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Post by simonuk on Dec 2, 2016 20:48:40 GMT -5
If pushed what would you say was the most enjoyable story, I know its kinda like choosing your favourite child , but if pushed mine would be Cowboy up because we get to meet the awesome Lucian. Isn't it bromantic would be a very close 2nd as it shows Jamie in a good light for once, he is absolutely my favourite character and doesn't always get a fair crack of the whip ( I'm looking at you Dave!) Also the Seagul stories were an incredible addition to the SS world, not only was it very well written the focus on older gay guys was a refreshing change, also on a personal note Sheffield, which is heavily featured, is about 10 miles up the road from me so I think you automatically connect a bit more if its set in your backyard. What is everyone else's favourite, do you even have a fave Dave (that rhymes lol) or are they all your babies? š x
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Post by simonuk on Dec 2, 2016 20:53:12 GMT -5
Shit! Forgot to mention Rainbow's End, another great story focusing on older guys , I love the gang don't get me wrong but its nice to have some adult company once in a while!
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Post by Dabeagle on Dec 3, 2016 1:30:45 GMT -5
I'd say picking a favorite is tough. I have some I like more than others, to be sure, and I re-read certain sections of stories. For instance Asher wasn't my best effort, but I (mostly) like the fight scene and I reread that once in a while. We actually meet Lucien in Alec's Best Friend, however his feelings for Robin are front and center in Cowboy Up. In fact, CU was meant to be an exploration of those unrequited feelings. It wasn't until it was nearly done that Ryan brought up the idea of Charlie's demise. We considered several different routes for Charlie to move on, because Ryan had no plans for him and wasn't attached to him.
As far as Jamie goes...he had two things against him, in my book. As I've noted, I like reading about gay characters. It's kind of the point of this here website thingy. Of course I enjoy plenty of things that are almost exclusively straight folksāI love the Indiana Jones movies and I'm currently rereading the Dresden Files as a for instance. Jamie's being 'straight' made him of less interest to me. But what actually put me off on him was his mouth and the way his parents let him get away with it. Ryan and I discussed that heavily because he loved Jamie, however he felt that his mouth was a phase and his folks would understand that. I know if I'd have said things he did in front of my parents, as my mother used to say 'you do and you'll be picking your teeth up off the floor'. I also have kids and know how folks feel when kids start up with that kind of language, but Ryan wasn't able to see that. He did spend a great deal of time arguing with me about it (because he loved to argue with me and he was always right as far as he was concerned) but Jamie did a like of dick headed things. In some ways he's more realistic because teens can be pretty selfish dicks. I think most folks find kids cute and that's all that saves some of them.
I have toyed with the idea of Mrs. Kutsenko spending a lot of a story with Micah, but we'll see. I haven't had time to write, there has just been a whole lot going on.
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Post by PaulR5 on Dec 3, 2016 1:58:20 GMT -5
Simon, you've got to be kidding! My favorite ONE story? Now if you asked for my favorite 30 stories, that would be easier. The ones I read over and over are:
Rainbow's End, Broken Hearted, Alec's Best Friend, Cowboy Up, Along Came a Spider, The Ultimate Gift, Hamster, Jamie's Buddy, Must Love Books, Homecoming, Devyn's Song, Linc, Super Model, The Bearded Bromance, Bunny, Best Friends and Blackmail, Newborn Baristas, Itty Bitty Bestie, The Perils of Lucien 1 & 2, Muttley, Is This Where I Leave You?, Found Family Camp, Finding Niki, Bus Boys, The Right One & Aftermath, Facilitator 2, The Wounded Reindeer, A Matter of the Heart, and Signing Day. The others are too new for knowing how they will end up in terms of reading over and often.
I like Rainbow's End and and Along Came a Spider and Devyn's Song especially because of the amount of adult interaction in the stories. Kids are affected every day by the actions of adults. In Rainbow's End, Alec is more successful in his matchmaking efforts than he is in Don't Ask Alec!
I see those of us who are readers as blessed by writing talents of of the Authors of the Sanitaria Springs Stories. Many thanks!
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Post by Dr. Wilson on Dec 3, 2016 11:05:16 GMT -5
I do still have a favorite. The Ultimate Gift, a collaborative piece between Dave and Ryan, is still my favorite. The emotions expressed between Robin and Lucien is that story are stunning to say the least.
My favorite one to write was "Another Day In Parodyse". I had a lot of fun with that story.
