I know GA is the best !
But sometimes I go “hunting” other stories, several of which I found before I came to GA. I know a lot of our members do the same. It’s why I started this pool.
We are a big family. There are places for a lot of children .
I suppose the questions are too "concise" to explain your choices, but it's just a suggestion to get your more detailed answers.
dont take it too seriously.
take care and be happy
Old bob

Authorskeep, IOMFATS, Mustard Jar, Awesome Dude, Stories by Driver, Cryboy, Codeys world, Writing.com, Vlista, The Shack, Rainbowcommunity to name a few. B)

GA is more community friendly, has more interseting forums, has more authors, and is well run. Another site I will not name is constanly bickering and insulting.

GA has a higher caliber of stories compared to other sites.

GA is like a 2nd home to me

Authorskeep, Nifty, Hub, Awesomedude, to name a few...

The community here is the best...

Good stories and a lot of active authors as well...



BeaStKid

Well, I definitely look at other sites for stories, but none of them are listed above, so I clicked on other. I post my work at Nifty, so I'm always checking that site out. Also, there's a story I used to follow called Substitute Dad by Scribe (not our Jack Scribe) that seems to have lost steam. Anyway, I also used to go to RCWP to look for work by Lee Mariner, but the updates on that site are so sporadic that I've practically given up. I read stories at Deweywriter too.
The difference between GA and other sites with forum communities is night and day. There's a sense of belonging here, no matter how many people you actually know. Right from the get go I was comfortable and felt good about jumping right in to the Domaholic's discussion forum with my dead on analysis about who Luke and Rory would wind up with, and how Mrs. Moore and Murphy from The ordinary Us would shack up. We formed different camps like LR*TE and SRITE and LGAITE, and it was fun.
But that doesn't happen on other sites. Another thing to consider is the fact that at least 3 out of the 4 story sites you listed are geared toward people over 60, so it's hard to fit in if you aren't in that age group. Here, everyone's welcome no matter what they're ideals are. That's what makes this place so refreshing over all of the other sites on the internet. As for why GA is important to me, I had to pick the option that said there were too many reasons to list. I'll just say that there's no other site like it, and I doubt there ever will be.

I'm interested to look at other sites but I already decided that this is my 3rd home to me (my home, my school for 14 years and this). I never thought that I would meet nice people, including Robbie. He's a wonderful guy and I thank the GA for making it happen and possible no matter how far and how age different from us, still it's love that will win over all.

I didn't vote above because I haven't experienced other sites anyway...

Well, I don't hardly read the stories on here anymore. I really didn't read them much to begin with. Only Nikolas James.

I used to frequent Nifty, actually I found this site through Nifty via Nikolas.

Well, I registered on the forum and I bug you guys from time to time. Also because I planned to read more stories, only I found that many of the stories didn't really interest me.

No offence, but this site isn't all that important to me. I do enjoy some of the topics and some of the people, but I miss out on a lot because I don't read the stories. Perhaps eventually I'll sit down and try to read them again. At least some.

Ted Louis' site has a few good stories on it, but it is mostly just for his story Joel. He has links to sites he likes very much I've yet to explore.

I visit other sites when I find a recommendation on this one. Otherwise, GA is pretty much the only site I visit - and one of the only sites with timely updates. I recall there was one story I was reading on CRVboy and was impatiently waiting for updates, then I saw the same author was listed here. When I looked I found the same story posted in its entirety. Now I cross-check everything I find on other sites with this one.

RCWP was driving me nuts with their hiatus. I haven't been back there since joining GA. I found Nifty's layout too chaotic. Others like Awesomedude, Codey's World, Tickie Story Pages, The Mail Crew - I haven't been to those in a long time. Don't know why.

I visit IOMfAtS solely for updates to Grasshopper's stories. I haven't read anything else.

I also forgot to click 'other' on 'which site?' I visit Terry Audette's website for updates to his stories as well.

Other than that, I can usually be found poking around GA. It's got all the bases covered, as far as I'm concerned.

And I answered 'yes' to whether GA is important to me. The community aspect, for me, is the best part of GA.

I sometimes venture to Awesome Dude, because it is a good site with authors like Graeme. Overall, I prefer GA, because I love the sense of community we have here. There are also more active authors and plenty of variety. GA is, IMHO, the best.

...........I should explain a bit, GA is the best by far, but I venture to IOMFATS for Grasshoppers stories, Mustard Jar for Ronyx, AwesomeDude for a couple authors; it was on one of these sites that I found Graeme before I knew he was here. I follow a lot of authors.

