Will Hawkins

Separation is the disease of war. But as an American, I am overjoyed to see Travers being able to overcome the perfidy of his father during our fight for independence. I am no longer amazed but greatly gratified to see read the superior writing. no creative authorship, of yours, Mark. A fast moving chapter beautifully handled and opening up vistas of growth for George in his naval career. Mister Will

Speaking of uniforms, well, thinking of them, ihe last months of the 18th Century saw the demise of 'britches', The pants that ended just below the knee with a buckled strap, and the acceptance of 'trousers' that went straight down to the heel. The common sailor still wore britches for several more years as there was no excess of material to make climbing the shrouds dangerous. It was at this time that the common sailor, especially the 'top men' also ceased to wear long white stockings and began to go almost altogether barefoot to decrease slipping on wet surfaces Officers however, continued to wear foot coverings. Though they were frequently of a soft leather construction rather than hard-soled. So you are right on schedule , Mark, with your descriptions of uniforms worn by navy personnel.

Well, this chapter is where we added Winkler to Georges coterie. If I remember my first reading properly, that turns into a lifetime service. Super writing as usual, Mark.

The description of Granger's emotions while tied to the yard and floating in the waves, is magnificent. Truly an expression of your writing skill-😀

I will not be commenting on every chapter, probably only on something that especially caches my eye (or my ire), but you may be assured that I am here and eagerly anticipating the next chapter just like each of your earlier readers, some of whom posted six years ago.

I am starting out with the Bridgemont Series for the second time and am looking forward just as much to the writing skill of their author just as much this time as the first. Once again you have immediately captured my interest, Mark, presenting the young Granger so perfectly. True, I am 'girding my loins' somewhat as I recognize your writing style. It has been compared to riding a roller-coaster, the slow clack, clack of the first rise, followed by the swoops and swirls of the following story. I also recognize this date (2019, fall) as being late in your authorship career. I can only hope that your health will continue to allow you to join with your readers in the ups, downs and twists as we follow along with your plot. At any rate I, personally, intend to sit back and enjoy your creativity (for this second time) as I follow Granger's career with HM navy through the Bridgemont Series.

Living with a person with a psychological disease id not easy. It would require a partner who is a saint to put up with the extreme mood swings that result UNLESS a chemical regime that controls those swings is adopted. With external stresses applied as there are here, I would say it can become even more difficult. Perhaps the solution of everyone standing back to take a deep breath is the best in this case.

I am well aware that the disease from which you are suffering has many side effects, one of which is a loss of energy and another a decrease in libido. I believe you are holding up remarkably well from these effects and doing your best to meet the insatiable demands of your readers, we should be grateful for anything with which you feel well enough to provide us. And carrying on two story lines at the same time, especially as ably as you do is a miracle. We owe you a great debt of gratitude.

Quoting Dylan Thomas poetry in a review does not qualify as a cliché, it demonstrates that all Mark's readers are not bumpkins, and every time I hear that 'bumpy night' quote I can see that movie scene with Bette Davis standing on a stairway and hear her distinctive accent.

It is interesting that the area of Northeastern Brazil in which I am living, has dietary tastes much the same as you have written about for Texas (without the large steaks — a meat dish served here is almost always surrounded by beans and rice, and the figures of both men and women reflect the emphasis on fattening foods. Sausage (mostly fat) is common and, while it tastes good, is not kind to bellies. Salads mainly consist of lettuce and tomato and vary little from day to day. I created a shockwave the other day when I proposed a salad of chilled asparagus spears!

In spite of some negative attitudes expressed by other commentators toward Will, I feel he is moving in a good direction to be JP's successor as a leader of the family. His choices of: 1.following around JP as a mentor/student for a semester and, 2.choosing Harvard as a college are examples of his growing maturity. I wonder, however, if he will ever outgrow his second place relationship to football with Zach. Football heroes are much like comets — they flare brightly, but then burn out rapidly, primarily because injuries are rife in the football area, no amount of protective armor can totally prevent injury when 250lbs of meat crash into another 250lbs, and an injured football player rapidly fades from the eye of the public. There is very little life after football unless somehow the player has acquired life skills long the way. Will's intent to gain a meaningful education is an appropriate goal for a leader such as him. Let us hope that Zach has/acquires such goals as well.

It is truly wonderful to see the concern expressed by your readers with your health condition. I am sure some of it is an expression of their desire to read your excellent writing, but a large portion is care about your health and well-being. You have developed an audience, a truly wonderful audience, of those out here in Reader-land who are genuinely concerned about your health. CLL is an insidious disease, but hopefully the good wishes of your fans will help in your fight against it. I am sure for every encouraging message you read in the Comments area, there are a hundred more silently wishing you well. On a more personal note, I have followed your writing ever since the first publication of The Gunroom, in January, 2011. That means you have been a favorite author for over 8 years, and 8 years is just a small measure of the pleasure you have given me. I happened upon Circum-navigation accidentally and that led me to GA and therefrom to your writings. And what a happy accident that was. The financial revertses of 2008 forced me to retreat to the interior forests of Brazil and since that time it has been writings such as yours which have lightened my days. Fortunately I am in good health and have retained (most) of my marbles, a miracle for a man of my age (87), and wish I could send you some of it, but know that you have a grumpy old retired school teacher living a better live because of your writing skills and dedication. Mister Will

"I stepped out of the car and down the steps — I stepped out of the plane and down the steps.