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Post by Nico Gray on Dec 3, 2016 18:14:17 GMT -5
I have read and enjoyed many of the Sanitaria Springs stories over the past few years. Last night I completed a marathon, two-week read of all eighty-nine stories in chronological order. So itās entirely possible I may not be in any state today to offer a coherent assessment of what I like, let alone to explain why I feel that way.
Most of the stories in this collection are enjoyable reads. But with due respect to the authors, thereās not an awful lot in the way of plot and theme in any of the stories that hasnāt already been done reasonably well elsewhere in similar form. So for me, what makes these stories unique and enjoyable are the setting and especially the characters we meet.
And over the course of this series we are introduced to a variety of interesting and engaging characters. My personal favorites include: Devyn, Austin, Lucien and Robin. But the characters that Iām particularly drawn to are those whose emotional vulnerability is revealed to us through their verbally challenging behaviors: Alec, Micah and Jamie. That contrast of vulnerability expressed as (usually friendly) aggression is intriguing and engaging. And each of these characters is well drawn and is usually very well written. Their banter feels authentic and itās entertaining.
So while I enjoyed almost all the stories in this series, and really loved a handful of them, when I think about the ones I liked best, I always think about the stories that include Alec, Micah and Jamie. And while all of them would probably make my āfavoriteā list, the two that really stand out for me are āSanitaria Springsā, where we first meet Alec and his unique combination of courage and an exasperating brand of humanism, and āLittle Bitā, where we get to know Micah well and see Alec meet another variety of Alec and make real strides in his evolution toward the adult version of himself. At least now, as I think about the series, those are the two stories that stand out most clearly in my mind as favorites.
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Post by fbrgreve on Dec 8, 2016 16:49:51 GMT -5
That is a somewhat hard question to answer - I love a lot of them, but for the time being my answer would be "Little Bit".
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Post by Lugnutz on Dec 11, 2016 19:48:37 GMT -5
I've read all of them many times. It's hard to pick one. Each one has something in the story that grabs your attention. Lil Bit does stand out by itself. I can see it.
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Post by Steve T. on Dec 26, 2016 16:46:09 GMT -5
This is almost an impossible question to answer. Basically, my favorite SS story is whichever one I read last. :-)
There are some real standouts though. I generally like the stories that can elicit a strong emotional response, and there are several here that definitely do that! Lil' Bit has been mentioned, and I agree with that. The Space Between, Linc, Is This Where I Leave You, Too Low For Zero are all great ones for doing that. Another one that always does me in is Finding Niki. I remember commenting when I originally read that one that when I finished reading it I noticed that I had a big wet spot on my shirt from the tears that just kept coming all through that story. As it truns out, most of these in the list above are "wet spot" stories for me. :-)
Two others that I really like, but for completely different reasons are Pillow Talk and Road Trip. I admire these because the amount of character development revealed in these is huge, even though nothing really happens in either one. The whole story is basically just conversations between two characters. Dave, you took a very simple concept of your two characters talking, and made it interesting. And things in those conversations lead to so much more. I think these were masterfully done.
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Post by Dabeagle on Dec 26, 2016 19:44:22 GMT -5
This is almost an impossible question to answer. Basically, my favorite SS story is whichever one I read last. :-) There are some real standouts though. I generally like the stories that can elicit a strong emotional response, and there are several here that definitely do that! Lil' Bit has been mentioned, and I agree with that. The Space Between, Linc, Is This Where I Leave You, Too Low For Zero are all great ones for doing that. Another one that always does me in is Finding Niki. I remember commenting when I originally read that one that when I finished reading it I noticed that I had a big wet spot on my shirt from the tears that just kept coming all through that story. As it truns out, most of these in the list above are "wet spot" stories for me. :-) Two others that I really like, but for completely different reasons are Pillow Talk and Road Trip. I admire these because the amount of character development revealed in these is huge, even though nothing really happens in either one. The whole story is basically just conversations between two characters. Dave, you took a very simple concept of your two characters talking, and made it interesting. And things in those conversations lead to so much more. I think these were masterfully done. Thank you kindly, Steve. You're totally right that, essentially, no action occurs. Those stories were based firstly upon those kinds of conversations couples have when alone, or the kinds I think every couple needs to have about their relationship and what form that will take. Some folks come in with a rigid idea of what they want from a relationship and others are more flexible and the couple needs to work out what works for them. Road trip conversations can reveal a lot about a person. Being trapped in a small space with someone for several hours can be quite interesting or quite boring. Here, several things were done that would play in other stories, if only in a minor way. In addition we find out more about how Chase feels concerning the conception of his child, what is going on with Hamster and his relationship - and frankly Ryan wanted a Hamster story, at the time. He always wanted a Hamster story.
