C James

But... y'all know I never use cliffhangers.. right?

Kirsta! Plotting against sweet, innocent me? Shadowyness has indeed been silent... Hrmmm, perhaps he's off recruiting new minions? Echidna!! Bondwriter has given us a SPOILER! Do your spikey duty! Looking forward to seeing the pics.. (I'm on too slow a connection to load them at the moment.) See y'all soon.

I hope all of you are doing well! I just wanted to say that the nice, relaxing endpoing in chapter 31 was inspired by Emoe, so be sure to thank him. (thanks, Emoe!!) I'll hopefully have more internet access soon. I completed the three week transatlantic cruise yesterday, and I'm presently online via free wifi at a coffee house, enjoying some superb Cappuccino, in the Italian Alps. I'll be in this area for ten days, then on to the UK. CJ

I had five feet on snow over four days a couple of weeks ago. And I live in Arizona (granted, high in the mountains)! The snow compacted pretty quick, but for a while it was five feet deep, and in pl;aces drifting to about eight! I was snowed in for over a week; I live on an old mining trail that isn't plowed. I have a steel "bow plate" for my SUV that I can bolt on, but that'll get me through three foot, not five! Take care and have fun! I'll be logging in from time to time, but I'm powering down my home PC and heading for the airport in an hour. CJ

Thanks Jon!!! Just a fast note: there are three chapters that will be posts during my trip. Two week from today, and every two weeks thereafter. Shadowgod agreed to post them, (thanks Steve!) so I'm not leaving y'all hanging.

Well, I'll throw out a number... how about a negative number? Or an exponential? Actually I don't know the vote totals, so I literally couldn't tell ya.

ACK!! But... y'all know I never use cliffhangers, right? Don't I say that enough??? Bondwriter, that's a great graphic!!! I love it! I like it a lot better than this year's "official" ones. (I can say that, becuase I made 'em) Here's the "official" one for comparison.

Lol... Yes, I find Google Earth addictive. It's fantastic for "seeing" a place, such as that Iranian military base, or La Palma, or somewhere I'm planning on going. For travel planning, it's invaluable; it can be set to show hotel locations, and that's a fantastic way of finding rural places to stay. Most travel search engines are city-based; you enter the name of the city, and it gives you a list. That's fine, *IF* you want to stay in a city. I don't like cities, so I avoid them where possible. For example, I found my hotel (actually an Agritourisimo, a converted farm) in Italy for next month on google earth. I'm paying half what it would cost to stay in a city. The difference more than pays for my rent-a-car, and I get to see a heck of a lot more of Italy than if I stayed in a city and used public transport. I also get to stay in a rural area, not in a city, so I'm far happier. The same was true of some of the places I stayed on my recent drive to British Columbia and back; I managed to find some hotels that were nowhere near cities. I was able to check the surroundings, etc, too. Another handy feature; the user photos. Not only can I see photos of various things, but I see where they are clusterd, which has twiged me to some interesting stuff to see in the past. I'd say Google Earth is my #1 travel planner as well as being a great general-research tool. I love the thing. And yep, when I'm snowed in, I spend a lot of time on it. LoL! Erk! Now, now, no lynchings or burnings! I do suppose, though that this means I don't need to start a poll regarding whether the first kiss occured too soon in the story, what with it only being chapter 29 and all....

Cliffies, what cliffies? And what future cliffhanger? I can't send the final chapters, as they aren't written yet. Yep, but there will be chapters left for posting before i go. I'm heading for the Caribbean, then the Canary Islands, then West Africa (Morocco), then on to Europe, then home. It's a long trip, but I should have internet from time to time.

The "Farmhouse" listed in the chapter, that was used as a disguze for the main ventalation shaft for the underground base, might seem like a bit of a stretch. Basically, what looks to be a farmhouse, sitting on top of a mountain ridge overlooking a major military facility, nowhere near a farm. If anyone wants to see it (in google earth, google maps, or any satalite mapping program), the coordinates are; 30

I'll be around; I've got a new laptop to take with me, but there will be some internet access gaps, including one for a couple of weeks. I'll still pop in when I can, give updates and such, and of course deny any cliffhangers.

