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Let the Music Play by C James Reviewer: W_L Status: Complete Word Count: 287,713 Before he wrote the epic Circumnavigation, Cjames crafted this fun novel about being part of a rock band, in every sense of the concept. From road crew to bandmate, Brandon's journey is beautifully told from being a lonely poorly-paid sound tech to millionaire-rocker with the dream boyfriend, in addition to a subtle nuclear conspiracy behind the scenes to add a little surrealism to the entire storyline! I was drawn in by the interesting plot and promise of the story as I think many readers upon the first few chapters. To me, Cjames is a master of incorporating tragic plot elements like abandoned gay boys, lost dreams, and feelings of hopelessness with the adrenaline-pumping action of thrillers like gunfights (He has that in here later on), evil mastermind (Scar!), and a live demonstration that any Bond villain would drool over (Australians beware!). In this novel, he reminds me of a mainstream gay author, Tal Bauer, who shares a similar style. Emotionally, there are points in the story that evoke different reactions from the tragedy of Brandon and Chase's family lives to the hate-filled downward spiral of Joe Clump into substance abuse. It's not just one emotion, but the entire gamut that you will see behind the scenes of famous and rich singer/musicians. I re-read this story a few times over the years, most recently after the death of Aaron Carter. Joe Clump's decline resonated for that tragedy and made me wonder how unhappy a life of fame and fortune is behind what we see from the outside with concerts and reality TV. I highly recommend this story to readers who want to rekindle dreams, seek an adventure, or want a human story about imperfect people seeking happiness. Plus, if you are happy with this story, tryreading its sequel, "Changing Lanes", which focuses on Eric, the wild middle brother of Chase, Brandon's boyfriend and bandmate in this novel (Curious, well so is Eric ! ). Category: Fiction Genres: Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense Sub-genres: Suspense, Adventure Tags: teen, gay, north america, crime, music, modern Rating: Everyone

What kind of stories are you reading beyond the web pages of Gay Authors? Tell us the title, author, a summary, and any other information you might want to add. Up-and-coming titles that have yet to be released are welcome, too!

When I was a little nipper, I didn’t care much for reading. I was more about climbing trees, playing sports and fishing. Sitting still and reading wasn’t really on my agenda. In fact school and reading were way, way down on my list of priorities. My grades showed it. I wasn’t an idiot. I just wasn’t interested or connected. My grandmother noticed and she used her grandmotherly skills on me. She started reading the Hobbit to me aloud on rainy winter days. I’m not sure why exactly but it clicked in my head. I did get interested and engaged. She could only read for just so long. If I wanted more, I had to read it on my own. Sneaky Grandmothers. That was the very first book I ever picked up- just for the fun of reading. In fact, I remember being depressed when it was over. That Christmas she gave me the 3 volume set of the Lord of the Rings. I was delighted and my parents were astonished. All of the usual Christmas stuff to play with and I was well into the Fellowship of the Ring By the time school started, I was starting the Two Towers. Teachers didn’t believe I was reading it. I wasn’t getting in trouble anymore for not paying attention. I was getting in trouble for reading the wrong thing in class. By the time I had finished The Return of the King, several very good things had happened: I was no longer reading below grade level. I was reading two grade levels higher. My vocabulary was much improved. My reading comprehension went from average to exceptional. My English grades went from crap to excellent. I went from avoiding reading to frequenting bookstores looking for more! In 4th grade my life changed for the better. It’s because I picked up Tolkien and would not put it down. Why it’s a classic is because it can capture the imagination of a restless boy that never wanted to sit still (probably had ADD) and completely turned him around academically. The movies are great but they just aren't the same as the books. If you've never read them, they are recommended for kids eight to eighty.

Lady Luck is smiling, and A Rescued Life is featured on GA's CSR Feature. I'm excited!! Do read, and on November 30th, let's meet on GA's Blog. I will spend my time over on GA's CSR blog reading what everyone thinks of this story, and won't mind having a chat about everything and nothing, and all...candid and epic conversations all accepted. See you then!

