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Writers block a crime of the mind! Discovering a cure The other day I was writing, one minute words were flowing from my head the next minute a concrete wall had been built and all the words disappeared. I was a victim of writers block any journalist, authors or writers worst enemy. So I thought to myself is there a cure for writers block, and in spent a good two or three hours searching, browsing and finding nothing. I was disappointed so I gave up in the end saved my story and closed the laptop feeling sorry for myself. I wake up this morning and ideas are pouring from my head to fast for me to write them down, and I cracked it I have found a cure for writers block a good night sleep. The medicine for everything sleep ,the most natural and safest cure for anything letting the brain settle and rest after a hard days work. We sometimes forget how much we use our brain ever movement every sight, every sound our brain is on full throttle ever single second of the day and whilst we sleep the brain is resting but still working. We should appreciate our brain, and this may sound strange but give it a days break it needs it more then we need a break. yours, scotty94 06/08/2013

A door labeled on-air opened and a short guy with entirely too much hair appeared and motioned for us to come into the studio. We followed him into a crowded nest of microphones, cables, albums, turntables and inexplicable electronics. Dust in the Wind by Kansas was ending and the DJ was coming up on a break. Right on que the DJ keyed his mike and said, "It's Austin in the afternoon and I got Supertramp's Logical Song and the Rush's Spirit of the Radio coming right up after this word from our sponsor. Hang in there, I've got a special treat for you on our next break." Austin in the Afternoon pushed a button and an advertisement for the Sutton Group's home, life, auto and business insurance began. There were a few chairs and a bench in the studio and we planted ourselves to watch the show. Austin looked up from the 3-ring circus that he was running and sighed. "Which one of you guys is our winner?" Joey answered, "Me, Joey White." "Well congrats Joey. Got six friends lined up for the concert?" Joey nodded. Austin muttered, "Aw Damn. OK guys- first names only on the air. I see three Oak Hill class of 80 jerseys- are all of you from seniors from Oak Hill?" David answered for the group, "Yeah, plus the other two in the van outside." When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical. And all the birds in the trees, well theyd be singing so happily, Joyfully, playfully watching me.... Austin continued to prep us for our moment of fame as the second song took off. Begin the day With a friendly voice A companion, unobtrusive Plays that song thats so elusive And the magic music makes your morning mood Off on your way Hit the open road There is magic at your fingers... As soon as the second set ended, Austin keyed his mike and said, "Welcome back to the Austin in the Afternoon show. For the last month we've been running a little contest that you might have heard of: the Stones Six Pack. Well today I have the winner in the studio. It is with great.. reluctance, since I couldn't talk him into taking me, that I hand the big envelope to our winner." "Joey- you've won six tickets to see the Rolling Stones at the Superdome in New Orleans, a suite for the weekend at the Marriott and six hundred bucks spending money. Joey, what do have to say about that?" Joey gushed, "Hot damn!" Austin chortled, "Hot damn indeed. I understand that you and your friends all just graduated from Oak Hill?" Joey replied, "Yeah, we're the class of 80. We call the big guy over there the Beast, this is David and blondie here is Scott." Austin asked the set up question, "So Joey, who do you listen too?" "KROC- because it's a crock... full of rock." "So Joey," Austin asked, "what song is it you want to hear? OK, you got it." Ill never be your beast of burden My back is broad but its a hurting All I want is for you to make love to me Ill never be your beast of burden Ive walked for miles my feet are hurting All I want is for you to make love to me

