Former Member

I wish I had been so lucky! I was forced to attend Sunday School until U started working. Time-and-a-half Sunday pay was another benefit (until they unilaterally decided that Sunday was a regular retail business day and that not only would they stop paying extra, but that we weren’t allowed to change our availability even though most of s only worked on Sundays to get the extra money!).

It’s 4:30am here in California. I was just about to go to sleep, but then a Notification popped up. I figured a Flash in the Pan would be a quick, easy read. My mistake! ;–) I can identify with some of what was discussed. My father was a conservative Protestant minister. But while he could, no doubt, quote chapter and verse, he didn’t do that very often. He wasn’t like the ministers portrayed on TV and in movies. We generally only prayed before dinner was served, and when I was little, before bed. My father never interrupted an argument to lead a group prayer. His church was definitely his first priority and we knew we came in second to his job. In the decades before answering machines (and definitely before cellphones), we were his answering service. I learned very young, how to take a complete message for him, including the name of the person calling, the time and date, the message itself, and a phone number. We would get phone calls at all times of the day and night even though he had regular office hours during weekdays. We had firm instructions to interrupt his meals without alerting the caller to that fact. I resented his priorities and chosen profession. Aside from politicians, few parents have jobs that require their kids to act better than everyone else. There is special attention paid to PKs (Preacher’s Kids) and any fault or misbehavior by the child is seen as a reflection on the minister. It’s not fun to live under a magnifying glass. Fortunately we lived in large cities and school classmates generally had no idea what my father did for a living. We were forced to spend more time at church than most of the members. But my father attended prayer meetings, board meetings, deacon’s meetings, and meetings associated with the groups the church was a member of or affiliated with. If there was a break-in, my father was called. If a window was broken, he fixed it. When someone was sick or in the hospital, my father would go visit them. I think the worst was probably an end of life watch. I don’t know how much training he had, but he offered counseling for all sorts of problems. (I’d overhear tiny little tidbits occasionally.) My mother cut the stencil for the mimeographed church bulletin and Sunday program (as well as programs for funerals and other events) and my father ran the mimeograph machine. (The first change was to a copy machine process and later a computer. At his last church, he had an executive assistant so my mother no longer had to do those things.) I doubt the church members were ever aware of just how much my father did. I remember a cowboy-themed Sunday comic strip where a minister is shown doing all sorts of chores during the week and an oblivious parishioner wishes to the minister that he too had a job where he ‘only had to work one day a week.’ But my being Gay was an issue with my parents. It was never really resolved except that they didn’t want to talk about it. My father realized that if he made too big of a deal, I’d separate myself from my family even more than I did. When we were young and particularly bad, we would get paddled. If we tried to throw a tantrum at home, we were sometimes pushed out the front door and the door was locked. If we were too antsy during worship service, my mother would pinch us. If we caused a disturbance in public, we were taken outside or to the car, sometimes a shopping trip would be cancelled. Asking for things like toys or candy almost never worked. It didn’t matter which parent we asked, we were told exactly the same thing every time, “It’s too expensive, we can’t afford it.” And 45 minutes later, I’m done. I’m sorry most of it is tangental to your story. But this is what came up for me. Stay safe and stay healthy! Social distancing works. We’ll get through this. ;–)

I hadn’t thought to count! ;–) But even when you borrow your inspiration, you still create intricate plots that have reverberations back and forth throughout the two books! I never would have connected the little fairy/elf/otherworldly creature in your most recently written story with the character (who I will not identify, not even in a spoiler) in the other series! Until you revealed that to me in an email. I tend to only see the surface of the story. I don’t try to find deeper parallels outside the two Rothenian series. Especially with locations, you’ve used special places more than once. Enemies tend to come from the same geographic direction as well (and have similar proclivities even when they are separated by hundreds of years). ;–)

I think Trout is practicing Social Distancing. It’s difficult to plan a conspiracy when you can’t meet in person. It might be easier to spy on your enemies when everyone is wearing face coverings though! ;–)

I’m getting some déjà vu. Kind of a double déjà vu actually! I think I can remember similar upcoming scenes happening in two different stories. The White Stag is another one of those mystical Rothenian phenomena. ;–)

I never said that farce was a bad thing.

There have been several ludicrously improbable situations. RudePenny and hatman, for example, were crude characterizations. There are too many examples of buffoonery and horseplay to document. ;–)

A farce is a comically exaggerated view of the world. It takes things that happen and amplify them. And it puts numerous things together that would be unlikely to happen to a single person or family. And then it adds a few more, just for good measure! ;–)

Lots of teenagers are in open relationships! They just don’t know it… ;–)

Considering that I’m slightly shorter than the US male average height, I’m sure the much greater height gives him a better perspective on the goings on. ;–)

I remember a TV comedy where they were playing Monopoly and one of the guys was losing badly. He asked his opponents if he could pay what he owed with money out of his wallet. Greedily, they agreed. ;–)

US$50 or CA$50? With my luck, it’ll be NT$50 [US$1.66] (New Taiwan Dollar). ;–)

It was almost a Beatles reference too! ;–)

Thanks more to Billy’s parents than his own mother! ;–)

The combination of Tim and Wayne is much greater than each of them individually, and that’s saying a lot since they’re both such great writers! :–)

GA needs to have a farce tag. This story has gotten wilder with each new book. I realize that Kaleb and Davis are overwhelmed by having three toddlers all at once. But someone needs to exert some control over the babies. Someone needs to be the adult. It’s like having a dog who senses that it doesn’t have to obey directions from the betas and omegas in the pack because he (or she) is the alpha. Too many parents allow their children to make all the decisions in the family. Children need to learn that they cannot always get their way just by having a tantrum. The adults need to act like adults. The parents need to act like parents. Establish boundaries and enforce them. If they don’t, they’ll be visiting them in prison.

;–)

And we’ve learned where the title came from! ;–)

Poor Justin! First he’s defunded of all his hair, now he’s apparently been shot. I’m hoping it’s not too serious though. Now all we need is an Eastnet investigative reporter snooping around the area! ;–)

People who received your other ‘writing’ would have been very displeased. And probably had to pay a fine on their tickets. Since you’ve retired from that job, you probably still have residual discomfort associated with writing! (I’m glad I never got any of them, I got enough speeding tickets from the CHP – one was 102 mph in a 55 mph zone [164/88 kph].) ;–)

I really liked After the Past too. ;–)

Jake! Jake! Jake! You admitted that last night was a mistake and you feel guilty about what you and Danny did. You know that Ryan can sense that something’s wrong. And yet you did it again! I realize these guys are just teenagers, but I would expect the ‘lesson’ to stick for more than just a few hours! Jake knows how much it hurt when Danny denied loving him, it will be at least as much hurt for Ryan. Jake is just as stubbornly stupid as someone else we know!

That would be an international, long-distance relationship, if that were the case. Both live in a CA (my favorite joke), one the country, the other the ‘Nation-State’ (as our Governor likes to call it). Do bigamy laws apply across national boundaries? Quick, sell the idea to Gail! ;–)

So instead of being a nuisance, Reggie is proving to be a valuable asset! Rudi is shocked that the top secret project is being discussed online. While the data is not completely accurate, it’s close enough that Josseran has targeted its theft to auction off to the highest bidder. This first run of the Prince for a Day project has been ‘interesting’ to say the least! ;–)

So you’ll be writing a sequel to this story? ;–) …and shouldn’t that be (tap tap…)? ;–)