{original post had no questions}

Thanks, to everyone on the J&D mailing list. There's been quite
a bit of positive feedback lately, which has certainly helped.

I'm considering strongly pulling back from the nets for a while.
What a number of people don't seem to understand is that amidst all
this, with all the name-calling and dead-catting and
tar-and-feathering, I have to launch the fifth season. I have to write
these first 5-6 episodes, and make them not just as good as year 4, but
better. The only way I can write is to push away all the other voices
until I can hear the small, still voice at the back of my head that
speaks in the place of the characters. There has been so much going on
(see above) that this has become difficult at best.

Come January, if the shows are crap, from crap scripts, and
people yell, "How come the stories suck?" it does no good for me to
yell back, "BECAUSE EVERYBODY WAS YELLING AT ME!" That is a pretty
silly excuse. The bottom line is: angry email is ephemeral; the shows
will be on the air for a lot longer. And that is where I have to put my
emphasis right now.

So I'm not yanking the modem out of the wall, but my presence
will be somewhat reduced over the next little bit, because I've fallen
*desperately* behind due to all the turmoil over this. If people think
they're upset over Claudia leaving, and the grief this has caused, the
truth is they have no idea what those words mean until they've sat
behind my keyboard and tried to push through it to find the words. And
then to get yelled at for things I'm not responsible for...I can either
read it, and get angry, or take a break and get the show in place.
Even the positive email, welcome as that's been, and there's been a
lot, has been a reminder of the whole situation, so I basically just
have to pull back for a bit.

I'll be here...but quietly, until I'm caught up. Similarly,
with regrets (and as soon as I can find the darned email address for
them), I'm going to have to cancel out on RebelCon in Massachusetts in
order to try and catch up. I can't justify the time away when we're so
close to the bone.

jms