Let the Music Play, Ch 12: Hitting the Fan

[C James]

Good morning everyone!

 

The chapter announcement just went up so I thought I'd start a thread. Hope y'all like the chapter.

 

CJ .

[wildone]

Great Chapter CJ, but I'm mad !!!

 

 

Announcements of concerts everywhere is seems EXCEPT Canada, India, and Mauritius

 

 

Is this some form of punishment?

 

I will wait to comment more, but in a way I'm glad things are not as bad as they could have been.

 

Steve

Edited October 9, 2007 by wildone

[Ieshwar]

For some very obvious reasons, I'm feeling very angry!!!!!

 

I want more!!!

 

The next chapter is going to be really funny and tense with antics of our poor Brandon! If I had been in his place, I would have told Chase. And this woould have been great for his two brothers!

 

Did you realise that he's going to cheat Chase? My poor chase... You're dead, CJ! You better not come in Mauritius! I'm have you sacrificed at the altar to keep Chase happy!!! I mean it!

 

Angry Ieshwar

[Benji]

For some very obvious reasons, I'm feeling very angry!!!!!

 

I want more!!!

 

The next chapter is going to be really funny and tense with antics of our poor Brandon! If I had been in his place, I would have told Chase. And this woould have been great for his two brothers!

 

Did you realise that he's going to cheat Chase? My poor chase... You're dead, CJ! You better not come in Mauritius! I'm have you sacrificed at the altar to keep Chase happy!!! I mean it!

 

Angry Ieshwar

 

 

..........Good G_d! CJ you seem to have a knack of making friends, I loved the chapter! A smiling Vlaldimir in wonderment of kangaroos! I was waiting for their car to break down and have a passing motorist (Graeme) to help out. If Eric had balls he would confess to Helen and have her take care of Charity! I just can't see Brandon helping the band this way! Looking forward to more Goat!

[MikeL]

If Eric had balls he would confess to Helen and have her take care of Charity! I just can't see Brandon helping the band this way! Looking forward to more Goat!

All Helen has to do is place a call to the senator about his sweet little daughter; then we find out if the senator has balls. We already know some real ones do not. Sorry for the political comment.

 

We now know that the two story lines will converge in Australia. I'm ready for chapter 13; hope it will be lucky for Brandon and Chase.

Edited October 9, 2007 by MikeL

[Bob D.]

Wow!! I live down the street from the Biltmore! They'd better have another balcony scene, cuz I'll be outside circling the building until I get some canid shots!

 

Oh and CJ... I'M SOOOOO GONNA SPRAY YOU AGAIN!!!!! :wacko:

 

DOH... some Charity that is!

 

Bob D.

[FrenchCanadian]

Great chapter again,, great twist,, this is the kind of chapter that makes me like read your stories CJ!

 

The next chapter is going to be really funny and tense with antics of our poor Brandon! If I had been in his place, I would have told Chase.

 

Exactly, being Brandon, I wouldn't hear anything about getting into any covert plans with Eric and Jon. I'd immediatly would tell Chase,, BUT things we have to remember that nothing is done till it's written in the chapter and posted. At more than one point we've had changing heading at the start of a chapter...

 

Did you realise that he's going to cheat Chase? My poor chase... You're dead, CJ! You better not come in Mauritius! I'm have you sacrificed at the altar to keep Chase happy!!! I mean it!

 

maybe that won't happen, Brandon already said "no way in hell". I think over the last few days he learned to stand up a little more for himself. hopefully he'll keep his ground with no, and tell chase right away,, it's time for another drum solo.

 

 

[Jack Scribe]

I will wait to comment more, but in a way I'm glad things are not as bad as they could have been.

 

Ditto.

 

Jack

[TalonRider]

Excellent chapter CJ.

 

And I agree, it could have been worse. But I think it is about to do just that.

 

I'm waiting for the Philly date to be announced myself.

 

I do have one question tho, what is an Untied States Senator? This one jumped right off the page at me.

 

Jan

[sat8997]

I do have one question tho, what is an Untied States Senator? This one jumped right off the page at me.

 

Jan

 

 

I was wondering about that myself.

 

Reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw once..."Dyslexics Of The World Untie!"

 

Sharon

[C James]

Great Chapter CJ, but I'm mad !!!

 

 

Announcements of concerts everywhere is seems EXCEPT Canada, India, and Mauritius

 

 

Is this some form of punishment?

 

I will wait to comment more, but in a way I'm glad things are not as bad as they could have been.

 

Steve

 

Well, Steve, this is a world tour, and they didn't list all the places they are going, yet.

 

For some very obvious reasons, I'm feeling very angry!!!!!

