C James

:king: :king: :king: :king: Happy Birthday! :king: :king: :king: :king: Have a great day, and many happy returns!

The next chapter of LTMP is up Now we have a forum, I wanted to try individual chapter threads. Please let me know what y'all think! CJ

Awww, dang, back to the drawing board... Thanks Bob! I'll do what I can, but I've got another serial underway at the moment, "Let the Music Play", and I need to get a few chapters ahead before I spend any time on anything else. LoL! Well, one possibility was "For the Love of Money". ACK! Dang, there goes another one... grumble grumble... How about "For the Money"? Or "Eric's Redemption"? Who? me?

Thanks!!! I'm having loads of fun. Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

:king: Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!! :king: Congratulations, and have yourself a great day my friend!

Yes indeed. Yes. The title is as yet undecided, so I can't say what it will be called, but it will be a sequel to FTL. It's a few months away, though.

Goat's milk I'm fine with; I just try and avoid becoming the main dish. BTW, Jan, good predictions! He's eeevil like that.... Why, next thing you know, he'll be making me put links to his stories in this post. Thanks Ieshwar, and thanks for reading! Drugs can enhance the bad side of one's personality, which is what may have happened to Eric; he did seem to show genuine emotion for Steve at the end, and regret that he'd lost his family through his own actions. He also stopped to say goodbye to Steve once he already had the $$$. Even Eric says he's no saint; he has his bad points (like a penchant for stake-outs). I think he's changed a little now that he's off drugs, but the question is, how much? Steve questioned Eric's change in the Epilogue, and we really don't know for sure, yet. This story was in 1st person, so all we have to go by is the words and deeds of the characters. Eric, well, we'll be seeing him again (and no, he definitely isn't the same Eric as the one in LTMP ) You could very well be right; he HAD to get the money, and the sheriff had double-crossed him. And good catch; he didn't flinch when killing. However, neither did Veronica, though she sure had good reason. And why did Eric try and save Veronica? He could have been doing the right thing, or, he could have been wanting a diversion so he had a chance to swipe the money. We just don't know. That's one of the problems with 1st person narrations; you can't definitively state any character (other than the protagonists' ) motives. And yes, Eric does have his bad sides; annoying kid bothers are a fixture of gay fiction, after all. Who? Me?

Totally agreed there! My own are the same, though I also add others who also risk their lives in the course of their duties; Police, Firefighters, etc.

A belated Happy Birthday, Carl! I'm glad you had a great day!

My comment would be that Blackheart's brain injury may have left him unable to count. As for me, the two unfinished novels are: "Let the Music Play", which I'm currently posting, and "Skyfire", which will begin before the fall. "Skyfire" is sci-fi, but what's called "hard" sci fi (a very misleading descriptor in a gay context) in that it uses extrapolations of current physics theories and technology. I plan on running "Skyfire" and "Let the Music Play" side-by-side.

I always knew he'd grow up to be a Televangelist. All jokes aside, the epilogue was the first thing I wrote for FTL, several years ago. In it, Eric was a televangelist, and those parts of the epilogue survived basically intact, along with Chris and Steve seeing him on TV in their place, Steve in the shower, etc, etc. As I've so often said, poor, misunderstood Eric. You are quite right, Betty is portrayed as in her 30's, Dex is (although not specified) in his early 20's. Glad you liked it Conner; it was a happier ending than it looked to be at the end of 37, with Steve's execution and Chris' about to follow. (I blame Shadowgod for that, ya know ). Eric did save them all, though in the Epilogue Steve expresses uncertainly regarding Eric. As for Eric, and whether he really has changed or not, we'll just have to wait and find out. I'm not entirely sure myself, to be honest. FTL was really about the confrontation with the ring led by Thadeus and the Sheriff, which is now quite over. Awww, Graeme, Eric killed his uncle to save his brother. And Eric has long admitted to a love of money, and indeed, in this case he needed it. Eric also put his life on the line to gun down those last two goons (though, quite coincidentally, that was where the money was kept, and he needed the sheriff's keys to unlock it). However, once he had the money, he did stop to see Veronica released, and Veronica said he'd tried to free her. You were right in your comment about picking locks; he tried, but apparently he's not good at it. Heck, I can pick a lock, given some improvised tools and lot of time; it's not hard. But it takes time. Eric even stopped by to see Steve again, before leaving. He didn't have to. I think he had some real regrets, even if, as he himself says, he's not a saint. Poor, misunderstood Eric. Ah yes, He found "In God, We Trust". I think he also found Benjamin Franklin. (note to the non-US readers: "In God, We Trust" appears on US currency, and Benjamin fRanklin is on the $100 bill, the largest US banknote in circulation.) Thanks Jack! OK, Bondwriter, you asked about more FTL: There isn't any. The Epilogue is the end of the story entitled "For The Love". However, there's a question mark after "The End". There probably shouldn't be, becuase it is the end of this story. However, the epilogue sets up a few things for the future of these characters. Yep, I'm planning a sequel. It won't be soon, but it will likely begin this year. I have two other novels I need to finish first.

