Search the Community

It's time for the first Ask An Author of 2017! Typically this would have been posted in January, but there were a few hiccups, so you're getting it now. Better late than never! If you have a question that you'd like to ask a specific author, but don't want to do the actual asking, then send your question to Dark! I hope you enjoy this edition of Ask An Author, and a big THANK YOU to Dark for continuing to provide these. Ask an Author #46 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #45, we heard from authors albertnothlit, Nephylim, Riley Jericho, and skinnydragon. Today in AtA #46 we hear from authors Comicality, Mann Ramblings, Mikiesboy, and Parker Owens. Signature Author and founding member Comicality start us off once again in today’s blog. Comsie has an enviable success, continuing to churn out story after story without fail. He’s more reliable than many cell phones. We’re at over a hundred stories right now, go ahead and ask him what his secret is. Better yet, stop by his forum. Comsie can often be found refusing to give spoilers and discussing plot arcs. His most recent story is Release Me, a story with only 600-ish reviews, quite low by Comsie standards. Perhaps it’s the holiday season or perhaps the zombies, or maybe the teenagers are throwing folks off. You’ll never know unless you give it a try! You know Comsie won’t let you down. To Comicality: Are you planning to offer Cody (#NKIS) a spinoff, a story of his own? Actually, there have been some requests to get a peek into Cody and Sean's relationship from interested readers, as well as the relationship with his sister, Ronnie, and his foster parents who took them in. However, there aren't any big plans for Cody to have a solo series just yet. That's not to say 'never', but I don't have any plans for it so far. Mostly because I'm enjoying having a little bit of mystery to Cody's character right now. As long as everybody gets to see him from an outsider's point of view, I get to reveal little bits and pieces of Cody's personality and his past as he becomes more comfortable, and (dare I say it) a bit more vulnerable about offering it up. I think it makes for good storytelling. But, like I said, I never say never. And folks are definitely interested in seeing a Cody story. So who knows? It might just pop up somewhere out of nowhere. Maybe my muse will put me in a chokehold and tell me to do it some time in the future. Hehehe! Another Signature Author in today’s blog is Mann Ramblings. At 12 stories and half a million words since 2012, Mann has definitely overcome his nerves about posting his thoughts online for everyone to see. Recently, Mann has become a published author and you can check out more of his work on Amazon. He also has something of a wacky sense of humor, for those of you new to his style. His most recent story on GA is the second half of Innocence and Carnality. This is the continuing story of Nathan and Rother, a somewhat historical, somewhat sci-fi tale with that guy we’ve all learned to dislike as more and more of his character has been revealed. What’s next for these two? Before you venture into this one, you’ll definitely want to read Part One first. To Mann Ramblings: What has been your most difficult character or story to write and why? And also, will we see a sequel to So Little Magic? I think Kenrick from So Little Magic Left was one of the hardest because of his complexity. I had to hide his true nature, show his gentile qualities while allowing his sadistic side to surface, and make his obsession with Shawn almost romantic at times even though we know how bad the whole situation could be. On top of all that, I needed him to sound real enough for people to hate and not turn into some caricature or cartoon. He received a nomination for best villain that year, so I feel like I managed it fairly well. One of the things I loved about SLML, (after all the work and frustration when I couldn't touch it for months at a time) was that it felt complete when I typed "The End" and hadn't planned on extending the story. I say that, but I can't say the possibility of a sequel is zero. You never know when inspiration strikes. I still have a lot of love in me for this story. Canadian author Mikiesboy joins us in today’s blog. Although he calls himself a poet, Timmy has several items written in prose now. Much of his work (prose and poetry) is gritty and achingly close to real life, but they’re also wonderful and full of characters you can’t help but love. Take The Pledge, for example. It’s an intriguing twist on the standard vampire-master & servant story. There are so many ways to interpret this story and the dissenting opinions are just as interesting to me as the story itself. You may be familiar with After the Past, a story about how one thing can change a person’s whole life forever. For me it was a real tear-jerker but there’s no denying that Timmy can write a character that sticks with you long after the last word is read. To Mikiesboy: Since you have expressed yourself in both poetry and fiction, have you ever considered or would you ever consider writing a story focused around a poet? Are there any connecting factors between your poetry and your fiction? Ummm, never thought about writing about a story focused around a poet. Interesting idea. I'll mull that over. Are there connecting factors between my poetry and fiction? I'd have to say no, not really. My non-fiction yes, somewhat. Poetry is my way of sorting out my feelings and my world. I suppose I might apply some of that to my fictional characters but it's nothing I plan for. Author Parker Owens makes his blog debut today as we finish things up. Besides posting his stories and poetry, Parker is also posts pictures of his beautiful garden from this past summer. Most people know Parker from his story A to Z. It’s certainly a dark tale; it gets darker and darker and every time you think things couldn’t possibly get worse, something even more awful happens. But eventually rock-bottom is reached and things start to look up for our main character. It’s fascinating to see how Andy views the world and finds his own way to happiness. Most recently there’s Predator Prey, a story that I think is even darker than A to Z. At this point in the story, it’s hard to see where things are going but Parker keeps a lively discussion going in the forums. I’m still hoping for a happily ever after, but I’m also the kind of person who can’t help but root for the anti-hero. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Parker has in store for us. To Parker Owens: One of the things I pick up on when reading your stories and poems, is your love for math and science. What got you interested in these subjects in the first place? It's funny to get this question because I came to love math and science much later in life than many do. I was not a particularly good math or science student in grade school or high school. College and university changed that; I had one extraordinarily gifted math professor in a calculus course I had to take as a required general education credit. He showed those of us in the 8:00 AM class that mathematics was both interesting and comprehensible to mere mortals like ourselves. He gave me the confidence to try for a math teaching job. My transformation into a math nerd soon followed. I find that simple, genuine encouragement is often the spark that ignites the fires of creativity and intelligence. This is one reason I find GA to be such a wonderful community, as I have found the same degree of welcome and encouragement to exist here. Because it’s the perfect tie-in for today’s blog, I have a bonus for you: another question for Parker! You have graced us with some wonderful stories. But in a few, there have been brutally long and brutally describe periods before the protagonist is saved or redeemed. 'AtoZ' and 'Predator' immediately come to mind. My question is, how does such depth of depravity even get into your thinking? Writing for Predator Prey, and especially for the predator character, was a real struggle. I spent a lot of time trying to write in the point of view for such an unappealing individual, that I tied myself in knots several times. The result was shorter, more condensed chapters. I could not face extended contact with him or his business. Afterwards, I would want to write something gentler and brighter. But the question of whether such a character can experience change kept drawing me back. Can he be redeemed or find a new and better direction? That's a critical question to me. The search for that answer kept me going on with the draft, rather than discarding it. 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! I’ll see you next time, with authors Craftingmom and Roberto Zuniga joining Riley Jericho and SkinnyDragon! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

I can't believe it's already time for our December Ask An Author feature! This year just seems to have flown by and now it's almost over. The next Ask An Author will be the start of a new year! If you have a question that you'd like to ask a specific author, but don't want to do the actual asking, then send your question to Dark! I hope you enjoy this edition of Ask An Author, and a big THANK YOU to Dark for continuing to provide these. Ask an Author #45 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #44, the blog was all about Dayne Mora. Today, we go back to our regular programming. In AtA #45 we hear from authors albertnothlit, Nephylim, Riley Jericho, and skinnydragon. Today’s first author is no stranger to this blog. Promoted to Promising Author status back in May 2016, Albert has had a busy year filled with stories, moving, and winning a silver medal in 2016’s FAPA President's awards (you may have seen that announcement back in August). Not one but two books were picked up and published by DSP Pulications, an off-shoot of Dreamspinner Press. Check out his website for more info. He’s also publishing a new story here on GA called Life Seed with 36 chapters between January and September. Like much of his other work, Life Seed is sci-fi. Albert writes powerful and intriguing characters in some utterly bizarre and yet fascinating settings. I’m dying – dying! – waiting to find out what new twist is coming up next, but sometimes life gives you a kick in the pants and it takes awhile to recover. Send some warm wishes his way and let’s hope we see Albert back again in the new year. To albertnothlit: Do you prefer to publish chapter by chapter and see where the story flows in response to readers, or do you complete most or all of a story before posting? In an ideal world, I usually prefer to have the entire story written out, edited, and proofread, before I publish it. That was the case with the very first stories I published here on GA, and it allowed me time to really look at reader feedback and figure out which things needed attention and which things I had done correctly, having the entire big picture of the completed story. Alas, nowadays I no longer work like that because life has gotten in the way. Since I don't have as much time anymore, what I will do is capture the essence of a story by writing a few chapters on my own before posting for the first time. Then, I will write the story chapter by chapter, as fast as time and