C James

I'll agree wholeheartedly with that! I'd love to see something like this, even from the ground, though preferably not from too close. The condensate lensing (the white area on top of the column) was fascinating to me, but I thnk the most interesting thing is the circular clear area around the column. That's a blast effect of some kind; my guess is concussive heating. I've seen film of thermonuclear tests where nearby clouds simply vanish as the shockwave spreads, so that would be my guess (and that was definitely an explosive eruption) Thanks James.

Thanks Myr! I can't even imagine how you do this... Good thing you're a

Hi! I'd very much like to speak to any yachtsmen here, for background info, for what may be my next story. Please post here or PM me. Thanks!!! CJ

Jerry can be a bit mercurial at times, especially when under stress, so that's a good question. My guess is about the same, but with Jerry, it's a roll of the dice in many cases. BTW, everyone was so worried about Keith in the last chapter. But, in the chapter 42 thread, I said; And isn't that exactly what happened? See, y'all worry too much. Glad to see you're joining me regarding poor misunderstood Jerry. Yes indeed, he's had a rough time of it. He made Keith breakfast, and then was on his way away from the resort, and then the poor, crippled Jerry is brutally kicked in the nuts during an unprovoked attack in the parking lot, by Eric. Ouch. Is it any wonder that Jerry can be a bit temperamental at times? He's just a guy with a love of theatrics, who is happiest when left to his own devices (in his case, that means nuclear devices). Jerry is a bit unusual in his mannerisms; he's theatric and melodramatic. He's straight (that was revealed in LTMP). He's not homophobic, as seen by his willingness to kiss Dimitri in public in Rome as part of a cover, and his masquerading as a gay man to get close to Instinct to use its shipping for his nukes (plus, of course, their fundraising draw for his charitable fundraisers, which helpled finance his nuke-building). He's not the best of fathers; he murdered his wife when she found out about his arms buisness, traumatizing his young son, and then he was quite willing to have his son killed along with Instinct. I guess he has no hope of a father of the year award. In LTMP, we did see that he can be a firm negotiator. He reunited an electronics manufacturer's daughter with her father gradually, one little piece at a time. (Maybe he feels that reunions shouldn't be rushed?) in order to get some electronic parts. Now that he's lost an arm, it deprives him of one of his favorite activities, as seen in LTMP: Garroting people. So, is it any wonder that he's a touch bitter these days?

Thanks!! Jerry had a problem; he lost his gun, and his henchmen are on the verge of mutiny due to fear of the volcano. They want very badly to leave. I think I can say, without fear of contradiction, that either Jerry will be back, or he won't. Greetings, your Amphibiousness! What cliffhangers could there be in Nemesis!??!?! Eric has long loathed Jerry, and his inner gift allowed him to be certain that it was indeed Jerry. BTW, I don't know why everyone worries so. There were a lot of concerns regarding Keith in the last chapter, but all that happened is he was fed some nice, hot cheese omletes and had a friendly chat with Jerry. Thanks Conner! Thick of the action? Perhaps I'd best not mention that the title of Chapter 44 is Countdown to Ragnar

Hi Kevin, That's a great post! I'm more plot-driven, but the bit I highlighted above is one of my mottos; I try to make sure that everything in the story is important to the character, or plot. If not, it is IMHO filler, and I hate filler. I too like incorporating happiness, sadness, hilarity, shock, revulsion, excitement, fear, etc, the gamut of emotions. BTW, I highly recommend Kevin's stories. Thank you! You're right, the events in this chapter, such as Eric's encounter with Jerry, are part of the significance of the tequila from the last chapter. I'm a bit nervous regarding answering the question you asked. One never knows when the Anti-Spoiler-Echidna might be around.... So, I'll just post the word in the next line, purely at random, having no bearing on future chapters, of course. Yes. There, now that's not a spoiler, now is it?

