Hunted 2018

Alex: Hello? Anyone here?
Trace: What is this place?
Alex: Green room, of sorts.
Trace: Looks like a hero holding room.
Alex: Because it is.
Trace: Why didn’t you say so?
Alex: Green room sounds better than holding pen.
Trace: So heroes hang out here?
Alex: Until their story is published.
Patrick: I was beginning to think I’d been forgotten.
Alex: How long has it been?
Patrick: The last time the heroes were together was in December 2015, and I didn’t even have a part in the conversation.
Trace: Why are you grumbling?
Patrick: Adding insult to injury, she gave my story to you.
Trace: If she gave it to me, then it wasn’t your story.
Patrick: It was mine until you came along.
Trace: Get over it.
Joe: At least she remembers your name.
Kevin: She has to check her notebook for mine.
Daniel: You’re not the only one.
Todd: My deli was supposed to be the star eatery and then Holiday Diner came along.
Alan: My story was supposed to be told four years ago.
Karl: She misplaced my information sheet.
Jacob: At least she’s mentioned you in other stories.
Ken: I’m a side note.
Scott: She started my story and stopped.
Holiday Hero: I’ve a holiday and a heroine but no story title and no name.
Regency Hero 1: Bickering is pointless
Trace: You don’t have a name neither.
Regency Hero 2: Neither do I.
Regency Hero 3: Nor I.
Regency Hero 4: A bit humiliating.
Alex: The Four Musketeers before Dumas.
RH1: Who?
Alex: Before your time.
Jacob: Don’t worry about it.
Daniel: Is everyone here?
Alan: Looks like it.
Patrick: Alex won’t be here much longer.
Trace: Want a little cheese with that whine?
Patrick: I’m tired of waiting.
Kevin: Welcome to the club.
Alex: Life is good.
Ken: You’re chipper.
Joe: Why?
Patrick: His story is almost finished.
Trace: She finished the last two scenes.
Todd: In one week?
RH2: Good news indeed.
HH: What does it mean?
Alex: Edits are in process.
RH3: Gloating is most unbecoming.
RH4: Especially in a hero.
Jacob: Let the man cheer.
Alan: It’s proof our storyteller is back at work.
Patrick: Finally.
RH1: Welcome back, my lady. You’ve been missed.

Conversation between Heroes 24 December

Jack: Calling the meeting to order.
Leo: We have meetings?
Jack: We do now.
Richard: What has brought this about?
Jack: Nefarious social media hides our lady's communication.
Leo: Bah! We must not allow this to continue.
Fitzgerald: Shall I challenge them to a dual?
Trent: Wrong century.
Fitzgerald: How do we right this wrong?
Carson: Stand down, gentlemen.
Leo: We can't allow this to continue.
Trent: Not a problem. She's appearing again.
Leo: Excellent.
Fitzgerald: I do not trust this social media.
Carson: A wise man.
Leo: If all's well, why are we here?
Jack: An event worthy of notice.
Richard: The most important day of the year.
Leo: Easter isn't for a few months yet.
Richard: Without the birth, there would be no Atonement.
Carson: The calm before the storm.
Trent: Merry Christmas.
Jack: Happy Christmas.

My Favorite Book...

At the conference, I was asked to chose my favorite of all my books. It's a bit like asking a parent which child is their favorite. At the time, I chose Tarnished Knight. Jack, the hero, appeared a few years before his story. I wrote a few paragraphs to an unknown stories simply to remove the scene from my head. Shortly thereafter, he showed up in one of the hero conversations.

