Carlos Hazday

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?

I KNEW you would like that! I may need you to fit them with kilts at some point, and ensure CJ knows he has to go commando.

I think there are a lot of us who would love to see a little more of @Dayne Mora's characters. Got tired of waiting, and decided to hijack them for my use. Young parents can succeed, and you can't deny having a Cesar III or an Owen Jr. running around wouldn't be fun!

At least he doesn't have to work while going to school the way many of us did. If the man keeps going the way he is, he's going to change the world.

Thanks. Tor.

I've avoided replying to certain comments on purpose. Last chapter, a couple of readers made comments similar to yours, but since the guys haven't officially announced anything, I won't either. LOL

I look forward to additional comments after further readings. LOL Some of those snippets are because I wanted to highlight certain events, but didn't want to bog down readers by repeating what I've previously written about THE HRC Gala or Thanksgiving. They're both included because they're staples in their lives, but evolving ones. At HRC CJ's drinking openly and Ritchie has a date. Pre Thanksgiving dinner at CJ & Ozzie's is something new and gave me a chance to summarize what's going on in their lives. The main focus was CJ becoming an author, and of course, I had to have a little fun with that. This chapter was written and edited a long time before the UM/VT game; in case anyone's wondering, Miami beat Virginia Tech.

“I’m dizzy. It’s either the booze or Ozzie’s blazer and CJ’s tie.” Carson Sawyer, the Delaware student CJ helped move into the dorms their initial year at Georgetown University, became the key to an active campus life even though CJ was a commuter. During their sophomore year, the curly-haired McCourt School of Public Policy student became involved with a small group of students who hosted the annual Harvest Ball. Gina appraised the men, tilted her head a smidgen, and grinned. “I don’t know,

Please remember I used these individuals to define my characters' looks at the beginning. As the story progressed, I've modified their looks to serve my purposes. Tattoos, piercings, bulk, and hair have been added or ignored. CJ = Spanish actor Maxi Iglesias Ozzie = Canadian actor Alexander Ludwig (I used Ludwig's sister as inspiration for Owen's sister, Liz) Cesar = British actor Henry Cavill Brett = Australian rugger Nick Youngquest

I need a good lawyer to get me out of this trap! Ozzie? Ozzie, where are you?