By 11:00 everybody was awake and aware of our good fortune. We piled into Andrew

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest rock and roll band in the world, I give you the Rolling Stones! Sucking in the Seventies Some Girls It's May 1980. Me and all of my friends and a bunch of friendly strangers without many clothes have been partying since March. It is the graduation season: sangria in garbage drums, feasts of friend, alive we cried, stoned, immaculate, laid and luded, wasted and poluted... I'm sitting on a bean-bag chair in my friend Scotty's houseboat hitting the bong and drinking wine at 10:00 in the morning. The party never really ended; you just passed out for a while and woke up to start all over again. Yesterday's hangover was dancing in my head so I turned on the radio to confuse its rythym. Scotty groaned from his place beneath the table. He hated the Knack and who the f**K was "My Sharona" anyway? His groan became even more plaintiff when the next song rolled out: Toni Basil's Hey Mickey. I started to feel a little queezy myself. David sat up from his spot on the sofa and whined, "Oh for God's sake gimme me a bong hit and change the station." I loaded a hit for David and handed him the bong and changed the station to find the Rolling Stones Missing You which quickly tamed the unrest caused by Toni Basil's bubble-gum abomination that so grated on hung-over ears. Joey sat up and grabbed the phone and started dialing furiously. He sat patiently and then asked, "Am I caller number seven?", "No shit? I'm Joey White of 230 Dogwood. I'll be right down." Joey hung up the phone and started bouncing around the room, and muttering something about the Stones. Bouncing and muttering was very unpopular given the circumstances so Scotty grabbed him and said, "Dude, settle! What about the Stones?" Joey caught his breath and gathered his composure enough to form a complete sentence. "Dudes- Miss You was K-rock's secret song! I just won six tickets to see the Stones in New Orleans. We're going to see the Stones!" Suddenly six people were bouncing off the walls. The Stones. New Orleans. The Superdome... Holy shit! We're going to see the Stones! ...to be continued Miss You I've been holding out so long I've been sleeping all alone Lord I miss you I've been hanging on the phone I've been sleeping all alone I want to kiss you Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh Well, I've been haunted in my sleep You've been starring in my dreams Lord I miss you I've been waiting in the hall Been waiting on your call When the phone rings It's just some friends of mine that say, "Hey, what's the matter man? We're gonna come around at twelve With some Puerto Rican girls that are just dyin' to meet you. We're gonna bring a case of wine Hey, let's go mess and fool around You know, like we used to" Aaah aaah aaah aaah aaah aaah aaah Oh everybody waits so long Oh baby why you wait so long Won't you come on! Come on! I've been walking Central Park Singing after dark People think I'm crazy I've been stumbling on my feet Shuffling through the street Asking people, "What's the matter with you boy?" Sometimes I want to say to myself Sometimes I say Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh Oooh oooh oooh I guess I'm lying to myself It's just you and no one else Lord I won't miss you child You've been blotting out my mind Fooling on my time No, I won't miss you, baby, yeah Lord, I miss you child

Many of you will probably know that outside of my writing here and the small pile of pseudo-educational jobs I do, I'm also a political activist and one-time candidate. This is not a blog post to go on and on about my politics, but simply to set the context for everything else. Five years ago I helped pass an anti-homophobia and anti-transphobia school board policy, and since then I've had the distinct pleasure of watching people become less worried about anti-LGBTQ discrimination in my hometown's schools. Since then, other school board and countries have moved towards greater legal acceptance of LGBTQ rights and freedoms, but many youth still feel like they can't come out for fear of or familial rejection. I'm working with some of my activist friends in the real world to help create an anthology, based on the Chicken Soup books, that would showcase the lived experiences of ordinary LGBTQ people coming out in all aspects of their lives and showing that things do get better. I'm looking to eventually have 101 stories, just like the series I'm using as my template, and different sections where the stories could be found, such as coming out to parents, to siblings, at work, to friends and a few other sections that could possibly make sense. I'm the first to admit that my circle of friends is not terribly diverse, and that we also come from very similar backgrounds as activists (which I fully admit are not the same as normal humans. Our lives are much less joyful.) which may not resonate with everyone else. I'd be honoured to have people submit their stories, or if this is something the community wants to do together and publish, we can find a way to make that happen. I want this to happen, so it will happen; I'd like it to happen with the people I've met here, all the writers and the people who know how to spin a good yarn and help potentially use our writing gifts to help out kids. Thanks for reading, and hopefully thanks for your support.

