Summer by Carlos Hazday

[Timothy M.]

I think CJ is much too clever to get into a fist fight. He wouldn't do that with his step father and he won't do it here. He knows Dragon and his dads are right behind him, and all he needs to do is gesture back and say: "So these men shouldn't be here either, in your opinion?"

[LitLover]

I think CJ is much too clever to get into a fist fight. He wouldn't do that with his step father and he won't do it here. He knows Dragon and his dads are right behind him, and all he needs to do is gesture back and say: "So these men shouldn't be here either, in your opinion?"

 

I do hope you're right.  CJ is pretty mature for his age.  Sometimes, though, it can be hard to keep a cool head...and you can't discount the biker taking an unprovoked swing...he did knock down a kid with no warning after all.  

[Bucket1]

I do hope you're right.  CJ is pretty mature for his age.  Sometimes, though, it can be hard to keep a cool head...and you can't discount the biker taking an unprovoked swing...he did knock down a kid with no warning after all.  

 

I agree, it's not CJ that would throw the first punch but he might get into a situation where he is the victim of the unprovoked swing

[Timothy M.]

In that case the biker will be in severe trouble. Attacking two teens physically and verbally - and as a hate crime too. He won't know what hit him.

[LitLover]

In that case the biker will be in severe trouble. Attacking two teens physically and verbally - and as a hate crime too. He won't know what hit him.

 

 

Haha well there is that.  

[Carlos Hazday]

       

I think CJ is much too clever to get into a fist fight. He wouldn't do that with his step father and he won't do it here. He knows Dragon and his dads are right behind him, and all he needs to do is gesture back and say: "So these men shouldn't be here either, in your opinion?"

 

If you remind me, I'll address this issue next week

[LitLover]

Why does everyone assume it'll be Dragon coming to the rescue? King is a boxer, Brett is a marine and Cesar is just a big hunk of muscle... just saying.

I thought it would be Dragon because he's the one following CJ around.

[Kitt]

I am betting CJ doesn't need rescuing. The way I see it going down, homophobe takes the first swing. I don't recall a mention of any self defence/martial arts classes, but I would lay money that step-ass insisted on them sometime in CJ's past. I see the kid ducking under a badly telegraphed swing and putting the guy on his ass at which time an MP or DCPD get involved.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Kitt

[Fisherman]

Damn you, Carlos!  You're starting with the cliff hangers now.

I think you've been taking lessons from a certain Australian writer

Seven more days ...

[Carlos Hazday]

I am betting CJ doesn't need rescuing. The way I see it going down, homophobe takes the first swing. I don't recall a mention of any self defence/martial arts classes, but I would lay money that step-ass insisred on them sometime in CJ's past. I see the kid ducking under a badly telegraphed swing and putting the guy on his ass at which time an MP or DCPD get involved.

 

You have an advantage 'cause you've edited some of my stories and we've discussed plotting and therefore have looked into the dark abyss of my twisted mind. In this case I think you may even be surprised by what I came up with.

 

Remind me next week to address one specific point in your comment!

[Carlos Hazday]

Damn you, Carlos!  You're starting with the cliff hangers now.

I think you've been taking lessons from a certain Australian writer

Seven more days ...

Wayne!

 

Cliffhangers? Nah, I hate those things. Only evil authors would leave readers hanging like that! Or is that bloody evil authors?

 

I'm thinking of having Cesar or Brett start having premonitions a la Michael Stewart, what do you think?

 

That certain Australian just did a Beta read of my initial draft of Chapter 18, if that one ends up with a cliffie blame it on him!

[Headstall]

After "Maple-syrupy" romantic, support/sarcasm is one of the things I do best 

As a proud bearer of a spot of Canadian maple syrup on my romantic sleeve, I am not too worried about CJ.. he has an 'army' behind him... sappy old me is worried for Doc, and the pain he is in

[Fisherman]

It might be a language thing (or even an age thing) but I don't actually know what a 'Beta read' means.

If it means the Beta reader gets to read chapters so far in advance, then I volunteer my services!

[Carlos Hazday]

It might be a language thing (or even an age thing) but I don't actually know what a 'Beta read' means.

If it means the Beta reader gets to read chapters so far in advance, then I volunteer my services!

