C James

Hey now! I never deny the things I do... Yep! I'll be able to check in one last time on Saturday the 21st... I'm going to miss y'all, seriously. I can guarantee I'll be offline for nearly two weeks in the middle of my trip, becuase I won't be anywhere near an internet connection. That will begin on Oct 28th. I might have occasional internet before then, and likely will again around Oct 10th through the 12th, but after that it's another 10 days internet-less, as I'll be staying with relatives who don't have the 'net. If I do get online, I'll temporarily eschew my lurkerish ways and actually post (!!!) and say "hi". On the other hand, if my laptop croaks, I really might be offline totally for the duration of my trip!

Lol, you noticed something I didn't! I have a problem when reading when people use similar-sounding names, so I try and avoid names that start with the same letter. I already broke that rule once with Jon and Jerry, and now Chase and Charity. Ooops! ROFL!!!

Around 9? Ahha! A POSTAHOLIC!

Congratulations again, Carl!

I think it's great that you are in school. Stick with it! Have no regrets, because they don't do a damn bit of good anyway; the point is, you are in the here-and-now, and you are doing something about it. Keep up the good work! I'll bet you have sore knees? I installed some laminate flooring (Looks like hardwood, for those who aren't familiar with the term) a few years ago, and it was the kind where the strips have to both glued and hammered together. Ouch. Sorry to hear about the laptop; just make sure you back up everything, often!

Thanks Graeme! I originally tried the first few paragraphs in first, then in third, before picking second for the reasons you say. I would like to add (as the disclaimer below the story says) that the senator is fictional; I was careful to make sure his electoral record didn't match any past or present Senators. He could be of any political party; both sides do have their closeted. Thanks Jack! This was very much a new ground for me, in a lot of ways. I wanted to do something different. He could have been from either party, I was careful to leave that part vague, but his sexuality was only alluded to; Those two quotes weall all I used; "Dark and dusty cloakroom" was meant to indicate a closet. "Furtive liasons, shame and fear" was meant to allude to gay sexual encounters of a deeply closeted man. I wasn't as clear as I could have been. Hi Ieshwar! Thanks! It wasn't fear that killed him, not quite. He was very old, and his doctors had told him he was dying (the bit about the doctor's warning, his final campaign done and over, etc) He felt the pains in his chest, he knew towards the end that he was done. It could well be that he guesed he wouldn't leave the chapter alive and that's what changed his mind, but I left that part up to the reader. This is as you say very much a departure for me. Not my usual style. A year ago I wrote "the Muse", in last fall's anthology, which was also very different from my usual. It's fun to break the mold every once in a while.

The GA Fall 2007 Anthology is now up, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say "Thank you!" to all those who worked so hard on it; Graeme, who did most of the formatting and most of the reviews, and helped in many other ways too; Thank you! Kevin (AFrieindlyFace) for your reviews and help; Thank you! Joe, for doing the server-side magic that you do so well, and for sorting out those last-miniute bugs and getting us online early, Thank you! Myr, thank you for giving us a place to do all this, and thanks also to all the authors who are participating! Let the reading begin! CJ

ACK! Ieshwar! You can't possibly mean me?!?!? That's Shadowgod's title! I'd never, ever use a cliffhanger... I really don't know what could possibly give you the idea that I use cliffhangers... Is Graeme spreading rumors about me again? Now, just repeat after me... "CJ never uses cliffhangers" Try it, you'll feel sooo much better! BTW, I see you're about to enter the Millennium club! Early Congratulations, my Postaholic Friend! (don't worry, I'll be sure to remember to start a lounge thread for you. ) Oh, and LC, You want a tile? Well, okay, let me see what I can do... Shadowgod has "King of all eeevil Cliffhangers" so how about you be the King of all Eeevil Hangovers?"

Thanks Graeme! That was good to see; I had no idea that Taiwan was getting that close to recognition of gay marriage.

Happy 1st GAanniversary, Ishewar!!! And a big "Welcome back" to Graeme!!

Me??!?!?! But Ieshwar, how could that be? Everyone knows that I never use cliffhangers... Oh, wait, I see! You are so used to having cliffhanger-free stories from me that you have grown to fear them elsewhere, right??