April 27, 2012

Luck: Where's Laurel?
Matthew: Is she missing?
Luck: I haven't seen her for a week.
Matthew: *smirks* She finished rough edits for our story, last night. Mayhap she needs a break.
Luck: She needs to do some serious edits on our story.
James: Why are you complaining? At least she's finished your stories. We're still waiting for our HEA.
Jack: HEA?
James: Happily Ever After.
Jack: Stop complaining. At least you aren't stuck in the first chapter, wearing a kilt.
*snickers all round*
Jonathan: Stand down, gentleman, our fair lady is attending her first writers' conference.
Jack: Do we need to mount a rescue mission? I'm a fair hand at those.
Jonathan: *one brow raised* No. This is a long-expected party.
Luck: She's at another Lord of the Rings conference?
Jonathan: *huffs* No. A writers' conference.
Luck: Tolkien was a writer.
Jonathan: You're hopeless.
Luck: No, I'm not quite finished, and it's unsettling. Wipe the smug look off your face. We don't want to hear about your story being with the editor.
Jonathan: Life is good, gentleman.
Matthew: She's worked hard. She needs a rest.
Jack: *whispers* I peeked at the schedule. It is many things, but restful isn't one of them.
Jonathan: It will be a change, for her, and she'll return soon, fresh, and inspired.
Matthew: So, we wait?
Jonathan: We wait.
Luck: God bless.

I'd attended the Desert Dreams Conference hosted by Desert Rose, a chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Looking back, I think it's interesting that this is the first of the conversations to fit this format, which the gentleman have insisted be used ever since. Bossy characters.

Jack evolved and changed and evolved again. He even spent a brief period as a hero in a time-travel romance. Perhaps I'll share what little I wrote of it, sometime, as it will never be more than the page or so I jotted down to remove it from bouncing around in my head.

Grumbling heroes... posted on FB 1 June...

Fitzgerald: Our numbers are sparse, this day.
Richard: Indeed.
Leo: Is a search party in order?
Richard: I think not.
Jack: No doubt the other heroes will all return soon enough and probably before our Lady is prepared to entertain them.
Leo: You're certain?
Jack: This isn't the first time our numbers have been few.
Karl: What happened, this time?
Jack: Our Lady's dance card has been a bit crowded of late.
Ken: She went dancing?
Jack: It's a figure of speech. You have such things in your time.
Richard: Jack, you're too vague.
Fitzgerald: He enjoys being cryptic.
Jack: Dancing isn't cryptic.
Leo: Depends on your point of view.
Fitzgerald: It matters not. All that matters is will she return soon?
Daniel: If she leaves us hanging around here, I'm leaving.
Jack: She never abandons her own. She attended the famous Dreamin' Convention.
Richard: I remember. She attended last year.
Jack: She's always attended as a reader. This year, she attended as an author.
Richard: Well done.
Leo: Did she have an enjoyable time? She needed some laughter.
Jack: She missed some old friends who weren't able to attend but also made some new friends, and yes, she laughed.
Richard: Good to hear it.
Jack: Yes, she'll be back to revealing secrets in no time.
Fitzgerald: It's decidedly unsettling to know one's secrets will be unearthed.
Karl: I could have gone my whole life not knowing she's going to do that.
Daniel: Revealing my secrets? I may leave, anyway.
Leo: Too late.
Jack: Not to worry, Daniel. She only writes HEA.
Todd: Happily Ever After, right?
Jack: Precisely.
Richard: I don't know why the rest of you are grumbling. I'm the one who has been delayed.
Jack: She takes no pleasure in falling behind.
Leo: What may we do?
Fitzgerald: Send flowers?
Daniel: Chocolate.
Richard: Cooperate.
Todd: Appreciate her.
Jack: Our thanks, my lady.
Fitzgerald: Now, please do put pen to paper in a more timely fashion.

