C James

See? Now y'all know what a truly diabolical cliffhanger LiS 26 was... And thus, why Shadowgod has well and truly earned the right to be, once again, known as the King of Evil Cliffhangers. As for Shot of Bourbon, it's a magnificent story in a unique and engaging style, one of my all time favorites, though I will point out that again we had a character injured on a motorcycle.

A couple of thoughts on the title, "Blood and Sacrifice". What does Brandon believe, based on his thoughts about Chase right before the leap? Saving millions of people, at the willing cost of his own life? Sort of... I checked by googling, and a bowling lane is about 60 ft, but Dimitri would have had to keep the grenade airborn about 40, so about 2/3 of a bowline alley length. That's a very good way of visualizing it though; think of hurling a full can of soda (which is about the right size, shape and mass) 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down a bowling alley.

Agreed about Dan's stories and cliffhangers. Dreams of Humanity is my favorite of his stories, and I highly recommend it. I seriously don't use that many, ummm, shall we say, slightly tense situations spanning chapter breaks. LTMP has 47 chapters, and the first tense was chapter 19, halfway through, and then from there it went all the way to chapter 37, and from there I think the next was chapter 43, then 45. (I do tend to have them cluster towards the end of a story, due to the story climax.) See? I have no claim on this title.

But, but, but... there was no cliffhanger in this chapter! Brandon isn't even touching the cliff at the chapter end!! ACK!! But, but, need i remind you all of Shadowgod's LiS 26? OK, a serious question; Dimitri's Grenade Toss. In the chapter he tossed it 50 feet, sort of; it was depicted as bouncing when it came out of the shaft. So, he had to toss it at least 40 feet. The problem here is the shaft roof; I don't specify it, but given the descriptions it's about eight feet. So, he can't lob it up. There's a somewhat similar shaft between me and town (horizonal, like the one in the story), so I stopped by this afternoon. I used an old and battered plastic flashlight that's a bit harder to throw, and stood at the shaft mouth (about five feet back). I clicked on the flashlight and chucked it in. I can't be quite sure how far it went; the light went out as soon as it hit. As a guess, fifty feet, but I have no real idea, and I have no intention of going in and looking (old Mine shafts are dangerous, I almost never go in them). I tried to look in using a handheld spotlight, but couldn't see well enough, and there's rubble on the floor in places. I then tried chucking a full can of soda at a tree. The soda can is a decent approximation of a cylindrical concussion grenade in size and weight. I pegged the tree at fifty feet, about two feet abbove the ground (and three feet below my aim point) and soda went everywhere. A tree trunk is smaller than a mine shaft mouth by quite a lot (this tree is about three feet wide, a shaft would be seven or eight. A baseball pitcher stands 60 feet from home plate, but they need to get the ball over the plate at high speed. Demitri didn't. BUT, unless there's some decent speed, it would need to be lofted and the shaft roof would preclude that. My feeling, based on all this, is that Dimitri, if he had any experience whatsoever throwing a ball or a graende, could have made it to the needed 40 feet. However, my test was IMHO noninclusive. Anyone have any feelings on this, or test ideas? BTW, I won't entertain any suggestions that involve me going into the mineshaft.

