Gay Authors: The GAzette - December 2006

Volume Two, Edition Three

December 2006

The Front Page Welcome to The GAzette! On this page you will find links to the rest of the newsletter content as well as important news and announcements of interest both to members and authors. Page 1
In this edition... Page 1: The Front Page Welcome Note Anthologies Announcement "Write A Poem" Month New Authors New Site & Forum Features Page 2: The Tattler's Page The GAzette Exclusive Sneak Peek Author Interview...Vance Lista The GA Gossip Column Page 3: The Reviews Page Poets' Corner Review: Domes & Teapots Review: Jumping Over My Mountain Author Picks of the Month Page 4: The Tips & Tricks Page The Forum Moderation Team From Imagination to Publication Editing Tips...How Far Should You Go? Page 5: The Members' Page The Voice...The Site Upgrades Feature: A Man, A Computer & A Dream Member Interview...Sharon (sat8997) Page 6: Fun & Games Famously Unfortunate Quotations Wordsearch...Find The Authors Geisha - Art by Birdsofafeather GAzette Sudoku Joke of the Month GAzette Cryptic Crossword Weird Facts Trust Your Doctor It's A Strange World Quiz Page 7: The Back Page Team Contact List Key Links Newsletter Credits	Welcome to the third edition of The GAzette! Welcome to the December edition of the GAzette, which, as always, is packed with news, features and fun for all GA members. In this month's edition we have a number of new features. On Page 5 you'll find a new section entitled "The Voice", an opportunity for GA members to share their views on a range of issues. Our other new feature is an entirely new page! The Fun & Games Page will bring you jokes, games and art each month to keep you entertained as you wait for that elusive next chapter. On a personal note, this will be my last edition of the GAzette as Editor-In-Chief. I'm proud to have been involved in this newsletter and it is my hope that it will continue for many years to come. I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read it, those people who spare a few seconds afterwards to leave a comment about it on the forum and all the people who have worked so hard to produce this newsletter each month. It has been a lot of fun and I look forward to joining you, the readers, to enjoy all the future editions. RHawes16 (Rob) Editor-In-Chief
	The Gay Authors Anthologies QUARTERLY STORY ANTHOLOGY FOR WINTER 2006 We're rounding out our very successful 2006 Quarterly Anthology series with the winter season. All members are invited to participate; you don't need to be an official GA "author" to submit a story. The submission deadline is December 15, with a projected "online" date around New Year's. The theme of the Winter anthology is "Blizzard", and the submission guidelines have been posted in the forum. Also make sure to keep an eye out for news of the 2007 Quarterly Anthologies, coming soon. FAIRY TALES ANTHOLOGY GA introduces our new program of special writing projects with a "Fairy Tales Retold (to a gay theme)" story anthology. All GA members are encouraged to accept the challenge ... just put a new spin (and a gay theme) on a traditional Fairy Tale, Fable, or Folk Tale. Submission Guidelines have been posted in the anthology forum. Story submissions are due on February 1, 2007, with online publication around Valentine's Day.
“Write a Poem” Month The GA Writer Support Team is happy to announce Write a Poem Month - or WriPoMo, as some of you may call it. WriPoMo is a challenge issued by the management at Gay Authors to all members to write a poem in a month. It is intended that this project will run throughout February. If any of the members enjoy rhyming schemes, They might want to participate as well. In the future at GA, it seems, Poetry will have its proper citadel. Or perhaps if you don’t like to rhyme, But certainly enjoy the humor of these lines, You’ll join us and support our project By commenting and promoting The (hilarious) poems of your neighboring poets. Is talent an essential part of this occasion? No, my friends, the point is to have fun. And if you desperately want more information, You’ll need to wait for this upcoming month. The structure really matters NOT, and trochee as a meter’s not compulsory; the important part of your participation is contributing as much as you deem necessary—you’ll truly have no adversary. So, join us and support poetry at GA. We’re “hot and bothered” to see what you come up with. Watch out for more information on the forum and in the next edition of the GAzette.		New Authors We are pleased to welcome our newest Shared Hosting author, Razor, the 17-year-old writer of the series "Rave Boy" and "Ana", as well as several short stories and a collection of poetry. GA is currently the online home of 18 Hosted Authors and 8 Shared Member Hosting authors, many of whom are "homegrown" from among the GA members who started out posting their work in eFiction and the anthologies. During 2007, our goal is to double the number of Hosted and Shared Hosting authors, while maintaining the quality of stories that you've come to expect. However, for the next couple of months, we will not be adding many new authors, as our focus is on consolidating the new features we've added to the site and deciding how we can best serve our community of members and writers in the coming year. Stay tuned for more news in next month's GAzette.
New Site & Forum Features As you may have noticed, the forum now has a different look to it. During November, GA upgraded its forum software. There is an expanded and more interactive User Profile page, including a "friends list", a place where other members can leave comments, read your recent posts, and directly access your blog (if you have one at the GA Community blog). The upgrade also includes enhanced posting features, to make the process of writing forum posts easier. More changes are coming soon, including an image gallery, where members can upload their own artwork; enhancements to the Story Archive and eFiction sections to make them more user-friendly for both readers and writers; the return of the member-written non-fiction Articles section; and much more... so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you've got any questions about the new features, please either contact a member of site management or post your question in the Administrative Communication Forum.