It will be soon 2 years that I had the pleasure to discover GA and to read all its fine stories. Within these years, I could follow the increasing skill of the “regular” authors and I wanted to make a “test”. The quarterly anthologies gave me the possibility to compare what a few of them wrote 2 or 3 years ago and what they brought in the spring 2008 anthology. I didn’t make it to criticize in a negative way, but to admire the progresses I could observe. I selected three authors who participated regularly: Viv, Lugh and C James with following stories:
Lugh :
-Shout It Out (spring 2006)
-Wingless Dreams (spring 2008)
Viv :
-Days of Silence (spring 2006)
-Underneath This Big Ol’ Sky (5) Shade Ain't the Same as Shadows (spring 2008)
C James :
-No shirt, no problem (summer 2006)
-Three for Jake (winter 2007, he didn’t participate in the Anthology of spring 008)

You will find all these stories here under the word "enjoy"
Before I give you my own “judgment” about each of them, I want you to remember :
-That English is not my mother tongue and that I’m not an expert in English literature
-That I’m not comparing an author with others but only the development of the characteristics of each author within the 2 years I participated as reader in GA.
But let first the other members, as much better “specialists” as I am, give their opinions. You have the opportunity to do it once again, even I'm sure you made it already separately in your former comments of each story. I will come later, my modesty forbid me to impose my point of view up front . You will see, comparative critic in Literature is fun and the authors will certainly appreciate it.
Old bob

I think this is a great idea and a great topic of discussion, because I think one of the most important things as any sort of artist/creator is growth and change. Yeats transitioned from lyricism to modernism in his long life, and Maria Callas's interpretation of the same role really evolved over time. Okay, those are examples I'm sure everyone wanted to know about, but the point is... well, the point is that I *would* read what old bob put up, but I have a problem set due tomorrow that I've barely started, and I am going to be doing lab all weekend, so I don't think I'll have time. *sheepish laughter* I can say, though, that I hope I'll be able to look back in 2010 on my most recent anthology entry and make the same analysis.

I know my own writing evolved quickly after I started, and it's interesting to watch (cringe-worthy at times, too, when I look back at my earlier stuff. I can see all the sentences that I would have worded a lot differently if I did them now...).

I'm not in a position to review the stories above for another couple of weeks, unfortunately. Indeed, I still have the majority of the latest anthology to read and comment on. I can't promise that I'll do it, but I'll try to review the stories above and comment here when I get a chance.

..........You have been rather busy, you were AWOL for quite a while here!

Thanks to those few who answered .
I know that's not an easy task but take your time !
My only comment : it's worthwile and the best way to come nearer in contact with an author and to understand his feelings.
I will come later in this topic and I hope the other authors will not be jealous of the three I took as examples

WARNING: Temporary thread hijacking ahead


Actually, I'm AWL, and will be for another week -- that's Absent WITH Leave. I'm just finishing up a month-long family vacation through the USA. I've taken my laptop with me, but not everywhere had easy internet access and my priorities have been with the family and not the computer.

I can drop in a bit and check a few things, but I'm certainly not checking everything on the forums....