Carlos Hazday

Leave it to CJ and Owen to have the balls to turn down a presidential invitation. Not sure I could ever play it that cool. LOL

Back at you! It feel right to be replying to comments on a Friday morning. I really wish I could most every week!

Great to see you around here first thing in the morning, Dave! If CJ and Owen thought they'd have a relaxing year back in Washington, they're slowly realizing that's not in the cards. The summer of 2022 has been a busy time for them so far. Next week, we'll hear a bit more about Liebe's future siblings.

Me too. And I suspect someone will be happy to help you play with garden-variety hoses the rest of the summer.

“Thanks for doing this, Mark.” CJ shook the man’s hand while bouncing Liebe in his arms. “Say hi to Mark, Munchkin. He’s a friend of ours.” She had slept most of the flight and remained drowsy. “Hi.” The accompanying smile was faint while she rubbed her eyes. “You’re cuter than you look in pictures, kid.” Mark relieved CJ of the backpack threatening to slip off his shoulder. “Nothing to thank me for. You guys hired us to provide security, and hell if I was gonna allow anyone else to

Returning to Washington, D.C. after the Mexican ordeal and time off in South Florida, CJ, Owen, and Liebe must adapt to their new reality. They are all celebrities and must navigate a sea of friends, well-wishers, and reporters. A meeting with President Biden in the White House could set the stage for CJ reentering the political arena.

I'm glad he wasn't sent home. Looking forward to him being trampled and bloodied at impression.

Seriously, I hope it turns out well. I had some liver issues a couple of years ago and they scared the crap out of me. "Arrival," Everhope's first chapter will be available in two days.

I don't trust GA's post-dating system, so even though the chapters are loaded, I'll publish them manually. It usually happens after my first cup of coffee.

Damn! Even I've read this one. Definitely worth revisiting.

That's right, you're back working. Congratulations. I promise the story will be waiting for you when you have the time.

Did you have fun playing with all those big hoses? Don't mention this to anyone, but I plan on publishing the next CJ story this Friday. You came back just in time! Brion could be a great character. Since I sort of gave Brad his legs back, Brion will allow me to touch upon disabilities and coping mechanisms. We'll see how much ink I can give him.

Thanks for the feedback, HH. I can't recall if I've materially changed any chapters after publishing. Fixing punctuation and spelling are regular occurrences since even the most picky of editors will miss something now and then. There are a few instances when I wrote into the future, and matters didn't match reality. I wrote about two celebrity couple who broke up by the time we reached the date of the chapters, and there are references to a sports team that changed it's name twice after I'd written about them. Not sure if or when I'll address those. Once again, thanks for the feedback. The number of views on chapters hints at some readers never leaving a reaction of comment, and I'm delighted when I do hear from someone like you who's reading.

Going for the pity approach, I see. LOL You should check out the CJ forum and follow it; it's where I post announcements of upcoming stories.

Excellent point! While working with @kbois recently, she mentioned I wasn't as scary as some had suggested. (I am, but I wanted to lull her into complacency before striking) I told her I didn't want to make her work sound like mine. And I've done the same with other authors. We all have our particular style, and editors should respect them. My style, as @Mrsgnomie discovered, can be terse. Transitions between scenes can be minimal or non-existent. I accepted a few of her suggestions and explained myself when rejecting others. I think we both walked away with a better understanding of how we write. Authors I read for will discover I'm big on simplifying and eliminating echoes and repetitions. A few people have ended up with a page full of one word highlighted repeatedly. My usual comment's something like I got rid of one, you ditch the other 22. Finding a good editor who'll stick with you is golden, but rare. I've had someone guide me for a long time, and I'll be forever grateful. Mark Arbor's had the same editor for the last century and I'm always impressed by that. As for beta readers, ardent fans are not always the best choice. I want someone who will challenge me and make me think. Find someone who leaves thoughtful comments on your stories instead of someone who only praises you. I don't have the luxury of a proofreader doing a final clean up all the time, so I run chapters through Grammarly right before posting. Imprefect though it may be, it's another tool we can use.

LOL Yeah, CJ jumping into all sort of things will be regular events.

See? Readers like you who pay attention to the comments get a heck of a lot more details. But I was wrong in one thing. One of those cousin's, born a month after the twins, was introduced in Cadet.

There aren't a lot of sad episodes in the series, but now and then... My goal's to entertain and leave readers feeling good, so I tend to write upbeat stories.

Thanks, Chris. As I mentioned before, Brion has bit parts in two upcoming stories. I do have a juicy part for him in a planned one, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Do I need to suggest you look at my previous reply?

Ignore Chris' reply, he's just trying to rope me into writing more. LOL As far as I'm concerned HTTC is the conclusion of the CJ series. I'm definitely writing some of the stuff before, no plans to write about CJ winning the Nobel Peace Prize and Canada, the US, and Mexico merging. LOL Just for you--and Chris since I know he'll read this--a couple of tidbits Harley resigns after six months unable to deal with the bullshit Jeffer and Roo defer admission to the naval academy and spend a year traveling the world with the two cousins yet to be introduced. CJ makes sure the Secret Service detail provides them with condoms. One of the twins becomes a naval architect and designs super yachts. The other one becomes a naval aviator. Myabe Liebe restores the Rose Garden to the original design by Jackie Kennedy and gets married there.

Site acting up on Android phone and tablet as of this morning. Both with Chrome and fully updated.

Excellent news! I'm thrilled with your promotion, my friend. Well done.

Feb 11 is when I wrote that note. The story was finished, but I kept cleaning things before sharing the chapters. My original had some comment about a belligerent Russia, based on reported troop buildups. Since the invasion took place before that chapter went live, I tinkered with it.

Caleb I'm not sure about. I haven't decided if he'll show up again. He may remain a mystery. Brion does spend a weekend in Washington with CJ and Owen. I doubt I'll bother writing that. However, Brion does appear in two stories already written. There's another one I'm not sure I'll write, but if I do, Brion will have a substantial part in it.