Mark Arbour

September 15, 2003 New York, NY JJ “That was quite the day,” Stef said, as he and I collapsed into the soft seats of the Maybach. All I really wanted to do was sit there, say nothing, and try not to be in a pissed off mood, but Stef was evidently insistent on having a conversation, just one of the many things he’d done to seriously annoy me today. “It was,” I agreed, forcing myself to be in a good mood, even though it took a herculean effort. We’d gon

Part of the way I got my head back into writing was going over and re-reading my old stories. Inevitably, that lead me to find some errors and annoyances, and I ultimately opted to try and fix those. I had done that in the e-book file format, but that was before I realized that GA no longer has an e-book section. Anyway, it is my intention to update those stories where I made changes, but it may take me a while. I'm also planning to post them in e-book format on Amazon, just for those who like to read old stories in that format. I'll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, if you see activity for an old story, that's what's happening. One of the biggest changes you'll notice is on multi-author books. Originally, I'd just changed the font and color to designate different characters, but a very helpful reader pointed out that it would be better to show the character's name in the beginning of that segment. That's how I've been doing it for quite a while now, but when I make these changes, you'll see that becomes universal, and you'll see that the fonts are now the same.

Very good. You're on your game!

Happy Birthday!

Sorry about that. I did some editing to make the story better, and in fact, that’s one of the ways I worked my way back to writing. Nothing substantive has changed, though, just took care of some nit picky things that bugged me. I’ll update the other chapters as well.

Thanks! Lots of delays, and it just gets colder.

Thanks for your comments, and for still reading! I think that Stef nailed it perfectly: JJ is too immature to handle Carullo, or probably anyone.

September, 1800 HMS Valiant, The Baltic “It is stunning that what took us three days to transit while heading east has taken us two weeks going in the opposite direction,” Daventry grumbled. “Our merchant friends are a lubberly lot,” Granger said with a smile. “You must also factor in the foul weather and winds.” “I would suspect that saving those merchants will do much to erase your unpopularity with their brethren when they return to England,” Daventry

September 15, 2003 Escorial, CA Will I yawned, even as I walked into the kitchen. Stef and Grand were the only ones there other than the kitchen staff, and they were doing their typical morning routine. Grand was reading the paper while Stef watched the news at the same time he read some report. “Good morning,” Stef said pleasantly. “Good morning,” I said, and yawned again. “Sorry.” “I take it you were up late,” Stef said, but it was really a question.

Thanks. Three more days.

Thank you very much.

Spot on, although I always pictured Darius as having features that were a bit pointier.

The odds are good. 🙂

That's exactly what I"m going to do.

Thank you very much!

Greetings everyone! I hope this finds you all well, and you don't hate me for being such a sparse poster (and all but ghosting) for so long. I've been really busy these past few years, and the results of that were that I finally earned my PhD (thanks for all the good wishes!). Anyway, all that academic writing clogged my creative brain (SMILE), but I think I've unblocked that. I'm planning to start posting new chapters again for both Northern Exposure and Black Widow starting on Bastille Day.

The Norwegian Pavilion at Epcot had a ride called "Maelstrom", which has since been turned into a ride for Frozen 😡 Either before or after the ride, a Norwegian voice that pelted out that "to know Norway is to know the sea." It stuck in my memory.

Very good! I don't know if you're the only one playing, but you're the person who won!

I had to double check to make sure Chapter 13 was within the last five chapters.

No, it's within the last 5 chapters.

I don’t think I was clear. It’s at least a sentence long. And here’s a hint: Disney

September, 1800 HMS Valiant, The Baltic “Mr. Llewellyn, signal the convoy to heave to,” Granger ordered, even as he grappled with the dilemma in front of him. He had to take possession of two captured ships, and he still had four merchants that he needed to chase down and recapture. “Aye aye, my lord,” he acknowledged. “Mr. Weston, I want you to go take possession of the smaller frigate and assess the damage,” Granger ordered. “Aye aye, my lord,” he

Sometimes, just for fun, I'll put a modern term into a historical story. A good example would be in "Master and Commander", when Granger is approaching Port St. Louis, they must hoist the recognition signal, which is 4-20. There's one in Northern Exposure. Did you find it?

September, 1800 HMS Valiant, Near Bornholm Granger paced the deck with Daventry, pondering the action they’d had yesterday with the French privateer, and further pondering their next steps. “I slept quite happily last night,” Daventry said. “Indeed?” Granger asked. “Whenever my mind shifted to unpleasant thoughts, I had but to imagine Lord Whitworth trying to untangle this latest mess you’ve tossed in his lap to make me smile most broadly,” he said.

My initial thoughts on Dillon are that he's a rebound, but then again, that's quite subject to change. 😉