my job will allow, while simultaneously working with editors or beta readers to polish chapters before they see the light of day. I would say both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. Writing week by week is a great way for new ideas to flourish, and take the story in unexpected directions. I have found that by writing in this way, creativity is maximized because you have so much more time to think about the story, even if it's just on the back of your mind while you're doing other things. I will very often be surprised with the direction the story has taken after having been constantly writing it for more than, say, three months, which is entirely different from simply sitting down and finishing an entire novella or short story in one week. I enjoy both ways of working, but nowadays I write in little batches, read feedback, and carry on! Another oldtimer (to this blog and to GA) is vampire, fallen angel, and Author Nephylim. At one time, Nephy was a Promising Author and then Signature Author (back then we called them “Hosted” Authors). Like myself and Andy, real life has taken Nephy away from GA more than she might wish. With GA since 2009, Nephy has posted some 50 different stories and poems. She has been an inspiration to many, including myself, and it’s been said by many that she’s as nice in person as she is to chat with online. There were a few meet-ups for those GA authors living or willing to travel in Europe, and Nephylim was one of them, traveling at least twice from her home in Wales. She may not be as active on the site anymore, but we still get her stories! She finished posting her latest, My Brother Daniel, just this past summer, and that was quite the ordeal, from the sound of it. Like many of her stories, Daniel, Sara, and Rayn help us readers learn and deal with some tough topics that are not for everyone, but this classy lady makes all the drama and heart-ache worthwhile. To Nephylim: I know you deal a lot with issues of gender fluidity. Does this stem from your background in anyway? And do you think by having more stories involving people who don't fit the same mold that others are used to seeing, that perhaps they'll gain greater acceptance in the so-called normal world? I'm absolutely on a crusade to make sure every single young person can find a character to relate to. There are more out there than I thought mostly, I have to say, in young adult/new adult books. My next goal is to get them out of the LGBT niche and into the mainstream. I'm only one person but I think people are beginning to get the message because I've been banging on about it for a long time. I very much hope there are others out there doing the same thing. My characters are always out of the ordinary in one way or another. Recently I've been writing a lot about mental health issues which is in the realm of personal experience, and I suspect I will continue to have elements of that in my work. I like to worked with flawed characters, to show that not only perfect people deserve their own story and their Happy Ever After. As for gender fluidity - all I will say is that I have experience of elements of that in my own life. I've never met anyone quite as fluid as Ari, for example, but most of the trans/gender fluid people I know are pretty comfortable in their own skins and therefore easy to be around and to talk to We were just talking about this guy, not too long ago: Riley Jericho, author of An English Teen, Circumcised in the USA, the longest single story on GA. Although the story is now complete, interest is still strong, as you’ve seen with all the questions for the author. Now we can only wonder what Riley will write for us next! To Riley Jericho: Regarding An English Teen Circumcised in the U.S.A.: Circumcision, especially of teen boys, is an usual topic. Why did you choose it as the focus of your story? Lol! Well there certainly hasn't been much competition for the theme, that's for sure! There's a lot of cultural perspectives that play into circumcision as well, and, let's face it, not everyone is comfortable with the theme. Concluding things today is everyone’s favorite classical music-loving reptile, Author skinnydragon. This cool Canadian concluded his young adult story Toph’s Empty Year in November and has now gifted us with The Valedictorian. This new story is also young adult, with two teens in love dealing with life apart at different colleges. It’s a dilemma which plagues many high school seniors and college kids, so there’s a great opportunity here to ponder the “what ifs” that Skinny is bringing out in his story. And, in case you missed it, this story is something of a sequel to 18 Weeks of Twoey. So, if you were in love with those characters, then this story should charm you as well. To skinnydragon: You seem really good at describing your characters as being at the center of a network of friends and relationships. Do you conceive of these webs first, or do they grow organically as you write your story? In Twoey, David’s gang and the relationships among its members were pretty much worked out first, as the axis around which the story could build. Other webs, such as Matty’s little nebula of boys, grew organically. On the other hand, in Toph, the friends Nico and Austin, were originals. I thought more would develop from them, but it didn’t happen, even though their ghosts sort of followed Toph to New Glory. All the friends and relationships in New Glory grew as the story did - except for Gary. 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! I’ll see you next time, with authors Comicality, Mann Ramblings, mikiesboy, and Parker Owens! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Who's ready for this month's popular feature, Ask An Author. This month is all about Dayne Mora. A quick reminder: Dark can only continue this feature providing they have the content. Dark is running out of questions, and that's where you come in. Don't forget to send questions for your favorite author so that we can keep this feature going!!!! Ask an Author #44 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #43, we had questions for authors Mann Ramblings, Mikiesboy, Riley Jericho, and Wolfm. Before we begin, let me take a moment to say that for the first time in a really long while, I’m running low on questions to ask our dear authors. Got one? Send it my way! Now, it’s that time of year again! Some time ago I decided that to keep this blog series interesting, I’d do a special edition every once in a while. This is a blog number divisible by 11! In the past, other special editions have had extra authors and different question styles … This time, I decided to feature only one author: Dayne Mora. Dayne is an interesting person in a lot of ways, but was chosen this time around because she just lacks that certain something, that gene that allows us to know when to, well, to shut up. Dayne, you know I adore you, but we have this … thing, between us that we (and by “we” I mean “you”) can’t seem to stop. The rambling, rambling, rambling. Dayne says: “Yeah.......I can get a bit chatty. Teacher thing, I guess. But, captive audience AND I get to talk no stop? Bring it on!” Sure, you’re popular. You’re “unstoppable” in fact, even though you only have something like 200 people hanging on your every word and 30,000 people stopping in to read every time you post something, as if they like your writing or something. But can we, like, just … stop? So much writing! There aren’t enough hours in the day to edit it all. And it was question, question, question, everyone wanting to ask the amazing Dayne Mora a question! What’s a person to do? Besides roasting her a little, I decided to publish all my Dayne questions all in one go. For the few of you who don’t know who this “Dayne” person is, you might have seen her in chat, since she’s a moderator, there to smack you if you get out of line. Though only a member for not-quite a year, Dayne’s been writing for awhile. She’s also a Texan. Anyway, Dayne birthday is coming up next month, as is her anniversary here at GA. Dayne is in fact a high school teacher, English, or should I say was? For reasons that we won’t go into here, Dayne is stepping away from education for the next little while. Perhaps she’ll put that pseudonym to good use… Dayne says: "Dayne Mora" is based on the pseudonym that I was going to publish a tell-all memoir under. Couldn't remember if it was "Dana Moore" or "Mora Dane." Fun Fact--my real name is even more strange and pretentious, and takes up two lines on my social security card besides. Don’t forget the very understanding hubby, Dayne’s fur-babies, and her deep love for Publix (Dayne’s originally from Florida, which … Florida? to Texas? ). But Dayne’s also something of a comedian and a poet. Seriously, I about busted a gut reading the blog entry “Dayne vs fitbit or a conversation with my glorified pedometer.” In one word: shake-weight. Okay, that’s technically two words, but, hey, I only learned about the “shake-weight” thing in early October and it’s still funny to me. (I know, living under a rock, so sue me). And then of course there’s Wolf like Me. Readers know all about this story. It used to be called “Efrain and Cory.” It’s a little bit teen fiction, little bit drama, little bit tongue-in-cheek, and lots of really smooth, delightful dialogue. The sequel, Wild Card starts shortly after “Wolf…” and throws you into the deep end right away. With only 5 chapters but 55 reviews …! Readers are really loving this one. I don’t want to say too much, but you get to see more of Cory’s family and what with how the beginning’s going, there’s bound to be some surprises along the way. Now, let’s get down into the dirt with Dayne. To Dayne Mora: Dayne, you come up with some of the most interesting titles for your chapters, are they easy to come up with or do you have to wrack your brain before you say, "Aha!"