The Members' Page

On this page you will find articles specifically tailored for GA members, including an interview with a prominent member and information about the site and forums you might find useful.

Page 5

The Voice

This Month: The Site Upgrades

The Voice is a new feature in the GAzette and is one we hope will become a regular feature for future editions. Every month the newsletter team will select a topic and a number of members will be contacted to offer their opinions on that topic.

This is your opportunity to speak freely, to offer your opinion and share it with the GA community without judgement or ridicule. The opinions below are unedited and unabridged. This month, to ease us into the new feature, we asked a number of members what they thought about the upgrades to the forums.

GA is an ever growing community and as the forums continue to expand and grow there is a known wizard behind the scene ensuring that the forum is updated regularly. Recently many of you may have noticed the upgrades that have taken place and if not this is your chance to read about them and get familiar with them.

The most recent upgrade includes new features in the profile page that have proven popular with many members at GA. You are now able to click on someone's name and add them to your friends list or see who has been looking at your profile, giving members the opportunity to become friends.

Another feature members enjoy is being able to see on a members profile what posts they have made on the forums and what topics they have started. You can also read their blog, which comes in handy when following your favourite author around hanging on their every word. The message area has become popular too. You are able to leave comments on user profile pages, giving friends or potential friends small messages which I am sure brightens up their day.

An additional feature, which is currently under development, is the Gallery, which will store member pictures and fan art. I have it on good authority that this will be available in the near future.  We asked a number of members what they thought of the forum upgrades:

A big thank you to all the members who shared their thoughts on the forum upgrades for this edition of the GAzette. Next month will bring a new topic for discussion at GA. If you would like to be contacted to give your opinion, please PM Vance and he will add your name to the list.

Mark_L

A Man, A Computer & A Dream

The Birth of Gay Authors

It was September 13, 2002 when the vision of one man began to become a reality. That late summer day would change the face of online gay fiction and substantially raise the bar for a quality fiction site.

Tired of having to dig through fiction super-sites for quality stories, the idea formed that a site was needed that didn’t have your run of the mill smut, a place where people could go and click on any story and find a quality piece of writing. With this vision, a years worth of planning and hard work the day arrived that GA was born.

With its first and then its only hosted author, Comicality, and about 75 members GA persevered through its first year, each year there after gaining members and more authors such as DomLuka and Bill W, soon to be joined by Dan Kirk.

All these great authors had fans, of course, and they had plenty to say. This was the reasoning behind the birth of the forums, which came just under a year later in July of 2003. Fans got the chance to talk about their favorite stories, to have open discussions and be part of a community that was growing rapidly.

Everyone has their favorite authors, favorite stories and favorite features. There’s something for everyone at GA. I asked Myr, the man behind the dream, what his favorite feature is and his reply was:

“For a long time, it was the Story Archive. I programmed the original one. I also did extensive medications to the current one. At the moment, I’m working on the design specs for the brand new one. I don’t really have a favorite feature now. I think now that is the combination of everything, including the community.”

Getting a site such as GA up and running and molded into what it is today was no easy task, but through hard work and diligence it has been accomplished. For Myr, the rewards have been well worth the effort.

He says that, for him, the best reward has been, “The kind words of thanks from teens and others along the way that said that Gay Authors made a big difference in their lives for the better.”

This past year has seen immense growth for GA, with new authors joining, new features and facilities emerging and so much more still to come, even Myr never imagined the site would get so big.

“We’ve gone through a lot of servers now because we kept outgrowing them all," he told me. "We are now on our dedicated server, of course.”

From seventy-five members the first year to just passing the 3,000 member mark last month, and now having over 55,000 posts, 18 hosted authors, 8 shared hosted authors, and a place for up and coming authors to post their works, the numbers themselves speak for the immense popularity and quality of the site.

GA has indeed become a dream to be proud of. For all the lives it’s changed, all the entertainment it has provided and all the friendships the community provides. A man, his computer and his dream have changed the face of story sites for the better and forever!