General fiction are fiction stories that don't clearly fall into other more strongly defined genre fiction. This category also features two common Gay Story mainstays, "Coming of Age" and "Rich Boy". With Rich Boy being extremely common escapism fiction from the dawn of the internet where the usually teenage character had enough wealth not to deal with the downsides of being Gay. (Far more extreme in the 1980s and 1990s) Sub-genres: Coming of Age, Drama, Experimental, Prompt, Rich Boy Top 10 Most Read - Drama Dichotomy of Love by Mrsgnomie Great Restorations by Libby Drew The Discovery by Jdonley75 Jay's Loelife by Mrsgnomie CDMX by Carlos Hazday Impressions and Reflections by Tiger I Hate This Town by Demiurge Cards on the Table by Headstall Seth on the Road to Chaos by Ronyx Boss Nanny by Mrsgnomie Top 10 Most Read - Prompt Fiction Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton Parker's NaPoWriMo 2017 by Parker Owens The Lonely Heart Club – a prompt story by Aditus Promptings from Valhalla by Valkyrie Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories by Timothy M. Only Prompts by Mikiesboy 2014 Prompt Responses by Valkyrie A prompt a week by comicfan Buried Treasure by Caz Pedroso Tuesday Staff Meetings by Thirdly Top 10 Most Read - Coming of Age Fiction Gap Year by Mark Arbour Northern Exposure by Mark Arbour The Cockney Canuck by Dodger An English Teen, Circumcised in the USA by Riley Jericho Paternity by Mark Arbour Adam Blake by CLJobe The Brilliant Boy Billionaire by Altimexis Into the fields of Summer by gabz2000 9.11 by Mark Arbour Odyssey by Mark Arbour Top 10 Most Read - Rich Boy Fiction The Brilliant Boy Billionaire by Altimexis Boss Nanny by Mrsgnomie Belovéd by Don H Summer by Carlos Hazday Stranded With a Vampire by Thirdly Coming of Age by Tim Hobson Coming Out by Tim Hobson Reggie: Matt's New Friend by Lee Wilson Rich Boy: Growing Pains by dkstories Rich Boy: Awakening by dkstories Top 10 Most Read - Experimental Fiction His Beautiful Boy by CasualWanderer82 Men Of Honor by CasualWanderer82 Tales of Inanimate Objects by astone2292 Games guys sometimes play by PhillMakracken The Closing Act by Arch Hunter This and That Prompt by Cole Matthews Light & Dragonflies: Nature Poems/Love Poems by AC Benus Over the Cliff by TeamStilinski One Hundred Forty-Five Candles by Aditus Shards & Fragments: Short Stories by SilvryArdor Be sure to check out the stories and let us know what you think below.

I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I was reading my way through the archives and enjoying some of the previously written stories. I was going from present day backwards but decided to change tack and went back to day one, I'm now reading from the earliest entries working my way forward. This is turning out to be a great experience which I am really enjoying. We all know that there are a lot of really good stories currently being written, for example CDMX by @Carlos Hazday is a great story and part of the CJ series is definitely a recommended read, as is the whole series. But most of us, new and older members, tend to ignore the archives. This means that a lot the older stories are not being read and enjoyed. There are some great stories stories in the archives just waiting to be read and enjoyed, one of the bigger stories Working It Out by @Don H in three parts is a great piece of work and there are many more longer stories by other authors too. There are also many shorter stories some only one chapter in length that very good and well worth reading, The Boy Next Door by @PlugInMatty, A Ghost Of Christmas Past by @Codey, Beneath The Surface and More Than I Remember both by @Comicality are just a few that I've read and really enjoyed, I recommend them to everyone. Of course there are a great many more by other authors that are equally as good a read but there are just too many to mention. What I'm trying to say is yes let's all keep reading the newer stories and those still in process, but let's not forget the gems that exist in the archives. Some may not have been read by many, they may not have many reactions, chapter comments or even reviews but they are still good and worth taking the time to read, you can still leave comments reactions and reviews for them if you want to. Try reading something that has not been written by one the popular authors and give a lesser known author a try, if you do I think many of us will be surprised at how much there is to enjoy. I think it will also give an understanding of how much many authors have improved over time and how much hard work many authors put into their writing. Well I hope at least some of you have read and enjoyed this post, if you have maybe you can recommend a story from the archives, if you have read something you have enjoyed share it and let us all know. Thanks for reading.

