Graeme

Chapter 7 will be posted on 20th September. I'll start posting on a weekly basis from then. I'm now far enough ahead in my writing that I should be able to keep to that posting rate. Hopefully that reduces the torture slightly

Neil already knows that Jim has a boyfriend. It was mentioned at the press conference when Jim came out. Neil's reaction at the time was to decide that the boyfriend needed competition.... Yes, admitting you have a problem is the first, and most important, step towards getting that problem fixed. Dave's moving in the right direction

Thank you! Clarissa is still getting over her boyfriend coming out. As the old saying goes, "Hell had no fury like a woman scorned." Getting Deon's interactions right in the last scene were one of the trickiest parts of writing in this chapter. It wasn't easy to get the reactions right.

Deon and Sam have too much history. Getting over that isn't going to happen quickly. No, Neil didn't hear Ty's comments about the club. He would've mentioned them if he had. Unlike Neil's father, Ty didn't raise his voice so the whole restaurant could here him.... Unfortunately, yes, Dave's a mess. I'll leave it to you to decide if there's a quick and easy solution to his problems.

Interesting comment on migrant assimilation. Australia is a nation of immigrants, and our experience is it usually takes three generations to assimilate. From what you described, that group are still in the second generation, where cultural/ethnic identities are still uncertain enough that they feel they have to assert them. They're not confident enough to have their own identity while still being part of the large context (that happens with the third generation).

Thursday morning, Dave trudged into Peter’s office and collapsed into the visitor’s seat. Peter wasn’t there, but Dave knew he wouldn’t be far away. While he should’ve waited elsewhere until Peter showed up before entering, Dave didn’t want to see or talk to anyone else. Talking to Charlie the night before had helped him make a decision. It wasn’t a decision he was happy with, but he knew it was one that had to be made. It was time to tell Peter. “Dave! I didn’t expect to see you here,” Peter

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/09/04/jerry-jones-michael-sam-is-not-ready-to-go-at-all/ Short answer, yes, but don't expect him to play any time soon. They think he still needs more work before he'll be able to play at the required level.

This morning, there was an interesting article in the newspaper about a player in the Collingwood Football Club who has taken a stance against a homophobic comment made within the club: Lumumba and Collingwood set to part ways over slur The reference to the "Mardi Gras" in the article is for Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras -- Australia's highest profile 'pride' event. The main reason I'm posting this, though, is because of a couple of comments on the article: I actually thought the same as Paolo -- the reaction from Heritier Lumumba was too strong. However, I also agree with Paolo -- if it offends then it offends. Casual homophobia is not acceptable.

An addition to the PS: You've had time to think about what being gay means. For your parents and friends, it may be the first time they've thought about it. If it took you time to understand and accept it, give them the same. You may have to be the teacher, to explain what it means and to address their concerns. Be prepared. This could all be new to them and they could be lost and confused, so be patient and explain things clearly and without ambiguity.

Rather than echo everyone else's comment, there's one point that I can't help think about. I believe Russell's father hired a private investigator to find him. There now appears to be enough information for that investigator to do so. I'm not sure what Russell's father can do, but I'm expecting him to show up in the story very soon. He has, after all, already been in Denmark looking for Russell. Now that he know where to find him, I'm expecting him to return.

I didn't mean to use the phrase "It's not serious fiction" in a derogative way. To my thinking, there are stories that require a lot of concentration because they are complex, and there are stories that are simply light-hearted enjoyable reads (with a whole spectrum between those two), and that series falls more into the latter group. In my defence, it was one of the series I picked to take on the desert island Essentially, I picked one complex series and one light-hearted series, so I have I choice to read, depending on my mood. I find it interesting that Lord of The Rings is on so many lists. I quite like the story, but it's not a story that I want to keep re-reading. That's true of many of the books listed by others that I've read. There are many great reads...but they're not stories that I would go back and start reading again when I'm finished.

Oops.... It's Jack Campbell, which is the pen-name for John G Henry. I got the first names mixed up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Fleet It's not serious fiction. It's essentially an extended space opera, but I find it an easy, fun read. Of course, since I've read them a few times, I skip over the boring parts

Thank you!