I'm leaving on a long trip on March 10th. Thanks to a superb effort from my team, we have a few chapters to leave for posting. There's aren't enough to maintain the weekly postings for the six weeks I'll be away, bu there are enough so that, at worst, we're looking at a couple of two-week spans instead of a six-week hiatus. I'll be posting 30 before I go, so it'll be a bit early. Actually, I might move it up even more, and then the next chapter will post two weeks after it. BTW, if everything comes together, I'll be on La Palma, taking some pictures for y'all, the day chapter 31 posts. CJ

Helen might have her work cut out for her. There are four members of Instinct; Brandon, Chase, Jon, and Eric. Brandon and Chase are very publicly "out", which as we saw in the Teluride chapter is hurting the band's prospects a bit. So, with Eric at least somewhat Bi, that could be trouble, as that would make 4 out of 3 non-straight. BTW, I tried to set the groundwork for Eric's eventual "change" back in LTMP, when he had that tequila-driven conversation with Chase in San Francisco (At that point, I wasn't sure there would be a sequel, as I thought it might all play out in LTMP). That re-enforced the fact that Eric and Chase are alike in a lot of ways, and also showed that Eric has at least a little interest in guys. I've been trying to show that throughout Changing Lanes as well. Lol... Beginning the scene like that was intentional on my part. ROFL! I admit, I rarely write sex scenes. I find them difficult. However, I do write them when I feel they are important to the plot, such as a first time for a couple, or like in FTL, when the sex scenes was critical to the plot in other ways. Thank you Conner!!!! Thanks Edward! The General does have the issue of a gun to his head, but that might be the least of his concerns, due to the fighters hunting him. At night, flying low through the mountians, he's likely to evade them (ground clutter plays hell with radar) but, over flat desert of, worse, open seas? The fighter radars would work quite well, for most modern fighters. The site described in the story is 6 miles NE of Kerman. Thanks!! If there are any surprises coming, in any way, they will be hinted at in forshadowing many times. Thanks for bringing this up! The timeline is very tricky here. In both storylines, I have to keep the timing at least roughly in sync. In The General's storyline, it's well under 24 hours since he took off from Somalia. It's been several chapters, but, it's still a matter of hours, not days. We did have that LTMP chapter, "the kiss", where he kissed Dimitri in Rome. What we saw there was that he certainly isn';t homophobic, though his background indicates he's straight. Say what you will about The Scar, he might have a few bad points (Nobody's perfect, after all) but he's not homophobic. BTW, the next chapter is Chapter 30. That means that my original estimate, of Changing Lanes totaling 13-15 chapters, is almost certainly off. The chapter is entitled "Feelings". BTW, has anyone noticed that the chapter titles often match both storylines, but in different ways? In 29, Ignition, we had the bomb going off in the General's timeline, and a different sort of an ignition between Eric and Jansen in the other. CJ

Happy Birthday, Dan! Have a GREAT time!!!

Thanks! Old Bob! Me? Use a cliffhanger? Never! Thanks! I've never been able to set a story on just romance. I've tried, it's just not me. I think I could do a short story that was mainly relationship... and come to think of it, my first one, "No Shirt? No Problem!" was. But a novel? I have a feeling that if I tried, I'd end up creating the world's best cure for insomnia. Thanks! I ran into timeline problems. I have to keep the two story timelines synced (roughly speaking, the same day in each) otherwise the rejoin would make little sense. That's why there are some chapters with nothing of the General's storyline, and some with very little of Eric's. The ones that are posting at the moment are, due to timeline constraints, heavy on the General's story, but that won't be the case for long. Hang in there for a couple more chapters. Actually, I just checked, and chapter 30 looks close to half Eric's storyline. Interestingly, I have other readers who would prefer the story without Eric and Instinct. They've said so, via e-mail. Loudly and sometimes profanely. LoL. CJ

Why, oh why, do y'all insist on implying that I use cliffhangers?

