LittleBuddhaTW

I believe I mentioned that they were "something like fourth cousins," although I may have left out that part. I'll have to go back and check, because that's something I wanted to stress ... I'm not into the whole incest thing, either ... well, unless they're as hot as Edison Chen (a popular Mando-pop singer), then all bets are off! I've been working hard on getting the next few chapters of SOOTB written and off to Kitty so that I'll have a little extra time to knock out my entry for the Summer Anthology, but you can expect the first full chapter of "When I See You Again" to be posted somewhere around the time SOOTB is ending. Depending on the response, and my "creative inspiration," it could be a regular serial like SOOTB, or I may just write chapters from time to time in between chapters of the other serial I'm planning. I haven't decided yet, but will keep everyone posted. *Hugz* Buddha

For those of you who were fans of The EggMan's epic saga, "New Life," and the adventures of Prez and Keith, you were probably disappointed when it suddenly stopped at the end of 2004 ... well, fear not, because it's back!!! Chapter 7 of the third book in the series ("Life Goes On") is now up at Nifty (and it's a looooong one)! http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/highschool/...-goes-on-7.html

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and were able to read the deeper message that I was trying to get at.

Okay, okay ... back to discussing the actual chapter and what happened (and what might happen in future chapters) instead of devising ways to kill me for making Toby's leukemia come back ... Doesn't anyone else think that Ryan is totally hot in his baseball uniform??? Or is he hotter in his lacrosse uniform? Or maybe he should join the military, and we could see him in one of those uniforms ... hmmm ...

But if you killed me, then there would be no more chapters ... and the people looking forward to reading the two new serials I have planned might be sad ... and, of course, you'd be sending BoyNeedsTherapy and VLista into deep and potentially unrecoverable states of depression ... and think of poor Kitty!

I love it! hehe Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB!!! If I had your address, I'd send you a copy of Elton John's album "Ice On Fire," your namesake, but since I don't, you'll just have to get it from Amazon.com or something ... but be sure to get the remastered & enhanced version ... there are two live bonus tracks on there! *Hugz* Buddha-pest

It would have been mocking if he'd been wearing an upside-down crucifix or some other intentionally blasphemous symbol. He was wearing a crucifix ... and he is gay. A gay guy can't/shouldn't wear a crucifix because some Christians are offended by gays? Sorry, but that's just B.S. And wearing a crucifix doesn't have to have anything to do with spirituality. I have crucifix earrings and necklaces, and I am nowhere close to being a Christian ... sometimes fashion is just fashion. No need to always read so much into things. The narrative said, "I was kind of hoping it would piss off the Christian fundamentalists." It was the last line in the paragraph that was about his wardrobe, and was added as a kind of afterthought on his part. So, the way I see it, it's primary function was to complement his outfit, and served the secondary purpose of being a slight bite at the people who had the intention of causing trouble in the first place. Also, note that he (I) said "fundamentalists" ... in my mind, there's a big distinction between "Christians" and "Christian fundamentalists" ... I choose my words carefully. And, believe me, if I wanted to take a swipe at someone (or a group of people), it would be a lot more obvious than just a one-off comment/gesture like that ... gimme some credit here!

Ch. 17 is up ... http://members.gayauthors.org/littlebuddhatw/SOOTB17.html As usual, many thanks, kudos, and all that jazz to Kitty for doing a superb job with this chapter ... and don't forget to read her "Editor's Note" at the bottom!!! Enjoy!

C'mon, people!!!! Get with the program! It takes about 10 seconds to hit "reply," type a quick message, and then hit "submit" ... tell Vance how much you love him!!! You don't want an angry Buddha now, do you??? *blows drill sergeant whistle* Hop to it guys and gals!!!