I decided to go into a deeper look as to what I'm doing for the next little while and what each story comes from and when it should be on the schedule. For the rest of August: 1) I am going to post my Drabble a Day (Prompt Me, Prompt Me Week 1 will come out sometime tomorrow. Week 2 shall come out on the 2nd of September. Thus I need to edit and post it up in the next few days to get that pre-scheduled. Each week will be scheduled for a Monday so I don't have to worry about it. 2) Snowfall, Fires, and Family chapter 4 is in moderation. You can find the story here. I have 5 more chapters yet to post so I'm going to post a chapter a day as long as I remember to. For September: 1) I am going to work on posting my various stories that you can see down below with some information on how long it is. But I do have to set up my schedule around my weekly drabble posting so that's going to be fun. Really. 2) I am also going to start working on rewriting a longer romance story. I'm somewhere around chapter 8 out of something. Not sure since it's been a while. For October: Expect me to might blog on PrepTober since I have no idea what I'm going to write. Fanfiction or Originals, no idea. *shrugs* For November: NaNoWriMo. Yep. That's it. That insanity. Year 11. List of stories to be posted over the next few months: Dancing Shadows: a Retail and Supernatural side story. Single chapter. 2017 Halloween Story Gathering Memories: A untitled series side story. Single chapter. 2017 Halloween Story Mirror Mirror: A short story of about a mirror and a haunting. 8 Chapters. 2017 Halloween Story Morgue Hauntings: A single story that might be connected to a yet unnamed modern paranormal/supernatural fantasy story. 1 chapter. 2017 Halloween Story Memories Chains: A single story about a doll and a man who has to play One-Man Hide and Seek with it. 5 part story. 2017 Halloween Story Remember the Pasts Demons: A short story that I was able to write about a house with a nasty history. Heed the warnings when I get to posting that story. 2018 Halloween Story A Christmas Letter: A short story that is somewhat connected to Retail and Supernatural series. Single chapter. 2018 Christmas story and the only one I could get done. (Last year was busy.) I hope to see your reactions to the stories as I play catch up and post things! And I hope to have brand new things for you all coming up for you guys.

Has anyone ever wondered why some stories make us emotional, you know what I mean it's when you feel choked up or the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, or maybe cloud your eyes with tears. That's not the only emotions that some stories make us feel emotions can be positive or negative, good or bad or any way you want to express the range of emotions. I've just read a story that made me feel emotional, the truth is it actually made me cry. It sounds silly doesn't it and probably makes me sound like some kind of wuss. The story brought back memories from my childhood and no I didn't have a bad childhood, my siblings and I were privileged and grew up with good loving parents. The story reminded me of the last child that my parents fostered, as I stated in my chapter comment I'll only refer to him as P. P was the same age as me and when came to live with us he was very quiet and shy, daily he spent hours just sitting and looking out of the window and at night he had some of the most terrible nightmares, he often woke up crying drenched in sweat and urine. Although over time he opened up more during the day and often socialized with us, at night his nightmares lessened but never went away. During the times that my health wasn't so good P spent a lot of time with me reading, playing board games and just being there like a good friend. When P 'left us' I missed him and yes I cried, I'm not ashamed to admit it. He was the first boy I 'experimented' with and I was very fond of him. After living with us for five years and at fourteen years of age unknown to us he made his 'decision'. I've never really understood until now, not until I read this particular story and in some it has been quite cathartic and has given me some closure to his 'leaving'. It's an emotional read for me, if you want to read the story It was written by Tiffani Chin, @Tiff and is called Screams Taste Like Nectar. It is not P's story but there are a lot parallels to his. I don't know if this story or this post is of interest to others but I wanted to share this very insightful story and why it affected me.

I

Part 1 - Sheba When I was almost six I wanted a dog. I didn't want just any dog. I wanted a big fraggin' dog. Big enough to eat bad kids and ride to school. On my sixth birthday I got a surprise. It wasn't a dog. It was a cute little black kitten with a fuzzy tail. I didn't really want a fuzzy tailed kitten but this one kinda grew on me. And climbed on me. And ambushed my ankles. Stood on her back feet with paws extened like a boxer to challenge me. It didn't take long for her to win my heart. We named her Sheba because it didn't take long for her to assert her royal birthright as queen of the household. While Sheba was jett black, she had quite a lot of Siamese in her. She had the intelligence, the loud, demanding voice, strong will and indomitable spirit that characterize the breed. In bright light, you could see her brown "points" on her face and paws. It didn't take too long for our roles to reverse. I was no longer a kid raising a kitten. I was a kid being raised by a cat. In those days my Dad's job kept him on the road 4 days out of five. My mom was a teacher who didn't get home until 5:00. When I got home from school at 2:30 Sheba was always glad to see me. She would purr real loud and do little figure eights around my feet. She was great company. She always liked to watch TV and, unlike other people, she never insisted on changing the channel. Over the next year or two Sheba and I both grew and regardless of bad weather, bad moods or bad luck I could always count on Sheba to be waiting for me beside the door.