Conversation among heroes

Luck: I see everyone's here.Leo: Even Jonathan and the Thorns.
Lance: Quite the impressive gathering.
James: A proper send off.
Todd: What's the occasion?
Jack: A Happily Ever After celebration, for which our lady is well known.
Patrick: For whom?
Benjamin: The satisfactory conclusion of a beloved series.
Richard: Peopled with worthy souls.
Henry: One of our series is drawing to a close?
Jack: The incomparable Silver Locket Sisterhood.
Tim: They've enjoyed a good run.
Dusty: Congratulations.
Matthew: I remember their debut.
Jonathan: How time has flown.
Lance: Five books spanning three continents and seventeen years.
Brent: Stories of honor, hope, and home.
Fitzgerald: Bravo, gentleman.
Jack: Last words?
Jordan: God holds us in the fire until He sees His reflection in us, and His timing is perfect.
Ian: God creates miracles using imperfect souls.
Eric: God's plan is always better.
Mark: God never intended us to wait for love but to love every day, as He does.
Luck: God overcomes evil, every time.
Jack: Godspeed, gentlemen.

Happy Valentine's Day...

Fitzgerald: What is this Valentine's Day of which I've heard?
Jack: Holiday touted to be for lovers.
Patrick: A money-making bonanza for card makers, jewelers, and florists.
Lance: I represent that remark.
Henry: And proud of it. Don't forget bakers.
Brent: If you forget, expect a guilt trip.
Richard: Since it repeats every year on the same day, how is it you manage to forget?
Luck: Stating the obvious isn't helpful.
Tim: He isn't held accountable in his time period.
Todd: Easy to point fingers.
Ian: No matter. A man prefers to forget that which might reveal his vulnerabilities.
Dusty: True.
Eric: What man willingly risks being found wanting?
Jordan: Or risks hurting the love of his life inadvertently.
Mark: A holiday filled with traps and minefields.
Kevin: A dangerous proposition, no matter how you look at it.
Ken: Refusing to participate isn't an option.
Jacob: Unless you don't mind being an unfeeling jerk.
Karl: Spare me.
Joe: Not if you want the girl.
Alan: Buck up, gentlemen.
Leo: No matter the age, a man of honor desires to prove himself, like a knight of old, to the woman who holds his heart.
Dusty: Exactly.
Fitzgerald: Quite the conundrum.
Richard: Good luck.
Jack: Begging mercy might suit better.
Jordan: She's worth every agonizing moment.
Dusty: Yeah.
Richard: In which case, Happy Valentine's Day.

Hunted on FB on 8 Sept...

Fitzgerald: Have you heard the rumor?
Jack: No good comes from listening to rumors.
Fitzgerald: I have it on good authority.
Richard: For pity's sake, permit him to empty the bag.
Fitzgerald: Our Lady's books are available in paperback.
Leo: They weren't before?
Richard: How else were they read if they weren't on paper?
Jack: eformat.
Richard: What language is this eformat?
Rusty: Electronic.
Fitzgerald: Elect… come again?
Jack: A device run by electricity.
Richard: Benjamin Franklin's experiments were successful?
Ian: You have no idea.
Mark: Beyond your wildest imagination.
Eric: Pictures transmitted across the globe in seconds.
Luck: Traveling from London to New York in hours.
Richard: Who are these men? Contemporaries by their dress.
Fitzgerald: New heroes?
Jack: Old heroes, for the most part. To what do we owe the honor of your visit, gentlemen?
Jordan: My fault.
Leo: What did you do?
Jordan: Last book in the series. Everyone makes an appearance.
Fitzgerald: Our lady has a series that ends?
Richard: Difficult to believe.
Leo: She's full of surprises.
Richard: Including leather-bound books.
Jack: Ah… no. Paperback.
Ian: The cover art is brilliant.
Eric: Carol Fiorillo's work is excellent.
Fitzgerald: A celebration is in order.
Jordan: Croissants from P.Croissant and hot chocolate for everyone.
Jack: Our lady's favorite way to celebrate.
Fitzgerald: Cheers!

Hunted down on FB...

My heroes found me on FB, today...

