Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer, #113: Songs and Self-Identity: "Out of Time"

I wrote the story "Out of Time" about my ongoing character, Sossity Chandler, a musician; and the story, like many stories about her, took the title of a song. The song was by the Rolling Stones, a band Sossity likes and frequently does their songs as covers. The character's love of their music  derives from mine. The Rolling Stones were the #2 band of the sixties, always in the shadow of the Beatles, but now that I have more musical perspective, I can see that they deserved to be recognized for their own accomplishment. The Beatles were a more creative group, but the Stones were better musicians and their blues-based approach is appealing to me, since I play the blues and perform them now and then in local venues. I, like Sossity, am a die-hard Rolling Stones fan. 

The story takes place right after her divorce. If you know Sossity's character biography, she marries, is happily married for six years, has two children, and then finds out her husband is having an affair—and not with just anyone, with Kathy Farisi, Sossity's old suite mate from college and a trusted. In another story, she explains, speaking of her husband, I find out he’s having an affair with my best friend. My best friend—my roommate from college and someone I loved like a sister. She taught where he taught. I helped her get a job there because she couldn’t find anything after she finished her graduate degree. So after all of that, the judge pretty much gives him our children half the time. She is in a sad state of mind over this and over talking to her son on the phone the previous day. Today, she is performing with her band on a talk show; the talk-show host will interview her afterwards. She is not in the mood to perform. 

While waiting for her band to join her in the lounge, she hears the talk show host and a guest discuss about how authors are often terrible readers. When they read their own books, they don't do a very good job of it. The guest points out that authors express themselves through their writing; this is the reason they are not good as readers or speakers. As she watches, Sossity realizes this is true about her—that she expresses herself through her music and, when she goes outside of those limits, finds herself at a loss. 

Her split with her husband has been devastating. She fell into binge drinking and almost died one time from alcohol poisoning; kicked the habit but then got back on the bottle, was arrested for drunk driving, spent a night in jail, and had her license suspended. Her melt-down has been trumpeted all over the internet. Stand-up comics make fun of her. She wants to lash out at her husband but her lawyers warn her that if she attacks him publicly, he might sue. She has refrained from criticizing him.  

Now, however, the dialogue on the talk show has given her an idea. She asks her band if they could do a last-minute change and rehearse a cover they had worked on yesterday. They agree, and she and her band perform the Rolling Stones number "Out of Time." The lyrics are appropriate to how she feels:

You thought I’d be your little girl
And fit into your social whirl
But you can't come back and be the first in line, oh no
You’re obsolete my baby
My poor old-fashioned baby
I said baby, baby, baby you're out of time

The song is directed at her ex-husband. When Sossity sits down with the show's host and asks her to whom the song she sang is aimed, she is evasive. "Wouldn't you like to know," she says. The woman asks if it might be to a man, whom she had known for six years. Sossity only smiles and tells her to draw her own conclusions. Sossity knows she has found a way to attack her ex-husband without fear of liability. She can do it through music. She will sing songs and never mention him by name, but, when questioned, will indirectly make it clear she is singing about him. Musicians express themselves through music. Music will be the means for her to express the hurt and pain her former husband has caused her. And she need never mention his name. 

The story appeared in Intellectual Refuge. Read it here.

Two new novellas of mine will soon be published:  Sinfonia: A Painted Lady, and The Court of the Sovereign King. More information soon.

For additional titles, see my Writer's Page.

Happy reading.

Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer #109: Spiritual Perspectives: "Qualities of Light."

Saint Ives, Cornwall, UK

The story "Qualities of Light" is what I consider my best story. What makes it that? Why do I think of it that way? All the things that I try to do and want to emphasize came together in that particular story. It embodies the values to which I hold; I managed to express them in the space of about 25 pages and do it with good style and in well-written paragraphs. There are times in the life of any artist—I've had this happen when I do music as well as in writing—when everyone comes together and, for some reason, you do everything well. So it was, at least in my estimation for this particular piece of fiction.

