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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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It's DONE! The monster is DONE! Yeah, so it needs a few edits here and there, but IT'S DONE!!!  Someone [I can't find the email now - someone's g-ma, IIRC] had emailed me that she was reading and suggested Clark proposing would be a great end. GMTA because that's what I had planned for a very long time. Hope you guys have enjoyed the ride. I know I have [most of the time - there were times I wanted to throw the whole thing across a room!] I don't even begin to know how to thank Alisha, Beth and Nancy how have been absolutely amazing BRs. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'd hoped to put a bunch of favorite quotes from Unanswered Prayers in here, but that's not going to happen - maybe later I'll be able to. [You know the ones that are completely out of context and make you go "AHHHHHH".] But for now here's snippets from the first 5 chapters... Unanswered Prayers PreviewChapter 1 ~*~Lois~*~
It had been an amazing night.
Filled with long, slow lovemaking to the man I loved more than life itself.
The father of my sons.
My husband.
The man who had finally realized that he loved me.
That he wanted to be with me.
That his grandparents had been right.
Love isn't who you can live with – we'd been doing that in some fashion for years – but who you can't live without – and Clark had finally realized that he couldn't live without me. ~*~Clark~*~
I hesitated slightly, reminded of the last time we'd made love before this trip to the cabin. In a split-second, I was turned, lying next to her, my feet propped up next to hers. "I'll spend the rest of my life letting you do that," I promised her.
"Then I'll let you spend the rest of your life doing it," she said with a yawn. "You still have a lot to make up for though."
"I know," I told her honestly. I did.
"I mean," she said, turning and sliding under the covers, "you never have taken me to Mt. Everest. And it's been a while since you made me breakfast in bed."
I moved behind her, wrapping her in my arms, pulling her close to my chest, my body curled around hers. "I'll do whatever you want to make it up to you."
"Oh I know. And I'm sure I'll have a list for you eventually," she murmured as she neared sleep. "But the first thing..." her voice trailed off.
"What's that?"
"I know I might almost like her, but don't ever mention your ex-girlfriend's name while we're naked together." ~*~Clark~*~
"That's something I wanted to talk to you and Dad about. Lois and I have already talked about it a little bit, but what about the whole superhero thing? I help when and where I can but it seems like so little... Especially compared to what Van-El is doing or what we could do together at a major disaster or whatever."
Mom sighed. "We figured this conversation was coming. It's up to the two of you. Lois and the boys will be a lot more affected than we will. How many nights will you not be home because of some emergency? How many birthday parties might you miss? Things like that."
"I've thought about that," I said honestly. "I think it would be a lot easier for both of us if there were two of us. I mean, we take a family vacation to DisneyWorld or something and Van would know I'm not available. Ashley has a baby and he wants to take a week off, I cover more. School play? Same thing. Like an on-call doctor type thing or something. Trade nights or weeks or something like that."
Mom nodded slowly. "That might work better than if there was just one of you, that's for sure. When you decide let me know and I'll help with a costume or whatever you need."
"Let's do it," Lois said suddenly. ~*~Lois~*~
The three of us traipsed downstairs while they changed. The two of them beat us to the living room.
"Show off," I mumbled.
Clark grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to him. "I'll show off for you later," he whispered in my ear.
Bernie coughed and turned bright red – about the same shade I was sure I was, knowing he'd heard what Clark said.
Clark just looked at him and grinned. "Hey, no eavesdropping on my private conversations with my wife." ~*~Clark~*~
Tears had filled her eyes.
"Oh, honey," I whispered. "I'm so sorry I hurt you so badly." I brushed the hair off her face, tangling my fingers in it as I stroked her cheekbone with my thumb. "I did notice – looking back, I mean. At the time, I tried not to think about it much at all, but I think, deep down, I knew."
A few tears escaped despite her valiant efforts to keep them in. I brushed them away and pulled her close to me. "It's okay to let it out," I told her. "The last few days have been an absolute whirlwind and I don't think you've let it out at all, have you?"
She shook her head against me as the tears began to flow in earnest. I didn't know how long I held her there, letting her sob against me, a few tears of my own leaking out as I realized again how close I'd come to losing everything that mattered to me, everything that made life worth living. It scared me again to realize how much of my well-being was wrapped up in one small brunette whirlwind. ~*~Clark~*~
"Should we tell my Dad?"
My brow furrowed. "Tell your Dad what? The whole truth about us?"
Sam didn't know that we weren't entirely certain Christopher was my son though he had a pretty good idea about the true nature of our relationship over the last three and a half years.
She shrugged. "Maybe, but I meant about you."
"What about me?"
She took a deep breath. "The whole Kryptonian thing."
I sat in stunned silence for a minute. The thought of telling *anyone* scared me, but my father-in-law? Telling him that an alien was doing his daughter? Where had that phrase come from? Thanks again everyone! Carol
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,791 |
YAY! That was beautiful. That whole chapter just made me go *awwww*. I can't wait to see Unanswered Prayers!!!
