This is Part Seven of the story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he, his family and friends deal with it. And, as he goes on TV in his female DJ persona, the charismatic and sexy radio celebrity Robin a.k.a. the Nighthawk, to host a radio-TV program promoting the band called Unlimited Bandwidth, whose lead singer is his other persona, Dannie, the talented and sexy teen pop singer, he finds his life fragmenting more and more.  It's enough to make anyone schizophrenic.  Still, life goes on, though a little more strained for our intrepid hero (or is it heroine?), as he starts confronting Dannie's and Robin's fans.

A lengthy Author's Note:

As some of the readers here know, my last installment of the story (Part 6, containing chapters 17-20) came out late January/early February 2010, but I also wrote two "companion pieces" ("Teacup Roses, Guitars, a Bus Pass and a Mistaken Identity" and "Playing the Part: Counterfeit Crusader" which I wrote in July of 2011).

I also wrote another story called "Drew Nance, Girl Detective Book 1: The Secret of the Old Clock" in February 2016. It's not a Danny story, but Danny and his crew made a cameo appearance there.

Still, since 2010, Danny's story has more-or-less remained quiescent.

For those who follow my blog in BigCloset, they know how busy I have been since then - a new assignment with new, ENORMOUS responsibilities that has left me breathless, a new family and an increasingly-complicated life, et cetera, as well as having a hard time trying to find my way back to the Dannyverse. Problems getting enough solid time to write (not to mention getting the creative "go" I needed) had constantly plagued me as well. My days are ridiculously busy lately, compared to how they were when I wrote Part 6, but this is not the time or place to talk about that.  Real life has again interfered with fun-life, hence no new installments up 'til now. But! Finally, here is Part 7 of Danny.  Many thanks to everyone who have been emailing me and/or posting/sending PMs and comments with advice and words of encouragement.  I am so sorry for the delay.

A chapter will be posted every three or four, beginning, with the much-delayed Chapter Twenty-One, until Part Seven's last chapter, Chapter Fifty-Four. Hopefully, by then, Part Eight will be completed, and I can start posting it, and finally wrap up the story.

Danny's Jukebox:

Part 7 is also an experiment of sorts. Ever since the time the first installment of the story came out in Crystal's Storysite, there have been people who have commented that I should take out the lyrics of the songs I insist on putting in as it affects the readability of the story. But, for me, the songs provide much-needed atmosphere. I suppose they're right in a way - people can approximately see what I see in my mind's eye only if they have heard the songs before.

So, in Part 7, I'm launching the "Jukebox." And if it works, and if people like it, I'll make the Jukebox a permanent part of the Danny series (and other similar stories I may write), and retro-fit it into all previous installments. It won't be a complicated function. This is how the Jukebox works:

From time to time, you will see cartoony numbers in the text. When you see them, it means that song lyrics follow, and if the reader feels frustrated because she doesn't know the song, she can refer to the Jukebox Text File.

This file ("jukebox.pdf") contains links to YouTube files on the net, which are listed by number. If, for example, you see a cartoony number , you can copy-and-paste the link for song number 726 from the Jukebox Text File, into your browser. By doing so, you will run the YouTube video for the original song the story is referring to. This will allow you to listen to it as you read, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.

It would probably have been more convenient to put a hotlink in the story text itself, but I prefer it this way 'coz it avoids having too many links and callouts, and it's easier for me to code my text. Besides, I remember a PM years ago where the admin folk said they preferred I minimize hotlinks to external files.

If the Jukebox is too much trouble, you can opt not to use it at all and just read the story in the conventional way. But I suspect you'll want to use it coz there are lots of songs, as usual! Heehee... (If there are songs in a chapter, the link to the Jukebox - a small picture of a Wurlitzer jukebox - will be at the beginning: just click it and the Jukebox Text File will be downloaded to your computer.)

About songs:

In terms of copyright and fair use, quoting song lyrics is a dodgy thing, even with the application of Fair Use practices. But know three things - (1) this is a not-for-profit work of fiction, and there is no intention of profiting from the works of others; (2) song lyrics and other peoples' works are attributed, one way or another, through the mention of the singer, the author, the source of the song, or the title, but written in a way that makes the attribution part of the story's text, so this writer acknowledges them and makes no claims of ownership of these quoted works, and; (3) normally, this would be more than enough of a notice, but if some owners of these works ask, this writer will be will remove them immediately.

In any case, when this work is published commercially, the commercial version will strictly comply with Fair Use practices, limiting the amount of quoted text to the prescribed amount only.

Fair warning to all:

This instalment will also have some very sexually explicit scenes - not many: just a few in a couple of chapters only. But I promise that they will not be gratuitous - no sex for sex's sake, and no underage sex (the characters are sixteen years of age or older). Regardless, they will be integral to the narrative and, in those few scenes, I will try to be tasteful. If you don't like such scenes, read this instalment at your own risk.

And, finally, my usual caveats:

As I have said in the previous instalments, please forgive the grammatical errors, ill-advised story elements, and any format problems. I'd like to request that anyone who sees grammatical or spelling errors, or technical issues, to please PM me privately instead of embarrassing me in a public comment, and I will fix them (I'm sure everyone knows my feelings about those who do that kind of thing to writers).  I really am trying to get better at this writing thing. Honest!  And, as I told some folks back in 2010, I will be taking them up on their offers of editing eventually (that is if they haven't reconsidered, or have died of boredom by now).

Again, hi to the old chat room gang, especially Aunt Andrea, Cindy, Fiona, Jen, Kris, Lexa, Liz, Mel, Muta, Seph and everyone else - thanks for your patience, forbearance, funny quotes, jokes, the fortitude to stand my whining and complaining, and the wonderful online chats that we used to have that often went well into the night. I sure do miss them, and I wish we still had them. And Hi to my "batch two" chat mates Wendy, cheerleader Talia, and everyone! And thanks to my little brother-in-law for the wonderful song suggestions. Domo arigato, Toshio-kun. Anata wa sugu ni sansho shite kudasai! A child of the nineties but with a heart firmly planted in the eighties. lol

Here we start Part Seven. Hope you like… (Again - feedback, please!!)

In Part Seven, Danny goes on-air, simultaneously on both radio and on TV, and discovers that Dannie and Robin both have large and fast-growing fan bases that're putting his dual identities in jeopardy.  He and his band, Unlimited Bandwidth, put on their first real concert, and he tries to understand a growing problem with Janet.

In our last installment….

Our cameraman spoke and I heard him in my headset.

I was on the air.

And now, the continuation…