C James

ACK, WILDONE!! Now, ummm, remember, I was young and stupid, and it wasn't really a cliff.. it was just an unstable vertical surface. not even perfectly vertical, and it was only 60 or 70 feet... You know I wouldn't really have anything to do with a cliff, right?

Congratulations, Tiffani!

I grew up in the area, so I do know it well. Actually, The fall from the cliff? I came rather close to doing that myself once. (YEah, I was dumb enough to try illegally climbing one of those unstable cliffs:)) Thanks for the feedback. That was a fun story to write. Ahhh, but we're talking coastal soCal here, whilst Shadowgod lives in the Los Angeles area, far from the sea.

I'll try for Monday night, but I'll be away all day monday.. So maybe I should have said we'll have the chapter by Tuesday, either monday night or Tuesday morning.

Yes... he's done that twice already, in BOTH of his prior serials...

Any new contest entries? Any new ideas to help on the, ahh, Shadowgod issue? (if you don't want him to know, PM me).

Hmmm? Now what problems could Eric possibly have in the future, once the current situation with Brandon (and mabe Chase) is resolved? What could possibly go wrong? I dare not give a spoiler, or the Echidna will get me... but I can release the chapter title! It's "Morning Serenade" and will post Tuesday.

Thanks for reading and for the feedback, HH! Chris was indeed lucky in some ways. However, not so lucky in others. His boyfriend's younger brother was a bit of nuisance at times. Sorry to hear that you're going through a tough time. I hope things get better. Feel free to talk about it if you want; this forum has a lot of great people in it. Good point on Chris; I never did cover why he wanted to be a doctor, just that he does. He likes helping people, and he's had a hard time financially, so i figured it would be a good fit. This is one of the goofs I made: this was my first try at writing a novel, so it's rough in places, with parts like that that need fleshing out, and other parts that need trimming down. Thaddious got to see his church, his pride and joy, plus his wealth go literally up in flames. He also got to go to jail. Eric... Eric was.. complicated. Did he change in the end? yes, and no. Drugs made him worse than he would otherwise be, but drugs tend to amplify bad personality traits, not create them. He had some mitigating factors; he had Thaddious and the Sherif as his influences, but he continiously turned his back on the William's (Steve's parents). In the end, it was a mixed situation. He felt some remorse for what he'd done, and also realized, too late, what he'd lost. But those feelings were not strong enough for him to be seriously hurt. Some of the things he did at the end were genuine; for example, once he had the money he did stop to say goodby to Steve. He also took a risk trying to save Veronica. He's no saint, that's for sure, but he's not a total monster in my view. However, that might have just been a god day, too. The story was Chris's, so we can't see Eric's thoguhts. Steve didn't fall for Eric's story, not fully. He was skeptical, and thus unsurprised when Eric popped up on TV, fleecing the flock. I think it's high time I got back to work on the FTL sequel, which is in 3rd person, so we do get to see all the answers, in the end. He did indeed save the day, and go riding off into the sunset, with a suitcase full of cash. We'll see him again, soon. Well, yes, he saved himself, but you've always been so hard on poor, misunderstood Eric.

Who? Sweet, innocent me? I do no such thing! Why would I go around masquerading as a miniature you? So.. what are you up to, oh Dark Incarnation of Evil? Trying some of your patented misdirection? Planning the eeeviest of cliffhangers with which to torment your poor readers? Oh, BTW, to the other members of this forum: Do you agree that the intensity of a cliffhanger increases when the wait between chapters is longer? Of course it does! And if so, one could, of course, gently prod his Shadowyness into writing more simply via saying yes, and pledging to vote for him in the King of Cliffhangers voting, should the wait continue...