Well, I admit I should have said I almost never post in the forums. Okay, I guess its time to release the next chapter title... Don't worry, its nothing ominous; its called Love and Hate

I have no idea to whom you could possibly be referring.

LoL! But Graeme! I've been counting on you to be the first GA member to reach 5k! If not you, then Kevin?? I'm sure one (or both) of you will make 5k before this Christmas. But Kevin, I'm a lurker, I hardly ever post! You've been here a lot longer than me, so that's almost certainly why your post count and daily average is lower than mine. I think we have polling bias!!! That first question says I'm always right, which i certainly am not. So

Aww, Ethan, would I ever do such a thing? BTW, the bolded bit would make a very good quote, don't you think? Aww, but I never use cliffhangers... I'd no more use cliffhangers than I would post in the forums (and I'm a lurker, ya know..) And thanks... It helps me a lot to know that I'm not the only one who goofs on words... The fact that I do goof made me feel very bad about my writing, but since my "coming out" I've actually felt a hack of a lot better. Not to give any spoilers or anything, but Dues Ex Machina is a particular dislike of mine. Mind? I absolutely love and encourage it! :2thumbs: Thank you!!!! CJ

Huh? I'd never do something like that!! Though, if Shadowgod has his eeevil cliffhangerly way, it will be more like; they're on a plane, the pilot is dead, the wing has been blown off, and there are no parachutes... They don't call him the :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: for nothing. Oh, and Ieshwar, I see yout title now says "Cliffhanger-phobic.." I'm very sorry that Shadowgod has so traumatized you!

I've always looked at it like this; I think the WBC is one of the best friends the gay rights movement could have. Sound nuts? Maybe, but here's how I see it: they are alienating everyone, and therefor giving their own cause a very bad name. This is a similar dynamic to what KKK rallies have "accomplished" is some communities; they end up being a uniting force, and having the exact opposite of the effect they'd attended. So, the more the WBC makes an ass of itself, the more I like it. Sorry you have to put up with them in your area though, and I certainly do detest the idea of protesting at any funerals.

Dimitri kind of grows on you, doesn't he? I mean sure, he's got a few little less-than-pleasant aspects to his personality, but who doesn't? He does always point out the Kangaroos for Vladimir...

ACK! But Graeme, how can you say "according to me" when you never listen to me? Now, ummm, as for posts-per-day, you will soon be in the undisputed lead... Remember, I'm going away for a month. BTW, Graeme, this means I will likely miss your 5000th post, which looks like to will be coming up in about three weeks... So, an early congratulations from me!

Welcome, Kashka!!! Thank you!! I can't comment about the contents of the upcoming chapters, but I have to agree, I think it's safe to say that Helen will not be pleased. But Kashka, would I ever use a cliffhanger?. It was all just slightly... Tense, with a little bit of a dilemma. Jon and Eric's motto: When in a hole, keep digging. Thanks! I'm glad I got that in there.. It is unusual to have that large a spread between brothers, I agree, though I have seen it. OK, for my own contribution, I want to call Emoe a postaholic. Also, I thought of a new fun thing to do (and I know I promised to do this earlier, but I forgot...) I thoguht I'd bring up posts from the last thread, of those who came closest in predictions. And BTW, if I miss anyone's, PLEASe point it out and say so! The one I thought came closest (just my opinion) was Kevin's. When I read it last week, I thought "whoa, spot-on!" Kevin, you got it! That's exactly right! And they snuck the girls out becuase on of them was there with "dad" and it was obvious what they were going off to do. But now, we know

Wow, thanks!!! I'm going to miss all of you, and I'll hopefully get a chance to pop in briefly a few times. We're on course for at least one chapter posting while I'm gone, and like I promised, I did tell Shadowgod that he couldn't add his planned monster (and literal) cliffhanger of having the guys dangling over the rim of the grand canyon on a failing rope.

But Shadowgod is the :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers! :king: And you are right about the rounding, but my point was that it's all just a statistical glitch. For example, if posts per day were rounded to the nearest hundred, everyone but Graeme would read zero.

OK, now we have some non-instinct choices..

I feel a second poll coming on that will resolve this for everyone...

Thanks Jan!!! The main problem is I'll be in areas with few chances to connect to the 'net, so even with a good laptop I'd have trouble. I'm guessing I won't have much time to write anyway, and I'm going to have withdrawals from that!