Content Creator Interviews 2019: Master List (Complete with gratuitous gif of Sherlock looking hot, just because)
As some of you know, early this year a group of people in the Sherlock and Sherlolly fandom got together to conduct a series of interviews focusing on fan content and its creation. The result was twelve interviews, posted over three months, where writers and artists talk about their work, the fandom and show, and their own processes. I’ve finally gotten around to doing a master list of them to make it easier for anyone who’d like to read through them. Check out the links below:
OhAine interviews likingthistoomuch
Likingthistoomuch interviews OhAine
theleftpill interviews kstewmanipulation
thisisartbylexie interviews writingwife-83
ellis-hendricks interviews geekmama
geekmama interviews ellis-hendricks
ashockinglackofsatin interviews sunken-standard
vermofftiss interviews mizjoely
writingwife-83 interviews artbylexie
OhAine interviews ashockinglackofsatin
lilsherlockian75 and mrsmcrieff interview each other
And I got it done in time for Valentine’s Day! This was based on one of the two prompts that @geekmama gave me for her Sherlolly Secret Santa fic to choose from which fit perfectly for @mollyappreciationweek . Enjoy, both of you!
Second Time’s The Charm - Sherlock surprises Molly on what would have been an awkward anniversary-slash-Valentine's Day for her since she and Tom had their first date on that day. But it turns into a chance at something with someone she cares about so much more...who apparently cares more about her than he usually lets on, except for tonight.
READ @ AO3 | HELP ME SURVIVE? | COMMISSION ME? | BUY ME A KOFI?
She should have been used to being alone on Valentine’s Day by now, but as she and Tom had had their first date as a blind date set up on the holiday, something she normally never would have agreed to, the fact she was single again was just that much more depressing. And now, it seemed as if one of the many reasons her relationship with Tom had failed wouldn’t even be bothered to keep her company.
She made her way to her front door of the flat and opened it. The entire place seemed dark, and she knew she had left at least a few lights on, hadn’t she? But no, the foyer and living room was pitch black. Wonderful, she thought to herself. Lighting fixtures and dead bulbs to deal with in the dark. She went ahead and set her handbag on the table and then took her scarf off, then her coat, and hung them up on the coat rack before walking past the living room entrance to get to where her spare bulbs were--
--and seeing a flash of candlelight in the dining area.
She stopped and then headed back to the living room entrance, and she saw Sherlock sitting at the table with candles around and food on the table, engrossed on his mobile. He hadn’t even realized she’d come in, apparently. She smiled and made her way over, and when she was about five feet away he looked up. “I planned it better,” he said, his eyes wide.
“No! No, this is really pleasant,” she said, looking at the food. There was a roast with veg, what looked like spinach souffle, rolls, and a huge pile of boxed candy in front of a chair that had the largest teddy bear she’d ever seen sitting in it. “Sherlock, really, this is absolutely lovely, thank you.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek before sitting next to him.
“I never realized you started dating him on Valentine’s Day. Mary told me a few weeks ago why you looked so glum, and I decided since it was partially my fault your relationship with him failed I’d try and fix things.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” she said, giving him a warm smile. “My plans were just for takeaway and romcoms.”
“I’ll sit through one or two with you if you still want to watch the films,” he said. “I watch them myself sometimes.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed my collection of DVDs has been pilfered through,” she said with a warm chuckle. “And do you have any favourites?”
“I’m partial to the Princess Diaries movies for some reason,” he mused. “And I suppose The Princess Bride as well.”
“Then we can watch those three if you want to stay for that many,” she said with a nod.
“Alright,” he said. He stood up then and began to serve her the food. She was touched that he did that. “I made most of it after watching tutorials on YouTube. The spinach souffle is the only bit I couldn’t master but Mrs. Hudson helped me with it.”
“Even the rolls?” she asked.
He nodded. “Mary gave me a recipe for those and walked me through how to do it. I may have gotten a tad impatient waiting for the yeast to rise the first time,” he said with a smile. “It won’t give you food poisoning, any of it, but I haven’t tasted it so I don’t know if it will be good.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said. She cut off a bite of the roast from the plate he handed her and took a bite. “Just like my mum used to make.”
“Really?” he asked. She motioned for him to come closer and then cut off another bite and fed it to him. He chewed it, a speculative look on his face, and when he was done he grinned. “I did well.”
“You did, so I have high hopes for everything else,” she said as she waited for him to serve himself again before eating more. They kept up a rather fun conversation over cases and things she’s encountered at the path lab, a conversation that might have made others blanch if they’d been having it in public at a restaurant or something. When they were done he got up again and brought over a warm dish that had poached pears in some kind of puff pastry. “That looks lovely.”
