All Comments on 'Founders Ch. 07'

Okay this is the first chapter I haven't enjoyed completely. I understand you tried to handle the issue of consent and the emotional damage of rape carefully, but this lady doesn't need a good (or even mind blowing) sexual experience, she needs therapy. She has obviously been traumatized by her past experiences and should probably be getting some professional help. At the same time, I realize this is fiction, and fantasy at that. So maybe I am overreacting. Other than this issue, the rest of the story has been awesome. I hope it continues to be awesome.

I get your comment, and don't think for a minute that I'm trying to belittle the psychological harm rape can do. Remember, this woman has passed the rigorous examinations of the astronaut corps. I see her as super tough. Her response to her traumatic experience was more or less (fictionally) this sex stuff, not for me, but glad I got my class (denial, hiding a lot of stuff that she will hopefully work through later in the story). People have a wide range of reactions to trauma. I'm not saying this would be a typical reaction. But these are not typical people. These are astronauts. And this is denial. Her denial could have been so great that she forgot the incidents entirely. Instead, her denial has taken another common form, "it was fine." Or even, "it was my idea."

Aanya's journey has a long way to go yet. If readers want to give me suggestions and comments as to how to make her journey from denial to healing more realistic for them, I'm all ears. 35% of all women suffer criminal sexual assault at some point in their lives. All I have to go on is the women I've had in my life and their journeys. Two of my wives and a number of girlfriends have been survivors. I try to do their stories justice, so I'd welcome your suggestions.

Please keep going!!!

Thanks for your kind encouragement! I promise that there are many more chapters coming.

Within the context of a sci-fi story, there is in this latest chapter darker psychological undertones at work. The details of all this are intricately interwoven by the author to give the reader an exciting story which is both a fine sci-fi story and at the same time a gripping drama. Five stars.

These women all appear to me as their distinct selves. Aanya came to me as this huge juxtaposition, hostile towards Zach and yet in the very next moment dropping her drawers and almost aggressively presenting her holes to him. From there, I sat back and pondered for a while in a panic. Who was this woman?? What could her story possibly be, given she’s the best of the best at what she does and an astronaut as well? As of this writing, she continues to struggle with the terrible vulnerability of intimacy and who she is as a sexual being, and I struggle to hear her. Mostly she says, “Leave me alone! I need to work!”

I hope a story emerges, not just wall to wall sex.

I feel confident in claiming that there's more than wall-to-wall sex in this story. Whether that "more" is what you're looking for, well, you'd have to be more specific. Often reader comments are my best muses. I've written whole stories on the basis of comments like "I enjoyed X, and I'd like to see Y and Z." I read all these comments, so give me ideas. I'll put them in this story, if they fit. If they don't, perhaps they'll get their own story.