My PC monitor isn't built to read something super long. It's for photo editing, so the resolution is high which makes text super small (no I won't increase text size because it screws up format). There is a story I want to read and the chapter is just long enough that it's not going to work, so I have to resort on my iPodTouch (that's my main reading medium actually, stories on Kindle). But the thing you see, I tried to browse GA under Safari, it's really hard to find the specific story because I don't know how to move around.... Authors are arranged by names and only navigation is prev and next.... Can't do direct name search, or at least I don't know how.... Browse by story title is the same.... By the way, is there an easy way to send the story directly to email, so I can read it offline whenever I go? (sorry, don't have iPhone. My brother gave me the iPod). Sitting on a train or BART is usually where I do most reading anyways.... Or better, can I send it in format that can be read by Kindle app?

Ok so just a general question for you, when it comes down to writing/reading do you do it listening to anything, or do you need complete silence to get the mental juices flowing? And if you do choose something to listen to while your imagination puts words on paper, what is it that works best for you? To kick off, I'll let you into what I do. If I am researching I like to have silence as I find it easier to store the information I'm taking in. If I am writing, I love to have quiet chill out music, something cool like Enya or similar quietly on in the background. When I'm reading I've always got some kind of music on, tend to love the more chilled out 70's and 80's stuff, the likes of Air Supply, Duran Duran, The Carpenters, Joni Mitchell and other similar kinds of mellow music. So what do you listen to if anything at all?

Yes, OK, insert your own joke here and lets get it over with I'm currently posting an old story of mine (Cal) which I wrote a year or two ago, and each chapter is usually ~4000 words. I've noticed that many stories posted here have shorter chapters than this, which is interesting only because stories I am working on more recently (and yes, they will be posted on GA I promise) are tending to have even longer chapters. So my question is essentially; as a reader, do you care how long a chapter is? Sam

The BBC are currently hosting a Desert Island Books series (format stolen from their incredible and long running Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs) as part of a Reading for Pleasure month. In this they are asking world famous authors (Marian Keyes, Jilly Cooper etc) to chose and talk about their 6 favourite and most influential books – the ones they would take to be stranded with on a deserted island. In the radio version you get to have The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and The Bible (for our purposes, I feel that any religious text of your choice will be an excellent substitute) gratis, but what other 6 books would you have with you? What can’t you live without? The only caveat is that they must be published printed hard copy books, there are no Kindles, Kobos, or other electronic reading devices on the island, so sorry, but you can’t have the whole of GA with you. More’s the pity. Also they cannot be collected works. You cannot have the whole of the Harry Potter series or all three books of the Lord of the Rings and only count it as one book. And you can only choose 6. So, what are your six books, and why have to you chosen them? This isn’t just for authors; editors, readers, mods, and admins are all welcome here. Please share with us, your Desert Island Books.

Thought it might be fun to discuss off-site reading. I'm changing my diet to include more "standard" reading. I've indulged in too much paperback pulp over the last year and need to train my literary eye a bit. Finishing up: Tiger Heron, by my old prof Robin Becker. Spare, lovely meditations on aging. Currently stalled in: Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It by Jennifer Michael Hecht. It's a discussion of how to form an ethical standard for suicide prevention that's not anchored in religion. I got a bit bored by the classical grounding but am going back. Listening to: Death at the Bar, by awesome Ngaio Marsh. British Golden Age-style mystery. Cyanide in a Devon hamlet! I have Audible, but I only use my monthly credit and make it last the whole month by only listening when I'm cooking or exercising. Blasted through: a Clara Benson mystery I forget. These were discovered in an attic by the author's descendants and they're cleanly written, with no real impossibilities beyond the standard ones for the genre, but they're a bit dull. Edit---Was completely shattered by: The Normal Heart and The Destiny of Me: Two Plays by Larry Kramer. The Normal Heart is being released on HBO Memorial Day weekend. I knew I wasn't going to have the emotional whatnot to watch, so I read the play instead. How about you?