I should have known that an author of your caliber would have researched this thoroughly. I can well see why such a regulation would be important, though it makes escape from elevator cars difficult in an emergency power outage. Perhaps the locking mechanism could be released in the case of a loss of power, even though that would make the lock much more complex. In place of that, rescue personnel are trained to assist persons trapped in elevators promptly in case of fire and loss of power. I guess there is no way to make any system totally foolproof.

Meals at Escorial are always interesting, but it would seem are also bad for the digestion!

I am going to limit my comments to the "kids running through the kitchen event and its subsequent results". Firstly, I do not feel that physical abuse of children, other than a pop on the rear to get their attention, is ever warranted. That said the reverse is also true, children need to be taught right from wrong and a firm statement is sometimes necessary I revert to the calm and quiet enforced by a glance or an "ahem" used to control loud arguments at Escorial dinners. JJ was in error for manhandling Mandy, but Will was in error as well for castigating JJ without further investigation of the causes. Mandy is a child and may be expected to act childishly, but Will and JJ are supposedly adults and therefore understand more adult ways of controlling themselves and teaching children as well. I am relying on my memories of childhood as a basis for my standpoint. I well recall that when I had been bad (and I was no better than the average child I admit), my father never laid a hand on me , but he made his disappointment well known to me by sitting down quietly and talking through his disappointment with my bad behavior as became necessary from time to time. At the time, I remember, I would have far rather had a spanking than my father's "talks".

It would seem to me that every elevator in a high-rise building should be equipped for emergency exit in case of power failure unless there is power generation from emergency units, say in the basement. Certainly a ladder leading up to the roof the car would be an easy and cheap fix. If our heroes could have gotten up to the roof, they might have discovered the easy step to a floor then down the stairway to the ground floor. It would not have gotten them out of the mobs on the street, but at least not trapped them in a confined space.

That you missed it is because the comment (and your reply to it) were made on the preceding Chapter (Chapter 18) "On 10/10/2015 at 2:48 AM, Gene Splicer PHD said" It is difficult for me to pick up Comments and your Replies to Comments. In this case I slipped and ranted in the Comments Section to Chapter 19 about a Comment and your Reply made in reference to Chapter 18. My bad!!!! Check back into comments made in Chapter 18 and look for the one made by Gene Splicer, PHD.

Okay, Mark, here is where you pick up your lap top an smash me over the head with in. One of you comme opposed ntators made a suggestion about how you could improve a sentence and you merely kicked him to the wall, informing him in a snarky fashion that you did not intend to change it. Shame on you sir. In my opinion the subject sentence with its poor choice of words disturbed the flow of reading that particular paragraph. The reader had to stop and try to figure out what was meant. Now, as the author you have a perfect right to decline to change nay of your words, but, in my opinion, you should make that refusal a more polite remark. Any reader who takes the time to make a suggestion to you about a sentence such as that which was obviously at the very least, an interruption to the flow of the writing, and in this case nearly incomprehensible, should be treated with respect. I make this from the viewpoint of a reader who has a great deal of admiration for you and for your writing skill. To accept a comment graciously is the hallmark of an author. A category in which I place you, Mark. You create a story that ha all the earmarks of fine writing: creativity, style, pace, characterization, etc. Oh I could go on, but I am satisfied that your response to whoever made the comment was not of the caliber I expect from you.

After reading all the comments, I wonder why your audience cannot just sit back, enjoy your writing and not try to figure everything out, being wrong most of the time. By the way, I snuck (if that is not a word, insert 'sneaked') a peek at Bridgemont just out of curiosity recently.( I don't like to read two different story lines at the same time, it confuses my ancient mind,) and re-discovered my fascination with Nineteenth Century sailing, I will look forward to moving on when I finish the CAP series,, probably starting way back with the Gun Room.

It would be too expensive for a producer to make a cinema of what is going on in Black Widow right now; Seychelles Islands (East Indian sub-continent), African Safari, (Nairobi, Africa ((with a tiger)), plotting in England (European Continent)! Malibu (North America), It would take an author of your caliber to bring it all together, Mark. I am finally catching up on my reading — I have followed the CAP series through all of its Books now — most of them, including Black Widow for the second time and you still continue to amaze me! If I am still alive, I intend to start out with the Gunroom and re-read all the Granger series as well. You have truly lightened my retirement days. All this from my bedroom in Bahia, Brazil — with the Trump Impeachment hearings for intrigue!

For a person who is "not a classic music connoisseur," the music you chose for the wedding processional is really a fine one. I can well see the bridal party moving in a dignified manner up the aisle.

When I finished reading the chapter, I played the Prince of Denmark March, (the Trumpet Voluntary)I can well see why it was chosen as the processional — any organ solo that starts with eight beats of the bass drum is bound to be dramatic for an entry of the wedding party into the church. WOW! It was composed in 1700 and is by an English composer so it suits very well a wedding of the scion of an ancient English family. One question though: as I watched and listened to the piece being played, there were several clips of the footwork the piece requires, I had thought it was usual for the soloist to remove his shoes and play the bass keys in either stocking feet or soft slippers to prevent wear on the surface of the pedals. In this presentation it showed the soloist wearing street shoes. Was my previous reasoning totally wrong about his usual footwear?

The melding of the two families is MOST interesting. I am waiting for the claws to come out. The Duke does not realize what he is facing! Will America win this second Revolutionary War as well? Your typical excellent creativity, Mark.

When I read your chapters, Mark, I am very much reminded of my reading of Hansel and Gretel as a child. You are forever leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in your writing, but just as often some bird or another comes along and eats them all up, leaving us poor readers floundering in a morass of false leads. I love it! Time and again I have gone back eo read something in a previous chapter, found the hint you left for us, only to have it destroyed by some later event.