Nigel Gordon

I've got to admire him, not for the gay issue but for being open about his depression and other issues. We need people to talk about this as so many youngsters, especially gay ones, keep things totally bottled up until it becomes too much for them and it is to late. What we need is a society where everybody can be open about who and what they are and nobody passes judgement.

Well, the story has come to the end and it has fulfilled the promise it started out with. One thing you can be sure of with Chris James is that he will convey to you the feelings and emotions of his characters in a way that traps you into his story, he has not let us down with this work. In many ways this is yet another classic road story and there is nothing wrong with that, it is also much more, an exploration of a youth coming to terms not just with himself but with the world he has to interact with. A great story Chris very well told.

I agree that you need to have an ending in mind. I also think that you need some form of structure drafted out as well. Many years ago I was in a relationship for a short time with a well known and quite successful author. When I met him he had just started on a novel and had written a fantastic end chapter. For most of the time I was with him he was writing at a good pace, then suddenly he stopped. When I asked him what was wrong he answered that the story had got him to a certain position and there was no way he could get from there to the end he had written, he then spent the next few months in a rather depressed state as he could not sort things out. Either he had to abandon the terrific ending he had planned or abandon most of what he had written. The book was never published, though I have seen bits of it in other works he has written since. I think the thing is that even the most experienced and successful authors cannot always get a novel to work. It is, therefore, important to have a good idea of how things are going to go before you start to publish. My own opinion is that it is probably best to have the complete work in a near finished state, though even a good draft outline might be acceptable. To start posting something when you do not know how it is going to finish is, in my opinion irresponsible. It can also result in very bad writing. I have seen to many stories on the internet that have started very well but then faded into second rate writing just because the author was trying to finish them.

For his serial publications Dicken's generally had the whole novel completed in draft form before the first chapter was published. He would though change elements within the plot on the basis of feedback he got from his readers. Most of his serial novels were published on a weekly basis, though a few were published on a monthly basis with a number of chapters being published in one go.

There is an old saying: The man who never failed never did anything. Failure is the mechanism by which you learn how to do things.

I am usually upset when a novel is posted all in one go but this time I am glad it was. Started reading it and just kept on and on, just could not put it down. Well worth reading but a word of warning, allow yourself time to read it in one go, for once you start you will not want to stop.

This is a delightful rendering of Hornung's classic. When I started to read this I was somewhat disappointed not to be immersed in the language and style which one associates with Mihangel, though I found myself enjoying the story. I missed that language and style so much I emailed Mihangel about it and raised the issue, getting an informative and educational reply. Having read the first 16 chapters I can now see what he was doing. This is a retelling of Hornung's story in Hornung's voice, presented in a manner and style which I have no doubt Hornung would have been using if he was alive today. I can only congratulate Mihangel on what he has achieved and look forward to reading the rest of this story, then it is off once more to read more of Hornung. Have not read any of his stuff since the 1980s and there is a lot of good writing there. Regards Nigel

Well Taz & Kodak III has finally come to an end and I must say it is a story I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. It can only be hoped we see more of these characters in future stories from Rick Beck. Somehow I think Taz is too big a personality to be left to one side. Great writing and great story telling.

There is a quote that I cannot trace the source of but it states that : "the larger the bureaucracy the more illogical it becomes." I think most governments prove the point. The late Lord Denning who was Master of the Rolls (the highest civil judge in the English legal system) whilst speaking to a group of law students, of which I was one, was asked why judges often appeared to interpret the law in ways that appeared to make it meaningless. Lord Denning was well known for such judgements. His reply was the role of the judge was not to uphold the law but to ensure that the law was applied in a way which promoted justice. I just wish more judges took that view.

Simple solution would be the rule in some European countries where no make up is allowed for anybody, male, female, transgender or gender-non-specific. The rule is the same for everybody.

Don't worry about tomorrow being the last day, the course stay available for a bit after the end date to allow people to finish them. I finished one two weeks after the end date.

Bruin, So far as I am aware the charge for the CoP actually goes to FutureLearn not to the OU. It is also in line with what the other European MOOCs are charging (30 Euros plus postage). The take up of CoPs varies according to course but in general is from 1% to 5%. My understanding is that at the moment FutureLearn is being funded by the British Library (which is where they are based) and the participating institutions but in future there is a requirement on them to become self-funding. When that becomes the case they will become reliant on the funding from sale of CoPs. About two years ago I did some work on the business model for MOOCs - at the time some associates were looking to see if it was possible to run an alternative degree programme using them - and we had a presentation from some US academics who where working in the field. In their presentation they put forward the argument for funding them by charging for Certificates of Participation on the basis that (a) only persons who had taken the course and found it worthwhile would pay for the CoP so that encouraged course providers to run a good course and (b) it provided a way to provide University level tuition at a low individual cost. At the moment most of the institutions involved with MOOCs around the world are feeling their way. I've done a couple which have literally been the same as the taught module in the University, to such an extent that the video presentations were actual videos of the lectures given in the course. Those doing the MOOC being about a week behind the actual students in the University. We were also doing the same online tests, which raised some issues. To be honest I found neither of them really worked. The FutureLearn courses have, if anything, gone too far the other way by designing courses specifically for online learning which have little or no relevance to live course in the institutions.

