C James

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK!!!!!!!! :music: :king: :king: :king: :king: :king: :king: :king: :music: I hope you have a great day, my friend!!!

Awww, would I do such a thing as that? Preposterous! The next thing you know, you will be trying to claim that the Piedmont Sheriff's last name (Johnson) has a hidden meaning, such as it being a slang term that might relate in some way to his character. But surely I wouldn't do such a thing as that. OK, the Sheriff wasn;t intentional, but, there are a few names in FTL that are. Piedmont, Arizona, anyone? The name "Piedmont" was used in the movie and book "The andromeda strain" as the small town in Arizona wiped out by the disease from the space probe. However, there is ANOTHER Piedmont, Arizona, a real one, so I felt OK to use the name without fear of plagiarism. (The real Piedmont is a ghost town).

This is why Goats, unlike sheep, try and stay out of the ra in.

Infrequent nookie? Well, their town is called Lonesome Valley for a reason.

Hi Kawanee!! Welcome, and thank you for joining us!

Thank you Max!! I tried to write something that wasn't typical for gay fiction. I wanted to portray two lead characters, normal guys in their late teens, who happened to be gay. As for Eric, the next chapter is entitled "Homecoming", and he is definitely in it. Thanks!!! Emoe! You don't like poor, misunderstood Eric? I think I can safely say that the rubber hits the road in ever-increasing amounts from here on in. As for the currier issue, all I can say is that situation will become fully known (whatever it might actually be) very soon. Oops!! It's fixed now, thanks!! Goats have trouble with spelling. Just ask Emoe. Wow, Thank you Connor!!! I am flattered and honored to receive the Goat Good Seal of approval! Porcupines? I hope Echidnas are included? Yes, Connor has a new Avatar. Anyone care to speculat e as to what is going on here? Yep, those spines are SHARP! Hi Kojaky! Thank you!!! Thank you for reading!!

It's up now, though, and I can read it tonight. I'm very careful not to antagonize my genitalia-collecting female friends. Troma movie? ROFL!!!!!!!! Well, yes, that would fit, if there really is radioactive waste in the pool. Redneck Zombies, anyone? Sex? Hmmm, I don't have a dictionary handy.. what does that mean? Check your inbox in a few days. Yep, it wasn't/isn't a big problem, and the body modesty is just one reflection of it. I'll be able to say more about this issue in a few chapters. (Your spines worry me, after all). Very true! There is no such thing (in the real world) as an instant fix for a psychological issue. I can't say too much <the goat eyes the spines nervously> but yes, things basically start moving from here on out, so I used this chapter to do some stage setting, much of which won't be noticeable until a couple of chapters down the road. Been as I had to put quite a bit in, I set it against the fun and games of a pool party, basically because I liked the humor involved, and talking about the pool brought back fond memories of leaping off roofs into backyard pools. Thanks Graeme!!

A happy belated birthday from me, too! Hope you had a great one, Nick! :king:

Thanks!! (and I am looking forward to your next chapter in a day or so! Cool!) The "au naturale" was my attempt to portray an Arizona guy trying to pronounce it in French. IE: Badly. LoL! That's probably the limits of my attempts at French, though. ROFL! Awww, Veronica is a sweetheart; she wouldn't do any such thing... BTW, I know several women just kile that in real life, so it isn't just efiction. Or, I could just say that its all shdowgod's fault; he's a bad influence on me. That's for the compliment about the "myriad of stars" scene, though when i said they slipped into the dark waters and became one, I was implying a bit more than kissing. Of course, the next chapter may very well begin with "And the following morning, the two-headed creature with four arms and four legs slowly emerged from the pool, arguing with itself over who forgot to check the pool for radioactive waste..." Admittedly, not a lot happened in this chapter except for the data stick plan, but the backstory with Chad, Veronica, and Steve is important. Also, I wanted to have a fun interlude at this point in the story. BTW, The next chapter is entitled " Homecoming ".

Hmmmm, and where, oh where, is the even longer-awaited new chapter of "moving on"? hmmmm? ACK!!! Had it not been for Emoe's sharp eyes, the answer in Ch 15 would have been "two". Emoe, thank you for catching that! Hi Camy!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eric? Well, Eric may be good, or he may be bad, or some mix of the two.

I've attempted to edit before, and trust me on this, you DO need to be in the right frame of mind. If Emoe rushes, we get a bad chapter, so it is FAR better that he takes his time. It's also well to bear in mind that the big delay here was in me sending it to him. The one thing I will fault Emoe on: He has an unwaivering policy of refusing to edit a chapter until he receives it. He's very unreasobale about this. I keep trying to explain to him that things would go much faster if he would send me the edited chapters before I write them, but he just won't listen. BTW, Emoe already has Ch 15 & 16, as I'm working hard to build up a "buffer" again, to avoid future delays. Emoe, I'm not surprised you were trolling the forums... We all know that you are a postaholic. Wait patiently no longer. Thanks to Emoe, CHAPTER 14, In Beer, Veritas, Is up. Oh, and it is the longest chapter so far, nearly 8k words.

