C James

Admit? I not only admit it, I heartily proclaim it! Lugh uses Cliffhangers! EVIL cliffhangers!!! Me? But I'm sweet, nice, and not evil!!! Why yes, Lucifer (often spelled Lughcifer) indeed often appears that way.

Ah, but it's not a spoiler! We already knew, from prior chapters, that Trev's mom's family was named "Smith". And now we have a title of Mr. Smith. Marty!!! What is it going to take to convince you that I never use cliffhangers!?!?!? Well, it's definitely taken longer than I thought! I've even switched to bigger chapters lately. (one coming soon is twice normal size, and most coming ones are one and a half times normal or more) A normal chapter on GA seems to run about 5000 words. I'm confident that, thanks to Australian Math (part of the novel takes place in Australia, so it partially applies) the novel will be less than 100 chapters. :graduated: Red, you haven't lived until you've had a peanut butter, pepperoni, and Vegemite sandwich!

Australia... the wondrous Land Down Under, is famous for many things, and I thought we should have a thread for them! I'll start us off with a couple of links about Australia's wildlife... Australia's seven deadliest creatures, from ABC news. Australia, deadly paradise, from the BBC... I especially love their title graphic for the story, with the face screaming in terror. It fits well with this article, which declares that the primary spoken language is screaming. This is why Australians are such fast swimmers and runners; any slow ones get eaten.

Ahha!!! So, now we know who to blame for editing Talonrider and Wildone's siggys!! And here they were accusing me. And brainfreeze? Me? I think you'll find that the consensus in this forum is that I have no brain, frozen or otherwise. I'm going to start a thread on Australia tomorrow.... I have some links I think y'all will like. And, um, Benji... How can I be undisputed, when I am clearly disputing it? It wasn't me! I haven't touched it, not since I added the "I don't know" a few minutes after creating the poll for you. I do, however, know who added that now-vanished "I don't care!" and all the votes... Satan, or, as he's also known, LUGHcifer. Now, can't we all just agree that I never use cliffhangers?

I've been late in posting the coming chapter title. It's "Mr. Smith." Smith, as we saw in an earlier chapter, is Trevor's Mother's maiden name.

ACK!!! Now, let's be reasonable here... I am indeed capable of many typos! Claim otherwise and my team will laugh at you! And, let us not forget, it is often said, here in this forum, that I never use cliffhangers, so a true poll would count the number of times that's said, against the number of times it's claimed otherwise. Cia... whatever did I do to deserve this? aH, but you're new here, so you don't know that a goat would never have anything to do with a cliff!!! Benji!! Not goat roasting again? It hasn't been that long since the last time y'all decided to bbq me! Not you too, Phoenix? You've fallen victim to a disinformation campaign, spread by malicious miscreants in this forum, that I use cliffhangers... it's just not true!! ACK! Cia... um, you do realize, if that came to be, that you'd be #1 in line for the cliffhanger award? Wildone!! Would i do such a thing as that? Would a goat like me ever have the patience to pull an April Fool's prank and let it sit for months, without saying a word??

:o :o What evil is this!?!?! :o I've been framed!!!! Now I ask, would I ever do anything sneaky??? Especially sneaky editing of things... I've been slandered!!! The only edit I made to the poll after creating it was to add the "I don't know!" choice. I didn't touch the other questions, once I'd created them... And as for how that "not" got in there, must've been a typo.... I never use cliffhangers.... yet Talonrider's siggy accuses me of it, and Marty, I'm shocked, absolutely shocked, at your new siggy!! :o And E tu, Cia? After I so helpfully campaigned for you? Connor, thank you for being the voice of reason.... As we all know, deep down inside, I'd never be sneaky, or use cliffhangers...

I was just trying to be helpful... or I made a typo... I am, after all, the King of Typos.

You might have closed the poll form. That basically erases it. I set it up for you. See? I'm helpful! BTW, you can edit it, as it's in your post. Just edit the post, choose full editor, edit poll, and then save changes (not close poll).

But... it was just a little touch of tension, and I did admit that there would be a slight touch of tension and suspense. And the tension of running the shallows, and it's accompanying risk of getting stuck for a few hours or maybe even scratching some paint, was fully resolved by the end of the chapter. See? No worries. Thanks!!! The good news is that, all being well, we can count on weekly postings until the story is complete. Hrmmm... okay, based on what they know (remember, we know far more than they) where did they go wrong? It did look very suspicious regarding Joel being made the heir to Atlantis's insurance right before the bombing attempt, and it does look suspicious that he and Lisa are so cozy with Bridget, so... they developed a suspicion, and also a way to investigate it. Of course, Henry did just pull a con on Gonzalez and the State Attorney. If it works, it takes away the issue of their being on the run stopping the clock on the statute of limitations. And cliffhangers? There are no cliffhangers here!! :2hands:

Things are heating up... The secret of Trevor's location is in danger of being spilled a bunch of different ways.

They're getting warmer, but they are hindered; they don't know some key things that we do, such as Bridget's real motive for wanting Trevor dead. As for Joel, from their POV, based on what they know, he did look like a suspect.

