Forever 1 - Beginnings

[Castle Herald]

[Special Note: The new website is now live. As a result the links throughout this thread are invalid except for the latest posting to the thread. All of Jack Schaeffer stories can now be found at Jack Schaeffer]

NEW STORY

 

Chapters 1 & 2 presented at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author /jack_schaeffer

Edited October 5, 2017 by Zach Caldwell
Link website notification

[ken barber]

I am so Excited this story is now Hosted on Castle Roland. 

[Jack Schaeffer]

Welcome to "Forever"!

 

It is an honor to have my work appear on this wonderful site, surrounded by the work of so many excellent writers. I can only hope that the time you invest in reading Forever will be time you are thrilled to have spent with Jack, the main character in the story. 

 

Speaking of Jack, you may notice that my name is his name and his name is my name. The first people to read this story picked up on that right away and immediately assumed I was writing an autobiographical tale. Not true - exactly. As a first time writer with no experience and no one to discuss the process with, I decided on two things: 1) write in first person perspective (because someone said somewhere that it was easier to do), and 2) name the main character my name so I could relate better to him. What I didn't realize fully in the beginning was that by doing this, I would interject much more of me, author Jack, into the story than I had intended. But the end results were beyond better than I had hoped, so I stuck with it.

 

So while this is NOT my story, per se, I am story Jack in so far as he has my personality, my point of view on things, my questionable sense of humor, and some aspects of my life history. As the story progresses, I'll drop in here and post from time to time pointing out aspects of the story which are the real me, and those that are pure fiction, if there is interest in such things. Otherwise, "Forever" is primarily a love story, a romantic adventure of two young men who discover what it means to have hope again and to love and be loved in return. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy creating it.

 

I read and respond to all feedback, whether here in the forum or in private email, so don't hold back. Readers' comments are the life blood for an author, I have discovered, and I am no exception. And who knows - as this story is a work in progress, your ideas may find their way into the story someday (it's happened before...grin).

 

Finally, I'd like to give a shout out to Mark C., a fellow member of the Castle Roland realm and main editor to this story. Not to mention he is my very good friend. We met when he offered to help me polish this story, and I graciously accepted his excellent and faithful assistance. I had no idea I would gain a great friend in the bargain. Thank you, Mark, for making this work so much more than I ever thought it could be. Seriously folks, if you're looking for a first-class editor, Mark would be a great asset to any author's work.

 

Jack

[ChrisTheBlizzard]

I just wanted to drop by and say I really like what you have written so far. My interest is definitely piqued and I look forward to finding out more about Jack (/you) and I am very curious who this Amanda was and why she would leave him money.

You have a very good writing style! So I just wanted to encourage you to keep writing and keep up the good work. You have a groupie already.

[Jack Schaeffer]

Thanks, Chris. You made my morning. My very own groupie!  I'm finally a rock star!

 

I have 17 chapters completed on the story and they will be rolling out here, a chapter a week. Which means I only have another 14 weeks to get Chapter 18 in shape. Yikes! There's still a lot left to this story, and I am having a blast writing it. Hope you stick with it.

[ken barber]

I will say that I cheated and read ahead and its so worth reading. There are only a few stories out there that can utterly and completely distract me from the craziness of my normal and this is one of them. Well done Jack

[Jack Schaeffer]

Ken,

Thank you. I'm glad you like it. It has a way of distracting me from my "normal" too!

[ChrisTheBlizzard]

Great, people get sneak peeks and the story is already done. But does the groupie get a bite of the pie? Noooooooooo, sir.

Just kidding though, I am glad there will be regular updates. At least, this way I won't read the story in like a couple hours and be bored again.

[Maxieplus]

Way to go mate, this story I love, and I am eagerly awaiting more chapters.Hey and I get hungry every time the boys eat well done.hahaha

[Jack Schaeffer]

Max,

 

You crack me up. They do eat well, don't they...grin. All part of the fantasy, I guess.

[MikeyMike]

Isn't finding a great editor a complete gift from heaven!! I too have a great editor. I was also lucky in that when I started this it was in response to another authors story. Since then we have become good friends. 

 

Just so you know... We will always want more from you and faster!!!

[Jack Schaeffer]

Mike,

 

More and faster...applies to more than writing...grin. But I definitely know what you're talking about. After a week I start getting emails from people wondering if I'm alright. By two weeks they're ready to send in the cavalry. It's feels good and stalkerish all at the same time...grin.

[jason1290]

I have kept up with this story from the beginning on Nifty.org and I am a true fan of it. I love your style of writing and how you have the ability to draw us in and make each character come to life. I've anticipated each chapter in this ongoing love story and hope that the 2 main characters will remain together forever.

[Jack Schaeffer]

Jason1290,

 

Thanks for the shout out and your faithful support. I appreciate it. As more chapters roll out here on CastleRoland, I will address your concern about Jack and others in the story.

