As we drift towards 1900, I suppose it's apposite for me to enquire as to whether my readers want me to continue the saga, assuming Erin is happy to continue filling up her servers with my nonsense.
Actually, I've been reading some of the early episodes, I'd forgotten a lot of the stuff from back then, and was surprised how well some of it was written. Yeah, there are mistakes in continuity, typos and assorted other cock-ups, but it really is quite a good read.
In some ways I regret the adventure stuff and the blue light but they've become part of the storyline now, so they'll have to stay. I'm still writing this as I always have, a quick look at the day before's entry and then scribble. So far the method hasn't let me down unless I've been excessively tired.
I'm not sure if I'll manage an episode on Sunday or Monday. On Sunday, I'm off to Welsh Wales to meet up with my daughter and son in law, and my ex for a joint celebration, her recent marriage and my birthday on Monday. On Monday, I have a friend coming over for the day bringing condolences, because according to my birth certificate, I'll have been on this planet for six decades.
As far as I'm concerned 60 is the new 40.
Comments
All good things
I have it set in my head that as soon as you come up with an ending to the series I will start reading it from the beginning (I did the same thing with the TV series LOST). But I am probably in the minority, people seem to be addicted to the story, making you a Bike pusher. As of now, there are no laws against it, but I'd watch my step if I were you (Said in a gruff coppy voice).
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
bike
Please continue, I enjoy this story very much and look forward to reading it everyday if possible.
Hugs,
Jenna From FL
Moderator/Editor
TopShelf BigCloset
It is a long road ahead but I will finally become who I should be.
True but ...
... who wants to be 40?
Actually, me for one :)
Have a good weekend and remember there is life after 60 as well as a bus pass which I find to be very useful. And, since you ask ... Bike for as long and as far as you wish, in both senses of the word.
Many happy returns for Monday.
Robi
Bike is indeed "quite a good read"
It is indeed "quite a good read", and has been from the beginning. I didn't start at the first chapter, but as soon as I had an inkling of what I'd been missing I went back and caught up with the saga, and I've never regretted the time spent in Cathy's world.
If there are aspects that now seem to have been ill-chosen detours, well, you're on the front seat and can steer this Bike down whatever lanes and byways strike your fancy. We'll follow.
Happy birthday, and many, many more!
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
To be honest...
I'd be happier to see you complete some of your other stories. Though I realise I'm in the minority on it, I never got into Bike. I loved Totally Insane though, it'd be nice to see an update on it one day. But I suppose it should come down to what you feel like writing. If you are still having fun with your daily serial then you should keep at it. Others are clearly enjoying it as well.
Exactly...
...what I was going to say about Bike. I read the first 400 chapters (in PS's 50-chapter installments) before deciding I'd had enough. But I always looked forward to more Totally Insane -- still do.
Eric
There's a Lot More To It Than Just Cathy
One problem is that the story is written in real time. Like you told me once, it is a soap opera. Unfortunately, I will be well into my 80s before the little genius is old enough to get married. I would love to see the older girls be able to settle down with their significant others. All children can't be geniuses, but I would hope that her son would eventually do well. 'Daddy' is getting old, unfortunately. Most of all, I would love to see Cathy realize her self worth.
How about periodic updates?
Portia
Loved it in episode 1
and still loving it every bit as much in episode 1880, So my answer is the same as always Angharad .... More please :)
Kirri
PS
Have a lovely weekend enjoy your birthday and your party and don't do anything i wouldn't do.... Good job pubs in Wales open on Sundays now
Kirri
xx
Bike
Please continue.
Bike is my absolute favorite.
Hah!
For me, sis, 40 was the new 60! I've certainly long passed my "Best By" date!
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Quite chuffed with Bike
I will feel blessed if you continue with Bike. It's loss would be like having breaky with no Butter, or hot cakes with no syrup.
I have enjoyed the blue light aspect of the series. It adds a dimension to the story that would be sad to miss.
As far as the adventure part of it, just follow your heart.
Gwendolyn
Don't forget the bus pass
Angharad, I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Don't forget your passport when head across the Severn Estuary and also the toll money!
I look forward to as many episodes are you care to write.
Brian
Angharad, Bike is
a favorite for many, here. Thanks for continuing the story. I am surprised that more have yet to ask you if they may do a Bike fanfic.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Continue, if you please.
