C James

I'm glad things are going so well with Kitty, but sorry to hear you still need surgery. Take care, take it easy, and get well soon. CJ

Losing a parent is one of the hardest things. I feel for you, and I understand. It's been ten years for me, but I won't ever forget that day.

A face shining with such beauty that the sun itself shied away, seeking refuge beyond the western hills, unable to share the heavens with its brighter rival.

Aillie, I love it! I particularly like string ties of that kind; they are both stylish, and make for a delightful snack. Nah, I never said I'd revive blackheart; all I've said is that he's definitely either dead or alive, and the story will confirm which. Yipes, now, now, no goat barbecues!!! That's just mean!! You wouldn't want to hurt sweet, innocent me, now would ya? And, ummmm, on the fashion-insensitive part: I can't deny that, not at all. Shadowgod will surely confirm this, too. We were discussing fashion recently, and he named several things that were decidedly out of fashion; Bomber jackets and white jeans being amongst them. I had to admit that examples of both were hanging in my closet. I also had a character in an upcoming story dressed in a particular way, because the scene setting required a "high fashion" look: Tight white jeans, White hightops, a black cloth belt, white muscle shirt, and mirrored aviator wrap-around sunglasses. It was pointed out to me that that look might have been fashionable in the 80's, but not now. I don't know about Shadowgod and fashion, though... I mean, I've heard rumors that he doesn't own a coors belt buckle, or even have a single baseball cap naming his favorite brand of tractor, or NASCAR... ROFL!!! Yep, and Chris can also tell the story of how the FBI helped. Of course, that would entail telling veronica why, exactly, they were guests of the FBI. Can I answer a rhetorical question, rhetorically? OK. minor, minor spoiler: I didn't hint!! (Spare me, Echidna!!!) I think I just said that Eric was either in Piedmont, or somewhere other than Piedmont?

When Graeme was doing the layout and selecting the pictures, I had to keep telling him; No, you can't have my skull for the artwork, I'm using it!

Wow, thanks everyone! I've had the time of my life here; GA is a wonderful place (thanks Myr!) and I've really enjoyed "meeting" everyone. And Emoe, thats a VERY good quote of Graeme's you found, and I will point out that he certainly does have more than 2000 posts now. Well, we seem to have a new tradition here; 4k congrats threads. I'm also remembering that I announced my current serial story (linked in my sig) during my 2000th post thread. So, I'l like to kick off a new tradition, of announcing stories in millennial post threads. Yes, that's just my excuse to be able to announce my next story here in the lounge, by doing so in this thread. The new story is called "Let the Music Play". It should be appearing in eFiction soon, soon being less than two weeks. I'll be posting the prologue and chapters 1&2 together. I'd also like to mention, for those of you who may have seen the old prologue in sneak peeks, that's not the prologue anymore. Thanks everyone! CJ

Sorry I didn't comment... And on the Pizza issue, egads, not pineapple? Oh, the horror of it all... CJ

Ahh, this is true, BUT, they simply don't know if the broken leg was the cause of death, they also have no idea how it occurred. But yes, you're right, I didn't know about that recent examination, and they may well be right in their speculation. There is also the possibility that you have first-hand information from the event itself, so I'd probably best not argue.

Hrmmm, I'm usually accused of having my head shoved up there, not somebody's hand! See? Shadowgod is teasing me! He's mean, he is... What have I ever done to deserve this.. It's not as if I ever tease him... Poor Eric, so maligned. For all we know, he went up with the sheriff's house... Incidentally, did anyone find it perhaps a little odd that the FBI never mentioned Blackheart's demise, or lack thereof, to Chris and Steve?

I didn't find the lack of names odd; you had a very short area to work with, and several characters to intro. While I didn't find it odd, I did find it unique and interesting, and IMHO it added to the story. But, I've come to expect that from you, your flair for wording and imagery is second to none. Now, being my usual pedantic self, I'll bloviate on the history; The Monotheistic Pharaoh would be Akhenaten, and his successor was Tutankhamen: King Tut. Akhenaten's death is indeed a mystery, as too is Tutankhamen's. There seemed to be much left to tell in this story, and I loved it. I certainly agree that Translators cannot be trusted; they often have their own agendas. Reading hieroplips directly would be indeed handy. However, i should like to point out another interesting part of Egyptian symbology; The Ankh. It was their symbol of life, and was most often portrayed as carried by a god, or sometimes, as the god's symbol or avatar, representing the god. Now, if y'all will take a look at Shadowgod's website, you will see the full image of two griffins with an Ankh between them. That's also his avatar. Looks to me like my "autobiography" theory is proving out.