 

Technical lingo---

 

A Beta reader means different things to different authors. For me

 

It's someone who reads a story before it goes to the editor to make sure it makes sense in general. Like if I said CJ was into girly boys in a chapter, the Beta reader would remind me the boy actually likes older, hunky, hairy men

 

It's also someone who reads the final version of the chapter, prior to publication. In this case the person will hopefully catch continuity, names or location issues missed during the writing and editing of the chapter. I call those Ooops moments and I've had two so far and your fellow Aussie has warned me I shall have many more along the way. My two so far have been the same problem. I changed the name of a character between my initial draft and subsequent ones but failed to correct all occurrences.

 

I needed Marc's approval for a reference one of my Aussie characters made, he was kind enough to review my use of Oztrayan and corrected only one word. If I can get the accent correctly I can supposedly pass for an Aussie in any pub! LOL

[Carlos Hazday]

As a proud bearer of a spot of Canadian maple syrup on my romantic sleeve, I am not too worried about CJ.. he has an 'army' behind him... sappy old me is worried for Doc, and the pain he is in

 

OMG you're more concerned about a big, smart 34-year-old man than about a poor little 15-year-old kid? Let me tell you something, mister

 

Sorry, I've been cautioned not to give away any plot twists or turns 'cause they may be used against me in a Kangaroo Court...

[Fisherman]

OK, now I understand ... except I don't know why that role is referred to as a 'Beta read.'  I looked up 'beta' in the urban dictionary online and it says - "a beta is a male who, instead of being alpha and manning up, completely bitches out.'  So I've obviously missed something, somewhere!

If you needed Marcus's permission for a reference, does that mean you're going to have CJ's reading "Love on the rocks"? LOL

[Headstall]

 

 

Sorry, I've been cautioned not to give away any plot twists or turns 'cause they may be used against me in a Kangaroo Court...

Kangaroo Court... that's 'stralian, right?

[Carlos Hazday]

OK, now I understand ... except I don't know why that role is referred to as a 'Beta read.'  I looked up 'beta' in the urban dictionary online and it says - "a beta is a male who, instead of being alpha and manning up, completely bitches out.'  So I've obviously missed something, somewhere!

If you needed Marcus's permission for a reference, does that mean you're going to have CJ's reading "Love on the rocks"? LOL

 

I think calling them Beta is silly. That's the second letter of the alphabet! I think it relates to them reading the beta version which is the last one before the Alpha or final one is released to the public. The Greek alphabet I memorized way back when tells me the final one should be Omega but who the hell cares what I think!

 

Haven't you heard? I'm into shameless plugs for stories. Proof here : https://www.gayauthors.org/story/carlos-hazday/2015prompts/7

[Fisherman]

LOL - that's funny!  Shameless plugs for stories? Shameless self promotion, more like it. 

[Bucket1]

I have run out of likes again but this was a great read over breakfast 

[Timothy M.]

Reading both stories (Summer and COTT), I think its fair to say that Kendall and CJ are in very different stages of their lives and the hard edged hatred that CJ should be feeling is not the same as the old (healed/scarred over) pain that Kendall would be feeling. Very different places.

 

I personally find it hard to maintain that level of passion for any length of time. Disinterest, on the other hand, I can maintain forever.

 

I liked this observation over in the Cards forum, so I thought I'd take it up over here.

 

It made me wonder whether CJ had already felt less liked by his mother before she knew he's gay. I guess it's no surprise if his stepfather preferred his own fleah and blood son to the boy he wasn't allowed to adopt, but as far as I can suss out he didn't treat CJ unfairly. His uptight and tight-fisted manner was a general thing.

 

Plus CJ is lucky in having two dads who love and approve of him unconditionally, whereas Kendall from Cards has had a disapproving dad most of his life. I'm hoping CJ will have an easier time of getting over being chucked out. On the other hand I'd love to see him tell Lourdes exactly what he thinks of her behavior.

[Carlos Hazday]

I liked this observation over in the Cards forum, so I thought I'd take it up over here.

 

It made me wonder whether CJ had already felt less liked by his mother before she knew he's gay. I guess it's no surprise if his stepfather preferred his own fleah and blood son to the boy he wasn't allowed to adopt, but as far as I can suss out he didn't treat CJ unfairly. His uptight and tight-fisted manner was a general thing.