“It’s some sort of twist on traditional poached pears,” he said. “I had to convert all the measurements but I think it turned out alright.”
She took a bite and then moaned slightly. “This is amazing, Sherlock. Please share the recipe?”
“I will,” he said, sitting next to her again. She took another bite and then gestured to the empty space in front of him but he shook his head. “I made them for you.”
“That’s very sweet,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek again. After a moment he pulled back but reached over for her, gently touching her face. “Sherlock?”
“I would like a regular kiss, I suppose, if you would like to thank me properly,” he murmured.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said before leaning in and pressing her lips to his this time, kissing him softly. There was still sweetness on her lips from the pears and she felt Sherlock’s tongue flick out to capture it before she opened her mouth to him. The dessert sat momentarily forgotten until she pulled back. “That was sweeter than the dessert.”
“It was,” he said. “Do you...”
“We can snog more when we curl up to watch the films,” she said. “And I can take the dessert out with us so we can start on that sooner than later.” He had a wide grin on his face that time and, perhaps, maybe the second time would be the charm with relationships she started on this particular holiday...
Prompts Round 3, pleeeease? Any or all: #69 "Bed. Now."; #90 "Road Trip"; #95 "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".
“Bed. Now.”/ “Road Trip!”/ “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”
(set in the Vegas-married ‘verse)
“Get your keys,” Sherlocksaid as he threw back the blankets on the bed.
“Hn?” Molly grunted, gropingfor the lamp.
“Clothing, keys,” Sherlocksaid, already on the other side of the room and pulling open drawers.
“What? Why? Is this is it? Isit zombies?”
“Road trip!” he saidbrightly.
“Wh—” she was cut off by awadded-up something smacking her in the face.
*
“This isn’t legal, is it?”
“Pfft, legal,” Sherlock said,binoculars trained out the passenger window.
“Just tell me we’re not going tobe kidnapping anyone.”
“We’re not going to be kidnappinganyone.”
“Are you fibbing?”
“You wound me, Molly. Oh, therehe is. Keep the engine running,” Sherlock said before dartingout of the car and into the night.
*
“Should have known there was somemonkey business going on when you brought a car seat,” Mollysaid, looking in the rear view mirror at their new passenger.
“Really, that was the best youcould do?”
“I had two hours of sleep and I’mabout to get on Le Shuttle to France. With a shaved chimp in mybackseat.”
“Bonobo. And he’s not shaved,it’s from whatever they’ve been injecting him with. You’re an animallover, you should be thrilled with this.”
“Just because I give to the RSPCAand have a cat calender on my desk doesn’t mean I’m ready to join theA.L.F.”
“He’s actually been grantedcitizenship in Belgium. We’re repatriating him for my client,”Sherlock said, twisting to reach over the seat and do something withthe chimp. Bonobo. Whatever.
“Are you getting paid in bananas?”
“No, pounds sterling, and I wasgoing to split the fee with you and help you smuggle however muchbooze and chocolate from the duty-free we could manage until you madethat crack. We need to get him dressed before they check ourpassports,” Sherlock said, unclipping the harness of the childseat.
“Does he at least have a name?”
“Quentin.”
Quentin shrieked at his name.
Molly wondered what life was like fornormal people. Relaxing, probably.
*
The border officer looked at Molly,then Sherlock, then Quentin (now dressed in jeans and a jumper and arain hat pulled low over his face). Sherlock scowled and shifted thebonobo in his arms.
“Is it cancer?” the womanasked, sympathy pouring off of her.
“Congenital,” Molly answered. “Beddoe-Clyde syndrome. Very rare. Incurable. Runs on myhusband’s side.”
“Oh,” the officer said,hushed. "Well, you have yourself a lovely time in France then,Mrs. Holmes, Mr. Holmes.“
"Oh, it’s not—”
Sherlock snatched their passports. “Come along, dear, you know what happens when baby doesn’t gethis snack,” he said, plastering on his fake smile.
“Did she even read the passports? I mean, one’s obviously a fake—” Molly started once they wereaway from the desk.
“Shh!”
“And she didn’t even get my nameright. I’ll take mine back now, by the way.”
“It’s fine, I’ll hang onto ituntil we get to the Belgian border. Travelling as a family, may aswell keep them all together,” Sherlock said too quickly.
“Give. It.”
“Promise you won’t be cross.”
“What did you do?”
“I… may have misplaced thedivorce papers.”
“Misplaced.”
“Misplaced, burned, whoremembers?”