Actually, I have one very much like that, that's a little scarier. I also have a one with a big rhinestone cow skull, which I tend to wear for formal occasions.

Thanks Graeme!! I've had a lot of fun at GA, I love this place. Thanks to everyone who makes it so special, and you are certainly one who does. But Frosty, what I said was absolutely true; GA has a tradition of celebrating 1k, 2k, and 3k, but we've never made a practice of celebrating 4k. And what? You don't believe I'm a lurker? Why, I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya! I'm just as much a lurker today as I've always been.

Thanks Steve!!!! I didn't think Echidnas could read backwards... As for why I put it there, though i tried to conceal it.. For this, I must blame Emoe and Shadowgod. Emoe, long ago, reminded me to mark my milestone posts. And Shadowgod? Well, as we all know, he's to blame for everything...

Shhhhh!!!! Its a seeecret!! ShHHH!!!!

I have a special hatred for ties; I got rid of my last one at least ten years ago. If I have to go anywhere formal, I wear a string tie, also called a bole toe,the official neckwear of the state of Arizona. If I had to wear a regular tie, I'd probably start babbling gibberish, like so; tsop htdnasuoht-ruof s'JC Besides, i think a goat would look ridiculous in a tie.. Thanks Jan!!! Yes indeed, the Arizona Memorial is a very, very special place; Morso than any church or library I've ever been in, people become silent when getting off the launch and entering. Yes, poor Eric was indeed exposed to porn... During the webcam's operations, at least. I'm sure that both shocked and mortified him... "More vulnerable to his environment" Hmmm, I like that! Hi Benji!!! I take it that you might be in the anti-eric camp? Well, I do admit, there are some very valid arguments there.

This Anthology has been wonderful; Great stories and lots of 'em, plus plenty of readers and comentors. Thanks everyone!

Thanks Sonoluminus! I've seen those before; they always make me smile; especially the double-takes I see them get. Thanks Camy!! I was a fun one to write. I was wondering what would work for a rainy day story, and it occurred to me that a hurricane would suffice. moments late, I had the plot to Cat5. It was a fun one to write in another way, it bought back a lot of memories of surfing. Dang it, the next time I'm near a decent beach, I'm hitting the waves again. My one remaining board has been gathering dust for nearly five years, so it's high time I went out again. I'm probably so rusty that I'll get nothing but face plants and sand facials, but I gotta try. LoL

Thanks Ieshwar!! And you're right, so far surfing has been in two of my three anthology entries, and now FTL. Hrmmm, It wasn't in my Fall 2006 story "The Muse", though. Maybe I should have had the Muse go surfing after their dinner together? Sorry I can't answer about the next chapter.. If I did, the Echidna will turn me into a pincushion! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!! But, but, I'm a lurker, I tell ya! And lurkers almost never post... It even says so in my profile: "Just a shy, quiet, retiring forum lurker..."

Happy 18th!!!! I hope you have a great day, and an even better year! CJ

A very interesting tale! I found it very unique in that it's the guardian angel who has the change of heart. I also liked the justoposition of what was said, and unsaid.

Wow, Jamie really got put on the spot. What he did took both guts and maturity; I doubt I'd have had the nerve. Also, it sounds like he's met his ideal match in Alex; I hope the geographical issues can be solved. And Ouch, poor Shane.. But that Kiss from Karen was intriguing! I sure love Mama! What a wonderful lady! Great chapter as always!

