A Life Rescued Notes

10/03/2008

I had the opportunity to assist at my church with the 9th grade Confirmation retreat last weekend; it was an eye-opening experience.  I'll elaborate more on this in the future, but suffice it to say that my portrayal of early and mid-teen sexuality is understated!

08/11/2008

On the cruise: A couple events on the cruise (the drunk at the variety show and the 'adult' entertainment paper airplane contest and commentary) were taken from a recent cruise my family and I experienced.  They are almost word for word what we heard and saw.

Thank you again for your comments.

07/20/2008

Why are so many of you down on Grace?  She's a nice kid, and was originally going to end up with Jesse.  The real problem is Jesse and his inability to control certain reactions towards her - not an altogether uncommon problem with adolescent boys.

A couple of you have remarked about Leslie and her new bathing suit top.  You will just have to wait to see how that develops!

Thank you all for the comments and notes.

07/13/2008

Once again I am faced with the end of a cycle in A Life Rescued.  As Part 5 draws to a close (there are still a few more chapters) I have to face the reality that the story is coming to an end.  I am quite certain that this will be the last part of the story; I've been writing it for almost a year now and it is time to move on.

There are still a couple very important sub-plots to be resolved between Jesse and Leslie, their future together being the most important.  As the world crashes down around them, how will they see their lives together?  Jesse has to face the draft in three years.  And what about college?  Old enemies have not disappeared and new challenges await them at every turn.  Tom and Grace will be leaving their immediate lives, but Billy, Makayla, Barb and others are still around.

Will Leslie be able to hold her passions in a while longer, or will they run amok?  How will Jesse react to his best friend's evolving idea of appropriate intimate behavior?

06/16/2008

STILL slow going. . . . sorry, work has been very busy and I had an out-of-town wedding to attend.  Chapter 48 is in final review.  Thanks for hanging in there!

05/21/2008

Slow going on this next chapter (48).  Work has been very busy and I've just not been able to get the words to flow.  Thursday and Friday are my best writing days, so maybe...

05/04/2008

Hi everyone.  Last night I had an 'opportunity' to listen in on some conversations at a birthday party for one of my son's 14 year old friends.  There were 8 boys and 3 girls, and I gotta tell you, chapter 46 was not too far off the mark!  Yikes!

04/18/2008

Hi.  I've pulled chapter 46 back from review to expand and smooth over some rough edges.  I hope to have it out this week.

04/05/2008

Chapter 45 is progressing well and I hope to have it out by the end of next week.

I have nearly completed the first major revision of ALR, much sooner than I had thought possible.  The revision will address some date problems, the blatently inaccurate names and the removal of the SciFi aspect of the story that was 'resolved' around chapter 22.  Older Jesse and the other 'imaginary characters' will remain, but in a different roll.

I also discovered a significant problem with Jesse's birthday in my story, but I'm not sure if I will correct this.

I have removed the Jacobs' baby. In fact, I had completely forgotten I had it there.

Thank you again for all the comments.

04/02/2008

Hi, I hope you are all enjoying part 5.  It's been fun to write.

A couple replies to reviews.  First, MadTom is partially correct about my using other deaths to replace Leslie's survival.  I had planned for three deaths (old person, middle-aged person, and young person) so you could experience the different emotions they evoke.  In case you are interested, the original plot had Grace being the young person death, but I 'fell in love' with her character.  Sorry Terri!

The other thing.  The deaths occuring in chapters 24, 34, and 44 was purely coincidental.  No hidden meaning there.

Please be sure to see my poll at the placeforus forum.

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

03/12/2008

No, Leslie is not pregnant!  When the PFU site is back up I'll create a new poll.

I will be out of the country until next Tuesday, and without my laptop, (unhappy face) so not much will be written over the next week.  Hang in there.

Thank you for the comments and notes!

03/02/2008

Hi, I'm wrapping up chapter 41, probably this week, and then start 9th grade in chapter 42.  There are a lot of things happening in 41, besides the yearly beach holiday, that will test friendships and the life of many in Lark Creek.  (To give you a hint, the original chapter title was The Absences.)

Thank you for the comments and notes!

02/24/2008

I received some interesting comments about the last couple chapters, thank you for sharing your ideas.

The original poll under Lark Creek Payton Place was reset by accident.  Too bad, it had a lot of responses and I enjoy seeing what you think about what's happening.

There are two, possibly three more chapters covering the balance of the summer, and then it's back to my HDM fiction.

02/14/2008

Yes, you saw correctly, chapter 38 of ALR is underway, but no telling how long it will take.  Much of it was written when I finished The Brink.

02/09/2008

So, here we are at the 'official' end of A Life Rescued.  To be honest, I'm not sure where I will go from here.  There is the one-shot (The Brink, a.k.a., chapter 36) I will be finishing soon, but I'm feeling the need for a break to re-energize and get some fresh ideas.

A sincere thank you for all who have left me reviews and person notes over the past eight months.  Unlike when I started writing the story, I feel Leslie alive in my mind and heart, and that was exactly what I wanted.  I hope you can capture a little of that peace, too.

02/07/2008

Again, thanks to all of you who have left comments.

Well now, eighth grade is nearly complete, and so is part 4.  I have one last chapter after this one, but it will be posted separately, as a stand-alone due to its 'M' rating.  The title is The Brink, which should give you a hint of what it entails.  But don't get your Freudian hopes too excited, Jesse and Leslie are still only 14!

This has been an immensely rewarding story to write, if for no other reason than it pulled me out of the depression I fell into after seeing the movie.  I may go back and fix some of the more serious mistakes, like the names, or perhaps not.  It depends on...

My next story, more a novella than a novel, is titled Doppelganger and is based on Pullman's His Dark Materials series (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass).  It takes place in Will's world, for the most part, and starts about three years after TAS finishes.  Please take a look...when it's posted.

Doppelganger: Chapter 1 - The Imperfect Intercision

02/04/2008

Thank you - everyone - who wrote in support of my comments at the end of the last chapter.  Of course, I always like hearing from you, but I should have tempered my own as you do not know me as my Harry Potter community knows me.  I really was not p/o'd at Silverterror for his/her comments, and I had come to find some of the latter part of the story boring, or monotonous.  That will change in the next two chapters and as eighth grade winds down.

Post A Life Rescued, whenever that may be:  I've begun outlining my next fan fic story based on Pullman's His Dark Materials series, (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), but that's a long way off.

02/02/2008

Happy 89th birthday to my father!

01/15/2008

Hi, I'm opening this second page to address some of the comments I've received about A Life Rescued.

The first point I want to address is about characterization.  I have tried to maintain the characters’ personalities while at the same time adjusting them for changes in situation, maturity, et cetera.

Obviously, Jesse and Leslie are maturing socially, emotionally, and physically.  This story attempts to show how these changes touch their lives.

Jack Aarons is also being transformed by his rebuilt pride, and has gone from a hard-nosed, unemotional man to one who has had the joy of fatherhood renewed within him.  Pride and self respect are very important to him, and his new job has done much to restore these long missing aspects of his personality.

Judy and Bill Burke were deeply shaken by their only child’s near death and have matured a bit themselves.  This is particularly true of Judy.  The history I’ve given the couple, I believe, adds to understanding Judy’s troubles through most of the story.  Only now is she finding herself able to put her past behind her and trust her daughter more.

Second, I received a review labeling my story “ludicrous” and “disgusting.”  Well, in >220 reviews that’s a first.  Since the reviewer did not say specifically what was disgusting, I can only guess at what they are referring to…possibly the relation between the “Older Jesse” and Leslie?  

As always, thank you for your comments.

IHateSnakes