All Comments on 'Starlight Gleaming Ch. 21 Pt. 03'

Absolutely knocked it out of the park again! Been hanging onto every word of this series for years now and it continues to get better and better, I absolutely cannot wait for more chapters of this and Bard’s Tale.

A few errors slipped through. Sergeant Benti (not Quenti) is one of them. I hope this chapter answered a few questions. Much more lies ahead, such as getting the circuit board working and installed on an interceptor jet because Janetta wants some payback. And Melannee makes an appearance in this upcoming chapter and in the next one.

Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Empire, both at home and abroad!

Slainté

TJ,

Glad to see you are back and writing! Worried about you when I hadn't seen anything new for quite awhile.

I really enjoy this story!

So glad to see this chapter come out. This is such a great story, I hope it continues to a final ending.

Thank you, TJ, for giving of yourself and your creativity. It is appreciated.

Thank You!

I’m always thrilled to find another submission from you and this one was a doozy! So much happening at once. I love the length of your chapters as it allows me to enjoy the continuity. There are those writers who only submit a page. Pity. Once again, thank you.

Continuing a great story line. I look forward to each update, and have to go back and reread some each time. Very few stories anywhere in english pick up and work in the history threads that you touch upon.

I have been looking forward to read the continuing of your story and you never disappoint me, only problem is that I crave more. Thank you so much for sharing your work with us and I’ll be looking forward to the next chapter of your saga.

Great story made even better knowing that you are still going.

I hope your situation betters and that you can continue to feed my beast.

Please think about Patreon, there are surely others like me who would love to support you with more than just 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟.

The base is still burning after thousands of men, women and children have been killed and the same number are missing and all Janetta can do is complain that the house is crowded and she can't get a bath, then when Ranji is trying to organise help for the whole base, staying awake for days, all she can do is get angry at him for not calling.

I'll never understand why the author made her character so abrasive and ridiculous.

Thanks for the new chapter

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I sampled a few "pages" to find the word count. Each page has around 3500 words making this entry around 160 book pages. For an "amateur" with limited resources I will forgive a few errors. Good writing style and well developed plot. I have some bugbears about characters, settings and events but I cannot take ways from the achievement.

KJay15:

To answer a few questions. First, remember that Janetta is 1st generation nobility; she worked hard for her status and to be a pilot. Some of her abrasiveness is due to her frustration about so many of her fellow pilots being killed while she was stuck in an emergency shelter. She's the Mistress of the House and not only is it crowded with refugees and wounded, but it's also broken with most of one wall open to the elements. While Ranji was busy negotiating supplies, he failed to let his family know where he was.

She's smart about aircraft, but she doesn't near the same education level (book smart) that Ranji, Izel, or even Calia has. She is pretty street smart. As she admitted, Janetta was worried about him and where he was. He was alive and survived the air raid, but with fires still burning and people disappearing, Ranji and Izel also "disappeared" for almost 24 hours.

She was scared, and as usual for her, chewed him out and complained. While he couldn't be interrupted because he was so exhausted he neglected to let anyone of his family know that he was okay and busy; they all were growing scared, even though Calia "knew" he was okay. There had been abductions from the war base, after all.

Janetta loves Ranji but sometimes has trouble admitting that he's so important to her. Being an independent woman and a warrior is not just important to her, it's part of her core beliefs about herself. With so many losses to pilots and crews, Janetta has had little to do besides help with cleaning up debris and sometimes finding bodies of colleagues. Whenever she's not using a shovel to pick up rocks and litter, she's filling out paperwork like death certificates and sending condolence letters to families.

Ranji doesn't like being the focus of her anger but understands her, knowing that once she cools down she will apologize. As he becomes more well-known, she sees his marriage to Izel as something she can hide her commoner upbringing from the other elites of the officer corps. Just as Izel wants Janetta to be her friend and secondary protector, Janetta wants to learn from Izel the social niceties of the generational wealthy so that she doesn't embarrass herself too much.

gaayguwaan

Yeah, I knew I was getting close a while ago. This is effectively Book 5 in the Starlight Gleaming story arc. The next release will complete chapter 23. Remember, Book 5 is entitled Atlantis Rising, so expect to see Atlantis bring more pressure to High Guard and to the Empire in chapter 24.

I hope that gives you and some of the others who have complained about her some insight into who she is as a person and a warrior. The next chapter will deal not only with making the new tech work, but it will also deal heavily with Melannee Siroptec as well as adjusting to shake-ups at High Guard and within the Kandikan household.

Be safe and best of luck to everyone. Slainté

"second firefight in twenty-four hours and I am so far behind in required action reports, it'll be a week before I see daylight"

Good to be able to find some humor in the midst of all the carnage!

What an achievement. So many balls in the air at one time.

I'm guessing the pages of notes used to keep all the balls in the air would have been of substantial size.

And this a "part chapter"!?

Did you paint yourself in a corner?

I went back to Chapter 1, Page 1. Ranji hadn’t seen Janetta in 12 and a half years, and that was 16 years after seeing Janetta for the first time. Given where they are now it’s hard to imagine them being apart for 12 years.

Also, 12 years after last seeing Janetta Ranji is still a Commander. No further promotions.

Either you’ve got some interesting rabbits to pull out of the hat or it might be time to revise Chapter 1.

Did I paint myself into a corner? No. I already know what's going to happen. You'll just have to wait until I write it down.