? Sometimes I have to wrack my brain for ages. I put in placeholder titles, until something better occurs to me. "The Aphrodisiacal Properties of Intersectionality and Juxtaposition" had originally been called "Talk Nerdy to Me", while "Gagging For It" was "For Demonstration Purposes". Cute, I suppose, but it just didn't feel right. In case you can't tell, "Warming Up" was a placeholder that I kinda just left (as is "In Soviet Russia, Iceman Thaws You"). Titles like "Dame Esa Leche", "Indie Comes to Jesus" (these appear as subtitles on GA since I released the initial 14 chapters as 7, which funnily enough, let me work in more titles), and "To Die in Thy Lap" were total "Aha!" moments. Sometimes, the "Aha!" happened well after the fact. "BAM! GAY DRAMA!" popped into my head the day after I released "Indie Comes to Jesus" on Nifty. Many times, I'm trying to reference something specific within the chapter. "This Little Kitten Went to Market" of course refers to the gay bar they went, but also to the emcee there (I don't think anyone got that I named her "Miss Piggy"). "Cory Has a Posse" is a nod to Fueled by Ramen, the music label born in Gainesville, FL. I used to find their "Mr. Miyagi has a posse" stickers all over when I was at UF. Other times, I've known what I wanted to title the chapter forever. I had titles worked out for the first three chapters of Wild Card since chapter 18 of Wolf Like Me. Then there are the titles I had to come up with to pass muster on GA. "Eat a Dick, Texas" and "Dame Esa Leche" weren't the friendliest titles, so those became "Cory Arrives" and "Leche". My boys like to curse, so f-bombs litter a titles here and there. You'd think a mod would a little more angelic. Now, story titles are another deal all together, just ask my Literotica readers about the whimsical fuckery that was Wolfie Kitten Iceman Maddog. /whimper To Dayne Mora: Dayne How do you manage to keep your motivation to write a story with a lot of chapters? So, I think I've told readers this story before--Cory, Efrain, and Indie were originally characters I'd created for disparately different stories that I'd had swimming around in head. Cory and Indie (Leaf and Stone) come from a high fantasy series (or at least were products of my weird habit of choreographing elaborate anime-style transformation sequences while listening to EDM). Efrain (Angel) came from a YA story. Somewhere in all my yaoi and gay erotica reading, I got this scene in my head--two football players driving home after practice, and things get hot when one tells the other "I want to make you cry." Somehow, Leaf and Angel (although a few years older) fell into those roles, and the fantasy spiraled out of control. I became obsessed with them. And then, they set their sights on Stone (originally, both Efrain and Cory were sleeping with Indie). In order to get them out of my head, I started writing out the fantasies--the sex scenes in "Warming Up", "When Indie's Away", and "Mea Culpa" (I haven't published the last two on GA as they're non-canon and I wasn't sure if readers here wanted to see them). However, once I started writing out the sex scenes, other scenes emerged. Then, Cory decided he wanted a kitten, and things progressed from there. There's so much story between the three of them, and when other characters appeared, the story expanded. As they evolve, their world expands, and it's all I can do to put the words down. I still find it strange how THIS is the first story that I've managed to put into writing. THIS is the only story I've been able to write. But, the real answer is quite depressing. I thought I'd had rough spots as a teacher, but 2015-2016 burned me out. The school district I worked for pretty much fell apart during the 14-15 school year, and shit really hit the fan in 15-16. A lot of crap went down that eventually led to three administrators doing the work of six. I got saddled with preps I couldn't teach, and kids I couldn't handle, and as one of the top teachers in the district, they just assumed I'd be fine, even when I repeatedly insisted that I wasn't (I don't think it helped that I complained about being unqualified to teach AP, yet had a bunch of kids pass ). I already suffer from a host of mood and pain disorders, but those went into hyper-drive. I lost the drive to do much of anything. Hobbies like video games and knitting were abandoned, and I neglected housework. Hell, I even stopped dressing up for work, and I LOVE dressing up. I went from working 60-70 hour weeks, to just my contracted 37.5. I phoned it in last school year (which is really weird because I still out-performed the rest of the district--even my lazy IDGAF version kicks ass!). I'd finally allowed myself to recognize how much I kick ass as teacher, but it just..............went away..............all of it. The one thing, however, that got me through was writing Wolf Like Me. I'd come home, put on my pajamas, then sit with my laptop and write. I stopped bringing work home, and even wrote at work. And then, I started publishing it, and people reacted! Things took off here at GA, as I got to interact with readers and fellow writers. Through these interactions, I was finally getting the recognition for my efforts and feelings of accomplishment that I wasn't getting from my job. Getting readers hot, making them laugh and feel the all the feels, didn't make it easier to face that one class that always made me cry during my planning periods, or help me force myself out of bed and into my car, but it gave me something to look forward to when I got home. I'm taking at least a few years off from the classroom, possibly working up into higher ed, but I can't let go of the thrill of reader feedback To Dayne Mora: I have seen [Wolf like Me] posted on various other sites (Nifty and Literotica), and I'm curious how your fan response varies from site to site. Are the readers that different? Are they looking for different things? What are the pluses and minuses of the various sites? There are some variations between readers and reader responses between the sites I post to, most of which can be tied to the sites themselves. Nifty and Literotica are first and foremost erotic writing sites, so responses tend to focus on the erotic elements of ExC, while the romantic and comedic elements are a second thought. Nifty readers expect more sex acts in a given entry, but are okay with more "unpolished" writing (my initial drafts were hella rough). I could cut out all the back story and just post the sex and they'd be fine with it (but, what's the fun in that!). I get (sometimes explicit) requests for certain acts (some I have or will use) and effusive praise for my epic grammar skills. Strange how bad grammar could be such a boner-kill. Literotica, as the only non-LGBT centered site I post to, accounts for a greater part of my straight/bi female readership. LitE readers appreciate the romance and comedy more, but the more highly rated chapters still tend to be those with the most erotic content. Since readers are able to comment publicly, commentary is a little less explicit. I was posting ExC under a rather regrettable and silly yaoi-inspired title that turned off readers, but I'm hopeful that the recent change will attract more readers (even if the title doesn't stand out as much anymore). GA, as a site dedicated to LGBT writers that just happens to also host erotic stories, attracts readers who are there for the narrative and consider erotic content a bonus. It still amuses me that most GAresponses are about plot and character elements with an "oh yeah, and the sex was hot" thrown in (if it's mentioned at all!). And only GA readers have noticed that I try to keep character development consistent during erotic scenes, that there's a difference between how Cory and Efrain experience sex versus how Preston and Indie experience sex (and that it feels different depending on whose head you're in). Also, GA readers seem to handle the multiple narrative viewpoints and viewpoint shifts within the chapter. Or at least they complain about it less. I don't know if it's because I've gotten better at signalling the shifts, or if it's easier to follow narrative when you aren't trying to read and do arm cardio at the same time. Benefits and Drawbacks As there are significant differences between Nifty, LitE and GA, each provides it's own benefits and drawbacks. The Nifty site is low-maintenance and laidback -- no forum, no chat, no fancy images -- a kind of lawless no-man's land where anything goes. It's hard to sift through stories to find gold (a running theme in reader emails) and not another golden sh....nevermind. As ExC is my first attempt at writing extended fiction (well, any fiction, really) and my first erotic work, I had absolutely no confidence when I started out. Nifty was perfect for me because there was enough terrible fiction (Mikie knows what I'm talking about) that even my poor attempts would look good. Kinda like the novice erotic writer's version of the fat friend. However, I worry that ExC gets lost among the literary detritus. Plus, there's no metric for comparing stories, so feedback is limited to those bold enough to email. It was great at first when I worried about getting umpteen million comments about how bad I suck. Literotica is more organized, even if it is difficult to find and follow stories, and the rating system and view counts give me a good idea of my success. Stories in the Gay Male category tend to rate higher than other sections, so my ratings may be a little inflated, but I consider it a good thing that only a few of my chapters rate below 4.7. There's more commentary from readers, more feedback, but not really a way for me to comment back. And with the way the site is set up, my story gets lost within a week of posting, so I have to post often to keep myself at the top of the deck (this is also an issue on Nifty). It doesn't help either that LitE readers expect longer entries (my 4-6k word average is short by LitE standards). Although, that has challenged me to really expand moments within narrative. The GA platform is much more interactive and easier to navigate. Readers get notifications when I post, and there are various ways to stay in touch with readers between postings. I feel closer to GAreaders and authors than I do to those on other sites, and I'm on here so much that my psychiatrist actually warned me that I wasn't socializing enough with irl people. There isn't a rating system for individual chapters (and I'm not sure how much attention readers really pay to them anyways), but counting likes and followers is a good enough metric for me. The ability to comment on reader reviews allows me to validate and show appreciation, and since many readers are also writers whose works I enjoy, the commentary challenges me to grow as a writer. Of course, I do get a little "OMG! SEMPAI NOTICED ME!" when another author reviews my story (Here's a simple check: are you a GAauthor? are you interacting with me? If you answered "yes" to both questions, I am having a "sempai" moment). Sometimes I get nervous that I won't measure up to the other authors in the GAfamily, but that just pushes me to raise the bar. Thank the light for Thorn Wilde, or else I'd be a nervous wreck about posting! To Dayne Mora: One of the things I appreciate about Efrain and Corey [Wolf like Me] is that it is a fairly realistic story with three dimensional characters and true-to-life dialogue. I'm curious if parts of it are autobiographical, if characters are based on real people, and if so, where does reality begin and fiction end? My characters aren't so much based on real people as informed by them. I "collect" things from people around me from the typical writer/artist/creator stuff like ear hustlin', observation, reading, and way too much time daydreaming. The initial sparks of characters float around in my head with all those little scraps -- names, mannerisms, speech patterns, quirks, physical attributes, styles, desires, etc -- and pull in the things that make sense to them. Pieces of me also fall into the mix, but not to the point of being too autobiographical. There are traces of me in all four of the major characters (Preston's nicknames, Indie's defense mechanisms, Cory's shoe collecting, Efrain's competitive streak), and even the minor characters (JJ Teague's mismatched socks, Romero's gossiping). Yet, there's not enough of me in them that they are me. And not even I could tell you who is the most "me" and who is the least (my husband, as the person who knows me best, has some theories). There is one exception: Jameson. He's more a composite than an accretion, but at his core is a college boyfriend who pretty much destroyed what little sense of self-worth I actually had. Jameson's spark latched onto my memories of that bottom-feeder like a douchebag kindred spirit. I try to not let characters become too close to their real life inspirations, and I seriously doubt a certain cretinous scumbag engineer would recognize himself (Jameson is more attractive ), but he's close enough that I've been able to work out some lingering demons. That’s it for now! You can regularly find Dayne in chat, but her forums are usually hopping, too, and she’s open to receiving more emails and reviews. I’ll see you next time, with Ask the Author #45 and authors albertnothlit, Nephylim, Riley Jericho, and SkinnyDragon. I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