Jack, Jack, Jack... First you defy Leviticus, and now this... For shame! Ohhh Bondwriter: When you get him, you might need to cut out his tounge. I think Leviticus is fine with that... STORY NEWS: Due to real-life events, Emoe is busy (understatment alert!) and I do not have Ch 14 to post yet. I'll post as soon as I have it. I know it has been quite a while, sorry. Also, I got off my lazy haunches and wrote two additional chapters, 15 & 16, which Emoe now has as well, so I hope to be able to maintain a decent schedule again. I'm also halfway done with 17, though it is proving to be a tricky one.

I'm afraid you have the wrong idea when it comes to paying him: Paying him would make him a servant, not a slave. Leviticus 25:48-53 "After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him." As long as he isn't one of your siblings, you don't have to treat him as a servant. If one were to purchase his own brother into slavery, laws in Leviticus prevent treating him as other slaves, but rather as a guest or servant. Leviticus 25:39 "And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee: And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return." As for training him, we have to go to the book of Exodus for that. If you kill him while punishing him, you are in hot water, But, if he lingers a day or two after a beating, you are free and clear. Exodus 21:20-21 "And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money." As for after-sales service, hmmm, Leviticus is silent on that. BTW, just to be clear here; I'm not trying to ridicule the bible, but I am, definitely, ridiculing those who cite Leviticus or other things in the Old Testament as reasons to condemn homosexuality. As for the New Testament passages sometimes interpreted as condemning homosexuality (oft called the "clobber passages" they are all by Paul, and Paul, as I illustrated in Rev. Mike's sermon, cannot be taken too seriously, for he says a great many things, such as that the entire old testament applies to anyone who is circumcised. And yes, there will be more of this in FTL, though not the focus of the story.

ACK! Editor leak!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Eric, always doubted... Thanks Emoe!!! Hard to beleive it has been a year already. I didn;t think anyone noticed lurkers like me... Oh Jaaaack, methinks you need a vacation... In Switzerland.

Thanks, but it was truly a team effort (and many thanks to the Writer Support Team members, many of whom were involved in the planning stages). And thanks also to Myr, for giving us a place (GA) to do things like this!

This is somehow giving away the answer to the question that, properly phrased, should have been "Could Eric himself have been blackmailed?" Echidna! Echidna! ACK!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't get me turned into a pincushion!!!!!!! The only answer I gave was that Eric was not blackmailing himself. (I hope that isn't too much of a spoiler, or I'll be a pincushion yet...) Whew!!! Thank you, oh spiney one!! I will say definitively that Eric either was, or was not, blackmailed. I'm also saying categorically that he was not blackmailing himself. As for whether or not Eric has been blackmailed by someone other than himself (eyes the spiney one nervously) I can't say.

The Fairy Tales Special Anthology is now online for your reading pleasure: https://www.gayauthors.org/anthology/index2.php After you've read the Anthology entry, please follow the links at the ends of the stories to the forum discussions and leave your comments for the authors. Happy Valentine

I hereby predict that you won't live this one down anytime soon. :devil: Sorry Graeme, but there is never a moderator around when you need one.

Please showe me a cite in the law where it prohibints Goats from being parents to human children? But perhaps Eric, out of the goodness and generosity of his heart, sinply wanted to spare Chris and Steve the headaches involved with money managment (be removing the money)? Humph ... Only in the sense that all authors feel paternal towards their characters... (How do you feel about Steph or Ben, Jack?)

Eric might just surprise us all. Don't be too nice to Jack Frost.. he's pretty cold-hearted, ya know... Hi Bob!!! The whole buying and selling guys thing comes out of Chapter 13, where, during a serom, the reverend Mike makes a joke about a passage in Leviticus; that it is ok to own slaves, so long as they are from neighboring nations. So, Jack frost is in canade, a neigboring nation to me, so we were trying to sell him. If he moves to Switzerland, he would be in a nation neighboring Bondwriter. Hmmmm, Should we sell Jack by auction, or sealed bid? I have indeed guessed your location! (only I guessed wrong...) Aren't writers usually the "parents" of their characters? I'm just amazed that everyone keeps thinking the worst of Eric. It's always possible that he had good reasons for what he did.

Wow, that's quite a full slate, but I'm glad there are things your are looking forward too. Good luck with the new phone! Just don't do what a friend of mine did: Go looking for a knife to open the box it came in, find one in the kitchen sink under the dishwater, use it to open the box, and plop, glug... glug.. glug...

Hmmm, Switzerland isn't a neigbor of the US... BUT, it is of France, so I'm afraid it will fall to Bondwriter to own you. You sure you don't want to go easy on yourself and let me sell you instead? And, actually, you ARE releasing a chapter once every month or so... You started in August, and that's seven months ago. As for the military school and beating Eric to a pulp, do i take if that you are one of those who think badly of Eric? Poor kid, he's just being industrious and making a little money to supplement his allowance...