C James

What about joining SPCWRG? The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Writing Goats..

Uhoh..... But, Mr. Moderator, sir, shouldn't you be defending me in a case like this? Uhoh....

Hrmm, I recall no vote that would indicate that LiS 26 wasn't the Mother of all Cliffhangers? For indeed, LiS 26 is the Mother of All Cliffhangers. Well, yes, I do admit that I had assumed that LTMP 19 would be posted after Jan 1st. And I did think that a few people, might, possibly, think that it was a cliffhanger due to the perhaps slightly tense ending. Now, I will point out that you WERE voted King of Eeevil Cliffhangers in an open forum, your own forum in fact, where other authors (Graeme, and myself) were considered. So, if you prefer to discount the committee's findings, well, we always have that vote to fall back on, and as it is exactly what you say above that you wanted, you should now happily and gracefully accept your title. Oh, and BTW, I'll also now point out that there are at least TWO GA admins who have labled you the King of Eeevil Cliffhangers. Wow, bodyguards! Thanks Jan!!!

I didn't mean too... I thought you were teasing me <pout>... You see all the mean things that are done to me, right? It tends to make a poor goat a little defensive...

<burp!> Well, umm, I'm not a mountain goat! I'm just a goat that lives in the, errr. mountains...

I love the new title! I was, I admit, partial to "Hanging by a thread" or "on the edge" but I Love Dreams and Clipped Wings. Hrmmm. Wings... Where do birds sometimes roost? Cliffs... ACK!!! Awww, now what have I ever done to be so picked on?

OMG, a CHEESEHEAD? (I never knew they had Redneck Cheeseheads... Gee, ya learn something new ever day... ) And Joe!! What you did to my sig line! You accused me of using cliffhangers! I'm shocked.. Shocked I tell ya... Awww, rooting for big mean Joe over poor, innocent me... Lol, me too: I've been having internet problems lately so I haven't been online much.

Congratulations, Benji!!! Thank your for your insightful and funny posts. And at a 4 per day average, you are indeed a postaholic!

Yes, I see them.... Aww, Joe, what a mean thing to do to poor, innocent me. Take a peek at my profile and my sig if you want to see what they've done to me. And under my avatar, too! They are mean, I tell you, mean!

Ahh, but guys, there is one thing you are all overlooking. I'm the victim here! I haven't actually edited anyone's account. In fact, in this entire exchange, I have not used any board privileges other than those a regular member has. And this is the truth. However, I am not the only person with Admin access. See? They are picking on me, the meanies... All these pranks using sneaky tricks against a poor, innocent goat.

I'm not sure what the glitch is, but I hosted the photos at photopuchet and edited my post above. BTW, we have had problems with attached images for a while now, so this is unlikely any shenanigans.

Yes, so helpful they were. However, I will remind you all that Shadowgod is the King of Eevil Cliffhangers, and you know what? He even put it in his profile over a week ago!! Don't believe me? I took a screenshot of the occasion. Oh, and pssst, don't tell anyone, but a certain un-named Admin (JSmith) was not to be outdone. Here's a shot of his profile.

Actually, Steve, that *IS* my main site index page!!

Yes, folks, there has been a conspiracy!!! Shadowgod has, with the aid of a certain GA admin whom I shall not name (JSmith) altered the main page of my site to add that! How could they pick on poor, innocent me so much? Oh, btw, I'll post an interesting screencap in a few miniutes...

Now, now, Your Majesty, I have in the past answered said questions, and I shall do so again; #1: I have NEVER claimed that you over-use cliffhangers in any way. Over-use is, after all, a very different thing from mastery, and though I have oft claimed the latter, I have never claimed the former. I'll also mention that saying someone is the king of something is saying they are the best at it, not that they over-use it. #2: But LiS 26 was indeed the Mother of All Cliffhangers! I can cite at least TWO GA admins who proclaimed it's cliffhangery dominance, and of course many other readers too. Or have you forgotten the threats to your berries? #3: This was a loaded question; you use "worse". Shadowgod, no one is trying to say that your cliffhangers are bad, we are just trying to acknowledge your absolute mastery of the eeeevil cliffhanger! (and I'll mention LiS 26, again! ) #4... I agreed to that? Umm, when? I do recall saying that, if there was a vote, your title would surely be re-affirmed. And on your final point, you imply a shady backroom deal!?!?!? Nothing of the sort occurred! Now, bear in mind that not only was your title bestowed upon you by your readers after LiS 26, but it was also then confirmed by a special GA committee, and THEN confirmed by a vote in your forum!