Thanks Tarin

We're glad you registered and love having you here. Also, I highly recommend anything by Dom Luka or VLista.

GA is definitely the best, because of the quality of the stories and the forum/community. Over here has the best interaction between readers and authors, whether in the forums, via PM, or the new Live Chat. We can form real friendships. At GA I read everything, pretty much, whether Hosted, efiction or whatever.

As for other sites, I go to Nifty because it's a major force of habit. I rarely spend much time there because of the lack of good material.

Then there's The Mustard Jar. The stories are geared toward a younger crowd IMO, but still very enjoyable.

Lastly, IOMfAtS for Grasshopper and no one else.

AND if I'm super bored and have read everything already at all the above sites, then I start venturing to all the other available links, like AwesomeDude, the Hub, etc. Usually, I don't bother, since a lot of stories are also on GA, hence I rather go to one location to find something.

I visit numerous sites because I am a voracious reader. Awesomedude, CodeysWorld, PenguinHuggle, Mustard Jar, Nifty, where everything began. There are sites mentioned within the survey that I plan on visiting at some point, just haven't yet.

I think all sites have their strong points and attractions. GA does have one of the more active forums, which I like. I may not participate too much and that is usually because someone--as brilliant as me--has already said what I would have.

All the sites have their share of good authors. Some have younger writers who are getting started or whetting their whistles, so to speak. I'm constantly amazed by the quality of writing I am finding at these sites.

My only challenge with GA--and this is not a complaint--is I find it hard to navigate and have gotten lost numerous times. Now you all quit your laughing. I am so very computer stupid.

Well, in all honesty I spend virtually all of my 'internet time' here (big surprise eh?). If I'm online I'm probably here doing something.

So no, I don't go to the other sites very often. I've been before of course, but not very often. I did however read all of Graeme's New Brother at Awesomedude, and now that I think of it that and JFinn's Human Condition are the only two complete, multi-chapter 'gay stories' I've ever read at another site. That doesn't count Nifty though. I've read many things at nifty (and no, not all naughty things), but I don't really 'count' that for some reason.


Good question, Old Bob
-Kevin

GA has some of my favourite authors, but I think Awesomedude ranks up there with the same level of quality.

GA's forums are more active and I think non-regulars are more comfortable posting at GA. There are more nonsense posts at GA which is both a blessing and a curse.

Awesomedude to me is easier to navigate and get to their stories. Awesomedude's Best of Nifty is also top notch.

GA seems more welcoming to female authors and female fans. I like that the membership is made up of all different kinds of people.

Oh, and GA hosts Domluka's forums

Well I rarely visit other forums or writing sites, but I usually just go there to read authors that aren't on GA. As far as Forums are concerned nothing for me comes close to that. We have a lot of active members here and a lot of good discussions taking place every day. Other forums I visit sometimes barely have anyone online at all and not nearly as many posts of interest.

The Live Chat is great.

The Quality of stories in one place + the active forum can't be beat. (Awesomedude is the second place I visit on occasion)

And yeah, it's important for me to stay here. I'm hosted here and I have friends here.

Yep i agree with Krista i love the live chat here. I have friends here The only other site i go to would be Awesomedude and thats usually just to click on Best Of or see the best short stories of the month kind of deal. Thats like when i want to read a story here i usually click on Top Tens or Most Favorite etc. Sometimes i'll really dig on here and find really good stories that arent up there yet.

Plus here we have fun on the forums. I wake up everymorning before work just to check them out. and when i get home from work too Heck today was my day off and i spent most of the day here lol

I used to frequent Nifty a lot before coming to GA and found my way here through DomLuka, but now that I found this wonderful place... i've considered it a second home. I love the people on here, the way its run and it seems to me like one big happy dysfunctional family.

Also I didn't vote in the poll mainly for the reason that I haven't been to any other sites besides nifty which I never go anymore.


....... I'm a GA addict

I guess like everyone I discovered Nifty and dismissed it as icky. I did discover Driver's the Quarry there so it wasn't a total waste.

My next story site was CrvBoy where I discovered Kit and CP Lyton's work.

Branching out, I found Deweywriter, Drake's Tales and the Eggman's Glass Onion all about the same time. They kept me busy for a while. Someone was kind and introduced me to Awesomedude which is a real gem of a little site. I do love my favorite sites- I cried when the Glass onion shut down. Drakes Tales is also gone but you can still find them on the internet wayback machine- something you'll want to know about.

