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Want to know what I've been up to recently? My first offering with Dreamspinner Press under my new publishing pen name J. Alan Veerkamp is now available! Welcome to my sci-fi holiday short story, Salvaging Claus Day, part of the Dreamspinner Press 2017 Stocking Stuffer Holiday Anthology! Blurb: For three years, Filo has reveled in silence and solitude as the sole occupant of a space station, where he maintains the communication satellite. Everything changes with the appearance of Luz Espina’s lifepod. Filo shares many interests with the flirtatious Luz, though Filo’s isolation has strained his communication skills. Still, Luz pushes all his buttons… and reminds him of the last man he was attracted to—an attraction that ended in disaster because the man was straight. When Luz learns Filo has never celebrated a holiday, he vows to cobble together a Claus Day celebration for them to share. But is it merely a friendly gesture… or something more? This story is sold exclusively on my J. Alan Veerkamp author page via Dreamspinner Press. Click this link and get your copy at Dreamspinner Press here!

I hope you all enjoyed the last Improve & Encourage feature, because it's time for another one. These features are meant to both provide feedback to authors and, similar to story reviews, point out stories that readers might not otherwise have found. It's similar to a review, in that the person doing the critique tells you what they liked about the story, but it differs in that they also provide constructive criticism. Each author signed up to participate, and sign up's are still open! These will post once a month until we no longer have content. Once that happens, I will critique the last author that posted. If you'd like to provide a critique for the blog, sign up in the thread. I'm hoping to have a lot more authors sign up, and just remember, by signing up, you are also volunteering to have your story critiqued and featured. Little Man Mann Ramblings Critique By: Timothy M Please give us a short summary of the story you chose. This is a story of strong friendships and of budding love which goes awry at times, due to insecurity, mistakes and the misplaced interference from other people. Clay, or Little Man as his best friend Eric calls him, is in college and a talented artist. He spends most of his time around straight jocks like his BFF. But one of them has more in common with Clay than he thinks, and the sparks fly from the very first, unexpected kiss. However, hiding their attraction leads to all sorts of problems and hurts, yet Mann keeps the reader hoping till the end. What do you see as the strengths of the story/poem? The main strength of Mann’s first story is the way he makes the characters come alive before our eyes and persuades us to like them in spite of all their faults and mistakes. The wrong decisions are logical at the time, even as we cringe to read about them. Mann’s message is loud and clear: don’t lie to your best friend and don’t deny love. I also admire the way he portrays the insecurities and fears of Little Man without once making him come across as whiny, feeble-minded or weak-willed. Clay doesn’t let his emotions rule his mind for long, even when they mess up his heart. And perhaps I should mention the sex is sizzling hot. What do you see as the weaknesses of the story/poem? Let me start out by saying it's bloody difficult to find any weak points in Mann's stories. That's part of the reason I chose his first GA story. It has only one real weakness IMO, and that relates to Mann’s choice to drag the three friends, but Clay in particular, through all sorts of terrible, painful situations. At one point I felt as if he’d made a list of all the bad things which might ruin relationships (whether as friends or boyfriends). E.g. lying, cowardice, anxiety, homophobia, loneliness, physical hardship and violence, cheating, rejection and abandonment, betrayal, depression, and any other nightmare conceivable – someone had to suffer from it. I guess you could say Mann comes clean about his style of writing from the very beginning, since all his main story characters suffer. I could accept most of the misfortunes, since they advanced the story development in a logical and believable fashion, and I’m not ‘sensitive’ or generally squeamish about violence. But, to my mind, the final incident in chapter 9 detracted from the main message and over-all contents of both the story and the chapter. I wasn’t the only (shocked) reader thinking this way, so I guess my feedback isn’t very original. Mann does address the issue in his replies to comments, and by adding a chapter note warning, and I can respect his reasons. But it remains the only weak point I could find in the story, and I still hate it. (Sorry, Mann) How do you think the story/poem could be improved? Not surprisingly, it ties into the perceived weakness, but it’s almost impossible to go into details without a major spoiler (see above). The worst part of chapter 9 crossed a line for me, which prevents me from fully enjoying and recommending this otherwise great story. I think the epic and brilliant resolution in chapter 10 could take place without going to the previous painful extreme. If I had beta read this story, I would have advised removing the most offending ‘detail’ but keeping the rest of the graphic violence, as an acceptable compromise. It’s not as if the three guys don’t suffer enough mental anguish already from the fateful consequences of their mistakes and I think the showdown would stand out much stronger with the suggested rewrite. What was your favorite part? (scene/sentence/etc) My favorite parts may be the very first and the very last sentence in the story. Mann sure knows how to start and end his story with something to make us and I also loved the visit to the mall (Heidi is awesome), and the body painting in chapter 1 was a brilliant idea.

Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #49, we heard from authors AC Benus, Parker Owens, HinderToyBL, and Milos. Today in AtA #50 we hear from authors Mann Ramblings, Parker Owens, Mikiesboy, and W_L. First up today is Signature Author Mann Ramblings. In addition to writing, this Michigan Man is quite the artist; have you seen the new avatar image? or the book cover he did for Cia? It’s been four and a half years since Mann first followed his heart to GA, and we’ve sure benefited from it. While his time with Wayward Ink was not as long as anticipated, I’m sure that Mann’s stories will find another home soon. In the meantime, if you snoop around his GA stories, you’ll find plenty to keep you occupied. He’s got a Premium story now: Innocence & Carnality Part 2 is the sequel to what was originally written in 1k word-spurts for the flash fiction group. The original story (Part 1) is also a Premium story and explores the changes to main character Nathan as he finds out about the arrangements for his marriage and what happens in his life from there. Given Mann’s rather wicked humor, this is a can’t miss. But, as the author says, make sure you read them in order! To Mann Ramblings: Your pseudonym is a nice play on words, how did you come about it? When I was first getting up my nerve to write M/M, I figured I needed a pseudonym because I knew my stories would have erotic elements. (In the beginning, that was the focus.) Granted, I hadn't actually written anything yet, but organizing a plan is how I function. Anywho, I only knew of one mainstream writer who had delved professionally in erotic stories: Anne Rice. I have a number of her earlier novels and I was a fan. One of the names she wrote erotica under was Anne Ramplings. Looking at it, Ramplings became Ramblings since I wasn't overly confident in my writing skills. (I hadn't written anything in years and never finished any stories that weren't for school.) And since I wanted to emphasize the male aspect of my writing, Anne became Mann. It was all a play on words and a nod to a author whose work I respect and appreciate. Yes, you read that correctly; Parker Owens joins us once more! This is a rare double-shot, getting the same author two months in a row, but Parker keeps his name fresh in our minds with his regular poetry submissions and activity in the forums. He recently finished Predator Prey, a story about finding redemption. If you’ve been the bad guy all your life, and then suddenly become the victim, how might that affect you in the future? Prey explores this and more. Another recent addition is Fool Me Once, Parker’s submission to the April Fool’s anthology. Author and the main character Oliver have a lot in common, both being math teachers, but Oliver has a bit of a problem - or, really, more than one problem. It’s like Murphy’s Laws are out to get him: if it can go wrong it does go wrong. Read and find out how Oliver handles the obstacle course falling in front of him. To Parker Owens: How and why did you get the idea of using science subjects for your poetry? I am a math teacher and all around nerd. These are fun subjects to play with both for the ideas, for their metaphors, and for the words on their own. Math and science subjects for poems sometimes come up as a consequence of a student question, or an image from a way of thinking about a complex subject. Besides, who can resist the challenge of writing poetry about the universal gas constant? Foodie and Author Mikiesboy is up next. Despite protesting being called a “food blogger,” Tim continues to keep us apprised of his food explorations. He used to be the guy with all the food pictures and although he’s down to only 4 pictures of food, it’s still enough to make your belly rumble. Mike is amazingly lucky to be the recipient of all that good food…. Even if he does buy pie from the store. Tsk! We’ve had a lot of poetry from Mikiesboy this year so far in 2017, but take a chance on Miss Silver Pretty-Pink-Toes, a delightful short story told like an old-fashioned fairy tale. Complete with love, revenge, magic, and a riddle, Miss Silver will take you on a fun ride reminiscent of childhood, but without all the innocence. To Mikiesboy: How hard is it to write about your personal life and the hard moments you've experienced through life? Wow, good question. It is hard in a way but it is also cathartic. I starting writing poetry after I was thrown out of the house at 15 and was learning to survive on the street. Years later when I survived a severe beating, and was off the streets, I decided to write as a therapist thought it might help me deal with things. I had recurring nightmares for many years. So I decided i couldnt be timid about it, that I had to be honest and brave and face the things that frightened me. But when I write about myself, I have to do it like a reporter. I have to take a step away and write it without a lot of emotion. The facts, baby, only the facts!! So when I write about me or anything, I try to be brave, and try to push myself. Today’s final author has been with us for just over 9 years. Author W_L writes to us from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Be careful talking politics with this guy, as he’ll definitely tell you what he thinks in that sharp, dry wit he possesses. He, like Parker Owens is an unrepentant math geek. When I see math jokes in the Make us Laugh thread, this is one of the guys I think of. For example: how do you make seven an even number? WL also enjoys food, and if you ask nice, he might share some of his recipes. In the part of his brain not trying to master calculus and not taking pictures of his dinner to share with us and the part not devising more ways to educate us on current events, WL has managed to squeeze out a story or two. The Real Me is an entry for the April Fool’s anthology, a curious mix of comedy and sarcastic commentary of local governments. Herman is a retired superhero who gets to swoop in and save the day one more time. And he still remembers to get his coffee! To W_L: AJ sees you have written a story called 0's and 1's. He wants to know if you can actually do binary math. if not, why not. 01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01000001 01001010 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 repeats from MrM, Timothy M, Headstall, and a last chat in memory of SkinnyDragon. I’m always in the market for new questions! Simply PM me (Dark). Until next time! Dark

