Libby Drew

In a world where some people are born Gifted, able to use their minds to influence people and control objects, agent Aleck Devlin's mission is simple: find rogue agent Grier Crist and report his whereabouts to the Organization.

Happy birthday, Pavel! Thanks for everything. Hope you had a wonderful day.

Running myself ragged and leaving far too little time for treats like this. I've decided I'm going to avoid all my responsibilities tonight and curl up with some good reads.

Always a pleasure to read your stuff, Mark. Loved the gritty reality of this against the second person POV. No names, nothing extaneous, yet very intimate. Thanks for sharing. It's been too long since I indulged in one of your stories.

Thank you all very much for the kind wishes.

Happy Birthday, Sharon! Hope you have a fantastic day.

Happy Birthday! I hope it was a great one.

*nods* The term 'original slash', while popular a few years ago, has fallen off and the more aptly descriptive 'gay-themed fiction' or 'homoerotic ficton' have replaced it, at least in most online publishing houses.

Happy Birthday, Corvus. Hope you get everything you wish for.

Happy Birthday, Paya! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Happy birthday! Hope it's a great one.

#7000! Do I win something? ;-p

Happy Birthday, Drewbie! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Maybe she was going around the world to the left.

My secret's out! I'm a romantic at heart. Well, you have two things going on here, don't you? You mention wanting to write 'love'. I bet you could, with your hands tied behind your back nonetheless. Some people will feel it and some people may not, which goes for any emotion brought on by the written word. If you wanted to write a convincing gunshot victim scene, I could tell you things like...there's a moment of unreality, very brief, then a flash of ice cold, like you've been dipped in ice water, then pain so intense it makes you vomit. You get dizzy as shock sets in. You cry. You wonder why your blood feels so hot. Sticking detail like that into a story can sell the scene to just about anybody...except to those who have been shot and who've had a completely different experience. They may say, 'It's nothing like that.' What they mean, of course, is that it wasn't like that for them. Since I doubt you're curious about parental/child love, and instead romantic love, I'll admit to loving three men and two women in my life. One I've been attached to for seventeen years. The others were relationships that lasted different peiods of time -- the shortest six months (she threw me over for a blonde), the longest four years -- but I loved them all. Was it as strong as the love I have for my husband? That's a tough question. Those relationships are years old. They felt very strong at the time. Nor will I bore you with all the trappings of what I think make a successful marriage, much of which is cooperation, sacrifice, and compromise... not three-day romantic weekends in the Poconos. You want to know about love, and, believe it or not, I can come to a point, so here it is: I'd willingly, without a thought, without the slightest hesitation, die for him. I value my life, don't get me wrong, but if I saw him threatened, my first emotional reaction would be to put myself in between him and harm. Does everybody feel like that? Probably not. Maybe. Who knows? There are infinite ways to love. A nod to your observations about the social aspects of love and romance. And I have a whole slew of thoughts on love as a social convention, but I will save them for later, before you ban me from your blog for being too long-winded. Take care, my dear. And best of luck.

Just like people who want to be rich, there are people everywhere who want to be 'in love'. But just like money, there's 1 rich human being for every 1,000,000 who aspire to it. But that doesn't stop them from faking. Fake it 'til you make it, don't they say? Just like millions worldwide who invest well beyond their means to appear 'rich', there are millions worldwide who invest unnatural amounts of effort to appear 'in love'. They buy extravagant gifts ('my husband bought me diamonds, he must really love me'), they have romantic getaways ('we're going to Hawaii in March, we're so in love'), they meet regularly for 'dates' and eventually co-habit... See? I believe the complete opposite. I believe there are people, millions, who everyday tell themselves they aren't in love, when they are. But as love is as subjective as pornography (), that's impossible to prove. Instead I'll caution against speaking for other people about their feelings, and add an example that references sex, because I'm just one-track minded that way. Every time someone says, "Normal people don't do that in bed," what they're really saying is, "I don't do that in bed." I hope the parallel is clear. Good luck with your story.

Happy Birthday, Steve! I hope today brings you everything you've wished for. Thanks for all kindness and support.

Happy Birthday, James! Hope you have a great day.

Happy Birthday, Jessi!

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day.

Happy Birthday, Greg! Hope it's a good one.

I'm sending healing vibes. Please let him know my thoughts are with him.

I prefer colder weather, myself. Fall is my favorite season. Sorry about the heat. Maybe it's time for an Alaskan cruise. ;D

Happy Birthday, Viv! Many happy returns.