Ed adn Jen.. not age difference. hadn't actually thought about that.
More a concern that they might be rushing into the relationship too quickly.. but it was handled nicely!

Nicely rounded off there with Ed and Jen.  Omega.. eh?  Hmm. Could be interesting!!

Okay, it's done, I've got some cleanup to do before I put it up on my website. I'll have my thoughts on the story a bit later. Then I can think about Moonlight.

This one ran longer than "Matters of the Heart" which surprised me! I still haven't decided which one of the Hewett series is my favorite, each one of them has it's own merit. I'll be putting thoughts up here later on.

Only two of my stories have ended saddly, so far, unless you're Martin, Patterson, or Landers! :

In Training:
My thoughts:

This story was the third in the “Hewett” series and it was another fun story to write. I hadn’t planned on another follow on right away but after seeing how “Matt” was developing as a favorite on the forum I decided to let him come back and play some more. This could turn into a saga!

I’ve always been impressed with the Kobayashi Maru from Star Trek and I was very surprised to learn that the test has a close analogue in the US Navy. In real live the test is called “Fuchin’ Fiord” and it is used to evaluate both tactics and the psychological responses of perspective commanding officers (PCOs). Being able to have both a no win scenario and modern submarine warfare in the story was a real treat. This is probably as close as I’ll ever get to writing, a Tom Clancy style military techno-thriller.

The story drops the reader right into the action with Skydiver Six, under the command of Matt Hewett, hunting down three UFOs. Other than the title, no hint is given that this is anything but the real deal. The beginning had Denise on the edge of her seat. We don’t realize it is a test until the sub suddenly settles straight and level and Lt. Colonel Carlin walks in.

The story slows down in the first chapter as I wanted to set the stage for the shock effect when Ginny and Matt have their first romantic crisis. On the plane all hell breaks loose between them and they are not able to make up before Matt is sent off on the mission. This tiff between then added a new dimension to the story and showed the relationship between them to be a normal realistic marriage with all the good and bad that comes with it. Due to the circumstances they both have time to consider their actions and mistakes and form a closer bond because of it.

I took Ed and Jen to the next level as well probably a bit quicker than I should have but as Louise had mentioned it was tastefully done. The tender moment between them was fun to write. Given a choice I’ll always take an afterglow scene over the “act” itself as the reader is able to learn so much more in those tender moments. I was a bit concerned at the age difference (Ed 48, and Jen 36) but at those ages it isn’t as much of a factor. This story sparked a good debate on the forum about character ages. In all of my storylines Ed is 42 in 1980.

This story had quite a bit of underwater naval action and the dialogue came from several sources, including “Crimson Tide”, “The Hunt for Red October”, my sub simulator program and friends who have served on or driven subs for a living. I did my best to make it sound as realistic as possible and both Louise and Guina commented about the authentic sound of the dialogue.

One of my favorite parts of the story was when Ginny wanted to tear Laura Weston to shreds. Ginny was grief stricken over the loss of her husband and when the traitor was revealed she focused the negative energy into hate, something she would later regret. Denise wanted me to let Ginny tear into Weston, but that would have been quite messy. Ed wouldn’t allow it.

In the first posting we got to read Matt’s last letter to Ginny but I opted to change that in the final version. The reader still gets to read most of it but certain parts that are very intimate and personal are left to the reader’s imagination. (Some of those details might have pushed the story into Nfic.)

When I started the story I had no idea where the leak was and the thought of a high level person being a traitor came to mind. I deliberately made it look like Jen could be in cahoots with the aliens. I decided to give Natiroff a behind the scenes boss and make her the villain. The shootout in the armory was a lot of fun to write as well.

The climax of the story leaves Matt out of torpedoes; with the new type three UFO bearing down on the Russian Alfa and them. The idea of using Sky Three’s missiles came from the rocket torpedo test that the Russian Navy conducted a few years ago. Something unconventional was Matt’s solution to the no-win scenario.

Louise called this story “a true UFO adventure” and I am deeply honored for that. I intend to visit this universe again to check on both, Ed and Jen, as well as Matt and Ginny. As always I would like to thank everyone who commented and encouraged me on this story.

Thanks,
Matt

Thanks Louise, I took your advice, and did the same for my other stories as well.