A brief hiatus

[Mark Arbour]

Hey everyone...I've been slammed in my real life, and I haven't had a chance to do any writing lately.  I'm sorry to leave you all hanging, but I'll do my best to get productive again. 

[Kitt]

Take your time and deal with the real Mark. We miss you but we all know what it's like to have the stuff hit the fan!  Be well!

[Daddydavek]

Your lack of output has been missed, but life does intrude at times.  So TCB and we will just have to be patient.....

[JACC]

I was wondering why we were getting no updates of your stories... Wish you the best to get over this hiatus. Take care and come back whenever it becomes possible. Wish you and your team all the best, J.A.

Edited February 17, 2015 by JACC

[lovesickpuppy]

We'll be here for ya when you return!

[impunity]

Thanks for checking in. I don't think you have anything to apologize for. However, I hope real life gives you a break soon so we can get back to living in CAP and Bridgemont fantasy.

[mmike1969]

Take your time and take care of your life.

[Gandalf]

Best thoughts to you on you and yours being well. Take care. Know you have done so much for us and we all wish you the best.  Pax. Steve

 

[Gene Splicer PHD]

SLACKER

[TetRefine]

Wait, you mean your life doesn't revolve totally around catering to us demanding bitches???

 

What kind of horse-shit is this? 

[Gene Splicer PHD]

That's what I'm saying

 

WTF MARK

 

UNSUBSCRIBE ME FROM YOUR NEWSLETTER

 

/s

[GLH]

Take care of you a and yours, Mark, we'll all be here when you return.

[Headstall]

It's all good, Mark. Your production has been phenomenal... you owe nothing, but thanks for the heads up. Cheers ... and hopes for an easier time of things...Gary

[dughlas]

Do what you must knowing we wish you the best and look ahead to when you're at a place where you can return.

[jack.unders]

Mark,  I truly hope that all resolves itself quickly and that your hiatus is indeed brief.  I will keep you in my thoughts and will be on the lookout for when you are able to post new chapters to continue both of your sagas.

 

Keep well and know that we all appreciate everything you do for us.  

 

Best to you and yours.

 

Jack

[Toast]

Be good... so you can come back soon and be bad.

[Gene Splicer PHD]

I'd offer you best wishes on a speedy return to normalcy, and a lightening of your workload,

 

 

but

 

 

 

I'M ON HIATUS

 

 

[davewri]

Take care of Mark first. We can wait, not patiently, but we can wait.

 

Life happens and you deal with it.

 

Just know how much we appreciate all that you have given us.

 

We will be here when you post again. We do understand that these stories are not the priority of your life.

[Gene Splicer PHD]

I...I think I know what this is.

 

The excuses. "Slammed in real life".

 

The apologies. "Sorry I'm late posting this chapter".

 

The sucking up after you've posted a chapter. "You guys are awesome".

 

Oh, yes. This looks real familiar. REAL familiar.

 

The sideways glances, the way you can't quite look us in the eye. The way you look past us in that group hug, as if there was something...better over our shoulder.

 

Yeah, I think I see it.

 

You've found someone else. Who is it, some cheap trollop of a story site, with pretty fonts and a smooth yet shallow interface? Or maybe they have a bigger...audience than we do. Is that it? Are you looking for something more turgid, some swollen quality we don't have? Maybe something engorged with new blood?

 

Is it the URL? I bet they have a sexy .com on their site name and not some stodgy .org. Is that it? Really? Are you so enamored of such things?

 

Well, I'll tell you what they DON'T have, Mark. THEY aren't us. THEY will lavish wild praise on you...for a while. Not for long, but long enough for you to get a little hooked on it. But it'll taper off, Mark. It'll turn into a cheap, limp little "like" button, with no review button. No reviews, Mark. No statistics, either, because they'll want to keep that for themselves. They'll keep you under their thumb, keep you hoping for just a little more of their time, while they're off courting the next Mark to keep in their little orchard. You'll be trapped, like a rat. Just like a rat, Mark, on your little running wheel in your habitrail.

 

What did we do to you? How could you DO this? WHAT.DID.WE.DO.TO.DESERVE.THIS??? Was it something we said, or didn't say? Was is the things unspoken, the reviews not written, the long praises that were hurriedly backspaced over when mom came in the room?

 

WHY, MARK, WHY??? :::pounds fists on table::: //eats a Cheeto that bounced out of the bag//

 

 

Well. I've said my piece. We will be here, Mark, when you're done with your little "fling". We'll be here, reading your old stories, looking at that last chapter, wondering. Wondering, and waiting. That's what we'll be doing, Mark, just wondering, and waiting.

 

Love,

 

Gene

Edited February 19, 2015 by Gene Splicer PHD

[Ozymandias]

Mark, 

 

I'm a little late in the day finding out that personal issues have prevented you from writing.  I am sorry to learn about your troubles and I hope that your situation improves quickly.  Given that normally we can set our clocks by the arrival of each excellent new chapter, I look forwarding to reading about my favorite characters again.  To paraphrase an old orange juice commercial: A day without Will or George is like a day without sunshine!

 

Best wishes,

   Oz

[Northern Dutch Guy]

Dear Mark,

 

Just to cheer you up, me and my dog picked you some flowers. Tulips ofcause...

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time you need.

 

We will be patient waiting for new parts of your (well liked) stories.

 

Love

[PrivateTim]

If I have to step in and take over writing......  you KNOW who is dying in the next chapter in a horrible, drowning, meteor strike, flaming car accident, plane crash.

[methodwriter85]

If I have to step in and take over writing......  you KNOW who is dying in the next chapter in a horrible, drowning, meteor strike, flaming car accident, plane crash.

 

If Private Tim took over writing....

 

1. Tony would die a painful death.

 

2. Will would be shipped off to military school where he would bang some cute military guys. (I'm actually surprised we haven't seen Will hook up with some military hottie.)

 

3. Then Will and Zach would break up, leaving Will to wind up with a returned Alisdair, who's now grown to 5'10" and is quite hot. Zach would be allowed to find another closeted football player to fall in love with.

 

 4. JJ would be written out of the series with him deciding to move to Tokyo, after realizing that he has a huge fanbase in Japan. Alex and MaryEllen would be shipped off to England.

 

5. Ryan and Hot Jeff would return as main characters, and there'd be a refocus on Los Angeles as a setting, with occasional glances to Boston for Matt, Wade, and Tiffany's growing brood of kids.

 

 

Not sure what else would happen in a CAP universe decided by PrivateTim.

[PrivateTim]

If Private Tim took over writing....

 

That is pretty accurate except for number #4.

 

I actually really like JJ, especially the pre-skating JJ. If Will ended up with some hot Navy pilot, I think Alistair would be good for JJ as well. I think Alistair is the kind of common sense, no nonsense, good guy you want your son to bring home. I think Alistair would ground JJ and let him move on from diva time because I am not sure JJ even enjoys being a diva.

[Daddydavek]

The tulips are lovely!

 

The idea of either Pvt. Tim with or without Jeremy's suggestions  taking over writing is enough to scare Mark's more reserved fans into a panic.  

 

Hopefully the hiatus does not turn into a sabbatical.....