Clancy59

A new story? I thought you would be done. I like this from Benden’s perspective. There was very little description of how they handled all of this since the focus in the book was on Fort and Lessa. A plague? I just don’t remember that scenario as an excuse in the book. Or is this just a method to keep the Benden folk in the Weyr and isolated so they won’t get an inkling of what is really going on. I know the Benden leadership knew the truth, but kept it a secret, not even putting it in the records. I guess it’s one explanation for the Lower caves, the Holders and the common folk for why the 5 Weyrs were so suddenly and inexplicably abandoned overnight. The only hints were the tapestry and the new Learning Song that was now mandatory for everyone across Pern. That way, 400 Turns in the future, Lessa would be able to puzzle it all out and set all of this in motion. And I remember her telling the Guild Masters that she couldn’t tell them anything because it had to come from them! That drove them buggy!

Wow! First chapter of a new book and already you have 3 pages of commentary! Have you had your fix of admiration now? I don’t think you will ever have to worry about how people will accept your stories., especially CJ stories. We await them all with bated breath! I am assuming you will be following the regular Friday posting schedule since you commented that you have the next chapter coming tomorrow (Friday). I can hardly wait!

CJ! I was so happy to see your name in the lineup this morning and to find out that this was the next story in the CJ Universe. Nice way to introduce some of the players in this story—a cocktail party. A Russian intelligence officer makes contact within days of their arrival? And he’s let them know just how much they’ve prepped for their arrival. Wow. They must think he’s very important. But they have no idea who they are dealing with, no matter how much research they’ve done on CJ and Ozzie. They are about to find out they’ve bitten off more than they can chew, even with the recall.

Glad to see you back, but very sad to read this chapter. The entire time I was reading with tears, remembering my Mom when we got her diagnosis after she developed uterine cancer 10 years after successfully fighting breast cancer. In her case, the treatment was what got her. She had been treated with Tamoxifen at a time when they didn’t truly understand its ramifications and it led to complications years after she should have been clear. By the time we finally figured things out, she was also inoperable. We lost her within 6 months. This is going to be a hard story to read.

You go, Timothy! Hopefully, Ann Marie will actually learn something! Stephen has a lot of learning coming over the next few years, but Gramps is doing it the right way. He’s not just handing the reins to him. He’s making him earns his stripes in the trenches with the regular folk. Not only will Stephen gain a true understanding of everything that goes into running this business, but the employees will develop a respect for him because he puts in honest work—it’s his ethic—instead of expecting everything to simply be handed to him because he is “The Golden Child” (sound familiar, Ann Marie?).

Kamakazi. I just noticed it was misspelled. Not hard at 1:30 am.

No matter how much abuse your child gives you, it can be very hard to turn your back on them when they are hurting. This is your child, even if the child is an adult. Timothy has to put his foot down with his parents, especially his mother, and not let them be taken advantage of by this leech of a sister. He can do it because he really has no ties to her. She left him so long ago that any connection has evaporated completely in the interim. Hopefully he can find a loophole in that pre-nup that will save them all!

HA! The Dan Ryan! The people in Wisconsin swear the Chicago locals play kamazi if you have an out-of-state plate, and that’s once you get off the parking lot that is I80 going around the south end of the lake. The first time I took my husband around Chicago (please note I said AROUND, NOT THROUGH), it took us over 3 hours to go from I80 to the north end of Chicago where we were getting off to go to my brother’s house in Rockford to pick up my niece, a distance of 50-60 miles, tops. The entire time he was ranting and raving. He was a retired traffic engineer for our state and had helped build 95% of the interstate there, so he knew how freeways are supposed to work. When we finally got to my brother’s house, my SIL asked how our trip had been. I could see him about to explode about the I290 and I quickly interjected that it had taken us the 3 hours. My SIL looked at us with wide eyes and said, “Wow! You flew!” Have you ever seen someone actually swallow their tongue? I have when Hubby heard THAT comment!

Oh! I read that one! And I saw the movie. Truly frightening! They do the same ‘stranger’ thing in New England. I’ve lived here for almost 35 years now and still don’t feel like I really belong much of the time. Thankfully, I married into a very lovely, welcoming family. They almost disowned ‘Uncle’ when we almost broke up!