Sossity

It drew on two ongoing characters of mine. The secondary character, Sossity Chandler, appeared in many of my early stories. In fact, I published thirty-eight stories about her. She is a musician, a guitarist, who, after six years of struggle, failure, disappointment, and barely getting by financially, makes it big. The story "Qualities of Light" comes at a low point in her career, when she has landed in London after the collapse of a tour with popular rock singer Geri Muir. Sossity had hoped her opening for such a well-known figure in the music scene would boost her own career. Then Geri collapses and must be hospitalized for drug abuse, and the tour is cancelled. Sossity ends up in London and decides to live for a year and try to connect to the music scene in that city. But London is expensive. She looks for a place to stay and, answering an advertisement for splitting rent with someone, meets Heather Alabaster.

Anglican Nuns

Heather became another ongoing character. I've written stories about her and an as-of-yet unpublished novel with her as the main character. She is about as different from Sossity as she can be. She is a nurse and plans to be an Anglican nun after she finishes her nurses training. Very religious, straight-laced, a virgin, she stands in contrast to the rather loose behavior Sossity often exhibits. But neither of them has enough money to rent rooms in a house, so the two unlikely women move in together, truly an odd couple, and begin a year together as roommates.

"Qualities of Light" begins when they have lived in the same house about three months. Heather takes the train to the town of Saint Ives, UK, where she will be interviewed and, if she passes the interview, will be admitted next year as a postulant at the convent there (a postulant is someone who thinks she would like to become a nun but has not yet taken any vows; Maria in The Sound of Music is a postulant). Sossity goes with her.

Of course, Heather is nervous. The fact that Sossity is with her makes her even more nervous. When they encounter some of the nuns who will interview her on the streets of Saint Ives, she wonders what they will think of her for going around with Sossity, in her shorts and halter top, telling them she plays jazz and blues in nightclubs and bars. Sossity also takes up with a young man she meets (as she often does), which vexes Heather. She becomes judgmental and critical and increasingly alienated from her friend, thinking she may spoil her chances of being admitted to the convent.

Sossity, in the meantime, manages to get some gigs playing and local bars and makes quite a bit of money from the jobs and tips. She works hard, since the two women do not have money and don't know where their money for rent and food will come from next month. Sossity even busks on the streets. Heather goes about the business of preparing for the interview. She becomes uneasy when one of the nuns asks her several questions about Sossity and seems unduly interested in her. Heather catalogs Sossity's moral failings, noting that despite her many affairs with young men, she too is religious, always goes to church, and behaves most devoutly when there. Heather writes her off as a hypocrite and hopes being identified with her does not hurt her chances at entering the cloister.

Heather is admitted. She also finds out why one of the sisters asked so many questions about Sossity. One of them heard her play Celtic music in local pub where she went with her brother, whose daughter was getting married the next day. It was an outdoor wedding and their harp player backed out at the last minute. They ended up hiring Sossity to play and are thrilled at her ability and that she agreed to fill in for them.

After this, Heather has an epiphany:  a moment of realization such as one finds in James Joyce's stories. She realizes how judgmental, selfish, and rude she has been to her housemate. Sossity, who has worked incessantly to earn them money, supported and encouraged her in this trying time, and believed in her, has acted more the Christian than the convent-bound Heather.

On the way back from the wedding, heading for the train station. Sossity is elated. She has made enough money to sustain them for two months. Heather begins to cry. This scene follows:

On the way down, Sossity caught the expression on Heather’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

Heather fought back tears. “Sossity, sometimes I get glimpses what a vain, selfish pig I am—how judgmental and full of pride I can be. I often wonder why God doesn’t strike me from the face of the earth.”

“There are better candidates for that than you. I’d say I’m pretty near the top of the list.”

“I wouldn’t say that at all.”

Heather has realized how far short she falls of the Christian commandments to show love, grace, and gentleness. Sossity has taught her a spiritual lesson she very much needed to learn.

At the beginning of the story, Sossity is reading from a tourist manual that mentions how the city of Saint Ives has always attracted artists because of the "qualities of light" seen there. Heather has learned that there are different qualities of light—different ways of manifesting goodness and of doing good. Her narrow focus has caused her to fail to see light in someone else. As a nun, she will need to revise her thinking on how she evaluates people and to judge not lest she be judged.

The story appeared in Eunoia Review. Read it here.

For more titles, see my Writer's Page.

 I would love to hear your comments.

Happy reading.

Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer #104: Encountering the Supernatural: "The Harbor Seals."

