C James

Welcome to the GA forums, Shadowfire!!! And thank you! I'll keep the chapters coming. Yes, see Graeme? I'm not the only one to acknowledge Shadowgod as the king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: EMOE!!!!!!!!!!!! How could you say such a thing? My own editor, tarnishing my precious reputation as a quiet and shy forum lurker... I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya! But, but, but, being a lurker, doesn't it follow that I spend almost no time posting in the forums? But I *AM* a shy, quiet, innocent lurker... Ack! An Australian plot, and now more tar&feather plans, including from Aussie postaholics such as yourself? Yipes, it's not easy being a goat who writes! I think I need armor... :2hands:

Great to see you writing again LB!!! I too had some concerns about the age, but given the title, I assumed that it's what LB implies; they'll get older. As for 12 year olds drinking, I found that totally believable. When I was nine, a friend and I raided his parents liquor cabinet, so for 12 y/o's to do it is no stretch at all IMHO.

Leading to the in-escapable conclusion that every person on that commitee was, in fact, C James.... I have no idea what could possibly lead you to that conclusion! I won't deny that I was, to some small extent, involved, though. But... but... to be a cliff hanger, surely the story has to end there. I just clicked on the next chapter and kept reading. No cliffhanging at all -- the entire situation was resolved with only a few more minutes reading. It can't be a cliffhanger. By that definition, there is no such thing as a cliffhanger once the author publishes the next chapter. I know a cliffhanger when i see one, and that was a cliffhanger! I see. So you're blaming the fact that you CHEATED and read an early version for your problems. I don't see how that is Shadowgod's fault. If you had waited until he had finished Living in Surreality, and not been impatient and CHEATED by reading an old version, then you wouldn't have this problem. No, I'm quite sure that, based on what you have reported here, all responsibility must lie on YOUR shoulders for CHEATING in the first place. Ack! nooo! I read "Failure of the heart" years ago, long before Shadowgod arrived at GA, and long before he began the re-write. Could it be that he's just so glad that he doesn't have to defend himself from scurrilous accusations of impropriety that he can go back to writing, rather than having to post to deny these vile allegations? We'll have to wait and see. If I refuse to accept that he's the King of Eeeevil Cliffhangers, and he still posts a new chapter, then I'll take this as proof that I'm right and you're wrong. Hrmmm, give that there is no new chapter so far, I might agree with you there. I think this is clearly a case where we must, literally, give the Devil his due and acknowledge Shadowgod's title of :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Oh, BTW, if you look back on these threads, on one of them he edited one of my posts to fix a broken emotocon in his title. That's not the act of someone who isn't proud and possessive of his title.

What? And deprive us of our weekend fun? Ah yes, some fine eye-candy there. Hrmmmm, the ACT is roughly analogous to America's District of Columbia. (DC). However, The ACT is not limited to Canberra and its environs, but also includes Jervis Bay on the coast. I suspect a conspiracy.

Surely there are many such posts... I'm a lurker, so posts of mine are rare indeed. As for the names of the people on the committee, I'm sorry, but at their unanimous request, their names are confidential. I can however vouch for the fact that their titles and positions are accurately listed. One glance at LiS 26 was all it took; the comittee was unanimous; that was the Mother of all Cliffhangers. Of course, Shadowgod's many, many, many other cliffhangers might have qualified for the prize, but LiS 26 was unequaled. BTW, LiS is a re-write of a partial story called "failure of the Heart", which Shadowgod wrote eons ago (we don't call him "the Fossil" for nothing). In that story, Jacob dies in the motorcycle crash, which is why many of us who were aware of the prior story lobbied hard (though unsuccessfully) to have Jacob drive a 1972 Volvo instead of a motorcycle this time. But, given Jacob's prior deminse, you can see why the cliffhanger at the end of LiS 26 was especially unequaled. Shadowgod really is the :king: King of all Eeeevil Cliffhangers :king: Ummm, Bob, if I can't tell backwards from forwards, I could read what you wrote with ease. However, I do agree! Un addition to being :king: King of all Eeeevil Cliffhangers :king: , Shadowgod is hereby, henceforth and forevermore, the :snork: King of all Eeeevil Hangovers:snork: (He's to blame for everything, after all...) Edit to add; I have seen Shadowgod viewing this thread. Yet Shadowgod, an Avowed Postaholic, has not posted. This is surely proof that he's disappointed that his title is being questioned. I have ever reason to suspect that, were hit title to be acclaimed, he would be so delighted that a chapter might be forthcoming within days.

