Trebs

Thing I really like about Capaldi, and it was true of Tennant as well, is that he's been a Doctor Who fan for a long time - that fandom helps bring a bigger understanding to the role. I look forward to his episodes and hopes he stays for a while.

HELL YES! Got goosebumps... Looking forward to this one!

Ieshwar - it has been a while (in fact, looks like last time we had articles like that was when we were still doing the blog six days a week). Three examples of what I was thinking of when I included that choice are: Author Feedback Perspective Constructive Criticism These are some examples, but I can already think of potential other articles, like how to engage other community members via our forums, how to use the site for finding stories that interest you based on stories you already love, etc. Of course, we have so many members here in the community, and getting YOUR ideas and YOUR articles about tips, tricks or other things you've learned and want to share - that's one thing I love about our GA News Blog, it is a way for everyone to help out and help each other. In other words, got a tip and want to write about - let me know!

Heh - couple of clarifications... "Wacky" was picked, because Wednesday's articles can be anything, unexpected sometimes. And we're asking what everyone likes, not to restrict to just one thing on future Wed, but to try to see what the community enjoys most :-)

We are deeply grateful for the time and work put in by Dark for these great Ask An Author articles. Here is August's edition - we hope you enjoy it! Ask an Author #7 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #6, we had questions for authors Luc Rosen, Libby Drew, and Mark Arbour. In AtA #7, we hear from authors JWolf, K.C., and Mann Ramblings. 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. Promising Author JWolf is today’s first author. Just two years ago, Jwolf took GA by storm with his popular story The List. It was no surprise when he became a Promising Author a few short months later. His latest story, The English Year, has garnered 119 reviews; reader Lisa had this to say: ‘"He's one skittle away from completing the rainbow." has to be one of the funniest lines I've ever read! You are such a comedian Jon!’ To JWolf: What inspired you to begin writing? I started writing when I was a kid, probably eight or nine years old. And the reason I started writing things down is because I would tell myself these outlandish stories while I was trying to fall asleep. And the next day, I'd try to keep going where I left off, but I'd forget. So without even thinking, I started jotting down the plot points in my sketch journal that I used to sketch clothes in. Eventually, I'd take these plot points and turn them into stories. They were AWFUL at first. Third rate versions of my favorite movie or TV show at the time. TERRIBLE. But they got me writing. And the got me thinking. And they got me creating. And they got better. And they got me to access a place in my mind that I hadn't been able to archive before. So in short, I started writing to help myself fall asleep, and I haven't really been able to ever since. Today’s next author is the semi-obnoxious but loveable K.C.. Did you know he’s a twin? Just ask him sometime about his secret name! Although 2012 started out rough for K.C., it ended on a good note when JMS Books published KC Grim’s first book, “Love is in the Cards.” This is another story that started its life here on GA and so lucky were we to experience it first! Nowadays, we can enjoy the sexy vampire Garrett McQuinn in Chasing the Shadows. To K.C.: You have had some unique ideas as the basis for your stories, making your readers wonder where they come from. Is there anything in particular that motivated you to do something like that? As a kid, I always had a very active imagination and was completely enthralled with science-fiction and mythological creatures. My home-life was very difficult and as a result, I found myself wishing that I could live in another world. I started writing my own stories as an escape, it was a place that I created and I could control what happened to my characters, unlike my real life. Most of my stories have an element of some kind of supernatural, because the possibilities are so deliciously endless. Today’s final author is yet another Michigan Man, Mann Ramblings. New to GA as of Sept 2012, Mann has already posted 3 stories, and with plenty of variety. Mann’s latest offering is The Luxorian Fugitive, a rousing sci-fi story with space ships, travel, and santa claus! Now how could you pass that up? Of course, Mann has a wicked sense of humor (and a quiet love affair with chardonnay). Give him a chat sometime; you won’t regret it. To Mann Ramblings: What are your primary sci-fi influences and how did they inspire you in writing your current story? I've always been a fan of Ridley Scott's "Alien" and "Star Trek" when it comes to the first thing I think of when I hear the words, "Sci-Fi." I always like the human story being dominant with the sci-fi providing the setting. I loved "Alien" for it's harsh realism and I wanted a lighter version of that for "The Luxorian Fugitive." Living in space doing blue collar work would never be a luxury, but didn't have to be a death trap either. I also wanted the light military/family interactiveness that I always recognized between crew members in the Star Trek franchise. Even with those influences, I wanted the characters to drive the story, not the environment. 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: andy021278, podga, and Nephylim. Want to ask your favorite author a question? Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Great suggestion Ieshwar - and even if we can't do it for all author's, we can see if that is something we could do occassionally...