[DevDanger]

I have been following the story on nifty as well and it has me thoroughly engaged. I love a great story that is able to capture the reader and tell a great love story. So many stories are mostly just about sex, and that's fine at times. But sometimes you just want to get drawn into a great story. I am truly enjoying the ride and wish i had a time machine to travel to the future to get to the next chapter, lol.

[Jack Schaeffer]

DevDanger,  I wish I could hitch a ride on your time machine and see what's going to happen, too! I get so impatient myself to "discover" the next page, the next scene. As the characters have come to life, they really do take on a "life of their own" and to a large extent they begin to direct the action and the script. I never expected that, but it's fun to be pulled along by them as their love story unfolds, instead of having to push them into it. Thank you for being a loyal and faithful reader and I hope you enjoy your exploration of CastleRoland. There's a lot here to get into to - some of the best authors on the web have a place here in the Castle! Enjoy!

[samintha]

Fist of all YOU'RE AMAZING  STORY AMAZING   . This is a good story that can get and collect things to our lives than reading boring same "love making scenes" throughout the story. When it comes to your writing Its perfect. No doubts at all.. Please keep this writing style throughout the story. Only thing I would like to say is don't stop writing this amazing story. keep it as long as you could write. one of the two Best stories I ever read. God bless your for your talent!

A fan with love and blessings! 

[Castle Herald]

Chapter 3 presented for your pleasure at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author/jack_schaeffer

[Castle Herald]

Chapter 4 presented at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author/jack_schaeffer

[ken barber]

Jack Schaeffer
"Forever"
Chapter 5

[Jack Schaeffer]

Since the forum is here to "discuss" the stories, I thought I'd share a little insight into the story so far. If you have any questions, this is the place to ask...grin.

 

As I said in my intro above, I am not "Jack" in the story, but his personality is mine. As are some of the elements of his life history. I was in real life given up for adoption at birth, in California, and I was immediately adopted (at 2 months I think) and moved to Illinois, where I grew up. About two years ago I received some documentation from the state of California that was supposed to be non-identifying info about my birth parents. In today's computer age, it took me maybe 15 minutes to identify and locate my birth mother, and another day or so figure out my birth father. Both are alive. I made contact with my birth mother, and we have conversed on the phone a number of times, but she was not interested in pursuing any kind of relationship, much to her loss IMHO. But she was kind about it. I have since ceased communicating with her for the time being to give her some space. I am readying myself to reach out to my birth father, probably later this month. He is alive as well. The story of my birth parents is not anything like "FOREVER" and I certainly am not expecting to inherit anything....grin.

 

I have never been to Denver, except to change planes in the airport, and that was a long time ago. I try to make the scenes as accurate as possible through online research, plus if a reader informs me that they live in the story locale, I might ask them a few questions to gather their opinions about night life, restaurants, hotels, things of interest, etc. In a way I am collaborating with the readers, and it makes the process of writing a lot more fun!

 

This story is primarily about the life and transformation of Jack, so he does start out a little down at heel. For those who think that Jack is a little too sad and too down, cheer up. His life gets much much better soon. And yes, there is a forever love searching for him...

[ken barber]

Jack, I am intrigued why did you choose Denver? Most of my stories are set in locations I am at least somewhat familiar with.

[Jack Schaeffer]

Ken,

 

I chose Denver for an odd reason. When I worked at the little telecommunications company in Chicago in the late 80s (similar to the one story Jack worked at), our home office was in Denver, and I always wanted to go there to visit, but it never happened. I think in my head there was a link and I knew that I wanted Jack to have to fly somewhere to meet with the lawyer. I don't know why, it just seemed necessary for him to leave town. It is all made up in my head, and a lot of it I don't really know why, but this part of the story I have had rattling around in there for close to 30 years. Like a lot of people who struggle to make ends meet, especially in the early years of being on your own, I occasionally fantasized about suddenly having a ton of money at my disposal. The only slightly realistic avenue for that to occur to me, since I didn't play the lottery (I needed gas money to get to work...grin), was to inherit it. But all of my extended family had very little, so that seemed like a non-starter. But there was this idea of being adopted and maybe, just maybe, who ever they were, they would leave me their fortune and I wouldn't have to deal with them as real people, just spend their money. 

 

As the story progresses Jack will find himself in other locales, some of which I know and some I don't. I'll give a few more details as those chapters unfold.

[Castle Herald]

Chapter 6 now presented at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author/jack_schaeffer

[Emperor Roland]

Well.. since i live in Denver, i think it was a good choice. 

 

Now on a more personal note, Ken told me about your story, and i had to shuffle around a bunch of things to get the time to read it.  you know what... i am so glad i did.  It is not my normal type of read, but this one... all i can say is DAMN!!!!  If anyone has not read it, i STRONGLY suggest you do!  I won't give anything away, but please, it is well worth the time.