“Sherlock, give me my passport,”Molly said calmly.
He handed her the passport afteranother moment’s hesitation.
It wasn’t her passport. At least, notthe one she’d had for the last four years. It was brand new.
Molly L. Holmes, it read.
“Your brother, I assume?”
Sherlock bounced Quentin into a morecomfortable position and walked away quickly toward the men’s room inthe terminal. The bloody coward.
*
“Are you supposed to be feedinghim sweets? Shouldn’t he have like, fruit or leaves or something?” Molly asked, leaning against the front fender of the car.
Sherlock handed Quentin (who was sat onthe bonnet) another Malteser and put one between his own lips, makingthe same kissy face the bonobo made.
“It’s fine,” Sherlock said,shaking some from the packet into her outstretched hand.
“Can he do any tricks? Like, ifyou point your finger at him and say ‘bang,’ will he fall over?”
“He’s got a three hundred-plussign vocabulary and paints portraits as well as keeps perfect 6/8time on a drum. He doesn’t do 'tricks.’”
Quentin reached over and put his handson Molly’s breasts, then signed something.
“Well, maybe he does one trick.”
“Grabbing my tits hardly counts asa trick,” she said flatly.
“He said you’re a B-cup.”
“You’re making that up.”
“Am I?” Sherlock raised hiseyebrows and blanked his face. Molly tongued the inside of hercheek. The staring contest was only broken when she closed her eyesbecause Quentin had decided he needed to re-measure.
*
“I think we’re being followed.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, we’re notbeing followed. It’s first thing on a Saturday morning, do you knowhow many tourists are—oh. Right, no, that’s not good. Changelanes. Now.”
*
“Just a slight detour, Molly,”she said, doing her best I-am-a-posh-git baritone. "We’ll stillbe in Brussels by noon.“
Sherlock ripped off a piece of ducttape with his teeth and put it over one of the bullet holes in theboot. At least they hadn’t shot out the back window or hit the gastank, though both her tail lights were broken.
"Well, we’ll make it beforesundown at least. Think of it as a second honeymoon, touring theFrench countryside.”
“We just got back from the firsttwo months ago.”
“What can I say, I’m a romantic.”
Quentin blew a raspberry on Molly’scheek. "I’m surrounded by them, apparently.“
*
Molly woke with a start; Quentin wasout of his seat and had his hand on her boob again. It was darkoutside.
"Sherlock,” she said slowly,removing the bonobo’s hand from her chest, “why are we inGermany?”
“I’m not allowed in Luxembourg. Long story.”
*
“I am way too sober for this,”Molly said as she watched Sherlock being handcuffed. "Quentin,so help me Christ if you do what I know you’re thinking of doing Iwill phone Proctor and Gamble myself and you’ll spend the rest ofyour very short life looking like a losing contestant in RuPaul’sDrag Race.“
"Molly! Is that any way to talkto our only child?” Sherlock bellowed before he was stuffed intothe back of the police car.
*
“Mycroft? This is your sister-in-law. Yes, I know what time it is. We need afavour. No, he can’t come to the phone because he’s currentlyworking his way up to another international incident. We’re in apolice station in Fuck-If-I-Know-Where Germany and… yeah, no, just,um, bail, or diplomatic immunity, or whatever it is you do if youcould… I need to go to work Monday and we still need to get toAntwerp. Fine, yes, I’ll owe you, you can have our firstborn,whatever Rumpelstiltskin. Fine. Thank you.”
*
“Whyis Quentin wearing lederhosen? We’re not even in the right part ofGermany for that.”
“Funfact: bonobos really like beer. Or at least, this one does. Evenfunner fact: I’ve finally met someone who’s more of a lightweightthan you are. Luckily, Frauline Mueller over there found these inthe lost property box. Oh, and we have to name our first babyMycroft.”
Sherlockopened his mouth, but obviously couldn’t decide if he wanted tocorrect her grammar first or refute the possibility of ever naminghis offspring after his brother.
*
“Chipsfor breakfast. Healthy.”
“Yes,I suppose potatoes are healthier in their distilled form, if the wayyou prefer to consume them is anything to go by,” Sherlocksniffed before shoving a handful of still-hot chips in his mouth. “And they’re frites, not chips,” he added afterchewing and swallowing.
*
“This is not my Quentin. What areyou trying to pull, Mr. Holmes?” Sherlock’s client said angrily.
“What’s he talking about? Sherlock?” Molly looked between Sherlock, the client, and(not-)Quentin.
“Wh—no, this was the only bonoboin the facility.”
“That cannot be!”
“Mr. Orville, I can assure you—”
“Out! Take this imposter and getout!”
