C James

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".

Molestation isn't a relationship, so it would depend how it is covered. For example, if it is shown in any kind of an erotic way, that would be chopped in a hurry. If you're just referring to an event, no problem. Context is a big part of this. What we're trying to keep out is anything that would depict kids as a sexual object from the reader's point of view. The disclaimer is also a good idea.

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!!

I thought it would be a good idea to have a general geography thread. Any questions on Geography, for the story, or for that matter, anything, ask away! I'm fairly good at geography, as it is one of my favorite subjects. In another thread, Wildone said, The map is from Google Earth, and shows the shallow areas well. Google earth isn't always accurate for depths, however, and in this case, the water color is the best clue (shallower is lighter, generally, in this area). The bottom is largely white sand, and the point for the last call from the Ares is in roughly 90 feet of water, but if you go north, it gets deeper, fast. I was in that area earlier this year (though I didn't have time to look for the Ares); The water is very clear. After looking at the satellite image, what I said in the other thread hopefully makes more sense now; The waters around the Bahamas can vary. Off Bimini, for example,there are huge areas that are very shallow (under 20 feet) even far from shore. The last reported position of the Ares, for example, is 20 miles from land, but it is in barely a hundred feet of water, and between there and Bimini (the closest land) it only gets shallower. There are also many deep areas. In general, in the Bahamas you have some massive banks that contain the islands and vast shallow areas, and the banks are separated by deep water areas, such as the tongue of the ocean.

I've spent quite a bit of time in Google Earth while writing this story. In many cases, there will be maps, and also some on-scene photos. In one case, I found a map was absolutely required, because no matter how careful I was in describing the setting one one well-known place, it is a place that most everyone thinks is in a different location than it actually is. I dare not mention the place by name, because that would be a spoiler and the Echidna would get me, but the map of it is in chapter 12. In Changing Lanes I used google earth .kmz files, and also links to google maps, for a couple of critical locations. For Circumnavigation, I'll use either google maps, or local maps, depending on what is needed in each chapter. Thanks! Weekly postings, every Tuesday, are my goal. I have a cushion of chapters, so I think I can hold that pace for a good while. Thank you Wyndham! Do you mean Trevor? Yep, he looks very good indeed in them; that's why Lisa makes a point of bringing guys she wants to set him up with to the pool, when he's doing workouts. I think this calls for a new thread, about the Bahamans. I'll get one started as soon as I've prepped some maps. Florida and the Bahamas aren't quite in the Caribbean, they are just a bit north of it. The waters around the Bahamas can vary. Off Bimini, for example,there are huge areas that are very shallow (under 20 feet) even far from shore. The last reported position of the Ares, for example, is 20 miles from land, but it is in barely a hundred feet of water, and between there and Bimini (the closest land) it only gets shallower. There are also many deep areas. In general, in the Bahamas you have some massive banks that contain the islands and vast shallow areas, and the banks are separated by deep water areas, such as the tongue of the ocean. In the Caribbean itself, there are fewer areas of vast shallows, but there are a few shallow places.

Well, for those who haven't seen the official announcement, here it is. Please note the part at the end. Authors cannot receive the King Of Cliffhanger award for more than two years in a row. This of course means that I am INELIGIBLE! for King of Cliffhangers! This is, of course, absolutely reasonable, because, as we all know, I never use cliffhangers. Oh, and although I have no doubts I'll be accused of it, the fact is, I had nothing to do with this. It was not my idea, nor did I play any role in the discussion or voting. Did I know about the result? Yes, but no more than that. Feel free to ask any member of the WST: I never enter into decision-making on the awards, due to conflict of interest (I've been a nominee in the past). Ok, now, is this a good time to mention again that Graeme is currently under indictment by the Cliffhanger Police, and I had nothing to do with that, either? :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

Hey now! Of course I'm ineligible... I never use cliffhangers.

Get Well Soon Lacey!

Happy Birthday, Talonrider!!! Have a GREAT day and year!! :2thumbs: :2thumbs:

Who? Me? You can't blame me, it was Julie's idea! Umm, you mean you'd rather have had a charter with the hot surfer than the three middle-aged women? And it was kind of a pool part (well, and ocean party) I think I'm still learning this whole gay thing. Okay, I'll try to remember; hot guys, not middle-aged women. 0:) I like Julie; she's got a good sense of humor. Thanks! I can admit to one thing; you're right; sometimes, when I need to add information, I do it by making it part of a scene, not just dry narration. Sometimes, something humorous is there just for fun, and other times it serves multiple purposes, such as conveying information, or clues. And, umm, a map? Errr, I did make one for the chapter, but.. I cleverly forgot to actually, you know, add it... oops! It's added now, and I'll copy them into this post too. Those are google maps based, and I used placemarks on the relevant points. My plans are to attach maps and other info to the chapters as needed. I'll attach them to the chapter, so as to avoid having a map page or similar be a spoiler. So, hypothetically (to avoid provoking the Echidna), if Trevor sails to, say, somewhere, the map and route would appear in that chapter, not a central map page. Oh, there will also be actual photos of locations. Thanks for the reminder!!