Bondwriter

Come on, something has happened to the CJ we knew! 15 posts in a thread dedicated to him and still no reply? I was only kidding CJames, come back! Unless you're extremely busy (and logged in) because of the anthology!

I didn't get it. Maybe the voices besides Jack Bauer's are supposed to be dialoggues of some other pop culture thing unknown from me. But I found a great video on the same site "Roger Daltrey loves the Wii".

Old Bob's comment triggers a few thoughts. This cannot be happening. This is a superhuman feat. Hence, let us think rationally and see what possible, plausible explanations can be given. 1/ CJames is in league with the Devil. Hence the hooves, the fact he almost never sleeps, his uncanny ability to post. I'd tend to reject this first hypothesis, since there is no evidence of such an embodiment of evil existing. Evil doesn't need it/ him to flourish, obviously. 2/ CJames is a robot. As these robot spammers, he's a piece of cleverly programmed computer software. If this hypothesis is a reality, then it must be part of a secret government program. And these people are good. Way good. 3/ CJames is an actual man, who's in the process of testing some forum invasion software. Clues: the repetition of some message (I'm just a shy, quiet lurker) that could be automatically generated. Maybe this software also allows for a participation in games. For instance, in the Person Below Me, the software has a number of sentences already made, that it posts at appropriate moments. Then the human being behind it does customize other messages a computer couldn't produce. 4/ None of the above. CJames actually exists and did all of the 3000 posts. Back to square one, but the enigma remains.

Congratulations to CJames for the numbers, but this little feud with Jack might have prevented the maple syrup pusher to get done with his own chapter. This doesn't call for any cheers.

Obviously, CJames, you're not working for the Arizona Board of Tourism!

The big legend about l

Congratulations! And now, let's cross our fingers so it doesn't get lost and forgotten in some exec's drawer, but finds its way onto the screen!

Obviously you never clicked on my signature's first line. *turns around and cries* Well I'll go write my cameo in your thread... Back on topic: Yeah CJames, it's highly likely you might mix religion and sinful sex (like Thaddeus adopting the practices of the Foreign Legion, but you wouldn't do that, would you?) One small detail: being pretty much a sucker for ant dumb TV cop show with forensics in it, in which they find a hair and are able to have a DNA analysis within a half-hour - it didn't strike me at first. But then I wondered - since you seem to be intent on having a fiction that could happen in reality - do they really fingerprint people on the spot in Arizona?

You don't even want to know how much it cost me to get this extra confidential information.

Jack, do not antagonize the goat! Here is how it's gonna end (as from the report of the PI I paid to hack into CJames' computer): Chapter 47 - The Showdown (...) Thaddeus stepped out of the shadow and into the bleak whitish spot the streetlight shed onto the ill-maintained Piedmont street. "So, you made it, Mr Legivre? No hassling by the nosey Lonesome Valley Sheriff?" "No, everything's all right, not to worry..." Jacques Legivre was quite a match to Thaddeus. These two were quite the yin and yang of crime in this part of Arizona. Legivre had been raised in Pennsylvania, but having opted for a life of easy money and hence of crime, he had gotten in touch with his Canadian background. As smuggling maple syrup to Buffalo had proved rather tiring and not the cash-maker he thought it would be, he had turned to bringing caribou antlers illegally into the USA. It was a much more lucrative business, and it had gotten him connected with the seediest underworld. That's how he had met Thaddeus; if it all worked out well, he'd be a rich man before the week was over. "Have you got what I'm willing to buy?" "Yes, it was a piece of cake to get from these kids. They were about to make out," Thaddeus frowned with both disgust and envy, "when this guy Steve's mom came in and asked them to run some errand.The coast was clear, and I just had to grab the data stick from the desk." He handed the grey rectangle to Thaddeus. "You, moronic piece of crap! This is not a data stick! This is a lighter!" (...)

Modern evil at work: A method that has proved it works to lay off workers cannot be really bad, can it? And thanks to statisticians, who revel in charts and spreadsheets, you only need to look at the numbers you know you want to get! O Brave New World! I like the idea of standard procedures implemented to get an ISO 9001 certified board though.

I should say celebrating quantity instead of quality leads to some posting frenzy that seems to have more the counter in focus than the syntax, grammar and overall meaning. This post should have been titled: "Graem, the great poster" and have started with praise and review of Graeme's posting quality, and THEN mentioned the fact he had hit the 1000 posts mark. *picks up the phone and calls a PI to investigate on why Jack is so mad at CJames. There's something fishy...*

The Mount could refer to the place... Could be some sexual innuendo... Could be an increase... Polysemia, watch out, here comes the goat!

Pun intended? Or late night bloop?

Translation: I too want to become part of your great narrative, CJames, with chapters such nicely spaced in time. You rock, wonderful goat.

Sorry but with teacher, and Occult, I couldn't help but think of a modern witch.

