C James

AAAACCCCCKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NNNNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, no, no!!!!!!!! We don't need any such poll!!! I''d be ineligible anyway; everyone knows I never use cliffhangers!!!!!!!!!

Uhoh, that means you're going to need to change the chapter numbering. I've yet to do that without screwing it up. Glad to see you writing again.

AAACK! That's no concession, that's a typo! He's NOW confirmed! Shadowgod is winning! Way to go, Shadowgod!

I'll bet Cray is going to expiriance some interesting situations! Vegas is an unusal and sometimes wild place, that's for sure.

Thanks for voting, LC! Yes indeed, it looks like the prickly forces of title-robbing have been defeated! Congratulations Shadowgod, whos is not confirmed, hereto and forever more, as the :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king:

Thanks Altimexis!! And good catch! It hadn't been up many minutes. Heh, I didn't know it was up myself! LoL The way chapters get posted is I prepare the html page and index files and send them to Joe. Joe then loads them onto the server. I don't know quite how; all I know is that to deal with a server you need an extensive knowledge of spells and incantations. Basically, I send them to Joe via e-mail. He then sends me a mail back when they are uploaded. However, Joe may or may not be online when I send 'em, so once they are sent, there is no way for me to know when the files will go live. Today, once I sent 'em, I had to go do some work offline, so I had no idea they were online until I turned on my computer and there was a message from Joe. BTW, we all owe Joe a huge "Thank you!", because he has been absolutely spectacular about uploading the files as soon as he is online and gets them. Thanks Joe!!! CJ

Hrrrrmmm, I still say that's a cliffhanger! And I can really see no other motive for you to try and deprive Shadowgod of his precious title than to take it for yourself. Shame, SHAME! ACK!!! Me?!?!?! I have nothing to do with this! I can't even be nominated: I never use cliffhangers!!! And besides, the title is :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: I'm certainly not evil, AND I don;t use cliffhangers, so I'm excluded on two grounds. Besides, I see the 'yes" vote is pulling ahead, so it appears that shadowgod's title may be safe! Yay shadowgod!

Does that answer your question? I believe in reading between the lines, so this is actually what I read: Awwww... Is it my fualt that my nerves are so freyed over this looming grave injustice to our anonymous beta reader that I simply couldn't concentrate on HTML? Awww.... What a thing to imply about sweet, innocent me... But, somehow, in spite of my stress, I managed anyway... the HTML is done, converted to php. bundled with the amended chapter index file, and ready to send. So, I've done my part in spite of the looming grave injustice to Shadowgod... So, to those who haven't voted, I beseech you, go vote for him as :king: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers :king: . Shadowgod needs your support! Don't let our anonymous beta-reader down! Now, as for future chapters; what if Shadowgod loses and become depressed, so depressed that he can't beta, or is, at least, slower. We would be looking at severe delays in posting as a result, and it would be entirely out of my hands. Save Shadowgod's Title!

Well, Shadowgod is still at 50-50. SAVE HIS TITLE!!! What to do, what to do... OK, here's the deal: If Shadowgod is ahead, I'll mail in the chapter at 2pm, Arizona Standard Time. If he's not ahead, I'll withhold it until 1400 hours, Arizona standard time. BTW, when it actually goes online depends on Joe's very busy schedule (and we are very fortunate that he usually does this the same day, thank you Joe!) ; he usually does the posting in the evenings.

Do I actually mention any delay in the posting of the chapter?

Sometimes, a lurkers gotta do what a lurkers gotta do... In this case, helping Shadowgod retain his title for a nefarious attempt to have his title runneth under, as in down under... The voting is back to 50-50... I'm really stressed out over this horrible injustice to Shadowgod...

Yes indeed; I'm not trying to malign Shadowgod here, just trying to (literally) give the Devil his due. Totally agreed! I don't think Shadowgod uses excessive cliffhangers, I've never said that. It's just when he does use 'em, they are doozies. Nope: They don't think you use excessive cliffhangers. Big difference. And, ummm, burnt offering? Burnt offerings of what, exactly? Edit to add: Wiledone, you have a point: WHO whould be jealous enough of Shadowgod's title to attempt to de-throne him? Hrrrrm, well, we all know that it was the Echidna who launched this nefarious attempt... And the Echidna has his central character of his current serial about to be literally chopped up, I'd say you have a point... For shame, Graeme, trying to steal Shadowgod's title!

Come to think of it, so do I! Spider Robinson's "Calahan's" series is superb! I also loved "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy", the original TV series (Never saw the recent movie, so no comment there from me). I'll have to look at some of the ones on your list, they sound great!