If he'd have done as you suggest, he'd have been laughed at or worse, because in their eyes he would not have won the fight. The biker had not yielded to him. Amongst bikers, Brandon either needs to make him yield, or unconscious, or dead. You don't, as a biker would say, take care of business with half-measures. Had Brandon done as you suggest, it would have, in the eyes of many of them, shown him to be weak, no resolve. He and Chase would still be at risk. Brandon hung around with bikers before joining Instinct, so he's aware of the basic dynamics. Of course, staying away from the bikers might have been the more prudent move after coming out. Now you';ve got me curious. My own understanding of bikers is far from complete, so maybe I'm overlooking something here. Tell ya what... next time I see one of my biker friends, I'll ask about this scenario (though minus the gay part: I'm not out to them) and see if they can think of a less violent course of action that would still work. The guys I have in mind are bikers, though not Hells Angels, but they run in those circles so I feel they'd be good ones to ask. I'd prefer to ask a real Hells Angel, but I don't know any anymore. I do however occasionally drink at a bar in Cleator (a town of about thirty people, a dirt road, and a ramshackle bar) where they sometimes hang out. I sometimes play pool with them (Bikers are GREAT pool players, by and large) and if I get the chance, I'll ask, but that likely won't be soon (more likely a month or two, as I don't go there often). I'd also only ask carefully; they don't take kindly to outsiders like me nosing around regarding the inner workings of their outfit. Personally, I feel that what Brandon did, and even what Jim suggested, as actually far more humane than what "Civilized society" does. Here's why: in "civilized society" you call the cops, and the attacker is locked away in a prison cell for years. In both cases (Jim';s plan or sending the guy to prison) the actual goal is to use the culprit to set an example, a warning to others and thus a deterrent. Personally, I'd much, much rather be on the receiving end of what even Jim suggests than be put in prison for years; the kind of injuries Jim was suggesting doing were not serious; a few broken fingers and some cuts and bruises (the threat to cripple him were for Bruno's ears, not actual instructions to Brandon). The biker would have had some of his fingers in splints for a few weeks, but other than that he'd have been fine in a couple of days. The same is not true in the "Civilized" way of locking him in a cage for years. Also, Bruno had just tired to kill or cripple Brandon via an ambush. Were I in Brandon's shoes, I'd have been furious, and surely done more than Brandon did. But Brandon is nicer than I am in that regard. Anyway, that's my take on it, but I have an admittedly odd way of looking at things. Bikers do indeed have a very rigid code, which one breaks at one's peril. They are very honorable, by their own standard. If an outsider treats them ok and shows them respect, they return it. (speaking in generalities here, of course). Some of them (by no means all) are into some very, very nasty stuff, and no, I'm not "Pro-biker" in that sense, and I certinaly don't agree with all that they do. but they are highly trustworthy and do have their good points. I'd never think twice about hiring a biker as an employee, and have done so in the past. They never let me down. So, on one hand, I find them honorable and trustworthy in the main. On the other hand, they can be dangerous and into some vile things. So, I do have mixed feeling in their regard. Also, there are many kinds of bikers. Hells Angels, frankly they can make me nervous at times. Heh.. One thing.. Occasionally, one of our local cowboys has a few drinks and gets it into his thick head to stroll into a bar where Bikers are and pick a fight to show how tough he is. That is not an advisable course of action, but it happens a few times a year. :wacko: Brandon did indeed find himself in a very limiting situation. He had few options, none of them good. I've taken some liberties with the biker club dynamics. For one thing, clubs are organized more on a business style; treasurers, vice presidents, an executive board, etc. One club I've encountered a couple of times even has a public relations officer. :wacko: However, for simplicity I streamlined things greatly in the story. I did intentionally keep Brandon's fight as "light" as I could figure out how to do, given the dynamics he was dealing with. I wanted to show that, no, even though they are being paid, all the bikers aren't going to just accept an out gay couple. I did and other things in the story to illustrate the fact that coming out, like anything, has its good points and bad. In too many gay stories, the protagonist finally comes out and everything is suddenly perfect. Life isn't like that and those kind of expectations lead to dashed hopes or worse. One other thing about the bikers regarding Chase and Brandon; given the outcome of the fight, they are now relatively safe from any kind of repeat.

I cannot give any insight into future events in DnCW! Umm, the fact I don't know any might be a contributing factor there, but but even if had 'em, I couldn't... Dreams and Cliffed Wings will surely have some of the Shadowy one's superlative cliff dwelling moments. Now, if only I knew why he has Joe and Cody having a picnic atop a giant, leaky natural gas tank, in a lightning storm..

Hrmmm... Well, do recall that the Shady 1 has already added himself to the story, by riding his motorcycle, hell-for-leather, like hell on wheels, in front of Eric (and thus causing Eric's motorcycle acquisition). So... Maybe he will re-encounter Eric, and wreak more of his Evil influences. He's already to blame for Eric being on a motorcycle, and any consequences that might wreak. OOPS! LOL! Back when the chapters were nearing their simultaneous release, I appealed for, and received, a special dispensation from our anti-spoiler Echida, Graeme, to go a little further... Shadowgod and I released the chapters, both entitled "when worlds collide", simultaneously. The whole thing was Shadowgod's idea, and I fully supported it. It was also great fun. Basically, what we did was have his character, Cody, from Dreams and Clipped Wings, in a scene with my characters. Shadowgod's chapter is focused more on Cody's point of view and mine on Instinct's, but the trick was to have each set of characters be logical and self-supporting in the other story. So, if you read LTMP and not DnCW, Cody still makes sense, and if you read DnCW and not LTMP, Instinct still makes sense. It was fun. I also learned something: writing someone else's character is HARD! For me anyway, it certainly is. I had to write Cody';s part in my LTMP chapter, and I didn't get him right. (Shadowgod fixed that, though.). It was quite a surprise; I'd never realized how much I depend on getting "in the head" of my characters, and I found I couldn't do it well with someone else's. I sure couldn't get the speech patterns right, either. In fanfiction, it's common to use another author's characters, but I don' think I could ever manage that. CJ