In the story, "The Harbor Seals," I returned to my ongoing character, Sossity Chandler. I have published over thirty stories about her and the stories take place at various times in her life, so I have constructed a character biography that I often consult so I don't contradict things. In this story comes at a time in her life when Sossity is having what we call a "celebrity melt-down." She has risen from obscurity to become a superstar celebrity with a string of number-one hits, a popular band, a husband and two children. Then her world collapses. Her husband leaves her after an affair with one of her best friends, who was a roommate in college. Sossity begins to drink and engage in outrageous behavior. She ends up in jail for a couple of DUIs and has her driver's license suspended. She almost dies from a drinking bout that brings on alcohol poisoning. Or course, the public revels in her suffering. She then emerges from court with a disagreeable divorce settlement that splits custody of her children in such a way that she does not see them for long periods of time.

A friend of hers, Daya, who has had a spiritual awakening in her life a few years back, lets her stay at a remote cabin on the coast of California. Sossity takes several bottles of whisky and goes to be alone, to write down some thought—and to get drunk.

She gets drunk, but also is impressed, in her sober moments, with the beauty of nature. The place she is staying is known for the harbor seals that live along the shoreline. She sees them in the morning light. Thought not feeling particularly creative, she does respond to their presence:

 She hoped to write but had only managed one haiku in four days:

the horizon moves

a seal’s sleek form on the beach

ebony alive

Not the best haiku ever written, she thought, but when you’re stone-staggering drunk you can’t expect to do a whole lot better.

Sossity also learns that a pack of feral dogs has been killing the seals and sometimes attacking bathers and campers in the area. She drinks herself into a stupor one night.When she gets up in the morning, she finds the feral dogs have come through the door to Daya's cabin. Terrified, she screams, shouts, and throws anything she can find at them. They snarl and bark, but her efforts finally drive them away. Rattled, she sits down. Noting how messy she has allowed the cabin to become, she straightens the place up, showers, and dresses in new clothes. She goes down to a place called the Harbor Inn. On the way she passes two harbor seals who stare at her with curiosity.

At the inn, she meets two people, Anjani and Vasava, who look to be Bengali. She invites them to sit with her. They are, they say, from across the Indian ocean and have heard of Daya, whom they describe as "a venerable holy woman.” Anjani plays and has brought along her guitar, a beautiful old Gibson that is a collector's item, which the couple say they found washed up on a beach and repaired and restored. She plays what she says is a folk song of her people. Sossity replies that it is one of the most beautiful songs she has ever heard and asks if Anjani will teach it to her. She replies that Sossity will remember it.

In the midst of their conversation, Vasava abruptly tells her that her resolution to make things right is a good one. Sossity replies that she has "said some stupid things." Anjani says she understands. Her people, she says, "have suffered much through the ages.  We have been killed and hunted, our lands have been taken from us, the environments we live in fouled and destroyed.  We have survived by patience and by living close to nature.  The song that appealed to you so much was a hymn that praises nature but that also evokes the flow of her order and her embrace."

Sossity plays some of her songs on the Gibson guitar. A crowd gathers. Her fans comfort and encourage her. After she has finished, she goes to her car to get a notebook and write down Anjani and Vasava's address. When she returns, they are gone. She finds Anjani's guitar and this note:

Sossity—we are sorry we left without saying good-bye, but we needed to go. The guitar is yours. Keep it as a token of our love. We want you to have it. Play it and remember all we talked about. The two of us are returning to our people. Remember us, despite this rudeness. You will find healing with patience, as we have. You will thrive and grow by your allegiance to doing what is right. You think you were the loser for doing what was right. Such is not the case. You are stronger and closer to being a truly holy woman yourself with your pursuit of what is in keeping with propriety. When you play the guitar, remember this.

                                                                        ----Anjani and Vasava

She looks for them. She does not see them. But she does see two harbor seals flippering their way down the back and sliding into the water. When they are gone, the tune they hummed for her returns to her mind. She will eventually record it as the lead song to a new release that marks the beginning of her comeback as an artist and her return to stability.

The story was scheduled to appear in Stupefying Stories but the journal went on hiatus and the tale never was published. This is the first blog I've written on a story that never got into print! I'll have to start submitting it again.

For additional titles, see my Writer's Page.