Thank you Duncan. This wasn't my first sex scene, I had one or two in a prior novel, and one in a short story, but what stresses me out the most, I think, is making them unique. However, I will say this; the one I've just posted was nowhere near as difficult to write as I'd feared. I keep remembering the first one I wrote, in a short story (my first story), and how hard that one was, but what I remember best is one particular goof. My editor caught it so it never appeared online, but.. at one point, the protagonist had his left hand in one place, his right hand in another, and his other hand in still another. Three hands. Sad to say, that's not the only time I've had characters with an an excess of hands, lol. Fear the raccoons. Always a good rule, IMHO, much like fearing Echindas. On a serious note, my read on WBMS's post was that he is aware that he's trading a larger readership for a select but more enthusiastic subset, and I can't argue with that. Generally speaking, I'm doing the same thing; I could probably have a larger readership if I shifted focus and wrote more in line with "mainstream" gay fiction, but I don't. I'll also say that I think the world of my readers, and if I say good things about their quality, that's meant as a compliment to them, not a slight to others. My general guideline, for a novel, is to write something I'd like to read. That (and my difficulty in writing them) is the reason I only include sex scenes when strictly needed, because that's my preference as a reader. As a reader, I'll usually skim or skip the sex, especially if it's just "there". That's just my personal taste, no slight intended to those who feel otherwise. I suppose a good analogy here would be cliffhangers. Some writers have them, others don

Chapter 43, Nemesis, will post either on schedule on Tueday, or a day early, depending on whether or not I'll be home Tuesday (sorry for the uncertainty, I just don't know yet). BTW, the GA Forums are about to undergo a software upgrade and conversion, probably commencing sunday. These things are enormously complex, and the forums will be down a while when it occurs. How long? Could be hours, could be longer. Myr is working his magic, but the sheer size of the job (poor Myr has a truly herculean task here IMHO), combined with how much goes wrong, mean its possible we might still be having outages past Sunday. If so, even if the forums are down, look for the chapter to appear anyway, because the story sites should remain online.

ACK! E Tu Wibby?? I think I better run... and hide! I too rarely write sex scenes; this one is the first in this novel, and it's near the end. Like you, I faced a situation where this one was essential for the story for reasons that would not have worked had I done my usual allusion to off-camera sex. As an example, a more normal "sex scene" in one of my stories would be a single line or two, something like, " For the second time that night, the two became one." Or, if I want to be really explicit (for me) I'll close an entire scene or chapter with a paragraph such as: "Their tongues dueled, passions rising, as Chase let his hands roam on Brandon

ACK!! But, but, but... I could also so that there aren't any flying saucers in the story... Have mercy, oh anti-spoiler echidna! Ummm, thanks for the protection, temporary though it may be. I hate writing them, lol. My problem is that I find them hard to make unique. I don't do many... I think there was one in my prior novel, and now one in this one, at chapter 42... In this case, I would have avoided it, and handled it in my usual way, with a one-line allusion to the sex. However, in this case, I couldn't, because I needed to show what was going on, becuase some aspects of it are critical to the plot. Thanks!! CJ

Due to the issues with Cumbre Vieja, I thought y'all might like to look at some pictures snapped by the ISS crew, of an eruption in the Kurile islands. The rest of the article, with more pictures, is here. These are some of the best eruption pics I've seen. Oh, and a note to the Echidna; I'm not saying Cumbre Vieja will erupt, just that it could, which is already in the posted chapters. CJ

Hi. I'm always uneasy when it comes to writing a sex scene, and avoid them when I can. The one in "Passion in the Dark" surely left a lot to be desired in many ways. For one thing, Eric and Jansen's first time was with Eric on Tequila. Jansen pretty much unleashed the beast. There were also plot reasons why I had to show that scene and not just allude to it the way I did to their lovemaking in the shower. You'll see why, but perhaps not for a while. I can't get into detail because that would entail spoilers, but there were plot reasons for this to happen. I think I can say (looks around nervously for the Echidna) that they deal with the reasons why Eric acts as he sometimes does on Tequila. There are a lot of clues to that in the chapter, and they involve how Eric acts, and why. It's been mentioned to me that what it looks like I'm doing is aiming towards Eric discovering he's only "gay" on tequila, and thus the end of Eric and Jansen as a couple. I would like to take this opportunity to assure people that that's not what is happening. (And I fervently hope that saying what isn't going to happen does not constitute a spoiler.) Please let me know what ya'll think. CJ

