News & Views - Latest Updates - 2009

[dude]

Hi Gang...

As we are doing Instant Updates these days using the tab on the AwesomeDude Home Page and because as we update the stories at least twice a week... I'm suspending the weekly listings of chapter updates to our outstanding list of serial novels... preferring to just update this message periodically as does the Codey's World bulletin.

A note on Twitter: You don't have to join Twitter to get the updates if you just click on the link to our Twitter page... no logging in... just a look at the latest updates to the AwesomeDude Site. IF you DO want to join the Twitter crowd, of course you can and you'll get the AD updates along with other messages from folks you are 'following.'

Now a few notes on our site content:

On Wednesday, the latest Cole Parker serial novel concluded with Chapter 15 of Middle School. This story -besides featuring some of the greatest young characters on our pages- hit something deep inside me. It was, indeed, in middle school (in my case Normandy Jr. High School in St. Louis) that I fell under the dizzying influence of my first crush on a boy. Actually, I like the outcome of Cole's story better than my own real life experience which was, alas, less than fulfillling. Anyway, that's why we read fiction isn't it? If you haven't read Middle School yet, DO!

I'm 'pleased as punch' that longtime AD author and member James Savik has his muse back and has started another story, Twilight, the first two chapters of which were posted Saturday. It promises to be one to follow. I'm aleady hooked. Glad to have you and your restored creative juices back with us, James!

Looks like the well-traveled Seth Newman's debut story on AD is picking up lots of interest. It's Why Did He Die? Chapter 5 of which is now posted. A couple more works by Seth, which he had written before his arrival at AwesomeDude will be added to his Author Page in the next week or so. I'll let you know through AD Updates when I accomplish that.

Jamie has updated The Scrolls of Icaria... his epic novel of boys with wings... with Chapter 26 of Book II. You might have wondered what happened to popular author AJ. He's Jamie's editor and is working so hard on the new TSOI episodes that, alas, he's had little time to attend to his own writing. Talon House's Jan is doing yeoman service, as well, in going back with Jamie in revising early chapters of TSOI so the most modern and squeak clean version of the story will always be available here at AD. Kudos to all the TSOI team!

We'll feature other stories and their authors in future postings in this continuing thread.

I want to thank all those who have expressed their support of AwesomeDude with not only their readership, but with donations to keep us going, clidking the kitty at the upper left hand corner of our AwesomeDude Home Page.

AD Radio keeps chugging along with more listeners every day.

Best of Nifty and the Net website at www.best-of-nifty.org is now in sync with the BoNN monthly updates here in the BoN Forums and will continue to update the first of each month. Many thanks to the tireless efforts of vwl for keeping the BoNN project going. And thanks to our band of reviewers for their ratings of nominated stories and to readers for suggestions, as well.

And finally, some of our most popular and talented authors have reported a decrease in feedback from listeners. I'm afraid it's the old syndrome in which popular authors who consistently turn out fine stories hear less from readers who have come to expect the best. Come on... our authors are only paid in the currency of your appreciation for what they write. And all appreciate your feedback on the stories... so let's get off our collective duffs and let them know how much they mean to us!

For a complete listing of all current stories at AD... check out the www.AwesomeDude.com Home Page and for updates anytime, click on the AD Updates link.

[Cole Parker]

Dude:

I just went and clicked on the instant update button and got an error message and no web page loaded.

Cole

[dude]

I just went and clicked on the instant update button and got an error message and no web page loaded.

Works fine here... the one on AD Home page and the links in this forum posting. Try again!

[Cole Parker]

Ah, you must have thrown the 'on' switch. Works fine now!

Thanks.

C

[TalonRider]

It's been an pleasure and an honor to work with Jamie on this project. On my end of the project, Book 1 is now done.

[dude]

Memorial Day 2009 Update!

Welcome to two new authors from the UK. Fabian Black has posted Connections which is at the top of our 20 Newest Short Stories list. And DragonFire has leapt into the middle of us with the first three chapters of Of Light and Dark... a real modern day Vampire Tale Must be the season for vampires as we met one just recently in Ruwen Rouhs' Ran-Dy Va-Mp Visits his Friend

I guess we're all still chuckling at Cole Parker's My Diary, a short story that truly begs a second reading. Well done, Cole. Jack Scribe's taking a vacation after wrapping up Splash on the Web. Expect his next story sometime in the fall. While Family & Friends has not yet run its course, Ron Robbins is taking a brief hiatus. The current part The Lloyd King Story is complete however, so feel free to read right up through that story.

Expect Altimexis to be bringing us the next of his Naptown Tales - whose home is here at AwesomeDude. If the Spring Break part is any indication, we may see our young heroes in the White House and Congress during their summera vacation!

One of the wittiest writers of all time -in my opinion- is the author known here at AwesomeDude as T. Scott Faulkner. His new When Gay Nerds Attack promises to be very entertaining. TSF, who's been with us since the early days of AwesomeDude, never fails to make me laugh, even his emails leave me chuckling. He says rather than a true novel this is kind of a string of vignettes. He also likes to hear from readers who 'get' his humor.

Rick Beck has begun the next season of Outside The Foul Lines. Gay erotic baseball stories... what could be more American?

Seth Newman is on vacation somewhere in the world, but keeps the chapters of Why Did He Die? coming.

Ruwen Rouhs has to be commended for keeping his Buzzards, Hawks and Ravens updated despite having to jump in and teach a course at his university for an ill colleague.

One of my current favorites, Graeme's The Price of Friendship comes to an end this coming weekend. Surprises in store!

The Scrolls of Icaria by Jamie is at a critical juncture. Book II Chapter 27 coming this weekend.

For Best of Nifty followers, we've been busy working there also. Expect the June Update soon.

AwesomeDude Radio is still alive and well with a selection of eclectic songs... more than 7-thousand of them! I'm listening now to the Drifters' Save the Last Dance for Me. It was featured in the closing episode of Queer As Folk in Season One.

That's it. Keep supporting your authors with your comments on their stories, they deserve it. As usual we'll be doing Instant Updates regularly.

[dude]

We're pleased to announce that DJ and Richard Norway have joined the ranks of AwesomeDude hosted authors!

DJ, also known in the AwesomeDude Forums as Dorothy, brings us her novel The Cup Bearer and we have just negotiated a four-chapter posting schedule each week for the story. Two chapters will be added every Wednesday and two more every Saturday. There are also plans to add El Tigre and other stories by DJ to her Author's Page. She writes from the UK. Welcome Dorothy!

Richard Norway gained fame writing some excellent Flash Fiction here at the AD Forums and, if his first novel is any indication, will be a popular all-round author here at AwesomeDude. Check out the first four chapters of We're Working On It posted both here at AwesomeDude and at Codey's World.

James Savik's current novel is turning out to be a blockbuster hit and this week he posts Chapter 9. We're so proud of James - who with the aid of his feline muses, Boo and Havoc, is back in the saddle and better than ever. Check out Twilight! Also checkout Remembering Joey now listed on our Short Stories list.

Duncan Ryder's sequel to Everybody's Wounded... How the Light Gets In is going well with things getting very intense for our heroes. Chapter 11 is up now. Don't miss it!

Seth Newman's Why Did He Die? is also getting intense as this combination gay erotic/murder myster tale unfolds. Chapter 13 is now available.

Part 4 of Altimexis' Summer Internship is posted. Besides our four heroes being on White House and Senate summer internship programs, they find themselves entangled with the law as they happen upon a situation that could prove embarassing. Check out this story set in 'real time' Washington DC. The latest Naptown Tale, The Future Starts Now is also on the Short Stories list.

Rick Beck's Outside The Foul Lines, a gay story about baseball is even surprising him in its popularity. Like all Rick's stories, it's written well and appeals to the average guy. Give this story a try if you're a baseball fan like me or even if you aren't. You'll like the characters. And hey, before we leave Rick... check out his novella Gay Boy Running near the top of the 20 Newst Complete Novels heading on the AwesomeDude Home Page. And YES, that IS a picture of Rick as a young writer on the title page. What a hottie!

Also up there on the Newest Complete Novels list is Mystery & Mayhem at St. Marks - A Sequel by our friend Joel, writing from the UK, which recently concluded. If you're one of those people who won't start a serial novel until it's completed... now is the time!

I wonder how many of you guessed the final outcome of The Price of Friendship by Graeme? I deliberately didn't read ahead and read the final chapter with you a couple of weekends ago. Were you satisfied? Had you guessed it? It was certainly an engaging tale, well told and with a quite unusual premise. If -for some reason- you have not read it yet... Please do! Also check out the latest in Graeme's Family Snippets series either from the Newest Short Stories list or from the Drawn Fome Life page. A Weekend with Murphy will bring a smile to your face.

Whle you're there at the Short Stories list, be sure to check out Bruin Fisher's Ben's Cabin. Richard writes from the UK, in case you hadn't noticed.

It's so good to have so many of our original authors still going strong at AwesomeDude after more than 5 years. John Francis updated his time warp story on June 18th with Chapter 12 of Pieces of Destiny. In case you didn't know... he appears here in the AD Forums as The Pecman.

And two days later, Jamie brought us the latest episode of his exquisitely written sf-fantasy epic novel, The Scrolls of Icaria. Chapter 28 of Book II is up and available. Also check out the newly posted FAQ on the author and his story.

For fans of Ruwen Rouhs' Buzzards, Hawks and Ravens... Chapter14.4 (darned precise Germans ) is available.

In closing we wish to note the passing of perhaps the greatest pop music icon in American history, Michael Jackson. While full details of how this great talent met his demise are still to be learned, it no less affects all of us. For our part, we've been running a musical tribute to him on AwesomeDude Radio from just hours after his passing ending late Sunday. Some years ago, when Michael was going through some difficult times in the courts and was under vicious media attack, our Story Editor, Tragic Rabbit wrote a story inspired by Michael and dedicated to him. Check out The Velveteen Boy

Thanks for being part of AwesomeDude.com as an author, editor, reader or 'all of the above.' We need you all. Remember to let the authors know of your appreciation of what they do by emailing or commenting through the Feedback Forms on most of the stories. And if you're so inclined and are able in these tough times, your contribution to the upkeep of AwesomeDude.com is always appreciated. All you have to do is click on the Kitty at the upper left hand corner of the AwesomeDude Home Page.

As always... have a great week of reading!

[TalonRider]

As you've noticed, there was no T.S.O.I chapter released this week. And Jamie regrets that. Chapter 29 will be posted as soon as possible.

Once the last chapter (32) of Prince of Mondele Royale has been posted, Jamie will be posting the Interludes on a weekly basis, with one exception, Silver and Gold will be posted the same week. After that, we will be going right into the Baron of Rood.

This is of course, subject to change.