Comment from LJbutterfly

Exceptional

Congratulations and Bravo on completing your novel. A hospitalization and now home for recuperation caused my delay in reading the final chapter and Epilogue, but I am so glad to have had the experience of following your main character through challenges and insecurities to becoming a successful family man, business man and college professor.

I commend you on your constant focus and reminder of the theme of analyzing what you see. I appreciate that you tied up all the loose ends and left your readers with a pleasing, satisfied feeling. Well done.

 Comment Written 14-May-2024

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reply by the author on 15-May-2024

Thank you so much, Lorraine. You've been a loyal follower from the start, and I really appreciated your many fine comments and support. Thank you also for those 6 stars.

I too enjoy happy endings, especially for characters as deserving as Alan.

Comment from royowen

Excellent

I love the way you write an epilogue, quite often stories will live one nonplussed, even though you know it's only fiction, you become involved in the life of the characters, but here, you pointed out to the girl that help stuff Allen's life up, still created a diversion in his life that set, ive always been fascinating by sliding doors, beautifully written, blessings Roy

 Comment Written 12-May-2024

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reply by the author on 13-May-2024

Thanks so much Roy. You've been a stalwart reader of my stories, and I'm so appreciative. I've very much enjoyed discussing them with you, my friend.

reply by royowen on 13-May-2024

It?s easy you?re such a good writer Jim.

Comment from Ulla

Excellent

Hi Jim, as you know, I have really enjoyed this story. The epilogue was very well written and it tightened up all the loose strings, everything fell into place. I'm so pleased for you to have completed this book. Ulla:)))

 Comment Written 12-May-2024

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reply by the author on 13-May-2024

Thanks so much, Ulla. I really appreciate your wonderful comments throughout the telling of this tale.

reply by Ulla on 13-May-2024

I really enjoyed it:)))

Comment from lyenochka

Exceptional

Bravo in completing the book! You gave us good main characters whom we could root for and we saw Alan overcoming a huge obstacle of being falsely accused to becoming a confident inventor and professor! You showed us a character who was down because of how people judged him for what they "saw" due to rumors. But he learned to correct things and even come to the aid of the one who ruined his career. He also gained a family and found a peace and new purpose in providing a tool to help Tommy "hear" what others without dyslexia "see".

 Comment Written 12-May-2024

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reply by the author on 13-May-2024

Beautifully said in a nutshell, Helen. Thank you so much for all the support and the wonderful gifts you've given me in the telling of this tale. Your reviews and perceptions have been consistently excellent, and you had a good feel for the different characters and their personalities, showing excellent insight throughout.

I'm truly honored by the 6 stars you gave it.

reply by lyenochka on 13-May-2024

Great job, Jim!

Comment from lancellot

Exceptional

Congratulations on completing your novel. Sixty-nine thousand words is a good length to tell a complete story without leaving blanks and jumping too much. Your character finished his journey and is in a better place than where he began.

Well done.

 Comment Written 11-May-2024

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reply by the author on 13-May-2024

Thanks so much, Lance. I'm honored by the six stars you gave it. I know the story was a bit frustrating for you at times, and that Alan/David was somewhat of an enigma for you.

Perhaps some of the source was my own inconsistency in portraying his character, but I tried to show a fellow who was very smart but dumb in many ways--kind of an absent-minded professor type who is naive, too trusting of people, not very worldly, with no street-smarts, and just a nice guy.

They say, "write what you know," and these are the type of people I know best, being one myself along with both my kids. My wife is not so naive, so she complements me well.

I'm glad you stuck it out, and I'm very grateful to you for your perceptive reviews that pointed out a number of inconsistencies and helped me strengthen the tale.

Comment from T B Botts

Exceptional

Hello Jim,
I started reading your story again where I left off, when I got back. I didn't want to comment on each chapter, because I have a lot of other things to read and review. I really enjoyed this journey with you and the characters you've created. The end chapters with Warren and his brother were thrilling. I was kind of hoping they would receive justice, especially for the murders that occurred. Perhaps they did in the end. This was just a very enjoyable read. Well done my friend.
Have a blessed day.
Tom

 Comment Written 11-May-2024

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reply by the author on 13-May-2024

Thanks so much, Tom, and for the six stars you gave it. I very much appreciate your support throughout the telling of this tale, and I'm glad you found it enjoyable and could get in the mind of the characters.

Time for a short break now before beginning my next one which I have a rudimentary idea for. I'll be posting a few shorter things before that.

I've missed reading your stories while you were gone, and look forward to more of those soon.

Comment from barbara.wilkey

Excellent

Thank you for sharing this entire story with us. I enjoyed reading from beginning to end. I'm happy Tina came back and let Alan/David know who she's doing. That was a nice touch. This story shows how when God closes a door, he opens a window.

 Comment Written 10-May-2024

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reply by the author on 10-May-2024

Thanks so much, Barbara, for your support throughout. You've pretty much nailed the main message. We could also so, "in every cloud there's a silver lining"; "if life gives you lemons, make lemonade"; even perhaps "don't cry over spilled milk."

Yeah, even sometimes the villains, those with a conscience, can end up improving. She reminds me a little of Dana Padgett in Some Call It Luck, who ended up sorry for her treatment of Abby. Some of your villainous characters as well have turned around by the end.

This was a nice change for me to get away from the golf stories, and I enjoyed the change.

Comment from BethShelby

Excellent

You have written a good book with many lessons in how thing can be seen in the wrong and how easily we can misjust others. There are is also so excellent techinical information here. You material is well researched. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to your next book.

 Comment Written 10-May-2024

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reply by the author on 10-May-2024

Thanks so much, Beth. This story required a lot more research than any others I've written on such a variety of topics--patent law, how to repair a dehumidifier and toaster, 1980s computer technology, baseball facts, Bluetooth technology, etc. But it was a fun experience, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Comment from Wendy G

Exceptional

A wonderful final chapter, and I also enjoyed your well written notes at the end. Yes, it's often in looking back that we can be thankful for the hard experiences which in one way or another have directed our paths and made us who we are. Thanks for this wonderful story.
Wendy

 Comment Written 10-May-2024

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reply by the author on 10-May-2024

Thank you so much, Wendy, and for those 6 stars too. My own career is a good example of how hard experiences directed my path and helped me find the career that suited me the best. The precipitating events weren't quite as traumatic as what David/Alan faced, but still caused a major new direction in my life.

Thank you for all of your wonderful and perceptive reviews during the course of the novel. You seemed to be able to identify all the key features of the story, and I really appreciated your reviews.

Comment from Tom Horonzy

Excellent

And you did a fine job wrapping things up. This summary chapter tells it all save how much of the story if any is true, which it could easily been. Now what's next in the hopper?

 Comment Written 10-May-2024

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reply by the author on 10-May-2024

Thanks so much, Tom, for all of your interesting, sometimes puzzling, but often amusing reviews, which I have enjoyed immensely. You help bring out the goofy side of me like no one else is capable of.

What's next? I have a basic idea, which isn't totally fleshed out yet, but involves addiction to painkillers and the quest to find a non-addictive but very effective one.

reply by Tom Horonzy on 10-May-2024

To explain why I leave reviews as I do is simply to get the member cents one needs 150 characters, and that would be a tome for me and I specialize in short stories! tee-hee