Carlos Hazday

Glad you liked it, Adi. Although I consistently re-introduce recurring characters in each story, In this case I felt it was crucial since I recycled many who would be new to readers encountering them for the first time. Why is romantic in a different font color?

Thanks, bud. Although the CJ series has a very diverse cast, the main characters represent a subset of the community not all of us have experience with. The MCs have a couple of dollars in the bank. Summer starts it all. The MC's 15 at that point. I take him through college, take a break for a few spinoffs, and return with his first job as a diplomat in Mexico City. In the next story coming up he'll be almost 30. Hope you enjoy.

No need to apologize, James. I value your continued support and enjoy your feedback. You did not upset me. I am, however, frustrated. And it started with the reactions to the last three stories. Always demands for more, which is impossible. I've always broken up the series in segments, not wanting to emulate CJames and his million-word-plus story. I thought by now readers would realize I return to open plot lines when the time's right. As for character appearances, it's impossible to involve every character in every story. Do you realize I have nearly 500 named characters in the series? Anyway, let's see how you like the next tale. Brett, Cesar, and Ritch are part of the cast and play important roles.

Thank you, Jeff! My goal was to show a strong-willed young woman battling with her savvy father. CJ might take actions important to the country as a whole, but he knows how to maneuver behind the scenes. Can you imagine his first meeting with a head of state from a country where homosexuality is illegal? Liebe's probably following in his footsteps when she stands up to haters.

Which hole out of the holes are you talking about?

I'm on the last one but War & Peace is too fucking kinda long. Not sure how far along I am, but I needed a break. Maybe a doobie or a martini too. I'll report back. About to send you a PM.

How about a little self promotion?

Thanks, bud. I don't believe anyone who complains about my stories being short's a hater; it's actually quite flattering. However, Northie is not the first person to mention my prolific writing over the past couple of years. I fear I've created expectations I'm not able or willing to meet. Hell, even Arbour took a break from CAP. Inspiration hasn't abandoned me, and I have a gazillion plots to explore in the CJverse. I don't want to clutter this with more CJ trash. I may post something in the forum thread later. Those damn dolphin shifters are going to be the death of me. Even the reboot I wasn't happy with.

I recently finished something for Premium and I think I may write a few more, all thematically different. Let's see where my fingers take me.

The story's painful to read but the writing is excellent. It fits well with the multiple exhortations seen in several other anthology stories to be vigilant and remained involved. I may be hopeful about the future, but I'm ready to fight so we never experience what the protagonists do.

Outstanding writing of a horrible story. My heart aches for those who suffered and I'm glad the walker was killed. Hopefully, it was slow and painful and included castration. I wondered what happened to your other story about the war and i'm glad some 9f that research came in handy. Once again, great writing, Dodger.

Thank you! CJ fans may have enjoyed some tidbits but wanted more. On purpose, I asked someone who'd never read any CJ to beta read. I wanted to ensure the story was accessible to everyone. If I had the time and energy, I could write this stuff forever, but after one story already written, I'm not sure how much more I'll write. I tried to take abreak by writing a bunch of short stories and it pissed a bunch of readers off. I may go back to dolphin shifters for a while. LOL Thanks again, my friend.

My chiffon biker's jacket is not froufrou at all!

This is not a CJ story. It's not part of the series, and it's not canon. It was meant to be accessible to everyone. I could have included details and or vignettes about a hundred other characters, and most readers would have been lost. Brett, Cesar, Geoff, and Pam were omitted from the story because they wouldn't have added anything to it. If they're alive, they were there. Hell, it's a short story and there are 20 named individuals. That's probably about 6 or seven too many already. Your wish for details on the kids births, and growing up is entirely irrelevant to the story being told. You're asking for a long series with lots of information and that is not what an anthology story's supposed to be. Let me repeat myself: Loving Anniversary is not an official part of the CJ-verse.

I think CJ's first overseas trip was to the UK and he and King William hit it off. I'm sure He and Owen, and maybe Liebe were invited to Prince George's wedding. Although this was all written before Queen Elizabeth died, her passing I believe was the initial step to reconciliation in the family. Almost had Chipper perform the song as a duet with his son, but decided not to muddle the waters. LOL

There's a West Wing episode where YoYo Ma performs and the entire staff's excited. Although beyond the scope of this story, I imagined Gus creating a similar buzz. He performed at a couple of State Dinners before. Feel free to write about those one day. 😂

Yeah, you just have to avoid fire or a different type. Based on the people they met in Mexico alone, the family has friends in New Zealand, Italy, and Spain. Those people all have kids in a similar age range as the cousins. Throw in the royals and I see danger. Four good looking young studs with money and connections would keep the tabloids humming. If those four are straight, I'm certain CJ discriminated and insisted their security detai be all male.

The melting pot vs quilt thing I've been thinking about for a while and I may have CJ mention it for the first time soon. It could be part of his campaigns for office.

Damn! I'm emptying out my bag of tricks. I do have thoughts about how about what happens to a bunch of the characters, even if I'll never write those stories, but have avoided thinking about the end for Brett, Cesar, CJ, and Owen. Nope. Not happening. They live forever. CJ and Ritch's grandmother was alive and at his inauguration, but I figure she's gone by this time as is Owen's grandfather. Ritch is married and has a boy and a girl born in the early 2030s. He left the Air Force after 20 years. What he's doing at this point's fuzzy, but he lives in the Maryland burbs in one of those communities with a private air strip and a hangar next to the garage for each house.

Thank you, Bill. It was a risk to recycle the characters but I think I managed to make the story accessible to non-CJ followers. You and I both fear a dismantling of society's advances (decline to some?) and we both sound the alarm about the importance of some of those decisions at risk. I prefer to be optimistic in what I write since there's enough heartache and pain in the world already.

At one point in time, Liebe tells her uncle Ritch she wants to do the same as her dads when she grows up: help people. I imagine her as a version of Caroline Kennedy. But because she was already in college when her father was elected, she had at least 8 years training on how to run a country. Not even counting his time as DC's mayor and United Nations Ambassador. I've described her as a sponge, she's absorbed knowledge from both fathers, and I don't think she's afraid to use it.

Dude, I've fucking missed you! How the fuck does Austin put up with the worry? Glad you're home and safe. I kept Ritch out of the story but included Kai and Joel, how about them apples? LOL One thing I forgot to mention (it would have been more for CJ fans than anything) was that Jeffer and Roo delayed their entry into the Naval Academy and took a gap year after high school. So did Raish and Zach. Because of the differing school years, the 4 of them spent 6 months together traveling the world. CJ insisted the Secret Service carry condoms at all times.

By now you should now I love to include some history in my stories. This was a jump of nearly twenty years, and I concentrated on the wedding party while trying to include bits about the future. William is King, some Arab countries are still misogynistic and homophobic, and xenophobia's alive and well. But there's hope since the US elected a gay man as President and his daughter's vigilant and willing to go toe-to-toe with any oppressor. May we see a Liebe soon.

I've been rooting for Pujols like crazy. Same for Judge, even if I don't follow baseball as closely as I used two. Winning to World Series and having the teams dismantled before the following Spring Training has a lot to do with it. Miami's had a string of crappy owners from day one. My solution, I had a couple of characters buy into a rugby team they'll eventually control. I have some dinner table discussions about sports, teams, and owners planned. As for the triplets. I'm bumping up their introductory story in my schedule. Triple Play will recount how they met and befriended the man who would become President.