 

I want more!!!

 

The next chapter is going to be really funny and tense with antics of our poor Brandon! If I had been in his place, I would have told Chase. And this woould have been great for his two brothers!

 

Did you realise that he's going to cheat Chase? My poor chase... You're dead, CJ! You better not come in Mauritius! I'm have you sacrificed at the altar to keep Chase happy!!! I mean it!

 

Angry Ieshwar

 

But Ieshwar, at least it wasn't a cliffhanger... (not that I ever use those.)

 

It's just... a slight dilemma.

 

..........Good G_d! CJ you seem to have a knack of making friends, I loved the chapter! A smiling Vlaldimir in wonderment of kangaroos! I was waiting for their car to break down and have a passing motorist (Graeme) to help out. If Eric had balls he would confess to Helen and have her take care of Charity! I just can't see Brandon helping the band this way! Looking forward to more Goat!

Thanks Benji!

Well, they are in Australia, so who knows what wildlife may appear?

 

All Helen has to do is place a call to the senator about his sweet little daughter; then we find out if the senator has balls. We already know some real ones do not. Sorry for the political comment.

 

We now know that the two story lines will converge in Australia. I'm ready for chapter 13; hope it will be lucky for Brandon and Chase.

Hi Mike!

No problem on the politics; its just partisan politics we try and steer clear of.

You raise some good points, but I can't comment.

Wow!! I live down the street from the Biltmore! They'd better have another balcony scene, cuz I'll be outside circling the building until I get some canid shots!

 

Oh and CJ... I'M SOOOOO GONNA SPRAY YOU AGAIN!!!!! :wacko:

 

DOH... some Charity that is!

 

Bob D.

 

But Bob, what did I do? It's just a teensy little dilemma.

 

Great chapter again,, great twist,, this is the kind of chapter that makes me like read your stories CJ!

Exactly, being Brandon, I wouldn't hear anything about getting into any covert plans with Eric and Jon. I'd immediatly would tell Chase,, BUT things we have to remember that nothing is done till it's written in the chapter and posted. At more than one point we've had changing heading at the start of a chapter...

maybe that won't happen, Brandon already said "no way in hell". I think over the last few days he learned to stand up a little more for himself. hopefully he'll keep his ground with no, and tell chase right away,, it's time for another drum solo.

ya I'm sure that will help much,, I'll go on a big IF,, it's not what I think will happen, but I can just picture the scene,, if brandon goes in with the plan and do her and chase finds out, he could go all, "I thought of you all the time doing her",, so cliche

 

the band better come in canada,, all the big ones comes by montreal,,,

 

Thanks Frenchcanadian! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

Excellent chapter CJ.

 

And I agree, it could have been worse. But I think it is about to do just that.

 

I'm waiting for the Philly date to be announced myself.

 

I do have one question tho, what is an Untied States Senator? This one jumped right off the page at me.

 

Jan

 

Thanks Jan... And, um, uhoh... Well, ah, see, it's like this... The senator was so furious that he just came unstrung, and antied is sort of a synonym for unstrung...

 

I was wondering about that myself.

 

Reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw once..."Dyslexics Of The World Untie!"

 

Sharon

 

Actually, that is a VERY apt bumpersticker in this case

 

Okay, seriously, time for me to come "out of the closet" about something that only a few people know... Y'all have noticed my penchant for look-alike typos; last week I left the 'r" out of shirtless, and this week we have an "untied" States Senator.

 

Normally, there are half a dozen or more such typos on a chapter when the team starts work on it. I do of course proofread (often several times) the chapters before the team sees them, but I don't catch things like that.. and there's a reason: I'm dyslexic.

 

I cope pretty well on most things, but I would never catch a substitution of "untied" for "united". Sure, I know which way it's supposed to be, but if I typo (and I often do, I'm a rotten typist) I just don't see the error in cases like that; my mind sees the word and reads it as what I meant, not what it is.

 

This gives you some idea of what my team has to put up with; imagine half a dozen or more goofs like that in a chapter. ...OK, going back over the edits and betas for this chapter, I had;

soft instead of sofa

out instead of our.. Twice!

two instead of tow

range instead of rage

note instead of not

wining instead of winning

was instead of way

 

And this is for just this one chapter! I had edits or beta and zeta changes of some kind in fully half the pages in this chapter.

 

The problem is I just don't see the error in look-alike words such as the above while proofing. Sure, once they are pointed out to me I see them as they really are, but when proofing I read them as what I thought they were.