It's the first Wednesday of the month again (can you believe it's already September?!) which means that it's time for our monthly Ask An Author feature. A big thank you to Dark for their continued contribution to the blog with one of our most popular features. Don't forget, if you have a question you'd like Dark to cover, send a PM! Ask an Author #42 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #41, we had questions for authors Headstall, Mikiesboy, Sammy Blue, and Sasha Distan. In AtA #42 we hear from authors Andrew Q Gordon, Nephylim, skinnydragon, and W_L. It’s funny how time flies. Like, I remember when Classic Author Andrew Q Gordon went by something that started with a Q that was hard to pronounce. Back then he hadn’t yet made an honest man of his husband, he was working all the time, and Andy was begging everyone to read Second Shot. Next thing you know, Second Shot is climbing the charts as one of the most-read, most-liked, most-reviewed story on GA, Lil’ Q makes an appearance, there’s publishing demands, a wedding, and a new name to go with that shiny new “Classic” Author mantle. Where have the last five years gone? Did you know that AQG has a website? Visit and you can get one of his published stories for free. Personally, I’d like to see another collaboration between Andy and Anyta. But I’m also looking forward to the new book, due out in the beginning of 2017. It’s called “When Heroes Fall” and the plot is still hush-hush. You’ll have to stalk Andy at RomCom or through his blog to learn more. To Andrew Q Gordon: I notice that you edit for Riley Jericho, for his story 'An English Teen, Circumcised in the USA'. He's English, you're American...how's that all working out, and do you enjoy editing other writers? First let me say that Riley is an amazing person. He definitely makes my "List of people you'd like to meet." The English/British thing isn't a problem, in fact I think that is where I provide some of my value to Riley. Because English Teen (ET) is written from a few different Points of View, he and I go back and forth on word choice. For the most part, when we're in one of the Summers' 'heads' i.e. Luke, Simon, Lucy or Geoff - I leave his British usage, but if we're in an American's head - Ryan for instance - I try to change things to an American usage. There are exceptions. Sometimes Luke is thinking about something at school - say the Gymnasium or an assembly and for those things because the school uses a specific word for it, I try to steer him to an American usage because that's more likely what Luke would think, not the British word. Beyond those types of things, I've tried to give Riley some tips I've learned from my editors with Dreamspinner Press. One thing about Riley, he doesn't have an ego and is very receptive to suggestions and help. If you love the story and think he's awesome, you're correct on both counts. I can point to times he and I have had a discussion about some point or another and then the following chapters he applies it. That's really very cool to see. The trick for me is to not take away his voice. He and I have a running joke about something he does that kinda drives me nuts, BUT it's his voice and I try not to interfere except in those instances where it's needed. (And I shouldn't muck with that because his voice is most likely one of the things people love about his story.) Riley's really great at taking advice and he's good at standing pat when he feels he needs to. I really enjoy working with him and being able to see the story before most others. Like I said, he's on my bucket list of people to meet for a reason. Now if I could convince him to try his hand at publishing something. A task for another time I suppose. As for editing for people in general, I shy away from it for the most part. I like helping people grow as a writer they way others have helped me, but I'm probably a poor teacher. I'm not good at sugar coating things or making them nicey nice. I warned Riley at the start I'm direct and to the point (blunt, bordering on rude I suppose) at times. I've apologized in advance if I do it, and I wish I didn't. I think of us as friends, and I don't want to hurt his feelings. (Sorry if I have Riley, but you know I don't mean to do that.) So, to answer the "do I enjoy it" part of your question; yes I do. Very much, but I'm not for everyone. In fact I'm probably hard to work with, which is why I tend to avoid editing too much. It helps me avoid making enemies. Another oldtimer (to this blog and to GA) is vampire, fallen angel, and Author Nephylim. At one time, Nephy was a Promising Author and then Signature Author (back then we called them “Hosted” Authors). Like myself and Andy, real life has taken Nephy away from GA more than she might wish. With GA since 2009, Nephy has posted some 50 different stories and poems. She has been an inspiration to many, including myself, and it’s been said by many that she’s as nice in person as she is to chat with online. There were a few meet-ups for those GA authors living or willing to travel in Europe, and Nephylim was one of them, traveling at least twice from her home in Wales. She may not be as active on the site anymore, but we still get her stories! She finished posting her latest, My Brother Daniel, just this past summer, and that was quite the ordeal, from the sound of it. Like many of her stories, Daniel, Sara, and Rayn help us readers learn and deal with some tough topics that are not for everyone, but this classy lady makes all the drama and heart-ache worthwhile. To Nephylim: In your story "Boy Called Slave", how did you bring yourself to write about some of the really dark and serious aspects of the story without impacting yourself emotionally? You create characters that readers instantly connect with, so I'm curious about how you shut off those feelings. The truth is, I don't. I'm totally invested in my characters and I laugh and cry with them. I'm often to be found sobbing all over my laptop. I have also cried on a train, at a bus stop, in a legal lecture - all over the place. Wherever I write. I find it cathartic rather than depressing, though. My writing is a therapy and when I'm totally stressed or upset or angry, I sit at my keyboard and torture characters. It's my stress-buster. Perhaps I have a twisted mind, but I find it difficult to write sweet and fluffy without dark and deadly lurking in the background. I recently wrote a book I tried very hard to keep light, and I even wrote a lot of myself into it. I used my own beliefs and experiences and built some very strong characters - only to have one of them jump off a cliff (well not jump exactly). I feel at times as if I have no control over what the characters do. The way I write is strictly pantser. The characters and story carry me and I often have no idea where a story is going until I write it. When the characters/story take a turn for the worse I follow and hold on for grim life, with a box of tissues, coffee and chocolate to hand. Please welcome Author SkinnyDragon to the blog! This young Canadian has been with GA a couple years now and enjoys the “fine” things in life. Currently, he’s off sailing in the shivery-cold waters of stormy Maine. I hope he comes back alive and in one piece! And not blue! But I suppose he is from Ontario…. Something you may not know about Skinny is his skill with the dead language of Latin. I wonder what he makes of the Monty Python monks with their Latin chants just before they smack themselves in the face with a board? Anyway, this guy has recently posted the final chapter to 18 Weeks of Twoey, his first full-length story here on GA. You might have also seen his collection of poetry and flash-fiction, not to mention the prompt responses. For a self-proclaimed non-author and non-poet, I’d say Skinny isn’t doing too bad! Twoey has received over 800 reviews, so Skinny’s definitely doing something right! And don’t let the 122 chapters intimidate you; it’s not a conventional story, but a real gem nonetheless. Don’t believe me, see what some others had to say: “The balance between serious and humourous is perfect, IMO, and all the characters and their interaction is well done too,” and “Loved this chapter, SD. Here is a blockbuster surprise. All kinds of bets just got wiped off the table,” and “You’ve done it again, Skinny! An amazing chapter. I truly felt David’s anguish and helplessness as he began figuring more things out….” To SkinnyDragon: What inspired you to create David in 18 Weeks of Twoey? Was it someone you knew, or was it a situation you encountered? Actually, it was a little of both. I encountered the two boys who would become David and Twoey, or I should say they befriended us, because they correctly guessed we were a couple. The eager young boys had lots of questions for us. The real David had some of the same religion/not-gay issues as the fictional character, but dealt with them in a more off-handed and lighter manner. The brooding and psychologically dark aspect was purely my own invention for the story which subsequently spun from my mind. They were our uninvited beach companions for nearly two weeks during which time I filled a composition book with snippets of overheard conversations. Some of their comments were so hilariously startling they made it into the story, virtually unchanged. I invented neither PPF nor Dannyspeak. Author W_L wraps things up for the blog today. This guy’s been here with GA since 2008 and his title is now amusingly “GA's Electrifying Mouse Writer.” From Boston, Massachusetts, USA, W_L faced the tragic death of his computer in August, which kept us from enjoying his sarcastic wit in the forums for a time. He’s also a fan of odd music (and, yes, I, too mourn Yellowcard) and politics and is currently single, so snap him up while you still can! While many of us remember with pleasure W_L’s writing spree in 2013, the 2015-2016 year has seen the completion of 0s and 1s, a mystery and thriller and young adult novel all rolled up into one. It’s a tragically under-read story, touching on more than one theme in America’s tumultuous present. The boys give powerful life to this intriguing tale which, like many a Disney movie, begins with death and ends with a sequel. Here’s to seeing what Hunter gets up to in Book 2! To W_L: Your story 0's and 1's deals with technology at a very high level of understanding, and also with cyberbullying and youth trauma. Were these things that you already had prior knowledge or experience with, or was most of the information in the story based on research you had done as an adult writer?? Being a gay youth was hard, but being a disabled one eyed gay youth is even harder. I was always slightly more tech savvy than my peers, not just because I was smart, but I needed the technology to support me. I learned how to use short keys at age 8, touch typing (Basically I memorized the entire keyboard and learned Braille) at age 10, and I was playing around with programming at age 12. Despite all my triumphs over adversity, I was bullied by other kids, who knew I was different even without knowing I was gay. In high school, I knew a kid who was bullied so much that he committed suicide for being gay, which I let happen and am ashamed to have joined in bullying him on one occasion just to feel less alienated due to my own limits. I am no ones hero, but I hope to inspire the heroes of tomorrow to rise above this crap and be better. 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! See you next time, with authors Mann Ramblings, mikiesboy, Riley Jericho, and WolfM. I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

