frosenblum

And what were you doing at a party with a 25yo girl? Hmmm?

The above comments captured all I feel about your stories, the characters, and the high quality of your writing. I look forward to seeing the futures of all these men.

""It was late, and he was not going to get much more done." Boston is two hours later than Colorado Spring. Lucy must be as ga-ga as Ritch if she's staying up that late.

We found out why Virginia was crying in the last chapter. She is still grieving, many years later, for her lost baby and for not trying again. And for Jonathan's lack of emotion and support at their lost son.

Another great chapter. Ritch is turning into a statesman. Things that would have become major blowups he now uses his power and finesse to handle discreetly. The brother-banter was fun. As was Ritch's becoming gooey around or talking with Lucy. As usual, your mastery of providing just the right amount of detail makes the people and the action real.

Who is telling the story in this chapter? In Do Over and Do Over Redux before this chapter, the narrator is original Davey. In the last chapter, Davey tells the President that he's having headaches again and it means that soon he'll permanently lose all his memories of original Davey. Then he blacks out. When Davey blacked out a few chapters ago (because Davey #4's brain was too young to hold the memories of the adult original Davey), we lost four years of the story -- because the narrator (original Davey) was not present to tell us what was happening. Once again, original Davey is not present, so who is telling the story? Perhaps @drpaladin hit it on the head: "He seems really sincere and oblivious, but we also have to remember he's learned to be a world class liar. It could be a sham."

I wonder what we can do to attract some extraterrestrials? Carlos, it sounds like your characters have infected you. And you're embodying CJ, Rich, Owen, Brett, and Cesar in how much you've taken on. Keep on expanding your horizons, brother. We have so much great reading to look forward to. Take all the time you need to keep up the quality and depth of your writing.

"Before tickets went on sale to the public, Ritch bought fifty of them. He had told the Academy he would personally underwrite his squadron and his friends attending." I hadn't realized how large a squadron is. Commanding and being responsible for 50 people is very big job, especially for a 21-year old full-time college student. That's a larger management responsibility than CJ had at that age. Ritch is even more impressive than I'd thought.

I hope you have a few small stories written to tide us over the summer. Four more chapters of Cadet will take us through May. Then it'll almost four months till the fall. That long a wait would be cruel.

A delightful, light-hearted chapter about a serious business. I am enjoying learning the nitty gritty of security. "I was wondering if we offered a modified door jam that included a bolt action so that on a lockdown the bolt would lock the door." Did you mean "jamb" rather than "jam"? Of course, clients might be happy if the security system offered a choice of jams for their toast while they are in a lockdown.😁

Definitely satisfying! Ritch is 21 as the end of the Ritchie spinoff nears. He has grown into an amazing man, friend, brother, son, and leader. CJ and Ritch are both jewels -- different in the same that way a ruby and an emerald are -- each brilliantly shining in his own unique personality. Bravo, Carlos.

The conversation is confusing. There seem to be (at least) three people talking: Jim, Chaz and Pete. I've reread it several times and still don't know who's saying each line most of the time.

Granger continues to surprise. Who else, on the spur of the moment, would be willing and able to sound advice to the Emperor of a foreign country. He is fortunate to have had great political tutors, starting with Caroline.

Oh, no, please take care of your complaining brain 🧠. Deep breaths. Walks on the beach. Your readers want your brain at 100%.

Judging by the small glimpse we got of the of kids in HTTC -- and there are at least two more we haven't seen yet -- I doubt two stories will be enough to give full due to their personalities, escapades, and shit-raising.

One thing the story has shown is how Ritch hasn't grown up to be a CJ clone. On the other hand, this particular chapter highlights the ways Ritch is like his brother. Doubting himself yet still taking action. Passionate. Taking advice from others, especially the dad's. Making big requests of others. Leading the pack without being obnoxious. Using humor. Not being daunted by others' rank or fame, or being on TV. Kudos to Brett and Cesar.

Yes yes to the list of stories. Might take a little while to write them all, so live long and prosper. Happy Birthday 🥳🎉.

This is a sweet series of stories. You're posting a chapter every other day, Altimexis, so how come the series is flagged as "Long-Term Hold"?

The CJ saga started in May 2013, when CJ was 15 and Ritch(ie) was 11. You created each character so fully and related so many adventures, it feels like we've been literally living with them for over 10 years. On the one hand, "no way can it be that long"; on the other hand, "no way is it only 10 years." Lucky us, we get to ride with their lives almost twice as long as we've gone so far, at least till 2041.

Great chapter. Especially his conversation with the head of the rodeo, very cool. LMAO at "He swore the day he got stuck behind a desk full time, he would resign his commission." (Ritch crashes and burns that vow in 2041.)

What about the link to the photo of Ritch, Phil and Riley? Are you keeping that for your own pleasure?

Ritch the super stud Lothario is nervous and almost shy around Lucy!!!

Great chapter, Carlos. You nailed the cemetery scene, the need to mourn our past so we're able to move fully forward. You also nailed the lunch with CJ. We often discount our best qualities, and how much those contribute to others, because we only value what we had to put a lot of effort into achieving. It was a very happy surprise to see Riley & Phil again. I hope they keep popping up in future stories, maybe even a spinoff?? BTW, you forgot to include the link to that photo of Ritch, Riley & Phil -- please rectify that oversight ASAP.

That is heartening to see, how responsible and thoughtful Ritch is about his money. And he could have chosen to keep being private about his wealth. Instead he chose to go public in a big way, publicly announcing a half million donation from the family foundation. He's come out of the closet about how wealthy he is. He's moved from denying his wealth to not batting an eye that it's in the AF Times so every cadet, officer, and airman he'll interact with knows about it. (Btw AF Times is also online and has a spiffy-looking today's news feature).

This was a fun chapter. Sort of like a buffet meal, filling our plates with a variety of snippets from Ritch's junior year. Ritch is finally comfortable with being wealthy, no longer hiding it. On a matter that's completely unrelated to this story, what ever happened to C.J.'s collection of t-shirts. If he holds on to them till he's POTUS, he can give them to various charities to auction off.