I've quite enjoyed Bike. I've read through it from the beginning at least three times, and it's about time for number four. (If I had more concentrated time, I'd probably sit down and do some editing of it and a couple of others for fun)
As for the blue light? Perhaps not the light itself, but everything that's gone along in it has made it a better story, to me. Just a long drawn out story about people and their daily routine just doesn't do it for me. I could write that myself - out of just what I do every day :). Changing it around and putting in some adventure, and the constant cries of "Am I a target for Murphy, or what?" make it fun to read.
I _would_ like to see more Snafu (and perhaps the entire thing brought over to here), but I have felt no glaring need to send messages to that regard.
All that said, I'll enjoy it no matter what - whether you continue the story, or whether you find a way to end the story, or something in between.
Thanks for the efforts!
BW
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Ang, your story. Your choice This is a free site afterall...
Continue if your muse and the real world permit.
Or end it if you must.
I understand.
But then we will have to kill you.
Nothing personal. Just business.
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. We have targeted the middle of England. That should do to convince the Alia... Ms Ang.
Thank you Lord Vader ... and do something about your asthma. The wheezing is getting really bad.
P.P.S. She writes Bike,. She does not write Bike. She writes Bike. She does not write Bike...
John in Wauwatosa
Thought experiment: Lock Ang
Thought experiment:
Lock Ang in her house.
Then try to decide: She writes Bike,. She does not write Bike. She writes Bike. She does not write Bike...
I believe that her Bike-writing state is best described as a wave function, which only resolves itself to "She writes" or "She does not write" when observed by Bonzi-cat.
That is the paradox of Angharad's cat.
Apologies to Schrodinger.
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
I welcome
anything you care to add to EAFOAB for as long as you can bear it. In a way it's become as intertwined with BCTS as chips is with fish, but if needs be it can be savoured both apart on their own, or, only one of the two. No Bike'd be a bit like BCTS to french fries, not bad depending on the cook. But no comparison to the combination as a 'whole'.
Congratulations -in advance- to Monday and I hope you'll have a wonderful day of it.
60 is only a number, as was 40, is my long held belief, though I am sometimes wondering, that seeing all those younger than me, who lay claim to be grown-ups, growing in numbers I sometimes think that maybe I _am_ getting old? Older?
Nevertheless, to those younger than me I can say: Where you are. Done that, been there. Pfft!! See if you can get where I am at now..
Jo-Anne
I have grown accustomed to
I have grown accustomed to seeing the title pop up on the main page every day or so, its rather comforting. I am still 1300 or so episodes behind you so I have plenty of Bike to look forward to. Write as long as you want Ang rest assured I will be peddling to catch up. And happy birthday you don't look a day over 30. Bike riding smiles, Jenn.
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Bike
When I'm reading some stories, I get the feeling that the author didn't so much create the characters as MEET the characters. And Cathy and her brood just jump off the page (screen, whatever) in that way to me.
The Bike universe has rules like any story must. When might those rules, and what's gone on before in the story start to interfere with your creativity? I don't think anyone but you can know that. But I've NEVER gotten the feeling when reading Bike that you were beating a dead horse (what an awful phrase!) or errm, repeating yourself. It's like a bunch of smaller stories contained within the larger one, with their own arcs and endings.
I've read every episode at least once and started from the beginning another time, but I don't think I can leave comments on 1880 (no 1881 now) episodes. It would be too much like having to stay after class and write on the chalkboard:
That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad! That was a great addition to a great story Angharad!
Umm sorry, you get the idea. But chalkboards don't have copy and paste. But it IS a great story.
I've said it before
now I'll may to repeat it. As long as you choose to write it, I'll read it. Whether YOU choose to stay as a daily episode like a soap opera, or a weekly series with a longer episode, or whatever YOU decide. Even if it means coming to a (gasp) (clutches at chest) end.
Re-reading old episodes
I've been doing that a bit recently too - updating the summaries and getting them reconfigured for inclusion on the Bike Wiki, which now has the summaries up to 399 - including...
"Mummmmmmmmmmy, dat wady has dirty mark on her face, her jacket has a hole in it. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"
No prizes for guessing who said that (oh, her first ever words in the story)...