A poll? Uhoh. Well, you pretty much need to have the poll in a thread of its own. It can be added to an existing one, but it gets messy as earlier posts make no sense, and the poll is always part of the first post. To start a poll, just start a new topic. Right below the topic title field and description is a blue button, in the center, that says "manage poll topic.". Press it, and it opens up the poll screen, which is pretty self-explanatory once you're in it. CJ

Marty spotted two errors in the chapter (both now fixed), one of which is major: I had December 17th, 2006, called a Saturday, but it's a Sunday, and that's plot-relevant. The other was a typo. Thanks Marty!! Marty!!! How can you read the chapter so closely, yet still think there are any cliffhangers!?!?!? One measly hitman does not a cliffhanger make, especially when he has a 50-50 chance of heading for the wrong Carnarvon! And we saw Trevor and Shane, safely through the shallows, happily en route for Carnarvon, with Trevor regaining his confidence and starting to get over his PTSD. He'll probably be fine, as long as he avoids stress. Uhoh, I see I made another typo: chucking should be chuckling. I'll fix it. Hrmm, you're worried about the phone call... but, who knows what they'll say? As they say down under, no worries!

Back in Command is up, and it's time to leave Rhys Lagoon.

Chapter 85: Back in Command Aboard Kookaburra, it was Sunday morning. Trevor and Shane were nestled together in bed in peaceful slumber, as the dawn lit the placid waters of Rhys Lagoon. Their rest was rudely interrupted, as the satellite phone in the navigation desk began to ring. Shane stumbled out of bed, heading for the salon, naked and grumbling. Trevor followed, and right after Shane answered, he handed the phone to Trevor. The voice on the other end was grating and insistent, and

No worries, as they say down under!! Circumnavigation is entirely cliffhanger-free, so there's no chance whatsoever of any cliffhangers in any coming, present, or past chapters. High levels of tension? Can't happen! The one thing Trevor needs to avoid is stress, so how could there be tension? Wouldn't that be stressful? And me, lie? Of course not! I'm as honest and pure as the driven snow. Awww, Marty, why must you doubt me so!?? You should take your own advice, print out my above reply, and hang it by your monitor. Then, you'll see; I was right! BTW, Back in Command will be online within an hour or so. And I'll be telling you "I told you so!"

ack!! More plots to kill poor, innocent me? :ph34r: It's true that there might be a touch of tension and suspense in coming chapters, but just a touch. We're heading for the big reveal of the entire backstory on Dec 17th, story time, less than two weeks away. And there are time jumps between now and then, where quite a few days pass in a chapter. Don't worry to much about the man known as Basingstoke... We don't even know which Carnarvon he's heading for, or how, or even when, and besides, how much trouble could he really be? We all know that nothing bad ever happens in my stories. CJ

Thanks! Let's see, about 2300 miles from Darwin to Carnarvon Bay, Tasmaina. And about 1500 to Carnarvon, Western Australia. Yep, closer, but... we don't know what mode of transportation he'll use yet. He could take a train to Melbourne, then hop on a ferry to Tasmania. (There's a rail line from Darwin south to Alice Springs to Adelaide and then on to Melbourne. It's called the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin). There are no rail lines anywhere near Carnarvon. (well, except a narrow gauge line just a few miles long within carnarvon). And, he's flipping a coin to see where to go. So, nothing to worry about. And we know there's one thing he needs to avoid, and that's stress. So, good thing he doesn't know... but, he doesn't know, so he's not worried. Well, yes, there may indeed be a touch of tension coming. I do admit to using a bit of tension here and there.. it's only cliffhangers that I totally avoid. Party planning?!?!? I love that idea!!!! Thanks! Yep, things speed up... a lot. Trevor is in a fix... he needs the psychologist appointment, and that's in Carnarvon... either that, or he has to attempt a hard voyage without it. Winds shouldn't be too much of a problem; there are often strong winds in the region, though they are less where sheltered by terrain (such as Rhys Lagoon). Denham itself is known for it's continual wind, which adds a permanent slant to many trees there. Getting out of Boat HAven Loop should be faster then getting in, once they get to the main channel. Trevor laid in a GPS track, and known knows the difficult areas, so he could go faster. Maybe six knots in some areas where he came in at 3. Still, it's not easy, and will take time. He can't get out of Boat Haven Loop to open water for at least three hours, and then he has an approx 85 nautical mile run to Carnarvon, so even at a decent sailing speed (say, 14 knots) that puts him into Carnarvon 6 hours later plus 3 to get out of the lagoon and the rest of boat haven loop) so 9pm Carnarvon at the earliest. Of course, all this assumes that Trevor can still handle the very difficult exit from the lagoon. Something unexpected? Me? The story about to break in the press, and a hitman trying to find Trevor... what could possibly go wrong? And now, time to mention the title of the next chapter, "Back in Command".

That may be, but it still means that, much as you require a different seasonal calander and different time zones, one must take into account upside-down numbers. I just wonder how Australians cope with driving upside down... seems to me that'd be very hard on their car roofs. And on a serious note, I've always been able to read upside down or mirrored text, and I was diagnosed as dyslexic when I was about seven, but I didn't know the two were related until today. Thanks!! I can't watch video on this computer, so I have no idea what it says.. but, when dealing with an a story that has many chapters in Australia, is is clear that we must incorporate Australian math.

Taking care of Business is up. A few hours early, because I have a thunderstorm moving in that might keep me offline for a few hours. In this chapter, we see a lot of things in a lot of locations.

Not when some of it is in Australia, for then, we must used inverted mathematics (due to Australia being upside down).

Chapter 84: Taking Care of Business Atop the Zuytdorp Cliffs, Trevor and Shane lay together for over an hour, until well after the last traces of Trevor’s panic attack had abated. It had been milder than the one before, a fact in which they both took solace. Finally, Trevor eased away. “I guess we better be getting back. It’s a long way, and I don’t think I’m up for running all of it.” Shane nodded, gathering up their packs. “They used to wipe me out pretty good. We’ll just hike it.” T

Goats cannot count.

Do you think goats have fingers and toes!?!?!