Good points. One thing though, how involved is Brandon with Eric? Brandon was about to say something to stop Eric when Eric's tounge intruded, lol. Brandon then tried to push Eric away, but Brandon has bruised ribs which are by that point hindering him, plus he bumped his head on a rock, distracting him a little. Eric is also his close friend, so he was a little slow in reacting, not wanting to hurt Eric at what he knows is a delicate state in Eric's life. And how far have they gone? We don't really know, yet. Thanks for bringing this up. I was hoping someone would. Okay, Brandon understands why Jim is having him take the fight to a conclusion. Bruno (the biker Brandon fought) staged a two-against one ambush on Brandon, AND used a chain. You don't do that if you just want to beat someone up. Remember also that part of the reason is to prevent a similar occurance from happening again. Chase is at risk too. There was another part of this, though. You mention finding some more civilized way. Like what? If we sit and think about it, I'm sure we could come up with something, given time. However, time is the key word there, and that's what I was trying to show; the difference between hindsight and having to make an instant decision. I think it's a bit much to expect Brandon to think of some other way out instantly, as he'd have to. I wanted to show that, because it's always been a pet peeve of mine that historians tend to analyze the decisions of commanders in a battle in a similar manner; expecting them to make a careful, difficult sequence of logical deductions when an instant snap decision was all that they had time for (that's always been a pet peeve of mine regarding the historical analysis of certain battles). I'll also note that in spite of having every reason to do as Jim asked, Brandon did not take it to that level. Jim told him to break fingers, mark up Bruno's face, etc. Brandon didn't do it. Hrmm, I think this means I need to explain things more in the narration when I'm trying to show something along those lines. CJ Absolutely. I happen to be one of 'em. LoL. Eric's "Tequila problem" is based on me, though I'm not affected to quite the degree he is.

Ahhh, but lest we forget: On Balckheart's (Blackheart being one of your many names) wild ride up a certain Honolulu mountain, while trying to catch Chris and Steve, there were two flanking bikers on Harleys. That, of course, was the first appearance of harleys, or motorcycles, in any of my stories, so of course it all traces back to you... (My sincere thanks to the person who PM'd me with this connection!) Oh, and Shadowyness, There are a great many california champaignes, Korbel for one. And the best Dijon mustard I've ever had is from Germany. Oh and W.L, I have no bootlegging connections, , but I have been to Wineries in Italy, about a year ago, and seen them doing exactly what I describe. This is quite common. CJ

Grumble grumble... Well, you were right on JD not being bourbob, so I had to change that in the chapter to whiskey, but it's not where it comes from that dictates the name, otherwise there would be no such thing as California Champaign (flames coming from Bondwriter in 3... 2... 1...) It's the process, not the location, but you're (I cringe to admit this) right that Jack Daniels is not bourbon. OK, now, for the readers, this makes the "how to pin the Brandon-Eric problem on shadowgod" issue even more critical. Bikers are a part of the problem, and when one thinks motorcycles, one thinks shadowgod. Or... Hrmmm.. There must be stronger links that that, so please find them!~ You're right! OOps! Fixed now. Thanks! Uhoh, a whiskey-bourbon war! I don't know if this is the case with whiskey, but I can say that re-labeling is very common for some things. For example, the wine industry. I know of several "Wineries" that produce exactly none of their wine. It's all brought in from other sources.

ACK! NO!!! Wildone, you just don't see, do you? Isn't anything involving shadowgod evil by definition? BTW, the references to bourbon in the chapter have been changed to whiskey, except for one where I took Graeme's excellent suggestion and made it alcohol. BTW, on the biker fight issue, Benji and MikeL got it right: It's a respect thing. HAving Brandon take down the biker who had attacked him worked on several levels, not the least of which was earning Brandon some "respect" with the bikers, to hopefully mitigate future problems. Brandon got very lucky; Bruno's distraction came at the perfect time. What was really lucky is Jim's recovery; had he not recovered, Mad Mike was ready to step in, likely igniting a war between some elements of the two clubs. The irony is that it was Brandon's idea for a the fight; he's the one wo convinced Jim that a fight would be ok, Jim would enjoy it, so go ahead and invite him and Chase to the party. Brandon didn't know he'd be the one fighting, lol. Irony. LoL. Of course, General Bradson is counting on Eric's pre-wedding excursion to get to the Cape Verde islands... If the wedding is canceled, the General will have a problem...

