C James

I thought it would be fun to have a contest! A few of you felt, for whatever reason, that the situation at the end of Chapter 45, Ragnar

I'm willing to bet that no one can make a good case that the next chapter is unrealistic. BTW, things seem quiet in here.. So, I'll have a contest! The prize? An early look at Changing Lanes 46: "Out of the Frying Pan..."

Unless the nuke was heavily shielded against heat, magma would make it unable to fire within a few seconds. Gun-assembly (Uranium core.. only Uranium can be detonated by assembly, though both Plutonium and Uranium can use an implosion design) is a lot more robust that most designs. Actually, nukes aren't all that fragile in most cases; look at the g-loading they endure during a missile launch and the re-entry. Then there are nuclear artillery shells (being fired from a gun is one hell of a shock) etc. But, the gun=assembly design is the most robust of the two, and that's why it was used in the very first nuclear bunker-busters (earth-penetrator warheads) back in the 50's. The nuke in the tunnel has already gone off, so the magma won't be much of a concern to it. Had the nukes still been in the storage locker and had it been hit by a lava flow, there would have been no nuclear kaboom. CJ

Umm, does the bottom of the ocean count? Speaking of the next chapter... should I post it on schedule, or wait? I think Graeme said something akin to chapter 45 being a nice, calm place with which to begin a restful story hiatus? ACK!! Echidna!! How can it be beyond a cliffhanger, when I never even use cliffhangers? Besides, the cliffs aren't hanging, they are heading for the bottom of the sea. I do recall saying something akin to chapter 45 being a good penultimate chapter for the story; at this point, the story could easily be concluded with a short epilogue; the Scar blasting off in his C-130, flying off into the sunset, while Instinct slides to their watery graves at the bottom of the sea, and the unstoppable tsunamis race out to destroy the entire coastline of the Atlantic basin. But, you said, and I quote, "Cliffhanger? Technically not" and that is pretty clearly a certification of cliffhanger free. And, it is free of cliffhangers! You so often pointed direly at the volcano and claimed that its threat of eruption is a cliffhanger, but now, no more worries, because it's no longer in doubt; the eruption is underway. Fear not! It's not as if I've ever written a story where the antagonist rides off into the sunset with a suitcase full of cash. Hrmmm. I think that's a great term, "A little bump in the path". It goes well with my own prefered description of "Perhaps ever-so-slightly tense..." The Scar is definitely one of my favorite characters. True, he's not a nice guy, but he does have his interesting points. Shot the goat? Awww, who would want to harm poor, innocent me? What? Me? BTW, one huge shortcoming I have as a writer is in estimating just how many chapters it will take to fill in an outline. For example, for a while, until late last fall, I was hopeful that this chapter, Ragnar

I agree with Graeme for the circumstances mentioned, but IMHO there can be a legitimate use of scene duplication. In one of my novels, I largely duplicated a scene (though with some changes) set in Rome, from earlier in the novel, of a character walking down a street near the Trevi Fountain. I did it for a reason; the character in the original scene was in the second one, but at that point in the story the readers were not yet aware that he was one and the same with the first character. The duplication was thus a kind of forshadowing, a setup for the reveal a couple of chapters later, and several readers did notice the partial duplication, as I'd intended. CJ

I can't stay on line long, due to lightning in the area, but first, I would like to thank MikeL for amphibiously certifying Ragnar

You're right; Brandon and Eric were the closest to Jim and Linda. Ah yes, Mr. Graeme, he of the prickly personality, has certainly caused a few headaches, though he's just part of a power block. The interesting thing there might be how do they change their stance without embarrassing themselves? (Public humiliation is something political types are not fond of). I do need to clear up one thing; my yachting question has absolutely nothing to do with Changing Lanes. It's for a story idea I'm toying with for a new story. Dropping a nuke onto the surface or in the crater of an erupting volcano might not do a lot... it would have to get deep inside to really blow the magma chambers open. But if that happened, what a mess! Thanks for the link. The immediate kill zone for a groundburst in the 20kt range isn't all that far, just a couple of miles or less, depending mainly on terrain. On the other hand, for the volcanic issue, the airport would destroyed within minutes if the full lateral collapse occurred; the tsunamis on the west side would simply wrap around the island. (the airport is right on the edge of the sea, about 20ft above sea level.) I'll also mention that their was a prior chapter with the word "Ragnarök" in it... "Prelude to Ragnarök". In that chapter, we saw the launch of the mission to Iran, and also the awakening of Cumbre Vieja (The final line in the chapter was "And the Earth, awakened, continued to dance...." Now we have 44, "Countdown to Ragnarök". So, now might be a good time to mention the title of chapter 45: "Ragnarok".

You want me a write a cookbook?

I'm not entirely sure, it may be that the current record-holder for the oldest living thing on the planet (a bristlecone called Methusala) is older than the cut one, but there wasn't much in it, and it was mentioned as part of a documentary that I saw years ago. It sounds sadly plausible, though.

That reminds me of the oldest bristlecone pine... I beleive there was one even older than the current record, and they discovered this by counting its rings, shortly after chopping it down (thus killing it). It was almost 5000 years old.

What? Who? Me? But.. it's just a nice, relaxing chapter.

Thank you Edward! The Scar knows that Instinct is working with the General and Felecia; that suspicion is why he came to the island and was at the resort (the reason he was after Instinct was to get the bombs back). He's also heard of Helen's press conference, which confirmed it. There will be a few surprises in store, for all. And, a chapter title announcement; the next chapter is 44, "Countdown to Ragnar

200 posts?!?!? Yep, he's a postaholic!

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