Carlos Hazday

HNY For CJ, I based some of his looks on Maxi Iglesias, and as both the character and the actor have aged, the reality has sort of matched the fiction. Same for Owen. I think he resembles Alexander Ludwig. As of today, both are 30, so their ages don't correspond, but I can see CJ looking a lot like Maxi does at 30 when our guy reaches that age. Check the CDMX forum thread. I'll share something in a moment.

@Howzat A long time ago @spike382 commented about one of my characters nearly piercing the 4th veil. That comment has stuck with me over the years, and I wanted to do something similar. But, of course, CJ and Owen are real and not characters. They live in an alternate reality I can tap into to write these stories. (Oh, thank goodness. The meds just kicked in.) Well, if you like the spy shit, there may be a tad more of it in upcoming chapters. I'm willing to try writing a thriller, I draw the line at romance.

Show's you haven't been keeping up with the tabloids. Queen Elizabeth's about to abdicate in favor of William. He and Kate visit the White House and CJ and Owen are invited to the State Dinner. Do I need to spell out the rest? Let's just say during their subsequent visit to America, Will and Kate end up at Everhope for chicken wings, burgers, and beer.

@scrubber6620 When CJ moved to D.C., and it was just him, Brett, and Cesar, he got a taste of what the city's cocktail party circle was, even though the fathers weren't socialites. Owen joined in when together, they rubbed elbows with politicians and wealthy individuals while CJ worked on a presidential campaign. But most of their socializing was informal, with close friends, with Harley usually supplying weed. We're back to adult cocktail parties which sort of fits with their positions and rising social visibility. Interestingly enough, I recently found out the real marine Austin's named after is considering the security sector for when he leaves the Corps. Let's see if my fictional character mirrors the real jarhead. Or is it the other way around? I haven't decided if Yevgeny was silly or cocky. After all, CJ's green and Yevgeny may have assumed helpless. Just another pretty face with money, slumming in the American diplomatic corps. Jimmy will be a recurring character. I'm not done with him or the Russian. Let's see what Jimmy has planned concerning phones and other electronic devices.

Sometimes, too much of a good thing's just too much. Posting on consecutive days (maybe because it's the holidays) does seem to reduce the number of readers, reactions, and comments. Yevgeny may return sooner or later. However, next chapter's all about...

Mine's the one from the wedding with CJ, Owen, Spencer, and JP all wearing "skirts". (Actually, my laptops background image is side by side pics of CJ at 30 and Owen at 35. Can you tell when my next story takes place?)

But, but, but... Yevgeny simply wanted to say hello to Liebe, Trixie, and Nigel. I'm staying quiet about any future developments involving Domogarov!

You know, I was thinking since Owen's still not a US citizen, he's still a subject of the Queen. Maybe we can arrange for him and CJ to get 00 rank with MI6 so they can dispose of Yevgeny... (Carlos brings up his outline to make a change or two.)

LMFAO Check the website that showed the one of CJ dancing atop a bar in NYC wearing only a jockstrap...

LMFAO - Unfortunately I tell instead of showing. It all comes out when CJ, Ozzie, Ritch, and Lucy hit a club in Ibiza to celebrate Owen's 35th. Now, how's that for a spoiler? LOL

This chapter was brought to you thanks to the good people at Tide...

@dughlas BTW, I thought of Mr. McDughlas yesterday. I was outlining CJ and Owen attending a rave in Washington, both wearing kilts.

Did the keyboard get sprayed. BTW, knowing you, make sure you have a tissue or two available when the next chapter posts on Friday.

Okay, he has help from the author who likes to put our boy in interesting situations. Two things I've consistently tried to do are trying not to repeat the circumstances of CJ's conflicts and modify those conflicts to reflect his age. As a teen, unless I was writing Alex Rider stories, this spy stuff wouldn't have worked as well. It comes about because he's a diplomat in a foreign country.

I have the same problem, my patience has apparently gone into hiding. Five more sleeps until the next chapter.

The more people who hear/witness the way Northman interacts with CJ, the more allies our guy has. Those may come in handy.

Thank you, Tor.

@Kitt I may break the fourth barrier again towards the end of the book. Unfortunately, we now return to regular Friday postings.

Yeah, about obeying orders? I'm like Liebe, I can follow instructions well until I throw a tantrum and don't.

@dughlas Check the video for the song I mentioned, Tyronne. A couple of black friends introduced me to Badu with that clip. Brett's all about Motown and the Beach Boys, with Cesar, it's Bruce Springsteen. I'm trying to show CJ likes those but has his own musical taste too. Of course you wanna bug the kid's room. You never know what the fathers may talk about while changing her diaper! LOL. Spoiler - Austin becomes a fixture in the Squad's life. And Jimmy has a few more appearances coming, including a chat or two with Northman.

@Anton_Cloche Blue-hair special reminds me of my grandmother. Every now and then the hairdresser went overboard and the blue was really intense for a while. I don't think Northman's getting an invite to the wine tasting. I was afraid if he was invited, CJ would end up tossing him over the balcony railing. Foreshadowing? What's that?

And a HNY to you too. As I previously mentioned, the country and the culture are too rich not to be incorporated into the story. By now everyone should realize I can't write a scene set in a sterile environment, I need to add enough color and detail so readers feels as if they're wherever CJ and Owen are.

@Daddydavek Fine, since Friday seemed so far away, I posted another chapter today. Glad you got time with your little man. Do Liebe's tantrums ever bring him to mind?

Damn, Parker, I didn't know you were a tree-hugger too! I want to make it clear that although it sounds like a fortune cookie saying, there was no Chinese food involved in me borrowing the one liner. There are a few sayings in a similar vein scattered throughout my neighborhood as street signs.

@frosenblum I'm glad you noticed; that's done entirely on purpose. I have too many damn characters in and out of stories and scenes to expect anyone to immediately remember them all. Someone like say Harley, Ritch, or Chipper, most everyone who's a fan will recognize the moment they're mentioned, but even then I try to provide their full name and how they fit into the story at least once in a story. More frequent references to cast members readers don't know as well are common.