Can I put in a defense for FutureLearn with respect to the certificate of participation. Compared with some other MOOCs I have done the fee of £24 + postage is cheap. One US course I did was asking $200 for a certificate of participation. Some of the FutureLearn courses are approved or can be submitted for CPE requirements. On those courses you have to complete all the sessions and have achieved a certain standard in the online tests to get the CoP. They do have to pay for the provision of the courses somehow. My local college is running a Introduction to Creative Writing and that costs £240 for a six week course two hours a week. I'm not sure you would get much more out of that that one does from the MOOC. For most people the Certificate of Participation is a waste of time and money but for some it can be important. There is one person who has been on a couple of the course I have done (Maths and Programming) who is being home schooled. Getting the CoP provides supporting evidence to their local Education Authority of the work they are doing. You do not have to purchase a CoP if it has no use for you, but if it is useful for you they are there for you to get. There are some people who just like collecting certificates, if their fees help pay for my courses who am I to object. I've done a number of courses with FutureLearn now but have only purchased a CoP on one, that was one which I could use for evidence of CPE.

In the latest chapter on of the characters says: “I find Taz and Kodak two of the most fascinating characters I've ever come across. Finding them in the same place is a shocker.” An opinion I totally agree with. Reading about Taz and Kodak is fascinating.

A major problem with drug resistant bacterium is that there has been no major research into either the development of new antibiotics or alternative treatment for the last forty or so years. There is no major economic incentive for the drug companies to invest in antibiotics as the potential income from them does not justify the cost of research and development. There is also no economic incentive for any research into the major alternative, the use of Bactophages, as these cannot be patented so no protected income stream can be developed. There is a need for governments and world institutions like the WHO to come up with alternative funding for the research and development of new antibiotics and alternative treatments. There is also a need to review the medical licensing framework to provide a means for alternative treatments to be brought into use without the expensive testing and validation that are demanded of new drugs. Currently there are known Bactophages that can be used against a number of drug resistant bacterium but their use in most places is prohibited as nobody has run the clinical trial to verify them, although some have been used for years in places like Russia and Hungary that did not have access to Western antibiotics.

Nien Nien Cole, there is no way you can compare cats with sore paws with authors, the cats are far more co-operative. They'll only fail to do what you want if they don't want you to do it. Authors will fail to do what you want just because you want it.

Yes Chris, it has been a while since we have had one of your Native American stories, but I am glad to see you are back with them. You are one of the few writers I have come across who is neither patronizing of them or campaigning for them. You just give an insightful view of aspects of their society. I hope we see more writing from you in the future with a Native American theme.

Another posting by Chris James and one which promises to equal his other posting to AD. If you have never read any of Chris's work it is worth reading this just for the Prologue, which gives a brief but insightful look at the Creation Myth of the Dine (sorry could not get the accent over the e). Chapter one is an interesting insight into the mind of the protagonist, which offers up a multitude of possibilities for how this story will develop. I look forward to reading the rest of this story when it is posted as I have no doubt it will be up to Chris's usual high standard.

There is no way I would call you weird but last night I ended up calling you many other things as I found myself trapped reading this remarkably well written tale. Yesterday I visited Avebury and touched the Goddess stone, aski9ng in my pray, amongst other things, for delight and entertainment, I see she answered my pray. I must remember the gifts of the gods can also be curses, I know have a pile of work to do which I should have been doing last night, whilst I was reading your story and will no doubt end up having to miss the Canadian Grand Prix. The thing is I'm not sure who to blame, you for writing such excellent material or Mike for not forcing you to break it down into part? In the end probably only myself for not having the will power to turn aside from my decadent enjoyment of terrific writing and get on with my work. It was just too good to miss.

In case some of you missed it, and I suspect as nothing has been posted so far about it most of you have, Mihangel has posted another completed novel and it has gone directly into the newest completed novel section. Please Mike, any chance you could put them up a chapter at a time? I now have to face the torment of knowing that there is some writing by one of the best authors around, not just on AD, and not being about finish it as I have other commitments. To Hell with the other commitments, I have just finished the first two chapters and (as normal with Mihangel's work) I'm hooked. Don't see why I should suffer alone, so go off and read it. You can find it here: http://awesomedude.com/mihangel/not-understood/index.htm It is well worth reading, then anything by Mihangel is worth reading. Nigel

Can't wait to find out what happens next.

I've really enjoyed the Goldendale series of stories but must say this is one of the best. It is also one that has layers of insight and meaning, I found myself having to read it again and again just to make sure I was not missing something and usually found that I had. Great story and well told.

I must admit that I found the early part of the course useful, have kept a notebook for years but have never used it in the way they discussed. That is going back to it regularly and looking through it for ideas. What I tended to do was have an idea jot it down and some time later wonder what the idea I had was about the boat builder, then I would go back and look it up. Now I have started to get into the habit to look through it regularly and must admit that I am finding that productive.

Well all I can say is that you are probably lucky. Novakovich position is that the character is everything and the plot is secondary, that the plot will come out of the character. This is something I disagree with as I believe that a strong plot is essential and your characters come from the plot.

Just to let you know that I have just left the Creative Writing Course. My reasons are summed up in the following, which I have posted in the course discussion: Well I have found myself totally in disagreement with Novakovich views and ideas and having read some of his work which I found dull and insipid I see no point in taking his advice. As this course seems to be going in a direction totally based on his views I see no point in continuing with it.