Lucy Kemnitzer

You terrify me. Out there on the high wire, and I'm watching you take each step. I'd never dare, myself.

I don't see Mike as a serial killer. If it's not Chris-Alex, it might be whoever did away with Alex the original in the first place. I'm thinking that there was an Alex, who was a twin of Chris's, and that some very gruesome thing happened to him before they moved to town -- that's strongly implied in several places already. Another possibility is that Chris was the one who died and that this Chris is really Alex who has been suppressing himself since the terrible thing happened because he always had the impression his parents liked Chris better (so when the terrible thing happened he just said he was Chris and they believed him, why not?). This is such a good beginning that I'm terrified when you say you're not sure about things.

I'm not phased: both of the ways I can imagine this playing out are good possibilities for stories. It's a couple of years later: Owen and Aiden are out of high school, but they aren't yet twenty.

No, look, Travis is going to have something either with Kyle or Dennis, that's clear.

As I see it, one of two things is going to happen with Owen and Aiden: either they'll get back together because they miss each other so much, which is nicely romantic, or you'll hook them up with somebody from this big cast of characters you've introduced, which is nicely realistic (hardly anybody gets to keep their high school lover, now, do they? I met the nice felow when I was seventeen, but I didn't move in with him for over a year and didn't marry him till four years after that, and I think we're the only ones I know who got together that young and are still together). So I'm not mad at seeing Owen and AIden in separation: I know you have something in mind for them. I'm not really getting what Travis does, but I have two different ways to understand it, and I'm patient to see which is correct. I'm glad to see Dennis back: he's a nicely complicated guy, and deserves this. I don't understand the kid who arranges the "fights" though. On another front, we're finally getting killing frosts, and it's playing hell with us, since winter crops are a big thing in the state.

Tim McGraw is on my hate list after "Flicka" which was as bad as Nazi propaganda -- and the norrible horrible theme song he wrote for it. I haven't been listening to country music myself much in the last decade? more than that? because I don't like reactionary values and I don't like the Las Vegas-y sound so many country musicians are going for these days. But I've been a real fan of country music in the past and would be willing to be again if I liked what I was hearing. Hell, you can't even trust Kinky Friedman any more -- did you see his election platform? Ick.

I'm probably as accepting a mother as you can find, but even I can think of situations where I'd want nothing more to do with a child: -- they went to work for the School of the Americas (the torture training place) -- they went to work for greenhouse-effect deniers, Holocaust-deniers, apologists for the administrations of any of several countries you get the pattern. On the other hand, I have a small handful of extra sort-of sons.

It's definitely not normal to give bibles for Christmas presents in the US, especially ones with obmnoxious highlighting in them. That excessively religious, unthinking, nasty-minded, intolerant, anti-scientific, mean-spirited, anti-freedom stuff you see coming out of the US is powerful, but it only belongs to a tiny minority of the country. We've been letting them get the upper hand for twelve years but it's only because they're better organized and they are more ruthless and have won over or frightened or made shaky alliances with a lot of the ruling class. On the other hand, my atheist grandmother gave my atheist father an Old Testament for a wedding present, at his request, I think because it's a Jewish edition and my father grew up Protestant and he wanted to compare. There's a lovely note on the flyleaf in which she warns him against taking it seriously as anything other than the ancient folklore of a nomadic desert people.

I actually think those things are aimed at sexually active fourteen-year-olds, but I can't be sure. We've noticed them. My kid (19) is in favor of the Rainbow Hello-Kittyness, but she doesn't wear thongs.

Check the calendar . . . you're supposed to be snoozing right now!

I think I know why your stepmother blames you for her marriage problems. You seem to be the go-to guy in your family, the person everybody else depends on. Since she seems to be having problems with the family as a family, you get to be the symbol of everything she doesn't like. Remember that holidays are when family problems usually come out in the open, and when they do, they sometimes get exaggerated, sometimes in ways that will blow over, and sometimes in ways that stick. Can you talk to your dad at his work or on a cell so that you can keep in touch while this blows over or comes to a crashing crisis that rearranges things, whichever it's going to do? By the way, I love this chapter, and I figured out why David knocked Oliver out.