 

Plus CJ is lucky in having two dads who love and approve of him unconditionally, whereas Kendall from Cards has had a disapproving dad most of his life. I'm hoping CJ will have an easier time of getting over being chucked out. On the other hand I'd love to see him tell Lourdes exactly what he thinks of her behavior.

 

I'm not sure where I'm taking CJ's relationship with Lourdes yet. I've written a few things and outlined a few more but all that is subject to change. The chapter I'm working on right now is almost a 50% rewrite and 50% new stuff. An advantage of working so far ahead and not posting right away is I can go back and make changes so the story remains consistent with subsequent chapters. Nineteen is now a different animal from what I originally wrote and it's not even been edited yet!

 

Tim, you're right about Rich. I conceived him as a strict military father but not necessarily abusive of CJ or Ritchie. No matter what parents say, there's usually one of their kids that holds a little special spot and in this case it's his own flesh and blood. I did hint the main reason for throwing CJ out was his concern over how it could affect his advancement, I left the level of homophobia in him open for discussion.

 

Lourdes is another story. She's based on a lot of females I knew growing up: spoiled, wealthy, Cuban-American girls who cared more about themselves and their image than anyone else. When figuring out how to have CJ come into existence, I tried to figure out what a pregnant bitch like her would do if she found out Cesar would still not marry her. Most sensible women would have aborted but in her case the religious background would have prevented that. A fine line but it left me with a mother who was sort of 'stuck' with a kid so it was easy for her to let him go.

 

The motorcycle rally takes place 10 days after CJ arrived in Washington. I'd say his wounds are still raw and his anger was ready to boil over.

[Bucket1]

I'm not sure where I'm taking CJ's relationship with Lourdes yet. I've written a few things and outlined a few more but all that is subject to change. The chapter I'm working on right now is almost a 50% rewrite and 50% new stuff. An advantage of working so far ahead and not posting right away is I can go back and make changes so the story remains consistent with subsequent chapters. Nineteen is now a different animal from what I originally wrote and it's not even been edited yet!

 

Tim, you're right about Rich. I conceived him as a strict military father but not necessarily abusive of CJ or Ritchie. No matter what parents say, there's usually one of their kids that holds a little special spot and in this case it's his own flesh and blood. I did hint the main reason for throwing CJ out was his concern over how it could affect his advancement, I left the level of homophobia in him open for discussion.

 

Lourdes is another story. She's based on a lot of females I knew growing up: spoiled, wealthy, Cuban-American girls who cared more about themselves and their image than anyone else. When figuring out how to have CJ come into existence, I tried to figure out what a pregnant bitch like her would do if she found out Cesar would still not marry her. Most sensible women would have aborted but in her case the religious background would have prevented that. A fine line but it left me with a mother who was sort of 'stuck' with a kid so it was easy for her to let him go.

 

The motorcycle rally takes place 10 days after CJ arrived in Washington. I'd say his wounds are still raw and his anger was ready to boil over.

 

A mother that didn't want him and a step-dad that made it clear he was not as good as his own flesh and blood - how is CJ not an axe murderer?

 

It was interesting to hear you say that step-ass was concerned about his advancement, wasn't that why the blackmail worked?

[Cris L]

Damn what's a few years between friends? Or lovers? I'm 27 years older than my SO!

[Carlos Hazday]

A mother that didn't want him and a step-dad that made it clear he was not as good as his own flesh and blood - how is CJ not an axe murderer?

 

It was interesting to hear you say that step-ass was concerned about his advancement, wasn't that why the blackmail worked?

 

Yes, sir! Cesar is a smart cookie, he used the threat of public scandal when Lourdes and Rich wanted him to give up his parental rights over CJ and again when he asked Lourdes to do the same and to allow continued contact between their son and his half brother. Stap-asshole is concerned the bad publicity may affect his career and mom is concerned about her public image in Miami 'society'. I say ALL's fair in love and war!

 

Damn what's a few years between friends? Or lovers? I'm 27 years older than my SO!

 

Good for you Cris! As I've gotten older the age of guys hitting on me has remained constant. I'm 56 and last summer I dated this cute 26 year old stud for a few weeks. I couldn't handle another relationship with someone so much younger so you're a better man than I am!