Has anyone read through the Temeraire series? I stumbled across information on the books and would love to know what your impressions are.

He knew the relationship was doomed the moment she got out of bed and began praying loudly. She was in fact louder than she had been throughout their hour long bout of love making. Well, he thought it had been love making. But as he listened to her at the foot of the bed with her hands clasped together so tightly that her knuckles were white and her eyes clamped shut as she swayed back and forth slowly in her nakedness, he learned that he was wrong.

"Oh dear Lord," she called out so loudly that ne nearly fell out of the bed, "please take us into your loving bosom and forgive us the wanton carnality of our acts in your divine presence. Know, oh mighty God, that it was not my wish to transgress so egriously. I did not wish to indulge in drink and flesh..."

And that's how it went for ten minutes; her espousing to an appearantly angry and bitter god how terribly wicked and evil they both were but oh golly gee, Mr Jesus, I sure hope you'll forgive us. Meanwhile, he slowly crawled deeper into the relative safety and comfort the down comforter his grandmother had made for him and wondered what she'd say about him now.

"...and I certainly did not expect or grant him permission to stick his finger in my ass, Jesus," she said. "And while the sex was fantastic, for that alone you may smite him however you see fit."

"So, you won't be staying for pancakes then?" he said with a sigh.

This is a piece of flashfic - roughly 500 words long. It addresses vaguely the idea of being gender queer, transitioning, coming of age, and generally being a miserable young adult. The subject's name is Kyle.

( skinny hands, bony wrists, spindly fingers )

Another Poem.

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i_hope_that
For many of us, the holidays can be kind of rough. If you're searching for a network of understanding friends, this ultra-nurturing community encourages you to express your heartfelt wishes and offer other members encouragement and acceptance. Not for the terminally snarky or emotionally-challenged, this is a good-spirited place to lend comfort and support.

diygifts
Feeling crafty? If you've got a few last folks on your holiday gift list, this is a great place to seed your creativity and generosity. You'll also discover wonderful DIY tips to decorate your home and entertain guests. Offering a no-frills-no-skills attitude that welcomes the cash-challenged and arts-phobic, you're sure to get ideas and make friends in the process.

cooking_club
A fun and friendly community dedicated to those who love to cook, whether you're a meat-and-potatoes type, an aspiring gourmand, and/or a vegan. In search of a brilliant dish to use up those weekly leftovers? Post your ingredients and you'll be whipping up a feast by dinner. You can also share favorite recipes. For Type A chefs, you can spice up your culinary repertoire with exciting cooking challenges.

1. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
2. The Jukebox Queen of Malta by Zibby Oneal
3. The Sun Grows Cold by Howard Berk
4. Beloved by Toni Morrison
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison
7. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
9. Damion by Herman Hesse
10. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

“Weren’t you trained never to point a gun at your partner?”

 

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I've just thought when asked to look through something for someone that beyond the basic point of grammar and spelling/plot (eg something doesn't make sense or continuity) mistakes what else should people be looking for?

I'm probably going to be looking through stories/film scripts in the future but it just occured to me that there could be more I should be looking for. And I don't quite know what it is.

Any suggestions?

And another poem! :)

( Wicked )

Hello. I'd really love some feedback and have been disappointed with the lack of feedback from Facebook. Haha. So I figured this would be the best place to go!

Here's to a long and fruitful relationship! I think this poem is one of my best.

( Anthem )

Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable. 

X-POST to bookish, books, booksarelove, gay_bookclub, readplease and the readingroom.

Title: The Silent Hustler
Author: Sean Meriwether
Genre: contemporary literary fiction, erotica, single author anthology, GLBT fiction
URL: Amazon
Price: US$15.00
Other information/warnings: Explicit content.
Summary (from the publisher): Best known for being the editor of edgy gay fiction of the Velvet Mafia website, Sean Meriwether has quietly been writing short fiction and building up a body of his own work. The Silent Hustler collects his short fiction published over the last decade. Meriwether’s fiction spans in range from the literary (“Things I Can’t Tell My Father”) to the revolutionary (“Burn the Rich”) to the downright raunchy (“Sneaker Queen”). Slip into bed with The Silent Hustler. You won’t feel guilty in the morning.

My Review:

For years, Sean Meriwether has served as editor of two of the most cutting-edge web magazines out there: Outsider Ink (now shuttered) and Velvet Mafia: Dangerous Queer Fiction.  During his time with both markets, Meriwether has found exceptional literature by some of the best writers working. Occasionally he’s also thrown one of his own works into the mix and that is how I first discovered Meriwether as an author in his own right. Over the years, Meriwether has been amassing an enviable body of work and that, my friends, is a very good thing for us.
 

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I just recently finished this book and absolutely LOVED it. I adore Thomas Hardy's lovely prose. This is my first time posting here so I'm not sure if its ok to ask this: but I'd like some help understanding/analysis of some quotes. They really stuck with me, but I'm just a litle confused on how to decipher them. Any input, ideas would be so welcome and appreciated!

1. She was not an existence, an experience, a passion, a structure of sensations, to anybody but herself. To all humankind besides Tess was only a passing thought. Even to friends she was no more than a frequently passing thought.

2. Most of the misery had been generated by her conventional aspect, and not by her innate sensations.

3. There was one thing better than to lead a good life, and that was to be saved from leading any life whatever.

4. The magnitude of lives is not as to their external displacements, but aas to their subjective experiences.

Voices of the Hive is a conglomeration of nine stories of people living in the same, unnamed city over the course of one week. Set in contemporary time, each character comes from a different background and faces a different set of circumstances in his/her story. The book reflects the anonymity and fractured traits of urban living, as none of the characters even know the others exist, all live in and frequent different parts of the metro area, thus giving the book its tag line: "Sometimes the only thing we have in common is the space in which we live." Furthermore, the city presents its personality and characteristics through the characters and their respective neighborhoods, and also through the simultaneously harmonious and chaotic make up of all the city's workings; i.e. schedules, government, commerce, population, cityscape, etc. In general, the story is rather dark though at times, comical. Issues such as religious conflict, drug use, tension between groups of people, persecution, politics and many more pervade the novel. Interestingly, the story is conveyed well though there is a general lack of the traditional protagonist/antagonist dichotomy. All in all, I think it's a good book worth a read.

stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

This is a story I started working on while listening to Last of the Wilds by Nightwish. It is about faeries.

I would like feedback. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I do not always catch them all.
( The Last True Protectors )

I've been doing a lot of reading recently and it's made me very anxious to try and start writing again. I really enjoy. and would be looking to write some thing mythology/fantasy based, but the more I research the more I feel like everything has been done. Or, at least that there's a definite pattern in what stories/characters get used. Vampires would be the best example.

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions or knew of any useful resources/places to look that might help me think and possibly widen my options? Grateful wouldn't even cover my response if so.

Title: Of Acid and Marshmallows
Author: seiferre
Genre: Fantasy, Children's, Humor
Rating: G
Critique: If you would like to. :3 Mostly I'm just posting to share, but I'd like to see some comments.
Summary: Marshmallows don't consider it suicide.
Author's Note: This was mostly written for fun; I didn't intend for it to go the way it did, but I was satisfied with it. I wrote it for my sister.

( ...He was a marshmallow – sweet and fattening and perfect for hot chocolate... )