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Well, it's the start of a new week, and for today's schedule, we're bringing you Puppilull's review of Shifter by skinnydragon. Featured story days are a great way to highlight one of the many stories that can be found in GA Stories. With so many stories, it's easy for a single story to get lost in the shuffle. If you're reading a story that you would like to do a blog review and bring attention to, PM me (Renee). Now, onto the review. Hopefully you enjoy Puppilull's review enough to go check out Shifter for yourself! Shifter skinnydragon Reviewer: Puppilull Status: Complete Word Count: 2,034 It’s strange how a story of a mere 2,000 words can take you on such a journey. In this case, it's a journey into the twisted mind of the main character. When writing this review, I read my comments to the story from my first reading. Hypnotic and intense were words I used to describe it and I still think they sum up Shifter rather well. Throughout the story, the reader is left in the dark about a lot of details surrounding the main character. Who is he? With only a vague outline, there’s yet enough of a backstory to give you a definite sense of him as a person. It’s written as a frenzied, sketchy account of events, based of a collection of grim memories. What particularly impressed me was the way the story is written or rather constructed. In the most fascinating way, skinnydragon uses repetition of words and phrases to emphasize the theme of the story in an almost hypnotic manner. Each and every word needs to be read slowly and deliberately, so don’t read this while rushed. Take your time to savor the excellence of the crafting of sentences. This short story had a deep impact on me. Both because of the story itself and because of the brilliant way it is written. It could all too easily have been simply an exercise in technique, but instead it leaves the reader feeling disturbed and upset at having entered someone’s mind. And not just anyone’s mind - a twisted mind that gives Brett Easton Ellis a run for his money. So when you read it, be prepared to carry it with you for a long time. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It’s just that good. Category: Fiction Genres: Drama Tags: young adult, violent, dark Rating: Mature

It was a bad day. I’ve had a few recently. Often enough to know that they don’t get better halfway through; only progressively worse. After lunch, I should have packed up and gone home to bed. I had done that before and it had worked; no one could argue against the logic. The less I do, the less that can go wrong. Why tempt fate by pressing on regardless, when the situation was beyond saving. A phone call increased my workload; I should have switched it off earlier. The error led to a twenty-mile journey in the opposite direction and another so-called ten-minute job, that turned into four hours. I’ve been doing this work since I left school and I’ve never been able to do a job in ten minutes. I loaded up in the rain; it had been constant all day and getting worse. I needed coffee and dry clothes, but the coffee spilt and the clothes got wetter. The cup holders on these vehicles are the wrong size for Tim Hortons, American trucks, designed for American cups. Why can’t they make them bigger? Big enough to fit a coffee cup would be good; is this another way of saving money, what were they thinking? I was already uptight and irritable when I pulled onto the world’s biggest parking lot, sealing my fate. You would think that eight lanes in each direction would be sufficient to take the weight of this city. It’s not as if everybody drives or leaves work at the same time. There’s a good transit system; subway, buses, streetcars, and trains, and it’s nearly eight o’clock, but nothing is moving! Sixteen lanes of stationary traffic for as far as the eye can see is a harrowing site and my foul mood takes another turn for the worse. These people don’t understand my situation, if they did then they would get out of my way and allow me to pass so that I can get home and rest. I should be doing that; the doctor told me. Instead, I’m stressed, hungry, tired, and wet, and now I’m helping to set new records of congestion on the four-oh-one. If I die; it’s all your fault! Yeah, you mister suited and booted in the Mercedes next to me. A real estate agent if ever I had seen one. No wonder properties are doubling in price around here; someone has to pay for that car! Who needs a car that big anyway, to carry a stinking briefcase? When the traffic edges forward, I try to keep the nose of my trusty Dodge truck in front of his overpowered glamour car, and I’m doing okay as we speed up to almost a crawl. I get some satisfaction by leaving him behind, but it’s hardly the brickyard and it was only because my lane was moving quicker. I could have walked and still beaten him, but it didn’t stop me from gloating at his misfortune. See you later sucker! Then to press home my advantage and keep him behind