Mark Arbour

Thanks. We have a ways to go on this story, so no worries.

I really think you need to conjure up more attractive people next time.

Well, I'll tackle questions 2 and 3. 2. I do the same thing you do. All of my main characters have been based on people I have known. For example, the character of John Travers in my Bridgemont Series originally derived from a bartender on a cruise ship. He had a "Dutch" nose, and was amazingly handsome. I can't remember the last time I've had that much to drink on a cruise. The character of Jeff Hayes, from my CAP Series, was inspired by a cousin of mine. Unlike Jeff, he's still alive. Barely. 3. Get pissed off. I think it's like acting; you have to get into form. I have to be careful to write my fight scenes at night when no one else is up, otherwise my mood might be such that I might make the fight scene real. Another alternative is for me to have a conversation with Myr immediately before writing said scene. Both are effective. If you're not into it, the fight comes off lame. I think it's also important to stay in character. Some people fight dirty, some people don't fight at all. What is your character like? How will he react to an unpleasant and provocative situation?

And it's posted. Another chapter that sets the stage for future events. The next one gets more exciting. I'll try to get it posted in a week.

December 14, 1796 Granger sat in his cabin, finalizing all of his preparations to accommodate Nelson. He had been candid with Jervis, in that he had picked the market clean of delicacies, but he feared that would still not be enough. In the fleet, a captain was often judged by his table, and Granger had a reputation as one of the better hosts. It was important to him that he maintain that perception, especially with Nelson on board. Belvidera had carried other officers before

Within the next 24 hours. I'm setting a personal goal to post a new chapter at least every 10 days. I know that sounds like a long time, but it takes a while to hammer these out.

Your professor, presumably an English professor, might garner more credibility if he/she had said "Details ARE what interests the reader...."

Thanks for that link. An interesting article to be sure. The reason I polled this group is because one of the brothers (at least) is gay, so I wanted to see if that changed the dynamic. I'm guessing it didn't. LOL. See, it does happen. I'm always getting crap for the fact that none of the rooms in Escorial or at Malibu seem to have door locks.

Here's the deal. I don't have a brother, so I can't answer this question, but for those of you who did, I'm wondering what degree of sexual contact you had in the formative years. So when you (or he) started going through puberty, did you compare dicks or jack off in front of each other? Was this something that brothers are relatively open about, or is it something that they'd kind of keep as a private thing? This becomes an issue for me as I'm writing my CAP Series, and I have three brothers (Darius, Will, and JJ) in one family and five (Gathan, Zach, Brent, Trent, and Zeke) in another, and I'm trying to evaluate how much contact they would have had with each other.

I think you'll find the contest to be somewhat interesting. It raised a few hackles with some members of my editing team.

A compatibility issue? We'll have to see. I think that Darius is just getting back at Will for being so snarky. He's taking potshots at Will, like brothers do.

I agree with you. When characters are over 19/20 years old, it's easy to write "happily ever after" stories. Not so at 14. It just rarely happens. I think what can happen, though, is those people can come and go from someone's life. Berto may not be Will's forever guy right now, but he may be Will's forever guy in ten years. Or not. ;-)

I'm trying to think of a handsome man Stef ISN'T interested in. Maybe one he's related to? Even then...

LOL!!

July 25, 2000 Claremont, Ohio Gathan I was nervous as we drove up to the Hendricksons’ mansion. Her parents were sure to hate me now. I’d spirited their daughter off to Europe, we’d gotten into a big fight, and then she’d booked herself on a flight that had ended up crashing. “You’re nervous,” she said, stating the obvious. “Duh,” I said. “Your parents are going to hate me. I almost got their daughter killed.” She paused to think about that. “Why don’t yo

Well said. I always figured you were a top.

You guys clearly underestimate the value of cheap thrills.

I'm saying that men, all men, need to explore their boundaries. If you never cross the border, how do you know what it's like on the other side? That's very sad, and very true.

Some of these things that you present as weaknesses, like being hot-headed and passionate, are in fact I think some of your good traits.

What makes a person slutty? Is it the total number of partners in your life, the average weekly/monthly total, or rather, is it a consistent thing vs. a phase thing? And is sluttiness in general a "bad" thing?

That was a fascinating post! One clarification: I didn't say all GAY men, I said all men. I think straight guys could use a foreign guy experience. Just one. It will be good for them. The slutty issue..well...maybe I'll address that in another thread.

I think this should be a rule for all American males in real life. I think they should all have sex with a hot foreign guy. Just once. Think of how that would change our world.

I've gotten some grief from a few people about that: about shifting the tale away from Gathan. There are good reasons for that, but I suspect the lead role will serpentine back and forth between them until the story is done.

I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!!! I wasn't specific about amounts in trust for Ella, but your'e right, there would be restrictions on the money. JP said it wouldn't be available to her until she was 18, so even if there is a lot of money, that won't really be available to get her a car. I'm not sure that Marie would have worried about equalizing money out among Rich's kids....I think she'd be interested in setting some money aside to make sure that the young lady had a good education and was comfortable. No one knows how much is in the trust, since it isn't something I have to dream up right now.

Really? I'm not sure about that.