20 years of minimal contact, then 10 of none. And she expects to walk straight in to her childhood room? AND have the siblings she doesn’t even know to acknowledge serve her? Wow. My parents didn’t like conflict and would try to smooth things over in the name of family peace (I have a witch for a SIL who actually told my mother at the wedding that she was nothing. On video.). But, they wouldn’t put up with this. My dad, for one, had very little patience with entitled egotists. Mom could people, even strangers, in their place with The Look. Mom and Dad will have to lay out the rules (hopefully without Timothy and Stephen busting a gut laughing!). She is low man on the totem pole here and will have to contribute the household, whether physically and/or financially.

So, now Grant owns Rupert’s Grange, such as it is. Maybe he can either sell it or donate it to The National Trust. At least he’ll get something from the ‘marriage.’

My head is spinning! So much detail! I cannot imagine the amount of research you’ve had to do to get all this into the story. Is there really an idea for slowing climate change? That would be SO wonderful! If he’s going to cancel any part of this trip, Toledo, Detroit and the UP is the part to do so. Sorry to anyone from that area, but, while the surrounding areas are gorgeous, the ride is long and tedious and there’s not much to stop for. (Well, Frankenmunth and Bronner’s is worth it, but…) I do know, I’ve done it.

Good. It’s just that it wouldn’t be the first time a character had an illness that prevented him/her from caring from a child properly. I wasn’t sure if her condition was illness or circumstantial issues leading to health problems. Thank you for clearing that up.

(BTW, I was able to find Dragonflight and Dragonquest at my local public library for my Kindle! I’m just waiting for it to come in.Someone else is reading it now!)

Well, they’re off to the future and new adventures, new friends new dangers and new enemies! I really appreciate your imaginative story (as well as the rest of your stories) of what happened in the Weyrs during and after the end of the Eighth Pass as they are presented with the chance for a new life 400 Turns in the future. Anne and Tom dealt with the hierarchy of the Weyrs and their issues, which had enough drama to fill all those books, but the Lower Cavern people deserved having their stories told also, and you did this beautifully.

Timothy and Stephen are getting settled into their new life. I laughed when everyone asked Stephen to set up a system for them once they saw what he could do. He’s making business for himself and he doesn’t even know it! @Anton_Cloche, I don’t think Mrs. Olman minds too much that Randy has been ‘adopted’ by the guys. They are good guys and worthy role models. She is taking the ‘Dad’ thing as the joking thing that it is today. If it continues, I think the two, or maybe the four, of them need to sit down and have a talk. Mostly to smooth ruffled feathers. The guys are not trying to take Randy away from her, but he is finding the young adult males he needs in his life in them. If, heaven forbid, the worst happens and she becomes ill again, it’s more likely that the guys would become guardians. If not them, then Timothy’s parents, since he is living with them. The thing is that Randy is old enough to, technically, be on his own. Didn’t he graduate high school, or is about to do so? If so, he would just need a home base until he graduates college and either household would happily do that.

You mentioned converted railway stations several times. Some cities have been very creative in re-imagining usage of these facilities. I went to a conference several years ago with a group of friends (in Indianapolis?) and our hotel was in one of these converted places. Our rooms were the railway cars! We had 2 double beds, a sitting area and a full bathroom. Each car had a theme. I think ours was ‘Rock-and-Roll.’ Our group was assigned to 2 cars that shared a platform, so we were able to visit each other easily. They even fixed the stairs so that it was easier to get up and down than on a running train. On top of that, it was attached to a mall and we were able to go to restaurants and do some shopping very easily.

Bigots never learn. Especially those of the redneck type. They talk big until they are called to task by authority. Then they tuck tail and run for cover. Let’s just hope these guys don’t come out for revenge.

It was a long wait for this chapter (I hope it will not happen again!), but it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT! This story gets more complicated and convoluted with every sentence! I’m going to have to reread the whole thing, because I’m getting confused about some of the characters! LOL! But that’s what makes this one so very much worth the wait. I get so excited every time I see it in the lineup. I actually start shaking! LOL! Keep up the great work, and keep it coming quickly. These are great, deep characters with a well-written, well-thought-out story. I can hardly wait to see where it goes.

