My apologies for the longer wait. Unfortunately, we've entered a busy time at work (busier, that is) and it has gobbled up time. I will be rather spotty for the next couple of months,but I assure you I am still here!!

Oh good! Not I doubted you would return, of course, but it was nice to hear from you! Please post at whatever rate you feel most comfortable with, by all means. I would rather have a happy partner than one who feels pressure or rushed. My own response may be a few days in coming, I will admit, as I have a convention this weekend to prepare for and attend.

Your last post was great, by the way! I love how Bess's imagination leaps to the fantastic to explain the midnight encounter!

Wait a sec... Your new avatar? Is that from Lackadaisy??

I will be honest. I'm struggling with Bess. The wife was stilted at first but she came alive for me when she was more than just greed for upward mobility. Bess, however, being a heroine, is almost two-dimensional. It is silly to be so hopeful that she'd leap out of the page pre-packaged within the first few posts just because she has a Destiny, doesn't she? Those of us with Destinies do seem a bit more reluctant to find form. I'm sure with some more interaction with the other characters, she will gain some weight.

A convention? Will this one include costumes and such? (I say that in hopes of fantastic stories from you because the one I've got next week is just a lot of talking and lectures and grown-up meals without a single Kid's Table in sight - always a let-down when one is going to a convention type thingie.)

Also - YES! You get the cookie and the candybar and the honorary seat at the Kid's Table because it is from Lackadaisey, a real favorite of mine. :) Have you read the asides she's done? I'm particularly fond of the introduction of waffles by Mordecai to Rocky. Hee hee. If you haven't found them, I'll send my favorites. They are just marvelous.

I've read pretty much most of what she's put up. Her frequency is dreadfully slow, but considering the quality of the work I really can't complain. I love the human sketches she did of Elsa and of Viktor. As far as waffles? I still giggle at the line "I was playing waffle's advocate." In fact, I thought of doing a something along those same lines as an RP at some point: in 1920s Buffalo NY, a down on his luck gambler saves a pretty lady from a mugging, only to discover she's the owner of a little speakeasy that has troubles of its own. I never got much further into developing it. It was basically a cross between Lackadaisy and Damon Runyon Theater.

The convention will include cosplay, or at least it did last year. A number of posts on the con's Facebook page indicates is should be so again this year. I usually steampunk it up at my artist's alley table, each day my outfit getting progressively gaudier. UBCon is held up at SUNY Buffalo. It's the type of con that tells me I'm getting old, for when I see teenage girls in their anime and cosplay outfits, baring more skin than charm, I want to run over to them and say... "Does your father know you're dressed like that?!?" Which is a shame because I really, really wanted to be a dirty old man. I guess it's just not in me. It's also the sort of con that make me want to stop every idiot who doesn't know how to proper knot or wear a tie of any sort, bow or neck, and fix it for them. I joked one year about handling out free tie bars as promotional items; I'm starting to wish I had done so.

If you're having a hard time with Bess, then let's change the plot! Or at least make it background to a new one: in the (eventual) tragedy of Bess and the Highwayman's deaths, the Captain and his wife are able to rekindle their love for one another. Not quite sure how that would work yet, as it just sprang upon me spur of the moment like, but we could hammer something out.

You have probably already seen this, but it bears repeating.

And - I think the story will progress nicely as will Bess come out and play eventually. She's just being shy and I'm trying hard to grasp her. I generally start with a much more plain pad to create on. She has bones, it's the filling out bit she and I are arguing over. (It's really which petticoat she should wear, if I were to be honest, and the fact we really can't afford silk stockings).

Ah - and I've not managed to catch the Theater.. I'll have to look it up. :)

I love the FanDubs by ProzD. Great voice actor! And there's the "radio" adaptation as well: .

Now that the convention is over (and the Guild is back up again), I'm slowly getting caught up on all my RPs. A reply should be coming soon, I hope!

I am currently at my convention and will look forward to your post when you get around to it! And now to the audio... :)

My apologies! I hadn't meant to let things go unanswered this long. Life had been... interesting of late. I hope to have a reply up for you by either tonight or by tomorrow night. I've had ideas percolating in my brain! Which reminds me, actually: did you ever have a chance to look up the Damon Runyon Theater shows?

I do understand interesting, so please do not worry yourself. :) Take all the time you need. Besides that, I didn't give you much to work with on that post. It's more filler and less direction, which I'm sorry for. I didn't feel right to do more at this early stage in the game.

