Recent Comments

11/28/20, 12:55 PM
> Your sense of the dramaturgical is exquisite, your feel of tempo and rythm impeccable, your stories are orgasm-inducingly tense and exciting. > Wow -- thank you! That sentence felt very much like one of mine -- balanced phrases, percussive consonants, strong adjectives -- well done! A few years ago, I was hired as the dramaturg on the "new" National Tour of CAMELOT -- basically, my job was to take a three-hour juggernaut and bring it in at 90 minutes, yet still maintain the "integrity" of the original piece. A pageantry musical, CAMELOT is a lot of standing around with sweeping monologues and boring songs. In some ways, it was easy to bring it down because it lacks so much content. Anyway, I worked on it for a couple months, going through at least four drafts for the producers -- only to find out Lerner's (the librettist and lyricist) granddaughter had already created a 90-min version that had been approved by the estate. I immediately got a copy and found that we were fairly close (I got rid of a few more songs than her). I got paid really well to research a show I don't like and create a script that was never used. Dramaturg.
11/28/20, 5:32 AM
What a thrilling conclusion! I really like the author asides when they appear--you manage to strike a perfect balance between winking/nudging (which gets really old after a while) and speaking frankly to the reader without totally removing them from the world of the story. I honestly did not expect the twist of the West Virginia crew fleeing the scene and heading to parts unknown. Do I sense a European adventure coming? :p And poor, poor Tully...as I said in an earlier comment, I do genuinely like her character. I wonder what will become of her? Murdock is gone--there doesn't seem to be a way to extrapolate the Symbiont from him. WIll she have to kill him? Will he kill her? Finally, I love how the story serves a small reminder of what I think is one of your major themes--the notion that power almost *always* corrupts. The Sheriff, the Great One, Murdock...they're all corrupted by the Symbionts and keep desiring more, more, MORE despite having amazing bodies and perfect health. Nothing is ever enough, especially the feeling of being worshipped. In the old stories, gods needed praise and worship like a drug--it kept them alive and powerful. This story reminds me of that. It's brilliant. :)
11/28/20, 2:53 AM
absman, I adore your writing, I really do. Your sense of the dramaturgical is exquisite, your feel of tempo and rythm impeccable, your stories are orgasm-inducingly tense and exciting. Thank you for writing stuff, dude. And thank you for that short pruning at the start of this chapter.
11/28/20, 12:40 AM
> Je t’adore, mon Rugby Boy. Adieu. > Fear not, Gil's story is far from over! Trust me, I have a great idea for him in Book Three -- I planted the seed in the very speech you quoted...
11/28/20, 12:05 AM
I want to cry. I loved everything. Rugby boy saying "“I would’ve followed you anyway, because we were friends, because we’d both loved and submitted to powerful men. We’d had that in common, so we could support each other now. But you’ve barely gotten your power and already you abuse it. Mon ami, you disappoint me.” I now know why I love him so. He understands brotherhood and the hierarchy of men. Je t'adore, mon Rugby Boy. Adieu.
11/27/20, 5:57 PM
> Loved the music / warfare comparison. > Thank you. I just felt that scene needed underscoring. If it had been a movie, the orchestra would've been going wild and then cut off on Tully's reveal -- I was trying to catch that flavor on the page.
11/27/20, 5:46 PM
That was really fun. Loved the music / warfare comparison. Gave a laugh at Flower Oath. But now I'm wondering, since the flowers are repopulating, where are they repopulating from, and are their gardeners on the way.
11/27/20, 4:16 PM
Loved your discussion of the garden and the aggressive nature of plants. I appreciate the sense of humor you display throughout your writing. Wonderful work on this exciting second book of your series. I hope that you will be inspired at some point to continue the saga and write book 3.
11/27/20, 3:45 PM
I think they'll call him "Gil" (btw -- my Baby Name book has "Gilen" (hard "G" -- gill-uhn, not like "Gillian" with a soft "G") meaning "Vow" or "Oath", but I like yours better.
11/27/20, 3:34 PM
Bravo! HAIL ABSMAN! Gilen Lafleur. The last name was obvious- the flower- but I had to dig for Gilen. Eventually, I tracked down that it is a Basque variant of Ghislain, which means betrothed or hostage So Rugby Boy is literally a flower hostage. You sly fox, you.