I can't believe it's already July and that the year is half over!!! Not only that, but it's the first Wednesday of the month, which can only mean one thing. It's time for another Ask An Author feature provided to us by Dark. If you have questions you want to ask your favorite authors, but don't want to ask the questions yourself, you can always send your questions to Dark for inclusion in the Ask An Author feature. Ask an Author #40 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #39, we had questions for authors Billy Martin, Dayne Mora, and Mark Arbour. In AtA #40, we hear from authors Cole Matthews, M.A. Church, Riley Jericho, and Carlos Hazday. Just shy of his three-year anniversary on GA, Cole Matthews joined the ranks of our Signature Authors. While this may be his first appearance in this blog, his new story Third Shift is already generating discussion and interest in the forums. Which, by the way, is where Cole has posted a fantastic intro to the story, so go check it out. With more than 5,000 likes and 26 stories, this boy is not slowing down anytime soon! I remember when he first started posting on the collaborative project Gaia Town. Setting up and organizing that project was fascinating to watch. What you may not know about him is that he’s something of a gardening maniac who has recently experimented with making his own jam/jelly. Those cookies he posted in his blog from the antique cookbook are also pretty good, but if you really want to know Cole, then you’ll read The Second Fifty, an autobiography of his life. It’s a must-read. To Cole Matthews: Did you enjoy writing your most recent murder mystery, and do you plan a second? I love murder mysteries, thrillers, and suspense stories. In fact, they are my favorite stories to read. I always thought my first novel would be that genre. I realized early on, I needed to practice writing dialogue, exploring characters, and establishing a voice first. Creating Barbed Wire Heart was a wonderful experience which allowed me to exercise those skills. I learned how to craft the clues and false leads more easily after becoming more proficient. I am working on more thriller shorts for anthology stories. In addition, I'm working on a suspense novel called Perdido Key, which will be set in Florida and not in Minnesota for once! Next up is popular fiction writer M.A. Church. She has been a member of GA for about five and a half years now, but early on started branching out into the online publishing genre. You may remember her from her original nom de plume “nomoretears.” She only claimed herself on GA two years ago and though she’s never said, I think it had to do with her rising popularity in the published world. Did you know she’s been mentioned in the Rainbow Awards twice now? She can also be found at Dreamspinner and All Romance Books. Check out her profile on Goodreads or her blog to see what she’s been up to lately. Of her five stories on GA, my favorite is In Enemy Hands. Of course, I’m a huge sci-fi fan, so those who know me will not be surprised by that. Like many, my favorite character is Adler. I think a lot of my love for him comes from the way MA Church writes his interactions with his brother. I also love the slow build-up between the main characters and between the supporting cast. There’s a lot of cleverly-hidden details and it’s always fascinating to see how characters navigate culture differences. There’s a lot M.A. Church has planned for 2016, so check-in with her often to see what’s new! To M.A. Church: Did someone have talk you into posting your stories for the public to read or did you decide yourself? I decided after reading several stories at a place called Literotica to try my hand at writing. After a few stories were posted, comments were left encouraging me to publish. I finally decided if the Christmas story I’d written for their Winter Contest placed, I’d try to find a publisher. A Tah’Narian Christmas came in first, lol. Not long after that I submitted a story to Dreamspinner Press. So basically, thanks to the encouragement from my fans at Lit, I started down the path as a published author. While it did not work out to include the next question into special edition #33, British Author Riley Jericho remains popular here on GA. He promises that his long-running narrative An English Teen... is finished! He’s just got to add the last chapters to the site. I’m sure his fans will be both relieved and disappointed. As with many people, real-life can often find a way to interfere with writing, but Riley has persevered, a feat not to be undervalued. Andy Q Gordon continues to work with Riley on ET, and at over 100,000 reads, it’s a partnership that’s definitely working. I wonder what Riley will work on next? To Riley Jericho: What made you decide to write m/m fiction? That's a good question, and I'm not sure I know. I guess I just thought I'd have a go. I read a lot, I love words. I thought, 'Well how hard could it be?' Jeez—what an idiot! Starting with this blog entry, I decided to shake things up just a little and feature 4 authors every month in honor of this being the 4th year of the blog series. Today’s 4th and final author is Carlos Hazday. He says that his blog question and answer will expire soon, so it made sense to start here. When I asked him this time if he wanted to participate, he said, “How could I not be up for it? I was the one who complained when your blog was pre-empted this month, remember?” Which of course I had forgotten. We’ve had a couple of questions for Carlos over the years; you might remember him talking about reader feedback, but those of you who frequent his forums already know how interactive they are. But for those of you crying over the ending to the latest in the CJ series, see below: To Carlos Hazday: I love the CJ series. What's next for CJ and his crew? There are two timelines concerning CJ running parallel in my mind. One is the story being posted on GA which is currently two years behind the real world. Spring ended as summer vacation was about to start in 2014. The second timeline is the one which tracks events taking place afterwards and through today. I have those events chronicled in outline form and will flesh them out into a story. Soon. I dislike stories which are abandoned or are posted on a very irregular schedule and don't want to fall into that pit. I am working on TRAVELS, the fifth book in the series but will not begin posting until it's entirely written. My fearless editor is also quite busy over the next couple of months, and not wanting to train a new one, I've decided to give him a break. I'm all heart, aren't I? Mann was fearless when he agreed to work with a rookie like me and his assistance has been priceless; the story is much better than it would have been without his input. I'll beg him to continue helping me once the book is at least halfway written. So no promises on when you'll read about the trips most of the major characters embark on during the summer of 2014, but rest assured there's more to come. 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! See you next time, with authors Headstall, mikiesboy, Sammy Blue, and Sasha Distan. I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

I'm back! Did you miss me? A huge thank you to AJ, Cia, Steve, and Slytherin for helping cover me while I was gone. It was much appreciated. Speaking of being back, Ask An Author is returning to start the month off right! Ask An Author is one of our most popular blog features, and I want to give a huge THANK YOU to Dark for supplying us month after month. Now, lets see what Dark has for us this month! Ask an Author #39 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #38, we had questions for authors Andrew Q Gordon, Sammy Blue, and Valkyrie. In AtA #39, we hear from authors Billy Martin, Dayne Mora, and the return of Mark Arbour. Our first author today calls the Appalachian Mountains of the U.S. home. With two stories and two poetry collections, Billy Martin is more than the simply country boy we knew way back in 2011. He’s well-versed in current events and many of you have debated with him over politics, so perhaps some of that will shine through in the new story he’s working on now that Trials & Tribulations is completed. Can’t forget about The Field of Love, either. According to Billy, these two stories will eventually merge into one storyline. I have always wondered how close Andy Collins (and friends) is to the reality of Billy’s life … and now we’ve got an insight into Sammy. I confess that when I first saw the title, I flashed instantly to the Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams.” The fact that Billy’s story is also about baseball hooked me, even though I’m not generally a fan of teenage dramas. For now, I’ll wait on that update notification and continue rolling my eyes at the back-stabbing and politicking of small towns. To Billy Martin: What has been your favourite character you have written? Not that I have a lot of characters to choose from, but I would have to say that Roger, Andy's best friend from Trials and Tribulations is my favorite. If I'm allowed, in future chapters I will give him more depth and explore why he is such a good friend to Andy. I think we all need a best friend like Roger in our lives to help us off the floor when life knocks us down and celebrate the awesome experiences that will come our way as well. Don't get me wrong, I love Andy and Joey, not to mention the Judge, but there's nothing like a rock solid friend. I have a friend like that and he has always been there for me just like Roger has for Andy and I guess I've molded Roger after my very own best friend. Dayne Mora is today’s next author, though some of you may know him from the additional job he’s picked up: Chat Moderator. Dayne and I have a few things in common; we’re both American high school teachers, though I don’t have half the essays to read that he does, and we both have fur-babies. Of course, Dayne has a hubby to share the babies with. We both also enjoy Publix and Weird Al. I recently saw Weird Al on TV … I was visiting my mom and she was watching “Celebrity Name Game” and told me that Weird Al was a really good player – apparently he’s on the show a lot… The things you don’t know about your favorite celebrities, eh? But back to Dayne… Did you know that "Efrain