Will Hawkins

It looks to me like, if you want to prevent broken noses, remove all fire extinguishers from public places.

Be Rad is an encyclopedia of teen-aged sex and so far, because I am an old man (80) does not really thrill me. I think it is a case of 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt'. But Mark, I do have to compliment you as an author. You are nearly my age, yet you are able to describe the 17-yo's angst as he is learning about the rules of both straight and gay sex. It is a process that almost every man has to go through, and you remember it so well and have the ability to put it into words so beautifully. Maybe it should be like Algebra or Civics, and a class that is taught in High School. I realize that you are writing in GA for a very specific readership and if there is any part of your story that I do not care to read, I can just skip over a paragraph or two, so this is not meant to be 'hate mail'. You should keep writing just as you do, knowing that many, many men out here in 'reader-land' are enjoying your abilities (and may even be learning from your descriptions).😊 Mr Will

Committing suicide by jumping off the deck of the Golden Gate bridge at one of the piers, and landing on the rocks below, might not be such a horrible end as Mark would want you to believe. Your death would be instantaneous from a broken spinal cord or a crushed skull, and therefore probably pain-free. To land in the icy waters of the Golden Gate, on the other hand, would subject you to the panic of a slower death by drowning.

Subject – Hangovers: I am not a T-totaler. A mixed drink at a party is well within my purview. But a large amount of alcohol, to the point of intoxication is not. People who drink great quantities never seem to realize that alcohol is a poison and the purging and headache that follow (the hangover), is a series of symptoms of alcohol poisoning. Okay, enjoy one or two drinks at a party, but be aware that the human body has a limited tolerance for alcohol poisoning, and know when to quit. Also realize that alcohol consumption buries good sense under a layer of intoxication –- one drink, okay -- five drinks, a ticket to trouble the next day.

In spite of my present address, I have been living in Brazil since 2008, I remember fondly my few years in San Francisco.I have eaten meals at the Cliff House, with the smells of Seal Rocks wafting up from below and the creaking if the windmills in Golden Gardens adding a bass note. I have at one time or another lived in most of the corners of the US, but I think SFO was probably the most interesting city I have ever been in. You writing, Mark, has recreated many fond memories. Thank you.

The Matthew Shepard story is extremely complex. Yes, he was a very small gay man (5'-2") and was cruelly pistol whipped, robbed and tied to a fence in rural Montana, his clothing set afire and left to die from injuries and exposure, One of the two men who committed the assault and robbery had participated in gay sex with Matt in the past and it is an understory that Mr. Shepard was dealing in drugs. He became the 'poster boy' for the gay rights movement that resulted in the passage of legislation in reference to hate crimes.

The wheels within wheels in the court of the new Tsar are very confusing, With which nation will he ally himself and his country, Britain or France? There are advocates advising him to both sides. I feel that Granger is a strong influence toward Great Britain but there are nations in the European north who have advocates advising him the other way, toward France. It must be very confusing to him as a new Tsar as to which way to lean. While even though his mother is somewhat otherwise occupied , she can still be a strong influence in his life. And the fact that other rulers near him are demonstrably insane, will upset his decision-making process even more. As mere readers, we will have to have patience to see how Mark works out all the problems. Right now it looks like some high-ranking officers of the former Tsar are going to be counting trees in Siberia!. As when the Tsar requests information, he cannot even get a list given him be correct.

Granger frequently expresses a fear of embarassment in showing an erection through the thin cloth of his uniform breeches. Somehow I feel that he could relax a little by wearing elastic underwear. But then perhaps that is too practical for the century!!! At any rate, this era is almost at the time of uniform pants taking the place of breeches, except for the most formal occasions. I think that Granger could speed that substitution up as he is so admired by the men under his command that if he elected to wear pants with a cast iron jock, his officers would quickly follow his lead! My research fails me in trying to determine the uniform of the common sailor. One source shows only a knee-length shirt or tunic, with bare legs. I am aware that 'top-men' those sailors who climbed into the rigging to set the sails were most often barefoot as that gave them greater security on wet or icy spars, but I have been inable to determine the uniform for a common sailor. Though there were frequent 'make and mend' days when becalmed at sea, and many sailors became excellent tailors, sewing a fine seam in the scrap pieces of canvas that were to be found as leftovers from making sails.

