There's so much more to becoming successful in the music business than the ability to sing well. Stage presence, charisma, and the ability to connect with the songs and the audience are just as important. Part of that is attire. I've tried to give an idea of Chipper's wardrobe whenever I've written one of his performances.
Too many readers ignored the fact there were no cameras used while the 3 guys were doing drugs in the van. Maybe Chipper doesn't see it that way, but pictures/videos of him being a bad boy might give him a bump in popularity.
Somehow missed this comment yesterday.
We've already had Owen trash Jay once, and I don't like to repeat myself. How about we wait until he's back in the US, we ruin his reputation, and he loses everything. He'll move into a tiny studio and survive on ramen noodles and mac 'n' cheese.
I just realized I used the same title for a chapter in another story. Although that pool party involved a two-year-old, her fathers, and her grandparents. LOL
I pepper my stories with details like that one. Most are never caught by readers, but they serve to round out the characters' lives. In this case, we find out the dads may be permissive, but they do set limits for Liebe.
Camilo has a mission and he's going to accomplish it. I think he planned to observe before engaging and that's what he did. He's not trying to recruit CJ the way Yevgeny did, so the chances of a little bromance developing are good.
I haven't written my favorite book in the series yet. I'm thinking that will be The Agean. I'll start outlining that one in the next week or so.
Did you ever watch Red or Red 2? The movies star a bunch of old-timers as retired CIA/MI6/KGB agents. Camilo's personality was somewhat inspired by the Russian in the movies. A friendly adversary you could call him.
I didn't want to replicate Ritch's visit to his parents' gravesite, a little too heavy for this story, but I wanted CJ to acknowledge his grandfather where his ashes had been scattered. This was another one of those instances where I took a small event in a previous story and expanded on it.