*
“We’re not keeping him.”
“He’s toilet trained.”
“So he’s going to live at BakerStreet, then?”
“Don’t be silly, I can’t keep ananimal, Mrs. Hudson has limits.”
“So you think he’s going to livein my flat?”
“You had that cat once, hardly anydifferent.”
“Start calling zoos.”
“You are not the woman I married.”
*
“Don’t worry, Quentin, we’llvisit, we promise. Isn’t that right, Molly?”
Molly smiled tightly at the bonobo,letting him have one goodbye grope.
*
“A single occupancy. Wonderful. You know what? I don’t even care. Bed. Now,” Molly said. They were lucky to even get a space on the overnight ferry from Hookof Holland to Harwick; she wasn’t about to drive back to London afteronly sleeping maybe five hours the entire weekend. At leastthey didn’t have to take the ferry to Hull.
She peeled off her her shirt (whichsmelled vaguely of primate and beer) and wiggled out of her trousers,then figured to hell with it and flicked off her bra, too. They weremarried, after all. Not that they’d consummated it or anything; theyhadn’t even so much as kissed after that aborted fumble in the hotelroom in Las Vegas. Probably would have shaken out a lot differentlyif his testicles hadn’t been so badly bruised.
She crawled into the berth andplastered herself against the wall to give Sherlock enough room tolay down; he shed his suit and joined her. There was a bit ofshuffling until they got their arms and legs and the blanketsarranged, and then a new kind of awkward tension took over.
“Did you really burn the divorcepapers?” Molly blurted.
“Not intentionally. Scienceaccident.”
“Uh huh.”
Sherlock sighed. "If you reallywant a divorce, we’ll just get another set of papers from thesolicitor. And you can keep them so they don’t get unintentionallydestroyed.“
"Don’t you? Want one. It wasjust for the case, right? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
“You said it yourself, it’s just aslogan,” Sherlock hedged.
“Yeah, but you haven’t, uh, shownany interest since we got back, so I thought it was just a passingthing. Caught up in the moment.”
“You didn’t show much interestyourself,” he countered.
“So if I were to show interestnow, what would you do?” she asked, twisting the curl at thenape of his neck around her index finger. His fingers twitchedagainst her shoulder and he shivered.
He tilted his face down towards hers. “Probably kiss you and then ask for a rain check on anythingelse, considering the amount of sleep we’ve both had in the lastthree days,” he said frankly.
“It’s a start,” Molly said,giving him a half-smile.
Drabble Challenge? Pleeeease? Prompts: 41. "You're not going out dressed like that?" and 95. "You're cute when you're all worried."
Sherlock glared suspiciously at Molly as she applied her lipstick in the tiny mirror near the door.
“You’re not going out dressed like that, surely?”
Molly looked down at herself, but saw nothing alarming.
“Like what?”
“All… alluring,” he said, waving a hand vaguely at her, “It’s meant to be a girls’ night out, not you going on the pull.”
Molly looked down again at her sensible brown trousers, ruffled pink blouse, and cherry-print cardigan.
“This… is what you find alluring? I really used to be off on the wrong track with you, wasn’t I?”
“Cherries are extremely sexual fruit,” Sherlock snapped defensively.
“And drink one is going to be dedicated to forgetting you said that,” Molly said, popping the lid back on her lipstick, “You’re cute when you’re all worried, but I think probably the men of London will be able to resist the temptation implicit in my wearing produce. But play your cards right and when I get back you can have a look at my mangoes.”
Here we are again folks, number 8! This time we’re continuing on from last week’s interview with a bit of role reversal, @ellis-hendricks posing questions to her friend and beta @geekmama, chatting about Brit-picking, bad writing habits, favourite authors, and, most importantly, which of Sherlock’s shirts does it for her.
But starting off with a recap of last week’s intro...
We are, respectively, a Californian and a Geordie, and we got to know each other through reading and reviewing each other’s fics (geekmama’s ‘Time of the Season’ series was one of the first fics I read and loved). Geekmama has been writing in the fandom for around 3 years, and I’ve been doing the same for around 2 years, spurred on by the end of series 4 (and the ILY scene in particular). We started beta-reading each other’s work around a year ago, and are always discovering new and unexpected words and phrases that don’t translate across the pond! Although we’ve used the same set of questions for these interviews, we haven’t seen each other’s answers – so it does mean that if nobody else is interested, at least we will be!