One of the best "Sossity" stories I've written, and one of my earliest publications, is "The Snow Demon"--a horror story reprinted by Zimbell House. Get a copy here.

I would love to hear your comments.

Happy reading.

Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer, #93: Ghosts and Justice: "Plantation Ghost."

Ghost of Hamlet's Father

Ghosts are not just ghosts. They appear in stories not just to scare us but to teach moral or sociological lessons. The four ghosts that appear in A Christmas Carol—ghost of Marley, of Christmas Present, Christmas Past, and Christmas future—are part of a novella about social justice and fairness for the poor. The ghost of Hamlet’s father asks for revenge after he is murdered so his brother can make himself king. The ghost in Toni Morrison’s Beloved, described as “spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom,” is an icon calling attention to racial injustice and the suffering of African-Americans during the years of slavery in the United States. In my story, “Plantation Ghost,” I try to illustrate some aspects of racial conflict in America through the presence of a ghost. The story calls focuses on this, but also illustrates the complications of being black and white in our society.

Rebecca Hayes, the bass player in Sossity Chandler’s band, is black. She has been dating the band’s drummer recently, who is white, but they have split up—sort of. Rebecca has caved in to pressure from her family to break the relationship off. But that has not been as easy as she has imagined it would be. For one, she loves Todd and he loves her. During the story she goes in to confront him and ends up making love to him. She is frustrated, as he is, knowing she has to take decisive action to end the relationship but not really wanting to.

When the band is doing a series of concerts in Alabama and Georgia, Rebecca and Sossity share a room at a plantation that has been turned into a B&B. Rebecca wakes up in the middle of the night to see a tall, slender black woman dressed in garments that suggest the 1800s standing at the foot of her bed. The figure vanishes and Rebecca writes it off as a dream. At the breakfast table that morning one of the guests asks if anyone there saw the ghost. Rebecca asks about it and finds out more:

“She is one of the most well-known ghosts in the area,” the white businessman, who had a heavy Southern accent, was saying. “This place was deserted for years because of her. More than one family moved in and the ghost supposedly drove them off.”

“Did the ghost go away?”

“A few people say they’ve seen her, but I guess she’s a little calmer—so calm she hasn’t rattled chains or terrified anyone lately.” Everyone around the table chucked at this. “People who have seen her identify her as a woman who worked her as a servant in the Reconstruction era, though, sadly, we don’t even know her name. She died a victim of racial violence, I think.”

Since racial violence was a delicate subject, the guests quickly moved the conversation elsewhere.

Later, the ghost appears to Rebecca and speaks to her. She tells the story of having been chased by ex-Confederate soldiers after the civil war and being shot. She staggers into a swamp for safety, finally collapses and his found by a white man who nurses her back to health. He lives alone, has lost his wife, and eventually Shoshanna and he fall in love. He is able to pass her off as a farm and worker and mistress, which the other men in the area can tolerate. They live together ten years and have two children. Charlie, the husband, eventually dies during a typhus epidemic. Shoshanna gives the children to relatives to raise and goes off to seek employment. She finds work at a plantation with white people who are fair and kind to her.

But by that time the Ku Klux Klan has become active. They don’t like the family that has hired Shoshanna and begin to harass them and her. One night they come to lynch her. In the struggle, one of their number drops a pistol on the ground. It goes off and kills her. The family buries her and leaves the plantation. Shoshanna becomes a ghost. She haunts anyone who has any connection with the mob of men who killed her—which is most everyone in the town and surrounding area. The plantation sits empty for years until someone from the north buys it and opens it as a bed and breakfast. Rebecca suggests that since Shoshanna has told her story and the direct relatives of men who murdered her are all dead, she can go to her rest. Shoshanna does not reply. She vanishes.

As Rebecca and Sossity are getting ready to leave, the woman who runs the place gives them a tour of the servants’ quarters. A box of old books she is giving away sits on a table there. Rebecca come across Shoshanna’s diary. She tells the woman it might be valuable, but the woman insists Rebecca take it. On the way home, Sossity asks her about Todd. Rebecca says it is over with them. Sossity argues she needs to defy her family and convention and pursue the relationship, since she really does love. Sossity tells Rebecca that she needs to do what is right. Her reply is, I think, some of the best lines I’ve ever written:  “I love him. No doubt about that. You told me I needed to do what was right. But sometimes you can’t do what is right in life. Sometimes you have to do what is wrong.” The story end on an unhappy but perhaps sadly realistic note.

