aj

Welcome indeed. I've always been a fan, and it's nice to see you here. You're one of the few writers who have reduced me to groping for a hanky on more than one occasion (I know what you're thinking, blue--and that is so not the case! get your mind out of the gutter. LOL). In particular, this story: it was nice to get a different perspective on the situation. How many of us have been there and just wanted to be treated like the rest of the kids? i know i have...and more than anything else wanted to say "Just lighten up, will ya? Geez!" good work, as usual. hope to see a lot more. cheers! AJ

hey TR-- Once again, lot's of fun. I see you've decided to take the Miltonian road on your bad guy...make him very evil but so energetic and charismatic that we can't help but be drawn to him in a big way. it's the harder way, but if you can talk your readers into feeling sorry when the bad guy gets his, you know you've done good. And it's more how life is, isn't it? I think there are few really evil people in the world...most of us fall somewhere in the middle, between all good and all bad. Michael is an interesting character...and i was pleased that angel didn't put up with his s*** for even a minute. He's gotten more and more depth as we've gone along, and that's all for the better. The casual cruelty of his thougtlessness toward Gene and his outburst in the car show his youth...one of the big mistakes a lot of writers make is making teens act like little adults, and you've avoided that (all along, actually). Oh gods, i put in a parenthetical statement....lol. Still love the drama ducks! cheers! AJ

"Sometimes," he mused, "I use single quotes and italics for thoughts in the omniscient point of view...." Yep, a good editor is not afraid to get brutal with his/her writer when it's called for...but only when it's called for and only in a nicely phrased way. Don't put up with an editor who can't be kind and helpful is my advice. There are plenty of us out there who love editing enough that you shouldn't have to deal with a lot of evil bitchiness. As for CS's point about 'its' vs 'it's'....'its' is posessive (I remember it because the t doesn't want the s to be separated from him by the apostrophe--he's too posessive) and 'it's' is ONLY used as a contraction for 'it is'. As for any contraction, if you can replace the 'it's' with an 'it is,' then you're ok. As i have explained to Jamie, I learned my formal writing habits using a typewriter and an MLA handbook, so some of my vintage style will no doubt show through in the scrolls, though Jamie does his best to curb it. cheers! AJ

And he likes football too! LOL

Hey Aussie-- good questions! As you may have noticed, I use a simple block style in my writing: no indent at the beginning of paragraphs, and separated by a space. Double quotes around dialogue...but note that if a speech carries over into another paragraph, no double quote at the end of the paragraph within the monologue...just double quotes at the beginning of the next part of the speech (by the same person) thusly: "...But if you double the carrot quotient in the recipe, it turns a rather unattractive color. "Then preheat the oven to 800 degrees..." It's all speech by the same person, you see. Single quotes for quotes within dialogue, as Dewey stated, and i use 'em if i'm using omniscient point of view, where we're seeing the character's thoughts as well as what he/she is saying: 'God, this chef is a pompous jerk!' I thought, listening to him drone on about the virtues of extremely hot ovens. so that's my little set of tips for the day. Hope it's helpful... cheers! AJ

Just saw this movie on Thursday evening--it was very good, i thought. 1.) it deals very honestly with gay/bisexual relationships. No hiding in the closet or trying to pass off love between two men as "a very close friendship." There is a scene where Alexander is promising his men what are essentially domestic partnership benefits, saying that their women will be cared for, and their children well educated. One of the soldiers shouts "What about our boys?" In an earlier scene, there is a recognition--for the first time in any mainstream film that i have ever seen--that achilles and patroclus were lovers. It is clearly acknowleged that Hephaiston was Alexander's soulmate, and that his wives were only there for the purpose of breeding a successor. Very nice! 2.) the cinematography is astounding. 3.) Collin Farrel is sexy as hell, and there is a shot of him rolling into bed that is quite revealing *wolf whistle* 4.) Several scenes evoked a lot of emotion from me, with the lump in the throat and tears in the corners of my eyes--and i'm not an easy touch. Go see it! it's long, but it's worth every minute.

Yup...Dewey writes angst like nobody else in the business. Lotsa brilliant moments in this story...I remember liking it a helluva lot when i read it a while back. Good catch, Dude! cheers, AJ

For the pope to say that "it's ok to be gay, as long as you never act on it" is a cop out--just a way to look accepting and not BE accepting. Did they seriously think that anyone with half a brain would accept being placed in such a double bind? Oh puh-leeeze.... AJ

Naw...Randy's gender didn't change. It was old school camp on the part of the blond. you hear that sort of thing a lot in the bars, mostly from the older guys. I had hoped that having the blond call Randy a "blow-queen" would be a signal that things were about to get a little campy...

I found this gem of a tale over on Drake's Tales (www.draketales.org)...Ya gotta check this out! Great little fantasy adventure involving a disillusioned prince and a very bold young thief. cheers! aj

John Boswell's Same Sex Unions In Pre-modern Europe is a great read, and sheds a lot of light on the Catholic church's attitudes. cheers! AJ

Thanks for your kind words, guys. I have another story in this universe that i'm hoping to post to the site soon, and i've currently got a third in the works. So keep an eye open for further installments, the next one of which is called An Unusual Problem. cheers! AJ

Well actually, i don't. I don't get the rules and it looks like a good way to fracture something. But I do like a story on Nifty that i recently found, call (here comes the surprise!) I Like Football. It's by Norm Millberry, in the college section of Gay men and it's very cool. the most recent chapter (there are only 3 at this time) was posted Nov. 10th. The mother of one of the guys is the best character, i swear. But they're all good! cheers! AJ

i recently finished reading Through Different Eyes. I was totally impressed...an intelligent and creative story, masterfully told. Bravo! cheers! AJ

Bravo, Blue! So will you be posting pics of "all of you" as well? It seems only fair...LOL Big hugs for you, pal! cheers! aj

definitely intense, elecivil. pulled me in from the opening sentence.

I've tried setting up characters, writing sketches and building characteristic lists, but none of it works worth a damn. I end up doing just what you've been doing...moving myself into the character's head and letting him/her talk. when i'm on a roll (or maybe just off my meds :D ), i can just about hear the dialogue in my head and i just write it down. Some characters are harder for me than others...that you've done Dave so well is to your credit. cheers, aj

Too true. As we discussed in the Drama Club thread, one's own experience colors one's response to the things we read. Despite the poetic language, i read this as an essay on the fate of a person suffering from arrested development, to the point of pathology. The saddest element is that he was denied help with the problem...once that happened, the conclusion of the tale was a foregone conclusion. cheers, aj

Without a doubt, if you look at the two words in a technical sense, you're right. However, common usage trumps technical sense, so by that rule it's quite ok to call David's behavior homophobic. You're also right that anti-gay sentiment is cynically used by many to support their quest for personal power. Take Dubya, for example: he knew damn well that his constitutional amendment proposal didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of actually passing through congress, much less being ratified by the states. It was entirely a sop thrown to the right wing of the republican party, to bind them closer for the upcoming election. All part of the powergames these people play, at our expense. Nothing new under the sun. cheers! aj

Hey TR-- Haven't talked at ya in awhile...thought i'd drop a quick note about the latest DC effort. I'll second elecivil's opinion about the shower scene with Mike and Ryan--very powerful writing. the mixture of pathos and perversion in Ryan was very good. I was really pleased that it wasn't Mike to the rescue when Ryan confronted Angel...but you manage to avoid the obvious on a regular basis, so i wasn't surprised. And the little comment about the fishhook in the breadball was quite nicely done. I see the possibility for some very rude awakenings for this boy in the near future. Living in seattle, i didn't have any problems with matty's metal adornments...they're so commonplace up here that it's almost expected in a certain demographic...most of whom seem to live in my neighborhood. Up until a few years ago, i had a number of rings in various places, some more public than others. If you wanna know about piercing, pm me. I think i can fill you in. You'll notice that I'm not writing about the mechanics anymore...in my estimation, you've moved beyond the need for that. kudos! cheers! aj

This is a hard story for me to read. You hit it dead on when you said that some are taking it a little at a time--that's me. The only 2 things that really keep me going, oddly, is the facts that David likes animals as much as he does, and that he love his brother so much. Otherwise, he's a crashing dunderhead. And he's not a whiner, i'll give him that. He's trying to figure it all out, and he doesn't just tune out facts that don't agree with his worldview, so there's hope for him yet. As i said at the beginning of the tale, the mechanics are all in place. I like the pacing, the language is strong and confident--good writing, in a word. I'll still put this on my list of stories for the newly out and questioning, but more as a cautionary tale than as an affirming one (though one should never judge an unfinished product, and i reserve the right to change my mind--maybe i'll be back in the "affirming story" camp by the end). I think that the range of responses that adam gets from his friends is a true one...though it's been many a long year since i came out. At least no-one has suggested "transformational therapy" for this kid, as my pastor at the time did for me. The bottom line, i suppose, is that i'll stick with it for awhile and see where it goes. cheers! aj

For young Jock, erections were his bane-- the muscles in his groin he would sprain. When his cock got hard, it stuck out a yard, and he'd swoon from blood loss to his brain. sour grapes from someone not so excessively endowed! cheers, aj

Yup, some good stuff going on here. I really like Maxfield...cool kid! and i got a bit of a chuckle out of a classic freudian slip in chapter one...what a relief that no-one would mistake Tibor for an "analbino"... Looking forward to more of this tale. cheers, aj

thank you for your kind words, jamie--editing the scrolls is purely a pleasure. I feel privileged to be part of working on such a good project. Having read ahead what is upcoming for the readers on this site, all i can say is "strap in--it's gonna be a fun ride!" cheers, aj

What a cool little vignette! So much implied and not said...sometimes suggestion is so much more powerful than statement, and this is one of those times. This is how a short story should be--spare and economical, with every word chosen to effect how the reader pervceives the story. Nice work. cheers! aj