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! My apologies for shouting to anyone recovering. Can you believe it’s already 2020? Weren’t we all recently concerned about Y2K trashing our computers? Wasn’t I trashed myself after a night of half-naked dancing at a Millenium party? I’m getting old; my memory plays tricks all the time. But one thing I remembered clearly was that Ask an Author would be the first blog entry this year. Thankfully, I had this ready early enough I didn’t have to cancel last night’s celebration. Have I babbled sufficiently? How about I shut up and share this month’s question and the responses? ◊ ◊ ◊ My question concerns those who produce a regular Wednesday 1000 word length chapter ie Cia, Mann, and Caz Pedroso. Why did you start writing a story like this? Does it change your writing? Do your readers enjoy it? Do you write chapter to chapter? If so, how obliged do you feel to keep up the frequency? ◊ ◊ ◊ @Caz Pedrozo Why did you start writing a story like this? I saw the Wednesday briefs group on Cia’s blog and decided to join them. It was my way of easing into writing again. Does it change your writing? It does and it doesn’t. The word limit of 500 - 1000 words makes you think more about what you’re writing and can help you to be more concise. However, my Wednesday briefs story is never planned, it is written by the seat of my pants and changes week by week depending on the characters and sometimes the comment left by readers. My longer stories are always planned out ahead of time (although, things can always change) and so have more structure to them. Do your readers enjoy it? Their comments say they do, even when they are begging me to write longer chapters. Do you write chapter to chapter? If so, how obliged do you feel to keep up the frequency? As i said above, yes, i write these stories as they come to me. I try my best to post each week, because i know as a reader that it is annoying to be enjoying a story and the author disappears after posting faithfully for several weeks. I also like the fact that even if my other writing is stalling I can have something to offer my readers so they know I haven’t disappeared and forgotten them. ◊ ◊ ◊ @Cia My Wednesday feature is actually part of a group from a blog I have off GA, and it used to be upwards of 20 authors or more posting each week. I've been participating for more than five years, and I rarely miss a week. Even when all my other writing dries up (like now) the weekly flash keeps me motivated to use my imagination and not let my skills get rusty. Eventually I start writing more on other stories as well since I didn't completely let writing fall by the wayside in my busy life. It's a big commitment for me, but one I enjoy. So, yes, I write each chapter week to week though I might have an overall story idea for the beginning/middle/end to reach, reader comments DEFINITELY influence how each chapter flows into the next with their thoughts, questions, and ideas of what they like/don't like, and it has changed my writing in many ways. Word choice matters when you need one word instead of ten because you're limited to 1,000, and I've found if I have too many chapters where nothing happens but background setting or building motivations and events up then readers get bored. The stories have to have a lot of action but I still need to maintain an ebb and flow of natural activity so it still feels "real" so I'm often challenged to think about how I can include small events with big and timeline jumps to make a story feel believable. I encourage all authors to try writing fiction in a variety of lengths. It's a challenge, and there's nothing more stimulating for authors than learning something new about their writing abilities and preferences! ◊ ◊ ◊ @Mann Ramblings I started writing with the Wednesday Briefers because my schedule became so overloaded, I was having trouble writing at a consistent pace. I have at least three WIPs that get sporadic attention at best. The flash fiction format of 1k per week gives me a deadline I can manage and keeps at least one story flowing constantly. It's been a nice exercise in being concise and getting as much as I need into the portion allotted. Maintaining pacing is a little tricky, but I'd like to think I've managed that fairly well. Reader reactions have been mixed. They’ve been loving the story, but they're also voracious that if I could promise more on a regular basis I would. Because of that, I've been religious about posting every Wednesday at 8am my time because if I can't give the readers as much as I'd like, I can at least be counted on to give them something for being so loyal and putting up with the extended format. If my life ever stabilizes, I'd like to post stories with more traditional sized chapters. Until then, I want to keep writing, and this makes sure it happens. ◊ ◊ ◊ That’s it folks. According to Word, this entry clocks in at just under a thousand words; that sounds very appropriate since it’s a Wednesday See you all next month. In the meantime, please don’t make me wait until I’m out of material to send me questions. Do it now, before you forget.

Hey, old man! Best wishes for a great day with lots of sales at the fair. I'm done with my inking for the year so it's time for you to pick up the slack. And don't forget CJ's waiting for you. It's only been a month but I have vultures swooping in asking for more.