“I am not, although I am not sure that they could not lure him to their cause with some well-placed contributions.” Here is something that is not truly a mistake, but the triple negative in this sentence makes it a little difficult to understand without re-reading it several times. Could it be re-written as, "I am not, although I am sure they could lure him to their cause with some well-placed contributions."

The use of the expression 'posh' in the era of this story, is somewhat of an anachronism. Posh came into general use in the period between the first and second world wars when it became stylish for young Britons to tour the Mediterranean between graduation from school (either high school or college) and seeking employment in business or law. It referred to cabin accomodations on steamers and was marked on the tickets of the young tourists. The letters stand for 'Port Out – Starboard Home' these accomodations would put the bearer on the shady side of the ship, preventing hot cabins,

If my ancient memory does not play tricks on me, we were warned that Lord Elgin's behavior toward his shrewish wife would be different after their departure from Sicily. The screams from their cabin, now muffled by a ball of tow, would indicate that this is true. Her desire to stop at an inconsequential island would be a strong clue that she plans further misdirection and secret actions. The sheet of code for which she is now searching frantically, is a further confirmation of underhandedness, and her relations with the Merchant community, add to the evidence. I smell a large rat in her actions and the name of that rat is 'Guild'.

As my cirrent housemate is of Portuguese birth and I am currently living in Brazil, I find it strange that Granger has so much ill-feeling for the Portuguese. I can only tie it to the poor reception Granger received in Brazil in his circumnavigation. The normal reaction of the Portuguese to the British, especially in this era when they were placed in so much jeopardy by he French was of great appreciation and friendship. You should remember that it was a British floatilla that aided in the flight of the Portuguese crown "everything but the castles" at the beginning of the French revolution.

The comic strip "The Timid Soul" introducing Caspar Milqutoast was first published in a New York Newspaper in 1925, so to call someone a 'milqutoast'in this era is a bit of an anachronism!

Well, it seems that Caroline is more deeply involved in the events than we had assumed. She has used her wiles to get Granger in the first place and now it appears she has been the aggressor in a menage a trois in the baths, No wonder she is too embarassed to confess her part in the affair to her husband. Perhaps she is using her womanly ways to express anger at George, After all, while he is at sea, she is much in cammand of the Granger household, then when he returns, she is forced into a secondary role as he replaces her as the central decision maker in the family. That shifting position would be hard for her to bear up under. We will have to see how the two of them work out their relationships. I believe they are too much of a family to let these pressure destroy them.

The fete for the royal family aboard George's ship was beautifully handled, Mark, and the fact that it was an actual historical even woven into a fiction story, is just another example of your excellent skills as an author. In this era we are probably not quite as over-awed as would be a sailor of the wind-ship era to have the highest of royalty visit below decks and sit down to hear sea stories told by the crew. In that time, it would be as if God had joined the party. George is rightfully miffed about Caroline's reticence in confessing to her assignation with Treadway, but I am sure that will work itself out before he sails for Turkey. William's interest in his father's ship and naval events is so typical of the abject admiration of a son for his father. it almost wrenches one's heart. I can see him joining a ship as a midshipman in his teen years and carrying on the naval tradition of his family. I smell a rat in Elgin's wife's attitude toward Granger and her transportation to Turkey, not in her going, even she can recognize that as her duty to her husband, and her shrewishness is typical of her marginal station as the daughter of a merchant class family. Somehow I believe there is something else afoot there, If I were in Lord Elgin's shoes, i would just as soon left her behind! "Oh what a tangeled web we mortals weave, when first we practice to deceive."

Telegraph communication with waving arms — reminds me of a (fictional) visit to telegraph hill in San Francisco where signals were sent down to the Embarcadero (waterfront) when a ship would enter the Bay. The ignalman would telegraph with wig-wag arms the description of the entering ship (usually a paddlewheel steamboat from the Orient by way od Hawaii) and the merchants of SFO would immediatly raise their prices to match the cargo of the incoming ship!.