Patrick: Cheer up, Brent.
Brent: Is she back, yet?
Leo: Our Lady returned a day or two ago.
Brent: Then it's true.
Richard: What truth is so horrible you bear the appearance of one who's lost his best friend?
Brent: She's forgotten me.
Ian: Rubbish.
Leo: She forgets no one.
Benjamin: Unfortunately.
Brent: Easy for you to say.
Benjamin: Do tell.
Brent: Your publish date is set and on schedule.
Leo: Preening is unseemly.
Benjamin: I am not preening.
Fitzgerald: You are, but it is not the concern of the moment.
Ian: Sorrows shared are halved, and all that.
Benjamin: I don't know why you're complaining. You'll be published before me.
Brent: I was supposed to be published last March. March!
Dusty: Life happens.
Jordan: A series of unfortunately events.
Richard: Best laid plans of mice and men.
Brent: Murphy's Law.
Fitzgerald: What is this Murphy's Law?
Leo: Ask Jack. He knows everything.
Jack: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible moment.
Jordan: O'Toole's Corollary declares Murphy was an optimist.
Brent: Not helping, guys.
Leo: Never give up hope.
Jack: Our Lady's world has undergone a number of upheavals, but it is settling.
Leo: Stand strong, gentleman.
Jack: Indeed. It's the least we may do.
Patrick: Buckle up, Buttercup. We're in for a bumpy ride.
Benjamin: Who is this Buttercup?
Jack: It's a figure of speech.
Benjamin: It's ridiculous.
Jack: It made you smile. It even made Brent smile.
Dusty: Mission accomplished.

The 2014 hunt has begun...

Brent: Make her stop.
Richard: What troubles you?
Fitzgerald: He's next.
Patrick: I thought everyone wanted their story told.
Ian: It depends.
Kevin: On what?
Benjamin: What secrets you hold.
Joe: You don't mean our lady reveals them, do you?
Jack: In painful detail.
Fitzgerald: You're a bit subdued.
Richard: Jack's in the queue behind Brent.
Dusty: Tough Luck
Brent: Low blow.
Fitzgerald: Clever.
Jack: Your time is coming.
Dusty: I'm ready.
Benjamin: Trust me. You only think you are.
Todd: Cheer up, gentlemen.
Brent: Why?
Todd: She likes us.
Brent: Not a comforting thought.
Kevin: Of course it is.
Brent: Bring out the Crayons.
Richard: Crayons?
Jack: Paints, without the water or oil.
Fitzgerald: How do you know these things?
Jack: She considered making my story a time travel adventure.
Richard: She didn't.
Jack: She changed her mind.
Todd: A woman's prerogative.
Ken: Is there a way to resign?
Brent: At least you've been delayed for a year.
Ken: Anticipation isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Jack: Enough grumbling, gentlemen.
Leo: She does guarantee a happily ever after.
Benjamin: After she pulls you through a knothole backward.
Ian: Any other pleasant thoughts?
Brent: Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Last Conversation of 2013