Ah, youth . . . Then time of one's life where one's identity might be very flexible. Notice I said "might" -- it's pretty clear you know who and what you are. Nice thing that you can be patient and figure out what's really going on. And I'm so sorry about the snow, even if it does get you some time off. I'm getting antsy about the rainy season, myself -- the longer it goes on not starting, the more times I'm committed to going out and doing Urban Watch water sampling in the storm drains, and the older it gets. On the other hand, I have a young friend living in the forest, and when it does start raining I either have to bring him into my house (and I can't stand living with him, he's really quite annoying through no fault of his own: he's got some mental thing going on) or feel guilty about it. I am trying to get him set up with SSI and stuff, but that's the long term, and this is the short term. Oy, how much worse it would be if he and I lived where you do -- what do homeless people do in the winter where you live? (maybe they move to Santa Cruz, I don't know)

Honestly, I doubt it. A friend of mine sent me this link, which only confirms what I've always believed: that same-sex behavior and orientation is as natural a variation as blonde hair, and doesn't need explaining.

I didn't like living with snow when I lived in Philadelphia. It was beautiful coming down, all quiet and delicate and lovely, but a day or two later it would have this nasty icy crust on it and it would get into my shoes. The icy part could cut my ankles and got black with soot after a couple days. And if you ever got wet with it when you were outside you'de have to go inside because it would burn. Here, if we're going to look at snow or play in it, we have to go to where it is. I like that. The nearest snow is about fifteen miles away, for about three days at a time, one to three times a year (and sometimes none). The nearest reliable snow is four or five hours' drive, in the beautiful mountains. But I like the mountains better in early summer, when they're still doing the spring wildflowers and it's safe to drive up there. And you can get to the bristlecone pines, which are a deep spiritual experience like the Grand Canyon is.

I understand the thing that is happening here, but she's being oversensitive. It's customary to tell people they have a beautiful smile when they generally don't meet beauty criteria -- specifically if you're fat they'll say "you have such a lovely face." She's wrong to think that's the only time people say those things, especailly men, who are less likely to be in on the code or to feel the need to compliment every woman. Also, it's really common for women to be generally uncomfortable at receiving compliments, partly because they're taught to hand them out in so many different ways themselves (some of them not complimentary)but also because they're generally taught to be uncomfortable and insecure. I think there will be less gender differences in that second one as male beauty is being focussed on more and exaggerated more in media. We can all do our part in fighting this, by the way: when we write things, we can write about the attractiveness of ordinarily attractive people and use language that doesn't distort -- I think you already do this, Dom: your descriptions sound like they come from real people and not underwear ads.

Snowing! We'll get a dusting of snow, if we're lucky, in December and January. It even sticks for a few days at the highest elevations. Not high elevations for someone from Colorado, but we get up past 3000 feet within ten miles of the coast (which is, necessarily. at sea level). Which makes for some pretty radical changes in microclimate and habitat. But snowing. Before Halloween. I am so sorry. We don't even get much rain before that. I'm glad you've figured out a way to deal with the chapter that works for you.

Oh, goody, this just completely obliterates my earlier response (silly me, I decided to catch up in order and didn't see this until I responded to the one before it).

It's potentially a lot of different things. One possibility is that Evil T is a sociopath: they're interesting people because they can always figure out what other people want, need, and feel, but they only do so in order to manipulate them and put one over on them. Or: there could be really complicated issues. Like: is it possible that Evil T has a crush on your sister and is also homophobic and so feels she must destroy the object of her desire? It's not only boys who do things like that, you know. actually I think that's a more girly thing than a boyish thing, outside of stories. Very Stupid C is really stupid, and I'm very sorry your sister got sucked into investing herself in a friend who can be manipulated by someone who she already knows has a history of manipulation, lying and cruelty. How small is your town? Can your sister avoid all these people? Except for having gotten the nasty piece of work a job, anyway. And as for that . . . She needs to complain to her supervisors at work that Evil T is harrassing her, by the way. She needs to say it in the most calm and rational way, though, and preface it with "I don't like to make a fuss, but . . ." I think the lesson for your sister is: if someone is cruel to you over a period of time, don't expect them to change. Don't trust them without a long probationary period . . . definitely don't make yourself vulnerable to them (like moving in). You're such a family man, Dom!

