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A most excellent choice. And seeing how the two HistoryParks run to many dozens of pages Director, I think that is a most concise summary! ;)
 
I'm going to pass this torch to an author who has built an AAR around the development of one character, a character who may not be a traditional hero but who nonetheless is as finely drawn as any in AARLand.

Here's to Sonny Gamble, of coz1's 'Into the West' (on the Vicky forum).

If there's hope for Sonny, there's hope for all of us!
 
Congratulations, coz1! Most deserved!
 
A very fine creation coz, and durable. You've taken him on a long journey since the beginning, and he still engages the attention now as much as he did then.
 
Congratulations, coz1! :)
 
Congrats! I've only read short passages of this huge AAR, but it's enough to tell that this prize is well deserved. :)
 
Congrats, coz1! Does "into the west" exist in PDF form yet? Because its on my "must read" list since long time back...


In fact, I wish I had had a paper copy of it during the two days my family and I had to spend in Barcelona after our transfer flight was caught by the unannounced strike there. Might have made the 36 straight hours of queing, wating and trying to get out of the city more sufferable... :mad:

Oh well... Captain Alatriste got me through the night... "No queda sino batirse!" :D
 
Magnificent choice, Director!

I've been with Coz and Sonny since the beginning of that tale, or very close to it... I think there were only a handful of updates when I first came across it.

The character writing is the biggest draw out of several that would be sufficient to keep my interest and ready readership!

You have a gift, Coz! And I'm not just talking about this award! ;)

Congratulations!

Rensslaer
 
This is very kind of you, Director. And thank you to everyone that has (and may still) offer congrats. For Sonny to be given a spotlight, especially right now, is really a great gift - to be sure, Renss. :D

I intended to write a simple little western that takes place during the Victorian period (naturally) and hoped to bring a lot of the spirit of my favorite western novels and films into it. What has since transpired in the last two years and change has resulted in the character now awarded. Sonny has grown in both my eyes, and apparently the readers. He is not the easiest person to figure out...again, by both myself and the readers. And his journey is not the most pleasant to experience and follow as I can attest to having to put him in such situations and as jwolf so aptly points out on occasion. ;)

But it is one that has supplied the arc to my story. This character is this arc. It's actually somewhat difficult to write in only the one POV. I will finally get the chance to break out of that soon, but for most of the run time of the AAR, everything that happens must be told from Sonny's point of view.

And I say it is Sonny's gift because the journey is almost over. I have little more than 100 some odd pages to write before the story is done and for him to receive an honor such as this so close to the end may help others read the final denoument. If so, outstanding, and if not - thanks to Director for giving him his 15 minutes of fame. :D

I appreciate it guys, and so does Sonny. Thanks for your support to those of you who have followed and thanks once again to everyone who has offered well wishes here.

And Yogi - for the pdfs, simply see my signature. I have been placing pdfs of each chapter since chapter 3. I don't know how many people see them, but I had hoped they would make it easier to read and keep up as it got longer.
 
Sonny is one of those rare characters that you don't see much any more in westerns...a fully fleshed person, unlike so many one dimensional ones you see in some movies or read in some books. He is complex, and yet simple. Smart as hell, but dumb as a post. He is a mass of contradictions and yet he lives by a simple code. He is, in other words, a human being. Fallible, heroic, despicable, honorable, a man with feet of clay. Someone who is 'real'. He's not iconic. He's just....human.


Which makes him a great character. His struggles and triumphs mean more because although he has had his trials and tribulations as well as triumphs<periodic though they are> he keeps on keeping on.

A grand character, and I think the best one you've ever created, Coz1. Congratulations on a well deserved award!
 
Well deserved coz1, well done and congratulations :)
 
Very well deserved. Keep up the great work coz1, you help inspire a lot of us! :)
 
Well done, Coz. :)
 
A belated congrats to Director and a current well deserved congrats to coz!

Joe