me, I swung into a sudden gap created by a daydreamer, seizing my opportunity with skilful precision. Lewis Hamilton couldn’t have done it any better. Later, as the traffic eases, and we approach highway speeds, he shoots past me on the outside, leaving me for dead, but it doesn’t matter anymore, I won when it counted. It was late when I got home and the house was empty and cold. I should’ve stayed on the four-oh-one, at least I wasn’t alone. After a shower and some food, there’s nothing left of the day, but perhaps that’s a good thing. I don’t want anything else to go wrong if that was even possible. I’m at my desk trying to relax; I should have been doing this all day, but my doctor won’t pay my mortgage, so I have no choice. I have to work to live; but to live, I have to rest. It’s a difficult choice, but one that is made easier by my bank statements. I haven’t felt any discomfort for a few days. I’ll live; if only to annoy others. I may even get around to finishing my story. A few weeks ago that had seemed improbable. Writing was one of the few activities which the doctor had encouraged and it was easy to see why. I use it as an escape route to a more interesting time, where I am able to re-write my own history. It’s therapeutic, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distance myself from the main character. There are several projects that I’ve started and shelved and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to write anything else. It was too late that night and I were barely able to stay awake, but I logged in, if only to satisfy my addiction and check on the progress of my latest chapter. Gay Authors has become another well-worn escape route and one that I am using with increasing regularity. I’ve even made a few friends. Cyber friends, I suppose, because none of them actually know me. We never talk, but type messages and express our feelings with funny little emoticons. They know me simply as Dodger and their only visual reference is a cartoon drawing of ‘The Fonze’ from ‘Happy Days’. The television character is a poor representation of the real me. It’s the perfect disguise and perhaps that’s why I chose it. It was close to midnight when I sat back yawning. My bed was calling me, but I was distracted by a familiar avatar on the page. It had been a while since I had seen anything posted by Skinnydragon and he hadn’t reviewed in a couple of months. Perhaps this was his long-awaited explanation to everyone and my mood was lifted. I knew that he would come back, he enjoyed the site, he had unfinished work and was a prolific poster and reviewer. There had to be a good reason for his recent absence and when I saw the title of his blog, it made sense. Skinny’s sorry. Yeah, whatever buddy; let’s see what you’ve been up to? Travelling maybe, busy at work, moving house…illness wasn’t on my list and certainly not that illness. It was soon clear that this was no ordinary blog, and the gravity of his statement hit me at the end of the first paragraph. I read on until the end, before reading it again much slower, and then once more in tears. I had read every word of every chapter that Skinnydragon had posted on GA, but his final paragraphs were perhaps the most powerful that I had read from any author. It was obvious to me that those words were laced with pain particularly at the end where there were mistakes so untypical of his work. Dying wasn’t even a probable, but when I noticed the date, it became a certainty. Nearly four months had passed since that blog had been posted. I never knew about it, and had never bothered to find out why my friend had been absent for so long, although I did have a few problems of my own. He was my first friend on the site and in the early days, we had spoken quite a bit via comments and messages. He had followed my story from the beginning, posting regular reviews and when I needed his advice, he was quick to respond and thorough in his replies. He was a good guy and friends of everyone on the site. It was easy to see when reading the many tributes left on his blog. No longer tired; I stayed awake until the early hours reading and re-reading every one, but beneath my sadness was a constant reminder of what could have been. ‘There but for the grace of God go I’, was something that my mother used to say, and after reading about my friend, I’ve been using those words a lot myself. It was February 26 when I was admitted to the hospital with severe chest pains. It was a Sunday and I had been feeling ill for most of the weekend. That evening the pain became unbearable, I was short of breath and collapsed. I was fortunate that I wasn’t alone. Most nights I would have been. My friend got me to the hospital, the doctors saved my life and I’m still here! I haven’t seen the light and I’m not going to start preaching to people or telling you how to live your lives, but I will admit that I was very scared and the initial assessments that I received gave me good reason to be. The days that followed were dark and