As for the theater. I did, however it took me some time to discover it was the radio show and not the physical theater. heh. I've set it to listen to as soon as I've time to do so. I'm looking forward to it!!!

I leapt us forward some, was tempted to give another attempt to meet with our third character, but could not quite figure out how best to arrange that. Instead, perhaps it is time to give our almost-lovers a chance to become something of substance. I feel like I left behind a good deal - so if the post just needed more to happen in between, please feel free to say so and I'll take it back and we can do something different. :)

Oh. Oh, my. Change nothing! Not one word, phrase, or comma! That was a beautiful transition! I love how you set her imagination on fire to the point of distraction! It adds a realism to Bess. It makes her solid and human!

Her paramour is planning to take her on a bit of a lark. With luck, I should have a reply up for you later tonight. Half the ideas are already spilling out of my head, and if I don't respond I doubt I'll sleep too well tonight!

Hee hee... I love it! He's fascinating and yes - thank heavens she's starting to form up. I was worried she'd be vapid and romantic instead of the intensity which I think she's starting to show. It had to be an intensity which would drive her to do what she must in our final scene.

I do look forward to the lark. :) And thank you so much for the kind words. You're good for a person's ego, I'll have you know. Heh.

Bah. And sure enough I did not sleep well. But I responded as quickly as I could, and I hope it does at least half the justice your last post deserves!

By the way, allow me to say how much I love this line:

Instead, with the half lit glimpses, the nearness of him under his cloak, the burst of energy as she attempted to escape his grasp, the glitter and his words about wanting to prove himself and her own safety, all conspired to make him dream-like in day and as real as her own hand in the night.

I'm so glad you liked that line! :) I realized after having written it, it's a misleading, or almost innocently provocative line which suits her very well.

And! I finally got to download some Damon Runyan Theater. Oh my goodness, thank you SO much for turning me onto that! It is delightful. :) Absolutely adorable and amazing.

Forgive me - I'm in busy season at work which ought to last for two weeks (first week is actually already done) - along with one of our household is graduating (big deal) and we are preparing for a congratulatory trip (to far away places, rather than down the stairs) and so things ought to be something close to hairy and impossible to reply, but here is hoping that settles down quickly.

Take your time, please! It sounds as though you and yours have both an exciting and time consuming month ahead of you, and the last thing you need to do is worry about this! (Grins) Believe me when I say that I am incredibly patient, and for a writer of your caliber I am more than willing to wait! Enjoy yourselves, and rest assured that barring the unforeseen I'll still be here when you have more time on your hands.

:) I am alive!! Terribly sorry for the long hiatus. Needs must and all that rot. Anyhow, I am back and with a bit of coffee and some time to myself I ought to be able to catch up on everything. Thanks fabulously much for your patience.

Ah, by the by... I went to a coffee shop this morning with a friend. This particular shop has a "Take a Book, Leave a Book" shelf and on it was a fascinating book on the expansion of America into Native American lands. It was a first hand account by one of the leading captains and his experiences in the division. Very fascinating and it reminded me of historical reenactments which in turn reminded me of you. The book had been thoroughly highlighted and was with some amazing photographs. I figured it had to belong to a history student, an author doing research, or someone in need of making another short film`ish deal like the clip you had passed along.

I shall have to go back tomorrow and pick up the book as well as return the last one I had nabbed.

And it is late so my apologies for the inane chatter. There you have it.

Inane chatter is welcome, believe me! I don't think I can truly express how happy I was to see your post, it's been one of those months! Suffice to say, I'm glad you're back and look forward to continuing.

The book sounds like how I used to treat my history texts... and my roleplaying books.... and my theater scripts... But oddly enough, never my fiction. For those I would just jot down notes and stick them on the front leaf with pages numbers and a few words, sort of like creating my own index. I can only conclude from this that I am a silly person.

I do dislike Those Months. I've pencilled in a few for my year. Never any fun. Glad I could help! :)

As for how you treated your reference- materials vs. your fiction? It makes perfect sense to me! References/reality is meant to be dissected. Fiction is meant to be carefully guarded. No one wants to read their notes to their own brain while reading about the hero going in to sit down and have his fourth tankard of ale since chapter four (we'd know because it was noted there in the margins and then highlighted with green, as opposed to the blue highlights which are for 'what I wouldda dun different', and yellow highlights which are merely 'I'm smart and like this, yes I do'). Although, if it means you are indeed a silly person, then I'd have to say the world is better off for having one more silly person. There are far too many Right people - we need more silly folk to balance out the universe.