My last major discovery was gayauthors.org whilst looking for Comicality's work. Dom's stuff was a happy discover as were about 20 other writers that are hosted here.

My humble stories are posted at Awesomedude.com, Deweywriter.com and the Talon House: AD simply because they asked nice, Deweywriter because Dewey is like my sensei and the Talonhouse because it's the home of my editor Jan.

I'm not hosted at GA because I don't fullfill the requirements YET but I eventually will. They've tried to recruit me and my answer will have to be for now- when I'm good enough and ready for this league, we'll both know it.

I like being here because of the forums. I don't really think much of GA as a story site, but more as an online gay community. Though I'm really more of a lurker. I think the community is GA's best asset.

As for stories, the authors I enjoy here are Comicality and Dan Kirk. They have great imagination. I tried reading the others', but I can't seem to connect much with them. But I found I enjoy the stories at AwesomeDude, DaBeagle, and CRVBoy much more - many sleepless nights because of them.

And anyway, I don't find Nifty that icky. You just have to know what to look for in titles.

To me GA has more of a sense of community for me.

I belong to Awesomedude also which to me is more of an authors site. There are a few editors there, but it's more of an authors site. There are some good authors there who's work may not appear anywhere else.

Which story, Eric? I originally found my here via The Ordinary Us.

Me too. Haven't been to Nifty in a couple of years. I also like Ron, the only writer at www.themustardjar.com

I actually started to read some of the stuff at AwsomeDude lately, but I do have to say I prefer GA to them any day lol

I too discovered GA through Nifty while reading Desert Droppings (Yea Dom ).

Actually I was reading The Road Home on Nifty avidly and joined Tyler's Yahoo site when the debate started on where he was going to take TRH. I began to check out GA, Awesomedude and Crvboy (the last two I'd never heard of before), and enjoyed reading from all three sites. I actually really liked a great author named Blackheart over at Crvboy and another one by the name of Graeme at Awesomedude, but I found myself coming to GA more and more.

After reading for a while I started popping into the forums as a guest. I was like holy crap , the authors are actually on line and talking with the readers!! Eventually got up the courage to join and made a post or two, the whole time thinking what is the chances an actual author will respond to something I have to say. I slowly began to realize that it is the authors that make GA what it is, a great community, and all the members interacting make it the best.

Needless to say, now I won't shut up .

So to answer your questions Old Bob, GA is very important to me, I try to get in here at least once a day, the forums I think make it much better than the other sites, and I have really enjoyed getting to know many other members here as well. It kind of feels like talking to a friend on the phone and catching up when you pop in here.

Thanks to Myr for having the foresight of making this site, and everyone else for contributing to make it the best .

Steve

p.s. Also a lot of cool guys named Steve here too . At least seven that I know of. LOL

I also started out with Nifty - Didn't we all?? I remember "Dorm Encounters" and "The Road Home". Now I use AwesomeDude's best-of-nifty and I just joined GA.

So far I'm kind of confused with the preponderance of "I don't do sex in my stories"

To me the challenge is to write good sex scenes, into a decent story, so that the sex contributes to plot and/or character development. An awful lot of comments here seem to say "sex scenes are bad/icky/creepy and they don't/can't contribute to plot or character development.

Welcome, StueyNZ!

I agree with you... to a certain extent. Sex is just not the focus of stories here.

Gabriel Morgan is great at including a touching sex scene in practically every chapter.

Comicality, Bill W, Jack Scribe, Melina Catts, and I'm sure there are others, all include a healthy dose of sex in most of their stories.

Shadowgod does an excellent job at weaving sex into plot line. The sex scenes are few, but the character development that leads up to them really brings out the steaminess of the scene.

Duncan Rider is amazing at producing sensual writing without being explicit.

...and those are just some of the hosted authors! Don't forget about eFiction where you can search by rating.

I'm going to have to agree with you there StueyNZ. While yeah some stories don't seem particularly suited to having a sex scene (I can name at least one prolific author) For the most part I find this resurgence of "writing sex is beneath me" puzzling to say the least.

Granted, it may not be because it is beneath them, but the simple fact that writing such a scene is one of the most daunting and scary things I've ever faced. What really gets me is when you have a group of readers who say they don't read them. It's frustrating. They take the longest to write, and are usually prone to double triple even quadruple edits. Only not to be read... supposedly.

Like steph said, its not the focus of a story. That is what Nifty is for, and I'm not knocking Nifty, I read plenty there, but if I'm reading at Nifty I'm not really looking for storyline if you catch my drift.