Hi Old Bob!!! Thank you! This is my first try at a running battle, so figuring out how to get the back-and forth right without slowing it down or making it confusing took me a little time. Thanks!!! Benji, thank your for your declaration of "no Cliffhanger".. You are, of course, correct. Brandon is not hanging from a cliff, so no cliffhanger. Also, Brandon is fine! Just a few scratches (that happens when you charge through an old mine shirtless) and that minor bullet crease. Granted, he has a little gravitational issue.... BTW, do you think I over-stated things by calling it "a little tense"? You might be right! Maybe I should re-phrase... Perhaps "a slight trace of possible unease"? I guess it's a good thing the next chapter isn't named "Impact"... Er, oh, well, it is, but for that, we have to blame shadowgod... At least I did not give in to the Evil One's demand that I name it "Splat"... Who? Me? I'm not cruel... And I think forum opinion has moved away from lynchi8ng ant towards open-spit roasting.. The rocks at the base of the slope would not make for the softest of landings. However, I can say without a doubt that the fall would not be fatal... Falls are NEVER fatal. The sudden stop at the bottom might well be, but the fall itself is never fatal. Okay, for some general comments from me; the acceleration rate of gravity is 33 feet per second, per second. A dropped object will travel 33 feet in it's first second, 66 in second #2, 99 feet in the third second, etc. However, that's without air resistance. Terminal velocity for a free-falling human is, at sea level, about 125 mph. I don't give an altitude in the text, but the mountains east of Last Dollar road have areas like the one I describe at about 9500 feet. The air is thinner, so less resistance, hence faster terminal velocity. Going from memory (always a bad idea for me) but at that altitude, air density (and thus drag) are about 55% of at sea level. So, as a ballpark figure, say 50% less drag and increase terminal V by 50%. That would make it roughly 185 mph. Of course, that's very rough, and many things can change; assuming a head or feet down position lowers drag and increases velocity. In a vacuum, a feather and a hammer do indeed fall at the same rate. Dimitri and Brandon would fall at roughly the same rate, though the determining factor here would be air friction; Brandon might fall slightly faster due to less drag (he's shirtless). BTW, if anyone is curious what happens, the clues are in Ch 45.

Hrmmm, Bikes-a-crashing... That's now been in LTMP. So too was a certain cave-in. Seems to be working it's way down the list.

Shadowgod is indeed a fantastic author! That's what makes trying to prognosticate so much fun! I've never meant to imply that he uses too many cliffhangers; quite the contrary; in a display of his consummate literary skill, he save the big ones for when needed. However, when he decidedes to give us a cliffie, it's a doozie, and that's all part of why he is unrivaled at the precipice-dangling art. Oh, BTW, never killed a major character? I beg to differ. He has indeed done so, in one of his short stories. (I won't mention which one, as that would be a spoiler, and I fear your anti-spoiler spines). CJ

I think you're right, Benji!!! His Shadowyness is indeed up to something! Misdirection with a distraction... Yes, he would do that, and he's so good at it!!! Yes, this is true!! He's said to want his throne back, and here he is making a move for it... I'd also like to point out that his timing is most auspicious; July 5th is the one-year anniversary of LiS 26, the Mother of All Cliffhangers! Yes indeed, I think he's making a move, and wants his throne back in time for the anniversary.

The reason for this post (I cleared this with Kevin first) was one thing that you MIGHT want to ask an editor or another author or readers about; in a couple of places you had Aaron speaking in two sequential paragraphs. I may be TOTALLY wrong on this, but to me it was slightly confusing (just for a moment) due to the reader having a subconscious assumption of a speaker-change along with the paragraph change. It's grammatically correct, and it is a very minor thing, but I did promise to give you any thoughts I had. Anyone have any opinions? CJ

Happy Birthday, W.L! Have yourself a fantastic day, and many happy returns! :king:

Happy Birthday Greg!!!! Have a great day, and an even better year!

Ahhh, but even if so regarding Jerry, let's see... What about invading a central American country with a force of 62 men, and seizing power? And then after launching a way, being kicked out, and then later, trying it again? And on a THIRD try, this time to conquor ALL of central America, he was killed. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/...amp;oref=slogin Or this much more recent escapade; http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.asp...44.7lzmdt8e.xml Speaking of strange; how about this for a plot? a 28 year old sergeant, along with 17 even lower-ranking men (some of whom, like Dimitri, are mentally unstable, though moreso than Dimitri,) conspire, with the aid of some heavy drinking, to take over the country. Assume the sergeant is in school (the equivalent of high school; he had very little education and was taking night classes) when, one night, after some more drinking, he and his 17 compatriots attack the government. The Sergeant, due to holding the highest rank amongst the conspirators, takes over the coup, and thus the country. Utterly far-fetched? Agreed, but this isn't fiction; it happened in 1980 and the man's name was Samuel Doe. The country was Liberia, which at the time of his coup had a very long history of Democracy. He ruled for a decade. BTW, Wildone, nope, no mention of the Shadows having any kind of spelunking experience. Great speculations here!!! BTW, just a reminder; this story has about reached it's conclusion; there are 47 chapters plus a small epilogue. CJ

Thank you Krista!!!! They are so mean and unfair... A few ever-so-slightly tense chapter endings, and they are out (literally) for my hide!!

