warnings before reading if you're easily offended. It's there for all to see. This is a great read to fall into on a quiet weekend when you've got a lot of time on your hands and a clear mind. I'll be re-reading it again on a long winter's day, because mystery is great in the dark of winter.

The magic letter for the week is "c" - as in Cia and comicfan! We started off with a wonderful review by joann414 of Cia's newest complete story: Burden of Secrets. As joann says about the story, "I was enthralled with the story from the get go. Cia writes in a way that always makes me take sides when it comes to her characters". For Wednesday, we had a great blog article on "Leaving Reviews" - that I basically stole borrowed from comicfan. Based on the comments, looks like it was a great choice for our GA News Blog - thanks again comicfan. And Friday was a double-c day - we had our intriguing Writing Prompts from comicfan as well as great wishes on Cia's birthday. So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Fall Anthology: Pandora's Box - Due Sept 8th - THREE WEEKS AWAY! Winter Anthology: Recipe for Disaster - Due Dec 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Picked the the Peak by Cia By our Hosted Authors this week: 0300 Book 1 by David McLeod In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs Thwarted by Renee Stevens Arthur in Eblis by David McLeod 9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont Durch Ferne Welten und Zeiten by David McLeod Recovery by Nephylim By our Promising Authors this week: The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Prompt me not, for these are my prompts by comicfan Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

I found one company that seems to offer Visa debit cards, but as most of the page is graphics in Japanese, I can't read it (but found the page via doing a google search for "prepaid Visa debit cards in Japan" - so not sure if this helps, but: http://www.surugabank.co.jp/surugabank/kojin/service/benri/visa_debit/

Wut - you mean, someone actually READS my intro's? ;-)

This is a first - normally we solicit articles or pull up things from the distant past, but for this week's blog article, I was looking around last Thursday and saw a personal blog that comicfan had written. As I read it, I went "Self - this is PERFECT." So after a little cajoling and offers of first-born puppies, I was able to steal borrow his blog to share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Leaving Reviews by comicfan I noticed someone had commented on leaving reviews. I've been on both sides of this, reading them and leaving them. I just figured I would note a few things. 1) I love a review. It is nice to know what what people think of the ideas I have in my head. I have had great reviews and bad ones. 2) Bad reviews - I have no problem if someone doesn't like my story. However saying "You suck as a writer," or "Why did you write such crap," really doesn't tell me much, other than feeling it is a personal attack on me. I would rather read, "your characters don't seem real to me" or "people don't talk like you have them doing here." These sort of comments are something I can now focus on and see about fixing. The reviewer is presenting to me what they see as the flaws. Sometimes mistakes happen and by being specific it gives the author something they can go and look at. 3) Good reviews - Every author loves an ego boost. Reading such things as "This is wonderful" or "I love your work" will always make us feel great. However, just like the bad review it doesn't let us know much about what you liked if you leave that out. "I really connected to the mother in this story, she reminds me so much of my own mom," or "I've had times when I felt just like that and those comments have passed through my own head" allow the author to know we are connecting and how with the reader. A favorite line or favorite character that is commented on allows the author to realize where we have succeed and can hopefully do so again in the future. 4) Finding an error. Most authors on the site have a beta and editor. However, even the best of us are still human. If you find something (The author changed Karen to Karren, or misspelled experience in the middle of the story) isn't something to note in a review. A simple note to author goes a long to making the correction and saving the embarrassment for the author and their team. Remember, the review will stay even after the correction will be made. 5) Answering the review. You have taken the time to read and comment on an author's story. You have giddily commented on what you seen, enjoyed, and now wait to hear back on your comment. Yeah, as you have taken the time to write, it is also now on the author to answer those reviews. With a published author, they made their money and may have someone else answering their fan mail. Here the reader is much closer, reading weekly an author's contribution to their tales. Responding to those readers also lets them know you appreciate their time and the kindness they have taken in responding to what you have written. Personally I try not to let any review go more than a day without answering it. I like my readers to know I really am interested in their comments and ideas. It is just a courtesy I try to keep. So those are my ideas and comments on reviews. Might help someone with what they are doing. Anyway, enjoy. Thanks again comicfan for your viewpoint on this - I think it really is helpful. What do you think? Let us know in the comments! - Trebs

In the U.S., you can get prepaid Visa gift cards in grocery stores, where they carry other "gift certificate" cards - is this an option in Japan?