Thanks Steph!



Oh yeah, Steve (wildone) mentioned blackheart over at CRV... psh that guy is a hack!

As regards sex scenes - I agree with shadowgod. As a reader, I enjoy them if they are well written, and as a writer I appreciate how difficult it is to do well. For me, that means they need to be a part of the story (eg developing plot or showing insight into the personalities of the participants) and not just a bolted-on scene just for titillation and with no real relevance. Don't get me wrong - I've nothing against titillation and I can enjoy nifty-type stories in which plot can be a very minor part. However, if the story does have a serious plot, then I like the sex to be a part of it.

As an author, I can also agree with shadowgod's point that it's frustrating to think that many readers will simply skip over a section of the story that took a lot of effort to write. On the other hand, as a reader, there are some things that simply do not interest me in a story.

For example, sometimes an author will put a detailed description of a hockey game or a football game. Personally, I have absolutely no interest in, and no knowledge of, team sports. Admittedly, the outcome of a game may be important for the plot, as may be the fact that key characters in the story play well or badly and maybe help win or lose the game. However, if an author goes beyond that basic information and insists on writing a blow-by-blow account of the game, who tackled whom, etc, etc, then I switch off and skip over it.

For me, the same goes for fight scenes in 'action' stories - I want to know who won and how they did it, but I rapidly get bored if there is a detailed blow-by-blow account. However, I realise that for some readers such a detailed account of a fight is an exciting part of the story. So, I guess it all boils down to the fact that the author will be writing for a particular type of readership and just has to accept that readers not in that group will skip over it. Having said that, though, I have a gut feeling that a greater proportion of readers will be interested in sex than will be interested in hockey!

Kit

I've been searching the right words for how I feel about this subject, and I just found it. Thanks! *Two thumbs up!*


Rad

Hey, not to knock sex or anything, but are you putting down hockey?

(Yes, I've been to some hockey games that were better than some sex. All depends on the hockey. And on the sex. )

Firstly, I don't think I have ever said or implied that "writing sex if beneath me". I know Steve wasn't making that comment about me, but I'm in the camp of those who don't write sex scenes. The reason is pragmatic and personal -- my wife reads everything I write and she's told me she doesn't want to read a sex scene.

Secondly, I agree that writing a sex scene can be very daunting and scary. I've contemplated including one in my stories from time to time (and warning my wife, so she doesn't read it), but I've never done so. Part of that is because I'm not sure I could do a good job of it. Readers expect sex scenes to be erotic and exciting, though I can think of a few stories where they weren't (deliberately -- it was important to the story that the sex was not erotic). Having said, I keep wondering if I should be including a sex scene in my current novel. It could be interesting I probably won't, though, but you'll have to read the story to find out

Do I read sex scenes? Not often. I tend to skim them, rather than skip them, to see if there is something going on that I need to be aware of (plot-wise, for those of you with minds in the gutter), but I don't deliberately not read them. As I'm beta reading for Steve (shadowgod) I went through his recent sex scene very carefully (and it was interesting what I found ). I've got no objection to doing that -- my skimming of sex scenes is usually because it's 'more of the same', not because I dislike reading them. I read the first sex scene in Dom Luka's Desert Dropping story carefully, as an example, because it wasn't more of the same.

Well....I'm one of those people who said I don't write sex scenes, I write love scenes... but I sure didn't mean to imply that I thought they were beneath me. The distinction I was making was about the purpose of the scene. I don't write sex for sex (like a lot of the Nifty stuff); it's always a metaphor. But I think I write fairly....sensually. At least, I sure try to.

Having said that...I really like writing love scenes a lot. I don't find them difficult. I work at them (from a craft perspective I find dialogue much much easier to write) and often go through for or five revisions to make them sing the they way I want them to, but it's a labor of love. In fact, I often start with a love scene...that's what comes to me so I write it first. And then I try to figure out what I want the characters to learn from it, and what got them there, and that often kind of drives the plot.

As for back to the original topic... I was already hosted on another site, and I started and will continue to post on Nifty, though with a time lag. As a pretty new writer to this genre I've had enormous encouragement from writers who've been around awhile, here at GA, and from several of the other sites. GA seems to have a stronger reader community re the forums etc, but personal supposrt of other writers, and of the hosts and administrators, at least in my experience has come from various hosted sites and I am touched and grateful for it all. Speaking as a writer, it's wonderful to have "homes" for these children of mine, where people can read and enjoy them, and I hope all the sites succeed.