C James

The aliens won't have a huge amount of "on screen" time, so I hope I can do it with dialog. Writing a convincing alien is difficult; you have to discard all human preconceptions and imagine something utterly different. At the moment, I'm leaning against their communicating via speech at all, which might make my task easier. I won't use telepathy (a little cliche, and not suitable for hard sci-fi anyway) as I have something a little different in mind.. Thanks regarding LTMP; The plot hasn't really changed since it's inception, though there have been many embelishments, and certainly many scenes that seemed to just appear. Come to think of it, I originally imagined FTL as being around 15 chapters, and it ended up at 39, so I think I ought to stop making number-of-chapters predictions on my stories, LoL. As a wild guess, LTMP is about at the halfway point now.

Just caught up with this.. Things are getting interesting, and Cray is sure getting some "exercise" I've noticed several references to the mafia... I suspect that is a major theme. I also see sparks, and not the good kind, when Henry and Michael meet. Thanks JAck!!

Great chapter, Frosty!! I loved the learning-to-drive-a-standard scene; very realistic! The bit about no pumping your own gas in JErsey was a great touch (it's quite true, too) Loved the teasing and the coming out to Amanda. Okay, one bit made me do a huge double-take;

I can certainly see the advantages, though the inability to easily load in your own documents is appalling. I'm also very concerned over another issue; once you purchase a book, can you transfer it to a PC for easier reading?

Kevin, I hope all is well, and you take care, and have a good holidays. We're going to miss you! CJ

And here I've been hoping to sneak by... I must say, I was surprised to see this post here, becuase I could have gone to 4999 and waited, much like others have done at x999. However, I must point out that the rumor claiming that I am approaching 5000 posts is utterly inaccurate. And no, this wasn't my Cinca Millennial post (Do I even have the term right?). I do fear, though, that this numerological event might, perhaps, tarnish my precious reputation as a quiet and shy forum lurker? Hopefully, these fears shall prove unfounded...

I thought I'd share a few thoughts and ideas... MMMMM, where to start? LTMP, my current serial, will be my #1 priority until it is completed. However, I'm up in the air about what to do after that. I do have a few ideas... Too many, in fact. LoL One thought, though, is that I enjoy having more than one in-progress story. That way, I can work on one when the other is stalled. I did this at the end of FTL while working on LTMP, and also when writing anthology entries. I enjoyed being able to just change screens and write something else when needed. One writing project that I have is called Skyfire, a hard sci-fi (which means utilizing extrapolations of known science, and not "warp drive" or other convenient plot devices). It's essentially and interstellar war story. So, I'd like to ask my readers; would a sci-fi story be of interest? It would not be to the exclusion of anything else; it's tricky to write so I'd have it as my secondary story running alongside my next fiction novel. The posting rate for Skyfire would be more than once a month, but probably not a lot more. Skyfire will be problematic in many ways; for one thing, their will be aliens, and they won't, of course, speak English. They will be rather, well, alien. So, how do I show their dialog? I don't want to have gibberish along the lines of "Caauhost slithered out of his uglat, gurgling ultrasonically, "ttafss hyyap z glurg tsop htdnasouht evif semaj c pajkm oloo" I'm presently planning to show no alien dialog, but rather just explain their communications in the narration. It's the only way I can think of to get around the issue. Speaking of my next fiction novel (the main story I'll be working on after LTMP) I have several ideas, but no decision as yet. However, it will likely be not quite so long as FTL or LTMP. (and speaking of LTMP, my original guess was it would be 15 chapters, though as things have turned out, I might possibly be in error on that.. ) Any thoughts, suggestions, etc? Thanks! CJ

Hrmm, now that *IS* an interesting thought... And no one could dispute that, now could they? What do you say, Shadowgod?

But, but, but... I'm trying to sneak on by!! Maybe Kevin or Graeme will pass me today, too... Or maybe you; just how many posts did you do the day you set the posting record? Aww, Jan, but there's nothing to see here... I'm just doing my lurking... Edit to add; Benji, I see you have 32 posts today!!!

But surely no one would be watching a lurker's post count?

But Jan, I never use cliffhangers. Steve, though, uses them, and this could make for an interesting competition!

Now, now, your majesty, don't throw a royal fit... I've been sticking strictly to the facts. And I'll say it again.. LiS 26.

I'll second the "lots of memory" but mention that you can avoid the headaches of Vista by avoiding the miserable thing and getting XP. I'm no fan of XP (I still run 2k pro on my main system for that reason) but it doesn't have anywhere near the overhead or problems of Vista.

I have been on intermittently, and the ISP now seems to be working, but over the weekend I had very little internet access. Ahhem! I think you took Kevin's record, as Kevin's record was 43 posts in a day.

Who? Me?

But Benji... Unlike you, I'd never post 50+ posts in a day! I mean, really, you broke Kevin's record, and that was a record I thought could never be broken...

Humph, now they're making snide remarks about my personal hygiene! Of all the nerve... It's not easy being a goat who writes... Look at all the cruel treatment and abuse I have to put up with! It's shocking, I tell ya, shocking! BTW, I suspect a conspiracy... Wildone started the whole Queen of cliffies thing, and low and behold, it turns out he's met Shadowgod (check out Shadowgod's blog for some of the details). And now we have Shadowgod trying to say he isn't the King of Eeevil cliffhangers? Coincidence? I think not!

ACK! But, but, but... It's all Shadowgod's fault! If he wasn't arguing about his title, this wouldn't be happening! Ahh, but which Tuesday?

I do hereby promise that i won't touch it. (Easy to promise, been as I can't)

Just a little update (I'll post about the remainder of the trip later) but my cousin (who was with us) is of the opinion that we didn't actually end up in Bosnia. He said he's found where he thinks we were in Google Earth, and it looks to be over a mile from the border. He thinks that the farmer meant that the farmer considers the lant to be bosnian (quite likly due to their being many rural Bosnian serbs in that area) So, until I get to take a look myself, all I can say is we either were, or weren't, in Bosnia.

ACK!!! I'm being framed, I tell ya!! fRamed!! I'm far from power hungry; I did after all support enthroning you as the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: And Benji, surely you can see that I'm being set up here? I'm just a shy and quiet goat, being horribly mistreated by eeevil entities.

I've looked, and I'll offer my proof here once it's online.

I think it's shadowgod we need to watch... He's on a posting binge; 18 posts so far today!!

And I agree! It wasn't the worst, becuase worst imples bad. It was however the most extreme cliffhanger. I mean you had Jacob being loaded into the ambulance, and clearly implied that he was dying, and then left us hanging... That's the very definition of a cliffhanger!!

But I never use cliffhangers!! I've been framed!!!! Might I remind you, your majesty, of LiS 26, and the Mother of All Cliffhangers?