That's tough. I usually prefer reading new books to re-reading old books, but if you're only allowed five, then that means re-reading.... One fairly light series that I keep re-reading (just because I don't have to think while reading) is John Campbell's Lost Fleet series. Another, more involving series, would be L.E.Modesitt Jr's Imager Portfolio series. Since the above covers around twenty books, I might stop at this point. I'm having trouble thinks of books that I would like to keep re-reading. There are some that I do enjoy re-reading from time to time, but not enough to want to re-read a lot (which is what this request is asking).

:joe: Happy Birthday, Iarwain! :joe: 'ave a good weekend, mate!

The following is my personal view only, and while I'm using my experiences as a long term staff member to write this, it is not an official comment in any way To put forward my personal view, the problem with politics is simply that too many people can't be polite.... When arguments and antagonism that starts in a restricted area of the site starts to spill over to other parts, then it endangers the basis for what we are here. There are plenty of sites around the Internet where politics can be discussed. This is not a political site -- it's a story site. Yes, there are politics associated with what we write about, and as this is also a gay community, there are political issues that affect us...but why not discuss them on a site that's about politics? I would love it if politics could be discussed in a sensible, rational way, but six years of experience as a moderator here has told me that good intentions get left behind way too quickly, and things spill over to affect other parts of the site. I'm sad that we can no longer discuss politics in the forums, but we can still discuss them in the blogs if you really want to. Yes, as Zombie points out, the blogs are a bit of a backwater, but that protects the rest of the site from any fallout from a political explosion (and I've seen a few of those in my days). If there is really that much interest in discussing politics, blogs on politics will maintain an interest. If they don't...then that's pretty much saying that it's not really political discussion we want, but rather political ranting. Political discussion: I'm all in favour. Political ranting: I'm very much against. Guess which one we see the most of.... Oh, and on the subject of political humour, the problem is that 90+% of political humour is, at best, poking fun at those who have an opposing view. Those with the opposing view generally find it not funny, which is why we don't allow that, either. Insulting a large number of members because of their political views (and as an Australian, I don't really care if that's Democrat or Republican) is not the way to build a community. There is certainly political humour that all sides in politics can laugh with, but too much isn't like that. Debate and arguments are still allowed here at GA. We don't require sweetness-and-nice, we only require civility. Everyone has their hot-button issues where we lose our civility, and politics is a subject that is a hot-button issue for too many people. I wish it wasn't. If babies was a hot-button issue for a lot of people, that would be the subject that's banned. Er...are babies a hot-button issue for anyone?

Well done, another enjoyable chapter. The Internet Cafe scene was again my favourite -- the interaction between the twins is a real joy. I look forward to when they're finally face-to-face.

A wonderful chapter. Like Headstall, I thought the Internet Cafe scene was fantastic, and I had a smile on my face when I read Chris's email. Well done!

Russell's continue to heal. I have to wonder how much his body-shape had started to change before the camping trip, though. Even though they've been out for awhile, I don't see the camping as having gone long enough for any noticeable changes. That implies to me that Russell started to change during his senior year, but didn't realise it.

A nicely paced opening chapter. I especially liked the little details, such as the biosecurity concerns. Coming from an island nation, biosecurity is a big thing here. The other thing I noticed was how Russell had really bad memories of his last trip, but when we found out the details, it was a single incident at the end that ruined the trip for him. I had been expecting much worse, though I don't want to trivialised what happened. It was more that Russell's thoughts heavily flavoured my expectations as to what happened, when it was really the aftermath (the long sickness and the separation from his twin) that was the real pain.

Thank you! I'll admit that with so many events happening, giving each character their time in the spotlight is difficult. But they'll all get their turn

LOL -- thank you!

Thank you. Don't forget to check out the forum thread for Timothy's view on what's going on... You may or may not agree with him

Thank you! Do you have something against stalkers...?

I agree with a number of those predictions, and disagree with a handful of others. Some I don't have an opinion on -- I don't know enough. As for politics, I remember the Soap Box. It's really unfortunate that there's too many people who can't discuss politics without making personal attacks. I've been seeing the same thing in comment threads at some Australian news sites, so it's not an American phenomenon. Was politics always this partisan, or has it been getting worse over the last decade?