Just hope there will be cameos for the zeta-readers as well... A hint for the author: For the Love Chapter 49 (...) Steve and I closed the gates of the large warehouse in which Thaddeus had lured us. Little did the evil fundamentalist know who had been helping us since chapter 15. And who once again had gotten us out from his claws. As we approached the table on which the preacher was spreadeagled, BW, this mysterious and sexy adventurer addressed the ex man of the cloth in his husky voice, to which a hint of an accent added to the man's appeal: "So, Thaddeus, you thought you could ruin these fine young men's lives with your evil ploys? You got them shot at, you had their car bombed, you almost got them burned at the stake, not even mentioning the fact you've got their pics all over the Internet, you dastardly rascal!" The good-looking Frenchman approached Thaddeus' helpless writhing form, eliciting a scared grunt from the wretch. "And you're no Houdini, are you?" He turned to Steve. "My man, a clove hitch this poorly knotted would get any cub scout to blush!" Steve was a bit pissed, but he had got the knot-tying out of the way quickly for he had not been able to kiss me since chapter 18. "Yeah, sure, BW, but he can't move, can he?" BW smiled at us. "OK guys, get out of the way before Steve's dad comes and asks you to go rescue Veronica from some newly-found peril... I'll take it from here." I couldn't help but feel special as I felt Steve's hand on my shoulder. We had a long night ahead...

Know your foe A change in point of view Dr Moss entered the room. Well, this time, at least all students were there. Not like the first time she had come, taking over this class after the untimely demise of Dr Heim. Dr Heim's lax policies made him uncannily popular among the student's body. But Dr Moss would have none of this. What she wanted was not only her students to pass the exam, but also to be better readers in the occult field. Of course she could easily have cast a spell over the whole class, but this would have been much too easy. Her father had taught her the value of effort, and she would pass it on to these kids. She chuckled inwardly thinking of being in the Dean's office, claiming she could use magic to get her students to know all of the reading list's content, AND being able to use it cleverly. But she did not let her inner emotions show. She patted her hair bun and went in lecture mode. Not for long. It was 9:31AM, and this young man walked in. She looked at him with her piercing eyes. Her powers allowed her to see he was about to make some excuse (laaaame! she thought) about some personal problem that had to be taken care of. Obviously he had not had breakfast. She chanted a few lines inside her mind. "By the time this class ends, you'll be so hungry you'll make plans to wake up earlier and manage otherwise next time!" At least, there were a few satisfactions in this otherwise dull job...

That was really helpful, thank you! Though this character is suspected of being the evil mastermind by some, he keeps a nice level of morality to this fiction, preventing excesses or overly graphic descriptions. Not like OTHER SHERIFFS of ill repute around these parts...

I tend to disagree with you on this one. I just finished this Michael Connelly, The Narrows, and I got the opposite impression. A seasoned detective, a bunch of FBI profilers find clues that, to any average reader of such fiction, or even the average CSI watcher, scream to high heavens of what they mean, and here are the characters, all puzzled and clueless. So when Steve and Chris, who have been mulling this situation over and over for the last few weeks find more evidence, and learn more about the infamous Piedmont sheriff shenanigans (like having a minor at his house without telling the parents, what does that say about his morality?), the pieces fall into place. And as you point out, maybe they're being mislead (and so are we, poor readers in the hands of the ruthless CJames...) The deer false alarm is fun. I'm starting to regret not to have a paperback copy of the whole thing.

I'm not exactly up to date as how the ranking system works. I noticed that at some point, I turned to a darker shade of pink. And I now have "prolific" in front of member, though I did not add much in terms of writing input (a couple poems I didn't announce and two pages in NJ's round robin). But if indeed there is no official name yet for someone going over 3,000 posts, "quiet lurker" or "shy lurker", the understatement of the millenium of a poor soul who's in total denial could be a way to recognize the postholism and give hooved ones a little peace. Sowie sprach BW...

Cheers, mate! And yes, the quality factor is not easily recorded electronically, but it sure shows in your posts. And I can't help noticing CJames joy at having "heavy posting" buddies; definitely a sign of addiction...

The fact there was mystery and action was what got me interested in the story. The whole teenage romance genre (I didn't see it as teen angst, but yeah...) is fun to read too, and I actually got into reading romance for the first time in my life. And like it. But fiction in which the characters' sexual orientation is an aside more than the focus of the story is great, and what I'm after. I haven't read much from the hosted/ shared authors (shame on me), but I hope to have some nice surprises over the next few months. I'm a reader of lots of different genres, but I now know what I can actually write, and there is a little niche and demand for the type of fiction I do, and it allows me to explore various genres too.

Good sign: the discussion is drifting off-topic, and we're getting some friendly bickering... This means the new chapter 12 is about to be released, like two days from now, or... a bit more ? No, Crystal Ball, you're wrong, you're wrong! Not three days!