with little or no desire to write, I focused on more important and seemingly urgent requirements. I gave instructions to the family for funeral arrangements, prepared a will, and even wrote letters to friends. I never realised how exhausting dying could be, but when I read Skinnydragon’s blog I was able to feel some of his pain. I hope that he had good people around him, and I also hope that his end came quickly, leaving him as little time as possible to dwell on his fate. I thought I was too young for heart problems; I have a reasonable diet and I’m not exactly overweight, but no one knows what lies in wait for them. While most of us can hazard a guess as to where we will be in five years’ time, we are unlikely to even consider the possibility that we may not be around at all. I was lucky, within a week my breathing improved and the chest pains had disappeared. I spent the first two weeks of March, in cardiology being hooked up to machines that I was unable to even pronounce. I have no idea what all of this would have cost me without a health card, but I was at least able to see where some of my hard-earned taxes had gone and for once I didn’t begrudge them a penny. The Canadian health service doesn’t suck! I asked a lot of questions and learnt a lot about the human heart and how complex and resilient it is. I bet that most people are unaware that it can often repair itself to overcome minor defects and there is a good possibility that this is what is happening in my case. On Friday, six weeks after my collapse, I was delighted to receive a clean bill of health. My heart is not perfect, but it is in a reasonable condition and contrary to the initial assessments there is no longer any need for surgery. I will need to change my life a little, but I am happy that I still have one to change. Others, as we know, have not been so fortunate. In loving memory of our good friend—Skinnydragon. May you rest in peace, my friend.

I can't believe it's already March. 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 #47 Welcome back to another quirky question and answer session with your favorite authors! In AtA #46, we heard from authors Comicality, Mann Ramblings, Mikiesboy, and Parker Owens. Today in AtA #47 we hear again from authors Riley Jericho and SkinnyDragon, plus Craftingmom, and Roberto Zuniga. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had the pleasure of quizzing lady craftingmom (way back in AtA #34, fall of 2015). She had just finished Lie of the Serpent, a story revolving around protagonist Bryan finding his missing fiance. I, like many others, found myself fighting tears several times. Craftingmom does love a good tear-jerker! Since then, she’s been promoted to Promising Author and gifted us with more than half a dozen more stories. Currently she’s working on a sequel to “Guarding the Line” called Finding the Line[/url. While I haven’t read it (you know I’m not a big fan of teen romance), the reviews are intriguing. I think everyone has had that one crush you just wish you’d said something to, but what would have happened if you’d actually gathered the courage to do so? If you have read the original, this is the same story but from the opposite point of view, and it’s just beginning! you can flip back and forth between them or read all of Brady’s story first. But buyer beware! Craftingmom writes character-driven stories. You’ll certainly feel the drama as if you were the protagonist yourself. You can also catch her at her other sites; she’s really branched out over the past few years. Look for her pen name Taylor Ryan, if you want her M/M stuff. To Craftingmom: What sort of things do you do after dealing with the darkest parts of your stories? That's a tough question. I'm not really sure I do anything specific afterwards. I do go through a bunch of tissues while writing them. I think since I tend to do most of my writing between midnight and 4am, the fact that I get to crawl in bed with my husband and cuddle up with him helps too. Before bed, my girls also crawl into my bed and beg me to read to them. Mind you, they are 13 and 15, so the fact that my 'teens' still want to be with me and have me read to them is very comforting. One other thing my husband and I usually do is, when we are eating out, if any first responders come in to eat, we'll pay for their meals. (When 12 walked in at once, that was a little more overwhelming!) It's not something I do specifically because of the dark subject matter I write, but I do think about how these people help the kinds of souls that I write about, and it's a small way of thanking them for their service. Back with us again is Author Riley Jericho, most well-known due to his epic saga An English Teen, Circumcised in the USA. Riley flirted with us for four years before finally completing his saga last fall (Sept 2016). He writes to us from all the way over there in Manchester, UK. Although a quiet, private person, Riley is quite friendly, do don’t hesitate to swing by his profile and say, wish