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I found a cute story today called "Paper Walls", by KD, a new author here at GA. The story was first post back in early fall, but it just caught my eye today. I read the first 11 posted chapters and I fell in love with it. It centers around a fifteen year old adopted football prodigy from Russia whose adopted dad is a coaching legend of Texas High Football, himself. KD does an awesome job of bringing his characters alive and leaves you wanting more. If fact, the chapters could be longer, but KD doesn't short change you in the content department. I don't do this too often, but I highly recommend this story to all.

I don't think anyone took the prompt last week, so without further ado this weeks prompt. Prompt du jour #4 – Creative Tag: Mystery There’s a killer on the loose, and everyone in your community is scared. This is startling to you because you sense that the serial murderer is targeting a select class of citizen. Who is he/she and why are they targeting them?

Trials and Tribulations Chapter 3 is now posted. A story about the trials and tribulations of Andy Collins and friends as he confronts his sexual orientation in a small mining town of Pine Hills nestled away in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Trials and Tribulations

This play opens with a startling image. In a sitting room, at night, a man lies dead in his wheelchair while standing over him is his wife holding the gun that killed him. Onto this scene stumbles a man, a stranger to this household. But instead of calling for the police, or even calling for help, the man, the unexpected guest of the play's title, starts to coach the woman in how to get away with the murder of her husband. Agatha Christie had an equally successful career as a playwright as well as a novelist. She is Britain’s most successful woman playwright, her play The Mousetrap is the world's longest running play. But we often forget about this. The Unexpected Guest is a fine example of her murder mystery plays. This one opens with a corpse stage left, but she doesn't treat her plot like a typical detective story. Here the plot comes out of the characters' actions, their reactions to the murder. There is a police inspector and his sidekick sergeant, but these two are much more plot devices so we, the audience, can be told the physical facts of this murder and have the backstory of the dead man explained to us, and this corpse was asking for someone to shoot him. But the real crime solving comes from the interactions of the characters themselves. There are some of her stock characters here. The elderly woman who knows her son too well, the servant who wants to supplement their low wages with a bit of blackmail, and an abused wife who is far from a victim. She does handle these characters well, making the plot flow from them. She makes an interesting comment with the reactions of two of her characters. When a woman thinks a man committed murder for her, she becomes protective over him, standing by him and trying to defend him. When a man thinks a woman has killed for him, he wants to distance himself from her as quickly as possible, leaving her to her fate on her own. However, her treatment of the disabled characters is very of its time and creeks uncomfortably. The victim is a wheelchair-bound man who is so bitter and angry that he could drive anyone to kill him. There's a young man with learning difficulties who is overly excitable and easily manipulated. What is so enjoyable here is the twisting plot. At first we are given a thriller where the question is will this woman get away with murder; then the first twist turns it into a mystery were we don't know who the killer is. After that the plot delivers several twists ending with the last twist where one character is left alone on the stage as the final curtain falls. A play script, even the best play script ever written, is only the third of a great play, the other two-thirds being the acting, direction and staging. As good a read as this play script is, I would still much prefer to see a well-acted and staged production of this play. But plays are written to be acted and not just read. Find it here on Amazon

It's a little known fact today, but President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote a plot for a mystery. Roosevelt enjoyed reading mystery and detective stories. Some of them he found disappointing because they relied on familiar formulas. He came up with an idea about a wealthy man who was tired of his life and wanted to cash in his estate and disappear without a trace. Roosevelt told his story to Fulton Oursler, editor of Liberty Magazine. He lamented that he could never come to a satisfactory ending for his plot. Oursler thought the idea was wonderful and suggested presenting it to popular writers to see what they could come up with. Roosevelt gave his blessing and five writers went to work on it. None of the five knew that the plot had originated with Roosevelt. The story ended up being somewhat erratic with five different writing styles and the characters were weak. It did end up as a movie so Roosevelt has a screenwriting credit on IMDB. I think the whole story is more telling about Roosevelt himself, his feelings, and thoughts about his own life. A story about a wealthy man seeking to escape a loveless marriage and a life he found unsatisfying would have been an escapism which would certainly resonate with him. If you would like to read more background to the story, you may do so at the link below. There is also a small excerpt there. If you want to read it, you'll have to hunt down a copy. The last version was published in 1967 with an ending by Earl Stanley Gardner, famous for creating Perry Mason. http://libertymagazine.com/presidential_roosevelt.htm