Jack: Tis the end of another year.
Benjamin: And you're still here.
Lance: Harsh much?
Richard: What did he say?
Henry: Slang criticism for being overly critical.
Fitzgerald: More like rubbing salt in the wound.
Ian: Benji's still in a snit?
Fitzgerald: It's grown worse.
Jack: Indeed.
Benjamin: And would you not in my place?
Richard: Cheer up, Benji, it doesn't last.
Henry: You ARE a hero.
Benjamin: I fear the worst.
Fitzgerald: Is anyone else leery of the coming year?
Jack: Don't know why you'd be, old chap. Your story isn't scheduled for the coming year.
Fitzgerald: True, but I do make an appearance.
Benjamin: No! It's my story!
Lance: Benji, whining is unattractive. Just sayin'.
Benjamin: You sound like Jack!
Lance: Thank you.
Benjamin: You aren't sharing your story with a half dozen other heroes!
Lance: Actually, I am.
Benjamin: Oh.
Henry: And his is a novella.
Fitzgerald: What a lovely shade of red, Benji.
Jack: Stubble it, Fitz.
Benjamin: My humble apologies.
Lance: No problem.
Jack: As long as we stand together, we'll prevail.
Henry: It's what heroes do.
Ian: One for all and all for one?
Lance: This isn't "The Three Musketeers."
Benjamin: There are considerably more than three of us.
Ian: And more on the way.
Fitzgerald: How did you come by this information?
Ian: They keep peeking in the door.
Jack: Looking for room.
Richard: A proper London crush.
Lance: A what?
Jack: Regency slang for really crowded.
Benjamin: Shields up gentlemen.
Henry: It's going to be a year full of adventure.
Fitzgerald: Not a man will be lost.
Richard: Decidedly not.
Lance: Happy New Year!
Jack: Godspeed.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Fitzgerald: Did you hear what our lady called us?
Ian: Cowards, I believe, was the word she used.
Richard: Your outrage is understandable but of little use.
Leo: We need to discover why her feathers are ruffled.
Benjamin: We need not look far.
Tim: Jack?
Jack: What?
Henry: What's he done now?"
Jack: I take exception to the implication--
Benjamin: Stubble it. She's working on "Grace's Possibilities."
Tim: And "Happy New Year?"
Henry: Yeah, but you're in final edits, Tim. No more surprises.
Richard: Benjamin, it's your story. What has it to do with Jack?
Benjamin: Care to explain, Jack? Or shall I?
Jack: It isn't my fault.
Lance: Which means you're involved, one way or another.
Fitzgerald: Indeed. Explain yourself, sir.
Ian: Is he… blushing?
Eric: He is. Didn't know he was capable.
Lance: Bummer to be so old and caught off guard--
Jack: I am not old.
Lance: You're in 1816. You're old.
Richard: Ignore him, Jack, and do tell.
Fitzgerald: Yes, do tell. What have you done?
Jack: You make more of it than it is.
Leo: You're a good man, Jack.
Benjamin: Indeed?
Fitzgerald: Ah. Plot twist.
Richard: Intriguing.
Benjamin: Out with it.
Jack: I do not understand all the fuss. I made an appearance.
Tim: That's it?
Henry: Hardly worth mentioning.
Benjamin: Except he wasn't supposed to appear in MY book.
Jack: It does not last overlong. I promise.
Benjamin: I'll believe it when I see it.
Fitzgerald: Shall we note the possible duration in the betting books?
Leo: Our lady would take exception.
Fitzgerald: Not if she doesn't know. What?
George: You forget who she is. She'll know. Before we do.
Leo: We've surprised her a time or two.
Benjamin: Best to not annoy her.
Richard: Not any more than she already is, at any rate.
Jack: Precisely. She'll land you in places you never intended.
Henry: She does that anyway.
Richard: Truer words were never spoken.
Benjamin: Then she reveals your every secret.
Fitzgerald: Which explains your foul mood.
George: Gentlemen, we are at her mercy.
Richard: It behooves us to tread lightly.
Ian: At least we are assured she favors HEAs.
Leo: For the most part.
George: It's all right, Leo. I'm content. I turned out much better than when I first appeared.
Lance: Sounds like a story.
George: For another day.
Tim: In the meantime, we'll wish our lady's readers a Happy Thanksgiving.
Fitzgerald: Thanksgiving? What is this Thanksgiving?
Henry: An American holiday to thank God for all our blessings.
Eric: George Washington proclaimed, November 26th, 1789, the first national thanksgiving celebration, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."
Jack: Celebrations of thanksgiving date back much earlier.
Benjamin: Attempting a distraction?
Ian: Is it working?
Henry: It's a busy time. It might be considerate if we allow our lady's readers to be about their business.
George: God bless.
ALL: Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday's conversation on FB...

