• Contents
• First Time Tales
• Shorts
• Series
• Novels
• Members

"When a friend pointed me to your story I put it off for a while. He asked how I liked it and I told him I hadn't gotten to it yet. He hounded me to read it and I finally got started. It absorbed my free time (all of it) for the duration. I became lost in your world and your characters and now that the story is done I feel as if I have been evicted from a better place. There friendship is all that matters, and the love and compassion the boys have for one another. I long to return there and hang out with the guys again. Please consider another story about their lives and tell us more of yours."

"Too short! You say it became too long? Nonesense! I will take another 333,000 words please! It took me weeks to read the Lord Of The Rings books but only a week to pour through The Circle and I still want more. I teared up a few times in LOTR but I cried nearly every other chapter of The Circle. I remember giggling at times in LOTR but I know I laughed dozens and dozens of times during The Circle. I felt like I knew Frodo and Sam and the others but I swear I know Alex and Tom and Jeff and they're out there right now doing and living and I cannot wait to join them again!"

"I don't think I have ever written an author of any kind before, but I can't resist complimenting you for The Circle (I & II), which has to be absolutely the most realistic, absorbing story I can remember ever seeing. It's one of those that you literally have to tear yourself away from, the kind that makes people sit up all night even on a work or school night because they get so absorbed. What convinced me to read it all? You name it: the realistic interaction and believable descriptions of the characters, your ability to make a reader feel like he's right there like a fly on the wall, and best of all, thinking what Alex thinks and feeling what he feels. That's a real talent."

"The Circle (and the stories around it) is the first in many years to reach down and touch me in a deep way. Few of the stories connect in such an emotive way. And never has an author gone so far as creating "props" (it feels wrong to call them that) such as the letters. When I read them I can feel the powerful teenage emotions (the hormones of youth can be felt even 20 years later) and I am thrown back to my own youth. Your stories have been compelling, convincing, plausible, but thrilling. The sex in even the X rated versions is not a distraction but instead pushes the story forward and deeper. I just wanted to say thank you for writing something that obviously in some way must come from the heart and from life."

"About a week or so ago, I stumbled onto The Circle. It was like stepping into a look at my own past, just with different outcomes and opportunities. First off, I should say that I'm mad as hell at you for bringing to life Alex and his pals with such realism that I felt angry and upset when they were hurting. It all so resonated with me, at levels that are still clicking into place and that I don't completely understand as yet. But Alex and Toby and Tom and Jeff are in my head now, almost like renters. I see them as clearly as my own reflection, mostly seeing them pointing and giggling like there's some immense prank about to be offloaded. Young, deep, fascinated by life and full of both wondrous imagination and emotional strength and wisdom drawn from common sense and an ability to embrace the truths of life without letting them overwhelm. And completely living in the moment, loving spiritually, sticking together. Pals."

"I just completed reading The Circle, and am practically overwhelmed....I've been kinda keeping track of your progress, and as soon as I realized that it was complete, I went back and started reading again. At first I thought, "Gosh, there are an awful lot of words here to cover the story of a 16th birthday..... is this really gonna be worth the time?" But the story seemed engaging enough to keep me reading. And the more I read, the better it got. And it just got better, and Better, and BETTER! I laughed, and I cried. I rejoiced, and I wept. Openly. And now that I'm done, I don't really have words to describe my ultimate feelings. Overwhelmed? Well perhaps; it's indeed a memorable, and extraordinarily moving tale. At the conclusion, I can say only, "Very Well Done!" Thank you for your dedication and perseverance in creating, editing, and publishing a worthwhile read. And it leaves me longing to indulge in the sequel(s) that you hint might be coming along. And, I'm waiting!"

I've read a great many stories at a number of sites, but rarely have I come across anything like The Circle. Several stories have moved me, or made me laugh, or brought tears to my eyes, and a very, very few have been able to do all three. Yet your story has repeatedly. Often in the same chapter. As I moved through each one, it was very much like living the events as they unfolded. I reacted out loud again and again as Alex struggled to understand his world and his situation. His sense of no control over even his own decisions transported me back to my own teenaged years. His situations and emotions were vivid and powerful and pulled me in so deeply I read far too late at night and woke the next morning anxious to come home that night to return to his story. At first I read it quickly, but by chapter five I had gone back and started again, reading far more slowly, absorbing the finer details and relishing in them as they mixed into the story again later. Now that it is over I am left feeling victorious and triumphant, yet with a deep melancholy at the ending. There is so much more looming, so I sense from that last chapter, and I am so very anxious to partake of more! Write!