(Big clue)
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Please continue
Dear Angharad,
Not only do I find the sory imnteresting, but it also tells us not Britonians about the country and it's daily lives. It was a pity that I had not sen the maps over the area when I stayed for two weeks in the area(Gosport). Would have been nice to travel around to sone of the places that has been identified and marked on the map. Perhaps not the last time I can visit UK. The next time I will certainly bring the story maps with me and follow the story to some of the mentioned places. I have been lucky enough to visit some other "story sites" in real life and this would be a good prize in my collections.
Welcome to the 60+ on Teusday when we hope that you will have been able to continue the story.
Yours,
Ginnie
GinnieG
While I'd understand if your decided to stop Bike
I'd sure miss it. I've been a fan right from the start and it's become a part of my day. Cathy's adventures, thoughts, caring personality, and missteps are all good to read and dare I say sometimes thought provoking. I haven't gone back and started from the beginning but probably will at some point read the early episodes again.
I like Cathy's alternate self, the super heroine. It's a nice play on the character to have someone study a small, cute, woodland creature as her main job, be a caring mother for her adopted and married into family, and when needed turn into a tigress.
Happy Birthday. I too recently made the six decade mark. It doesn't feel any different.
:-)
To Be or Not To Be?
I have grown accustomed to her face,
the way she makes my night begin.
Life without Cathy Cameron and family is unthinkable! There are just too many stories, too many lives and too many futures to consider when you suggest an end to this saga. Most of them are within the pages of this delightful story. The rest are we, your readers who have become addicted to this tale.
Please, we ask you, don't abandon either your characters or your readers.
Red MacDonald
Ooops
I forgot to say Happy Birthday, girl.
I do hope that your get together with your family is a happy one. I met my 40-year-old son for the first time in more than 20 years just a few weeks ago. We cried, hugged and promised each other to end our estrangement. I hope that your family comes to fully accept you. No birthday present could be better.
And, sixty? You're a kid! Keep on keeping on. Or as Sachel Paige, one of the great pitchers of the old Negro Leagues, used to say, "Don't look back. He might be gaining on you."
Happy Birthday, girl, and many more to you
Red MacDonald
What would we do?
I guess the world would go on if Bike ended but it would change the way I relax before sleep most nights. I started reading with episode 1 & don't believe I have missed one since. I have always been amazed at the depth & bredth of your original commitment & have always believed it was your option on wether or not to continue. As I read each day I have started to Identify with the numerous children. The child I feel closest to is Mima I hope she will grow up into a well thought of adult & much loved. To me she seems to have the most empathetic, loving & true heart. That is not to sell the other characters short for the loss of any one would grieve me. You have made a massive commitment which must be very confining to your own life & we cannot expect you to carry on forever. The decision is yours but please know that I have enjoyed your efforts to date, wish for more but primarily am greatful for your creativity
All the very best! Another Brian
the bike must live...
I've said it before
and I'll say it again.
You write it; I'll read it.
Oh and a Happy Birthday. 60 is the new 40. I'm 67 on Wednesday and I don't feel a day over........
Do they have buses down your way? I get my money's worth from my bus pass.
S.
I for one...
I for one have regularly found things worth thinking about in Bike... And, for that alone, it's worth continuing. Add to this the fact that more often than not, it's a quite fun read and I'm very glad to keep on reading, as long as you keep on writing. :-)
Since you're admitting to a personal milestone, tomorrow, I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish you a happy 39th birthday. :-)
Annette
Bike, and its' future
I too have enjoyed every episode even though I got started late, and had to read about 10 episodes per day to get caught up.
I will be sorry to see it come to an end, if it does. Even if it goes to just a weekly episode, I will still anxiously await the next episode. And as for the story being written in real time, well, it is YOUR universe. Maybe part of the blue light's purpose could be used to show portions of the future of all in the story. Or since it is written in real time, then the time line could just extend into the future with no particular dates mentioned and the story line revolving around the children growing up, Cathy's future, and the future of the family as a whole.
Just thoughts.
But I will miss the story when it does end.
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Happy Birthday!
I did it too! I forgot the Happy Birthday!
Happy 39th Birthday! Enjoy your day and may you enjoy many more.
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Please Continue
I don't comment very often, but I read your stories and love them. Please continue, and don't forget SNAFU as well!!
Tracy Ann
Tracy Ann