I've been involved in online communities since 1983 - in fact, was just reminded of an earlier one when I ran into someone yesterday from 15 years ago and my efnet irc days :-) There are other "story" sites out there - like most, I started at Nifty (well, after usenet's ASSGM). But it wasn't until I was reading a story, where the author had posted the wrong chapter on Nifty but had a link to GA at the bottom of each chapter, that I found GayAuthors. And what I found was the start of a vibrant community. Since then, I've met some wonderful people, both virtually but also in person and formed some deep friendships. It allowed me to finally meet that author who mis-posted and eventually call him first my partner and now about eight years later, my ex. For me, GA has been and continues to be a wonderful experience and part of my life - it's one reason I put so much time into it, because of all I get from it.

Perv...

ANNOUNCEMENT: In case you missed it - we are happy to announce our newest Hosted Author: David McLeod. David has been a Promising Author here and has a great body of work - hope you check it out! Another month ended - can you believe it is already August?!? O.o I don't know about you, but the calendar has been moving fast. Before we said goodbye to July, we had a great Discussion Day session of our CSR Book Club, featuring The Degan Incident by Author Rob Colton. Based on the comments, looks like it was another great month for the book club. Good writing has many features, and we are always fortunate when we get another writing tip from Libby Drew - this Wednesday's was on Conflict is Key. As she puts it, "Creating powerful conflict and weaving it tightly throughout the story is a difficult skill to master [...] But the reward is worth the learning curve." Comicfan is constantly on the prowl for new victims talented writers interested in taking up his wonderful Writing Prompts. This week's prompts include using either his given First Line, or ... well, as his tag goes, a creative prompt on "They're Real"! Are you going to take the plunge - I hope you do! 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: 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 Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont 0300 Book 1 by David McLeod Crosscurrents by Adam Phillips Flash Fiction - Second Shot - The Senior Year by Andrew_Q_Gordon Recovery by Nephylim By our Promising Authors this week: Roadhouse Reds by layla Pura Vida by KingdombytheSea Pour Me Another by K.C. Prompt me not, for these are my prompts by comicfan Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

I love this story - I come back and read it again and again. From eyes that are malfunctioning and leaking, to talking and waiting in the big park with the stone bird hangouts - the voice and phrasing is so perfect! If you haven't read this yet - please do! Such a quick read, but so very worth it.

