MikeL

Stranger ! Approach this spot with gravity ! John Brown is filling his last cavity. (Epitaph of an unknown dentist)

llama

After 40 years of marriage, four sons and four grandsons, I'm all for marriage. What I can't know is what my outlook would be if I were a gay man. Marriage is a loving commitment to your spouse, but with the ease with which couples dissolve their unions via divorce, that commitment is suspect. There is one inescapable advantage for married Americans. The "married, filing jointly" status on Federal tax returns does save money for most couples.

Thanks. usquebaugh

Quite a quandary! Don't forget that adults have a responsibility for the welfare of children. If the former priest was found out and you hadn't told, that's not necessarily a black mark on your record. But, if a child is hurt, how would you feel? Is there no sex offender registry where you live? Is there a reason he's not on it (e.g. his offenses predate the law)? If you decide to turn him in, collect any professional fees he owes you first.

I'm not offended. In the spirit of the exercise, you should leave the other participants with a word that has an available response. Just saying. eyedropper

If you don't like this little exercise, why are you participating? Strange you should say "sorry". Since "y" is sometimes a vowel, usually pronounced as if it were "i", I have taken the liberty of using a word which starts with "ix". ixodid (Yes, it's a real word, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ixodid, and I know the perfect word to follow.

ichneumon

Welcome to the club. All life is pretty much like that. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

tomfoolery

Relationships do take effort. If they are effortless for someone, it's only because he has had a lot of them.

I think Matt is keeping him busy with "other stuff."

Chapter 15 is great, John. Coop and Mich are in sync now and make quite a couple. Vern is the catalyst and very lucky that things have turned out well. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for another great chapter, Adam. It is certainly what I have been looking for. Indeed, it would be a perfect ending to the the story. I'm glad to know that it isn't.

Joey, I guess it's time to set the record straight. I am a Vietnam era veteran. I was never in Vietnam personally. The poem, A Place Not Far, is an effort to honor and memorialize those personal friends who went to Vietnam full of life and with a sense of duty only to leave there in a body bag. I was in Korea when the buildup of forces began in Vietnam. By the time that tour of duty ended, I had only a few months remaining on my active duty commitment...not long enough for another overseas assignment. That's not to say I didn't see some frightening things in Korea. Korea is a relatively wealthy country today; that wasn't true in 1964-66. It was an agrarian economy then...rice paddies fertilized with human waste. You could smell it before the Military Air Transport plane landed at Kimpo. I've slept in a tent when the temperature was -20°F. I had a fellow soldier point a 45 caliber pistol at my face. I've had prostitutes grab the sleeve of my uniform only to apologize profusely and bow deeply when they realized I was an officer. I saw a howitzer misfire, the shell slamming into a hillside above a village about 200 meters away. I saw a helicopter crash, killing the pilot (a Lieutenant Colonel) and two Koreans in the house it landed on. I will never fly in a helicopter again. I was nearly flown into North Korean airspace by an inattentive pilot; fortunately I was alert. So, yes, I saw some frightening things in Korea, but I came back home in one piece. There are 58,195 names on that wall in Washington. Five of them were personal friends. I think the most poignant moment for me was attending the funeral of one of them and speaking with his mother and fiancee. That was a difficult day for me made more so by having our own wedding rehearsal that evening.

Pow! Things really start happening in Chapter 10...and on a Sunday yet. A great chapter, Jack...a good bit of action and a big dose of mystery. With AOI on the case, the bad guys are on the down hill side of their little game. Just how innocent is Evan?

I think Michael has killed the chain. That's after 596 good entries.

tympani

illicit

A great first chapter for your new story Fear in His Eyes, John. You built up quite a mystery in a short conversation. I'm looking forward to the additional chapters. Now, at your invitation, I will hazard a guess at where Kurt has been for three years. In prison. Perhaps a miscarriage of justice, but he was found guilty of killing Kevin. Is that too far out in left field?

Very well said, Trevor. I hope that many of those guests are prompted to become members of GA as a result of a story like Second Shot. I can't imagine anyone reading it and not being eager to comment and that requires membership. Of course there are some people who do little more than grunt during a conversation.

Andy, the Epilogue to Second Shot is an excellent counterpoint to the story itself. A totally new central character is introduced and his personality and professional outlook are explored quite thoroughly. You have left an opening for a sequel (or whatever you choose to call it) and I will be looking forward to that. We are also reminded that, while Jason and Peter are now happy, they have some trials and tribulation remaining. Whether or not you write a story about the trial, your readers all know that it is happening. I never congratulated you on becoming a Promising Author...somehow I missed the announcement. That's great news and well deserved.

Stand a raw egg on end. My grandsons will be amazed.

I will miss you, Chase. You have a great writing talent and it makes sense that you would major in Literature. Congratulations on your acceptance to such a prestigious university. I know you will do well. I hope our paths cross again someday. For my sake, don't make it too long. Oh, and thanks for respecting my sexual preference.

I think a companion story would be better than a pure sequel. Jason and Peter are happy. Let's leave them that way. There's no need for them to have more misunderstandings. I assume Jason and Peter will have some part in a related story, especially testifying against Jordan. A trial would be interesting, but readers would want some action including some gay characters featured in the story. That said, I see no problem with a sequel which includes Jordan's trial as a significant part of the story line. I don't want to see Peter slip back into his funk over Jason's family's wealth. He should concentrate on the person he loves. Ethan is a very interesting character. Second Shot left him at loose ends. He needs to find some happiness in his life. Finally, I'm a bit sensitive to grammatical errors and you had some in this story. It did not detract too much; it was still a very good story. Better editing and proof reading would only make it better. I'm looking forward to your next story. Thanks for keeping us entertained with your storytelling.