Randomness

Glad to have you on-board with Jeff. I keep telling people that (as a character) he screamed about how badly he was treated in To Move Forward. We will see what we can do for him here. Thanks!

I heard the theme music from Halloween, rolled my eyes, and picked up Nate’s cell phone. “Hey! What’s up?” “Are you guys busy right now!?” “No, just reading. Nate is playing a game.” “Great! I will be over in a few minutes! You are never going to believe what happened today!” “What?” “Tell you when I get there. See you in ten!” He laughed while hanging up the phone. I yelled up to Nate‘s office. “Jeff in on his way over!” I looked over at Hannibal who was sleeping peacefully. I poked him

I had hoped the guys would have a happy ending, and we all got there together! Thank you so very much for reading and writing. It touches me deeply when people enjoy the story. I see you have started Without a Manual, Jeff has been looking forward to his own story. I hope you like that one as well. See you over there. :-)

Definitely, they love each other and they needed to show that, for certain. They can be good together. Sweet, but not to sugary I hope. lol

I have always liked Jake. I had envisioned him scaring Ben long before this chapter was written, in fact, I moved it within the story more than once. He is good, albeit somewhat sadistic, fun. :-)

Jeff is a good guy, Patrick is a good guy. When something clicks, it clicks. When it doesn't, it doesn't. It is not always fair, no matter how much you want it. Truly, it was hard to write Jeff.

You like Jeff better (I think) because you feel you can trust him. Ben has yet to earn that trust. I think that is what could be at the heart of everything. I am happy you are liking it. :-) :-)

Communication has always been an issue between these guys, Jeff included. Glad you like him. He is a good person, plain and simple. Thank you for continuing to read and write. I does mean a lot to me. :-)

Correct! He only heard one half of the conversation. :-P

Interesting people are what makes life... interesting. ;-)

I had so hoped that these were the kind of friends that anyone would want. I like people you are supportive and yet a little bit nuts. :-) Thank you.

To some extent, I have always thought of Patrick a prisoner of his past. The past makes us who we are, but he seems to be stuck. My goal for him was to grow or learn and be free (...to move forward). Thank you for finding this story and writing. I truly hope that you continue to go on this journey with him. Thanks again!

I have a lot of food quirks, but the oddest is with spaghetti. The sauce on one side of the plate, the noodles on the other. No mixing. If possible, two separate plates. I looked up once and found my husbear's kids all staring at me! All other Italian noodle combinations are fine mixed. Other than food? I cannot write or concentrate with my back to a door, ever. Even a closet or closed (or closed closet) door. It needs to be in my field of vision, just the corner of my eye is enough. All the furniture in my house is set up to accommodate this. I have a very understanding husbear.

In no particular order: Byzantium, Stephen R Lawhead The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart (the best of the series) Murder at Willow Slough, Josh Thomas The Persian Boy, Mary Renault (or expand to include the rest) Bulfinch's Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch I own all of these and have re-read them (or more properly re-read sections of them) often. History, mythology, adventure, romance, what more can you ask for? Desert Island, here I come!

The house was all but silent. Nate wasn‘t home yet, he would be soon. We could snuggle up and watch a movie or talk or go for a walk and come home then snuggle again. A quiet, peaceful evening for us. Regular life. Jeff had returned to living at his own home a few weeks ago. Now, this past week, he had not come over at all, too busy. I missed his large, continuous presence. Even when he had been kicked down, he was so full of life, love, and affection. He made Nate and I feel so alive. Of

Oh thank goodness! I just rearranged the chapters and wrote this one to put off others. I am glad that it seems to be working. I wanted to define the old relationship. Not only do we have an old couple, but an old friendship. And then there is Hannibal... anyone who says cats don't have personalities, have never had one. (I say that looking at the live version who does not give a crap about what I am doing. She's waiting for her daddy to get up. :-) )

Sounding like an old married couple, CHECKHurting for Jeff, CHECK Cat who rules the house, CHECK Humor based in life, CHECK A Crocodilian Cheerleader, CHECK Thanks for catching up! :-)

“So what do you think?” Jeff smiled and held up some peppers. The store was jammed. I hated browsing. I wanted to get what I wanted and get out. Not today. “Sounds good.” One less thing to pick up. It was wonderful to see him relaxed and happy. For him, I could last a little longer in this chaos. It was nice to get out of the house for a while, plus, with Jeff with me, I could stock up on what he liked. Over the last week, I had run through nearly all of his favorites. An old lady on one of

“Did you just fart?” I set my book down on my lap. “It was the cat.” I glanced over at Hannibal who looked back, equally disgusted. “It was your daddy.” I explained to him. Satisfied, he calmly went back to licking his tail. “Pig.” I said to Nate’s back. I felt the bed jiggle as he suppressed his chuckle. I picked up my book and adjusted my glasses. “Well, the honeymoon is over I guess.” “Has been for a long time baby.” He rolled over to face me and blinked several times into the light fro

Remember Jeff? Our unlucky friend from To Move Forward? With the help of a couple of friends, hopefully he can find that lasting love he has been looking for all his life. Good luck guys: No Instructions Included.

I mean this sincerely, thank you so much for reading and writing. I wanted it to go at a real-life pace to make it feel as real as possible. I kept thinking that by taking away what Ben was thinking and doing, the reader would be in the same place as Patrick. Ben would be the “dark horse” and come through in the end, hopefully to the surprise and delight of everyone. Thanks for understanding that. You may be the only person to comment on the chapter titles, thank you. I wanted them to be both fun and appropriate. Lastly, in the dark recesses of my computer is the story of how Alex and Grant got together. It was written years before this one. I need to get off my butt to revise and publish. I hope to bring you along on that ride too someday. Thank you again!

He was in blackness. He felt pain in a slow, pulsing rhythm. He felt his very dry throat scratch with his breath. He despaired that he could not see and then realized his eyes were not open. He could hear voices over the throbbing in his head. He could not understand them and did not know why. He tried to move his body and it felt like a heavy, wet blanket. He felt that someone had come close and touched his shoulder. He snapped his eyes open. Even through the haze, he could tell it was dusk.

A kindness, an example, a bond, an aspiration, a lesson, a thought. No more, no less.

Much like removing a bandage: there is no pain free choice, only what kind of pain. Additionally, after the bandage is gone: there will be a scar, how deep is the question. Watching for the removal and what kind of scars are left behind. Too philosophical? Maybe...

I don't think we have seen the last of Lucius or his men. Marcus and Koen are moving slowly to the level. Still a long way to go, especially with all the social standards of the world that they live in. Standards that they both, as well as others, are aware of. Enjoying the continuing saga. As for you... don't keep us waiting too long! :-)