Jack: Where's James?
Benjamin: Published. Where have you been?
Jack: Acquainting myself with our newest arrivals.
Richard: Quite the horde.
Tim: No need to be insulting.
Fitzgerald: No insult intended.
Henry: Hazards of language changing through the ages.
Leo: Indeed.
Jack: Who's next?
Fitzgerald: I've heard it's a race to the finish.
Richard: Do tell.
Benjamin: A short story, a novella, and a contemporary are neck and neck… and neck.
Jack: Intriguing.
Fitzgerald: Entertaining.
Jack: Who are our competitors?
Eric: I'm the contemporary.
Leo: I'm the short.
Tim: I'm the novella.
Ian: Fascinating.
Jack: All through Desert Breeze?
Tim: I'm too short.
Jack: Our lady is adding more adventure to her life.
Fitzgerald: Honestly, the last thing she needs is more adventure.
Richard: From my observations, she can't help herself.
Eric: True enough.
Jack: Godspeed gentlemen.

Yesterday's conversation on FB...

Jack: Who are you?
Tim: I'm Officer Tim Black.
Fitzgerald: What new devilry is this?
James: Do my eyes deceive me?
Benjamin: Only if they also deceive me.
Eric: Will they all fit in here?
Ian: How many are there?
Tim: Sixteen of us.
Richard: Sixteen?
Tim: Don't worry. We'll file through pretty quickly.
George: Like me.
Tim: A little longer, but yes.
Jack: It's going to be a busy year.

Yesterday's conversation on FB...

Benjamin: Who is this upstart?
George: My protege, Leo.
Benjamin: Indeed?
Eric: I thought only heroes hung out here.
James: They do.
Jack: Brilliant. She's created another.
Richard: He's far too young.
Fitzgerald: For now.
George: He intended to play but a small part in my story.
Leo: My humble apologies.
George: Not your fault.
Benjamin: Indeed not.
Ian: Our lady manages to create chaos all on her own.
Jack: Without the least bit of help from us.
George: I think we manage to turn her world topsy-turvy, from time to time.
James: True enough.
Eric: Turn about is fair play.
Fitzgerald: Tell us, Leo, what is your story?
Leo: I know not.
Ian: Ah, a name only.
Leo: A bit of history, but the future is uncertain.
Richard: When is it not?
Leo: I fear you'll grow quite weary of my company, seeing how as I've no destiny, so to speak.
James: Nonsense. Jack's hung about for years, and we're not tired of him.
Benjamin: Overmuch.
Jack: Hang on--
Richard: Welcome, Leo.
Fitzgerald: Indeed, welcome Leo.
Eric and Ian: Welcome.
George: I am grateful and proud you've joined us.
Leo: I thank you.
George: Jack?
Jack: Yes, yes, welcome to our brotherhood, young lion

Rough around the edges...

Fitzgerald: Our lady appears a bit rough around the edges.
Eric: More like rode hard and put away wet.
Ian: I beg your pardon?
Jack: Horse jargon.
George: My fault.
Benjamin: What did you do?
George: Woke her at two.
Richard: This morning?
George: My most humble apologies.
James: No, George, it's my fault.
Eric: Actually, it's mine.
Jack: This should be good.
Fitzgerald: Explanations, gentlemen.
George: She's researching Waterloo.
James: She's been editing.
Eric: She wrote my story in one month.
Ian: She only writes one or two thousand words a day.
Eric: Not this time.
Jack: Do tell.
Eric: Five thousand words a day and then a complete rewrite.
Ian: She learned something new about herself.
Fitzgerald: She's created a new best to beat.
Benjamin: Shhh.
Fitzgerald: What?
Benjamin: She'll hear you.
Ian: Of course, she'll hear. She isn't deaf.
George: What are you prattling about, Benji?
Jack: Benji?
Benjamin: Stubble it, Jack.
Richard: Gentleman, it behooves us to help not hinder.
Ian: What may we do?
Fitzgerald: Encourage her competitive spirit.
Benjamin: I fear she'll wear herself out.
Richard: It is our duty to ensure she does not.
Jack: Encourage her without browbeating her.
Richard: Do you not see the irony of such advice from you?
Jack: I've not harried her of late.
Eric: It's true.
James: She's settling into a routine.
Jack: She is accepting she is a writer.
Fitzgerald: Now if she'll only give my cohort a name.
James: Here we go.
Jack: At least it wasn't me, this time.

