Stephen ODonohue

Brilliant.

Wow Dom Luka... that was heavy(and perfectly placed for a follow up story. I'll have to go serching now to see if you did indeed let us know what happened to David and how did Frank get back in the boat?). Thank you... I think! Stephen

Dom Luka... I LOVE this book. Thank you.

Well Cia, what did he see??? I just 'gotta' remember to only start completed stories.

Thank you Cia... great story.

Hey Skylights, just finished reading 'Combustion'... loved it. Great start to this one. What happened? Hope you might get back to it sometime(I actually felt sorry for Jeremy in the last book and thought he'd been left a bit high and dry). If you can't turn it into a complete book, how about a quick(?) 5000 words to tidy it up for those less fortunate(like me... you know, untalented). Ta lots for the enjoyment. Stephen

Hi Skylights, no need to apologize for any errors because of a lack of an editor... very few (and a lot lot less than many stories with editors). Though, as I hail from 'Oz', even I'm sure that you go 'up' to Canada... and 'down' to the States. Loving the story. Stephen

Excellent... read it (I highly recommend this story).

Thank you Cia.

Sweet!

Hi jian. Great story... but where's the next chapter? It's totally unfair that you tempt us with this and leave us hanging (you talented types are all the same... teasing the lesser amongst you). If you're too busy to develop it into a full story, how about a quick 2000 words to tidy it up and us some closure. Stephen P.S. love the other work of yours that I have read.

Right Mr high and mighty DKStories, once again a fine book and a thoroughly enjoyable read... but if you think you can make disparaging remarks about cricket, then you better be prepared to deal with the consequences. You(Americans) may have thrown off the tyranny of the British Kings but you shouldn't lose sight of the culture they bring to the world... i.e. cricket. Simply the pinnacle of human achievement(and we're talking Test Cricket here, that's 5 day cricket, not the nasty 1day stuff or the simply horrid bastardised 20/20 rubbish). Until you understand the glories of cricket, you will simply remain barbarians(albeit the richest, most successful, most powerful barbarians the world have ever seen... but barbarians nevertheless!). Now I'm feeling a little faint, so I'm going to have a cup of tea and a nice lie down, Stephen P.S. I have to say though, bring called a barbarian by an Aussie, must really sting.

'Morgan Bentley was a bastard. An utter, complete, A1, cut glass bastard. He was arrogant, selfish, cold, standoffish, cruel and completely heartless. His history was peppered with broken hearts and broken people, dragging in his wake and attesting to that simple fact. There was no doubt about it... he was a bastard.' Ahhh, Morgan Bentley... everything I aspire to be in life, my hero! Am absolutely loving this book. The characters are tightly drawn and the hint of malice early on in Morgan and in the story is riveting reading. If you haven't read this, as Molly always says... 'do yourself a favour'. Stephen.

C James, please do not listen to mg777 regarding another years worth of Circumnavigation. I'd be ecstatic to have another 150 chapters... but only if you can download them next week. This is my favourite book, but the suspense is starting to wear me down. Now it's obvious that you are hugely independently wealthy C James, and have absolutely nothing else happening in your life... so please start writing and posting now(for a man of your talents, another 1,000,000 odd words should only take a week or two!). Stephen

Excellent to hear Holly, I look forward to it. Best wishes. Stephen

Hi HJ(don't worry, I'm here to comment on 'Always'). I've been waiting since August for chapter 27 and was wondering if you are continuing with this story. I've loved it till now and hope you will continue. I hope you are well and your sabbatical from this story is not permanent. Stephen P.S. Spittune, I hope you are feeling better and are overcoming your illness. Be assured that there are many readers and members of GA that are praying for you.

Well said Billy... you got it.

Err... plan B. I'm heading off for 'In Safe Hands'... I think!

It is said that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover... how true that is. I wasn't exactly enamoured with the title but after only a couple of chapters, I loved it. Thank you Riley(and thanks for the heads up on 'Unexpected'). I'm heading there now. Stephen

Thank you C James for Jake. A fab story... loved it and highly recommend it to anyone reading this forum to gauge the book. I'm sure you will love it too. I see also that chapter 149(final chapter?) of 'Circumnavigation' has been posted. For anyone who has not yet read this, pull up a chair and prepare yourself for a great yarn with hours of fun following the adventures of Trevor as he battles his way around the world. The best book I read in 2012. Stephen