Since this story takes place during the end of the Pleistocene, those rabbits would be Nuralagus rex. No fuzzy tail and the long ears were shorter and narrower, but it definitely had a rabbit face. It was also as big as a medium-sized dog and ran rather than hopped. The readers will have to judge if it (the story, not the rabbit) is sufficiently awesome or not.

The US military puts a cap on time in grade but the Empire does not. As long as someone is effective at their job, why would they push him out of the Service? Promotion to general and above requires temple membership, which Ranji was never interested in.

Currently about 50 pages into Bard's Tale 5, after heavily revising the first draft.

All the best. Slainté

First let me thank you, I have been reading this story at an ever increasing rate. That being said I’m now at a quandary- you have been working on this story for 7 years, and now I have caught up to you….. as with most writers the time between your chapters has increased as the story has become more complex (not a criticism just an acknowledgment of the complexities you are working with). With all of that said I now fear I will be forced to wait months at a time to continue following this saga and I fear that will be terribly difficult.

Here’s hoping you continued to be inspired writing this epic to its conclusion.

TJ

Are you still going to write? You've been very quiet for a long time now.

TK

Another terrific chapter from a great writer!

On the home stretch for Bard's Tale 05 - Westward, Ho! Aside from the travails of the Whisper Wind clan, I expect there to be some reactions to the stories of Bob, the god of eagles, and a story about a very hungry pussy. Should be finished by the end of the month, and then a return to writing the next chapter of Starlight Gleaming. Stay tuned on these Imperial news networks!

If you haven't tried Bard's Tale or some of the other Skyra stories, I encourage you to give them a try. I am currently planning a spin-off after the SG story arc wraps up. And, you will find a variety of stories among my list of favorites.

Health update

Still dealing with dizziness and as of June 1, find myself unemployed. I had no choice but to accept that because I physically have trouble doing the work and working more than a few hours at a time. My boss actually kept me on the payroll as a part-timer to help me as much as she could, so no acrimony there! Adding to the mayhem, my eyes have been acting up for the past two months. With the diabetes, the eyeballs have become enlarged, leading to bleeding near the retinas. I've been on shots to reduce the swelling for over a year, the goal is to stop the bleeding. Getting shots in the eyeball is a challenge in itself. Each series is a set of 3 shots, and I'm currently on series 6. I laugh and joke that the doctor has a degree in poking people in the eye with a sharp stick. Until this particular physical issue resolves, I can't get new lenses as the shape of the eyeball directly impacts vision correction. Overall, it's just another inconvenience, but I'm coping. Hopefully, I will convince my doctor to test me for POTS (probable source of the dizzy spells at this point). It would be nice to figure out what has been slowly destroying my body for the past six years.

Jenna Morici in her video blogging about writing observed that one of the casualties of being a writer is socializing with others. Well, COVID did a number on that so no one noticed that I was pretty much living in my cave (bedroom). Another trait of writers, she wryly overserved, is personal hygiene falls by the wayside. I laughed pretty hard when I saw that a long time ago; with the dizzy spells, sponge baths have become my friend. Make of that what you will. Laughing hysterically is fine as long as you keep it down to a dull roar. After all, we must think of the children! (wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more, say no more.)

At the present, I write until my eyes literally can't make heads or tails of what's on the monitor and give it a rest. I am working out how to cover rent (and thank you, but no, this is not a plea for money). Meantime, I blunder along. If anything, don't feel sorry for me. Rather, carpe diem. Live life fully, connect with friends and family, read racy fiction, and take no prisoners when others try to drag you down. Be kind to others. Stay safe! Slainté

Just re-read the story for the third time, always enjoy each re-read and notice new nuances that I have missed previously. Waiting for the next chapter with subdued excitement and wishing you the best in your treatments and recovery. Have you considered dictating the story with voice translation software and having your proof readers polish up for you while you are healing? Just a thought that might ensure we have as much of your minds creation as possible and our inquisitive appetites may be able to consume. Wish there was something I could do to assist you in your recovery but I know bodies know what is best for them and time is usually a considerable part of it. All the best in being well!

Bard's Tale is nearly done. I had hoped to be finished last week, but I ended up in the ER with chest pains and it knocked me for a loop. Tests came back all clear, but I that night I had started a new Rx to control blood pressure. And a rare but dangerous side effect was chest pain when taking the drug.

Anyway, nearing the end of Bard's Tale part 5 (currently 165+), and have 11 pages of SG done. I am keeping busy and trying to deal with the dizziness and other things.

You are going tooo.. late buddy. Till now you put second one by August or September when bringing in third.

This time October comes with nothing you wuss...

Love your stories. While they sex scenes were interesting. I bet you could turn this into a first class novel.

Any updates for next part.

Health issues knocked me off my feet for most of October and much of the first week of November. Plan to submit smaller chunks (4-5 pages at a time) to see if that helps speed submissions. These health issues delaying my story writing are bothering me, too.

Just came a checking to see if another chapter was out. Sorry to hear that you are having health issues, I hope that things improve for you and you are able to get all the support you need. Love the story so far, looking forward to new chapters .. but I'm quite happy to be as patient as necessary, no need to rush :)

Any chance of next episode by next seven days. You have taken too many days to come out with next chapter reducing our interest follow up trail.

Excellent!

TJSkywind - "I hope that gives you and some of the others who have complained about her some insight into who she is as a person and a warrior."

I think this would be better explained within the story and make the story flow better for more readers.