"You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain. And you do love being the hero, don't you. The cheering children, the swooning women, you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice." -- Lex Luthor to Superman, Question Authority, Justice League Unlimited
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Columnist
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Columnist
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Very cute =) But.... Telling him that an alien was doing his daughter? *choke* 
Sara "Lieta"
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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~Mel~
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Joined: Apr 2007
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Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,066 Likes: 31 |
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Man, you did it again, Carol. You gave an impossible situation a happy ending. (Do L&C run screaming from the torture when you sit down at your keyboard?  ) Anyway, I loved the ending, and am looking forward to the next piece! Thank you so much for sharing your words with us.  JD 
"Meg...who let you back in the house?" -Family Guy
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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I actually liked that ending (I know, can you believe it).  I was so worried you'd give us a happily ever after without them having discussed things through, but you didn't, and for that I'm very glad. This is the start of something, but there's also a lot of water under the bridge to be settled. I like that. If the story were to end here, I'd think it was too quick of an ending, but there's UP, which I'm looking forward to. I can't imagine things will be smooth running for here, and we'll get a sense as to how these characters deal with future troubles. Wonderful piece of fiction, Carol and congrats on getting this piece done. Rest up, and let's get UP posted. I'll give you a day rest, how's that?
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,060 Likes: 20 |
I posted in the wrong folder, but I'll say more here: Congratulations, Carol! And those UP teasers---aw, man! Now I'm hooked. 
~•~
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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I'm glad she argeed to marry him again. That was really sweet. The wedding will be a part of UP, right? I'm looking foward to it.
I loved that Clark used Ellen's ring to propose.
I know Lois was in love with Clark for a long time, or at least had stronger feelings for him, back at the beginning. Like I said before, (this was a long time ago in the posting), Lois was probably annoyed by Lana's prissy additude in the dorm (lacy curtains, lip gloss, etc.). And I can see them butting heads simply because Lana always had problems with Lois. But was that REALLY a reason for her to call Lana Cruella? I always said it was a sign that she was jealous because Lana had Clark. And I was right.
Clark obviously had PROTECTIVE URGES toward Lois from the beginning, when you think of all the things he did for her when they were "just friends." That's an important part of love, obviously. But I have to say I can't believe he really was in love with her back then. I can believe he was in love with her sometime after they got married, particually when Pop-Pop died and Sam had a heart attack. But not at the beginning, no matter what Terry or Patrick tries to argue.
But then, I didn't really believe Lois was "in love with Clark since the beginning" at the end of learning to love either. But it didn't ruin the story for me. And reading it on the archieve now, I find that arguement a little easier to swallow, so many I'll change my mind on this one, too.
Either way, it doesn't ruin the story for me with this one, either.
I'm glad Clark told Lois he'd wait to make love if she needed to, even though he wanted to at the cabin.
I understand once Lois got that reassurance, she decided it was okay. She has been in love with Clark for a long time. She WANTED to make love to him. And offically, they are marired.
It was a sweet ending.
But I have to say, I wonder if it was a little early for Lois to forgive him. Personally, I would have liked to see them wait untill the next wedding. Probabally some of my conserative beliefs shining through, there. (I don't believe in pre-martial sex, though I can understand when people sometimes get carried away.) Of course, like Lois said, they WERE arleady married.
But although I understand the decision, I would have liked to see them wait until their marriage and their vows are real. Just me.
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,764 |
Thanks everyone . Karen - Glad you liked it and that it was awww inducing . Lieta - yeah I thought that was funny too . Mel - Wow. Thank you. The supers are in UP but they're not a focus. The focus is L/C and their relationship. More below. Michael - thank you for the fireworks. I'm sure Ann's okay with those . Actually... the move isn't currently addressed in UP. In large part because it was a fairly late development [originally, we went from Navance is dead to the cabin and skipped all the in between. I think it's a lot better this way though] so that's on the 'notes to contemplate when editing UP' list. There's a whole year's worth of Kerth worthy stories coming, but thank you. I do hope at least a few FoLCs at least think of it come Kerth time next year [of course, it'll probably be October before it makes it to the archive - or longer ]. JD - Thank you. Screaming? No. Kryptonians cowering in terror? Sometimes. Hopefully UP didn't leave them that way though. There's no misunderstanding break ups or anything like that... Grinch - even without UP, this is the beginning for them. They have a lot to work through still and they know it. And Clark knows he has a lot of making up to do [hence the snippet from Ch. 1]. We see some of it, but not all. It's not all happy rose petals from here on out, though now, what they go through they go through together. Queenie - see other thread for Italian notes . UP will be MUCH shorter - still thinking in the 35 chapter range, though the chapter I was adding I think is turning into two. We'll have to see on that... And that was kind of the idea of posting the previews! Sara - Yes, the wedding is part of UP. I think part of what you're talking about is an unconscious thing. I don't think L/C in the series really loved each other from the beginning either - though that's where the saying comes from. Clark was intrigued and infatuated and probably loved her before long, but it took Lois a lot longer [and she denied it to herself for a long time too]. But by the time he leaves for NK, it's hard to remember a time when they didn't love each other. I know there was a time when I didn't love my husband, but I don't really remember it that way. I just remember loving him - does that make sense? So it may not be *technically* accurate, but I think it's really what they feel. That conversation about 'what if I'm not ready' was one of the more recent additions. They are married and their vows are real even if they haven't said them again - not specifically. They're certainly implied in 'I want to spend my life with you, raise my kids with you' etc. And again, just because Lois forgave him doesn't mean Clark doesn't have making up to do. As for UP posting... I'm thinking a chapter a day starting in a week, week and a half, something like that. DH is home this week and writing time will be very limited and I do need to do edits/tweaks and, at the very least, get the additional chapters written [the one I'm working on is the new ch. 10...] before going back to work on the end. Thanks again! /waves/ Carol
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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It's almost 2009 here and I have a few minutes... Carol, that was lovely!!!   Oh, and... what Michael said! Can I borrow his pictures, too? You gave us a perfect, wonderful ending to an absolutely amazingly addictive fic! It's sure going to be hard to kick the habit, either because I'll have basically no time at all untial the end of February or because UP has come to an end, whichever comes first...  Ann
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Jul 2006
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Carol, just a quick note to let you know that I've enjoyed this story so much over the past few months. Reading the new chapters was the highlight of most mornings. Thank you for sharing it with us and I'm looking forward to the sequels!
lisa in the sky with diamonds
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Pulitzer
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OP
Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,764 |
Ann and Lisa - thank you . Am glad you enjoyed it! Did some storming on bits of UP yesterday and still plan to start posting by then end of next week. Carol
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Carol, I'll say...you outdid yourself. I could wallow in Lois & Clark romance forever. It's an addiction you know! This story was absolutely fabulous...wonderful...perfect... I cannot wait for UP and am curious about what prayers are unanswered. I definitely see lots of awards here!
Happy New Year and I am so looking forward to Unanswered Prayers.
~Sheila
I'm a firm believer in the fact that God doesn't put any more on us than we can bear. He does however make us come to Jesus every so often.
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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Thank you for the wonderful story! i am now going through withdrawal - i cannot wait for UP! Happy new year!
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Jan 2004
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A very enjoyable read.
Elisabeth
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Features Writer
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Features Writer
Joined: Nov 2004
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I have some vids in mine Dangerous In Love by Beyonce. Love Story by Mariah Carey. These and some more wil be great with this story. I just can't make to videos.
I will and always be a big fan of Lois and Clark forever and forever.
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Blogger
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Blogger
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Hi Carol, Natascha and Jenni recommended the story and what do you know?! I loved it! And thank god, I can read it all. Hehehe. Anyway, can't wait till the sequel. Post soon. Happy New Year, btw. Lote
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Lote, I can't believe you manage to read it all in just over one day! That is impressive!  Carol, I already told you how pleased I am with the ending of OTOH and how much I am looking forward to reading UP!! There are still so many loose ends waiting to be tied I guess: a) Mindy: -just how much of a criminal is she really? -did she really leave Sam just like that without plans of retribution? b) Navance: -just why was he so obsessed with Lois? -did Mindy have anything to do with it? c) Van-El: -just when exactly did he land on earth? -where did he grow up? -why did he choose to become the superhero when he did? I see a lot of Lois and Clark bylines in the future with tons of potential for Kerths or even a Pulitzer at some point. Since you managed to squeeze so many tangents into this one story, I think you have plenty of material to write several spin-offs. I wouldn't mind. Natascha -
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Yikes! I thought I'd already posted my feedback here, but I must have just been dreaming about it.
So let me reiterate that I really like this story. It's inventive, it's long and involved and complex without ever being boring or confusing (at least to me), it takes its main characters through some amazing situations - often self-inflicted ones - and shows them growing as they age and learn to love each other. The character development never feels forced or unrealistic, and for the most part Lois comes across as the more level-headed and mature of the pair (her refusal to give Joe any encouragement, her faithfulness to her marriage and to her children). And Clark's initial idiocy and teenage lust fantasies eventually fade into the ether and allow him to fully commit to Lois because he loves her and his sons.
That doesn't mean that there won't be any speed bumps for these two. Nor does it mean that Unanswered Prayers will be all bliss and afternoon tea. Besides, we still have Billy and Serena to deal with, not to mention the aforementioned Mindy and her evil machinations. And Sam is now open for an honest romantic attachment. And we've yet to meet the highly-praised Ashley, Van-El's lady. As Natascha suggested, this could be the jumping-off point for a number of stories, not just UP. So maybe you could suggest some story lines to your muse and see which ones look promising. And maybe we'll enjoy more tales of these two enterprising young newlyweds.
After all, they still have that big wedding to plan, don't they?
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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