C James

Not all mountains! Some have nice, gentle slopes.

Hi Dave, Thank you! Rachel (Trevor's Mom) was declared legally dead, at the end of the prologue.

But Graeme... That would make me your landlord... :devil: BTW, the King of Cliffhangers election is about to begin! And I'll remind everyone; Graeme is under indictment by, and on the run from, the Cliffhanger Police! Now, now, Krista... We all know that a goat would never have anything to do with a cliff! That is an interesting point though... How well do echidnas climb? They have some wicket claws on their front feet, which they use for digging, but would make good climbing implements. Here's a quote from a study on echidnas See? Some echidnas live in cliffs!! They are quite literally at home there! Here's a photo of a rock climber encountering an echidna at the top of, you guessed it, a CLIFF!

I had a bit too much tequila last night. LoL. Wel... it's 2010 now! Wow... Happy New Year, Everyone!!

My avatar is a self-pic. I'm just a goat flailing away at a keyboard high in the mountains of northern Arizona. And... if you like coffee, thank a goat!

I can't reveal who sent this to me... but... I have a picture of Graeme's house! Is this at all surprising, considering that Graeme is currently under indictment by the Cliffhanger Police?

But... I've been thinking... the qualification rules for all categories are specific; for example, the story for any category needs to have been posted, at least in part, during the year. Also, for the hosted categories, the author must be hosted. Sooo... wouldn't it make sense that, on order to qualify for King of Cliffhangers, there must have been an actual cliffhanger posted?

Ahh, well, it is true that some of these chapters were written before I was aware of the rules change, but... If I was inclined to use cliffhangers, I'd make sure they were posted in 2009, not 2010! And, I absolutely guarantee that I have no plans to post a cliffhanger for the rest of 2009! And stright? LoL! Nope, not me. Of course I won't slip up! I never have yet: I never use cliffhangers! Oh, and BTW, to anyone who thinks I had anything to do with the rule change: think about it; if it was my doing, I'd be permanently disqualified from being a candidate for the award. And remember, the voting starts soon!

Our rules exist for several reasons, the first of which is we HAVE to, because of the rules from google and others. There are also legal considerations. As Graeme mentions, the forums are different from stories in many regards. So, any forum content needs to be PG.

No nukes in this one. Well, surfing at a nuclear plant, but that's about it. And of course there are no cliffhangers! Haven't you noticed how silent our resident amphibian (a cliff chirping frog)has been? Circumnavigation will be cliffhanger-free, just like all my prior novels. Poor Trevor. He's stopped dating and spends all his time working. Howdy, Goat! I figured you'd love the red shorts... Trevor does indeed need a man in his life... Lisa did try to set him up on a date with a straight guy. :lmao:

The next chapter is called "Pilgrimage" and will be posted Tuesday. On the contrary! I will answer all your questions! Well, I will give a very big clue be telling you what isn't in the boxes. It's not a 1972 Buick Skylark. Is it important? Oh, yes. Is it in chapter 7? Yes. Yep, "weekly" was used correctly. Now, as for where he's going... Miami is roughly south of him, but we saw him heading North, with Miami in his rear view mirror. However, we have not yet rulled out that Dirk might just have a poor sense of direction! He can indeed get to Miami by heading north from Ft. Pierce... it's just a very, very, very long way, 24859 miles, via the north pole, and then the south pole. And that could very well be why the story is called "circumnavigation".

Ooops! I'll fix the typo! Thanks for the catch. I meant St. Lucie. <blush> Trevor is currently 16, and will be 17 in a few days. What they just finished is their junior year of high school, and school is over for the summer. Sorry for the confusion, I should have made that clearer. CJ

Great speculation! I can't comment (if I do, Graeme wil get me) but that's great!! Thanks!! The Chrysler I had in mind is a 300M. Cliffs? Me? never!! Chapter 6, Fun in the Sun, posts in a few hours.

It says in the narration that So, there are indeed some tax records in there, per the narration. In fact, the way it reads, we can safely assume that's most of what's in there. HOWEVER, in order to be very wary of the Echidna, I will neither confirm nor deny that those tax records are on paper! They may, after all, be done the old-fashioned way, on clay tablets. So, for fear of a spoiler, I cannot say what form they might take. Err, however... Due to the apparent Christmas Amnesty offered below, maybe I can get away with saying that there may or may not be something else in those boxes? ACK! But, oh Anti-Spoiler Echidna, it's not fair to put all the onus on the poor writer! After all, I may very well have no idea what I said! :wacko: I can say, with utter certainty, that no cliffhangers are involved!

What? Me? Cliffhangers? Never! Typecasting? Partially guilty; I tend to make many of the gay male characters what I find attractive. I also try to write the descriptions in such a way as to let the reader's mind fill in some of the blanks, so they can see what they like. Trevor and Joel look similar, and are swimmers, and five foot eleven. I don't often specify height, but I have a reason to do so in this story. Trevor, at 16 (just a few days short of 17) is the youngest character I've ever written, but there are plot reasons for that. (actually, I take that back: Eric, in "For the Love", was 15, but straight, and he was just the stereotypical sometimes-annoying but lovable kid brother.). AHHEM! Talonrider, that could be perceived as a SPOILER! Beware the Echidna! :mace: How... taxing! BTW, did anyone notice this bit from chapter 5? Dirk had said he was going to Miami and here it is in his rearview mirror. There could of course be many explanations; he might be driving in reverse, or have a rotten sense of direction, might have another stop to make, or maybe he's going somewhere other than where he said?

