C James

Happy Birthday Shadows! Hope you have a great day!!!!!

OK, now I'm really curious!!!!!

Those are very good points. <looks around nervously for the Echidna..> But, those will be explained. Right now, we know that the Sherrif is non too friendly, and that Steve is roaring towards Piedmont at a hundred fifty mph. (241 KPH for our non-us readers.) With Chris and Chad trying to catch him in a car that can barely do half that. Too bad I'm not into cliches, or he could have been saved with a very convenient flat tire... (he isn't). (I hope the Echidna will spare me for revealing this negative spoiler?) I have always loved irony, so Steve roaring into Piedmont to save Chris, who is actually behind him, appealed to me, especially as Steve was one of my favorite characters. ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That made me laugh out loud. Thanks!!! Yes, beware the Reverend Thaddeus J. Emoe.. He's rumored to have eyes everywhere... I can't get into the why's (fear the Echidna!) but I'm curious if anyone had any reaction to Chris desperately trying to beat down the door to escape from the diner? Did a touch of humor (inwards, man) fit in a chase scenes like that, or was it incongruous? I will mention that Shdowgod here is my Beta Reader (anonimously, of course) BUT, he has NOT read far enough ahead to actually know the answers to the theory he proposes. No one has, because I haven't written it yet.

Which, of course, makes YOU the Devil. (was there ever any dount?) I had to do some minor wording tweaks, format it, and get it into eFiction. It's also a workday so I didin't know if I'd be interupted by a client. Oh, BTW, Ch. 10, RACE WITH THE DEVIL is now online.

I think Graeme And Bondwriter both have excelent points. The answer, clearly, is for me to post Ch 10, "Race with the Devil". However, I have no idea exactly when that will be. The only thing I can say for certain is that it will be sometime within the next three hours.

Ack! I come back from a busy day and what do I find? A Discussion of my sex life! Or, conspiring to put an end to it!~ What is this? Cruelty to Goats week? Oh, the Humanity...

Here is a link that is a good "how-too" for hosts file blocking tricks. http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/

Current temperature here: 3 degrees at 10 pm, on it's way down to about -4.

I find moving or sound adds annoying. I set my broswer to be unable to display moving GIF's or vids, and I stripped Flash out of it a long time ago, and I also block the more annoying add servers with my hosts file.

Nope! A big THANK YOU to both Emoe and Graeme! I'll give both a try!

Hey now! Stop making rude remarks about my hindquarters! Now, to give you a few nightmares... Goats Purple Party Pants. I'm quite sure that no one could ever possibly imply that a luker like myself posts much, let alone heavily. I'm liking that idea! Ohhh, just think of it if this had occurred a few chapters ago, when they were forever being interrupted and prevented from having sex: Echidna spines in their rooms, so every time they got amorous, YYYYOOOUUUUCCCCHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why, I could have kept them celibate for the rest of the story!!!

I just hope I get some snow. We are in a drought here in Arizona.

Ummm, Graeme? I have a few doubts as to how clever Echidnas are, when i see one making suggestions as to how to make him into roadkill.

Hi Jack!!! I'll give a minor spoiler (Ouch! Graeme, please keep your spines to yourself!) Dex was right in his initial opinion, given at the party. The Data stick contains.... Data! Of course, photos would be data, as would, well, anything that can be contained on a data storage device. Hmmmmm..... Now there's an idea! Sorry, but Echidnas are from Australia, so it would be hard to explain why they would be running over them in Arizona. However, I might think of something...

If I'm becoming evil, its all your fault! All those cliffhangers in "Living in Surreality" are a bad infulence on me. Thanks Jack!! The next chapter should be available in a few days. Emoe has had it for a few days, and ch 11 is in Beta. I'm almost done with 12, too. I'll share the title of Ch 10... It's called "Race with the Devil".

NOW I know why my Editor keep offering to send me to Texas...

I can see a use for them in SOME cases, but in the main I agree with Dio. I might put a few in a gallery for my current story, such as a picture of what a washed-out onld mining road really looks like (many people have never seen one, so imagining driving on one, even with descriptions, is hard) and a picture of a vehicle model if is significant.