It actually hapened nearly two weeks ago, and I was a little steamed at the time (I'd put a fair amount of work into building that shed... I'd built it log-cabin style, thanks to having free timber.) However, I see the humor now, and all that really got totally KO'd was the roof. The logs from the walls can be re-used, all but one. I should have the shed restored in a few days. So, I had to post, as I figured ya'll would like a chuckle. Awww. Poor me. So misunderstood. Hrmmm! Now there's a point... I do often get Eagles and occasionally Condors here (I've seen just two, but they look huge! 10 ft wingspan) so, Talonrider might have been in the area... Jan, dod you crash that tree into my shed? Thanks Graeme!! I'm not overly fond of chainsaws. However, using an axe on a tree is IMHO even more dangerous. I do use an axe to split the timbers into usable firewood, for for the initial felling and segmenting I prefer a long-bladed chainsaw. I've seen the damage those can do when the chain lets go, so it worries me, but I don't see much of an option. GREAT point on automatic safety techniques. I'll share a critical one now. Too many times, people are killed while felling trees. The most common cause is not the tree falling the wrong way (that happens, though it need not be dangerous). The most common cause of death and injury from falling trees is running. Too many times, an inexperienced tree-cutter will see or hear the tree start to move, and then turn and run. That is a great way to die. The reason is simple; with your back turned, you can't see the tree, or where it is going. The best method for felling trees, IMHO, is WATCH them start o move, see which way they are going, and then move accordingly. Moving accordingly means move away from where the tree will fall. If it

Personally, I rank the dangers to Eric in this order: Helen Jane The Scar The Volcano. I really don't see why everyone is so concerned about Keith. Granted, cheese (as in a cheese omlette) has cholesterol, but at his age he doesn't need to worry much about such things. I'm sure Jerry is in a generous, sharing mood and would happily share the omlettes with Keith, and have a friendly chat and then be on his way. Then again, where is Eric?

I heat my house with firewood in winter, and I get the wood by chopping down trees on my property. Most often, they are Ponderosa pines, around 70 ft tall. Sometimes, they die with no help from me, and dead trees are hazardous; they can fall with no warning. One near my house died, and it was close enough to my garage to be a worry, so I decided that it had to go, and was in a very convenient location for firewood. So, I got to work. I notched the thing the way I wanted it to fall, and started cutting on the other side. So far, so good. It started to move, and I jumped back, and turned off my chainsaw, expecting to watch it fall. It leaned over a few feet, and then it stopped. First time I've seen one do that, and I've felled a lot of trees. It's darn dangerous to be near one when it goes (they can kick back at the base) so I had no intention of resuming my cutting. Figuring that it was likely hanging on by a hair, I retreated to the house and got my 30-06 rifle. The idea; blast at the area of the cut. I figured that could tip the scale and let the tree fall by chewing up the remaining wood. Ten rounds later, nada. Did I mention that I'm careful to fell trees in calm winds? OTherwise they can blow over in unexpected directions? Well, a gust of wind came out of nowhere.. The tree didn't fall the way I'd cut, or back. It fell sideways. I now have lots of firewood. The problem is, much of it used to be my workshed, near my garage, where the tree landed. Oh well. coulda been worse, I could have flattened my garage, too.

Dreams are odd things. IMHO, somethings they are meaningful, otherwise, just random. Recurrence is oft meaningful though, so I'd say there is something about your Aunt's house. Sorry I can't resist; but its "Nazis" not Nazi's". The apostrophe makes it possessive.

Please look at this link, for Viv's lounge post about Wildone. Please, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy Birthday, Greg!!

Get well soon, my friend, and here's to a speedy recovery! Viv, thank you for letting us know!

We don't know that Jansen and Keith will be meeting the Scar soon. However, perhaps now would not be a good time to mention that the title of chapter 43 is "Nemesis". Cliffhangers? What cliffhangers??? Jansen and Eric had fun, and we close the chapter with a hungry teen smelling food. I don't think that's unusual; he's 19, and at that age, food is a very high priority at any time. Surely you're not calling it a cliffhanger because you're worried that a cheese omlette is high in cholesterol and Keith shouldn't be eating it? The volcano can't really be called a cliffhanger either.. it looks pretty certain that its about to blow, so no uncertainty there. Poor, misunderstood Scar.

Hey now, ya big toothy feline, stop picking on poor little 'ole me.

Thanks!!!! I'm still trying to figure out what comes after Changing Lanes. I want to finish "Jake" so it can be posted all at once in Premium, but I need a new serial for regular posting. One option is a sci-fi I've been working on, called Skyfire. It's hard sci-fi (ok, that's a very bad term to use on a gay board! LoL) in the sense that it's not science-fantasy like Star Trek, with impossible tech. Everything in it will be at least theoretically possible based on current tech and theory. Other than that... I'm not quite sure. I'll get to work on options soon. CJ

Thanks!! Well, I haven't had any alcohol since i wrote that, but I will be going to a party on July 4th, and I'll be walking so I can drink. LoL. Personally, I think it would be very illuminating for politicians to take part in such a mission.

Now you've posted it, I can say who.. it was the wizzardly one himself, Myr. Well, yes, Bondwriter, you can certainly be mercenary at times.