But, but, but, just go re-read LiS, everyone... especially LiS 26... That's the mother of all cliffhangers! It's a doozie! Surely that qualifies Shadowgod for his title? Surely no one could deserve it more? LiS 26 was unsurpassed!

Au Contraire, of spiney one: If you feel those two are cliffies, then my all means, vote "Yes" on question #1, as it's shadowgod's fualt that they resemble cliffhangers. After all, everyone knows that I never use cliffies.

Blackmail? It's not blackmail.. It's merely a heartfelt appeal to the readers to help do the right thing, and save Shadowgod's title from the prickly forces attempting to de-throne him! So, please vote YES and help the deserving Shadowgod retain his title!!!

Ack! Ummm, oh, er, well, ok,,,, those weren't really cliffhangers as i wrote them. Ya see, Shadowgod, in his role of :king: King of Eeeevil Cliffhangers :king: made some changes during the beta. After all, everyone knows that I never use cliffhangers! And, ummm, I don't think things were quite as dire as you indicate. In the first one, we just had two guys, soaking up some rays and working on their tans. In the second one, the sheriff was just intending to install some, um, additional ventilation. However, if you do feel that those were cliffies, then of course, vote yes on the poll.

Folks, I'm fighting for Shadowgod's (our anonymous beta reader) title, his high honor of :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Please join me in this worth endeavor and help Shadowgod retain his title! As I write this, it's close; 50-50. I'm so worked up over this nefarious challenge to Shadowgod's hard-earned title that I may have difficulty formatting LTMP 9 into HTML for posting... However, if Shadowgod pulls ahead, I think I'd be releived enough to have no problem at all... Help us defeat the prickly forces of darkness and save Shadowgod's title by going HERE and voting YES on question #1. Vote how you feel on the remaining questions, but please help us stave off this dire threat to Shadowgod's honor! :2hands:

My main Sci-Fi tastes are towards "hard" sci-fi, or sci-fi that attempts to be realistic (such as obeying the laws of physics). I watch very little on TV or in the movies; I found Star-trek, after the original series, to have way too much moralizing drivel for my tastes, not to mention the realism issue (is it really wise to build exposives into the bridge control panels? They sure seem to keep exploding). I did however like the 2010 (the sequel to 2001,) very much indeed.

Now, now, Echidna, it would be inappropriate for me to discuss FTL in Shadowgod's forum (he might take offense, after all), so I simply have no choice but to leave that one with a "no comment". Of course, I might also mention a certain story (HoTT) where the title character is about to be hacked to pieces with woodworking tools. And yes, moderations is the key... So perhaps it is fair to wonder if Shadowgod uses too many cliffhangers? I mean, he left us hanging for several chapters over the Lemonade cliffie, and then there was the infamous "what toppings on the Pizza" cliffhanger...

Thank you!!! But, ummm, "No, I've seen worse"? How could anything be more of a cliffie than LiS 26?!?!!? Certainly, nothing I've ever encountered as a reader even come close! BTW, Graeme, speaking of bias, your question about excessive cliffies is biased; it implies that they are bad.

Who? Me? Biased??? How can you say such a thing?

Now who could possibly be biased regarding their fair and impartial considerations on Shadowgod's title? And I'm shocked, Shocked I say, that you could possibly suspect me, of all people, of stooping to sneaky Wording on a poll! Well, OK, here, for your perusal, is my proposed poll: Title: King of Eeevil Cliffhangers? Question: Does Shadowgod deserve his esteemed title fo "King of Evvvil Cliffhangers?" Choice #1 YEs, of course he does. Choice #2 Of course he does, yes. Choice #3 Does anyone other than Shadowgod even use cliffhangers? Choice #4 He's Evvvil, so of course he's the kink of eeeevil cliffhangers! There, will that suffice?

But Surely the esteemed committee that fairly and impartially awarded said title cannot be wrong? A poll! I love that idea!!! Graeme, would this settle things to your liking? I'll get to work crafting the questions.

Well, yes, that too. And of course, king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: I take it that you have no objections to Shadowgod's esteemed title? Ack! I'm sure he will post by November, no matter what! And yes, a 35 y/o Volvo. Maintenance would not be an issue; the one I suggested for Jacob had a non-working engine. Given that we knew Jacob was heading for a wreck on that bike, of course we tried to save him, but Shadowgod, being evil, foiled our plans. There's so much blood in his stories. Shocking, really. Oh, and Graeme? Make that at least TWO admins who have voiced their opinions on shadowgod and cliffhangers in this thread; https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php...ost&p=77875