and Cory" has a new name? It’s now called Wolf like Me and I hear there’s a sequel … looks pointedly at Dayne … If you haven’t yet read about these two college kids yet, the interactions between the friends are well worth it. There’s angst of course, but also humor, and the dialogue is so engaging you eat up the chapters before you realize it. To Dayne Mora: What do you like to write the most and what made you take the leap into posting stories here on GA? I love writing humor. It doesn't matter what genre or mode I'm working in, I can't stop the giggles from seeping in. I mean, I can try to keep a straight face, but it doesn't last long enough to justify the effort. It's so bad that my poor professors had to deal with my odd sense of humor. And lets not even talk about my lesson plans (when I actually write them, that is). Defiance19 sent me a message back in December recommending GA if I wanted to cast a wider net, and I joined pretty much immediately. And now let’s welcome back Signature Author Mark Arbour. It’s been over 10 years since Mark ventured onto what is now called GA and he’s still one of our most popular authors. Could it be his writing style? The myriads of different characters? The dynamics of the forums? The weekly updates? CAP is now 16 books long, a family dynasty as long-lasting as any soap opera, and Bridgemont is on book 7. Each of these series has its own fanatic supporters, and that doesn’t include the other things Mark gets involved with on the site. And although this article is now coming out after Mark’s birthday, he won’t hold it against you for some belated tidings. After all, when you’re as old as he is, each year is a triumph, right? With Black Widow now carrying the CAP series into the current century, eventually Mark will have to write about Obama … dunno if that’s good for an old guy’s blood pressure or heart, so, c’mon, folks, for the sake of Mark’s heart, let’s not add onto those 24,000 likes, okay? We don’t want him to keel over early. Like that word play, Mark? Now let’s get to the next chapter in Granger’s legacy and nobody’ll get hurt! To Mark Arbour: You are an accurate story-teller of historical events, which I've assumed from reading many of your stories. Your characters are also very believable, with or without their having sex. Question: If you could ask one of your historical people a question, what would you want to know and why? I'm going to change this question, and I'm going to make it two people. That seems fair, since I have two series. In the Bridgemont Series, the key character is George Granger. If I could ask George anything, I'd ask him who he considered his one true love to be. George is not a one-partner kind of guy, and much like the 17th/18th century society that he lives in, he's very hierarchical. He tends to array his lovers in pyramid format. At the end of the day, I'd want to know who ended up on top, so to speak. For the CAP Series, I'd tap into the father of the series, JP Crampton. I'd ask JP what decision/thing in his life he would have changed? He tends to bury his guilt and spend much too much time on self-recrimination, but at the end of the day, when he looks back, I would be curious about where he thought he'd made his biggest mistake. And I doubt that it would be the most obvious one. Now, as a little bonus, how about a bit from yours truly? Like the last question I answered in this blog, I’ve received a variety of questions all wondering similar things… To Dark: Is there a story behind how you chose "Dark" as a nom de plume? Sadly, no. It was a combination of things. I felt that I had outgrown my childhood nickname and was still struggling with my personal identity, and I was joining a bunch of different sites with different names, hoping that one would stick. I did sort of like part of one I was using to role-play with, so when I came to GA, I tried it and voila! No one had taken it, and thus “Dark” was born! It’s hard to think of myself as something else now, so I know it was the right choice. 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! See you next time, with authors Cole Mathews, MA Church, and Riley Jericho. I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Seems like I'm constantly behind lately, but never fear, I didn't forget! For those who have been waiting, here's this months' Ask An Author feature that has been provided to us by Dark! Thank you, Dark, and all the authors who participated and the readers who asked the questions in the first place. Hopefully you enjoy this month's contribution! Ask an Author #38 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #37, we had questions for authors Bill W, Robert Rex, and Sasha Distan. In AtA #3, we hear from authors Andrew Q Gordon, Sammy Blue, and Valkyrie. First up today is the amazing Classic Author Andrew Q Gordon, a good friend known to many of us simply as “Q.” He, Mr. Q., and Little Q have had a tumultuous few years and though Q doesn’t spend as much time on GA as he used to, it’s fun to watch his published career blossom. He’s a good person to be envious of, no doubts there. Do you remember Second Shot? It’s the story that really started it all, filled with some of Q’s favorite things. It’s funny how when one thing changes suddenly everything else seems to happen all at once. For example, Lil’ Q, being published, and getting married – a real whirl-wind! It may seem like a fairy tale, but it’s a lot of work. Just reading about it makes me tired. Take a look at Q’s website these days to keep track of what he’s writing next. And don’t forget to ask about the online publisher he helped get started. To Andrew Q. Gordon: What was it like collaborating with another author to write a novel such as you did in (Un)Masked? Working with another author is hit or miss to be honest. It depends on the other person. Anyta and I worked very well together - at least I thought we did. (And I suspect she thought so too.) Working with someone else requires that both parties can accept the other person not liking what they did enough to put their name on it and being open to change. We went through about 6 or 7 versions of each chapter. We'd write it, send it to the other, make changes, send back until both were satisfied. It's harder than doing it yourself, but I think the end result can be much better because you each bring strengths to the work. The difficulty is finding works you want or are willing to share. That's the hardest part. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I think it was the most fun I had writing. This is the first time showcasing Author Sammy Blue in the blog. A member since 2013, he was gone awhile, life being what it is, and at 25, he’s still a youngster to many of us, though we still remember those days! Hailing from far away (from me) in Germany, Sammy has posted one complete story with a holiday theme, and one story still in progress, Gemini. This is a story about teenage Josh and his crazy public school life. With as down as the beginning is, you know it can only go up, and we know that Sammy is himself a sucker for happy endings. Of course, a number of memorable characters pepper the way and I know I’m not the only one glad that Sammy didn’t leave us hanging at chapter 23! Welcome back, Sammy, and write more! To Sammy Blue: How do you get your American settings so realistic when you're not an American yourself? Research, and lots of it. Actually, some things I just 'know'. That happens when you reads millions of words here on GA. If you've read more than a hundred high-school stories, at some point you have a general idea of what to expect. I also tend to ask people if I'm unsure about details. Often I visit the GA chat or ask one of my American friends on Skype. For example the chapter I'm currently working on is set in Washington D.C. - Rigel (Editor here on GA) has been so kind to help me out by giving me general information about what areas he thinks my character's grandparents could live in and what locations they would visit with him during the weekend. From there I worked with Google (search, maps, images), and you can find out pretty much anything with Google, and Wikipedia, if you just spend some time with it. . Last but not least is Promising Author Valkyrie who is also being featured for the first time. Valkyrie is also enjoying her third year on GA and has graced us with many short stories. She’s also a regular on the Friday Prompts. The myriad experiences she’s had over her lifetime so far make for fascinating reading. I think my favorite so far is the one written for the 2015 Secret Santa: The Old Ways. Valkyrie skillfully mixes historical with spiritual and since it’s a love story, you also get the romance. It’s a touching tale of acceptance, all the more poignant in our troubled world that’s more concerned with finding boxes to shove people into or labels that supposedly “define” us. This is one of those stories that sticks with you long after reading. I have to say I hadn’t read this author before this anthology, but it certainly made me come back for more! Looking forward to seeing what more the author has in store for us. To Valkyrie: What inspired the creation of Alex from Alex's Legacy? Was there something that prompted his story? Sam and Alex appear in the story that I am currently writing, The Hollow Hills, very briefly. This story has been in my head for many years, predating Alex’s Legacy. They made such an impression on me that I felt like I had to know more about them. They were the inspiration for my response to Prompt 305, but after writing the prompt I knew I couldn’t just stop there. The ending of the prompt came as a big surprise to me when I wrote it and I felt compelled to tell Alex’s story. Now, as a little bonus, how about a bit from yours truly? Considering the dearth in my own writing, I’ve recently gone back to being a regular Author here on GA. There’s been a lot of changes in my life over the past few years: I got my teaching credential and moved to Alaska, my brother and his wife had their first kid (my parents’ first biological grandchild), my parents divorced after 30 years of marriage, and despite the fact I’ve developed some fairly serious arthritis in multiple joints, I recently came to the conclusion that I’m the happiest, most content I’ve been in a very long time. It’s weird talking about myself! But I’ve received a handful of questions directed at me for this blog feature, and I’ve finally gotten to a place where I’m comfortable answering them, so here goes! To Dark: How did you write Ben, from The One I Want, so well? Specifically, his anxiety and panic disorders? In short, I can connect to Ben so well because I was him. Inside I was lost and afraid, but I’d gotten so adept at portraying the “perfect life” that I even believed it myself. On Christmas this past year (in 2015), my brother decided to apply his fist to my sister’s face in front of our mother and my sister-in-law. He had to set the baby down to go after my sister, so draw your own conclusions there. After the cops left and the family sort of dispersed to lick their wounds, my sister turned to me and said something to the effect of, “Finally, they’re paying attention.” I gave her a questioning look and she said, “If it had been you, they’d have just shrugged it off again.” It gave me a