Ya - it is such a gift of Dom's, creating realistic characters who each have their own real motivations and throwing them together. Some you don't expect - like Kyle's reactions to certain things he finds out about Travis, but that's what makes it even more real. Even in his short stories, which to my mind are professional quality, he breathes such life not only into the situation, but into the people (or - erm, the kinda-people in the case of one of my favorites, Valentine's Day Goes to the Dog) and does this in just a few pages. I've said it so many times - I am in awe of a good short story writer as I think it is a much harder thing to craft. Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke are favorites of mine - as is Dom Luka.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Please welcome GayAuthors.org's newest Hosted Author: David McLeod. David has been a Promising Author here and has a great body of work - hope you check it out! Sorry for the slight delay this morning, got caught up in one too many phone calls. Sometimes, conflict can be a burden, or - as Libby Drew helps point out, it can be the key to great writing. We hope you enjoy this latest writing tip - let us know some other ideas for conflict that you think could be effective. As always, if you have a writing or site tip that you'd love to share with the community, let me know. - Trebs Enjoy! Conflict Is Key Creating powerful conflict and weaving it tightly throughout the story is a difficult skill to master. It can take years of practice. But the reward is worth the learning curve, especially if the result is cathartic to the reader. Conflict is what makes us interested in outcome. A story with a weak conflict that leaves the characters exactly as they were at the start won’t be satisfying; your story won’t make a lasting impression. I’m betting that’s a no-brainer for most people reading this. Unfortunately, knowing isn’t the same as doing, so here are a few generalities to keep in mind while crafting your plot. Your main character, your hero, should face three different types of conflict. • Internal • Relational (with other characters) • External (against environment or circumstances). Use all three. It’s not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, and your story will have more depth. Keep the tension rising. Always. All the time. The pacing of conflict in your story should look like this: Conflict Simmers --> Conflict Boils --> Conflict Explodes --> Temporary Safety --> Repeat. Envision your story with peaks and valleys. Your peaks should get progressively higher as the climax nears. At every turn, ask yourself “How can I make this situation worse?” Conflict is the nervous system of your story. It sets characters in motion, forcing them to do things they would never have imagined doing. They may lash out or jump onto paths they never expected to travel. In reality, most people try to get along with others, to bring peace to potentially explosive situations. Your characters should go out of their way to make those situations worse. This will highlight their imperfections. Make them more richly rounded. Your characters can’t all love each other. They can’t always agree. If they do, your readers will be asleep by chapter two. Or looking for something else to read. So don’t hold back. Let characters say things they’ll regret. Make then lose their tempers, their possessions, and their hearts. Push them beyond their limits and then show the reader how much that hurts them. Consider these suggestions: • Give your characters opposing goals. • Make them face their fears and rely on their weaknesses instead of their strengths. • Deny them what they want most of all. Then deny them again. • Introduce uncertainty at every opportunity—is a friend truly a friend? • Make them care, then threaten what they care about. • Leave them isolated and under attack from both friends and enemies. Maybe even from themselves. It may sound complicated, but chances are you already have a solid grasp of what’s needed. Execution may not be so simple, so stay vigilant. Test yourself by “graphing” your story. Is the tension escalating as it should? Pushing your characters into conflict will drive your story tension higher, forcibly evict blandness and banality, and leave behind something far more fulfilling for the reader. Conflict is a requirement of satisfying fiction, so make it a strong component of your stories. ~Libby

It was 50, and as the updated FAQ http://www.gayauthors.org/story/authorhelp/faq17/5 notes:

As many of you know, Dom used an editor named Jim for most of his stories (except for a few of the first ones he wrote). When we made the transition from eFiction to GA.Stories, there is the ability now to recognize a work's editor, but as Dom has been (in Vic's words) on hiatus, Jim had never been recognized in GA.Stories. Recently Jim, under his username of LeftCoast, has been posting in these forums and we want to make sure that he's recognized on the stories as well. At some point today or tomorrow, we'll be updating those stories of Dom's that Jim edited, to recognize Jim. Unfortunately, this does not mean that Dom is back (I wish) - so if you get a notification that there was an update on one of the stories, it is only because we're adding the editor to each. Hopes this clarifies things, Trebs

ANNOUNCEMENT: We've heard your requests for more "Likes" and everyone has now had their ability to like content increased per day. To balance this, an author now needs a slightly higher reputation to have their stories no longer subject to the moderation queue. We started our week with a great review by Daithi of Hosted Author Lugh's Binding. Binding is a Premium Content story, and we additionally talked about how Premium memberships help GayAuthors.org. Even being only available in Premium, this story has quite a following based on the large number of comments in the blog. There are certain cliche'd traps that authors can tend to fall into, and Wednesday's writing tip from Libby Drew talks about them in The Writing on the Wall. Speaking of traps - looks like comicfan is setting out bait to see who jump on the latest of his wonderful Writing Prompts. This week's prompts include using a list of words (including rain storm and chapel) or a scenario prompt that involves a shifter. Will you take his bait - I hope you do! 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: Save Tonight by CassieQ, Book 1 of Summer Premium Anthology By our Hosted Authors this week: Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont In the Arms of an Angel by Nephylim, Book 1 of Wednesday Briefs 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 Thwarted by Renee Stevens By our Promising Authors this week: Roadhouse Reds by layla Refuge by David McLeod Life Changes by comicfan Pour Me Another by K.C. Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Gotta totally disagree - I think if you like Owen-Aiden, Fishbowl is a fantastic story. Gives a real bit of realistic growth to both Owen and Aiden - and with the other pairing in the story, it's one of my favorite! (Though - saying what my favorite Dom story is, is like "Who's your favorite child") He wrote the first part with the four chapters, but it is obvious that there was meant to be a sequel and that never appeared (yet? - hope springs eternal)...