Introduced a new hero on FB...

Eric: Why is James pacing?
Benjamin: He awaits edits.
Richard: I've heard tales of horror visited upon wayward souls.
Jack: I have heard our lady is more to be feared than any editor.
James: Humbug.
Richard: You cannot deny the truth.
George: One need look no further than my own narrative.
Eric: I hate Regency English.
Fitzgerald: Watch yourself, sir. You are surrounded.
Richard: We've endured this discussion before.
Benjamin: Not so long ago.
Eric: Fine! Speak American.
Fitzgerald: You ask the impossible.
Jack: It won't help. Trust me. The century is all wrong.
James: You need a comrade in arms.
Eric: I'm the only contemporary hero here.
Fitzgerald: You forget to whom we owe our very existence.
James: When she settles on the name, the next hero will appear.
George: Rumor is she mulled over a name the other night.
Fitzgerald: How did you hear of this?
George: What else is there for me to do?
Fitzgerald: Pity you do not survive for our tales.
Jack: Don't spill the soup!
Eric: There's soup?
Fitzgerald: Of course not.
Eric: Jack said--
Benjamin: He meant don't spill the bag.
Eric: What bag?
Fitzgerald: You're hopeless.
James: Stubble it. Someone is here.
Jack: Who, pray tell, are you?
Ian: Ian Morgan.
Eric: When does your story take place?
Ian: 1986.
Jack: There you are, Eric, a fellow knight, at last.
Ian: Brilliant.
Eric: You sound English.
Ian: I am English.
Jack: Eric, it is pathetic and mildly disturbing watching a hero cry.
Fitzgerald: I'm uncertain if he is weeping or laughing so hard tears are streaming down his face.
Jack: Never underestimate our lady's sense of humor.

Yesterday on FB...

Benjamin: George, what are you doing here?
George: I was invited, of course.
Benjamin: A bit awkward, don't you know?
Jack: Indeed?
Benjamin: Decidedly.
James: What's George doing here?
Benjamin: He says he was invited.
James: Awkward that.
Eric: Why?
Benjamin: He's dead.
Eric: He's what?
Benjamin: He's dead.
George: I'm not dead yet.
James: Yes, you are.
Benjamin: You died at Waterloo.
James: It was 1815.
Richard: All of our stories take place in 1816 and 1817.
Eric: Not mine. Mine's in 1985.
George: In which case, all of you are dead, but Eric.
Benjamin: Do not complicate matters.
George: Wouldn't dream of it.
Benjamin: And yet, here you are.
George: Our lady decided my story was worth being told, so here I am.
Richard: She does have a way of complicating matters all on her own.
Benjamin: Still awkward.
Jack: And I thought my life was complicated.

Conversation posted on FB last Monday...

Richard: Pray tell, what is Mark doing in the corner.
Eric: Relaxation exercises.
James: I beg your pardon?
Jack: Do keep up James. He does them whenever he's out of sorts.
Richard: Whatever for?
Jack: He's leaving us.
James: Indeed.
Eric: Already? I only just arrived!
Jack: Look sharp.
Richard: Before a cat can lick its ear.
Eric: Excuse me?
James: You're confusing him.
Jack: It's English.
James: Regency English.
Eric: Oh. So I need to learn Regency English to hang out here?
Richard: It would be helpful.
Jack: Or recruit another contemporary hero.
James: Indeed, because you're about to lose this one.
Eric: Where's he going?
James: Do you want to tell him, Jack?
Jack: Why me? You've been here longer.
James: True enough, but you enjoy spilling the bag.
Eric: Spilling the bag?
Richard: Revealing secrets.
James; Not to worry, Eric. We'll have you speaking a second language in no time.
Eric: I don't need any help, thanks. She already has me learning Thai.
Richard: Learning what?
Eric: Thai, the national language of Thailand, in the Orient.
Jack: Do tell.
Eric: I don't know much more than that.
Jack: Curiouser and curiouser.
Eric: What of Mark?
James: Yes, well, tomorrow is a very big day.
Richard: Indeed. The biggest.
Jack: He'll be on his merry way or is that marry way?
Mark: Stubble it, Jack.
James: Well done, Mark. Excellent bit of Regency.
Richard: He's to be caught in Parson's Mousetrap?
Eric: Stop! Speak English!
Jack: It is English, Eric. And glaring at me does not change it.
Mark: Hang in there, Eric. Don't take Jack too seriously. He's a bit of a troublemaker from the start but harmless.
Jack: I'll show you harmless.
Mark: Too late. I'm out the door any moment.
Eric: You're leaving?
James: Lucky man is being published, tomorrow.
Eric: You're ready?
Mark: It was a perilous road, but I'm ready.
Eric: Congratulations.
Richard: Godspeed.
James: God bless your journey.
Jack: May the wind be at your back.

