Andrew Q Gordon

What the heck, not quite Thursday where i live, but it's Thursday somewhere. Second Shot - The Senior Year - Chapter 2 is up on GA now. Enjoy and remember to say thanks to MikeL for editing for me. Andy

Sweat dripped down Jason's face as he dug out his key. He'd wiped his face so often during the run that his shirt felt five pounds heavier. It took more work – a lot more – to leave Blake gasping for air by the end of their run. At least Blake hadn't let up on his training. Jason knew his brother and Darryl were going to suffer when practice started in three days. Too bad. He'd tried to get Dean to work harder, but his little brother had always coasted because of his talent. Darryl never worked

Second Shot - The Senior Year - Chapter 2 is up on my blog. Because it's part of the Wednesday Briefs group, each chapter goes up there first. I'll post them on GA the next day. Andy

Glad to see you're happy and reading, you're just a beltway ride away so I don't want to make you angry.

An auspicious start to be sure - there will be a chapter 2 this week on wednesday. What is it they say, do something for three weeks in a row and it becomes a habit? We'll see what we see. AQG

I've wanted to get back to soccer boy and karate kid but didn't have time or a fully formed story in mind. That and all the stuff with the publisher. So this seems like a great vehicle. I'm pretty sure I can manage a 1000 word or less a week. But no promises other than I'll try. Glad you're happy with their return. Andy

Gee Lily I wonder who that 'friend' might be? Glad to see you made your way. I'm pretty sure you're like the people here. Just don't make some of them mad, a few of them bite. Not that I'll say who, I don't want to get bit.

I would like to say thank you to MikeL for agreeing to edit this project with me. You will note he now appears on the story board, so if you're reading thank Mike because every good story needs an editor.

GeR, a) not going to neglect other projects, these are by nature short so as to provide authors a short break from larger projects well I hope this won't fall flat, I'm thinking **Mash** or Highlander or Stargate when I said movie-tv, [yeah I dream big - ]. As for entering in the middle, we did. I'll get to explaining that in the next few installments, but in the true nature of 'good' flash ficition - I think everyone knows Blake and Ethan hooked up in some fashion. So if everyone understood, then I did good. Thanks for coming by and and yes, same Shot time, same Shot channel

Yeah what I needed to do, but didn't seem to be able to fit in, was to give it a time stamp. Next chapter I need to pick up in the same day as this one and put it in context, i.e that it's right before the start of their senior year so it's right around the time of the trial of Jordan Colmar. I can and will work in a bit about them getting ready to testify and maybe afterwards. Who knows, maybe Barbara will put in work - err sorry gang term slipped in there some how. She'll make an appearance as she prepares to ruin the Colmar's for what Jordan did to Peter and Jason. As was hinted at in the Trial, she did a bit of digging into Hank Colmar's dealings and she gave her lawyers some info to pass on. Not that she's vindictive or anything. But it's all speculation. I have total freedom to pick and choose the topic, characters, actions etc. It's like the world is at my feet. Ah, it does feel a bit nice to slip back into this 'place.' I spent so much time writing this one story, I almost feel like i lived it. lol

Dunno. Not sure at this point but to be honest I don't see how this could be 'more' in that if I stick to the format, it will be difficult to turn it into a stand alone story. But then again, it's just the first little snippet, let me get 10 or so under my belt before I start to think about what else to do with it.

Thanks Benji. I beg to differ that it is so seamless. It is taking me a bit to get back into their heads. But I'm getting there. Thanks for reading. Andy

Thanks Benji. I beg to differ that it is so seamless. It is taking me a bit to get back into their heads. But I'm getting there. Thanks for reading. Andy

If the world is good and the planets align right, the hope is there will be new 'chapters' every week. But no promises because life does interrupt at times. Andy

In a sense this is kinda sorta a sequel, but I think the better word choice is spin off or a new book in a series. I really don't know what to call it as I'm not sure there is a word for it. Think of it like a tv show that is based on a movie. The movie was a one and done, and the tv show picks up and follows a character or maybe all the characters in different episodes. Is that a sequel? I don't think so, but it is certainly related. So, as you said, give me a chance to see how it plays out and if it sucks - please tell me. Since this is something of an experiment, I need to know what people really think. Thanks for the review and for reading. Andy As for the other point, I don't think this will be the same as Second Shot. In Sec Shot there was an end that the characters needed to work toward. Here there will probably several 'ends' along the way. As in I'll probably close out several story lines along the way and pick up new ones. But they will all be related to each other and build

MJ - that is essentially my idea when I decided to do this. There won't be the 'coming' out or the 'assault' type plot bunnies that take chapters to flesh out. These would be more like little vingettes or snippets as you say. Is that enough? IDK, that's for the readers to decided. They scenes will all be 'related' in that if - as in this one, Blake hooks up with Ethan - that 'event' will be part of the 'universe' and will always be background for any future stories. Each 'chapter' won't erase the prior the board and start over. If that makes sense. Again, is that enough, time will tell. Not needing a 'big problem' may or may not work for a related story. But as they are all tied together, in the end it will probably tell a 'complete story' somewhere along the way. I image the blake/ethan story arc will be the main 'tension' and the rest will just be interesting [interesting in my mind at least] snippets that bring the other people to the reader. But we'll see. Are you accusing me of being a size queen? Actually I have no idea how long or short this will be. How long I'll continue with this, if I'll change to a different 'theme' or not. But IF I see it through to the end of the senior year? yeah, 30 chapters is gonna seem short. Just sayin. Andy

