All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 032'

Another good job. As you want this as a book eventually this scene setting is not a space filler, its quite important. I'm sure the next chapter will be equally as good. Cheers

Apologies for the handful of errors that slipped through in this chapter. I've submitted an edited version that corrects them but edited chapters normally take a while to be approved.

if you'd be interested in acting as an editor to help me pick up these kind of errors, then please get in touch via email.

Teller

Thank you for this wonderful chapter!

The slower pace of this chapter provides ample room for more details about people and developments. Not only Calara's renewed bonding to her family but also giving the rest of the crew some form of "anchorage" and strengthening of their own bonds. Especially the telepathic bonding between Calara ans Alyssa.

I wonder what is eating Dana. Is she feeling the 'odd girl out' now, or has your devious mind created another twist in the plot?

As always, it's hell waiting for the next chapter...

So Calara developed her sharp mind naturally. That was a short visit home but sweet.

It is not much of a surprise that the Dragon March will be action packed, and I actually like that it is already "spoiled" by Jack letting John know that there is plenty of trouble ahead.

Dana is my favorite of the girls so I am anxious to see what is bothering her.

I noticed one or two small fixes you could have made, but I really would have guessed that the story was edited already. With an experienced editor the already excellent quality should be nearly perfect. With a story this good I hope you can attract one of the better editors. Preferably your editor will be able to keep up with your productivity.

Excellent chapter, and an amazing story!

No worries, I liked this chapter as much as usual :). I know your chapters are always 4/5 pages long (recently anyway), so I knew my dream was unlikely the moment I woke up. In this case I'm very happy my dreams don't come true ;).

I repeat: thank you for your stories :).

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, because it ties in so many other things that have happened previously in the story. It was strange to think that John initially rescued Calara twenty seven chapters ago, and all the way back in January!

It had a radically different tone from the violence and sex in all the previous chapters, so it was a fun challenge to add some depth to characters that were not part of the crew.

Anyway, I'm relieved you liked it, and we will return to crazy space adventures in Chapter 33!

Tefler

Hi Tefler,

I've commented once before also under anon a few months back and just wanted to say again how much I'm enjoying your story and the world you're creating. I took a 2 month break between Chapter 15 and chapter 31 so I could enjoy more of the story in one go and it was quite a ride, I'm now rereading through the first 15 chapters to catch up on the edits and extra exposition. I'd also like to comment on how impressive your growth as a writer has been from the beginning of the series to now, it's incredible.

I agree with the first anon that commented about how important scenes like this are in building the characters and giving the reader insight into more outside of the world of the Invictus and their immediate focus. It's also very important from a pacing perspective to have a bit of a wind down between adventure/combat sequences to give the reader some time to breathe that isn't just sex, which is more of a different kind of action rather than a slow down of any sort.

My only point of clarification I'd like is what the girls actually wear on a day to day basis to do their regular ship related things. We know that Dana dresses like how you'd expect a field engineer to dress but other than that I can't remember any scenes that describe a general uniform or method of dress for regular daily activities. I noticed this because this is the first situation where I can't remember you describing the clothes all 5 were wearing before an important event, meeting Calara's family. This is also something that would be a nice clarification.

Would it be possible for you to keep an edit guide in your Bio, so I know what chapters have been changed and when as I've been digging through comments of various chapters to find references.

Thanks for writing this adventure and I'm excited to see what comes next.

Dana's worrying and secrecy worries me, I fear that she may try and leave the crew of the invictus. Hopefully, she won't and her problems will be caused by a mechanical problem, nothing too serious. But overall, GREAT CHAPTER, I started reading this when chapter 5 came out, and telfer, I love the series, the characters and the sexy situations. Good job!

"I'd also like to comment on how impressive your growth as a writer has been "

That's very kind of you to say. I do feel like I've levelled up a few times. :-)

"I noticed this because this is the first situation where I can't remember you describing the clothes all 5 were wearing before an important event, meeting Calara's family"

I actually had been thinking about a conversation like that, where Alyssa asks Calara what they should wear. Calara would respond saying to dress reasonably conservative, and then Alyssa suggests going to Gravitus to buy some matching semi-uniform type outfits for the girls to wear, with Calara wearing her naval uniform.

In the end I decided to dial the military aspect down several notches, as I wanted it to be a much more relaxed family setting, not a boot camp! As I dropped the scene, I didn't really revisit the clothing choices, and because I was juggling a lot of other things I wanted to include, I simply forgot. :-)

I'll bear that in mind about the day-to-day clothing choices, and put a scene in chapter 34 to cover it.

