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The Devil Fights Back

Viewing comments for Chapter 27 "The Devil Fights Back - Ch. 27"
Challenges in the pharmaceutical field

16 total reviews 
Comment from Cecilia A Heiskary
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Jim,

Marie is a piece of work, but maybe she's softening up a little bit. She needs to quit being a prima donna and stop thinking she's better than everyone else.

Well done my friend. Keep writing.

Cecilia

 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Thanks, Cecilia. I think you're right about the softening up part. We'll see if she takes any of Julia's good advice.
reply by Cecilia A Heiskary on 24-Jan-2025
    You're welcome
Comment from BethShelby
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I see Marie had changed a lot to even realize that her way of raising her daughter wasn't the best. She still has a lot of problem but her attitude has improved. I glad to realize I haven't missed so much of this story that I still understand what is going on.

 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Hi, Beth. Welcome back. Hope you're feeling better.

    Yeah, you haven't missed too much. The Dipraxa elimination team of Brian, Abby, Patty, and Fran are nearing the end of development of the spray. On the Marie front, she came down at Christmas and made rather a fool of herself at the Christmas party, but Julia has given her a lot of food for thought about her life.
Comment from Wayne Fowler
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Very nicely written.
"Johnny, can you say 'swings?'"
"Ga-ga."
"Close enough." - This immediately struck me as strange in that you've established that Marie is so strict in her teaching style with Julia. Maybe if Marie tried, unsuccessfully, to correct Johnny a couple times before conceding.
I'm beatin' this issue into the ground, but the apostrophe after 'swings' is not used as speech within speech but merely as a device to emphasize or highlight the word 'swings'. As such, it does not need to comply with a 'punctuation' rule to be placed after the question mark.
Best wishes.

 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Thanks, Wayne.

    You're right about the single quote belonging inside rather than outside the question mark. The question mark pertains to the whole sentence, not just the word, so the single quotes around the speech within the speech belong inside the question mark.

    I also asked my favorite AI bot if it's okay just to leave the single quotes off entirely, as in: "Johnny, can you say swings?" and he said that's perfectly acceptable too because it's obvious what he is being asked to say. They're really only needed if the quote is a little more complex or needs to be exact.
reply by Wayne Fowler on 24-Jan-2025
    What's an AI bot?
reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Artificial intelligence bot, like Poe or ChatGpt. Very handy for research or asking very specific questions. Much quicker than to try to Google the question.
Comment from Pam Lonsdale
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Marie quote of the day, "All this niceness was beginning to overwhelm me a little." LOL!

At least Marie is considering considering things:-) Johnny seems to give her a purpose, and I'm rooting for her!

Thanks, Jim. Have a great weekend.

xo
Pam

 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    That growing relationship with Johnny you'll find is key to the events at the climax of the story. A ways to go yet, though. We're just a little over halfway through the story at this point.
Comment from Pearl Edwards
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Jules description of her mum's life does make it sound like Marie is probably lonely. Maybe she is finally starting to get it after the conversaton with Sherry.
The emotions came through well in this chapter through dialogue. Nicely done, Jim.
cheers
valda

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 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Thanks very much, valda. You're right about Marie; she's finally starting to get it. Julia had some wise words and suggestions for her. Let's see if she takes them to heart.
Comment from lancellot
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Another nice chapter. Marie is still moving along her journey and getting see how nice her daughter is, and how nice teaching can be. Marie gets to have a nice day at the park and meet with one of Julia's nice students.

Very good.

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 Comment Written 24-Jan-2025


reply by the author on 24-Jan-2025
    Thank you very much.