 

Anyway, I figured it was time I "came out of the closet" on this issue. I also REALLY appreciate it when anyone sees a goof that they let me know; I've already fixed the "untied" in the Ch 12 on my system, and the fixed chapter will be uploaded alongside Ch 13.

 

Thanks!

CJ

[wildone]

CJ,

 

Thanks for the explanation, even though it was not necessary, it is appreciated

 

If I am right in reading that post, you are not looking for sympathy, but rather give an explanation to exempt your editors, beta readers and zeta readers. Hence why you claim any mistakes in the posted text are entirely yours. You are very lucky to have these great people that help you turn out some of the best chapters and stories on GA.

 

As all of us know, we can do a quick spell check before we post, but know that doesn't always work in an entire document. Heck, I still make errors on a regular basis.

 

My only advice to you would be to continue what your doing, cause your doing a damn good job. Hopefully you know that none of us (and hopefully I speak for all) judge you or your stories by one typo per chapter. When reading published books, I've picked out errors and they have numerous paid editors and proof readers to ensure that doesn't happen.

 

Also, you have to give us at least something to bug you about, since there are so few other things that we can tease about. Like your sig says, your not a lurker, you never use cliffhangers, and you'd never use blackmail , so really, what else is there to bug you about .

 

If anything, by letting us know, I have even more respect for you as an author. I imagine many people that are dyslexic would be terrified to post something for others to read. Yet, weekly, you face that challenge, with the assistance of others, and prove that you are more than capable of being an author.

 

 

Thanks for the honestly

 

Steve

 

Edit: Darn, honestly instead of honesty, Silly spell check

Edited October 10, 2007 by wildone

[C James]

CJ,

 

Thanks for the explanation, even though it was not necessary, it is appreciated

 

If I am right in reading that post, you are not looking for sympathy, but rather give an explanation to exempt your editors, beta readers and zeta readers. Hence why you claim any mistakes in the posted text are entirely yours. You are very lucky to have these great people that help you turn out some of the best chapters and stories on GA.

 

As all of us know, we can do a quick spell check before we post, but know that doesn't always work in an entire document. Heck, I still make errors on a regular basis.

 

My only advice to you would be to continue what your doing, cause your doing a damn good job. Hopefully you know that none of us (and hopefully I speak for all) judge you or your stories by one typo per chapter. When reading published books, I've picked out errors and they have numerous paid editors and proof readers to ensure that doesn't happen.

 

Also, you have to give us at least something to bug you about, since there are so few other things that we can tease about. Like your sig says, your not a lurker, you never use cliffhangers, and you'd never use blackmail , so really, what else is there to bug you about .

 

If anything, by letting us know, I have even more respect for you as an author. I imagine many people that are dyslexic would be terrified to post something for others to read. Yet, weekly, you face that challenge, with the assistance of others, and prove that you are more than capable of being an author.

 

 

Thanks for the honestly

 

Steve

 

Edit: Darn, honestly instead of honesty, Silly spell check

 

Wow, Steve, thank you!!!!

 

I'm definitly not looking for sympathy (edit to add: not for me, certainly, but my team deserves some. ) ; I just wanted to explain why goofs like "Untied" appear. As I say, I have a mild case; I just have major problems with spotting transposition errors or missing letters. And indeed, teasing me is VERY appropriate, and I get a good laugh too; I still chuckle when I think of leaving the "r" out of shirtless. So please, don't take what I've said here today to mean I don't want to be teased, becuase the opposite is quite true. I have a lot of fun, and it should be obvious, I like to tease.

 

In all honesty, yes, I do get a few butterflies when posting chapters. Not much these days, but when I first started, yowza... I came very, very close to withdrawing my first story, "No Shirt? No Problem!" from last year's summer anthology before it went online for that reason. So, yes, I still get a little nervous about my writing, but it gets easier each time I put something online. For example, in the upcoming anthology, I'm only slightly nervous even though I've submitted something decidedly weird (for starters, it's written in second-person voice).

 

I'm still learning how to write, and trying to improve. I've still got a lot to learn, but I'm having an absolute blast doing so. I never knew that writing could be such fun, and a bit part of that fun for me is these threads and this forum. Thank you all, so very much.

CJ

 

Oh, and Steve... I think you made a typo of your own in the above

your not a lurker, you never use cliffhangers

 

[AFriendlyFace]

Great chapter, CJ!

 

I'm pretty tired so I'll post more of my thoughts later on in the thread, but I definitely think Brandon should go to Chase with Charity's proposition.

[Rigel]

I can see Brandon making an appointment a few minutes before Charity is to arrive, to have the Senator meet him so he can apologize for his bandmates' wild behaviour at the party, and then when Charity shows up, invite the Senator to chaperone. Take them out for an evening of Haydn string quartets or some such.

