All Comments on 'Ghosts of the Past'

The biggest problem is that you started this two years ago. Nobody cares. Sorry, I just like that phrase. This is a porn site, on the world wide web. Most people here have short and shorter attention spans and they don't want to go back and read chapters from years ago just to catch up to your present chapter. I'd guess maybe 10 percent will go back. The rest will skim thru this, realize it's incomplete and bomb you. Personally I felt that it had no business being in the loving wives section. But chalk that issue up to me. Lastly, they come off as such unlikable people that had you killed them all in a horrible manner, I wouldn't have cared. That gives the story no chance of being interesting or entertaining. Some of your other stories have been good reads. This one? Not so much.

2 stars

Too often in literature, we only fully understand the protagonist(s) and, to a lesser extent, his/her supporting entourage. The villains are (necessarily) never fully rendered. Makes it easier to hate them and applaud their demise.

I think in “Ghosts of the Past”, you’ve resuscitated and fully rendered Caitlyn. While her actions were wrought with wrong turns, her character now inspires some sympathy. Who knows? Maybe a letter to James could be the prologue for a resolution, if not happy ending, to Caitlyn’s story.

I enjoyed it, but hope there’s more to hear from an older, and more introspective, but still unresolved Caitlyn. Thanks much.

Sorry but no. You are not James Michener. I am not going to read two novels just to understand this little rambling thing.

So Caitlin was relentlessly raped and abused for most of her adult life, even by her own father, until she met her future husband? There's no way she could keep all that compartmentalised and have anything remotely like a normal sex life with James. She'd be a total fucking head case!

By trying to explain Caitlin's behaviour, you made the original story even more implausible!

Didn't realize this was a companion story until the shooting.

Was going to rate it low just based on the content of this one alone but will review it.

Thanks for the follow up.

I think when James reads the journal it will screw up his new love with Tanya.

regardless of her past you have now confirmed my hate and anger for what she did.

Powerwordsman, I must respectfully disagree. I have worked with many Mental health patients over three decades. It's amazing how people deal, and live with a traumatic experience or experiences.

Caitlin was a fucked up person, and fucked up people generally have fucked up lives. It does seem unlikely that a woman who had so much experience with treachery and violent sex would succumb to a monster like Cyrus, and seek sex with him. Caitlin's fatal flaw is not that she is immoral or unethical. What makes Caitlin unqualified to be any man's wife or any person's mother is that she is so incredibly stupid and dense. Animals like Cyrus are clever and successful only if their victim is a complete imbecile. Caitlin doesn't need counseling, she needs a brain transplant.

Thanks for the effort, but it still comes off as lame and unbelievable. I think you should start over with more plausible characters. Good luck with future work.

And thanks for allowing anonymous comments. You have that advantage in terms of gumption and toughness. Too many wimps writing about so many wimps. Thanks for not writing That story.

I'm flattered to be compared to James Michener, even if in a not-so-favorable light. I understand not everyone will want to read a ton of backstory just to get through this one. My hope was that most readers either would have already read the previous works, or if not, might actually enjoy those others that came before this one for the first time. Anyone (including Anonymous) that feels it's not worth it, that is 100% your prerogative. I encourage everyone to try to read all of the wonderful works that were recently put out by the folks that have two feet for a name ;)

I am still working on all of those stories, and had to bookmark them all so they wouldn't be lost from my own feed!

Thanks,

RNebular

Dialogue stories usually fall flat for me. You crafted one that really works, especially by keeping the exchanges succinct and on point. Good work that ought to speak constructively to a lot of the damaged people on the LW site.

that was her main issue. rape does that to a person. she was far too passive, and people will abuse that. her mother might have been a bigger influence on her, modeling helplessness, and being dismissive.

my own mother was like that. she still sees our family with rose-tinted lenses. my father was mean and violent, but not sexually. he was actually very protective of us, when he wasn't raging at no one in particular. lotta demons in that man. i actually blame my mother more for being passive about it, than a grown man with a lot of demons to exorcise from his life. he eventually did, at least soon enough to not horrify my younger siblings.

i was raped too, but i took the other road. i became distrustful, but also aggressive. i want to say aggressive is better, but what do i know? i never showed distrust. i'd smile and laugh with people i didn't expect to bend over to pick up a dime i might have dropped. everyone was using everyone else, and i was gonna at least enjoy myself, instead of cringing in a corner. i still don't believe in blind trust, only earned trust.

i thought the story was believable. and as much as i'd want her to be happy, she'll have to be happy without him. she abused him harshly. there's no do-overs for that.

