Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
Yikes? Yes, definitely Yikes.

I truly did not see them retrieving Clark2 alive from the sun. That might be the biggest L&C monkey wrench ever.

GAH! I don't think anyone knew it was coming since AltClark didn't know until that moment (thank you first-person, present-tense narrative!).

I'm surprised, however, that I managed to throw in that big of a twist without anyone suspecting it was coming! Is that a good thing, or...? lol


Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
He has one of the worst cases of PTSD I've ever read about, and if it's hurting him that badly, it's killing Lois. Not to mention that it's liable to drive altClark totally nuts. Going through combat second-hand has to be almost as traumatic as the actual experience. Shucks, all three of them will need therapy before the end.

Super-resilience is another of altClark's superpowers? I think now that he knows what is happening, he can more easily detach himself from it. It is traumatizing, for sure, but he knows it's not him in the visions, and he knows he didn't experience the events first hand.

They all should probably go to therapy, though, you're right about that!

I think the trauma of Clark's experiences was heightened because of the condensed nature of the fighting he had to engage in, the stress of him trying (unsuccessfully) to remain true to his identity and beliefs (Superman does not kill), and his death. And then almost injuring Lois when he woke up out of that dream... That certainly didn't help. mecry

I hope you'll stick it out long enough to read Anchor Part 2, which written is from Clark's POV. There's a lot more to it than we get to see from altClark's POV.


Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
You're putting Lois in a vise. She's torn between these two men - her Clark, who is severely damaged and fragile as ancient glass, and altClark, who loves her and firmly believes that he can't have her because it would be wrong on so very many levels. That vise is going to get tighter by the minute until there is either a resolution or she cracks.

It is quite difficult for her, since she'd developed such a great friendship with altClark.


Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
Luthor has green K. You aren't giving these folks a moment to recover, are you? That's okay - it's more fun to read that way.

No resting! More trauma! Ah, my poor characters. You're right though, they deserve a break.


Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
So altClark is going to write the memoir? Oh, that won't add to the collective trauma at all. He'll just dash it off in an hour or two. [Linked Image]

I can't wait to see what happens next. It's going to be good.

Thank you for sticking it out so far!! We're getting near the end. Finally!


Originally Posted by Terry Leatherwood
I want to say again that I love the first-person present-tense presentation. It's very difficult to pull off, but you're handling it like a pro. Do you, by any chance, write romance novels under a pen name that are for sale online? I would not be surprised.

lol blush No sir, I don't have anything published anywhere else, except my dissertation -- which is about as far from a romance novel as one could get!

However, thank you very much for the compliments on the writing. I'd written one other story before (which I haven't yet shared) in first-person, but past tense. When I started writing this one (admittedly with only a vague idea of what I actually wanted to happen), the first couple chapters wrote themselves in first-person present tense. And then it continued to guide the story.

It's also why I now have a fully written part 2 from Clark's POV and a partly written part 3 from Lois's POV... I needed (for myself at least) to explore the other events happening around AltClark and...well, we'll see!

Thank you very much for the thoughtful feedback! This is actually the best part of sharing my writing -- seeing others so engaged in something that I'd put so much effort into. I truly appreciate it!!

-Bek