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Post by PaulR5 on Jan 1, 2017 22:20:25 GMT -5
This is almost an impossible question to answer. Basically, my favorite SS story is whichever one I read last. :-) There are some real standouts though. I generally like the stories that can elicit a strong emotional response, and there are several here that definitely do that! Lil' Bit has been mentioned, and I agree with that. The Space Between, Linc, Is This Where I Leave You, Too Low For Zero are all great ones for doing that. Another one that always does me in is Finding Niki. I remember commenting when I originally read that one that when I finished reading it I noticed that I had a big wet spot on my shirt from the tears that just kept coming all through that story. As it truns out, most of these in the list above are "wet spot" stories for me. :-) Two others that I really like, but for completely different reasons are Pillow Talk and Road Trip. I admire these because the amount of character development revealed in these is huge, even though nothing really happens in either one. The whole story is basically just conversations between two characters. Dave, you took a very simple concept of your two characters talking, and made it interesting. And things in those conversations lead to so much more. I think these were masterfully done. Thank you kindly, Steve. You're totally right that, essentially, no action occurs. Those stories were based firstly upon those kinds of conversations couples have when alone, or the kinds I think every couple needs to have about their relationship and what form that will take. Some folks come in with a rigid idea of what they want from a relationship and others are more flexible and the couple needs to work out what works for them. Road trip conversations can reveal a lot about a person. Being trapped in a small space with someone for several hours can be quite interesting or quite boring. Here, several things were done that would play in other stories, if only in a minor way. In addition we find out more about how Chase feels concerning the conception of his child, what is going on with Hamster and his relationship - and frankly Ryan wanted a Hamster story, at the time. He always wanted a Hamster story. I can agree with that about wanting a Hamster story. I like stories about Hamster, Derek, Grayson, Chris, Declan, Seth, Lucien, Devyn, Tyson, and Sasha and Sean, especially. And of course, where you have Sasha you will usually have Alec or Kale, where you have Devyn, you will often have Griffin or Nathan; With Seth you'll have Grayson or Logan or Foster. Dave, have you thought about possibly another Travis and Zap story? That would be neat to see, as well.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jan 1, 2017 23:48:03 GMT -5
Travis and Zap...no, I haven't to be honest. Out of my earlier SS stories, it was probably the poorest received. When I read it, I know why. I wanted Alec to do something clever and he didn't.
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Post by paul on Jan 2, 2017 1:43:02 GMT -5
Travis and Zap...no, I haven't to be honest. Out of my earlier SS stories, it was probably the poorest received. When I read it, I know why. I wanted Alec to do something clever and he didn't. On the other hand, Don't Ask Alec! is one of the SS stories I've re-read the most. I'm a sucker for "beginings" stories, with characters struggling and fumbling their way toward trying to figure things, themselves and each other, out. The fact that in this one Alec is also fumbling makes him and the tale all the more endearing.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jan 3, 2017 15:19:28 GMT -5
That's interesting. Thanks for lending your point of view, it's always valuable.
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Post by Dabeagle on May 8, 2017 8:46:13 GMT -5
As my part of working on the story line for the J's, Jon Ellesier and Jake Thayer, is largely done until we hit editing and beta I've turned my focus to other, incomplete works. That is, of course, I can now that I'm getting over a chest infection and my husband, who has missed several days of work with his own abdominal ailment.
Sometimes, when I need to remember a name to reference for a story I'm working on, I'll go back into the story where they appeared and end up reading parts of it. The two stories I'm working at the moment feature Micah in a summer story and Robin and Lucien in a story that sums up their summer and ends with them moving into their college apartment. I had to go back and reference a name, which it was mentioned a few times but most recently in 'Robin & Lucien'. As I read I was reminded the story was very odd and could have used more direction, but there is one line of mine that stirs me to the very core of Robin and Lucien's relationship and also reminded me that I don't really have favorite chapters so much as I have favorite scenes. Such as this:
I pursed my lips and my heart trembled, desiring just one more declaration before it would surrender. āPeople in love break up, though. Sometimes.ā
He pressed his lips to mine and, I thought, he meant that to be his answer. Yet, he pulled his head back and said, āThis isn't that kind of love.ā
I think about that. This isn't that kind of love. It feels profound to me. Solid.
Anyway, I thought I'd share that thought. Later this week we get chapter 3 of the List and hopefully soon I'll be able to start releasing the story featuring the J's, tentatively titled Picket Fences.
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