“Plantation Ghost” appeared in The WiFiles. Read it here. The journal, no longer published but maintaining an archive, has a straight-line format, so you'll have to scroll down to get to my story. It's number four in the line-up.

Here's a video for my novel, Sinfonia: The First Notes on the Lute. Vampires, love, music, passion, and intrigue. Also, Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth.

For more titles, visit my Writer's Page.

I would love to hear your comments.

Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer, #68: "Horse Latitudes"

Horses have been companions to the human race for a thousand years. It's debatable who first tamed them, but from Japan and China to the edge of Europe, they were beasts of burden, vital to the economy and culture of everyone from the Mongols to the Knights of the Round Table. Spanish invaders brought horses to the new world; some got away, went wild, and the native tribes learned to ride them and use them as a decisive weapon against their enemies, both European and native. It has only been about a hundred years since horses faded from the scene, replaced by mechanized vehicles.

In the tale "Horse Latitudes," Sossity Chandler is on a cruise with her boyfriend. She enjoys the relative anonymity; though a lot of people on the cruise know who she is, and though she has agreed to do a short concert beyond the voyage ends, the people on board generally respect her privacy and she is able to relax and enjoy herself.

Horses painted by Chirico

But she is also getting visions of horses. And the horses are not particularly friendly. As C. S. Lewis wrote in a poem about two horses of the future, "the look / Of half-indignant melancholy and delicate alarm’s gone." These horses, and the ones Sossity sees, are rather ferocious and dangerous. And, of course, wild horses are dangerous and formidable. Sossity sees one in the water beside the boat and in her dreams. More disturbingly, one night she dreams she is adrift at sea and horses are trying to kill her by dragging her down into the sea; she is rescued, though only after much mayhem, death, and horror.

Hobnobbing with other passengers, she learns, from a Professor of Spanish literature, that they are in the "horse latitudes," and near a place called "Horse Island." The Horse Latitudes were located in parts of oceans where ships were often becalmed. Legend had it that ships transporting horses to the new world sometimes had to throw them into the water to drown because they were stalled and running out of food and water for the horses. Scholars today say that this was probably an "urban legend" of the time and did not really happen. Still, paranormal stories allow one to push the limits. Sossity learns that Almagro, the Captain of the ship, comes from a Spanish family that raised and transported horses in 1600s—and is still in the horse-raising business today.

The most frightening incident happens when Sossity goes out one night to smoke some joints with other passengers. Making her way back to his cabin, she is cornered by three large horses that surround her. They are soaking wet and seem to study her with their big, serious eyes. After a few moments, they disappear. She thinks the whole thing a drug-induced hallucination, but the next day, Almagro has his crew cleaning up a pool of salt water that has somehow appeared on the deck of the ship. Sossity also learns that one of Almagro's relatives came to Horse Island a short time ago and ended up dying of anthrax.

Once on Horse Island, she is able to forget her fears. She enjoys the luxury hotel and amenities of the island. Seeing the herd of wild horses (and is a little unnerved to see three beasts who like the horses who cornered her on the boat), she goes running with other cruise passengers, and has a good time. She sees Almagro uses a taser on a horse that is trying to menace him. She talks to him and learns more of his disgust for horses and for his family's horse-raising.

One morning she goes for a run with a group of women staying at the hotel. When she returns, she founds the horses have attacked.

Mayhem has broken out. The horses have come into the hotel, chased people across the grounds, and, in some cases, trampled and stomped people. She thinks of Diggory, her boyfriend, and runs toward the hotel. After a while she finds him safe, protected by police with rifles. Meanwhile, Almagro has learned of the incident and given his crew instructions to kill all the horses. He and his girlfriend appear in a jeep, but before they get to the hotel, horses descend on and kill them. Sossity is near-by. The three horses she saw on the ship gather around her, as they did the night she first saw them—not to harm her but to protect her. When Almagro is dead, the horses—including the ones guarding Sossity so she will not be harmed—depart for sanctuaries in the hills. They have had their revenge and the anger of their memories can rest.