Your ability to show the reader word pictures of places and people is truly a gift mark, here you have created word pictures of both a mansion at Ryde and a new vessel for Lord Granger. The addition of Hornblower is just frosting on the cake. A tonedeaf Lieutenant on an ill-fitting uniform just fills out the menage perfectly. It will be interesting to see Hornblower's reaction to the M/M sex on a Granger ship as, if my ancient memory serves me, he was strictly heterosexual, but much infatuated with an actress. A rousing start, Mark, more power to you!!!!!

We will have to make due — We will have to make do, Spell check strikes agan!!!!!

I was confused, not a rare occurance at my age… I have seen the word Tsar and the word Czar, both used for the ruler of Russia, so I looked the two words up. To my satisfaction, I found that they are equivalent terms, the two different forms being the result of transliteration from the Cyrilic alphobet. Tzar and Csar are also acceptible as well.

Goal Fever is now recognized as a form of Typhus, is easily transmitted by the bite of the flea and even with more modern treatments, can result in death in up to 80% of cases. At the time of this tale, no one knew the vector and, as fleas and lice were almost universal they were ignored in its treatement. Granger took a great chance in visiting a man ill with goal fever especially as fleas, detecting the death of their expiring host, would jump to the nearest live subject, thereby spreading the infection quickly and universally. Typhus was a scourge in jails or armies all the way in history up to the latter 1920's; any place where fleas were able to breed and move from person to person, spreading the infection. Even today many, many, people die from the disease, especially in areas where modern medicine is unavailable. Though vaccines have been developed and are quite effective in preventing the infection, especially among children.

Granger constantly finds himself on the right side of the bed… In this case, at least so far, the only set-to he has truly faced is with a stupid, conceited and irascible admiral who cannot see beyond pounds, schillings, and pence. Of course he has yet to face an insane Tsar, but he will have allies in his wars there. As an amateur student of history, I am lookong forward to his arrival in St Petersburg and his meeting with the Tsarevich, and the plot against the insane Tsar. It seems to me the insanity is a disease, a plague in reality, amongst royalty, especially in the lands to the far north of europe, though is is also affecting England and Portugal. It makes me wonder about the very close relationships between the kings and queens of this 16th, 17th and, 18th Century world. 'Keeping the bloodlines pure' has produced an insanity among European rulers for several hundreds of years. Is there no medical sage that can recognise this close in-breeding as an great eroding force among rulers? But then, even if there were, no-one would pay any attention to him. The current problem with rulers in my country may not be insanity, but it is certainly, in the 2020's, stupidity, ignorance and conceit.

Look ip the difference, Mark, between sight and site

It is so unusual to detect a grammatical error in your writing, Mark, that I almost let one slip by me!!!! A cantor is a person who leads the singing in a synogogue, the word you are looking for is canter the pace of a horse in speed between a trot and a gallop

As usual I am enthraled with your ability, Mark, to include real historical events as well as characters from other fiction writers in your chapters. I have leared more about the French Revolution by reading your chapters than I did from lectures in my college world history courses. Of course, I still have trouble keeping all the Louies straight! In addition I have learned a great deal about the British Wind Navy ships and the petty jealousies rampant between the highest ranking officers in that navy. My vocabulary is insuffiient to express my appreciation and admiration for your writing skills. Mr Will

The Grammer rule about 'not ending a sentence with a preposition' is a carry-over from Latin where the prepositional is a verb form and cannot come in a different place. In other words, do not burden contemporary English with Latin rules. A preposition at the end of a sentence is perfectly acceptable in modern writing in English. I havetwo rules about English grammar: never criticize grammar errors in written dialog, hell people make errors when speaking all the time so grammar errors in writen dialog are just realistic, and second, any grammar suggestion I make is just that, a suggestion, so I try to be kind about my remarks, Yhere are some aithors who make a number of grammatical errors, many to a page, and that does destroy the writing, but an occasional slip is not a catastrophe. Mr Will