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When I was a kid I made a ray gun by connecting two D batteries to a flashlight bulb. :-)

What are the rules about what can be submitted to Strongest Start? I'm currently working on the third draft of my WIP. I never submitted it for the contest because earlier drafts were garbage and I knew it. My first three chapters are now essentially in final form.

Believe it or not, I'm still dealing with my move from Jan. 2016. Now it's IRS withholding forms I need to provide to all my US financial institutions (IRAs, NYSE pension, bank checking). Even my Canadian bank wants the forms so they can occasionally invest my money in US investments. These need to be renewed every three years, otherwise the banks have to withhold 30% of all payments to me, instead of the tax treaty-specified 0-15%. Who's supposed to do this sh*t when I'm old and senile? Also, it's almost time for tax returns again. Maybe I'll get lucky and get audited again. Idiots!

I usually get in a few hours most days doing research for the new books. Of course, I have to take copious notes, since I can't remember sh*t. I have a pretty good idea of the overall arc for the first book, but I'm still not sure I should do it the way I want. Catholic Revelation includes two end-time figures, an Antichrist and a false prophet. The mainstream Catholic interpretation of these figures are a worldwide political-military leader (the Antichrist) and an anti-Catholic religious leader (the false prophet) who have yet to appear in history. One alternative interpretation views Emperor Nero as the Antichrist and Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest who orchestrated Jesus's death, as the false prophet. Nero was a nasty piece of work, using many of his enemies as human torches.

I'm considering combining the two figures into a single Antichrist fathered by Satan. According to Revelation, Satan is limited in his powers because he was "bound" by the archangel Michael at the time of Jesus's ministry. Looking back at the murder and mayhem of the 20th century, imagine what Satan could do if he weren't bound. In my story, his son would be just as powerful, but free to act.

Thanks, Amy.

Janet, are you planning to resume posting NS?

My latest chapter, Joseph Enters Heaven, is up. It's a cleaned up version of the same chapter from v2, including feedback from previous reviewers. As mentioned above, I'm not making any more major changes to the remaining chapters for v3. Just cleanup before I shelve it. Feel free to review it if you want the points. A special shout out to Amy whose numerous comments on this chapter in v2 almost broke my printer. :-)

Feel better, Bill.

I spent six years working on a book that I will now probably never publish. Does that count?

Another way to give feedback is through the forums. A number of us have each created a single running thread for our works-in-progress that are used for continuing discussions, often involving more than just the latest review(s). We also use them for brainstorming with other members. Currently, our threads are located in the Medieval/Fantasy Magic group even though not all of them are fantasy. That's due to the site limit of 10 groups per member. We needed a place to go without maxing out on groups. Stop by and have a look if you like. I could never have written my current book without the collective brainstorming and added feedback of other members there.

If you get reviews that you find offensive or unhelpful, tell them so in the reply and don't reciprocate. Unless they're really bored, they'll stop reading your stuff.

I haven't noticed that, but then I don't go back to check the comment windows after I close them.

However, I have noticed that people's avatars are partially blocking their review comments when I switch to x-line view. I think that's a new problem as well.