C James

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.

At the moment, I'm taking a break from work to lurk on the forums. Definitly looking foward to the poll! The person below me is reading this at work.

I like both, but I think two thumbs up is the most affirmative in stating approval. However, my two favorite emoticons are Sheep or Goats?

ITS UP! GREAT chapter Jack! I think I see what the title means, too. Glad to see things are coming together for the guys, and that encounter with Mom had me laughing at the end. I also see an opening for a French Tutor!

Summer Olympics! Much better scenery. Swimming, Diving, water polo, etc. Swimming or Diving?

My post-per-day must be a software glitch. As for your pics, I just noticed you tagline! I think I can guess who is going to have the most viewed profile and gallery on GA! Nope, not I. I've got to work though. The person below me is taking a break from writing to browse the forums.

What? I almost never post... I'm a lurker! Nope, already here! The person below me has their own picture as an avatar (like I do).

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

Ch 12 is online!!!! Wow. This is absolutely my favorite chapter so far. I'm going to be vague here (I encourage everyone to read the chapter, it even works as a stand-alone story if you aren't reading STL) to avoid spoiling it (I'll comment more later) but, wow, several surprises in a row! That is fantastic!!

Chapter 9 is up.

ACK. I wonder if all weather balloons should carry a warning: Do not attach to a lawnchair to fly yourself, and your case of beer, into a busy air corridor? Lawn Chair Larry. As Larry said: "A man can't just sit around."

Yep, I've got a neighbor who wants me to spend a few hours tomorrow figuring out what is wrong with his septic tank. Well, I already know what is wrong: He drove a SUV over his leech lines, which are too shallow, but convincing him of that will take hours. I can think of better ways to spend a sunday afternoon. The person below me is going 4-wheeling soon.

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.

Graeme, I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to? It's been dry here, way behind on our normal snowfall. The person below me is also facing drought.

Wow, yes indeed, I am! The person below me is having warm weather.

Yep! An Omlettee, to be exact. The person below me is me!

Congratulations, Razor!! Great job!!!

Yep, I'm late again, sorry. Chapter 9 is in editing, and will be posted within hours of it's arrival here. I do not know when this will be. In the meantime, I thoguht I'd give those of you who are unfamiliar with it a peek inside the writing process; There is far more involved here than just me pounding away on a keyboard. It is basically a chain of events, each dependant upon the other. First, I write a draft of a chapter. Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes it is not, it depends on the chapter. Once I've finished typing, I go back and tweak lines here and there, and correct my more glaring typos (basically, anything that I can see. I then read through it a third time, again making little changes. Then, I run the chapter through Word's spelling and grammar checker. Never rely on Word, but it is helpful, and cleans things up a bit more. Then, I send the chapter to my anonymous Beta Reader, Shdowgod. He reads it, and makes comments and suggestions using Word's edit mode. Then, he sends it back to me and I review it. I usually incorporate his suggestions, and more often than not his suggestions trigger other ideas, and I re-work the chapter. Then, I run through it with Word's grammar and spelling checker again, then give it a final visual read searching for errors, and send it to Emoe for editing. Emoe not only seeks out typos, grammar errors, etc, but he also makes suggestions on the wording, plot, and presentation, also in Word's edit mode. Emoe then sends it back to me, and I go through each and ever suggestion and edit (just like I do after getting it back from my beta reader) and sometimes expand a bit on what they have done. Then, if I haven't already, I add the disclaimer, and credits, and I'm ready to put it online. That's an interesting process in itself. The method I use for GA's eFiction is to copy and paste from Word. There is a "paste from word" button there, and it usually works fine, with just one error: it doubles my paragraph spacing. So, after pasting, I manually remove a space from between each paragraph, and add the chapter. The chapter is now online. However, I'm not done yet. I still need to copy the URL of the chapter so I can create the announcement, plus alter my .sig, and probably list it here in this thread, too. OK, so that's how the process works, for me anyway. Other writers may do it differently. However, now I think you can see why I say this is a team effort. CJ

Generally happy for me. I don't like long stories with tragic endings. I basically read for enjoyment. When I say generally happy, I don't mean everything needs to be great. However, I won't knowingly read a story and root for a character for dozens of chapters only to see them die. But that's just me. However, I'm different with short stories. In a short story, there isn't so much time and empathy tied up with the character, so with a short story I enjoy all kinds of endings.

Yep! I've seen it a couple of times, and hate it. But, I hate most everything on TV and almost never watch TV (Haven't had the thing on so far this year, LoL) so that is no surprise. The person below me almost never watches TV.

If the Author, for some reason, did not want to disclose his other posting locactions, I feel that is his or her perogative. BUT, the response should have been a polite reply, not what they sent! There was nothing wrong in your request that I can see. That Author was WAY out of line.

That is kinda dark! One heck of a good read, as always, Camy!!!! Can't wait to see where you go with this!

Whoa. A LOT happened in these two chapters!!!! I'll wait before discussing it so as to avoid spoilers (and give myself a chance to re-read) But I sure did notice a very interesting alliance mentioned. Thank you DK and Emoe! This was SUPERB! I'll close, for now, with one quote that left me howling with laugher.

ACK! When i said "I feel like lunch", becoming lunch isn't what I had in mind!