ACK! Why do I suddenly feel... Endangered?

Hey now! I'm not the least bit sinister or ominous. I'm far too quiet and shy for anything like that... It is purely coincidence that the number of this thread is 6666. I blame Emoe and Shdowgod for that, though. Humph!!

Wow, thanks, Rick! I was actually a bit worried that this chapter would seem a bit dull (A frequent paranoia of mine, as Shdowgod might confirm). I have no such worries over the next one, though. I've lived overseas, including in Europe, so I do know that much of this is Alien to many. For example, the washed out old mining roads that play such a role in the story might be hard to envision. I'm going to snap a few photos and upload them to a gallery to try and adress that issue. As for religion, I do want to assure everyone that I'm not slamming religion in general here. I do however make no bones about slamming fundamentalist extremists who think they have some right to impose their beliefs on others. BTW, I'm rather surprised that no one commented on the Fundi Preacher's name. I wanted to make him sound as sinister and ominous as possible, so I named him Thaddeus J. Emoe. (it's at the bottom the the flyer quoted at the beginning of Ch 9). BTW, Many thanks to EMoe for editing.

I will never understand them. Each are convinced that everyone who doesn't practice their specific creed (In some cases apply this damnation even to other fundi churches) is heading for hell. I have to deal with them on a daily basis (they are more prevalent and powerfull in my area than just about anywhere else in America), so I guess for me, it's more realistic. I envy those who find it hard to relate to this. However, I can't say much, for fear of your spines, but all may not be as it seems. These are very good points. Thanks, Graeme, I'll keep that in mind, and I agree.

Thank you!! Jerry Falwell is actually quite mild compared to the hardcore Fundies. I live in an area where there are a lot of them, so I see things that make my skin crawl. For example, they scare the children. Literally. A small town nearby has a 4th of July (Independence day) parade. A few school bands, a few trucks towing trailers decked out as floats, the prizewinning cattle, guys on horseback, just typical small town stuff. However, a couple of years ago one of the Fundi churches in the area decided to enter a float. Nobody thought to ask what. Big mistake. I was there, curbside, to see the parade. Much of the crowd consisted of small children, as it is a big family day. Everyone was happy,l until I heard gasps and cries (the latter from the children) coming from up the street. I turned to see the Fundi float. It was a flatbed trailer towed by a pickup truck (like the rest of the floats) but on it they had a flogging and crucifixion scene. Yes, TWO Jesuses, one being flogged to a bloody pulp (really gory, they had glued raw meat to his back, some of it hanging off in strands) and a guy on a cross that made Mel Gibson's big screen version look nice by comparison. The actors were covered with fake blood and gore that looked quite real. Real enough to terrify the kiddies, that's for sure (their shrieks left little doubt of that). The adults were disgusted, and the children terrified. Ahhh, family values at its finest. They toned it down a little the following year, and limited themselves to one Jesus, but they still participate. Also, bear in mind that my area, until very recently, was represented in the Legislature by a woman famous for running off her mouth. One of her (many) prize-winning quotes: "Homosexuality leads to bestiality and cannibalism." BTW, I hope to resume a weekly posting schedule. Ch 10 is with Emoe now, and Ch 11 is in Beta, and I'm half done with 12. I'm trying desperately to catch up and build up a buffer again. Thanks! CJ

Chapter 9 is up.

Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of extra eyes. That's great! I can't even imagine writing without either a Beta reader or an Editor. Shhhhh, you are supposed to be anonymous. As for spilling the beans, I'll remind you that a certain spiny Echidna inhabits these parts, and he doesn't like spoilers. Beware I've found that having flaws pointed out has been the single biggest help to me, and both Emoe and Shdowgod have done so, as have many other people. I thank them all, and try very hard not to repeat my errors. I do repeat them though, just hopefully less frequently. I save every beta and every edit in their original form and often review them, and I think it is helping me tremendously. I like the way you are paying attention to detail (such as slang and idioms). That gives a story a very good "feel" in my opinion.

Congratulations, Razor!! Great job!!!