The psychobabble "counselor/psychologist" trope is terribly overdone in LW, and, as for the alleged "science" and expertise of the counselor, as Gertrude Stein once said about Oakland, "There's no 'there' there". When you write in the counselor/psychologist, you are just paying homage to ludicrous superstitions, in particular, the notion that there are "deep" reasons for behavior that only the shaman can discover. It's the "lite" version of the Freud fraud.

ch 2 might ruin it but it would help to know if they get back together

didn't buy the whole usual "daddy was mean to me - so that's why..."-crap,

it wasn't believable,

also didn't buy her regret,

for a woman (with her disturbing background) after realizing that she's not only destroyed her marriage but almost got her husband killed - suizide would be the next logical step,

she never did that, so that's why her regrets are fakes to me

2starrs

In the way therapy works, and the way she comes to realize her role in everything is a decent description of the process.Speaking from experience as the partner of someone who was sexually abused by her father, it does have consequences ,and trust can be a big one. despite what some think,therapy is about making decisions and accepting responsibility as a person,it isn't about justifying bad behavior,but unlike what priests dish out it isn't about guilt or denying feelings either (put it this way,if she told a priest her father molested her, he likely would tell her she must have seduced him or made him do it,and yes folks,this comes from real world examples).

I kind of like these stories,will be interesting to see how Cait and James reconcile their past as they move forward separately.

After reading Schulz's vile comment I meant to give the story 5 stars but goofed and tapped the 3 instead. Apologies if that drags down the score.

Still curious why she didnt call the police on the attempted murder of her husband and why she would ever sleep with Cyler again after he attempted to murder her husband right in front of her.

It was a sad commentary on a life that had it's major pitfalls and added with it, hot being open with your spouse about some of the trauma in your life.

A well-done story of a woman who did shoot herself in the foot for all the wrong reasons.

Understanding and sad.

T.T.

Like me. Foster homes recovering from abuse neglect etc. Makes one Like this woman.

THAT SHE FUCKED HIM AGAIN THE DAY AFTER HE TRIED TO KILL HER HUSBAND

after the fact she knew he was lying about him cheating

"Counselors" and "therapists" in real life are no better than "witch doctors", and they are a vastly over used, lazy way to tell a story. As for your "facts" at the beginning, there's really no way to know how "underreported" rape is, but the feminists love to exaggerate what they claim they know. Of course, every kind of crime is "underreported", but law enforcement data does show that "rape" is falsely alleged roughly 4 times more often than any other type of crime. If you work in the courts, you know that both men and women lie, but women lie significantly more often and get away with it. "Rape" has also been redefined by the feminist left. In the 1980s I listened to Catherine McKinnon lecture students at Stanford about rape telling them that if they had second thoughts about sex afterward, it was "rape". Don't call the girl the next day? Rape. She feels guilty about having casual sex? Rape. You break up with her after the relationship has become sexual? Rape. And so on. If you've been involved in the entertainment industry, you know that a lot of the "Me Too" allegations are false (some, of course are true). This author usually writes well, but this story is a disappointment

...that really get s me (unless I missed it), is that she continued to sleep with Cyrus even after he shot and attempted to kill her husband. That REALLY needs an explanation my friend.