 

Or Brandon can simply be the unromantic date from hell. "Hi Charity! Gosh, that outift makes you look fat! Or are you just overweight? That lipstick looks really gauche, or are your lips just that way naturally. Well, lets start out with some entertainment--I've got tickets to a concert of music by Schoenberg and Webern. Let's go have a good time."

 

Or he could discuss it with Chase.

[EMoe57]

What I sent back to CJ when I got to the end of chapter 12 the first time:

YOU ARE SO EVIL!

 

I just finished reading 12 and I KNOW nothing good can come from this. Chase is going to find out and it will put the ky-bosh on their relationship! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!

[EMoe57]

I can see Brandon making an appointment a few minutes before Charity is to arrive, to have the Senator meet him so he can apologize for his bandmates' wild behaviour at the party, and then when Charity shows up, invite the Senator to chaperone. Take them out for an evening of Haydn string quartets or some such.

 

Or Brandon can simply be the unromantic date from hell. "Hi Charity! Gosh, that outift makes you look fat! Or are you just overweight? That lipstick looks really gauche, or are your lips just that way naturally. Well, lets start out with some entertainment--I've got tickets to a concert of music by Schoenberg and Webern. Let's go have a good time."

 

Or he could discuss it with Chase.

To me, the OBVIOUS solution is to go to Helen. With her involved, there won't be fireworks when she finds out later. Getting the Senator involved would be good as well - tho I doubt that is a direction they would go...

 

Come on, Brandon. Use your head and your street-smarts. Don't let that idiot Jon talk you into a corner...

[AFriendlyFace]

I can see Brandon making an appointment a few minutes before Charity is to arrive, to have the Senator meet him so he can apologize for his bandmates' wild behaviour at the party, and then when Charity shows up, invite the Senator to chaperone. Take them out for an evening of Haydn string quartets or some such.

That sounds like a very good idea.

Or Brandon can simply be the unromantic date from hell. "Hi Charity! Gosh, that outift makes you look fat! Or are you just overweight? That lipstick looks really gauche, or are your lips just that way naturally. Well, lets start out with some entertainment--I've got tickets to a concert of music by Schoenberg and Webern. Let's go have a good time."

That sounds like a bad idea to me. He'd probably just hurt her feelings and she'd out him to get even.

Or he could discuss it with Chase.

Another winner!

 

 

I'm actually thinking that what's going to happen is that he'll nervously meet her and either charm or, or just be honest or whatever, and explain that he's in love with Chase. Then I suspect she'll like him or feel sorry for him and decide to just forget the whole thing.

 

A secondary thing I see happening, and it could even happen with my above assumption in place if it were orchestrated in such a way as to allow for misunderstandings, is Chase somehow walking in and misunderstanding the whole thing and getting really angry or hurt. Perhaps for instance Brandon and Charity will talk, work things out, and she'll say "OK, I can see you're really in love with him and I understand. How about just one kiss though?" <enter Chase>

 

Just my wild speculation though, but in any case I'm thinking this is going to cause a strain between Chase and Brandon.

 

-Kevin

[Bondwriter]

This chapter ends up with a dilemma, and shows Jon and Eric's poor judgment. They should definitely come clean to Helen, who'd take care of Charity in a few seconds. And I cannot help but thing that said Helen did not get a huge kick out of having the pictures in the tabloids; after Brandon's playing the superhero, here come the bad guys. Having sex with a Senator's daughter and clowning around on a balcony fare higher than driving drunk, for instance. These are good PRs. Obviously, no one thinks they should be outed right now, but I don't see a major difference between this moment and after the first show. Brandon is already the cover boy of Rolling Stone.

 

But hey, where's my cliff-hanger?

[Bondwriter]

I do have one question tho, what is an Untied States Senator? This one jumped right off the page at me.

The nice thing about being a zeta-reader is that you come in last, and no one is going to check when you pull one like this. Mwahahah!

[C James]

I can see Brandon making an appointment a few minutes before Charity is to arrive, to have the Senator meet him so he can apologize for his bandmates' wild behaviour at the party, and then when Charity shows up, invite the Senator to chaperone. Take them out for an evening of Haydn string quartets or some such.

 

Or Brandon can simply be the unromantic date from hell. "Hi Charity! Gosh, that outift makes you look fat! Or are you just overweight? That lipstick looks really gauche, or are your lips just that way naturally. Well, lets start out with some entertainment--I've got tickets to a concert of music by Schoenberg and Webern. Let's go have a good time."

 

Or he could discuss it with Chase.