Well, as far as his evilness, we must always remember that he's to blame for, well, everything... And, as far as his esteemed and universally known title of king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: , You must be mistaken. I've seen that title used in reference to shadowgod in many posts, and they certainly can't all be mine; I'm a lurker, after all, so I almost never post. That title was awarded, unanimously and without hesitation, by a committee consisting of; The Writer Support Team Lead a GA Forum Moderator. a GA Administrator The GA Anthology Coordinator and a hosted author. All of whom unanimously awarded Shadowgod the title of king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king:

This is very true. For the vast majority of online writers, feedback is the ONLY "payment" they receive. If you're reading an author, let 'em know. It will mean a lot to them, trust me on that. It's always discouraging for an author when they put in the many hours of work (them, along with their editor and other members of their team) and it's greeted by silence. As for Dom, I'm sure he will be back.

It is indeed a very lovely story, with lots of emotion, character, and cliffhangers. I'm just saying it like it is. It's npt for nothing that Shadowgod is the acknowledged and acclaimed :king: King of Eeeeevil Cliffhangers :king: I also notice that he's been shockingly absent from his forum since you raised these challenges to his most esteemed title. Surely this is a sign that he wants his title to remain unchallenged? Ooops. LoL That was supposed to be chopped.

What? Don't you, as a lurker, want to side with you fellow lurker (me)?

Hrmmm, I guess the way someone walks might be a clue, albeit a small one, and only in some cases. I generally rely on my wonderful gaydar to ferret out subtle, hidden clues, like the guy talking about his coming out party, the big rainbow flag sticker on his car, etc. My gaydar is good enough that after a few subtle clues like that, i might get an inkling.

Dan, I know I've said this before, but I'm saying it again; you astound me. I can't even comprehend how you can write so quickly and do it so well. Even without your busy schedule, your writing pace is nothing short of astounding. The most I've ever managed is a little over two chapters in a week, and that was during a week I had mainly off! Normally, I'm struggling just to maintain a chapter-a-week pace. Kudos to you on this, you certainly deserve it.

Glad to have you back online. You'd mentioned you'd be moving, so that;s why I guessed you hadn't been writing. Moving really is hell.

Thanks! This is very much a team effort, but the real cause of delays is me; if I was as many chapters ahead as I should be, things would run a lot smoother. But, I'm running slow. Glad you liked the pictures! I tried on the description, but the only way I could get it accurate was to make it exceedingly verbose, so much so that it didn't fit the context. As for Jerry, yes and no. I decided early in FTL (about a year ago) that I'd want a character named Jerry. Jerry was already in LTMP (which I began years ago) but only in the outlined part. He had been tentatively named "Clarence" but I didn't like it, so I changed it to Jerry when I got to that chapter (past chapter 8, LTMP is new, prior to that, it's a re-work of previously written stuff) I admit, the emoticon played a part in that choice of name. And yep, when we had that discussion back in Ch 1, I knew there would be a Jerry. You got me!

Emoe is known to take bribes, but then again, so am I. As for the post count, yes, you are now soundly in the double-digit range. I'll be calling you a postaholic in no time. Now, I'd best get back to my lurking... Bondwriter!! That 234 years comment could be read to imply that you are questioning my precious reputation as a quiet and shy lurker? Surely you wouldn't do such a thing? One thing I can say about RS, is when they do a "nude" cover, it's G or PG rated; no full-frontal nudity becuase they'd lose most of their circulation in the US were it otherwise; they'd lose their rack space in most distributorships. And I'll definitly be being more specific on their sound in future, but for now, rest assured that they are not a boyband; that genre is usually considered "pop", and recall Helen's comment about Brandon's pop song: Somethign along the lines of "Burn it, we're a rock band, not a pop band; you'd be laughed off the stage". 17, but a far more mitigating circumstance applies; he's blond. Some of this has already been mentioned, so I can say that it's been mentioned that they've been very isolated. There will be more on this issue in Ch 10. Iguazu is indeed a fantastic place. I spent six days there a few years ago. The brick jetways are indeed real, as is the farm tractor for towing the airplane. So too was the washed-out walkway and the view from the Sheraton (it looks up the canyon at the falls). It is also very true that the area is well known for it's smuggling and international intrigue. (Brazil and Argentina meet Paraguay just down the canyon of the river, about seven miles downstream) What I thought might be greeted with incredulity was the small boat dimitri mentioned; appraching the TOP of the falls in a rowboat with an old outboard motor. If the mother conks, he's right, you'd get a very spectacular view as the boat was pulled over the falls. I wasn't too worried about it though, becuase although it's far-fetched, it's quite real; that was the case when I was there, and I took that boat ride to get to the platform. That's a very good point on their audience! True, but always with the "bits" covered, so no full-frontal nudity.

