D'Artagnon

1. The first draft of everything is shit. -Ernest Hemingway 2. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass. -David Ogilvy 3. If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy. – Dorothy Parker 4. Notice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? “She drove me to my practice at four in the morning,” etc. Writing is not figure skating or skiing. Your mother will not make you a writer. My advice to any young person who wants to write is: leave home. -Paul Theroux 5. I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide. — Harper Lee 6. You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ― Jack London 7. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. — George Orwell 8. There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. ― W. Somerset Maugham 9. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that. – Stephen King 10. Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong. – Neil Gaiman 11. Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die. – Anne Enright 12. If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do. – William Zinsser 13. Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college. – Kurt Vonnegut 14. Prose is architecture, not interior decoration. – Ernest Hemingway 15. Write drunk, edit sober. – Ernest Hemingway 16. Get through a draft as quickly as possible. Hard to know the shape of the thing until you have a draft. Literally, when I wrote the last page of my first draft of Lincoln’s Melancholy I thought, Oh, shit, now I get the shape of this. But I had wasted years, literally years, writing and re-writing the first third to first half. The old writer’s rule applies: Have the courage to write badly. – Joshua Wolf Shenk 17. Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. – Mark Twain 18. Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that — but you are the only you. ― Neil Gaiman 19. Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. – Oscar Wilde 20. You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ― Ray Bradbury 21. Don’t take anyone’s writing advice too seriously. – Lev Grossman  

oh, i agree.  this is the time when mother nature and father time slip off to do their thing, leaving the rest of reality going "wait, whut?!"  come to the dark side.  delve into the shadow so you can have a healthy respect for the safety, the security, the boring purity of the light.
 
BWAhahahahahahahahhahahhaaahhh!
 
Oh, did i type that out loud, so very sorry, I hate when he gets control like that.  *turns and looks at no one*  "Back in your cage, monster!"

As of this moment, there have been 27 votes cast.  Assuming that the authors have all cast their own votes (possibly for themselves) that means at least 17 other members have voted.  We still need more votes, guys!  I'm not going to attempt to sway a vote one way or the other, but I do encourage all members to vote, ask friends to join the forum and read the stories and cast votes as well.  I will say that I do have a story in the competition, but I choose a story other than mine to vote for.  That being said, these are great reads, each with a different take on things.  There is terror, charm, wit, heart, hopes and dreams, love, loss and surprises shot throughout these tales.  Rally your friends and let's make the vote count soar!
 
Robby

In the 1950's, the pulp fiction magazine scene in America exploded with a new flavor of science fiction.  It took a nod to the science-fantasy writings of the turn of the century (Jules Vern and Edgar Rice Burrows come to mind), and started branching out in directions that the technology of World War 2 pointed us in.
 
One of the early writers in this movement was Robert A. Heinlein.  He began slowly, submitting stories while trying to make a living apart from writing.  But the editors of the pulps he submitted to kept paying him and asking for more.  Soon he was writing professionally full time, and never considered himself actually honestly working ever again.  When he was asked why he wrote science fiction, he simply replied that he didn't write stories about the technical stuff, or flying saucers (this was the 1950's after all), but he wrote about the people for whom the technical stuff was their everyday life.
 
As a kid, I found Heinlein's early stuff was kind of tame.  Fun, good reads, but really idealistic and without a lot of the fighting and conflict that modern Sci-Fi over does in place of a good story.  As I grew older and had other authors to compare Heinlein's writings to, Andre Norton comes chiefly to mind, I began to see something more.  Beyond the surface of the story was this idea that he was testing social mores.  Today, such things are a little more open and obvious.  Mr. Heinlein was a master of subtleties, in a time when all sorts of media was under the gaze of a government terrified of communism and communist themes undermining American ideals.
 
Many of his works envisioned and predicted the internet, global ease of communications, cell phones, the difficulties that international banking can have on the economy, and social engineering emerging with our advanced science.  He also predicted that advances in science and culture would be opposed, primarily by religious zealots and political parties.  At least two of his works were considered so controversial that in some places they are still on banned reading lists for high schools ("Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Farnham's Freehold").  He didn't break ground with the purpose of just being controversial.  He wrote things to point out that while we think we're an advanced society, we often need to look at ourselves with as keen an eye as we turn to our universe. 
 
He approaches his characters with a sense of charm and wit that is sadly missing in a lot of stories these days.  Of the influences on my writing, I count how Heinlein treats each character as their own personal hero of their own personal story as a primary lesson.  He looks at the good and the bad of the character, whether that person is a hero of the overall story or the villain.  He's more focused on the people and their motivations than the "stuff," which so much sci-fi expounds upon to the utmost.
 
I recommend "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel," "Between Planets," "Red Planet," "Tunnel in the Sky," "The Menace from Earth," "Farnham's Freehold," "Stranger in a Strange Land," "Friday," "Starship Troopers," "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls," "The Number of the Beast," and "Time Enough for Love."  That should definitely keep any reader busy for a while.  =P

[Special Note: The new website is now live. As a result the links throughout this thread are invalid except for the latest posting to the thread. All of Ricky stories can now be found at Ricky]
I hope you enjoy this little story. I'm working to get my creative juices flowing again after such a break. It was a fun piece and I'm on my way back to getting thing going again. I hope to get TIC finished and I have a couple other projects in the works.
So enjoy A New Trek!

Just finished reading Roll Call and I have to say, very well done, Ricky.  Consistent theme, very engaging and thought out characters.  Witty dialogue.  A sense of irony and angst.  Awesome display of both tenderness, raunchiness, intellect, compassion, hormones, humor and a proclivity to jerk a tear or two.
 
Anyone who hasn't read this story, should.  The romantic parts are great, the troubling parts are done with a gentle hand, and the insightful messages strewn throughout are delivered with the kind of velvet hammer that gets the point across without over doing it.  It reminds me of my own teenage years and how I wished they'd gone.
 
Thanks again, Ricky, for showing us that there is hope and it does get better, one "outing" at a time.  Very good job!

[Special Note: The new website is now live. As a result the links throughout this thread are invalid except for the latest posting to the thread. All of Ricky stories can now be found at Ricky]
This has to be one of my most commented on stories. It has changed lives. I know of 5 readers who found the courage to come out to their support network. It's a fun story. I hope you enjoy it too.

Tad lives in the country. And he's out through no fault of his own. Not the best environment to be out in. And he's quite alone at home and at school. The sympathetic old lady next door has a nephew's school picture and he sees it and falls in love. His fantasies keep him from going crazy. Two years of fantasies shows up with bags at the aunt's door with his mom. The laughs and the tears will keep you going. This story will exercise ALL of your emotional muscles as Tad develops a plan. And the city boy finds out about country living and country lovin'. *Warning: This story contains loss.
 
This Story is Completed and well worth the read. Find it at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author/ricky

[Special Note: The new website is now live. As a result the links throughout this thread are invalid except for the latest posting to the thread. All of Ricky stories can now be found at Ricky]
This was my very first story in the gay genre and it was highjacked by the characters. It contains loss. But it still has a good ending. It remains my favorite of all my stories even with the loss. And I do go back and read it any time I need my tear ducts flushed. It's the only story I've written with loss and as I indicated, I didn't plan it. It just happened. But I still managed a happy ending.
 
All of my other stories have happy endings also.
 
Oh shucks! Tear of the Dragon boy has some loss in it too. UGH! I never realized until this very moment. *sigh*