C James

Non-obvious spoilers.. well, ok (looks around nervously to make sure the Echidna isn't around)... Hrmmm, well, there are lots of words in the chapter (about a thousand more than normal). And one of 'em is noodles. Now, I'd better hope the Echidna does not see this... Uhoh... BTW, I don't know when the chapter will be up. I sent it to Joe for posting a few moments ago, but it depends on when the next time he's on his computer is. He might not be on until Tuesday. (He has this strange habit of spending several hours a day offline, he calls it "sleep".)

Congratulations! Congratulation to Graeme, for becoming the only member of G.A's Quad-Millennium club! Graeme, thank you for all your work and thoughtful posts, every one a gem!

Awww, But Steve, it isn't Tuesday yet! And me? Hush? But I'm already well known as a QUIET and shy lurker, isn't that hushed enough? And hmm, your new user title; CJ's Scapegoat?!?! But I'm the scapegoat around these parts! Hrmmm, good point.. And Shadowgod has, I believe, admitted to being said strange force, back in the FTL thread... I'll have to go dig for the quote... Ahh, here's the link, too. Ok, I've been trying to find the post by shadowgod that this post refers to. He claimed to have his hand up my, um, hindquarters, manipulating me like a puppet. Yes indeed, and the Lord of Darkness, Father of Lies, a False angel of Light, and of course, Shadowgod. I can't say anything (or the Echidna will get me!) CJ

Thank you Sasha! Yes, I do indeed use foreshadowing, and lots of it, regarding future events. But just becuase something is a future event, does not mean it is a cliffhanger.

ROFL!!! Cliffhanger JAmes!! What a thing to call someone who never uses cliffhangers!

Congratulations, Tiger!!! Thank you for all that you do, your posts are a delight to read, and often incisive.

I think I am seeing a pattern here... Wildone's declaring a "cliffhanger" finally made me realize what is going on. Yes, I think that what we have here is CDSS (Cliffhanger Delayed Stress Syndrome). Readers suffering from mental trauma from a truly devastating cliffhanger (I'll name the one in a miniute) are now seeing them everywhere, even in their serial! The only cause of this, of course, could be Shadowgod's famous (infamous?) Mother of All Cliffhangers in LiS 26. Therefor, it is clearly and unequivocally Shadowgod's fault that people are seeing cliffhangers everywhere (Even in my stories, apparently!) Well, I'm glad to get to the bottom of this! However, what is the treatment??? AAAAnd, I think it is time I mentioned the upcoming chapter title; Reunions. CJ

First off, I'd like to remind everyone of the source here. Shadowgod, after all, is known by many names, including the Lord of Darkness. It is well known that Satan can, and does, distort and disseminate, and here above we see him doing so. I really don't understand why Shadowgod keeps bringing up that exclusive GA committee (BTW, you forgot WST Team Lead). I do, of course, maintain said comittee's anonymity, but I do hereby vouch for tyhat fact that the vote was both unanimous, and enthusiastic. Shadowgod is indeed sneaky. Did I send him a PM claiming I wanted his title? Yes. I admit it, I did, and I was attempting reverse psychology, I wanted him to defend his title! He has steadfastly refused to do so. I believe this to be one of his Eeevil ploys to lure his readers into a false sense of security. As a beta reader for Shadowgod, I'm not supposed to blab about upcoming chapters, but I'll give one little taste; Chapter 12 of his new story, Dreams and Cliffed Wings, whoa, what a CLIFFHANGER! And that thread? It was merely a chapter-by-chapter review of LIS's cliffhangers, done purely out of the goodness of my heart. And yes indeed, there is always next year, and I hereby begin the campaign to RESORE SHADOWGOD to his THRONE! RST! RST! RST! Cast out the unscrupulous, scurrilous userper C James and put Shadowgod back on his throne! Yes indeed, I hereby inaugurate RST, to begin the honorable and just cause of restoring our once and future King of Cliffhangers, Shadowgod, to his throne! Let the revolution begin!! :mace: :battleaxe: :chris: :fire: :2hands: :battleaxe: :axeman: :sword:

No problems, and no need to worry! I very much welcome all criticism becuase it helps me. In this case, the scene in 28, which i have a hunch will please critics of the video, wouldn't be in there had you not raised the issue. In other words, you improved the story and I owe you my sincere thanks. Okay, now some general things for everyone, BTW, another item that was mentioned was Helen's words to the press regarding Brandon and Chase's "girlfriends". She never lied; in fact, she told the truth. She said that Brandon and Barbra were "just friends." Sure, she knew what the press would make of that, but she told them the truth and let them leap to the wrong conclusions. One issue I wanted to mention was that of the press, and the paparazi in general. I've had freinds (entertainment industry) who had to deal with paparazi, and one thing I can say is that the hate instinct has for them is not in excess of reality. In fact, it's probably understated. Imagine, if you will, being stalked day and night, and never having any privacy. Remember how Princess Diana died (chased by Paparazi) and how many celebs have gotten in hot water for taking swings at them, throwing things, etc. Most celebs have mixed feelings about repurters, but by and large their hate for paparazi knows no bounds. CJ

Okay, regarding the "carlisle Island" video shoot. Time for a confession on my part. There was, originally, mention made in that scene of the concept of the video. But, I was worried that the story was getting boring due to too much extraneous info, so I made a bad call and deleted it prior to anyone on my team seeing it. I don't (out of fear of the Echidna) discuss upcoming chapters, but in this case, due to it being an issue, may the Echidna forgive me, I will; I've added a scene in Ch 28 that discusses the video, and should answer all questions on it. As for Helen's managerial behavior, I will weigh in on that one. She is, after all, the manager, so it behooves her to act like one. True, she has become a substitute mother to the guys, but her job is that of manager, and a manager's job is to make the band money. She's paid a percentage of that, but they get the lion's share. What others have said above is true; fame is all too ephemeral. That's why it's been mentioned that she insists the guys invest most of their proceeds;

Wow, thanks everyone! I'm a bit rushed for time (My internet connection keeps fading out) so I'll just adress a couple of points for now; Shadowgod has it right on the "hotel" Joe Clump was in. A dive like that doesn't check ID, or ask for names. As long as they are paid in advance they don't care. Its a flop house, just like where Brandon was staying before joining the band. Thanks Gary! I didn't think of it at the time, but you may be right about the island video shoot. I was thinking of similar "skin exposure" videao I've seen, such as the hotter members of a band shirtless, or even in bed, and also rolling stone's penchant for "showing skin" of its hotter cover guys. I also recall that Mick Jagger did a cover of RS nude, with his hand over his crotch, a few years ago and he was around 50 at the time. And, i know its going back a few years, but remember Guns n' Roses, Axl liked to perform in his underwear, and there was often a lot of skin in their videos. I'm not current with music videos, so I don't know what the style is at the moment. I do remember some hot videos a couple of years ago, but, a jungle one? Okay, I must, in honesty, concede the point; that may have been going too far on my part. Hellen's motive, though, was money; its her job to market the band, and a lot of younger talent does appear frequently in teen mags, etc. Blame me for this one, not Helen. BTW, I always welcome criticism; things like this make me think. Thank you. Good point. I definitly DON'T want instinct coming across as any form of boyband, so I'll be more careful of that aspect in future. So far, they've had the RS photoshoot, and that was quite "normal" for rockers, and after than the music video and photo shoot was their next PR type event. Hrmm, wait a sec, I'm forgetting something. Ahh, in the "when in Rome" chapter, it mentions in passing a TV special they had done, but gives no specifics. Are there other aspects beyond the Carlisle Island shoot that make them look "Boybandish"? If so please let me know so i can fix it. Thanks!!! CJ

I'm afraid I did that the second I heard the results, and before they were announced. I even suggested that the winner was an unscrupulous cad who had used unfair campaign tactics and should thus be disqualified. But, the recounts (there were four, I think) didn't work,, nor was my suggestion accepted. I think Shadowgod must have had a hand in this somewhere. But TL... Come now, Haven't you heard me say that I never use cliffhangers?

YEs! Not harming the Goat is in the lead!!

Wow, thanks everyone! I wasn't expecting the "Best Anthology" award! My sincere thanks to everyone, and remember, my stories are a team effort! There should have been many names on that award; Emoe Shadowgod Graeme Captain Rick and Bondwriter. I also wasn't expecting the other award! ummm, is now a good time to remind everyone that I often say that Shadowgod sneaks any cliffhangers in during beta? Just so y'all know, I had a deal with Shadowgod (Umm, does that mean I made a deal with the Devil? ) Well, in this case, the deal was simple; if one of us won King of Cliffhangers, the award would go on our site index page. So, ummm, I had to add it to mine. I'm really shocked by this turn of events... Y'all know I never use cliffhangers... Right? Thanks everyone!