I'm betting you're right and that there is a lot of variance from school to school, and over time. For example, I never saw a rub-down in high school. Hot tub? I saw that at one meet, but it was in the locker room. That's the only time I saw one on school property, until I got to college. My guess is that swimmers these days have it much better in that regard.

Well all fear the Echidna! Trevor is, at this point in the story, less than two weeks from his 17th birthday. He's just finished his junior year in high school.

I can't comment on that, but Dirk should be please when he gets back and finds the work he thought he had to do, done. Cliffhangers? But, of course there are no cliffhangers! Circumnavigation, just like all my prior novels, is cliffhanger-free! Greetings, Your Amphibiousness! Might I humbly remind you that we are still awaiting your ruling on the posted chapters? I look forward to their being amphibiously certified as cliffhanger-free. Dirk, like everyone in Trevor's life, knows about Trevor's deep attachment and lingering grief. Trevor is pretty open about it. Also, the file boxes... Good catch! Yes, they contain BTW, the next chapter is called "Fun in the Sun".

I've snorkled a lot more than I've scuba dived (in fact, I've been a lot deeper snorkeling than I ever have with scuba gear, lol). Most of my snorkeling was in tropical waters, so I think I can show that aspect okay. I'll try. Thank you, and welcome!! Thanks, I'll have a look at that! Those rage seas between Florida and the Bahamas can get very interesting. I've been to the bahamas a few times, but not for long, just a few days here and there, and most recently earlier this year while sailing (on a cruise ship, not a yacht) from Florida to Italy. They would be a great place to do some boating, and that sea-ray sounds like a blast!!!

ACK! Ummm. this cannot be! We all know I never use cliffhangers!! And, um, memorial? Erk,.. Ah, not so! Shadowgod was the first to hold the title of King of Cliffhangers. It is for that reason that the holder of the title is often referred to as occupying Shadowgod's cliffhanging throne. Shadowgod's preeminence at cliffhangers was recognized by a select GA committee, who made the title officially Shadowgod's, via a unanimous vote. Thereafter, for reasons beyond my control, the award became part of the reader's choice awards and also yearly. So, Shadowgod holds title to being the first King of Cliffhangers. Hrmm, therefor, shouldn't the award be named after him?

:blink: I think i need to go hide...

It's still active, and Graeme has been a fugitive from justice all this time.

Sounds like a definite contender to me! Yes, Mark is indeed a contender! But what, me? Scheme? Actually, if I was ever inclined to post a cliffhanger, I'd do so now, due to my ineligibility. But, of course, I haven't and won't. And, incidentally, I'd be ineleigable anyway; I've posted no cliffhangers in 2009. Merry Christmas, Graeme! It must be hard, having the holidays while under that indictment... And I see you've cleverly placed me in an evil conundrum! I could very easily list your cliffhangers posted this year, EXCEPT, in order to do so, I'd have to post spoilers, and thus have reason to fear your anti-spoiler wrath. So, therefor, unless I receive a waiver on the spoiler issue regarding this year's chapters of Price of Friendship, I cannot list the cliffhangers. All I can do is encourage people to go read it, and see for themselves. Then, they will understand why you, alone of the members of this forum, are under INDICTMENT BY THE CLIFFHANGER POLICE! And speaking of Cliffhanger Police... I'm thinking we should organize such a force here on GA, perhaps a Cliffhanger Sheriff? There are, after all, many transgressors on this board, and readers must be defended from this rampant evil! Now, though I don't ever use cliffhangers myself, I know 'em when I see them, so... I hereby volunteer to pin on the badge, and go on patrol, leaving no stone unturned in seeking out cliffhangers, and bringing the transgressing authors to a swift and sure justice! :cowboy: :cowboy:

I'll see what I can do for a more detailed dive. I'll confess; I've only been scuba diving twice, so I'm sure no expert at it. (If anyone here is, please PM me!) But, there is a detailed dive scene later in the novel. I just hope I got all the details right. The currents would be no issue for speedos; they fit snugly and are low drag. Divers (highdivers)wear them for that reason; they don't come off when doing a hands=first water entry. I've done doves off 10 meter platforms (33 feet). That does not sound like a lot, but that's the height of the part you stand on. Feet-first entrys are easy, but hands-first, from that height, say a simple jackknife dive (the only hand-first typoe I ever had the nerve to try from that high) will nicely remove a pair of boardies. I can absolutely guarantee this is the case. Fortunatly for me, they got caught on my ankles and I was able to pull them back on before surfacing.. Anyway, in speedos (the only thing I'd wear for highdiving after that) no problem. (I was on both the swim and water polo teams at the time... in part because I liked the scenery!). But, as for Trevor... let's just say that, even without slipping, wet speedos don't hide much. The tips... For a charter that costs a few thousand per day (chartering a ship like that runs about $2500 a day) Trevor and Julie's tip was good, but not outlandish. However, we may safely assume that without the eye-candy aspect, the tips would have been smaller. ;-) Thanks!!