Jo Ann - what you say is one reason I've never seriously contemplated a sequel. I doubt strongly I can duplicate the elements that drew people in to Second Shot. This is a bit different. It's not going to be a 'story' per se, but more like snippets into their lives. Basically I've wanted to do something like this for a time and the Wednesday Briefs format is giving me a platform to try it. Folks may say, this is crap - stop it. or they may like. At this point I'm only committing to try it for a time to see how it goes. I may end up shifting my flash fiction focus elsewhere, but I figured this would be a good way to use characters that people recognize without needing to write an entire novel and find an interesting story/plot to write about. Short flash fiction is easier to come up with a conflict for the characters involved to over come. But I appreciate the honesty and hope that if this seems like it's falling flat, you and others will tell me the truth. I can easily shift my focus to ideas to do the flash fiction if this isn't working. Andy

So Chapter 1 is up in GA Stories. Now well see where I take this. Unlike a require story/novel, I don't have a planned out 'story' per se. I do have an idea of things that happen - i.e. as set out in The Trial of Jordan Colmar, Jason, Peter, Darryl and Dean rent a house off campus. I see Ethan and Blake hooking up at a party J, P, D, & D have in their new place for the soccer team before school starts. I have some ideas about the soccer season, the rest of senior year and graduation, but beyond that nothing like a detailed plot, conflict and resolution. I once asked if anyone would be interested in reading about the lives of the characters after the 'story' ended. Seeing it as something like a tv show where there is a general theme, but not one 'story to tell.' Where we get 'episodes' of the characters daily lives without the need to have central, overriding conflict that needs to be overcome. This will be more like a TV show, than a Movie. I'm not sure this is a good idea or not, or if folks will even be interested. Judging from the response I get, I'll figure out how far to take it. Questions, comments, or whatever are welcome.

Flash Fiction that will follow the characters from Second Shot during Jason, Peter and Darryl's senior year.

Blake Finch massaged his temples pushing his brown hair back. “But we’re so different, Jase.” “And?” Jason Tellerman paid the clerk and grabbed their drinks. “Why does that matter?” “It doesn’t, it’s just that Ethan’s so…so….” “Out?” Jason’s raised eyebrow told Blake how his friend felt. “Yeah.” Admitting it almost made Blake feel worse. No not worse. He didn’t feel bad, just confused. “Not that it’s bad, but…well you know, I’m not.” “No. Really?” Rolling his eyes, Jason took a sip. “Look B

<<== Hands in resignation to GA and set about to close his account in utter fear - NOT!. Threaten me will you woman, Hmm I grew up with plotters and schemers, i'm italian after all. You don't scare me. That and I don't see me posting anything in the near future to qualify for any readers choice awards in 2013.

How can you say that? I've been campaigning for you for over a year and you give CJ all the credit? Fine, be that way. Last time I campaign for you're ungrateful royal type person

Here is the link for the first installment - I'll open a new story tomorrow on GA and post it there as well. http://andrewqgordon.com/2013/03/06/wednesday-briefs/ Andy

B-man, think of it not so much as a sequel, because as Flash Fiction - 500-1000 words, it's hard to create and sustain a plot/conflict etc. These are going to be more like snippets of their lives and whats going on. I suppose I ought to call it "Second Shot-The Senior Year" or something along those lines. There won't be the same 'big' problems for the characters. I always thought about how after I read a good book and it ended, my 'involvement' with the character kinda ended. So this is sort of a way to keep them around for a bit - at least until I decide IF I want to do a companion story - i.e. use different characters from the cast - or write a sequel. I have ideas for both, just not the time to do get them down. Hope that explains things a bit better. Andy

I've had this thought kicking around for a while, I even posted a thread on it a while back, but it wasn't until I was approached by someone who coordinates a flash fiction group that I found a vehicle to do this- and the motivation to keep at it. Starting this Wednesday I'm going to start with the flash fiction that Cia and Nephy participate called Wednesday Briefs. My goal is to use the theme of the week to write a snippet about some of the characters from Second Shot. I can't promise I'll be able to do this every week, but I'll try to make sure it's more often than not. These aren't long 500-1000 words, which is about 3-4 typed pages max. Some may end up being 'continued next week' others will be complete 'scenes.' I don't know that I'll being doing these chronologically, but my expectation will be they will all be about Peter, Jason and Darryl's senior year, which will also be Dean's freshman year. It won't be all about Jason and Peter, so hopefully that won't be an issue for people. Last, my plan is to post these on my site on Wednesday, then in the next day or so post them under a new 'story' on GA. That's the goal for now at least. So, you can watch GA for new announcement/updates or you can sign up on my blog for site generated emails whenever I make a post. Hopefully this will satisfy my itch to get back to these characters while I work on the sequel to the Last Grand Master and get Purpose ready for publication. Andy