Wanted to start an open discussion about the story, in case anyone wanted to talk about it. I also wanted to thank everyone for the fantastic comments and support that I've received so far. [sharedmedia=stories:stories:5199] And here's my cat tax, if you're into that sort of thing:

Hey, guys! So, as you know, so I'm a newbie here. Unfortunately, I can't post anything on the website, here, because the update that will let me post stories from my iPhone hasn't gone live, yet. So I devised a solution that will hopefully let you guys read the project I'm working on, right now. It's called Greytones, and it's supposed to be set up like a soap opera, complete with seasons and episodes. I've posted it on its own WordPress page, which I will link at the bottom. Hopefully this is allowed, linking outside GayAuthors. If not, just tell me. I'll try to post 3 times a week, but I can't guarantee that. I'll try to post pretty often, however. Tell me what you guys think! Thanks, guys! <3 Atheu Email: atheugoreistories@gmail.com Greytones URL: greytones.wordpress.com

I don't think anyone took the prompt last week, so without further ado this weeks prompt. Prompt du jour #4 – Creative Tag: Mystery There’s a killer on the loose, and everyone in your community is scared. This is startling to you because you sense that the serial murderer is targeting a select class of citizen. Who is he/she and why are they targeting them?

Chapter 2 is now posted of my first story ever and I'm not sure if I have what it takes to write. It's a story about the trials and tribulations of Andy Collins and friends as he confronts his sexual orientation in a small mining town of Pine Hills nestled away in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Please read and let me know what you think about the first chapter of the first story I've written. Trials and Tribulations

This is quite out of left field for me, but I've recently started up a new story named "Tuct Side", a dark mystery / romance. Feel free to come over here and converse, ask questions, or speculate if the comment section isn't a big enough place for your thoughts.

This is a story forum for readers of my new story Kissing the Dragon (which I hope to build into a larger body of work going forward) to discuss themes and topics of the story. For those of you who may have found their way to this thread accidentally and not yet seen the story: https://www.gayauthors.org/story/lomax61/kissingthedragon Although this story has a very strong romantic theme, the genre is mystery/thriller in the mold of good old whodunits. The protagonist is a history teacher at a reputable boys school, and the setting is largely suburban London. Once again this a story about a person's emotional growth, this time against a backdrop of mystery when a seemingly normal and uneventful existence is turned upside down over one weekend by a tragedy close to home. So a message to all of you who enjoyed Uninvited Guest and those who decide to join the ride: Keep Looking For Clues. Brian

Dear all, One of the reviews of chapter 7 of MetaOrigin (MetaWolf Book 2) suggested to collect all the open questions raised in the two books so far, to ensure the author (me) not only teases but also delivers by answering them eventually. Please put any question raised so far here and I promise I will tell you (a ) whether I intend to answer it, (b ) roughly when, (c ) whether I think I have already answered it (;-)) and (d ) whether I will not answer it and let the reader guess. Have fun, J.A.R.

Hi everyone, This is my urban adventure story - attempting to be something along the lines of a British Tales of the City (at least i'd like to think so). It's a bit of a comedy, mystery, political, love story. But urban adventure is probably how i'd describe it. Set in Manchester, UK, 2009. Would really love to know what you think of it, if you'd like to take a look! I'm about two thirds of the way through and aiming to complete by Christmas. https://www.gayauthors.org/story/stuyounger/lostinmanchester Stu x

I'm new to this site and wanted to asked for help with editing and Beta reading for a series I'm working on. I've already put it through two editing cycles and still feels it need someone else eyes. I just posted the first chapter on this site, it's called "The Harlequin - Adam Potter Mystery. Adam Potter wanted to start a new life with his detective agency. His first case fell from a tree. A wealthy client named Patrick James was being chased by a masked stalker in a cemetery. Adam has to race to stop the harlequin, before he becomes his next victim. This story has a beginning and end and will continue with two other books behind it. I how someone can help me.