I played around with that after seeing this post... I dunno, it just doesn't seem to fit right, but it's a styalistic thing. I'm leaning to "whiskey" at the moment. BTW, your post was spot-on; That's actually more accurate than my post and research. Mine was quite hasty. I was the first post on the issue and jumped to google, pronto! LoL... BTW, Jack Daniels is listed on some menus as Bourbon (It sure as heck is in the Navigator Bar on the SS Westerdamn!), which is how I made this goof. Basically, is there a good way to avoid these sort of errors? Look up everything whether one knows it or not? Oh, and I'll opine that Shadowgod is evil: he's got a bottle of Jack Daniels handy! (he checked the label, so he must have one handy! How evil!). What a shady character... and yet he's also right: I checked in my living room bar: both the regular and green lable Jack are sour mash whiskey, not bourbon. Oh, one other thing I see: the older bottle (a black lable) is 90 proof, but a newer one is 80!

ACK! I cringe to say this, but Shadowgod is right, and so is everyone else who points out that Jack Daniels is not a bourbon! I did a little research and found out that JD is made like any Bourbon, BUT it is then charcoal filtered. This is called the Lincoln County Process, and is the only difference between a Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey and a Bourbon. Also basically all Bourbons are sour mash. So, Jack Daniels does taste like a bourbon, and thus is often listed on menus, eroniously, as such (and that's where my goof came from). So... I goofed! Therefor, I can see only two options: Change "Jack Daniels" to "Jim Beam" (which is a bourbon) OR, change the chapter cites of bourbon to whiskey. I'm in favor of doing the former, as bourbon is mentioned four times. BUT, Jack Daniels and not Jim Beam was the perennial favorite of the bikers I knew. However, having "bourbon" is useful in other ways (Makes it easier to pin the blame for this mess on Shadowgod). Any opinions on which should be changed?

It is a noble quest, an honored duty. It's the whole "Speaking truth to Evil" thing, I suppose.

I was thinking that it might be fun to have a contest! Ok, this is based on Chapter 10 of Changing Lanes: "Dance with the Devil" and contains spoilers for that chapter, so if you haven't read it, please go no further. OK, this contest is more of a creativity excercise. The prize? hmmmm. All I can offer is a pre-release look at a coming chapter. Now, the contest! We'll have it in two parts. The winners of both get a sneak peek at a chapter, a few days before posting (when I have access to one a few days early, so it might not be the next chapter, though I do hope to have that ready in time for this). Ok, enough bleating from me. For the serious part, I'd like to see who can best guess the plot. I've been leaving clues for some of it. So, what happens between Brandon and Eric? What's the fallout? And will they still have a wedding? OK, now for the fun part, for bonus points! What's the best way of pinning the blame for the Brandon-Eric perhaps-slightly-tense ending on Shadowgod? You've already heard mine in the other thread: Brandon drinking bourbon is a main cause, and Shadowgod is the creator of bourbon (His story Shot of Bourbon). Oh, extra super bonus points if whatever you come up with works for other chapters too, and of course, even more it it aids in the noble goal of restoring him to his cliffhanging throne. Doesn't this sound like fun? Any questions? CJ

Well, it's a very shadowy connection, I admit, but it would have to be in his case, wouldn't it? OK, a few questions for y'all. I'm curious to see if it came across okay why Jim had Brandon beat the crap out of Bruno. If not, I may need to add a sentence or two to the chapter. Thanks! :-)

One thing to remember about Brandon; he's just been in a very dangerous fight, he's coming down off a major adrenalin rush, and to complicate matters he has a head unjury and also chugged some bourbon. Then on top of all that, he had to chase Eric, and then got tackled. Then he gets another bang on the head. I'd say it's quite possible that he's not thinking too clearly. Thank you Conner, for seeing that this is not a cliffhanger! Eric always does crazy things on Tequila! He was going to take a Harley for a joyride.. Touching a biker's harley is a major disrespect... taking it? I don't even want to think about it. Tequila seems to bring out a certain.... side of Eric. You really, really want to know who the Devil is in the title? Keep reading, it's in my reply to Talonrider. Thanks Kevin! And welcome back! One thing about Chase...

The Devil, in this case, is not meant to be any person, but rather a situation. Or, it could be Brandon's "Dance" with Bruno. And this isn't a cliffhanger!!! It's a nice, relaxing, moonlit ending. Actually, we don't know what happens, really. How far do they get before, shall we say, guests arrive? So, no tense ending. And hopefully no goat roasting!

Chapter 10 is up. And BTW, the next chapter will be released a week from Monday. Have fun!

Wildone! If you keep up the Irony, I vote that we change your name to Jerry. Oh, BTW, I'll start a new thread for Ch 10, which I just posted. Have fun with "Dance with the Devil".