Just last night I was thinking about "The Other Side of Me" and what I was thinking is that it would make a very satisfactory print YA (young adult) novel. Not everybody's online serials would translate well to print. I'm not talking about good and bad writing here -- it's a given your writing is good. But some other good online writers would find that their work wouldn't look as good on the page as it does online. I don't know what it is -- something about style, something about what kind of expectations the writing takes for granted, something. But I think your writing is crossover material. "With Trust" seems to me like it's developing that way too. Have you thought about it? -- homosexual content is not a barrier any more, either. Gay YA novels got a start as "problem" stories, but they're not confined to that kind of story any more. There are various online resources for finding out about YA publishing. Here are two. I don't know how good they are: I just googled a bit. http://www.freelancewriting.com/publishersdir/pages/General/ http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/

Tucson doesn't even have the palm trees. Nice weather today, though. I get the palm trees. And not much smog, because while we have the inversion layer like LA and San Jose we're open to the water and heavily stocked with trees (of all kinds). And, once in a while, snow, though it doesn't stick more than once in a generation. Ten miles away, at the summit of the mountains, it snows and sticks a couple of times a year. If I want real snow: I can drive a few hours and be in the Sierras. But not until much later in the year. Snow in September seems a little harsh . . . it's still summer here until the first real rainstorm just before Halloween, though it is cooling down.

My Mother is 45 years older than me, so she plays the "age card" very well indeed. She isn't religious, but does have a fixation on having natural grandkids (and I'm an only child). Humph. I told my kids they're off the hook for grandkids: I'll have them somehow, whether they produce (or reproduce) or not. It's a really backward thing to insist on grandchildren of the "same flesh." We are all the same flesh -- there's less than 1% genetic variation among human beings. Dom, for some families, confrontation and arguing and harsh words really are necessary phases in coiming to terms. I think. But I don't know if it's the case for yours. I do thinbk you might consider matching her Bible things with stuff from PFLAG.

"Done with current projects" works for me . . . I hope the readers here do realize how much more prolific our online writers tend to be in terms of sheer wordage than all but the most driven print authors. It doesn't stop me from being anxious to see the next installment of something, but I know how much effort goes into every thousand words and I appreciate how fast these things come out (and I have been wondering if I could matrch the output if I were writing the same way).

It's just plain rude. No. Dan's right. It's election fraud, it's illegal, and you can't let them get away with it. Don't be put off by not knowing who the guy is: just call it in, with date and time and place. We're are a really precarious moment in history -- very like 1933 in Europe. We have a chance to preserve (our imperfect) democracy against the most organized anti-democratic, unjust, greedy, and dangerous clique the world has ever seen. It means we can't let the little things go. Edit: I gather by Dan's response that you're in Colorado, Dom? I've only been able to tell that you were somewhere in the middle of the continent.

Is it normal for it to rain like that where you are in the summer? Stay safe! Our summers are fire season, because it doesn't rain from mid-May till the end of October. But we get fog. I was thinking about "The Other Side of Me" today and I was wanting to ask -- once you said that writing in 3rd person was a stretch for you. How are you liking it? One thing I can say about this story is that I have no idea where it is going. It's hard to say which twin is odder, and the parents are plenty odd too.

It's in the sixties (Fahrenheit) here, except for a few hours in the afternoon when it may get to the eighties and everybody complains about how hot it is until the wind comes off the bay and everybody starts complaining how cold it is. Dom -- everybody makes that mistake at least once. It's easier to make thiese days because the movie makers have ratcheted up the scariness and anxiety factor in the movies. I think it's acceptable to bail if the kid wants to (but a lot of the time the kid doesn't want to because they have to know what happened!). I think it's interesting that the angst in hte coming-of-age stories gets to you like that and that you're feeling like writing about older people sometimes. I mean interesting in "what kind of story will that lead to?" way, not in the "let's psychoanalyze Dom" way. I'm having trouble finishing the thing I've been working on for a long time and I'm writing blog commentaries all over hellandgone to procrastinate and that's not good.