An Invitation to Drink Tea...

Here it is: the Inaugural Post inviting you, my dear readers, to check out some of the available WIPs that have been posted on various sites over the last few days. Please bear in mind, these are just a sampling; for a full list, I invite you to make yourself home at ALL of the various JAFF boards. Or at least as many as you can check every fifteen minutes from work without loosing your job.

~~**~~New Acquaintances~~**~~

A Mother's Favorite Wish (rated PG-13) by Linnea Eileen- posted at Hyacinth Gardens (HG). An excellent start to what promises to be an exciting story. All I can say is, my heart was racing by the end of the prologue! Angst-Weenies need to heed the warning that comes with it! I have some ideas of how Linnea MIGHT pull this one back from the abyss, but all of them are strange and most are not what you would call reasonable. I can't wait to see how this plays out!

An Awakening (Rated PG) by Amy J- posted at Derbyshire Writer's Guild (DWG). This is a parallel story to her excellent WIP Paths of Men, posted on several sites, including the Guild, AHA, and the Gardens. It would appear we are going to get the story behind Darcy and Lizzy's re-acquaintance! I am intrigued with this, and already have spent more time puzzling out different scenarios than is probably normal.

It Hardly Signifies (Rated PG-13) by Kent- posted at A Happier Alternative (AHA). Kent has left us hanging in the middle of his other WIP The Wedding Party, to take us down yet another of his witty Lizzy/Darcy roads. My biggest question: will we get to see Lizzy and Darcy debating over Darcy's curricle? Whatever ends up happening, it's sure to be infused with Kent's trademark humor.

~~**~~ Dearest Friends~~**~~

What day would be complete without new posts on old favorites?

What do you get when you cross Darcy, Agatha Christie, and Harry Potter? Disenchanted (Rated PG) by Kara- posted at DWG. GAH!!!! What a way to end a chapter! I was ready to pull my hair out, and perhaps even disenchant my computer screen. Kara informs her readers this story will be finished sometime this week, which is all that kept me from causing my computer bodily harm. Kara has been re-posting this at AHA, so if you'd like to catch up, that's a good place to start. Buckle your seatbelts, you are in for a rollicking ride.

One of the most evil Carolines ever written lurks in And Grace Will Lead Me Home (Rated R/NC-17) by Ashley DB- posted at AHA. And this week, Caroline was at her disgusting finest! Ashley writes that there are only a few more hiccups in the road for Darcy and Elizabeth in this modern fic, and I'm very pleased with that information; my poor nerves are in such a state! Such flutterings and tremblings and spasms as I have had! Certainly the newest post of AGWLMH is one of the reasons I can bear a Monday morning.

I'd like to start an 'I HATE Prescott' club. Want to know why? Check out Forget with Silence and Tears (rated NC-17) by atf- posted at HG. One of the few fics based on Persuasion (one of my favorite of Jane's novels), this modern retelling is sweet, sensitive, and captures the characters perfectly, transitioning the story seamlessly into modern-day San Francisco. I'm completely hooked!

~~**~~Removed from the Country~~**~~

And now, let me bid a fond farewell to Bargain with the Devil (rated NC-17) by Enid- posted at 50 Miles of Good Road. Enid, you are so good at writing stories with the funniest twists! Poor Caroline! Poor Lady Catherine! {{snorts at the computer while remembering}} That was one of the more creative ways to finish with Caroline ever be written! Bravo! I eagerly await your next offering! Perhaps another chapter of Sketching His Character?

As I close this post, I'd like to offer a huge THANK YOU to all the admins at Austen Interlude and AHA who have worked so tirelessly to keep the boards up and going during their recent server change. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate your hard work to keep us up to our eyeballs in wonderful writing! You are the best!