I was one of those stick-in-the-muds who kept thinking that Rory would end up with Aaron, but I think it was the 3rd or 4th re-read, that I finally was happy to see Rory end up with Seth ;-) If you haven't, you might want to check out Hello Stupid - it has a familiar character :-)

I categorize posts like this as Writing Tips, and you can pull up the whole list of them at this link: http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/blog-258/cat-38-writing-tips

Is the proof in the pudding or do the results stand for themselves? Here is our favorite writing tip guru, Libby Drew, with "The Writing on the Wall" - how using clichés can weaken your writing. Enjoy! The Writing on the Wall A cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. The cliché is your enemy. Writers, your editors and beta readers should be catching the clichéd phrases that slip into your narrative. “Lasted an eternity. As old as the hills. Frightened to death. What goes around comes around.” But clichés can affect good writing on a much broader level as well. Certain ones appear over and over and have become nothing more than crutches for the writer to lean on. The story progresses, but not because the author has stretched their abilities. Here are a few to look out for: • Characters describing themselves in mirrors—I have an opinion on just how much physical character description is needed in a story (little to none, if you’re interested), but many authors have a pressing need to give the reader something. This is far more challenging in a first-person narrative, obviously. But unless they’re incredibly vain and self-obsessed, what person hangs around in front of a mirror ruminating over their gorgeous locks and flawless skin? Avoid this. It’s lazy, and it’s been done to death. (Ha!) • Blaming bad behavior on bad parenting—Why is this overused? Because it’s easy. It’s difficult to justify bad behavior. Abusive parents and a tough childhood can explain a lot without the author having to work. Yes, an abusive childhood can be profound and deeply affecting. No argument. But a lot of the time in fiction, the bad parents are there because it’s convenient. You know what’s far more unsettling and provocative? A character who had a perfect childhood and still turned out to be a cruel, evil person. • Inside jokes—This is ego related. It’s cool to let everyone know that you, dear author, have seen every Monty Python movie ever made, right? No. Some people will think it’s cool. Others will be stopped cold by references they don’t understand and may never get the wheels going again. They’ll back-button on your story, close their Kindle, toss the paperback under the bed. Writing for your ego will alienate more readers than it will charm. • Veiling your message in a dream—I've achieved imagery! That means I’m a “real” writer. Nonsense. You were a real writer the moment you finished your first short story, novel, screenplay, poem, etc. There are thousands of ways to convey ideas and feelings using imagery. Don’t be lazy. A dream sequence isn’t even that effective as a storytelling device. Either the correlation between dream and story is so on-the-nose it’s ridiculous, or it’s so esoteric that the reader is pulling out their trusty “Meaning of Dreams” book to decipher the clues. Could you strike a balance? Sure. But why would you? You can do better than a dream sequence. What’s wrong with these storytelling techniques? Nothing, truthfully. They’re clichéd exactly because they’re effective. But you can do better. Work at it. Stretch your imagination. Don’t rely on what has become trite and meaningless. ~Libby

So now we know the mystery behind "CJ" using a goat avatar, to hide that he's really a 26 year old Aussie named Shane!

Excuse me sir - we prefer to have constructive criticism to be helpful to the authors, this type of comment isn't helpful

