Mark Arbour

Happy Birthday!

January 24, 2004 Uluru, Australia Will “Who did you talk to about this?” I demanded. Tom pulled out his phone and looked at his call log. “This guy,” he said, and gave me the guy’s name and number. “Alright. Now go back in there and if they ask, tell them everything’s fine,” I instructed Tom. “Tell them I just had a call to make.” “Alright,” he said, a bit disappointed that I’d taken over the situation, but this was a big deal, and there’s no wa

You did, and you were. Thanks. 💕

Will he?

Well thank you for pointing that out. Lefavre is. That’s confusing

March 11, 1801 Stroganov Palace St. Petersburg, Russia “My lord, this package was just delivered for you,” the butler said to Granger. He handed Granger the sealed canvas packet that clearly contained correspondence. “I would be careful upon opening it, my lord, as the messenger was nothing more than a street urchin.” “I appreciate your advice, but it seems to me that it only contains papers, and it is much too small for a bomb,” Granger

I have to admit I was pretty proud of that one. And it does look like that...just saying. I try not to be too predictable.

January 24, 2004 Sydney, Australia Will “Why the fuck did we have to pack a bunch of clothes? I thought we were flying out and flying back?” Connie asked, even as he drove toward the airport. It was really early, so I yawned back at him. “Tom said that it’s going to be fucking hot at Uluru, and we may want to chill out afterward and take a shower,” I said. “Besides, since you got all spiritual on me and decided you can’t climb the mountain, I had to come up

Ah, but Granger was granted preferential precedence when his father was elevated to his dukedom.

I could actually see Granger earning an advancement in the peerage, although I'm not sure this assignment will be enough to do that. Many officers (like Pellew) would have preferred to stay in frigates, primarily because of better prospects for prize money. Granger has been commanding frigates since June, 1795, and at it would be unreasonable for him to remain in those vessels, even with a biased author, after 1805. You're right in that he could perhaps command a squadron of smaller vessels, but such an appointment would be viewed with extreme jealousy, so it probably wouldn't happen until Granger spent some time in battleships. Granger was posted quite young, but that doesn't mean there are scads of captains younger than him. I also think he's getting to the point where he feels his seniority, and he's more confident about it than he was when he commanded Belvidera. Speaking of which, you referenced that ship. Not sure where she is right now, but perhaps she'll pop up again. 🙂

Rather, I think going to bed is what exhausts him. 😃

Well good news! Peter is better and back at work, albeit at a slowed pace. There's a chapter of "Northern Exposure" posted as a result of his labors!

February 16, 1801 Stroganov Palace St. Petersburg, Russia “My lord, Count von Stedingk is here to see you,” the butler said to Granger. Granger had just poured himself a glass, so he directed the butler to usher the Swede into the antechamber he’d commandeered as his receiving room while he poured another glass for von Stedingk. “His Excellency Count von Stedingk, His Swedish Majesty’s ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburg,” the butler announced in his loud, deep

I want to apologize to all of you for the posting delays over the past few months. The first round was caused by my battle with COVID, which I was lucky to have won with what appear to be no lasting detrimental side effects. Unfortunately, I found out that my final beta reader, Peter Anonymous, has developed COVID as well. Since he's a bit older than me, it's a bit scarier. I got an email from him telling me that he wasn't getting any worse, so that's good. In any event, I'm reluctant to post new chapters until he's had a chance to work through them. He's so good at catching details in the story that need to be fixed, and he's the final pair of eyes that go over a chapter before it's published. Thanks for your patience and understanding on this. Good news is there's a number of chapters winding their way through the system now, so we should be able to get back to a regular schedule soon.

Wow, you have some catching up to do!

