Carlos Hazday

The late afternoon train was crowded, every seat on the Acela Express leaving Union Station occupied on the Friday before Christmas. Loosened ties and kicked-off high heels suggested business travelers escaping the nation’s capital. Sprinkled amongst them, revelers in casual attire hinted at tourists embarking on holiday travel. Without doubt, the raucous knot of nine men and one woman boarding together belonged to the latter. Taisha Abelló, the lone female in the party, stood in the aisle a

My last one had the entire wedding party throw the grooms on the ground and jumped on them. Think sports victory celebration. The fact they did it in front of a former President of the United States didn't seem to bother them.

Bring on the ass kickings! That will show bullies the error of their way. If not Smith and Wesson can help. I am NOT a pacifist.

@Thorn Wilde I realize I'm in the minority here. Most readers like angst and sappy romance. I dislike both. The most popular chapters in my long series involve tissues. To dry tears of sadness or happiness, Killing the sister of an MC garnered more reaction (aside from a couple of tales with guns) than even the long-awaited wedding. Our experiences shape us, and we must all write what we feel comfortable with. For me it's a kid being bullied, learning how to defend himself, and breaking the bully's nose in the end. I love the MC having the final word while standing above the person he just shot or beat the crap out of.

That approach has been pretty constant for me. If I didn't rise above the angsty crap, and look at the future with hope, I would have never accomplished half the stuff I have. There's been plenty of pain, but I try to shove it down and forget it. Again, it's better to remember the triumphs. Defeats are for us to analyze, and not repeat.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Positive stories which give hope are not necessarily boring. I enjoy reading and writing stories where the character faces challenges and finds ways to overcome them. I won't even bother looking at teen romances. I find them boring and repetitive. The straight best friend, the understanding female, and similar tropes have been done so often I doubt there's anything left to say. I guess I'm a half-full glass guy instead of half-empty. Why would I want to read about angst and sadness? I can hear about it in the news, and would rather focus on uplifting stories.

@Nahrung Every single character in the first three chapters is a recurring one. Take a look at the prologue if you need to refresh your memory. Bentley was introduced in the current chapter as was Jeff Bezos; both will return. I also had 'guest appearances by Parker and Dayne's characters, but those were minor so not sure if that's what confused you. The large ensemble cast's been a staple of the series. The Elite and Squad members--the main cast--has remained constant for the past few books. There'll be one more character added to the Squad, but it won't happen for a while. So, no flood of new characters. As for events, there's definitely new ones, and that will continue. This is a coming of age story, and I refuse to have a static character. CJ will continue to experience new things, and in the process continue growing.

Hey, Tony! I've always wanted to have a positive story even when at times there's been some sadness. Part of life. Swamp Monster? LOL

@Myr Thanks, boss. I'm happy with it, but not so much with how the gun issue ended up being the focus. I overplayed it since what I wanted to highlight was the kid fighting back against the establishment. I can't help writing controversial, political stuff.

Morning, y'all. tim, we're about 50C warmer, but there's a cold front pushing through. I can hear thunder in the distance. After a couple of hours of rain, temps will start dropping. I'm waiting for the sky to clear before riding to Miami for my weekly "Dad Time." He gets all his meals at the retirement home, but I'm taking him grocery shopping today. He's diabetic but loves to keep ice cream and a few staples in his refrigerator. We figure at 88, he can eat whatever he wants.

@c081huang CJ and Owen are dog people, so you can keep the pussy lover. LOL As for CJ being mature, you could always call him Papi CJ...

I'm still hoping to one day collaborate with a couple of other authors, bringing together our characters into a jointly written story. Dark tried to get a few of us together one time but the effort fizzled out. Everybody keeps talking about how much happened in this chapter but I only count 5 little segments... LOL I guess the grumbling about too much is better than too little.

Really? They're your favorites? I'd suggest hiding; CJ and Owen won't be happy to hear that!

Twins? Papa CJ? Oh, hell. Wasn't he just learning how to drive the Jeep? As for Corey, you better be ready to fight Efrain and/or CJ. My guy does like them muscular and blond...

Lots of travel coming up. Instead of going to class and studying. LOL The perception that they're growing up is accurate. Marriage, a house, rumors of a baby... The CIA, State Department, and Bezos are options he needs to evaluate. The character was designed to be 'above average' and I want to continue in that vein.

Wanna bet? I already have a character who lives in London. CJ and Owen stopped there for a couple of days on the way to Amsterdam to see him. And I do have notes for a meeting with Prince Harry... I can make it happen. LOL Oh, and yes, I realized the connection of your comment with the one in the CJ thread.

I'm avoiding reading all the comments since I've yet to start this book. Today's CJ chapter included guest appearances by Dayne Mora and Parker Owen's characters. Do I need to work Eric into a future scenario? CJ knows plenty of journalists, he can organize a panel discussion on privacy issues.

@Wesley8890 I talked to Dayne about crossing our stories over a long time ago. It didn't work out, and then she decided to take a break. I wanted to do a football trip (there's actually another one later on) and I wanted to talk about mass shootings. The ACC was kind enough to give me a Miami game at Virginia Tech. A scene with CJ and Chipper watching the UM-Notre Dame game mentioned in this chapter at a bar in NYC ended up on the cutting floor, so I used it as the basis for the trip. Got to mix in CJ and Trip's book and in the process explore a little of the financial side of the thing and how CJ deals with fan mail. If you like this, you'll enjoy the next 3 chapters.

Thanks for lending them to me, bud. I hope I've done them justice. Interesting you want to read about the mundane parts of a college student's life. LOL I've actually avoided that part on purpose; I didn't think people would want to read about it. In my notes, there were some details about classes, which I decided not to expand. A required Theology course had CJ debating a Jesuit priest. Government courses led to political discussion, and in his International Relations courses, there would have been stuff about CJ's travels and varied friends influencing his opinions. I guess I'm covering mostly weekends and time with family instead of the Monday-Friday grind. Since this book's 100% written, too late. However, I can always do flashbacks at some point.

We'll chat.

I'm not sure about this. Is it really faster paced? So far in this book, we've covered 5 months (July to November) in 4 chapters. Not that far off from Walls which was a month per chapter. Fine, that's 25% faster LOL. However, the next 2 chapters will cover only 3 days! One thing that's changed is I'm able to say more with fewer words. That's thanks to Mann. I've stripped back the writing to reduce the excess stuff. I already didn't do a lot of angs and self-doubts which I find slow the action, now I've removed excess descriptions while still trying to provide the proper atmosphere. Hopefully, that's working.

Glad you enjoyed it. We'll skip a few weeks and next chapter we get to celebrate CJ's 21st. After flying the then Squad members to Colorado for his 18th, let's see what the man has planned for this one.

Don't forget about Michael and Blaine. They were minor characters in 's Predator Prey, but when @Parker Owens had them at the University of Miami, I knew I had to borrow them. I plan on doing so again thanks to their creator's generosity. Efrain and Corey I would love to use again, but it's dangerous since I force a timetable on an author for a story still in process.

You mean our spoiled, trust-fund baby? LOL The precocious kid we met years ago is blossoming.

Have you noticed apart from family members Gina's the one female they spend time with on a regular basis?