StarFleet Carl: Blog

I'm going to upload Chapter 25 tonight. It may not actually post until tomorrow, which is fine. I had no idea that Chapters 25 & 26 would end up bracketing Memorial Day here in the United States when I started posting this, I really wasn't paying attention to the calendar. Considering where the Messenger ... Cal ... ends up in these chapters, it's fitting that it does.

At the same time ... I've said this many times in emails. I wrote these chapters, and they both affect me emotionally - especially Chapter 26. I'm also one of those guys who at one time in his life gave Uncle Sam a blank check for up to and including my life if need be. These two are for the guys who had that check cashed.

Chapter 24 touches upon a subject that is very much illegal, immoral, and unethical to the civilized world, and is just plain evil. Specifically, child molesting. Cal is only indirectly involved (not as a participant, of course), but this chapter has been played with multiple times so that it does not violate the terms of this site. If you have issues with what happens, once you get to a certain spot in the story, skip over parts of it.

By education, I am a Criminologist - I really wish I didn't know a lot of what I do know, and have seen, witnessed, and even had to sit in the trial and write up a paper on. The defense lawyer trying to interrogate an eleven year old girl on the stand made me want to, as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman said, unscrew his head and shit down his neck.

Also fair warning for Chapters 25 & 26. If you ever wore the uniform ... and it's pure coincidence that the American holiday happens this week, and that's when I'm posting these chapters ... watch out for all the dust in the air when you read them. This and the next couple of chapters are VERY emotional. (I wrote them, and I have teared up every single time I've gone through doing editing.)

You know, it often helps if you upload the right file. You know, the one you made the corrections to, not the OLD file. No comment.

Now, a word of warning. Chapter 24 will be posted Friday morning. There is a very evil series of events that come to light in the history of the town. These events are fictional, so they do not reflect upon the real town. They are incredibly despicable, and if as an author, I described the acts themselves, other than simply mentioning that they happened, it would violate the terms of this site. (Needless to say, I think we're all smart enough to figure that one out.)

Literally ... getting breakfast and checking things. Elroy has been replaced by Harry in Chapter 23 like he should have been now - updated. Also, uploaded replacement Chapters 13 - 22, with corrections made. Nothing earth shattering, just typo's and minor cleaning of things up.

Also, regarding the comments about switches ... remember the software that Cal gave to Sandy & Len, and how everyone talks about how they're suddenly 5 plus years ahead of their competition? He knew about switches, so he just included the software and information on how to make them. (It'll become obvious in Chapter 35 that the pain of dial-up may be something that many people never have to experience.)

I thought I'd post this one tonight, so I'm not rushed in the morning before I go in to work. You're welcome - but don't look for Chapter 24 until Friday morning.

Trivia question - how many of you remember Foxey Funderburke, Hugh Holmes, and the town of Delano? To totally avoid confusion and people going, what, when it comes up for discussion later in the book (as in, Chapter 24), this will give you all a chance to review that very interesting 1983 TV mini-series, and then wonder why I'm referencing it for the next couple of days.