start, because she’s right. Nobody batted an eye when he and I fought growing up and nobody gave a second thought to the fact that he and I have talked maybe once a year since I moved out. It was only about six years ago when through counseling I realized my underlying anger issues probably started from his harassment of me as children. I was always told that since I was older and “more mature” that it was my responsibility to get along with my brother and that I was the one who needed to stop “picking on” him. The double-standard and middle-child invisibility I felt turned inward because I didn’t feel I was allowed to act unhappy or hurt or scared. That’s not including all the confusion about gender and sexual identity or later the knots I twisted myself into when I got involved with a man who shared far too many characteristics with my brother. Though he never raised a hand to me, being with my ex was just as damaging. I remember one night sobbing into my phone, leaving a voicemail for my ex’s mother and feeling so alone I couldn’t catch my breath and my heart was racing so loud I couldn’t hear myself talk. My ex got pissed because I woke him and he couldn’t get back to sleep. He left the room and played on his computer until I had to leave for work. Later he yelled at me for not waking him first and why did I have to bring his mother into it? She is still a good friend and I knew better even then to wake him in the middle of the night, though he had yet to be diagnosed with sleep apnea or chronic depression. Looking back now, it’s easy for me to see that when it came to writing Ben, he became the receptacle for all that baggage. He became a mish-mash of myself and my ex, complete with our health issues. All the crap I considered “evil” then got lumped onto Will. Rick was that desire for someone to rescue me. I thought at the time that I had brought all this onto myself. Pretty textbook stuff, really. Knowing what I do now, it’s not surprising that the social anxiety I’d been fighting my whole life went bonkers and I tried to deal with it by trying to control everything. I went through a series of different medications and counselors until a combination of things seemed to snap me out of the bad spiral I was in. The worst part was getting better enough to see how bad it was but still not well enough to do anything about it. Just thinking about spending holidays with my family (and brother) gave me panic attacks and bursts of depression that could last weeks. This year, I looked at him in the middle of his domineering and felt nothing. When he couldn’t get a rise out of me or my youngest brother, he went after my older sister with whom he’d never shown this side of himself. Despite how awful the whole thing was, I realized that I had healed enough that he could no longer hurt me. It was liberating. Yes, I originally wrote “Dinner with Gran” for a friend of mine. I wrote the other short stories while in and out of my first counseling sessions. Pretty easy now to see those mood swings in the early drafts as we tried to figure out the correct balance of medications and behavior therapy. Tenormin was one of the first medications we tried, and I kept it for Ben because originally he was a recovering drug addict, that’s how he dealt with his issues. When I did the revisions that became the version now on GA, that tidbit was dropped, along with several other sections that I felt no longer made sense. My last counselor ended up in the story, though he was not a rugby player. My sister was Shelly and my best friend was Hunter. Parts of other people I knew made up the rest of the cast. I have toyed with re-writing “The One I Want” again, but there’s enough distance now from that “old me” that I’m afraid I would ruin it. I guess that’s life. Gotta keep moving forward. I apologize for that long ramble. You’ll be glad to read 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! See you next time, with authors Billy Martin, Dayne Mora, and Mark Arbour! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

I can't believe it's already March, and time for another Ask An Author feature! If you have a question that you'd like to ask a specific author, but don't want to do the actual asking, then send your question to Dark! I hope you enjoy this edition of Ask An Author, and a big THANK YOU to Dark for continuing to provide these. Ask an Author #37 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #36, we had questions for authors Bill W, Robert Rex, and Sasha Distan. In AtA #37, we hear from authors albertnothlit, Carlos Hazday, and Julie Hayes and MA Church. 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. Now in his second year with us here at GA, author albertnothlit has his first appearance in this blog series today. This gentleman has his own website; google his name if you want to check it out. You can also find him on Goodreads and Twitter. He may not have been with us long, but Albert has been writing for quite awhile; we’re lucky he happened to stop by … and then stick around. J Probably the genre he’s best known for is sci-fi, especially with Life Seed, his most recent story posted here on GA. Those of us who love sci-fi have all read stories that start off like this one: a new colony on a new planet that’s doomed because …. Fill in the gap here. I like this one because while there is a battlefield, it’s the colonists versus the planet itself, for the people are slowly starving. One of the things I like best is that Albert gives us little clues throughout the story that give it greater detail. Miles of explanatory text is common amongst sci-fi stories, but Albert has balanced this quite well and gives us an amazing main character to follow. To albertnothlit: How do you go on when you write? Do you have a complete plot worked out in your mind (as a draft) before you start writing the actual work or do you start with a setting and see where it goes from there? How do you make sure to avoid logic mistakes and do you have tricks to solve those? The most important thing for me when I write is having a plot outline. I start by writing down the 'main idea' of the story, i.e., what I want to accomplish by writing it. Then, I decide on characters, POV, and estimated length. After that I write freely for a bit to capture the essence of the story, and then I make a chapter list with brief one-liners detailing what will happen in each chapter. If the work is long, I'll expand on this, and for really long novels I'll also create an Excel cheat sheet with a glossary, character back stories, lore, all of that. My best trick to avoid continuity errors is to let it rest. I'll write a full tale and just let it sit around for a bit before re-reading it with fresh eyes. That way, logic errors jump out at me and I can change them! Also, learning how to work an editor is just as if not more important than learning how to proofread your own writing.. We last saw author Carlos Hazday in AtA #29. Carlos has been a member of GA since 2013 and hails from southern Florida, though he’s done a lot of travelling and often on his motorcycle. In his half-century of life, Carlos has seen and done many things and likes to model his characters after his own experiences, writing in first person with an engaging commentary. Although he was not originally planned as the main character, look for more CJ in the third book of the series, Winter, set in Australia at the end of 2013. There’s some fun reactions to local places and events, but the travelling doesn’t end there in Australia. Catch up with CJ or go back to the beginning and get to know this surprisingly appealing young man. To Carlos Hazday: What kind of reader feedback do you find most useful, and why? ALL reader feedback is welcome, appreciated, and useful. I particularly like comments about my writing style, both positive and negative. Being fairly new to writing, hearing about what I'm doing right or wrong helps me improve. Plot discussions are always fun but if you tell me why the story moved you or intrigued you, it could help me create even better ones in the future. I’ve been looking forward to this last author-duo for about a year now. Julie L. Hayes and MA Church teamed up for a couple of projects that have been received very positively out there in cyberspace. Julie has a profile here on GA and has been with us for just over three years now. She’s been a writer for a long time and says her daughters got her into the world of M/M romance. We used to know Michelle by her pseudonym nomoretears00 and found M/M through literotica. Mississippi is pretty far away from St. Louis, but these two ladies have somehow managed to work well enough together that they did it more than once! Those of us who’ve ever worked with someone else on a project know it’s not as easy as it sounds. Enjoy their love stories: Journey's End, the second in the Harvest series by MA Church, and Moving Forward, the second in the Love Without Boundries series by Julie L. Hayes. To Julie Hayes and MA Church: How did you both meet and come up with the ideas for Be My Alien and Be My Human? MA and I met briefly through a comment she left on a story of mine at a fanfic site. I got to know her when she became an author at the publishing company where I was EIC and an author too. We both belonged to a FB group called It's Raining Men, and they were looking for stories for a Valentine's anthology. We both were interested, and we discussed writing our story jointly. I had read and edited Nighttime Promises at Romance First and enjoyed them, and I wanted to write an alien story too, so Be My Alien was born. Because it was originally intended as a short story for the anthology, it had to stay within the 25k range. But we ended up having a disagreement about the anthology and withdrew, deciding to send it to Dreamspinner instead. But that's why it's shorter than the second book, as it was never intended to be full-length. The name came about by accident. We were talking one the phone, discussing possible titles, and talking about Valentine's Day. I joked about the conversation hearts, and the things they said, and I said something about one that would read Be My Alien, instead of Be My Valentine. The name stuck! MA came up with Be My Human, and the title for the third book, Be My Everything. 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! See you next time, with authors Andrew Q. Gordon, Sammy Blue, and Valkyrie! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