Almagro and his girlfriend are dead. A few tourists have been hurt, none seriously. Eight horses were killed. The Police Chief countermands Almagro's order and says the horses are not to be harmed. They are too valuable as tourist attractions to be destroyed.

"Horse Latitudes" appeared in a print magazine called Brain Soup, which only went for one issue. I don't believe it is available today. Another story to resubmit.

For additional comments, check out my Writer's Page.

I would love to hear your comments. Some people are afraid of horses. I never was, though I have not been around them a lot and have hardly ridden. Some people, though, find them frightening.

Happy reading.

Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer #52: "The Texas-Illinois Motel."

Sign for the Texas/Illinois Motel

Every story has its genesis, and the genesis of a story can be from some monumental, soul-shaking event or it can be a common mundane thing of little consequence. "The Texas/Illinois Motel," came from a childhood memory. My family came from Arkansas, a southern US state, and, when we would visit relatives there after we moved north to Indiana, we would pass the Texas/Illinois Motel, so named because it lay, supposedly, halfway between Texas and Illinois. Truck drivers on a trek north could bed down there halfway through their journey. And quite a few did, at least when I was very young. The place always seemed full. It sat on a stretch of road that ran from Little Rock up to the northern reaches of the states. Lots of trucks and cars would park there and in front of it stood a sign with the name of the place emblazoned and outlines of the two states. Then a new highway went through.

Abandoned motel, still standing

After the interstate highly bypassed it, travel on the road slowed. Pretty soon the Texas/Illinois closed. It decayed and stood a ruin. For some reason, no one tried to reopen it and no one demolished the site. It stands, a testimony to what had passed away around the Arkansas towns of Searcy, Bald Knob, and Judsonia, where my parents had grown up, where most of my relatives still live. It is a sad ruin and a sad testimony to the economic decline that put so many places out of business.

Deserted motels are creepy. You wonder if the ghosts of people who once stayed there might stop on whatever journeys ghosts might take. That gave me the idea for a story about Sossity Chandler. She has just achieved a level of success as a singer, has had one or two hits, is in the money and building her career—not a superstar yet, but has a good chance of becoming one if she plays her cards right. She is on tour, opening for a hard rock musician named Davis Clark. She does not like him and does not approve of his exploitation of groupie girls and other aspects of his life, but touring with him makes for good publicity.

Once she played the town in which they are staying and decides to take a sentimental journey that will recall her days of struggle. She eats an old restaurant she ate at back then and plans to drive over to the Texas/Illinois Motel, where she stayed during that time. A man in café tells her it's abandoned because a girl died there. A lot of people, he says, think it's haunted. Sossity drives there and sees a girl in a smock standing barefoot in the snow. Thinking she is homeless, maybe addicted, and lives in the abandoned site, she offers to drive her downtown to a shelter. "What if I'm a ghost?" The girl says. Sossity lets her in the car and, through things the girl tells her that only a supernatural creature would know, finds out she is telling the truth.

And more:  the girl, Joetta Holland, was a groupie of Davis Clark and claims he murdered her by deliberately giving her an overdose of heroin. She convinces Sossity, who buys her clothes and food and listened to her story (ghosts have bodies for a short while around midnight). She wants revenge and will not be able to go to her rest until she gets it. The two of them hatch a plot. She wants to haunt not Clark's house and not his car, but his music.

It's tricky, but Sossity manages to get Davis Clark to come to the motel. When he does, Joetta appears to him as he is playing his guitar. She hovers near him and then her phantom-like shape breaks apart. Clark is glad she has vanished and thinks she is gone. Sossity knows she has entered his music and will live in it, torment him every time he picks up his guitar and plays, ruin his career, and finally kill him.

 The Sixth Sense told us the old truth that ghosts want something. They are ghosts because some traumatic event has attached them to a site or a person and they cannot go on to their reward, to the afterlife, until they resolve the conflict that has anchored them to an earthly spot. Joetta has to deal with Clark's deception and revenge herself. Sossity is willing to join her in her plot because she wants to see justice done.

 The story appeared in a journal no longer being published but with an archive. Read  "The Texas/Illinois Motel" here.

Non-Western fantasy, martial arts,

wuxia are all found in my latest 

novella, The Sorceress of Time. 

For more titles, explore my Writer's Page.

 I would love to her your comments.