Sorry ITMOS, I obviously lied when I said I wouldn't bug you again. I'm very sad that you cannot explain how 4 supposedly decent kids could watch the sickening violence and torture inflicted on a smaller boy for 2 years and not have any reaction. You say it is carried on in some sort of twisted reality. I can't remember seeing the tag 'fantasy' on the story. It is simply not believable(and I'm totally ignoring the 'suspend your disbelief' scenes of Spencer appearing in class soon after bring half beaten to death) that any normal person could participate in this sickness(and they do participate by watching and doing nothing) because of loyalty to their friends. As you portray them, they are nothing short of pond scum. They are your characters and you can portray them any way you want... but perhaps if you look back on the totality of the posts, you may start to get an idea that perhaps not all is fine in TPoF universe. You have done a brilliant job in telling a hugely compelling story to the point that a 54 yo gay man in Australia is having a heated debate with you about a fictional story(and your fictional characters), but if you are happy to leave your readers(and not just me, read the posts), feeling sick and angry about a complete lack of humanity of your main characters who you claim to be somewhat misunderstood, then that is your loss. It is one thing to show characters with human failings... it is totally another to show a bunch of sadistic animals and expect that somehow we the readers will magically come to your conclusion(as expressed in your posts) that these characters are actually normal American (loyal) kids. It just beggars belief. This is where I do get personal and insulting ITMOS. It says on your authors page that you are 19. I seriously think you need to take a long hard look at your life's perspective. You have undoubted ability(I couldn't begin to write as compelling a story as this), but if you don't have any empathy at all for any of your characters(you say you love your characters but you certainly don't show that to us the reader), then you have a long lonely future as a writer. I'll state once again, your total inability to show even the smallest amount of humanity in the seven for most of the book, simply leaves this potential brilliant piece of writing as a twisted sickening piece of sado-masochistic trash. Very very sad. you say you write for yourself ITMOS, but if you have absolutely no empathy at all for your readers, then good luck with your future career as a writer... I think it is a sad loss for us the reader that your talent is wasted. I certainly won't be posting again as every time I think of TPoF, I feel nauseous again. Congratulations on making your readers sick. Stephen.

Hi ITMOS. Thank you for your reply. This will be my last post on this story and then I'll leave you in peace. My grievance is in the reaction(non reaction) of Kendall, Reese, Ember and Parker to watching(and therefore participating in) the extreme violence inflicted on Spencer by Riley and Dexter (I ignore Nix who is both oblivious and a coward earlier on). If the severe violence you describe at school was inflicted by the two in private(toilets, gym, behind the school etc) and the others only saw the general bullying(being pushed into lockers, tripped etc) then I get your point... but as they all witness the beatings and torture you describe(and being inflicted by the boys with glee) in detail(and I'm only talking about Riley and Dexter here), it is inconceivable that any decent human beings could not be troubled. As you allow them no reaction, then I'm left with the conclusion that these 4 are less than human. ITMOS, I have no idea if you have ever been in a fight. I don't know if you have ever been hit... but if you were subjected to the brutality you describe being inflicted on Spencer by Riley and Dexter), then I can assure you, you wouldn't be turning up in class 10 mins later. You would be severely hurt. In is inconceivable that 40 odd students could watch this without one single person feeling something(I cannot imagine the America I see on my TV/movie screen and read about is so lacking in humanity as to explain your descriptions). It comes down to this total lack of reaction or any sympathy whatsoever from the other 4(especially the girls) to watching this torture, that makes these characters absolutely unredeemable and thus leaving me with nowhere to go at the end of the book, but to detest these inhuman callous cowards) and that just leaves me angry and nauseous. My suggestion that you rewrite these scenes comes from this point-if we the reader(me the reader) have any chance of empathising with these characters at the end, you have to(in my opinion), either tone down the torture inflicted on Spencer by Riley and Dexter on school property... or take the extreme torture out of sight of Kendall, Reese, Ember and Parker(or at least the girls) so that the story becomes 1) believable 2) attainable for the average reader. As it stands(again, in my humble opinion), a great book has been left as a sickening toxic tale about a bunch of sadistic cowards(the seven) without a single redeeming feature. Stephen.