Excellent chapter, Vance! I think I was giving Cameron's father too much credit, and thought he might be willing to reconcile with his son ... I was wrong. I was also pretty surprised at Mr. Harris' reaction to Cameron telling him off ... see, good things can happen when you stand up for yourself! And might Mrs. Harris know Cameron better than he thinks she does??? Anyway, you're definitely very good at keeping your readers guessing! And I think Cole's reaction to Cameron being able to go over and spend the night was sooo adorable! I'm really glad to see how willing he has been to let his guard down around Cameron ... there must be something special in Cameron that he senses that makes him able to do that. Anyway, can't wait to read about the "sleepover" (although I'm not sure much 'sleeping' will actually be taking place)! *Hugz* Buddha

When Vance gets home from work this evening and sees that people have actually been arguing about who is his #1 fan in the "Shane" thread, he's gonna start shrieking like a little middle school girl who was just asked out on a date by the hottest guy in school (for some bizarre reason, Vance has trouble actually believing that people like his stories ... *shrugs*) So ... everyone who absolutely LOVES Vance's stories should leave a little message in this thread and tell him so, no matter how short it is. He's one of the sweetest (and HOTTEST) guys I know, and he needs all the encouragement we can give him. Let's have it guys ... three cheers for Vance!!!!!!!! *Hugz & Smoochies* Buddha

Could you elaborate, please? I'm curious ...

Hehe ... that's sweet of you, James ... but fortunately that won't be a problem, as Kitty did manage to send me the final revisions for the chapter, and it should be posted sometime this weekend.

Ok, ok already ... Vance knows that the grammar in "Shane" has some problems, and he's going to have it edited by a very competent person and re-posted when "Cameron" is done ... so let's stop harrassing poor Vance about the grammar (which *will* be fixed), and focus instead on how good of a story it is. Otherwise, I might have to get upset and over-protective, which I tend to do when it comes to Vancey-pooh, and that would not be a good thing ... Capiche? *Hugz* (and *smooches* to Vance) Buddha President and #1 Fan, Official VLista Fan Club

I've been thinking, and I just mentioned in my blog that I may change this concept from a short story to a serial, and make it sort of like my "writer's block story," to work on every now and then when other projects are frustrating me. The only problem with doing that, though, is that I wouldn't have a regular posting schedule, and there are other things that I'm working on (and would like to work on) that take precedence in my mind. BUT ... I've come up with a lot of other ideas as far as this story goes that could make it into a 10-15 chapter novel as opposed to just a short story. We'll have to see where the creative wind takes me ...

I like the picture of Connor a lot, although I agree with Kitty that the nose is a little off, and I'd always pictured his hair as maybe a little more curly. But I'd say that's a pretty good match. I also think the way I visualize Maggie is a lot like how Kitty described her. I have no idea what I was thinking ... *hits self in head* I'll have to go back and fix those, and hopefully send in the revised chapters when I make the next update. It should be Ben and Derek. I had a boyfriend named Ethan once, though!