Congrats to GA: 5000 members!!!

ERRR. Uhoh. Please tell me the bad guys weren't on motorcycles? Because if they were, that's a dead ringer for a certain chase scene (Blackheart and company, above Honolulu in "for the Love") However, even if it's the same, I didn't take it from that TV show; I never copy stuff, I don't believe in it and I prefer doing my own. Though, I think my scene had a garbage truck, not t dump truck. That would be annoying; a cliffhanger before every commercial! Yipes! I'm delighted to say that even Shadowgod, the King of Eeevil Cliffhangers, doesn't use them that often. (and his chapters are free of commercial breaks ) Totally agreed. Our of curiosity, I had a look at the post before Wildone did any experimenting, and there had been no editing done at that point. I promised I'd stay hands-off on these polls, so I have. I'm just shocked.. 40 to 4? I mean, how could that be? Everyone knows that I never use cliffhangers... Or don't I say that often enough?

Lol... Yes, i meant I was halfway through Ch 31. As for how many chapters LTMP will have, i really don't know, other than that I can't see it going past the upper 30's. However, My original estimate for "For the Love" was twelve chapters (it ended up as 40, if you count the prologue and epilogue) and my estimate for "Let The Music Play" was originally 15 chapters. I know the plot, of course, and most of the minor details, but I stink at predicting size. Some scenes I had figured for a chapter end up being a few paragraphs, and the other way around too. And oops, I was about to give an example but it would have been a spoiler. Also, changes happen during the writing; sometimes new aspects occur to me, and sometimes the plot changes as a result. BTW, I know Ch 26 was a little on the dull side. Sorry about that. There were reasons for everything in it, but they won't be apparent for a while in some cases. CJ

ACK Now, now, if you go read that post, and the one of yours above it, you'll see what happened; I was quoting you BUT that line of text ended up outside the quote tags somehow. Go look; it's a perfect match; those are YOUR words! And you know it too! Harumph, trying to frame me for saying I use cliffhangers? Surely y'all know me well enough by now that you know I'd never say I use cliffhangers!!! Besides, Cliffhangers are Shadowgod's domain, and I dare not trespass.

Killing a protagonist? Hrmm, well, I hope short stories don't count?

Yep! Only Myk and the voter will know how the voter voted! And the deadline in Midnight, EST, on Saturday the 16th! Only a few hours left! And, umm, how the heck did the voting in this poll end up at 40 to 4?!?!?! EEEK!

Didn't I come across as enraged when i screamed CLIFFHANGER??? So there.

I'll challenge you for the title of "most scattered". I think writing chapters in reverse order might have earned me the title of "scatterbrain of the year." I can't guarantee no waiting. I'm currently writing Ch 31, just at the halfway point. However, the back-and forth between me and out team takes time, and often one or more are busy, so chapters can still get hung up in process. However, I hope I can avoid any significant delays, and it would just be for a day or two. And as for Dimitri and the Russian plutonium sellers on an airliner, I'll quote the whole thing from chapter 7;

Well, of course. That was a CLIFFHANGER! I don't use 'em, but I know 'em when I see 'em! Hrmmm, should ShadowGOD be promoted, from the King of Eeevil Cliffhangers to the God of all Eeevil Cliffhangers? His screen-name sure fits...

EEEK! I dodged a bullet (or a set of spines) on that one!! BTW, speaking of plane crashes, and apropos of nothing, remember how Dimitri got rid of the Russians who sold the plutonium? LoL! Don't worry, I will finish it. I haven't finished it yet. However, I am a few chapters ahead. I have to be; it takes time for the team to work on it, one after another. However, I sometimes write non-sequentially, such as jumping ahead a few chapters, writing a scene or an entire chapter, and then returning, or in one case writing a couple of chapters in revers order. :wacko: This can cause delays, becuase I certainly can't send, say, Ch 30 in for beta and editing before I send 28. Please don't ask how many chapters LTMP will have. I'd happily give you a guess, but it would be wrong. I stink at predicting how it will fill out regarding chapters. To give you an idea, my original prediction was 15, which I think might be a bit off.

Hi Bluesox! I do put a lot of forshadowing in my stories, but I dare not say what, or the Echidna will get me for giving spoilers! We cross-posted, and you said almost exactly what I did about the GPS, only you said it better. I'll give one small spoiler; either the GPS will be found, or it won't.