Thanks BK!! Ieshwar, I love it! Ok, the vote is very close, and it seems like everyone's voted. I therefor have a proposed solution to our situation; how about, we have BOTH! Capricans, and The Herd? The reader themselve gets to pick. \ Or, we could call it a combined entity, the Caprican Herd, with two warring factions? Of course, anyone can be what they want to be, so be it Minion, or even "reader of atrocious fiction" that's ok.

Mea culpa on that one; I should have been more specific; by "foe" I meant the political entity of the nation itself. In the case of both Germany and Japan, they had surrendered unconditionally, and were under allied administration. There was no continuity of government. In the case of Russia, they had suffered a defeat, and a fall, they had certainly not surrendered, nor had they, as a political entity, ceased to exist at any time. The marshal plan, by contrast, was (in regards to Germany) to a country entirely under allied rule. The marshal plan ended in 51 or 52, and W. Germany did not have it's sovereignty restored until the mid-50's. However, you might have a case regarding Italy. Russian standards of living have actually increased, not decreased, since the Soviet years, so how on earth can they blame the west? Their largest economic problems today stem from Putin's feuds with the Russian industrialists. Look what happened to their largest oil company as a case in point. I'd also question why an econimically stronger Russia would be a good thing? An economically stronger China most certainly is not. (a folly the US and the West have been ignoring for decades, letting greed overwhelm common sense). The salient fact is that a modern economy is the needed precursor to a modern military. Given the fact that Russia's loss of democracy is directly due to the KGB power eleite remaining control, how would making them stronger economically hinder the corruption? It might be helpful here to take a look at HOW and by WHAT MEANS the KGB hierarchy insinuated itself into the "new Russia". It wasn't for nothing that the locus of much of the rot was the new private enterprise sectors themselves; that was an opportunity the KGB, acting much like the Mafia, could not resit. It certainly paid off for them as one of their means of resuming control. A stronger Russia would, under its current leadership, be an even worse problem than the current one. Unless you change the internal dynamic that led to the current situation, all you achieve is a stronger adversary, along with a new nuclear threat.

I know of a good many people in the countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia, etc, etc, etc, who would certainly disagree with that statement. Reagan said it best; the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire, and destined for the ash heap of history. Gorbachev may have been somewhat well-intentioned in some regards (though make no mistake, he was a dedicated communist with all that entials, and he reforms were pragmatic in intent, rather than altruistic), but one man does not a union make. To be quite honest, I've been keeping my mouth shut on this latest plot. First, I'll address the realism; very well done, right down to levies being likely to be stolen. Dan seems to have a good feel for Moscow of that era. Well done. What's bothering me is the course Brian and Davy seem to be embarked upon. If indeed (and I have hope that this is misdirection) they intend to preserve a strong Russia as a counter to the US, they have embarked on folly at least, and likely high treason. The problem is simple; whenever you have to competitors of lost strength, they become rivals, and then enemies. Can anyone point to one single example in all of human history where this is not the case? I suspect not. I certainly can't think of any. Always, the two or more "top nations" of a given region (and later, the globe) develop an adversarial relationship. This is a natural dynamic, seen very often in everything from interpersonal relationships to regional disputes. And as a natural dynamic, trying to fight it is most difficult. In the case of the fall of the Soviet Union, the US did essentially nothing wrong. I challenge anyone to cite a single example in all of history of one adversary treating a fallen one more graciously. We even aided them covertly when needed, such as providing us inteligence electronic intercepts and satalite data to aid in their fight against the Chechens. Granted, the US made some mistakes, not the least of which is publicly criticizing the Russians for their operations in Chechnia. However, where is the mortal offence that some seem to perceive? Regardless, the issue of a superpower Russia in today's world would be frought with danger. More than once, the superpowers came to the brink of nuclear war, and more than once it nearly happened accidentally. Having a second nuclear superpower around in today's volatile times would be the height of folly. It would also do nothing to dampen the fires of extreemisim (which is what Brian and Davey are supposedly concerned with), rather, it would exacerbate it by limiting the ability of either Russia or the US to act. Let it not be forgotten that Islamic extreemisim did not spring forth from nothing after the fall of the Soviets. Rather, it had been around for decades. Having two superpowers to play off against one another fostered the growth of extreemisim, and were there two today, it would be even worse. The main concern today is Russia's resurgence under Putin. The emergence of a dictator (which is what Putin has become) would be far worse if Russia was stronger. What we really need to ask is this; would Russian democracy have had a better chance had the Soviet Union not fallen so hard? That could be argued either way, but I'll pin my argument on the internal dynamics that led to the rise of Putin; the preservation, via a political deal brokered by Putin himself while an aide to Anatoli Sobchak in 1991, to preserve the power of the KGB while the rest of the Soviet institutions fell apart. The KGB maintained its power, a power used by Putin to gain control of the country. With the KGB relatively intact, Russia had a poison at its core, a knife of corruption and greed at the heart of it's new democracy. Given that, cushioning the fall would have merely left more pieces for the KGB to pick up. To take Russia from that course, you need to stop the dynamic that caused it. In essence, stop that deal. It was done to prevent bloodshed in the streets of Lenningrad, but like so may such deals, the eventual price was far higher than what they wished to avoid. Putin isn't Stalin; a more apt comparison is Mussolini. Without his machinations, it is possible (though far from certain) that the present dictatorship could be avoided. If Davey and Brian want to truly give Russia a chance, bumping off Putin wo9uld be their best shot. Anyway, that's my long-winded bloviation on the subject. And that said, I should also mention that DK is writing fiction, so his universe may very well behave in different ways from the real world. However, DK is good enough that many of us, myself included, forget that little detail. CJ