It's the first Wednesday of the month again (can you believe it's already February?!) which means that it's time for our monthly Ask An Author feature. A big thank you to Dark for their continued contribution to the blog with one of our most popular features. Don't forget, if you have a question you'd like Dark to cover, send a PM! Also, a reminder, the Secret Admirer Short Story contest is tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST! Ask an Author #36 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #35, we had questions for authors AC Benus, Aditus, and Mark Arbour. In AtA #36, we hear from authors Bill W, Robert Rex, and Sasha Distan. 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. Our first author today inducts Signature Author Bill W into this blog series. Now Bill has been around awhile, since 2003 actually. Say hello, as Bill often has a different perspective than us younger folk who are still trying to figure things out. He’s graced us with 60-something titles, including a few poems. What with the new GA Stories transfer in 2010-2011 (has it been 5 years already? ), I don’t remember what the earliest of his stories is, but Bill is perhaps best known for his Castaway Hotel series. The first of those is the Grand Reopening, aka Castaway Hotel #1. The Castaway Hotel is an orphanage of sorts, with a jumble of different personalities and backgrounds all trying to get along in life. With Bill’s long interest in politics, it’s interesting to see how that flavoring changes over the course of the different story collections. His most recent story is Tempered by Fate, Sword of Kings #3, and with only a few chapters left, catch up quick to learn Kieran’s fate! To Bill W: Who is your favourite character from The Castway Hotel and why? Wow! That's a really tough question, since I'd built an empathy for and felt close to each of the boys. If I had to pick just one, it probably would have to be Ricky. Not only was he the first, but he's a fun loving little imp, even now that he's grown (although some might question if he ever grew up!) Ricky came from a horrible background, but he never lost his upbeat view of life. He always found a way to make me smile and did some really touching things, but his pranks got the entire family going. Danny would be a close second, and he was actually the second 'new' family member, but now that he's moved back home and is taking over for Josh, he is someone I've come to admire. He also came from a rough situation, but he buckled down and did well academically and now he's using his position to help others in similar circumstances. If it was who I felt the worst for and would have wanted to help out the most, it would have been Kevin. He seemed to go through one relationship crisis after another, as well as a health scare, so I'm glad everything worked out for him and he ended up doing well. Next up is also new to the blog: Author Robert Rex. Now in his sixties like Bill, Robert is unstoppable! Robert has been a welcoming voice to new members since his own arrival about a year and a half ago, and he survived another birthday back in November. He’s also from New Orleans and it’s no surprise to me that his interests include food/cooking. Hard to pass up that Cajun cooking down there. Of the three stories Robert has posted here on GA, his most recent is Lion's Lair, which has generated quite the buzz across the community. Congrats, Robert! If you’ve yet to visit, Lion’s Lair is a mature story involving two very down-to-earth (but sexy!) men named Ryan and Clayton. As we’re told in the first chapter, there’s no such thing as an “ex” marine, and Ryan has his work cut out for him adjusting to life in a chair. The story is told in alternating first person, which is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s still a popular format, and the POV of each character is engaging and unique. Fall in love with someone new and go check it out! To Robert Rex: What is the first thing you decide when you're going to create a new character? I probably work ass-backwards on this, but I'm most comfortable when the characters are created based on the story theme/plot. (I like to think my writing tells a story--so the character's definition is driven by the plot/story requirements.). I've only once created a character, then built a plot. And introducing a new character in a story is ALWAYS plot driven for me. As a result, the story defines the character's sex, emotions, and physical description (in that order). The emotional makeup of the character is the real driver, beyond sex. You’ve met him before, Sasha Distan returns to complete our author interviews today. Now, we haven’t seen Sasha in awhile, but at almost 12000 likes, I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping he comes write for us again soon! Sasha describes himself as “part wolf and part African Hunting Dog” but prefers to lick and say hello rather than bite. This youngish Brit is known for his stories involving shape shifters of various kinds, but he’s written other things as well, such as his series American Songbook beginning with Great-Granddaddy's Gun. That one’s a short story revolving around, you guessed it, an old twelve-gauge shotgun. One of my favorites is Six Billion Credit Rent Boy, a sci-fi gem of a tale about … a kitten? Well, no, not literally, but find out more for yourself! To Sasha Distan: Are you a group of writers rather than an individual? No. I am just one person, ten fingers, ten toes, and one laptop. My brain might be more than one person, but that's not really in my control. I find this question kind of funny, because for those who know me personally, I have a history of not playing well with others. I lead well, I delegate well, but I'm not so much what you might call a team player. this partly because I have no tact, and I've never been shy about telling people exactly how and why they are wrong. books which are co-authored always confuse me, because I admire other people for their ability to combine their creative outputs, but I don't understand how they can do it. 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! See you next time, with authors albertnothlit, Carlos Hazday, and Julie Hayes and MA Church! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #34, we had questions for authors Columbusguy, craftingmom, and pmdacey. In AtA #35, we hear from authors AC Benus, Aditus, and Mark Arbour. 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. Our first author today is San Francisco resident, foodie, and historian AC Benus. Since we last questioned him in AtA #30, AC Benus has been promoted to Promising status. Congrats again! Perhaps you know him from his poetry, or perhaps you’ve read one of his series, such as The Judas Tree Novellas. This author also likes to post poetry and trivia in his blog, and he’s responded to the poetry prompts. If you’ve ever wondered what a novel in progress looks like, go on over to AC’s gallery and check out the pics for his novel Dignity and its upcoming sequel Destiny. Jack and Dawn are the main characters (amongst an amazing group of supporting characters) in the first novel, but the second is going to feature Jack and Lincoln. Excited yet? In the meantime, we’ll just have to go re-read the original. To AC Benus: Do you still have the first piece of work you wrote? What are your thoughts on it now that you are a far more experienced writer? Do you think you'll ever publish? I have posted on GA nearly one of the first pieces I ever wrote; it is a short story called The Tower, and I completed it when I was fifteen and in my freshman year of high school. Although before posting it I was tempted to edit it for content (like the opening paragraph uses "He" to begin almost every sentence), I resisted and simply typed up my original. The older works I started (in the summer between 8th and 9th grades) I never completed, and do not have them. As far as my thoughts on The Tower, it strikes me as very, very sad that as a boy I was facing a loveless future simply because I was Gay and saw no way to connect with anyone in honesty and love, although if you had asked me what this little story was really about at that time, I probably would have told you that I did not know; now it obviously all had to do with me not wanting to come out, but thank God I did, and did not suffer the fate of my story's protagonist. As far as being published, I would love to be, and hereby formally invite all literary agents and publishers to reach out (lol, I know, as if that will happen…). The truth is that I am not good at self-promotion, and honestly need help with that. Thank you for a lively set of questions! Next up is Promising Author Aditus, whom we last saw in AtA #32. Once a scientist, Aditus continues to let his curiosity guide him and many of his interests pop up in his stories. Just recently Aditus finished his story The Holly and the Ivy, a first-person narrative about family and secrets. Ahh, family and the holidays, aren’t they the greatest? And don’t forget to check out all of the poetry prompts Aditus has responded to! Did you know that Aditus makes a mean lasagna? It’s got five different sauces, of which I’ve made the Béchamel and the cheese. Yum! To Aditus: What inspired the creation of Jonah from Red Running Shoes. Did the dove as a symbol play a role in his development? Jonah was inspired by a real person. Someone you’d think has it all: He’s good looking, has a well-paid and interesting job, and a lot of nice friends. His issues, however, are what make him story-worthy.One reader very keenly concluded that Jonah has a typical INFP personality. For those who aren’t familiar with this, here are some facts: true idealist, always looking for the hint of good in even the worst of people, often a writer or poet. Add to this some quirks and baggage from the past that leads to a great fear of being betrayed, and you have an interesting character to write about. Those who read my stories know that my focus is usually on the characters of my stories, on their feelings, their reasoning, their reactions to obstacles life throws at them. You can see why I couldn’t resist Jonah.I like names and their meaning and read a lot about this topic. When Jonah’s character was shaping up, his name was suddenly there. I looked it up and found it strangely fitting. Doves stand for love, sacrifice, peace, and hope. I just had to use it. So, I guess the answer is no. The character was mostly finished before I named him, it’s nevertheless a very suitable symbol for Jonah’s personality. Rounding out our authors today is the infamous Signature Author Mark Arbour. Does anyone have more likes or followers than this guy? C’mon, I mean, he’s only posted a chapter a week (on average) for the past, like, forever! (despite his little vanishing act last year, as if he has a life outside GA!) Mark is currently working on my favorite of his series, Brigemont #7, HMS Valiant and the eternal CAP series, with Black Widow. Can you tell that Mark’s a real fan of George W.? Did you know that Mark Arbour has a Twitter page and a Pintrest site? Get connected so you won’t miss the very second that the next chapter gets posted. Plus, the uniforms posted on pintrest help give the Bridgemont series some extra depth and realism. To Mark Arbour: Do your characters sometimes write their own stories, or are you always firmly in control? My characters write their own stories. When I respond to reviews, I usually start with "I think.." which implies that I don't know for sure, and that's accurate. I define the field, set up the characters with their basic traits and personalities, and then let them drive the action. It's more fun that way, and it makes them live for me. I think for that reason, some of the toughest reviews I get are the ones that allege the characters in the story aren't acting in character, so to speak. Based on the way I write, that's a major criticism, and one that I take very seriously. 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! See you next time, with authors Bill W., Robert Rex, and Sasha Distan! I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark