AwesomeDude mentioned as helping teenage refugees

[Graeme]

I found this blog today: https://daktaris.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/self-pity-too-often-results-in-myopia/

AwesomeDude and, Colin Kelly in particular, gets a mention as providing stories to help teenage refugees who, in addition to a massive upheaval in their life from being refugees, are also dealing with being gay. The author also asks for help in identifying more stories that are suitable for that purpose.

Have a read, maybe you can offer some more suggestions. I've just pointed them to Codey's World as a source for stories to meet their needs.

[Cole Parker]

I added a message. He may not like it. But I always get a little bit worked up when criticized for being myself.

C

[Bruin Fisher]

My comment is 'awaiting moderation'.

[Graeme]

Cole, I think the negative comment in the blog entry is not about the stories we write, but is merely indicating that they're not stories that young teen boys want to read. The implication to me is that they're looking for adventure stories more than romances, featuring teenagers. Since pretty much none of my novels fit that description, I accept that my stories won't be popular with that group of kids. That's fine. The comment could've been made more diplomatically, but the intent seemed clear to me -- my stories don't suit that particular target audience. That's all.

That's my understanding of what was said. I could be wrong, of course

[JamesSavik]

Gay Writers site has a few stories for us, including one referred to me by a volunteer in Canada. I forget the title offhand, but it featured teenage boys left in charge of an atmospheric monitoring station after a biological war. It pushed all the boy-hormone buttons: heroes, fighting, adolescents, fear. I tried to see if there would be a sequel, but the writer, who requested feed back, provided an email address which bounced back.

Uhhhh... holy crap- he's talking about Twilight/In the Shadow of the Dragon!

[Cole Parker]

I took it differently, too, Graeme, and of course I could have been wrong as well. But he said he was mad and us, the readers of his blog, and the reason for that seemed to be we were sitting on our asses instead of out actively being activists like he was. That was how I understood it. He seemed to be debasing what we do in favor of what he did. I'm proud of what I'm doing. That's all I meant.

[Graeme]

He's not the most diplomatic or talented advocate for what he's doing, but I got the overall message loud and clear -- he cares for those kids and he's trying to do his best to help them. Which is why I got off my fat arse and made some suggestions As I understand it, he's not looking for activists. He's looking for help or support, and he wasn't getting it. His post about putting something on the Internet and expecting feedback almost immediately shows he's very naive. I only became aware of the situation and his blog when he made a post over at GA, asking for help.

I've just skimmed a few of the other posts on that blog (there's not a lot) and one of the comments he made was about the difference between stories about teenagers and stories written for teenagers. Since I've been buy and reading a number of YA novels (and then passing them onto my sons to read ) I understand the distinction. I tend to write more about late teens, early twenties, and more for an older audience than a teenage audience. There's probably not enough action in my stories to keep a teenager's attention.

[Rutabaga]

I found the blog post kind of incoherent and whining. If he wants a certain category of youth-oriented gay fiction, maybe he should ask for recommendations in a sensible and straightforward manner.

R

[Graeme]

I found the blog post kind of incoherent and whining. If he wants a certain category of youth-oriented gay fiction, maybe he should ask for recommendations in a sensible and straightforward manner.

R

My understanding is that he's a doctor. I won't mention the stereotype about doctor's handwriting, but...

Yes, the request could've been made in a much better way. The request itself is, I think, still worthwhile.

[DesDownunder]

Uhhhh... holy crap- he's talking about Twilight/In the Shadow of the Dragon!

Yeah, I picked up on that too. Twilight is one of my favourite nuke-astrophic stories.

[TalonRider]

I saw that someone recommended 'Circumnavigation' by C James.That would certainly give them something to read for awhile.

[Chris James]

Okay, this might take some explaining. Doc contacted me in early February after reading Nathaniel Smiley on Iomfats. We shared a few mails and I read the goals of his group on the blog. He was casting around for age appropriate stories for a distinctive class of young readers and I said: Awesomedude.

He does seem to be quite a critic, doesn't he? The group of young people he's working with seem to have such differing cultures and education levels, he must find it difficult to match positive gay literature with those who want to read affirming stories. Not all of the work on AD can be a match for what he wants, that is a given.

Easy to say I support his goals but he will have to read a lot of stories on a lot of sites to find the things he thinks are appropriate. I think of all the authors here as a merry band of literary guys, and a few gals, who write to the best of their ability and enjoy sharing their talents for free. Doc seems to be looking for a simplistic answer to his needs and we are all far from simple in our work.

I wish the Daktaris group a lot of luck, they fulfill a need and there are so many needy young people out there.

[Merkin]

The Mail Crew, still up and running (with a link from our own Awesome Links above), would seem to offer much of what the good doctor is seeking. http://themailcrew.com/stories.html

Like all Gate Keepers, the doc has a big problem of reading and sorting and accepting. Maybe he should turn the job over to some of his teens.

[colinian]

The Mail Crew, still up and running (with a link from our own Awesome Links above), would seem to offer much of what the good doctor is seeking. http://themailcrew.com/stories.html

I'm not sure about The Mail Crew being around and active. The most recent post on their News/Updates page is December 25, 2010. However, it is a great repository of classic stories that the doctor can recommend to his teens.

Colin