Your "date from hell" had me laughing out loud!

 

BTW, I don't normally do this, because it's a minor spoiler, but I received some e-mail today from a reader who is worried that I'll drag this issue out for many chapters... That's a good point, but its just not my style to do something like that.

(and I can get away with this minor spoiler becuase the Echidna is away, and thus not likely to see this. )

 

What I sent back to CJ when I got to the end of chapter 12 the first time:

YOU ARE SO EVIL!

 

I just finished reading 12 and I KNOW nothing good can come from this. Chase is going to find out and it will put the ky-bosh on their relationship! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!

 

This is true; that's exactly what Emoe wrote to me.

 

It could have been worse... I could have made it into a cliffhanger.

 

And BTW, Emoe, you posted twice... A sure sign of a postaholic!

 

A secondary thing I see happening, and it could even happen with my above assumption in place if it were orchestrated in such a way as to allow for misunderstandings, is Chase somehow walking in and misunderstanding the whole thing and getting really angry or hurt. Perhaps for instance Brandon and Charity will talk, work things out, and she'll say "OK, I can see you're really in love with him and I understand. How about just one kiss though?" <enter Chase>

 

Just my wild speculation though, but in any case I'm thinking this is going to cause a strain between Chase and Brandon.

 

-Kevin

 

I love it! I can't comment on any specifics though, but I can use the spoiler space thingy to say

this is blacked out becuase, were this not a test, and an actual spoiler, the Echidna would be making me into a pincushion right about now...

 

This chapter ends up with a dilemma, and shows Jon and Eric's poor judgment. They should definitely come clean to Helen, who'd take care of Charity in a few seconds. And I cannot help but thing that said Helen did not get a huge kick out of having the pictures in the tabloids; after Brandon's playing the superhero, here come the bad guys. Having sex with a Senator's daughter and clowning around on a balcony fare higher than driving drunk, for instance. These are good PRs. Obviously, no one thinks they should be outed right now, but I don't see a major difference between this moment and after the first show. Brandon is already the cover boy of Rolling Stone.

 

But hey, where's my cliff-hanger?

 

Bondwriter, thank you for acknowledging that this was not a cliffhanger! :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

 

It's just a minor dilemma...

 

I did ask someone in the industry about the "coming out" issue... The opinion was that a well-established performer could get away with it, but given Instinct's fan demographics, a new singer probably couldn't, especially if he's shown being in a relationship with another band member. Things are fast changing in this regard, but that was the opinion I received. It might not destroy them, but it might make them into a bar band rather than a top-drawing stadium band.

 

A good example of this might be that so many musicians, even established ones, are still in the closet.

 

You do have a very good point though; Helen might not be as displeased as she lets on on some aspects of that night.

[C James]

The nice thing about being a zeta-reader is that you come in last, and no one is going to check when you pull one like this. Mwahahah!

 

Ahha! I should have known.. Anything to do with "tied" and you have to be involved!

 

See? Beta (and Zeta) readers inserting things into the chapters... Now y'all know where any cliffhangers come from!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(seriously though, we're just joking here; the "untied" was in the draft. So, what I post on everything I write applies: "All remaining errors are mine alone". Actually, that would apply even if the error wasn't in the draft, because Bondwriter doesn't see the chapter last before posting, I do. )

[MikeL]

QUOTE(Bondwriter @ October 10 2007, 12:00 PM) *

The nice thing about being a zeta-reader is that you come in last, and no one is going to check when you pull one like this. Mwahahah!

A zeta-reader is last? Not sixth? What then is an omega-reader? Or, are there only six readers? Enquiring minds want to know.

[EMoe57]

I'm actually thinking that what's going to happen is that he'll nervously meet her and either charm or, or just be honest or whatever, and explain that he's in love with Chase. Then I suspect she'll like him or feel sorry for him and decide to just forget the whole thing.

 

A secondary thing I see happening, and it could even happen with my above assumption in place if it were orchestrated in such a way as to allow for misunderstandings, is Chase somehow walking in and misunderstanding the whole thing and getting really angry or hurt. Perhaps for instance Brandon and Charity will talk, work things out, and she'll say "OK, I can see you're really in love with him and I understand. How about just one kiss though?" <enter Chase>

 

Just my wild speculation though, but in any case I'm thinking this is going to cause a strain between Chase and Brandon.

I don't see this happening. Look at how she percieves gay people:

Don

[TalonRider]

We're all prone to mistakes. I recently posted something in Nicks forum where I used the wrong character name, not once, but several times. And of course, Nick had to be the one to point this out.

 

I will admit that when I came across untied, I giggled.

 

Jan