"Would it be possible for you to keep an edit guide in your Bio"

Of course. I will go back and clean up the older chapters eventually, to apply everything I've learned since then. It will mainly be to fix bad grammar and punctuation, but I might possibly put a bit more descriptive text in here and there, but it won't be as significant as adding another 1k words like I did with chapter 3.

"Thanks for writing this adventure and I'm excited to see what comes next."

Me too! There's a lot of fun things I have planned, but when I finally get to writing scenes I've thought of months in advance, its always interesting to see how they pan out a little differently when I write them down. It's like a choose your own adventure book, where you get to choose an extra bonus choice, and suddenly see where that takes you.

"I started reading this when chapter 5 came out"

I'm delighted I've managed to hold your interest this long!

"Dana's worrying and secrecy worries me"

I wasn't sure about ending the chapter this way, and thought about finishing it on a high note, with the intimate scene between John, Alyssa and Calara. As a few people have now mentioned it in the comments, I think it worked well for building anticipation for Chapter 33! ;-)

Oh God. Left on the cliff again vis a vis Dana's mysterious issues, can't wait for the next chapter. Is great to meet Calara's family. Are the girls going to have side romantic interests? The setup for Rachel joining the crew in a busy, at war situation positively begs the question of more battle action for this lusty crew. Six seats in the Raptor, is that meaningful? As I said before, can't wait. Cheers

I honestly don't know what to say. All I can think kf is how fucking amazing this series is. I just read every single chapter in the last 5 days, and no sad that I have to wait for more like everyone else. This icsss probably the best series I have ever read on this site.

An excellent chapter- all went very well

with John and crew meeting Calara's family.

I hope they can retrieve Rachel, but I expect

some surprises there; Jack isn't worried for nothing.

And, as she was leaving, what did he whisper

to his daughter, knowing she was running into danger?

And, yes six seats on the Raptor, I also noticed that detail.

Is it me, or is your writing improving chapter by chapter?

Thanks for the entertainment, Tefler!

I feel a new literary genre is born...

"Science-Friction" ! :-)

I can't say enough about how great this story is I think it's up there with E Doc Smith and and all the other great author's. Looking forward to lots more, and thanks for such great read.

I love this series, and I agree it is getting better and better.

However, I have one thing that puzzled me in this chapter...

The ship is heavily automated, and under normal circumstances there is no need to have a manned bridge. However, I was puzzled that with only one day travel ahead of them into what seems to be very treacherous territory they left the bridge unmanned.

A quick response if they are pulled out of warp as described in an earlier chapter may very well be the difference between life and death. Shouldn't they have taken their narrow escape in the previous chapter to heart, and take precautions?

Can you perhaps enlighten me as to why they are so relaxed about leaving the bridge unmanned?

Thanks! It's great you guys think the chapters are improving.

"However, I was puzzled that with only one day travel ahead of them into what seems to be very treacherous territory they left the bridge unmanned."

It's only one day for the Invictus, but their ship is much faster than anyone except a few Ashanath vessels. The Invictus was already significantly faster than standard Terran Military FTL drives (approximately 50% faster), after the big upgrade they got when John initially bought the ship at the Olympus shipyard.

Then they stripped out their already fast (by Terran standards) FTL drive, and were equipped with the best Tachyon drive the Ashanath know how to make, which was 3x faster. So now they are travelling at nearly 5x conventional Terran (and most other races) hyper-warp speed.

So, by the time they wake up the next morning (roughly half way through the journey), they are still deep within Terran Federation territory which is basically safe.

Its a good point though, and I address it very early on in chapter 33.

This is one of the best stories I have read on this site and I almost past it up because of the name. I'm so happy I opened it though and gave it a chance. I haven't stopped reading it. Every spare moment I had was devoted to reading your words until I caught up in chapter 32. It was like I was a kid again. Your writing has progressively improved throughout the story. The development of the characters and storyline are creative and insightful. Plus, your attention to detail really brings to life your world. I really look forward to reading more of this story. Keep up the good work.

"I almost past it up because of the name"

Choosing the name was a bit of a spur of the moment thing really, and I realise it probably puts some people off. Can you remember specifically why you nearly skipped the story because of the name? I'd be interested to know.

I passed this story up so many times and last night I said screw it and a read the first chapter and I was hook the last story that hooked me this easy was LNH.

The story must be pushing 400k words now, I'm amazed you got through all that in one sitting! :-)

Anyway, it's great to hear you enjoyed it.

Like the other Anon said with the name. I don't really recall what it was what nearly stopped me from starting because Ive joined in at chapter 3. I think it has to do something with the meal part. This fits the first few chapters perfectly, but if you start reading you don't know that yet. But am I glad that I started! Lesson learned, never judge a book by its cover.