One of the current advantages of being a Premium Member of GayAuthors.org is access to wonderful stories like Binding, by Hosted Author: Lugh. Lugh recently completed Binding and we're fortunate to have a review of this work by one of our terrific new GA members, Daithi. Before we get to Daithi's review, I just wanted to share our philosophy of having a Premium section on GA. We strive to keep most of GayAuthors.org as a totally free site, building a community of authors and readers, as well as the ever needed editors, beta readers, artists and the like. On the flip side, to host and bring you all of this content is quite expensive on a monthly basis - and is offset in a number of ways, from GoogleAds to Premium memberships. Premium memberships are one way for community members to help with the costs of GayAuthors.org, and as a THANK YOU, we try to give our Premium members exclusive content on a regular basis. The cost of a Premium membership decreases per month, for those members who purchase blocks of months. The current pricing scheme is: GA Premium Membership Price Structure 1 Month - $8.10 3 Months - $24.00 (save $0.30) 6 Months - $47.00 (save $1.60) 12 Months - $93.00 (Save $4.20) As someone points out - that's typically less than a couple of coffee's a month, and as you can see, the longer you subscribe, the more you save! Please consider joining as a Premium member. Thanks and enjoy the review and Lugh's newest story! Binding By Lugh Reviewed by: Daithi Word Count: 21,511 Status: Complete If you were to look up Lugh in the authors list on GA you would read a small description of what Lugh writes. One line sticks out the most for me. ‘Some is good, some is better, some is “Most Excellent Charley!”’ That describes Binding to a tee, it is indeed most excellent. Binding is the third book of the Vega-5 series. Vega-5 the planet where dreams come true. Before I found this story, I had previously read some of Lugh stories, I liked that his writing style combines mystery, intrigue, comedy and eroticism all in one story and he does it exceptionally well. In Binding, quite often I would have tears flowing from my eyes, sometimes in sympathy, quite often in hilarity, periodically sadness. You never really knew what was coming up next. I was drawn to this story because of the aliens and off-planet tags and because the blurb intrigued me. Dreams coming true, even dreams you didn't know about. This was right up my alley - I had to read this and sure enough by the second or third chapter I was hooked. Imagine a planet where the slogan is “ Where dreams come true”. But what happens when a wife plans a romantic get-a-way for two but before they can go, there is an accident and she dies. This is what happened to Bernat Arnad. His wife planned the vacation but died before the date arrived. By the time he put his life back together it was too late to cancel. So what is a father to do, he needed to get away and so did his small daughter Poppet. So with the help of the travel agent Bernat changed his romantic getaway to a family oriented vacation and that’s where the fun begins. The Sun Shade Inn where they will be staying starts off the mystery, Bernat was planning on focusing only on his daughter then came the first surprise they planned on making his dreams come true as well. Now we all know what a customer survey is - well Lugh took it to a whole new level. The only requirement to filling it out was don’t think, just answer the questions; the faster you answer the more truthful they were. Eventually Bernat meets Eron, a kilt wearing alien. From there it is a ride that never stops till the final word is written. Both men undergo many changes, some surprises but end up finding something they never expected to find, a love that surpasses everything. So come to Vega-5 where dreams come true…….just be careful of the spiders you never know where they might pop up.

GayAuthors.org has been here for over ten years, with so many wonderful authors calling this site home. There are other gay fiction story sites, and great authors elsewhere on the web (GASP - I know, shocking, but true). So recently when TheEggman started logging in and posting his fantastic story, A New Life, I was very excited. joann414 also was happy, as you can tell from her great review of this story, that we ran on Monday. On Wednesday, we had new GA.Stories site help advice with a post on Using Tags in GA.Stories which gave some great information for both authors as well as readers about the Tags system and how to use it to your advantage. And Friday - not only did we get our weekly two Writing Prompts from comicfan and a look at the prior week's response, less than 12 hours after these prompts were put up, we already have at least two responses, with one of those prompt responders wanting to write a SECOND response to the prompt! comicfan does it again! 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: Picked at the Peak by Cia By our Hosted Authors this week: Recovery by Nephylim 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 Odyssey by Mark Arbour, Book 6 of Bridgemont Adverse Effects by Cia, Book 2 of Saving Caeorleia By our Promising Authors this week: The Talents of the Fallen by JMH, Book 1 of Fallen 0300 Book 1 by David McLeod Broken Prince and Mismatched Eyes by layla Pour Me Another by K.C. Guitars 2 by layla Prompt Ramblings by Mann Ramblings Have a great week everyone! Read, Write, REVIEW!!!

Myiege - Absolutely!

Be sure to check out Dom's short stories as well - Valentine's Day Goes to the Dogs and The Spirit of James are two of my favorite shorts...