With all due respect HJ and ITMOS, I think you both missed my point. My basic complaint was not directed at the cruel and inhuman treatment of Spencer... as I stated I get the premise(it's in the title). It is aimed at the characterisation of the seven and their total day to day disfunctionsl dealings in regard to Spencer(one day torture, the next day help... oh today's Tues, it must be torture day again). I'm complaining because(as I said in my post, in my opinion) a great book was ruined by having Kendall, Reese, Ember and Parker who are portrayed as basically everyday decent kids watch a couple of psycho bullies(Riley and Kendall... Nix is no more than a coward as portrayed early on) physically and emotionally torture a kid on a near daily basis and somehow think it's ok... and then somehow you expect us the reader to warm to them at some stage on the book. Reese doesn't even know the story of Spencer but in some parallel universe we are expected to 'feel her pain' for the terrible thing that has befallen her. She watches as her boyfriend and brother systematically viciously beat(by your own descriptions ITMOS) a kid daily and has negligible reaction. ITMOS, you don't portray mere bullying in these scenes, but something much much worse... but somehow we are meant to 'suspend our disbelief' and go along with the idea that these are just, in some way, regular kids(towards the end, someone mentions that it was all caused by a 'misunderstanding'... ya' think??? The same can be said for the other 3. It is your book ITMOS, and you can write your characters any way you want(and yes, I don't have to read it)... but what a shame you made me hate the(gutless, sadistic) seven. I can't be mad at them, they're simply fictional characters on a page. I can however be mad at you for the feelings of anger and nausea I feel from your depiction of the seven(and Trudy). You left me absolutely nowhere to go as there doesn't seem to have been a single redeeming feature of any of them after you describe them watching on basically disinterested as their friends torture(we're not talking about basic bullying here, much something far more insidious). ITMOS, I have read hundreds of books on GA, including many far darker and more descriptive than TPOF. Some of them made me squirm, some I put down... but no book I have ever read, has affected me more than this. I feel cheated that in a potentially great book, I just could not form any empathetic relationship with any character(other than Spencer) simply because of your overkill on the School bullying by the seven. I'm mad at you because I as a reader feel that you have failed your characters(yes your characters, not mine... I'm no writer, this is possibly the longest thing I gave ever written) by making them so... evil(by their actions... and I actions). ITMOS, I questioned your humanity(or lack thereof) for no other reason than to try to prick your conscience(and maybe to goad you as well in the hope that you might see an angry reader and perhaps have another look at your extreme characterisations of the seven). I don't actually think you are in any way inhuman, I just feel you turned a potentially great tale(hey I read it in one sitting... seething... it sure as hell had me) into a squalid(again, all my own opinion) hateful story where I felt little or no satisfaction at its conclusion. Stephen. P.S. HJ and ITMOS. I didn't demand you delete the story, I asked that you consider it. If I pissed either of you off or made you you angry ITMOS... welcome to my world(during and after reading 'The Paradox of Friendship).

Sorry if I'm invading someone's forum(I'm not very literate on this technology thingy) but I've just read DKStories 'The Bully' and I wanted to commend the author for a simple tale... told well. It was a pleasure after having made the error of reading a vicious and nasty piece of writing called 'The Paradox of Friendship', an immensely well written but essentially nauseating story(because of the authors inability to give his main characters, i.e. the good guys, even a semblance of humanity). It should have been titled 'The Paradox of Evil'. DKStories writing appears to be much tighter with better defined characters, who though they may have human failings, are basically decent people. I will certainly be reading more from this author. Stephen.

I have just completed 'The Paradox of Friendship' and I have to state ITMOS, no sugary ending can ever excuse the pain you have put your readers through by this violent and degrading story. A story of a bunch of psychopaths is one thing... by to then try to make those same psychopaths somehow human and the 'good guys' in this sordid tale is just basically unbelievable. I have never had such a strong reaction to any book in my 55 years of life, especially considering it is fiction. The fact that I couldn't put it down(or actually throw it in the trash), probably points to how good a writer you are with the basic story. I realise the title shows the premise for the book and the sick and inhuman things that happen to Spencer are part of the story and plot(the whole point of the book I know). But the pathetic way you turn the seven into schizophrenic psychopaths either shows that you need to work a little more in your characterisations or that perhaps this story gives us a look into your own basic humanity(or lack thereof). ITMOS, though this may simply sound like a rant by a reader against 'an artist', and that maybe you consider getting such a strong reaction some sort of vindication of your 'art', I hope I am wrong because I never again want to read a book that makes me physically ill(several times), from your depiction of the seven friends. It is fiction, it does deal with very disturbing themes, it is compelling... but to get your audience to hate your heroes(the 'good guys' as you say in one of your posts), to make the seven(plus Trudy) sub-human, lacking in any basic compassion just makes this reader(and others I hope) angrier than I ever describe in words... specifically against you, the writer. I hope you might consider rewriting the 'torture scenes' you attribute to the seven at school(and all seven are complicit in that 'torture') to allow what, in my opinion, could be a great great book. I really believe that this book(and your characters) deserve better. From your obvious talent, you deserve better, and I know as a reader... I deserve better. If you can't bring yourself to do this, then I hope you will consider any possible future readers ... and delete this story. Stephen.