About Dana, could it be that shes bored? Automating an automated ship and all. Or does she realise after Calara her family how much she would like to have one? Did she find her limits of what is possible? What is it Dana? Just tells us!

- Me :P

Am considering making an account just for commenting on this Story

My favorite knee-slapper in this chapter was when Maria said "this certainly isn't awkward." Loving this story, hooked, 5/5 all the way.

I also liked the good vibes with Jack and John in the dojo, but John needs to go back for some sword training! To which you say "dude, you're 20 chapters behind." Yeah, I know.

..... with the family interactions being so well done.

This is still one of my absolute favorite chapters (third time reading through chapters). This chapter is a perfect example of Tefler's writing talent. His ability of detail is what makes this story so exceptional. It puts him in a higher level of story telling. Being a life-long fan of sci-fi; to read Tefler's writing is simply an amazing experience. There could be 500 chapters to this story and it still wouldn't be enough for me !!! LOL Keep up the incredible work Tefler. I am a life-long fan. BRAVO

Upon realizing that the girls in his Harem were working on developing a Hive mind, most guys would be really, really worried. Not our John!

I’ve never read anything that keeps on getting better and better. Usually stories stall and get repetitious and boring, but not this. Looking forward to the next adventure. John is the luckiest guy ever! Love all the characters. My only little problem is that Spark changed her name to Dana.

I'm really enjoying your writting. I love Sci-fi & the sex makes it better. Your a gifted writter & I thank you for writting such a great series. Your attention to detail is great.

I confess I almost pasted on the story also because of the title but when I saw the ratings for each chapter I knew it would be good. And its been excellant!

I look forward to reading the rest of the chapters. I'm reading 2 to 3 chapters a night so I have plenty of reading material for a while.

chapter this. It's very important to know what they are fighting to protect.

Sounds like there is a lot of blood shed where they are going.

Very enjoyable read. Please don't stop writing. Keep sharing your talent!

How did a rom/com (romance-comedy) episode get here? And it was good. smh

Ok back to the sci-fi story. 😁

I've been enjoying this story for a little bit AND love this one the most . . . So Far!!!

The way you bring the people to life is fantastic!

Katzkin

I really liked the Fernandez family,.. and were can I go on the internet to order a case of Jericho beer? Amazon Interstellar? Ordering online because I can't travel outside the solar system at this time. ;-) TTFN

Okay, John and the girls meet Calara's family, and it goes really well... And Calara 'bonds' with (her Matriarch) Alyssa in a sexual 3-way, wow! Erotic, no holds barred, (science) Fiction at its finest! Now the gang is off to recruit a ship's Doctor, from the Dragon March, dah-dah-duh! ;-) TTFN

Im on a re-read now and i think you have a persona typo when they come out of calaras room. I think you wrote alyssa there.

Passed with flying colors and bonded as well.

Great chapter! Always love to read how well you and your Muse have crafted the story. Many thanks for sharing your vision and talents.

Good change of pace. Teeny mistake. "Alyssa, Dana and Jade were sitting next to Maria, and they cheered when John and 'Alyssa' -> 'Calara' walked out onto the ground mats where the Fernandez men were waiting."

Obviously it’s pure coincidence that there are swords hanging in the Dojo, I think we know who’s going to teach John to fight with his. 😉

This great getting better. Time to fight the Lizards,

Cannot think what's upsetting Dana?

To say that this chapter (with a little revision to add some opening details) would make a much better starting point for the Dragon March book, if you ever go back and revise the whole thing again.

Loved the family, especially the wise mother Maria!

This being my fifth or sixth re-read of TSM from the starting chapters, I can say that this chapters mention of the crews' dental health care might well be the only one in all of the series, ... ".... bathroom to clean their teeth with the auto plaque-removers", .... just like in the bath / shower they sometimes use towels and other times they use the auto-dryer(s) that are sometimes single and other times plural, ... I guess that Tef just doesn't sweat the small stuff, ...

And poor Dana just misses having her own family (orphan angst), ... ;-) TTFN

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"That reminds me, your mother figured out we're all sleeping together!"

Next, .... the Dragon March, Port Medea, and the Kintark, .... until we finally get an interview with Doctor Voss (Rachel), ... fun chapters ahead, .... ;-) ttfn

patiently waiting for the yellow N

I know Tef is building the Invictus up at each major stop: the Ashanath, the Maliri, the Trankarans, and finally the Brimorians, ... but I'd have loved it if the Invictus would've been just a little bit better prepared, with faster engines & thrusters, stronger shields and tougher Armor, and more powerful weapon systems would be nice too, ... but they were better prepared than other cruisers, so that's pretty good, ... and Tef is telling an action packed story, ... so, it's all good, ... ;-) ttfn