Hey guys, This is my first time posting here (well starting a new thread). I was wondering if I could ask all the authors that are on here a question. How do you start a story? It may sound a bit stupid, and a logical answer would be just start writing, but what I want to know is how do you start writing a story that will lead to a high quality piece of work? I have a ton of ideas and I already have a few story lines mapped out in my head - some drawing from my personal experience and also already envisioned what the main characters look like and all BUT I simply don't know how to begin it. I have been wanting to write this story out for a few years now, but every time I start it, I always scrap it because the beginning of the story is always a bit... iffy, compared to what I have envisioned in my head. Thanks for listening to me rambling on, and I appreciate any tips that you may suggest to me. I look forward to hearing your replies!

Every now and then a thread is created for story recommendations It is often the case that stories from our popular authors (such as Comicality, Mark Arbour, and more besides) are the ones recommended. There is no denying that their stories deserve to be recommended, but there are many wonderful stories on GA that simply do not have the exposure that they ought to have So these recommendations are geared for those stories that are still in peer-review (or just passed it), have relatively few views, and are by new/obscure authors. Without further ado... Import US Invasion by BlackArrow *So others have the opportunity, recommend a few at most in a post **If you have any questions, just ask

I've added a Stories section to the club called "Testing Ground" https://www.gayauthors.org/stories/browse/category/118-testing-ground/ This will be a place you can make test posts with the story system that won't (or shouldn't) show up to anyone outside of this Club. We've not tested extensively yet, so don't post anything in there you don't want other's to see. We know the story posting system can be a bit intimidating to new users. So you can test in here to figure out what works. We can also help define "Best Techniques" for posting and where necessary make software updates.

I pose a question for you guys. Something I've pondered with recent GA offerings, and upcoming birthday. As I get older, and farther from my younger years... My reading has matured. Maturing writing as well. I crave more adult stories like Changes, and Dissonance. Among other greats I've read. Often inundated with another teen offering. Do you find yourselves wanting more mature stories. Are your characters and themes in writing maturing as you do?

I’m experiencing a whole new type of excitement from my writing, which I wasn’t at all expecting. When I first post a story, it’s very gratifying to see it being read, to see the ‘likes’ being clicked, and engaging with the comments from readers. As has been covered elsewhere, I’m sure that this is one of the things that contribute to why I write and post my stories online. But then the story ends, and the comments trail off, and the general sense of my story being a ‘live’ thing seems to shift rapidly towards it just being ‘a thing’. In short - the buzz is quite short term. I still see myself as being very much new here, and I only have a couple of stories posted, but the experience has been similar in both cases. Whilst it being a seemingly predictable outcome, I’m aware that I miss the sense of people engaging with my work. And I can deal with that, maybe it even prompts me to continue writing new stories, who knows. But now, something new is happening. For the first time I’m experiencing people finding my ‘old’ story (yes I know, it’s hardly old by any standards as I’ve only been here a few months), and enjoying it, and even making contact with me about it. For me it feels like re-discovery, but of course for them it’s the first time, so it’s actually a discovery, and I’m realising that there’s an enduring quality to this writing thing. It’s pretty awesome isn’t it? Anyway, that’s all, no deep and meaningful questions posed, I just wanted to share how much I’m enjoying this Have a great day. Sam

I'm posting this because more than one encountering issue. Notifications do not populate for a new chapter of @lomax61 story Twelve Days of Christmas. The settings are identical to my other followed stories. I even tried unfollowing and following again.

