C James

Hey! I'm a lurker, I tell ya! As for my absence, I've been silent becuase I'm unsure. I have a family obligation in late October, and given the repairs to my house and lost work time already (major storm damage), its up in the air as to whether i can lose the work and afford the trip. CJ

As you say, they've only recently met (a couple of days)... Of course, Brandon might be secretly infatuated with or not. BTW, Rigel, I should mention that I'm notorious for giving either-or answers that cover all possibilities. I'm not that kind of goat, so I never go near cliffs (or cliffhangers).

Greetings, oh anonymous beta reader! But if you didn't like the final scene, you shouldn't have made me do it like that. Yes, the Shadowy one is trying to avoid the blame. Shame on him! Now why didn't I think of that? Okay, who leaked the ending? World's longest footer? Awww.. But most of it is just credits to those who contribute... Plus me begging for feedback, of course. ROFL BTW, a story update: I may not be posting ch 38 and the epilogue on Tuesday as scheduled. It might be posted early instead. I can't guarantee when yet, but it could be this weekend. It all depends on a few things, I'm not just dragging my feet here. My sincere apologies to those who would have preferred a longer wait. As soon as it's up, I'll post a link to the new location in this thread...

My story page is at http://cjames.gayauthors.org

That's a new one to me.

Hrmmm, now, what could two cute guys get up to in a back seat? Hrmmm... Playing checker? Video games? Reading newspapers? Writing? Hmm, I have a feeling that I'm forgetting something... What does "GST" stand for?

Yes, agreed, Shadowgod is notorious for Cliffhangers. He's the :king: King of Eeeevil Cliffhangers :king: And how long as he kept us waiting after that cliffhanger at the end of Ch 4? Hrmmm, yes, he's being mean, he is... Sob5... Sob5... Sob5... Sob5... Sob5...

Yes. Helen and Betty are both loosely based on several people I knew in college. Only loosely though. I think you called it Jan! And too late, I've already had a chance to remind y'all that I never do cliffies. ROFL! Well, me and my typos! Thanks!!! Great points Rigel! I'm not saying whether or not they're right in the story (that would be a spoiler, and the Echidna will make a pincushion out of me if I do that), but they are excellent points!

I can't blame the beta readers or editor for that one... On all my chapters is a note saying "All remaining errors are mine alone". That's the one thing I refuse to share credit for; those errors are mine, and I won't share! :2hands: In this case, I fiddled with that line and made the typo AFTER everyone else on the team had seen it. It's fixed now! Thanks!! Thanks Conner! Well, of course its not a cliffhanger. I never use cliffhangers. Lol! No, I've just known a lot of strong-willed women. In fact, the first person I ever came out to was a good friend, who was also a Lesbian. I'm also of their belief that while many gay men have Lesbian friends, Lesbians are under-portrayed in Gay Fiction. And, to be honest, when I was writing this, Helen's personality was clear in my mind, but her orientation was something I'd never considered. Until that one line, that is, when she said it. And I KNOW that sounds nuts, but sometimes, things just pop out when I'm writing, surprising me. One thing I found very difficult was writing a character with gaydar so much better than my own. LoL Thanks Steve! Betty and Helen share some traits, but I doubt Helen will fall for a guy. But who knows?

Graeme, you are assuming that I sent Emoe a coherent chapter. Just a guess, but I think Emoe uses the same guidelines I do when I see a chapter before the release date; I comment in the thread about what I was thinking at the time I read the chapter under discussion. BTW, I am neither confirming nor denying anything it Emoe's comment. Perhaps now would be a good time to release the name of the final chapter? It's "Vengeance". I'll even release the name of the epilogue; it's called "Epilogue".

Hmmm, I dunno... You haven't even threatened to hurt me since yesterday. :P :P

Awww... Would a sweet, innocent, quiet lurker like me do such a thing as that? A long time ago, I read some writing advice: "Make your editor and other members of your writing team feel like part of the story." So, purely coincidentally, one antagonist (a fire-breathing fundamentalist preacher) has the last name of "Emoe", and my editor's screenname is EMoe. Then another antagonist, Blackheart, coincidentally happens to be Shadowgod's former pen name. I do have a serious point here; I feel that writing should, first and foremost, be fun. Also, if you read Shadowgod's excellent "Living in Surreality", you might notice a few little jabs at Arizona and small towns. The fun, and the challenge, is writing a story so that readers who aren't privy to the "in jokes" won't notice a thing, becuase if it is incongruous to them that spoils their experience. But yes indeed, he's right; fun like this is very much part of my motivation to write. Ah well, back to the next chapter for me, I have good friends to tease.

Chapter 3 has been posted. Sorry for the delay; I try to keep a weekly posting schedule, but life has been getting in the way this week. CJ

I could put that link somewhere inconspicuous... Like my sig... And you COULD (hint, hint!) solve the "unfinished" problem. See? there's a bit of a writer in everyone. So, back on topic; what made you write it? CJ

Ack!!!! But, but, please remember, this is all Shadowgod's fault! So therefor, all threats should, in fairness, be directed at him.

With me, it's recreation, and also the rewards; Interacting with the readers is just fun, and that is my motivation to write on days when I otherwise wouldn't feel like it. Sometimes, stories pop into my head, and nag at me until i write them down. In the case of short stories, therey are sometimes fully-formed, sometimes not. In some cases, I only have the beginnings of a story, nothing more, and as I write it, it develops in my head. Sometimes I use outlines; usually just a few sentences describing each chapter. Sometimes these contain scenes written well ahead of where I am in the story. Often though, the story changes as I write. But as to why I write, I just keep getting story ideas, or more precisely characters and situations. These just pop into my head, proving the old adage that nature abhors a vacuum. <cough> In the Beginning: The Story of Adam and Evan<cough> You were saying?

What? Me? Would I ever do such a thing as use a cliffhanger? As for the Sopranos ending, I don't think that's something I'd wish to emulate; most everyone I've heard comment hated it. Now, what can I say about this... Ummm.. Well, nothing until 38 and the epilogue come out. I just wanted to say that I can't say much of anything about the story until 38 and the Epilogue are online. I also want to say that I very much appreciate all the speculation and comments; they are great! Thanks you all!!!! FTL 38 and the epilogue will be posted together. Thanks everyone!!! You're great!

I hope he does ok, please keep us posted. I'm with the "I despise the son's evil wife" crowd on this one. I suggest buying the son a lighter or a bumper sticker, the ones that say "How do you spell relief? D-I-V-O-R-C-E" Good for you for being there! And I know all too well how it is to go into a hospital with those kind of memories. I won't even look at the one where my father died.

My sincere apologies to those I didn't reply to: All jokes aside, I can't comment on plot points, especially at this stage of the story.

I agree: Conner, thank you, for you many wonderful posts.

Perhaps that needs to be edited, to include speciesist remarks. This is true. And Ch 37 is up! I posted it before I went to bed... I figured everyone could use a nice, relaxing read before bedtime.

Sorry for the delay! The next chapter of my other serial, "For the Love" will post Tuesday, and if I get the next chapter of LTMP back from proofreading in time, I'll see if I can get it online here by Thursday night. CJ

If so, that means he's clearly to blame for anything baaad that I write. Hrmmm, Shadowgod is evil, and evil seems to have some peculiar abilities. Well, mine starts with a C because certain lists are ordered alphabetically, and I'll be ahead of you. And what's wrong with being a goat, oh Echidna?