Comment from Pearl Edwards

Exceptional

Though I don't understand any of the science of this problem I am enjoying seeing how this group will work it out. The small island you describe is interesting. I'm sure there are many such dots in our oceans. Well done Jim, cheers
Valda

 Comment Written 06-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 07-Jan-2025

Thanks very much, valda, for your remarks and the 6 stars too. As I said, understanding the science isn't really necessary, but at least it gives a flavor for what the team was facing. There are a ton of little islands around the globe, some nameless. Who knows how many unknown plant species may be found there? Maybe the next wonder drug will come from one of them?

Comment from T B Botts

Excellent

Hello Jim,
I'm wondering what the odds are of an island having the only species of a particular plant. I can't recall right now, how did Brian come across this plant? It seems like birds would eat the seeds of the plant and it would spread to other islands in the area. Lots of thought going in to these chapters Jim, well done.
Blessings,
Tom

 Comment Written 05-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 05-Jan-2025

Good questions which I also had, so I did some research about this to see if there are islands in the world that are the only place where a plant grows, and, yes, there are some. It usually has to do with the specifics of the soil, but it can be due to genetic variations that have evolved over time. If it's the soil, then birds picking up the seeds may drop them on other islands, but they won't thrive there unless the soil is very similar.

That was the challenge and the fun part of writing this story: coming up with a feasible-sounding scenario based largely on facts that could explain this rather remarkable approach to stopping a harmful drug, which readers would be able to understand and enjoy.

Comment from royowen

Excellent

I was aware of some of the bodily functions of endorphins etc., but little else, but I'm glad you did Jim, the story has laid a foundation of understanding when it comes to further chapters, I'm really enjoying this immensely, well done Jim, blessings Roy

 Comment Written 04-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 05-Jan-2025

Thanks so much, Roy. I have learned an awful lot about the body and neuroscience during the course of writing these two novels. I, too, knew some of the functions of endorphins, but I learned a lot about how they actually work and how similarly they work to things like opioid medications.

Doing all the research about this and about other things like soil compositions and species that grow only in a single place in the world and how does a parabolic microphone work (coming later) has made writing this novel a great deal of fun for me.

Comment from LJbutterfly

Exceptional

I truly appreciated the clearly written scientific portion of this chapter. I feel as though you opened the door and made sure I understood and wasn't lost in technicalities. The glossary was an extra bonus.

I can now move forward with a clear understanding of Brian's actions. Please don't leave anything out. I want to read every detail, especially when the planes fly over the island. Great chapter.

 Comment Written 04-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 05-Jan-2025

Thank you very much for your awesome review, Lorraine, and those 6 stars too. I appreciate your letting me know the science was understandable and not overwhelming.

This chapter took me the longest to write of any other because of all the editing I did to make sure it was feasible in the first place, understandable, and made sense to the readers. I credit Karen Cherry Threadgill for the suggestion to add a glossary.

We'll be coming to the trip to the island soon, and some interesting developments occur there.

Comment from Pam Lonsdale

Exceptional

Ah really enjoyed this chapter, Mr. Jim, and Ah'm lookin' forward to what happens next.

So, I did not mind the scientific explanation of what Brian & Co. are doing; as I've said before, it needs to be said to be believable. The glossary is a good idea.

How does one spray an island that doesn't belong to them? Does it belong to anyone? Will the U.S. government be the ones doing the spraying?

Also, and this is a thing of mine, I never like reading, "That's a good question." Are there bad questions? I was always taught there weren't. I hear people say that in almost every interview I listen to, and it always causes me to roll my eyes.

Just sayin', darlin'.

xo
Pam

 Comment Written 04-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

Thanks, Pam, for your great review and the 6 stars. I'm really glad you liked the science in here. It turns out, most people have been able to follow it, so I feel good about all the editing and time I spent on it.

This fictitious island belongs to the Philippines. The US President asked permission to spray it ahead of time, and it will be sprayed by military planes, which will be described in a future chapter.

No, I said "Excellent question," because it was. In case readers remembered from the previous novel that Brian had solved that super-endorphin problem by means of an additive that would manipulate the genes in the pituitary not to produce spiky endorphins but smooth ones that wouldn't bind to the opioid receptors and cause euphoria, then why couldn't he use the same solution in this case too? I had to invent a reason why he couldn't. Hence the fact that his solution for Glyptophan would break down under the external conditions found on the island.

reply by Pam Lonsdale on 04-Jan-2025

Thanks for the extra insight:-)

Comment from Wendy G

Excellent

A good chapter. I do like the idea of the drug giving nausea as well as not giving a high. I got the general idea of the science, as it was well explained. It's an imaginative solution, and top marks to you for this very interesting and imaginative book.
Wendy

 Comment Written 04-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

The nausea seemed like a good way to discourage its use, coupled with the fact that it would no longer get you high. I'm so glad you found this interesting, Wendy.

Comment from Carol Hillebrenner

Excellent

Fran was smart to decide to go home. It is a complicated problem, but I actually get it, although I am not sure where mathematics come into it, so I don't get it thoroughly. However, I think most readers will try to understand it.

 Comment Written 04-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

Yeah, the math part is too complex for me to either understand or try to explain, so I left it rather vague, but the research I did demonstrated the need for higher math in the field of genetics and modeling. I'm glad you got the rest.