I was sitting at a resturant reading a book, and it occured to me... What makes a story scary... i mean you can't really pull of things like one would in a movie, with the jump scar or whatever... and I don't think i've ever read a story that scares me...although one about a serial kill probably would, and it is also something I'd never EVER read So i was wondering what people think makes a story scary, and if it depends on the individual?

I have a fun game idea for GA readers, and, as an incentive to play, I'm going to give away a free copy of any one of my eBooks to one person. You can find a complete list on my Amazon author page. Winner does not have to have an Amazon account to win. The winner will be chosen via a drawing on random.org from the list of players who complete the scavenger hunt before the game ends on April 23rd at 11:59 PM, PDT. Winner will be announced April 24th. Rules: Find any of the following listen of items in a story written by any author here on GA. To prove your find, place a link to the page where the item appears beside the item on the list. You can quote my post and add it here or work off the Word form added as a downloadable file below, but anyone just copying instead of playing won't be entered into the contest. There are no single right answers, so the goal is to have fun racking your memory or searching for stories containing any one, or more, of these items! Word file: GA Stories Scavenger Hunt.docx GA Stories Scavenger Hunt April 13th-April 23rd 1. A character with a red shirt 2. The scent of vanilla 3. A peanut butter and (whatever else) sandwich 4. Fish 5. A character says “Holy crap” 6. Crackers 7. A character with a mustache 8. A silver car 9. A character smoking 10. Two men dancing 11. A planet with aliens 12. A dog barking 13. A baby crying 14. A love triangle 15. A character says “No means no” 16. A story description that mentions death 17. A leak 18. Stained-glass windows 19. A story that mentions souls 20. A story with 3 Beta Readers/Editors (any combo equal to 3) 21. A red-haired character 22. A limousine ride 23. Flying 24. An elf with pointed ears 25. A picnic

Dear GA Authors, just had an amazing idea, I want to write the first chapter of a story then let a different author write each chapter afterwards, so everyone sort of contributes to the story. I know some though will need to be put on to it I just though It will be a good ideas and it will be a good way to see how writers interpret other peoples work. I have seen it done before so I reckon it will be something good to do. all your replies and suggestion are greatly appreciated. yours, scotty94

I know I've asked this before, but I've done a bit of testing. When we edit our comments in stories and posts in forums, GA blogs, and club topics, we have the option to write something in the Reason for edit box. I think it also used to be in status updates, but no longer, which makes sense, because you couldn't see what you wrote. My test shows: If you write in the Reason for edit box in Forums (including Chat) and in Clubs you can see the content. Anything written in the Reason for edit box in GA blogs or in comments in stories isn't visible. Is this an ongoing bug or a feature we have to live with ? The main reason I'm asking is that I like the Reason for edit box and the funny things people write. So for adding it in the big update, and I hope we'll get to use it in more places.

It amazes me sometimes how clueless people can be... the utterly ridiculous and stupid things people do. We’ve had America’s Funniest Videos, Stupidest Criminals, and people giving their kids a hit on a joint on YouTube. I came across this special guy this morning. An FBI agent in Denver accidentally shot someone in a club... How?? Good question! Dumbass did a backflip and gun fell out of holster. *SMH* . I thought we could amuse ourselves with the ridiculous and moronic. Please share your favorite moments. Link to story: https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/06/03/us/dancing-fbi-agent-gun-discharge/index.html

So, this is my little thread to announce my story, Bovian Image. A story that follows a young man, whose name is SarEr Nan, as he tries to survive a life plagued by threats and dangerous situations. Those he cares about are threatened and he is forced into a life of hiding. He can only trust his bestfriend, Zun, as they live from city to city changing names and escaping a man who is hell bent on making SarEr's life hell. Finally, living in Tokyo under the name Savan Bovian, SarEr meets a man he can't ignore. One who forces him to open up despite the dangers of allowing strangers in. https://www.gayauthors.org/story/lilansui/bovianimage/1 :)Well, I'm still working on that teaser. Read it, review or comment, on this thread or on the story chapters. I would love to hear your opinions!. Also, if you'd like me to read your story as well, write me a comment here, and I'll check it out.