Okay ... so now you're probably asking, "Who in the hell is Ma Ying-jeou?" Well, he is the current mayor of Taipei city, the chairman of the Nationalist Party (KMT), and is expected by most people to win the presidency in Taiwan in 2008. He's a very charismatic and down-to-earth guy, and you just can't help but like him. He's also Harvard-educated (Ph.D. in law), was a professor for a number of years before going into politics. He was the justice minister during the latter years of the KMT's hold on power, but was fired for doing too good a job at going after corrupt officials. Anyway, I have a lot of respect for him, and if anyone can fix the many social and political problems Taiwan is facing, he's the one. So, anyway, he gave a speech this morning at the National Central Library, where my office is, and I got to shake his hand and say a few words with him as he was leaving. It was quite an experience ... you can just "feel" that he has that quality. The only other person I've experienced that "feeling" with is when I met Elton John back in 1999. OK, story stuff ... I haven't gotten the final edit of Ch. 17 back from Kitty yet, but she's been busy and is taking care of her father back in Texas, so if for some reason it's a few days late, please be patient and don't send any hate mail or anything. It should be up by the end of the weekend or early next week ... although it could also be up by Saturday ... it all depends. Ch. 19 is finished and has been sent to Kitty, and I've started working on a couple new projects. I've posted a "sneak peak" of a story I started working on in the forum, so you can go check it out and leave comments. At first, it was supposed to be a short story, but now I'm thinking of making it into a "writer's block serial" (kind of like what Dom's 'Desert Dropping' was originally supposed to be). Anyway, we'll see. I've got lots of writing to do, and lots planned. Besides finishing SOOTB, I have to get to work on my entry for the Summer Anthology. I've scrapped my original idea for that and am going to try something different. I'm also working on another short story, which is my first attempt at writing something in the third person. It's not something I'm sure everyone will like, so it may never see the light of day, but we'll see ... BTW, I got the health certificates for all three cats from my vet, and they're all taken care of with their rabies shots, microchips, and check-ups. I also shipped another box off this week, and will get the last (I hope) box packed up this weekend. I also need to make a dentist's appointment, since I have excellent health care here, and won't when I first get back to the States. So, lots of these little things to remember to do and get taken care of in the last month that I'm here. Anyway, that's about it for today.

This was supposed to be my entry for the Summer Anthology, but I suddenly had an entirely different idea the other night, so this has been relegated to the back burner, for now. However, I'm posting what I have written so far here (please keep in mind that Kitty has not edited this yet!), and see if anyone thinks I should continue on with this one, or just trash it. The two new short stories I'm working on are my first attempts at writing third-person narrative, one of which will be the entry for the Summer Anthology, and another one is a potentionally controversial piece that I may or may not post ... I'll have to wait until I've finished and see what Kitty things, and maybe a couple of beta readers as well. Anyway, here is what I've written so far of "When I See You Again." Let me know what you think, and if you think it's worth continuing at some point (although it would be after I've finished SOOTB and my other two short stories, and perhaps even after I've started my new serial novel, "My Elusive Drug.) ---------------------------------------- WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN by Little BuddhaTW Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved.

Demetz, Please, for the sake of our sanity, do NOT get Nickolasjames started on politics!!! *sitting as serene as a mountain* Buddha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!! *Hugz* Buddha

Speaking of photos ... I put photos of the different kinds of pianos that Connor has played in the story up on my Yahoo! group. There's a link to the group on my web site (http://members.gayauthors.org/littlebuddhatw/index.html), and you can access the photo gallery by clicking on the link at the left side of the screen in the Yahoo! group that's cleverly marked "Photos." I also uploaded a photo of the set-up of Elton John's "Red Piano" show, which Connor and Ryan have tickets to go see.

I've missed you so much, Kevin! I'm glad you survived the move and are getting settled in. You're definitely much better at making friends than me, and it sounds like you're off to a good start. And hopefully now you'll have more time for some of your insightful comments on the last couple chapters of SOOTB! hehe *Hugz & Smooches* Buddha

I'm sorry to hear about the e-mail you got ... that is really petty and low. If you know how sent it to you, I'd report it to one of the GACs. IMO, that should be a bannable (sp?) offense. I've also had people intentionally give me low ratings on my stories in the Story Archive just out of spite. It sucks, but some people are just that way, and you have to let it go. It's not worth it. Your stories will speak for themselves. Perhaps they're just jealous? As for your blog, that's another thing. And I don't think a 4 out of 5 star rating is bad at all ... in fact, isn't that considered good? The hateful and cruel e-mails and purposely low ratings on your stories are most definitely uncalled for ... however, when you post such controversial stuff in your blog, you have to be willing to take the heat/responsibility for that, methinks. I enjoyed the last chapter of "My Jump Off." I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

No, I chose to step down ... too many "negative feelings" to continue ... and being president of VLista's fan club is taking up too much of my time now anyway. I wish you the best of luck in life and with Mike. *steps away gracefully* Buddha