It tries to paint her as a victim and it does it poorly. She was totren on the original story tbh. Now shes pathetic as well

Before you get in a serious relationship with anybody, I mean ANY PERSON, you must know his or her past. We are a result of what we have lived. For me this was very clarifying because once I had to jump off the bus. I hope that some clear mind is going to see your approach. Very good conclusion rnebular of a long well developed series.

Caitlin’s story put much in perspective. I’ve been close to a few women who were victimized by male family members. It’s not pretty. I mean the women are good people, but permanently scarred. Often they do hold back a part of themselves, never fully trusting the significant people in their lives. It’s understandable.

OTOH, it’s difficult, living with someone who’s holding back. It’s even more difficult asking them to open up. Will it cause an argument? What might you learn? Then, how do you deal with that knowledge?

You handled some incredibly intense issues re abuse with sensitivity and honesty. This is one of your best submissions. For this reader this was an emotional roller-coaster, but one I am grateful for.

I am a big fan of your work, but this was just a story of excuses. Poor Cait cheated on James because her father molested her, her lesbian lover cheated on her, and she was seduced by a snake. Just can't buy it, and she never dis explain seeing Cyrus again after he shot James. Nothing but excuses.

Wow. Brilliant line.

People often say, “He/she should just got off their ass and fought

/tried more.” But sometimes, after months or years of fighting, you just get tired. Those words of encouragement/criticism are easy to say, but can be monumentally difficult to do.

“...didn't buy the whole usual "daddy was mean to me - so that's why..."-crap“

Shit! Daddy wasn’t mean; hell, my daddy could be mean at times. No, her daddy was a fucking nightmare-terror for months and months.

That is, unless you’re one who doesn’t feel rape is “mean” or violent or degrading. Then, I guess you’re right.

You brought understanding and sympathy to a character I was curious about with the story “Castaway”. Cyrus really had an easy target.

And being traumatized when younger can certainly be hidden. Ask a bunch of baby-boomer American Jews (or Japanese-Americans) if their parents very openly showed the trauma they went through. Hell, I didn’t know my Japanese uncles side of the family was in internment camps until the 1980s, when I was in my 20s. NOBODY TALKED ABOUT IT, and we went to their home at least once a month. It certainly may have affected them psychologically, but to us “its just the way Auntie Betty acts/thinks”; “Uncle Ben is so gung-ho American because he was a Marine”, etc. Most of them became hyper-americanized. Most all the boys joined the Scout, played little league, etc. They ALL flew the American flag on the appropriate holidays. They all drove American cars well into the late 1980s or early 90s, when many Euro-Americans were switching to Japanese cars in the mid-70s.

My first girlfriend, I found out several month into the relationship, was raped about a year prior. She really didn’t like to do more than hold hands or hug, but anything more was shrugged off. I just thought “that’s the way she is, hmmm... maybe her parents are that way? I wonder ‘nature or nurture’?” Finally, months into our relationship she told me she was raped, and didn’t feel comfortable with more than hugs. YET, she still wanted to be my girlfriend. It didn’t make her unlike boys, just (at least at that time) uncomfortable with physical contact.

Can’t Caitlin love James and still feel reticent deep down?

The best complement I can give this writer is I'm now 'following' RN; with him knocking on the door of the top-25 LW writers.

/

If this story line is to end then I think RN needs to wrap it up with Howie, Tanya/James, and Maddy's life. The Tanya/James dynamic soon to be married has so many possible tangents; wide age differences, Hollywood inference, second family w/kids (means no more boat living), can be very dynamic. As it is the story line is now a cliffhanger waiting for a wrap-up ending to so many relationships.

/

5* for the whole series, Hooyah, salutes...

It was a tough story to read but not because of any failings the author. Cait was oftentimes victim and perhaps it was due to a slowness to react to the actions (including criminal actions) of those in her life. Like others I was disappointed by the ending. No, reunion with the husband would have failed the story but a step after her communication was needed. KUDOS TO THE AUTHOR and I'll be sure to read more of the anthology.