Hi Ethan! We shall see... But... what you say is true, but everybody needs a hobby... Bondwriter! First you called Eric a Bastard... I don't know how you knew that, BTW, you said that long before you saw the chapter where that was even hinted at, and now a Weasel? Poor, misunderstood Eric. Uhoh.. but, but, I'm nowhere near 4000 posts.. I'm a lurker, I tell ya, a lurker!!! Hi Graeme!! Yes indeed, the thread was hard to find. However, by general consensus, we decided that everything was Shadowgod's fault, so we must blame him! The FBI do tend to be coldly professional in real life in such a situation (they will try and keep their personal feelings out of it, or at least they are supposed to), so that part was easy for me to write about. The situation with Thaddeus' e-mail is a good catch Graeme. I can't say more for fear of your spines, except that the password for an e-mail server at an ISP would be one thing, but, say, sending via gmail, hotmail, or a host of other web-based ones, while reataining an IP, would be able to be created by anyone tapping into an open home network. As for the action ramping up, it is possible that it might. Chapter 35, well, it's just a relaxing little scene, entitled "Hell's Fury".

Hi Conner! Thanks! And you're right, I do sometimes chase my tail, but I beleive in playing to my strenths, and I'm good at chasing my tail. As for the sex wax; thats explained in my summer, 200g anthology entry, "No Shirt? No Problem!" And I might mention that another term for your board is your stick. Thanks Graeme!! I'm thinking now that I might have been able to open the story with Drake at school for a few paragraphs, and use them to develop him more. I don't think I could do it anywhere else; it would have altered the pace of the plot. Hi Greg!! Thanks for reading!!! What I had in mind was for Drake's actions to define him, but I think a paragraph or two at the beginning might have helped. Oops. Well, I could always, at this point, claim that I went with a phonetic spelling for clarity. I think that's a good reason, and a convincing thing to say. I'd also be lying my ass off. LoL. Here's what happened; I wasn't sure how to spell "Haole", so I spelled it "howlie" and checked by googlig. Sure enough I got a few hit and they wer in context, so I figured I was ok. Nope, it just means I'm not the only one who can't spell it. Thanks for reading, Matthew! I really tried hard on the imagery, glad you liked it. Thanks Steve!! Cody's slightly spooky impression at first was intentional. I dropped a few hints to his suicidal intent but worded them so they could be read that way too. His stoic stance was intended to be enigmatic, but also true to form; he was looking death in the eye. I did indeed hint that the rescue wouldn't succeed when Drake arrived, "almost in time", and they found themselves trapped by the waves. Then came Apu-hau's advice, which Drake had thought meant to stay put in the house; "Ride it out". Thanks Steve!! I do indeed try and develop my character based on what they do; it's really the only way I know how. I've always, in real life, gotten a far better "read" on a person by what they do rather than what they say, so to me it's more natural to show the character via actions. However, a an extra quirk or mannerism might have helped. I couldn't get into his background, as that needed to be veiled until later in the story and brief at that point due to plot pacing. Thanks Bondwriter!!! Wow... Thanks Bob, that rendered me speechless (a very difficult task indeed.) All I know of apu-hau is that Apu-hau is the Hawaiian god of Storms and hurricanes, and one of the eleven cloud-children of Tawhiri. I couldn;t fina any actual legends online, so I took a few enormous liberties. The biggest is that Apu-hau is usually refered to as male, but in my story, female. I figured that gender was rather meingingless to a god, when they can appear in any form whatsoever. Thanks Ieshwar!!! Yep, Cody was more the focus. The surfing background and Hawaii was easy for me; I used to surf, and I've been to Hawaii quite a few times. (including on surf safari). Thanks especially about the green room. It's darn hard to put it into words; it's an incredible feeling to be in one. Thanks!! CJ

One thing that made the encounter with Charles especially scary for me; Bondwriter had, quite clevery, had the thugs mention "skiining alive" and Charles had a knife. Skillful shading there, Bondwriter! The description of the mannor grounds and buldings was well done; not too much detail, just enough to give a feel for it. The "opposites attract" romance was perfect. I also found the rash acts quite believable. Bob raised a very good point, one I'd been wondering about myself; when will they join the resistance? Will they stay true to the party and be neutral to the Nazis until Operation Barbarosa in the summer of '41? Or will they be amongst the few party members who joined after the fall of France in 1940? Either way, I'll bet it's a soul-wrenching decision, and I can't wait to see where Bondwriter takes these two. CJ

Congratulations on becoming an Editor! Congratulations, too, on your excellent anthology story! I loved it! I've been thrilled with the turnout for this anthology, both in quality and quantity. BTW, Boy scouts?? You??