Look at me, only three months late in responding. Sorry I've neglected this forum but I'll try to do better. 1. What was the inspiration for the CAP saga and for your characters (JP, Brad and Will)? The inspiration for the CAP saga was appropriately enough a musical (because it's a gay story): Hairspray. I watched that and thought it would be interesting to write about that era, when there was so much change starting to happen. The inspiration for the characters is a bit more complicated. JP is an amalgamation of a bunch of different people, but the main character is styled on the often stoic professors one finds on campus. I made him wealthy because I wanted to illustrate how money can easily solve some problems, but cannot solve others. Brad is probably the character most like me personally, although I've mellowed as I've aged while he has yet to do that. I think with Will, he's the person I want to be. 2. How far ahead do you plan your stories ( Did you know what will happen and then write about it)? I have some ideas of what will happen in the future, but I'm usually living about half a story ahead, so when I'm about 50% finished with my current story, my mind is starting to focus on the next. That being said, they often turn out very differently than when I first started out. More in relation to that below... 3. And lastly, you have told us your characters live in your mind. Do they guide you in your writing? YES! Much of what I covered in Black Widow evolved as the story went on. For example, JJ's mental illness issues weren't even on my radar screen. Sometimes I'll have a plot line in my mind, but the characters just don't seem to want to go there, so they don't. As far as keeping the characters true to form, Jeremy and Sharon keep me on track with that, pointing out when something just doesn't seem right, or does. The easiest parts of the story to write are the dialog scenes, and the more intense the better. I will visualize the characters as if I were there. My second editor/beta reader, Peter, keeps me on track with that, because sometimes I'll leave out details that the reader would like to know but I've neglected to add (because it was all so clear in my mind).

Did you skip 1968? Wouldn't blame you...not a happy story.

So very true.

Unless he likes that. 😃

I'm not sure Will wants to go into the business world. With Brad, he had been groomed to join Stef's company, but Will hasn't really shown much interest in that, and they haven't pushed him in that direction. As a third-generation (from the founding of Stef's Empire) person, he may be more interested in having a positive impact on the world. He's got enough money.

I've been thinking about this. I think that to Will's friends, they recognize his sincerity, his good-heartedness, and they realize that unless they poke him hard, he's not going to cause them any problems. But if I didn't know him well, I'd be cautious, just because of how powerful he is (courtesy of his family) and his cockiness and exuberance would make him seem like a loose cannon.

January 23, 2004 Sydney Football Stadium Sydney, Australia Will Connie was so worried we wouldn’t make it to the stadium on time we ended up getting there early. “I’ll show you around,” Connie said, as we breezed past the security people guarding this venue. “Just a minute,” I said, and went over to speak to the guard. I was wearing a dark grayish-green suit, and the fact that I was dressed really well probably helped convince

Thanks! I've gotten pelted for showing drug use in these stories, but I think to not write about it would be completely unrealistic. I actually did some research on drug use on rugby teams, and they largely stuck to Ecstasy and Cocaine because neither of those drugs is easy to trace for drug tests. It's also a big part of Will's social circles, whether it was at Menlo or hanging out in NYC. A rich young guy like Will is going to experiment with drug...hell...most young guys did. Regardless, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who becomes addicted to something...with the exception of sex. 🙂 This was hilarious.

Thanks so much for your good wishes. COVID wasn't fun, but other than extreme fatigue I came through it okay. As you might imagine, I've done a lot of research on the plan to invade India. The invasion never actually happened, it was just planned. As you noted, Paul set things in motion by dispatching the Cossacks, but they only made it as far as the Aral Sea. There's no indication the French ever even started to march. It's interesting because some people attribute this plan to Paul, while others attribute it to Napoleon. My personal opinion is that while Paul may have thought of the idea, (although this was clearly on Napoleon's mind as well), the plan, with all of it's complexities and ridiculously unobtainable goals and timetables, seems to bear Napoleon's fingerprints.

January 22, 2004 Bondi Beach, Australia Will “You look good,” Connie said to me nervously. I was wearing a gray jacket Patrick Christian made for me, along with black Dior slacks, a white Dior shirt, and sleek black Prada shoes. He was dressed in a much simpler way, so that along with his comment made me wonder if I was overdressed and I’d look like some New York runway model. “Am I too dressed up?” I asked. “What, are you saying I look like shit?” he ask