Good luck Sharon!

I personally feel that it should depend on the author's wishes, or, if they were not expressed, then whomever holds the rights to the works. I also answered "I wouldn't do it" because to me it would be like working off someone else's plot, and to me, creating the plot is a huge part of the fun.

I tend to use the term "postaholic" when referring to mega-posters such as Graeme or AFriendlyFace, or for that matter anyone with over a few hundred.

ROFL!!! Why thank you, oh Sovereign of the Malevolent Precipices. I'm glad that you agee. BTW, Shadowgod has formed a society called SPiCE. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Eric. He wasn't too happy when he saw Ch 19, and he's upset that Eric was injured. So, he formed SPiCE. I have no idea why... there's never anything dangerous in my stories.

Uhoh.... Yes indeed! And also, there's the utterly undisputed fact that I never use cliffhangers. Now, Shadowgod, on the other hand...

But your majesty, surely you wouldn't do something mean like alluding to me in a story? That would be so unfair! Lol... ROFL! Yes, but don';t tell Shadowgod; he might revert back to the hunting idea.

Nah, he'll leave you hanging. He is, after all, the King of Evil Cliffhangers, so leaving the reader hanging is something that comes naturally to him.

Thanks!!! We've slogged through most of the design issues anyway, so hopefully I can keep the tech to a minimum. Thanks!! You're lucky I toned down the technicalese in the quoted bit, otherwise you'd have had a headache. Well, I'm just a shy and quiet (and non-cliffhanger-using) goat who happens to have a knowledge of nuclear weapons design. Nothing to worry about, really. :nuke:

But Graeme, I'd never try and make a cliffhanger evil... That's shadowgod's domain. Regarding the nuclear issue, thanks! I'm just wondering if I need to make the details clearer. I'm trying to keep the technical aspects to minimum, but I do have to show what they are doing to some degree. On the other hand, if I don't minimize it, you'd get an entire chapter or two on just the initiation, and ten on the explosive-lens fabrication. :nuke: You have it right; they were testing their design to make sure it would work. I did omit a slew of details though, in the interests of brevity. For example, forcing the plutonium into a critical mass is not the only job the exposives do. Once you have a critical mass, the chain reaction is not instant. While it is reacting, the critical mass is also trying to blow itself apart. Therefor, you have to play around the shockwave dynamics and eliminate the beta wave. What a beta wave is, is the low pressure zone behind a shock wave. You basically do this via materials (such as the pusher-plate) which adds mass to the initial impulse. and also has echo characteristics to damp down the beta wave. And, umm, "Beta" is not the correct term here. There is a specific term, but I can't recall what it is and I am too lazy to look it up. But in any case, the implosion not only has to compress the core, but KEPP it compressed and coherant for several miliseconds. This is called "explosive containment" and it is why they are using explosives by the ton. In a modern warhead such as you would find on an ICBM where both weight and volume are at a premium, it is done by precisely modeling the shockwave via adjustments of the detonation sequence, but that is extraordinarily complex and would be behind the means of The Scar and his crew; they would need a dedicated supercomputer for hydrodynamics evaluation, and an extensive test program, not just one as we have seen. So, I had them go with a much simpler designs, and they can, becuase they can get away with a larger, heavier device. But, from some of the above, you can see that I had to omit a lot of engineering detail from the story. It's still alluded to, such as in the pusher-plate design and the materials, but I don't go into detail. Could I ask a favor and ask that others weigh in on this too? Am I making the tech understandable, or do I need to be clearer? Thanks!! CJ

Thank you Sasha!!!