Oh BTW Cia - Surprise! ;-)

This summer has been a fantastic time for GayAuthors.org in terms of Premium content, We've had two great Premium Anthology stories, Save Tonight by CassieQ and Coin in the Fountain by comicfan. Cia has also started and is going strong on her new story Picked at the Peak. And we had the completion of two wonderful stories - Binding by Lugh and Burden of Secrets by Cia. These, and all other Premium content, are available as a "Thank you" to those that are current Premium members. The current pricing scheme for Premium membership is: 1 Month - $8.10 3 Months - $24.00 (save $0.30) 6 Months - $47.00 (save $1.60) or 12 Months - $93.00 (save $4.20) You can see how the longer you subscribe, the more you save so please consider joining as a Premium member if you are not already one. Here now is joann414's review of Cia's newest completed story - we hope you enjoy it! Burden of Secrets by Cia Reviewed by: joann414 Status: Complete Word Count: 25,443 When I was approached to write this review, I pulled up the story and was thrilled when I realised what story it was. I've read this and loved it! The first paragraph of this story is branded in my mind. I barely had to skim it to remember this great plot and its two main chacters. Chris works in his father's restaurant, in hopes of one day being the chef in his own restaurant. He is dating one of the waitresses until they have a big blow up in the kitchen, resulting in Neil (the busboy) getting burned with melted sugar that Chris was cooking on the stove. Avoiding a plate the angry girlfriend throws at him, Chris sloshes the hot liquid and is shocked when he hears the cries of anguish and sees the boiling sugar on the skin of the young man. The story of Chris and Neil is unique to say the least. As you read about these guys, you can't help but fall in love with them. We all have our secrets, and some we hope we never have to reveal. I wouldn't dare spoil the story by revealing secrets, but one of the boys has a BIG secret, and it's worth every minute you take to read their story to find out what it is. I was enthralled with the story from the get go. Cia writes in a way that always makes me take sides when it comes to her characters, and I seem to pick the good guy everytime, so far.. I promise you. Her imagination can take you places that you've never imagined or dreamed of, and she does this in 'Burden of Secrets'. The plot has a little bit of everything. You have the drama from beginning to end. There's sex and romance, and a little bit, or maybe a lot of fantasy thrown into the mix. It is definitely something you need to read and find out. You can't go wrong with such a great writer and captivating story. Go read and let Cia know how much you enjoyed it. It's definitely one to be put on your list of "must reads" if you haven't already done so!

When your people can actually come together and figure out what to call the day - whether it is Civic Holiday, New Brunswick Day, Saskatchewan Day, Natal Day, Simcoe Day and/or Heritage Day (not to mention the many more local names) - well, then we can talk.

Isn't that redundant? I thought all of your's were really good (or better) :-)

I was out of it and checking the blog from my phone... I corrected the Mark->Mann, but as to Binding, we've not been listing eBooks in the blog but anyone is free to add in the comments on additional new items of the week (especially when Binding is a great new eBook)

Correctified - sorry...

How's your writing going? Everyone know that the Fall Anthology, Pandora's Box, is due just one month from now? Give it a try - and realize, that month is going to go by faster than you think! So, first monday in August, beside being a bank holiday for some of our community, was also the launch of this month's edition of our Can't Stop Reading book club - and the August story is Don't Shout by Author Sasha Distan. Join us in reading this story and talk about it on the August 26th discussion day. We also had a new Ask An Author, with this month's questions going out to JWolf, K.C. and Mark Arbour Mann Ramblings. Great new insight on these three authors and as always, we're thankful to Dark for creating and managing this monthly feature. (sorry Mann - accidentally listed Mark as the third interviewee) And then the best recurring feature - our Friday Writing Prompts by comicfan. Oh my - these two new prompts, #252 giving a list of words and #253 tagged "The Secret" - they've both already generated some great responses. So - how was your week? Anthology Announcements: Fall Anthology: Pandora's Box - Due Sept 8th Winter Anthology: Recipe for Disaster - Due Dec 8th NEW READING In Premium this week: Coin in the Fountain by comicfan, Book 2 of Summer Premium Anthology By our Hosted Authors this week: Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont Arthur in Eblis by David McLeod 9.11 by Mark Arbour, Book 13 of Chronicles of An Academic Predator (CAP) In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs 0300 Book 1 by David McLeod Recovery by Nephylim Hercules III by CarlHoliday By our Promising Authors this week: Roadhouse Reds by layla The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Since this event is over, I'm going to unpin the topic...

***REMINDER - It is appropriate in this thread to talk about the upcoming movie and your views on the MOVIE. Politics is not allowed in GA forums***

Sorry about the delays - yes, Rich Boy 2 will be re-posted, but I'm not exactly sure when. There is some clean up going on of various stories before they get re-posted. I will let you know as soon as I can regarding the timing of this one going up.

Saw a news article about this as well - looks like he's an actor as well as internet star and was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a young Wolverine