Please Welcome Gabriel Morgan to his new forum! Welcome aboard, Gabriel! Also, have a look at his Hosted Site!

Hi Kit!! Thanks!!! The ending was supposed to follow the satire theme as well as the horror theme; I was going for irony; he'd been wanting his Muse to strike... and so it did. It also went for the satire theme; break the rules of writing and bad things can happen. (or your Muse might be displeased...) I did make quite a few goofs with that story; previously I'd only written one short story, and I'd never used third-person before. However, it was fun. The repetitions in the early part were to make the narration sound more "Edwardian". My intent was to slowly change the narrative style as the story progressed, to change the mood and increase tension. Thanks!!! CJ

Great chapter, Kevin! I think Mick is fast becoming my favorite character... he's intriguing. Bmad definitely looked good in this chapter, and I loved the scene where they were joking about nicknames. Hrmmm, what will Aaron do now, tell Bmad or not? Quite a conundrum (and a cliffie! ) My guess is he will; he pretty much has to. This should be good.

Congratulations on finishing your first story, Tim! You're off to a great start! Quite a violent finish! Not to mention a very high body-count! Especially for one particular character...

Thank you Krista!! Goats are sweet and innocent creatures that should be protected and not harmed.

It was only a little scratch. BTW, I don't know whether I've mentioned this before, but the LTMP sequel is called "Changing Lanes" and begins when LTMP ends, and features some of the LTMP characters. "Changing Lanes" is not the original title; I originally called it "Changing Lanes in Full Force" until I ended up abreviating it by it's initials like LTMP. His Shadowyness thought that was hilarious, as did Graeme. I, of course, change the name right away; as we all know, a goat would never have anything to do with a cliff. CJ

The area of the Eastern Settlements is ice-free in summer (a little brash ice in the fjords) but the weather, now as then, is tempremental. A big part of the problem is cost; its one of the most isolated places on earth. However, I hope to see it done one day. That's interesting about Lief! (For those who are unaware, the "Vikings" were from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and the Finns of that Era were a separate people... Sweden did not annex Finland untill about two centuries after Eric the Red's time) I must admit that my knowledge of Finland is sketchy; most of it stems from my interest in the Winter War against the Soviets. I've only been there once, and I wasn't there for long. Hrmmm, I wonder... Eric the Red had to leave Iceland becuase of being convicted of murders. His parents had moved to Iceland due to having committed murders in Norway. (hmmm, interesting family trait, that). Perhaps the family history goes back further, and there is a Finnish connection?

Hrmmm, I thought Cody dumped Jonathon? And is it Cody who comes back? Good points... What would have happened? Given Joe's mindset at those times, yeah, had Cody shown any romantic interest... I recall the mention of the boxers on the floor, and the realization that they weren't Joe's. To me, I got the impression that she was guilty for both reasons. Hrmmm... BUT, Jacob tried to contact Cody. From the narration of LIS, Ch 01, So, what means did Jacob have? I'd say he at least had grounds to believe that Cody wanted nothing more to do with him. Jacob couldn't return to the school, as I recall. Hrmmm....

Says who? I did propose having Eric take Cody with him on the tour. :worship: Toowoomba might be a little warm for his liking, but hey, I did offer to send Cody on a nice, safe trip to a place where they have GREAT beef! Totally agreed there, except for one thing... once bitten? ONCE? Remember the Beast, in Shot of Bourbon, and what happened in chapter one of SOB? So yes, I'd say we have a MAJOR problem if His Shadowyness puts Cody on a Motorcycle! I hereby formally propose the following measure: If Shadowgod puts Cody on a motorcycle, it will prove that Shadowgod is indeed the once and forever King of all Evvvil Cliffhangers, reigning in unrivaled supremacy from his Cliffhanging throne, as he gazes out across his true relm; the soaring, dizzying heights of the shadowy malevolent precipices. What say you all? CJ

Steph... would it change your mind if you knew that His Shadowyness launched a campaign to have one of my characters removed from my custody? (and yes, I can prove it.) See? I keep telling you he's evil... That's why we all fear for Cody's safety. Save Cody!!

Shadowgod's Forum went live on June 10th of last year, so he has now been hosted for over a year. Happy first anniversary, Your Shadowyness!