Just a list of words and conversations

You go girl. Go "reinvent" yourself. After ruining your husband's life by cheating on him in the worst possible manner you need to do just that. You have earned it, right bitch?

continue with her story

After everything she needs to find her way back to him

He may be a good man, but he's no saint, Caitlin. You said yourself that he'd been gone a lot and you'd tried to tell him about that. It sounds like he didn't fully listen to you either."

Wow..a counsellor says this! A husband is not a saint if he continues to put effort in his work to establish it and provide security to his family!! Says a lot about consellors ! They seem to thrive feeding on insecurities of especially women in the US!!

Also, why is it that most LW writers seek deeper meanings and reasons into why women cheat?? Why can’t women cheat for the same reasons that men do?

- because they can!

- because they did not expect to get caught or face the music!

- because they thought with their clits!!

It is high time we stop this mollycodling of women and their affairs!! In this world of equality a woman cheats because she can!! That’s it…no amount of PMS, child abuse, boyfriend abuse shit will work!! It’s just a sorry escapist attitude by the LW writers!

Remarkable humanization of a hurt, vulnerable, imperfect character. No false notes. No whitewashing of her failures. You left her in a position to get her life happening again.

this bitch is unbelievable

She invited her rapist to her wedding and cheated with her husband with another rapist. She should have committed suicide as a child and spared the whole world her stupidity

This puts a whole new slant on the Castaway series.

With the events of her past it seems pretty amazing that Caitlin managed to have a good marriage for as long as she did.

Not that there's any reason for her and James to get together but, I find myself wanting to know his thoughts and reactions when he reads her journal.

I agree with ANON. Women have the same number of excuses to cheat as men... NONE!!!

For me this added nothing valuable to the castaway series I read. Giving her a troubled past where she was continually raped and abused seemed like an excuse for why she blew up what seemed to be a idyllic life/marriage. Also regardless of her past trauma it is extremely unlikely that she cheats with Cyrus as she knew him for many years and knew he was a womanizer. The exact kinda man she would avoid unless you're suggesting she was seeking that abuse again as a form of punishment. Regardless I also find it odd that she wasn't more upset that her husband was gonna marry an A list actress, if she thought she was a 5 and he was an 8...what does she think Tanya was? An 11? That would give her serious self esteem issues. But I digress, low score for me

Why did you bother?

Setting aside for a moment her horrid background and amny rapes. Her innate distrust and deep melancholy about commitment and her life. Even IF one were to accept that as reasons for her messed up affair with Cyrus, who she knew for years and wa clearly manipulating her and her ferocity over James "apparent" affairs, even then NONE of that explains whe Cyrus shot her husband, she called Shawn and she left, and went back to Cyrus afterwards. Doesn't matter how many times she was raped. That was either a full blown psychiatric dissociative break from reality, which means she should be getting psychiatric treatment, not counseling, or she really had become a monster. That way she acted that night and what she did soon afterwards is absolutely vile.

As vile as her father raping her. that night when she abandoned James while he was bleeding after having been shot by Cyrus during their planned adulterous ambush (and Cyrus trying to kill James), when she left, calling Shawn, and then continued to see Cyrus, that showed she was the monster. Capable also of an absolutely vile act. Not only had she intentionally broken her husband's heart, yes that is a sh$tty thing to do, but forget the adultery. That was her husband and father of her daughter, who was shot and bleeding on the floor hen she walked out. And just as bad, she continued to see Cyrus afterwards. That is evil. And her past trauma while it might explain her inability to trust and her hyper overreaction to perceived infidelity on James' part, despite being married for many years, still her trauma is no excuse for her hsuband possibly dying while she walked away, not to mention her having any association with Cyrus afterwards. Balderdash.

Sorry that she had a terrible life, but now she recognizes that she also is a monster and ahe will continue to have a terrible life. That betrayal on the night wheen they planned their second honeymoon, that was so bad, that if Maddy knew the truth, it is doubtful she would ever have anything to do with her mother. Seriously her actions that night either warrant prison as an accessory or commitment to a mental institution or being completely severed from the family on account of being a psycho.