Vance Lista

Member Interview

Deciding whom to interview for the GAzette is never an easy task, particularly when it comes to the Member Interview.  With the Author Interviews, the person in question has to be either Hosted, Shared Hosted or a well-known eFiction author, but for the member interview the subject can be anyone who doesn't fall into the above categories.  With more than three thousand registered members at GA, that means there are a lot of people to choose from.

When the newsletter team debated whom to interview this month, a number of names were suggested, but only one really stood out.  She's been at the site for more than eighteen months and in that time she has edited for some of the biggest names here, including Vance Lista, Dio Beckstead and LittleBuddhaTW, establishing herself as one of GA's leading editors.  She is, of course, Sharon (sat8997).  Here's what she had to say when GA caught up with her last week...

GA: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed, especially at the last minute!

Sharon: That's okay. I'm used to things happening last minute. Busy life.

GA: I know that feeling!

Sharon: Okay - ask away

GA: Sharon, how did you get into editing?

Sharon: I answered a post by Bill Porter. He was looking for someone to help edit his story "Kid Cop" which he was going back to after being away from it for a bit

GA: Did you already know how to edit?

Sharon: It’s not that complicated. The only prior experience I had was in high school. I was editor of the yearbook. Basically, I just consider myself a glorified proofreader

GA: I've tried both editing and writing, and in my opinion, editing is the harder of the two! Could you tell us which writers you are currently editing for?

Sharon: I've been working with Vance on "Unbreakable Faith", Shannon (DarkShadows) on one of his "Midnight Rainbow", and I’ve been a second set of eyes for Rec. He's going to be posting "Jake's Hand" at GA soon, and Jack Frost on his first story "Moving On". Those are the regulars. I've also helped Dio, Kevin, and David (Little Buddha). I think that’s about it.

GA: Wow, that is quite a list! So, a lot of us are very curious about your GA screename, sat8997, and also your avatar which is a stylized weather chart. Do you by any chance have an interest in meteorology?

Sharon: Nope, I just liked the look of it. And the sat8997 is my initials and the last four digits of my phone number. It’s easy to remember

GA: Awww, and here I was going to try asking you what you thought of the long-range forecasts for this winter! Is there anything that you would like to say to writers, in general, that they could do to make things easier on their editors?

Sharon: Not really. I'm rather laid back in my editing style. I just go with what they send me and try to make whatever 'read' as well as possible. I, myself, dislike reading something that has what I call speedbumps. I just try to smooth out the bumps while staying within the writer’s tone of voice.

GA: Speedbumps, I like that term! Do you usually use Word in editing mode, or do you prefer another method for editing?

Sharon: It depends on the author’s preference. Some like Track Changes and some prefer edits to be in various colored text. So I'm flexible.

GA: How on earth do you manage to edit the French portions of Jack Frost's "Moving On"? I have enough trouble in English, so it astounds me that he can use two languages so well, but it must make editing difficult?

Sharon: I added a French dictionary to my spellcheck. It comes in handy. And I'm just winging it there and hoping it’s correct.

GA: Lol! So, how did you find GA?

Sharon: Oh, that's totally Dom's fault. I stumbled on to one of his stories at Nifty, followed the link to his Yahoo Group and then on to GA when he got hosted and Myr created the Domaholics forum.

GA: Well, I know I speak for everyone when I say: I am certainly glad that you did. Folks, Sharon was surprised that she had been picked to be interviewed for this month's newsletter, but I think that you, Sharon, were the only one surprised that we would want to interview you. Is there anything you would like to add, or say, for this interview?

Sharon: Well I still think you got me confused with someone else. I'm usually known as sarcastic and cynical, not interviewable, but hey, I'll try anything at least once.

GA: Well, I think you were a perfect choice, and have been very gracious to consent to this interview, especially at short notice! Sharon, thank you VERY much!

Sharon: You're welcome.

interviewed by C James