Thanks FrenchCanadian! He did, sort of. Yep, though not for a few months. You still don't like sweet, lovable eric? Very true, and I agree. However, in this case the fault in mine; I ended the epiloge (which appears only on my hosted site) with "The End... ?" The eFiction chapter ending is "The End.. Maybe?" I don't like it either, but it's part of the software. However, there are no worries regarding my stories and your last point regarding cliffhanger endings; as we all know, I never use cliffhangers.

I'm sorry, but no. Unless the author themselves gives their express permission, we cannot have anything posted here, in the anthology or elsewhere. If the author does not know the name of the site, then no, we can't post it. The reason for this is the old bugabo, copyright. An author automatically has copyright, and unless we have permission (license) to post, then by posting we are infringing upon copyright.

It looks like it's off to a great start. Cray's actions and reactions, especially to adult authority figures, strike me as very real. Looks like an interesting setup he landed in the midst of.

I can't answer some of that as it deals with future events (and I fear your anti-spoiler spines), but I can say that RS was going to do an article on them. It never was said to be a cover story. Just an article with photos. And then the whole publicity storm from Gabe's arrest happened, and RS requested something that Helen agreed to. Now, I'd like to ask about the Iguazu scenes. Graeme, it was indeed on your list. It never occurred to me that a search on "The Devil's Throat" would turn that up. Good thinking! Question: Did the photos help? Or were they superfluous? I tried to describe it, but found my descriptions lacking. I tried elaborating, but it just got wordy and convoluted. Another question: Dimitri's comment about much of the walkway being washed out on his prior visit, and having to shuttle to the viewing platform in a small boat near the TOP of the falls. Did anyone find that far-fetched? Or the Brick jetways?

Hmmm? Does this mean you are becoming a lurker? I'm sorry, but you have far too many posts to be a lurker like me.. Good one, Bob! What? Blue balls, in one of my stories? Never! Hi FrenchCanadian, and welcome to GA!!! I can't comment on the plot, except to say that all will be explained. Hi Graeme!! Well, umm, yes, there are a lot of gay dads out there <CJ stares at the Echidna's member title> As for Jerry, we now have a reason to use that least-used of GA's emoticans; :jerry: As for the Papparazo; I'm not saying you don't have a point there, but you would be hard pressed indeed to find a celebrity who has a kind thing to say about them. They are hated and reviled; they stalk and harass their targets. A reporter and a papparazo are two very, very different things. Had I had one of the guys say something redeeming about them, I felt it would have been fake, and I also couldn't think of anything at all good to say about them. Hi Steve!! Personally, I thought Eric gave the show away on what they're hiding.

Done! I edited yours. Well, it is the status of the actual announcement! The good news is that the announcment is now up for your reading pleasure! I hope having the chapter itself to read eased the waiting.

How about I re-nane your temp thread and use it? I love the discussions in it!