Comment from Debbie D'Arcy

Excellent

Well done to you, Jim, for the science lesson which couldn't have been conveyed clearer. I was even, sometimes, a little ahead of you when it came to consulting the notes. This will, undoubtedly, be a complex exercise to get the exact formula of chemical made to spray on the Balanga plant. I must say, I like the idea of the drug causing nausea and sabotaging Big Pharma in the process. An excellent addition to include consideration of effects on flora and fauna on the island. Altogether, a very comprehensive, informative and well-researched/ written chapter I enjoyed reading, Jim. Best wishes Debbie

 Comment Written 03-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

I'm truly delighted to hear you say that, Debbie. I knew from the last book how challenging the science could be to those who aren't at all familiar with it, so the fact that I was able to make it understandable and interesting pleases me to hear. I spent a lot of time editing and revising this chapter, and the response I'm getting to it makes me very glad I did. I really appreciate your review and the encouragement you give me.

Comment from Cecilia A Heiskary

Excellent

Jim,

This is another fine chapter in the book. The teams all together now they have to do is figure out how to make the alkaloids to stop the production of Dipraxa

Well done my friend

Cecilia

 Comment Written 03-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

Thanks very much, Cecilia. This chapter was a lot of fun for me to write because of the challenge of thinking it up, seeing if it was at least plausible, if not totally practicable, through the research I did, and then trying to communicate it in an understandable way. Glad you enjoyed it.

reply by Cecilia A Heiskary on 04-Jan-2025

You're welcome. I have a medical background so I understood it fine. You simplified for others to understand it.

Comment from Ric Myworld

Excellent

This interesting chapter takes me back to the early 1970s when there was talk of thoroughbred racehorses being injected with chicken endorphins to enhance performance. Of course, it wasn't possible, but that's how inferior our scientific world was only a short time ago. Acupuncture, hot spices, sex, and even a twitch that's put on a horse's nose for calming do release endorphins. LOL. Great chapter! Wish I had more stars. Thanks for sharing.

 Comment Written 03-Jan-2025

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reply by the author on 03-Jan-2025

Those endorphins can be wonderful things, can't they? Just as long as they aren't so powerful that all you want to do all day is produce them and do nothing else.

I'm really glad you found this chapter enjoyable, Ric. Some won't, hence the disclaimer at the beginning. This part was fun for me to research and write about. Most all of my books contain some sort of invention. Maybe I was an inventor in a past life or will be in a future life?

I have lots of ideas. Whether or not they are feasible is up for grabs, but it's fun thinking about them anyway.

reply by Ric Myworld on 03-Jan-2025

It sounds like we have a lot in common. I've created a few things over the years. I sold a baseball game to Parker Brothers as a kid. I was in the process of running T-1 lines to set up an internet service provider but backed out over $7,500. The person who completed it sold it to Quest Communications for many millions. I had an electronic book long before Kindle and Nook but was a few short weeks short of succeeding. And there are numerous other things. I've bought my socks from Pantherella in England since 1969 because I can't find anything comparable in the States. There used to be 155 sock companies in Ft. Payne, Alabama, but now there are 8 active. Statistics say we are 19% below what needs to be made to keep up with the market. I'm too old, but I've been hashing it around for two years. LOL. Sorry for the ramble, but your technical information makes your story all the more interesting and entertaining.

reply by the author on 04-Jan-2025

Sounds like you had some great ventures that were close calls! In my case, it's easy enough to think up ideas, but quite another thing to actually make them work. I guess that's why you can't patent an idea.

My favorite invention was an ultra-realistic golf simulator in my novel Saving Mr. Calvin. You could hit a ball into a screen that masks the thud as the ball hits the screen and disguises it dropping to the floor but instead projects an image of it sailing away into the sky.

It's inside a 360 degree enclosed spherical room with moving floor so that you can walk to your ball like on a treadmill or even get in and drive a cart there. Replete with the sights and sounds and smells of nature, it creates a totally realistic golf experience as if playing outdoors on a real course. There's even different length artificial grass to simulate fairway, rough, and green that comes up from the floor. The floor contains vertically movable sections to create undulation, the top layer of which can move horizontally to create the treadmill effect for walking or riding.

But if you want to play a quick round, you can choose an instant advance option so you don't have to walk or ride to your ball. You can even putt any length putt into a real hole that starts out as a projected image, but if you miss, you can walk up to the ball, and the surface drops into the floor, opening up a real hole you putt into.

It was really fun to think up how to do all this--not that it would really work quite how I envisioned it, but it sounded plausible.

That was probably my favorite of my 8 novels. It's a time travel story about the resurrection of the game of golf which is about to die out. The first trip back in time was to 13th century Holland where my 14-year-old MC gets to invent the game with his 13-year-old, sassy but adorable girlfriend.

One of the eras traveled to was when Abby (from the current story) invented the golf suit which is mentioned in this story. That also becomes a big feature in the new golf simulator. We get to see the tournament where Dana steals the suit and beats Abby while using it.

reply by Ric Myworld on 04-Jan-2025

Your golf simulator sounds like something that would have been addicting to me. I had a nice simulator in my garage, but it wouldn't have compared to your idea. The problem back then for me was time. There just wasn't enough. I could steal the time now, but I don't have the energy. LOL. I had no idea you've written eight novels, and I'm sorry to have missed them. I hope to catch up on the golf simulator story. Have a great weekend! RIc