him a belated birthday (Jan), or poke him about writing us something new, not that I’m one to talk. Still, who knows what random comment or thought will lead to the next big story? To Riley Jericho: How do you feel about your stories being so popular and well received here on GA? I'm a Brit. It's genetically impossible for us to accept compliments, so that's a tough question! The truth is, I value every chapter read, and drink in each review, answering them methodically. I love hearing what people think and it also feeds me with many new ideas. Some of my least-proud moments here on GA have been the times I've disappointed readers. I think you know what I mean, and even though my reasons and situation were very real when I disappeared for a long while, I'm also very sorry for doing that—and thanks to all who sent hugs and kept looking out for me. So in answer to your question, it astounds me that most of my readers still stuck around! And yes, I'm extremely grateful my stories are well received. That said, I've learned the lesson that you have to write because you want to. Sometimes there will be lean times when it comes to how well readers respond. It's only when the story is important to you, do you keep writing. Author Roberto Zuniga is the better half of Albertonothlit, who you might remember appearing in this blog once or twice. In addition to writing, Roberto is an amazing artist and has created book cover art for his husband. Mexico certainly has its challenges when you’re gay, but these two almost make it seem like a fairy tale. An interesting tidbit for those Star Wars fans out there: Roberto’s birthday is Star Wars Day! (May the 4th) Now you’ll always remember. According to his friends, this is one sweet man, and he can also write a mean story. Roberto has several stories that are in progress, but I think the hidden gem in his collection is Bred for War. In this story, there are two countries at war. They’ve been at war so long that their entire economy has slowly become only about the war. What will happen when two soldier-boys from opposite sides meet? They’ve been raised from birth to believe their enemy is “evil.” It’s a devilish conundrum for the main characters and the world Roberto has created makes my inner sci-fi geek purr. To Roberto Zuniga: First, congrats on your husband being promoted to Promising Author! So, when it comes to writing, have you two collaborated on projects or bounced ideas off each other? Not really. Carlos is very secretive when it comes to his writing, I think it's basically a matter of wanting everything to be perfect before he shares it with anyone, including me. I have been lucky enough to get to read many of his works before everyone else (LOL) and I've also encouraged him to carry on and publish. Take Earthshatter for instance -his new novel published by DSP-, I loved him so much I wouldn't stop bothering until he accepted to publish it LOL. Something I do have to say is I love his finished products and drawing for those projects. Regarding my writing, pfffff! I'm so messy! Ideas can flow through my mind sometimes, scenarios, particular characters. Sometimes I share some of my ideas or tell him I feel conflicted about this or that character, but he usually advises to work it the way I feel I should. We do read each other's work and encourage each other to keep on writing, since we both enjoy it so much. Author skinnydragon comes back to finish up our blog for the day. Skinny is the author behind https://www.gayauthors.org/story/skinnydragon/18weeksoftwoey]18 Weeks of Twoey and has recently begun a sequel that is generating a lot of attention. Unfortunately, Skinny received bad news at the end of 2016. Send him some love and well-wishes. I feel blessed to have been able to be on the periphery of his life the last couple years. I hope that he is able to maintain the strength of body and mind long enough to see his bucket-list completed. Headstall I think said it best: “I just want you to know, though we've never met in person, you have impacted me from the first interaction. You are one of the bright lights in my life, skinny … I wish I could hug you for real... I really do.” To skinnydragon: What motivates you to write? For example, do you hope to publish or is it simply a creative or artistic outlet? That’s a good question. It is an artistic outlet, in a way. I certainly never intend to publish - ever. I am not a writer, which should be pretty plain to any reader. I’m an artist. I was challenged by a mentor/writer, when younger, to write a back story for a few things I painted. In doing so, I discovered it helped improve everything I subsequently drew. Now I do it all the time and they have become the germs for a few story ideas. Some stories may even get written and make the journey from my laptop to GA. 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 JackBinimbul, mikiesboy, palantir, 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 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