Awww... But Aillie, somebody had to ride off into the sunset, didn't they? ROFL! Well, technically it was: Eric still carries the Williams last name, so he could be addressed as "Mr. Williams". No candlestick though. Thanks Steve! I'm going to miss that story.... It was a fun one to write. And I'm glad that you liked the ending... My favorite part was writing a literal "riding off into the sunset" scene. Yep, good predictions Jan! I guess the sheriff's head did swell, before it exploded. LoL It was a bit of a bloody scene at the mine; The Sheriff and three of his four henchmen dead. One killed by Chris, one killed by Veronica, and two killed by Eric. I think my favorite line was "Smiling, I nodded, as Steve took one more look at Eric before asking,

Mea culpa! Yep, as I said earlier in the thread, that was indeed the result of my fiddling. But, but, but.. I can't be the same entity as shadowgod! He's eeevil, and I'm not! Why, he even admits it! He even uses cliffhangers, which I, of course, would never do...

Hope you didn't get a hangover! It sounds like you have some wonderful friends there. Thanks for sharing this, it started my day off with a smile.

Congrats on the 100th post! Being in the 3-digit range makes you an official postaholic! Thanks very much, I'm going to keep writing, and I'll keep trying to improve. And it's not 4200, it's only 4196!

Thanks everyone!! I'm really thrilled!!! I don't know what to say (a first for me!) LOl

Thank you all so much! I'm on cloud nine here; I've wanted this for a very long time, and especially a forum! I'll let y'all in on a secret; I love forums!

ROFL! Seducing Bondwriter's nefarious agent, eh? Ahhh, he's admitting his true nature! The enormity has spoken! See? I told you it was all shadowgod's fault... Hrmmm, well, I can't match you in eeevilness, that's for sure! BTW, my new website is up, and FTL 38 and the epilogue are on it: http://cjames.gayauthors.org/index.htm

I'm a goat that lives in the mountains, but not a mountain goat: I'm scared of heights... And Cliffhangers! ROFL!! Well, this thread is now in a different forum.

Hrmmm, Let's see; 8 hours by car, or an hour and a half getting to LA airport, finding parking, getting to the terminal, 2+ hours waiting for the flight, an hour in the air, and an hour and a half in SF getting your luggage, picking up a rental car, etc. Add an hour in for padding against running late, and you save about an hour by flying. LoL Thats why I won't even consider flying if it's less than a thousand miles. However, in my case it takes hours to get to the airport, so that's a big part of it. I'm thinking about it, but probably can't make it.

Bondwriter! Shame on you... I'm the one who's supposed to be unable to count!

Hey! I'm a lurker, I tell ya! As for my absence, I've been silent becuase I'm unsure. I have a family obligation in late October, and given the repairs to my house and lost work time already (major storm damage), its up in the air as to whether i can lose the work and afford the trip. CJ

As you say, they've only recently met (a couple of days)... Of course, Brandon might be secretly infatuated with or not. BTW, Rigel, I should mention that I'm notorious for giving either-or answers that cover all possibilities. I'm not that kind of goat, so I never go near cliffs (or cliffhangers).

Greetings, oh anonymous beta reader! But if you didn't like the final scene, you shouldn't have made me do it like that. Yes, the Shadowy one is trying to avoid the blame. Shame on him! Now why didn't I think of that? Okay, who leaked the ending? World's longest footer? Awww.. But most of it is just credits to those who contribute... Plus me begging for feedback, of course. ROFL BTW, a story update: I may not be posting ch 38 and the epilogue on Tuesday as scheduled. It might be posted early instead. I can't guarantee when yet, but it could be this weekend. It all depends on a few things, I'm not just dragging my feet here. My sincere apologies to those who would have preferred a longer wait. As soon as it's up, I'll post a link to the new location in this thread...

My story page is at http://cjames.gayauthors.org