LoL!! Well, I often find myself in similar straits. I have to be very careful what I say, because while the team might be a chapter or two ahead, I'm much further than that, especially when it comes to the plot. I often peek at the posted chapters before replying, otherwise I might slip. I've done that before, and then Graeme comes after me with the spines of his. I'm the same way with Graeme's thread: I'm one of his betas, so I'm further ahead than what is posted. So, I glance at the posted chapter before opening my mouth, and perhaps giving away the key to his latest cliffhanger. In Shadowgod's case, it's far easier for me, because I usually don't see his following chapter until well after the prior one is posted, so I'm pretty much dangling from the same cliff as the rest of his readers. Thanks! Interestingly, I have some readers who are reading only the General's storyline, and some who are reading only Eric's. I hope its not a spoiler to say that the storylines rejoin? It's actually not hard to write the two storylines; I tend to write one, then the other, and then figure out where in each chapter to place them. Not true!! Nothing, but nothing, can compare to Shadowgod's unforgettable, immortal, lemonade cliffhanger! Only he could make a cliffhanger out of lemonade! Correct on both. It's actually eight JATO's, four rockets on each side. That reminds me, I should post a link to a vid of one taking off under JATO power; it's quite a sight. , BUT, bear in mind that this is the Blue Angels team transport, and they do a lot of airshows. Long story short, they use de-rated JATO packs: less thrust. That keeps them from accumulating too much strain on the airframe. What the General was thinking (And I covered this poorly) when he wrote out the "insurance" was that Felecia and her team were after Chemical weaponry. As of the end of the posted chapter, he thinks the nukes are just enriched Uranium. He doesn't know they are nukes. As he didn't know about the nukes, we can safely assume that nothing in his plan calls for them. You're right, the four devices Felecia hid are Geiger Counters. Maybe the "Surprise Package" is just a housewarming gift? Graeme helps TREMENDOUSLY. His critical comments help in every chapter. I can't say this loudly enough: Changing Lanes, like all my stories, is very much a TEAM effort. Without our team, there wouldn;t be any stories. So, Emoe, Graeme, Shadowgod, Francois, and Captain Rick, THANK YOU. BTW, The title of the next chapter is "Ignition". Here's , plus showing a bit of the Herc's maneuverability. It's a great plane.

Happy Birthday, Rick!!! CJ

See? I told you that the howitzer shell wasn't a real concern, and thus, no cliffhanger. And I was right! So, could we please have an Amphibious Cerification of Cliffhanger Free? And what of Wilhelm? He's not on the plane. All horst had to say was, "No chance, none at all, sorry" when Felecia asked. Hrmmm, one other thing I should mention... I don't think this is a spoiler, becuase it is merely me relaying factual tactical data. The Iranians now know that their base is under attack. The C-130 is hundreds of mile inside Iran (6 miles northwest of Kerman, to be exact.). Getting out would be a heck of a lot harder than getting in. Also, do bear in mind that the Iranian officers at the base are by now becoming truly desperate (Francois stole the keys to their officers' latrine). I can't comment about that, but, if anyone thinks the "Iranian Nukes" angle is far-fetched, please keep in mind two things. One is that Changing Lanes is set in the future (A few years, but otherwise unspecified). Then, have a look at articles like this, from a few days ago, which describe some of the state of Iran's nuclear program. CJ

Well, true, but, we don't know for sure that the Iranians were shooting at the C-130, do we? So, no cliffhanger. Besides, that 33 pound shell has what, 18 pounds of HE in it? And that's what you're worried about? (and yes, this is a very big hint).

What explosive, unresolved situation? One measly little thirty three pounder does not make for a cliffhanger! Benji... If you were wrong about the blooper, then you were wrong about the chapter not being cliffhanger-free, no? Thank you! You're quite right: I'll change the descriptors in the announcement and on my website. And thank you for noticing the departure from my prior two stories, where, indeed, the romantic entanglement starts very early. I very much wanted to do something different. I have a confession to make... The reason there is a great deal more action in Changing Lanes is self-indulgence on my part: I love writing it, and so I laid out a plot that allowed it. For LTMP, there were three chapters that I was very happy with, and also most enjoyed writing: 36, 37, and part of 38. (Basically, from the detonation of the bomb in Toowoomba through the bomb on the plane, the NORAD reaction to the detonation in Australia, to the scenes at Edwards Air Force Base, where we first meet General Bradson.) So, I decided to have some fun in that regard with Changing Lanes. I have to admit, I'm having a blast. Thank you VERY much for your comments above. I really appreciate it. CJ

Might I mention that the above awards for Graeme and Shadowgod are absolutely true? This is an absolute fact and I can prove it. I just want to see if anyone has the grammar skills to figure out how.

Now, now, Wildone, who are we to argue with the member's choice? But, that's not possible... Sarcasm is based upon irony, and there is nothing in any way ironic in your statements, for they were simply the unvarnished truth... Besides, you don't expect a goat to understand sarcasm, now do ya? But Bondwriter, arizona does indeed have beaches! Why, the western edge of the state is referred to as "arizona's west coast". It's a river, not an ocean, but there are plenty of beaches. And in some cases, the beaches are just very wide. Very, very wide. (sand with water on one side is a beach, right?) And, sorry to dissapoint, but but the Member's Choice for King of Cliffhangers is Graeme and Shadowgod!! Long may their royal personages reign over the malevolent precipices!

But it's just a nice, restful chapter. Filler, really. They were quoting General George S. Patton in an earlier chapter, and his nickname was "Blood and Guts". But Bondwriter... Would I do such a thing as that?