Yesterday's FB conversation...

Jack: Benjamin, do tell, why is your brother pacing?
Benjamin: Why ask me and not him?
Jack: There is a look about him. I don't entirely trust it.
Benjamin: Surely you do not fear him.
Jack: Do not be impertinent.
Benjamin: Then why not ask him yourself?
Jack: I did not survive my past by playing the fool.
Benjamin: Ah, our lady is unearthing you.
Eric: He was buried?
Mark: She doesn't write those kinds of books.
Jack: Widgeon.
Eric: What did he call me?
Benjamin: Foolish.
Eric: Being new does not make a man foolish.
Jack: Opening his mouth and proving how new he is does.
Mark: Pot meet kettle.
Jack: When?
Mark: You do know our past conversations are archived on her blog?
Eric: They are?
Mark: Every single one, on pages titled Hunted on FB.
Benjamin: We hunt her?
Mark: Don't you want to know about your story?
Benjamin: Well, yes.
Jack: Haven't you pestered her to tell you?
Benjamin: Well, no.
Jack: No?
Benjamin: She will tell me when she is ready.
Jack: What is wrong with you?
Mark: Not everyone is as impatient as Jack.
James: Silence! You are distracting her!
Benjamin: Our regrets, brother.
Jack: I don't regret it.
Mark: Muzzle it, Jack.
Eric: Sorry.
Jack: Bah!
Mark: You're repeating yourself.
James: It matters not. Do not say another word. Not another word.

Hunted on FB on April 5th...

Jack: Who are you?
Benjamin: James' youngest brother.
Jack: James! Your brother's here!
Eric: Where is James? I haven't seen him in days.
Richard: Our lady's doing.
Benjamin: What is she doing?
Jack: James' re-write. I peeked. Must say I'm grateful I'm not him.
Benjamin: Difficult?
Richard: More like breakneck speed.
Eric: Sounds dangerous.
Jack: It is, but no matter.
Benjamin: A bit cold-hearted.
Richard: Mind your tongue, Benjamin. You don't know to whom you speak.
Benjamin: He's a Laurel Hawkes hero, like the rest of us.
Richard: Yes and no.
Eric: Didn't know she wrote about Elves.
Benjamin: Elves? There are Elves?
Jack: No! No Elves.
Benjamin: Why claim she wrote about Elves, then?
Eric: Because Tolkien wrote "Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both yes and no."
Richard: It is nothing to do with Elves.
Jack: Pity.
Richard: Ehem. I was not giving contradictory answers but answer each point respectively.
Benjamin: Very confusing.
Jack: You'll grow accustomed to it.
Benjamin: I'm uncertain if I want to--
Eric: Too late.
Jack: Far too late.
Richard: Cheer up, Benjamin, it could be worse.
Benjamin: How?
Jack: She could have left you in the void, never thinking of you at all.
Benjamin: A dismal sounding prospect.
Richard: Don't mind Jack. He's a flare for the dramatic.
Jack: Bah!