I said before that Puppy was not showing the classic signs of alcohol dependency, but that he could easily let it get out of hand. That is exactly what is beginning to show up here. There is nothing wrong with going out for drinks with friends. It’s a rite of passage, especially for young males. And even if you are going out for dinner, especially at a steak house, they usually have a liquor license. It’s hard to avoid anywhere. He has to learn that just because it’s available, it doesn’t mean he has to avail himself of it. Personally, I have very little taste for alcohol. About the only thing I can palette is something like Bailey’s or Riesling. I can do a white zin, if I have to. Otherwise, it’s iced tea.

Sometimes, in small, family-owned businesses like this, the head receptionist/secretary, if she/he has been there long enough to become intimately involved in both the business and the family dynamics, becomes an ancillary member of the family. Obviously, Clair thinks of herself as a second mother, or at least an honorary Auntie, to Stephen and allowed to make these kind of personal criticisms. (As an actual, and/or honorary, Auntie to over 40 nieces and nephews (and more coming!), I would never make most kinds of criticisms to them or their families. I would just think them! 😊). Stephen, Sr. put the kabosh on that thought immediately. Good for him. He may depend on her for a lot of daily issues in his business, but he just told her she is not indispensable or irreplaceable. He and Stephen’s mother have accepted Timothy as Stephen, Jr.’s husband and that’s all that matters. Her negativity and homophobia is unwanted and won’t be tolerated here. Then he sealed the deal by walking away with Timothy while embracing him.

ARGH!!! This is AGONY! I know I said I wanted you to get into how the Weyrfolk dealt with Lessa’s appearance because Anne didn’t really get into discussing the activities of the lower caves and what happened there. You have completely satisfied my desires, as far as that is concerned. However, to realize that you have only ONE CHAPTER left to lead into GAGA, as well as Anne’s Dragonquest, is painful! Please tell us you are posting tomorrow! Now I have to go dig out my copy of Dragonquest from wherever I stockpiled it and reread it! I wonder if my local Library has it for Kindle?

Preparation for a major exam like that is enough to make a person physically ill. I’m not surprised he was so engrossed with writing the answers that he lost track of time, although I’m surprised there were no bathroom breaks. (On the other hand, if he wasn’t drinking any water, he wouldn’t need a break, would he?! 😝) I don’t think Steven would have any problem naming their first child after Donnie, considering how close he and Tim had been. It’s a lovely way to honor someone, especially if he is no longer there. We recently had a new baby in our family and they paid us the ultimate honor of naming him after my husband. When they told me, I started crying, understanding what they were telling him. He finds it difficult to believe. He keeps asking if they named the baby after HIS uncle and/or cousin. I just think he can’t believe they would think that highly of him. He doesn’t understand that he is the family patriarch. It’s always been someone else. Adding Steven’s name as a middle name would be quite appropriate, also. That’s what they did in our case. The Daddy’s name is the baby’s middle name. (Sorry for the ramble. Put it down to me just waking up, I guess.)

Some people just have certain ideas. I don’t know if they are egotistical or not. My maternal grandmother, whom I never met, was called Mother by her only child. Not Mama. Not Mom. Mother. As a result, I have always referred to her as Grandmother, not Grandma or Gran or whatever. My dad’s mom, who I did know and had some strange ideas about appropriate public behavior (lots of stories, not enough room or time for them here), was called Gran, not Grandma. Hopefully, Steven’s mother will unfreeze a bit and look at the real situation before she risks losing her son and ostracizing her husband! Graduation day is going to be a BUSY day!

Hunter’s letter is him still trying to control Puppy, even while he is in prison. ‘Don’t leave me or I’ll do something stupid like commit suicide.’ Notify the prison officials and let them put him on suicide watch, then ignore him. Wash your hands clean of him. Puppy is MUCH better off as far away from him as possible. Loved the way Mum JUMPED at the chance to have him move back home! Also, her shock at the revelation about Stevie. Steve may have been upset that Puppy ‘spilled the beans’ about him, but I know he’s happy Puppy will be returning also. If he is staying the night, will he be offering to take things back to the house tomorrow to get started with the Prodigal Son’s return?