Latest News in Darkness!

October 2, 2023: It's been quiet in the dark...
Posted By: Specter

Hey everyone! Yes, I am still here and doing more than just relaying news. The unfortunate part about a website where all the active authors are undead and in hiding is that it's hard to come across new authors. Well, out of the darkness R. Eric has brought us his ongoing story "Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy" which is a Southern love story that truly has a desperate undertone that will make you believe that love conquers all. Well, at least it pushes you to overcome!

So be sure to check out his new story, and tell your friends that the archive is still here and still open. I'd say we need to turn more authors to wake up the archive but, yeah, that's probably a bad idea. - Catch you all soon!

September 16, 2023: A message from our hosts over at the Fort Family Community:
Posted By: Specter

Another off for New Adventures
Posted by JeffsFort

I've been on the fence about this for a little while. Not so much what to post about this as I was considering "if" to post this. Why?

Back in 2004, we had been contacted by a concerned author/reader regarding a free forum we were using that was laced with ads and crap to gather and talk to a small handful of fairly well-known authors of the time. The "community" was considered back then, some form of author support. LOL! That concerned author/reader purchased a parent domain and the software to build an internally supported forum to move the conversation to and gifted it to us. You see the name August Christopher come up for us, this is why. That was the official birth of what we now know as the Fort Family. We all came from small beginnings, the oldest of us were developed in a relatively young internet and needed to change with the times. Our forum is gone now but because of the interconnectivity of the modern internet, the forum became obsolete. So now we focus on hosting the sites that keep online authors' work available to the world. Are we alone in this task, heck no.

On September 9, Dude (IRL - Vale Mike Wengert) founder of the online community "AwesomeDude" that is as old as we are, passed away from a massive heart attack at the age of 79 years old. Just shy of his 80th birthday :(

All of our communities face issues that unless managed could knock us off the internet. This is why there are so few of the "Old Guard" (as ACFan put it to me earlier) left out there. The death of the founding member is bad, when that founding member was also the person managing all the bills and accounts, it is more than a speed bump, it's a mountain to overcome. When August Christopher passed, we were in danger of losing all that had been built so, we have seen that mountain, and feel for the AwesomeDude community.

If you have time, please reach out to them and offer them some positive energy and support. Not only are they facing a difficult battle but they are mourning the loss of a close friend. That mourning has to take a back seat when dealing with trying to save their creation and I can say from experience, that part sucks! Our community was only a year old when we dealt with this loss and fought to get our hands on the wheel of what felt like an out-of-control bus. Their community was established almost 20 years ago, around the same time our community became something we could also call a community. So it is more the size of a freight train compared to the bus we needed to learn how to drive.

Even though over the years all these "competing" communities had fences between themselves and others of its kind, I've always considered us in competition with no one. Just another group or gathering supporting independent authors and offering a hand to get them exposure. That's all any of these sites ever offered. Dude was one of those people who felt the same way, and his absence will be felt by us all.

RIP Dude and best wishes to the community you created and those within.

https://awesomedude.com/

September 1, 2023: What?!? A Free Joel Book???
Posted By: Specter

Have you considered helping to keep these sites up and running? Are you also a fan of Ted Louis' "Joel" series? Well, Ted has informed us that he found a case of assorted Joel books. Yeah, "actual" in print books! He decided that anyone willing to make a $10 or larger donation to the hosting service paying the bills for the Fort Family Community of sites, he is willing to send you your very own copy of a random book in the series, autographed by Ted Louis himself as a thank you!

What to do:

1. Click on https://dsshosting.net/donations/donation-form/ and click on "Donate Now".

2. Make a qualifying donation of $10 or more.

3,. Email your name and mailing address to joel-offer@fortfamilyforums.com

4. Once the donation has been confirmed, Ted Louis will send a random autographed copy of one of his books to you directly.

(One book per donation. This offer will be withdrawn once the limited number of books has been sent. The early bird gets the worm! We'll take down the offer as soon as we confirm that no copies remain.)

 

February 5, 2023: That time of year again
Posted By: The Story Lover

Dear Authors and Readers,

 

It is that time of year again. Yes, it is time for our Annual Pledge Drive to keep the lights on and our Fort Family of sites servers running.

So please give us a helping hand to keep our sites alive. No donation is too big or too small, all donations are greatly accepted and appreciated.

Remember none of our sites have ads or Premium Fees!

Please help us keep our founder August Christopher's dream alive.

 

To Donate just click on the Donate Button in the left side panel on any site.

 

Thank you for your help over the years,

 

The Fort Family Admins

November 30, 2022: Gone From Daylight: Blood Ties - Chapter 60
Posted By: Comicality

Let me just begin by letting each and every last one of you guys know that I love you, and I always wish you the best. It's important to say it as often as possible. You never know when it might be for the last time.

We lost another cherished member of our Shack family this past weekend. Unfortunately, our friend 'ATrueFan passed away just a day or two ago, and he will be greatly missed by us all. I wish you peace eternal, dude. Thank you for being a part of our lives, and for sharing your soul with us. Love you lots.

Ok, I'm just keeping this short for now. A new chapter of the vampire saga, "Gone From Daylight" has been posted today. You can find it at the link below, so let me know what you think whenever you get a chance. K?

(Gone From Daylight: Blood Ties @ The GFD BloodBank)

Ebook versions of this series, with all of the added scenes and extras included, are available now in the Comicality Ebook section. (https://imagine-magazine.org/store/comicality/) Grab your copies today, and look for the next big book to be released soon. That one will be a doozy.

Also, major thanks to those of you who have really been helping me out during my time of struggle with your donations to the https://paypal.me/Comsie account. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and so does my mom. You're kindness is definitely appreciated!

I've gotta run. But you'll be hearing from me soon. I'll seezya then.

Take care. And stay beautiful.

= = WORDS NOT MINE, YET MINE = =

"But they TOLD me...a man should be faithful! And walk when not able! And FIGHT to the end, but I'm only human..." -Michael Jackson

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