Series
ellis-hendricks: Was there a particular moment in the series that set the ship sailing for you?
geekmama: I think it was A Scandal in Belgravia, and specifically Sherlock’s unprecedented apology to Molly, that got me thinking that the possibility was there, that it wasn’t just Molly’s schoolgirl crush vs. Sherlock’s needs when the game was on. I have to say, even though the Sherlock/Molly ship is easy to board, Mofftiss, etc., were very clever about leaving the way open for other pairings throughout the series. Even the ILY scene and its fallout could be interpreted very differently, if one was so inclined. It is really thanks to all the amazing fanfic authors out there that I jumped on board and took up residence on the good ship Sherlolly.
ellis-hendricks: What's your favourite episode and why?
geekmama: I love bits and pieces of all of them, but the one that I’ve watched more than any other is The Sign of Three. It’s heartwarming, hilarious, and only mildly heartbreaking. Even the villain of the piece, as little as we see him, has a motive one can understand.
ellis-hendricks: If you could ask/tell the series writers one thing, what would it be?
geekmama: Killing off Mary was a mistake, and I don’t care if that event sets up the entire story arc of season four, you should have thought of something else. Come on! You are brilliant writers, you could have done it.
ellis-hendricks: Do you have a controversial opinion about the series? E.g. a character who everyone else hates, but who you love?
geekmama: Or everyone loves but you hate? I’d say Moriarty qualifies. Andrew Scott is very cute, but though he’s in a number of the episodes we’re never given much insight to his character’s motives. Moriarty is pretty much just murderously insane in canon, and I don’t understand how one gets around that to write Molly/Moriarty or any of the slash pairings.
ellis-hendricks: Have you ever, when watching an episode, cracked a case before Sherlock?
geekmama: Well, if the writers want us to, then we’re given the information to crack the case before Sherlock. The series is about him, after all. The cases are secondary.
ellis-hendricks: With whom would you rather be stuck at a wedding table –
Janine or Irene?
geekmama: Janine, she is just fun and rather ordinary, whereas Irene has numerous ulterior motives under her veneer of smug vanity.
ellis-hendricks: Donovan or Anderson?
geekmama: Anderson, since he actually felt remorse for what they did to Sherlock, and came to admire him, too. There might be more to Donovan than what we’re given, and certainly that’s what fanfic is for -- I’ve made her a sympathetic character in a couple of my own fics. And apparently she and Sherlock have some pretty interesting history between them.
ellis-hendricks: Who would you rather bring back in series 5 - Mary or Moriarty?
geekmama: Mary, of course -- she is a far more well-rounded (and loveable) character. One wants to know more about her.
ellis-hendricks: Whose house would you prefer to live in - Sherlock's, John & Mary's, Molly's or Mrs Hudson's?
geekmama: Probably Molly’s, though Sherlock’s would be tempting. Molly’s looks pretty state-of-the-art in the ILY scene, if rather bland -- I couldn’t imagine Molly living in a place that’s all granite gray. It doesn’t reflect her personality at all, and I didn’t even think it could be her home the first time I saw that episode.
ellis-hendricks: In your opinion, who has been the best series villain - Jim Moriarty, Charles Magnussen, Culverton Smith, or Eurus Holmes?
geekmama: Eurus. We’re at least given some idea of her motives, and one can feel some sympathy for her, even though she is as insanely murderous as the other three. The other three are pretty equally revolting.
Your writing
ellis-hendricks: What was your first fic? What prompted it, and how do you feel about it now?
geekmama: My first in the Sherlock fandom was Visiting Hours, written in March 2016. I first watched seasons 1-3 of Sherlock in October 2015 and I’d been reading other authors’ work for several months. There were ideas I wanted to explore, and I wanted to see if I could still write at all, lol! I hadn’t written anything since July of 2013, when I celebrated a decade of being in the Pirates of the Caribbean fandom with a series of ten 50 word drabbles. Visiting Hours is only 100 words, official drabble length, and it’s held up pretty well, I think. I don’t hate it, at least.
ellis-hendricks: Which fic are you most proud of/most attached to, and why?
geekmama: This is a really difficult question since I’ve written quite a few Sherlock fics. If I had to narrow it down, maybe Idiots in Love, which is part of the Aftermath series and from Greg Lestrade’s pov, which is always fun, and The Kensington House, kid!fic from my Time of the Season series. But then there are all the holiday fics… and the historical AU’s…
ellis-hendricks: You write great AUs set in other historical periods - do you prefer this or present day?
geekmama: I’ve read, and written, a lot of historical fiction, and certainly writing it comes much more easily to me than writing something set in the present day -- particularly current culture in the UK. It’s a good thing my dear Ellis_Hendricks is willing to Brit-pick for me. I did my best, but I’m sure my early Sherlock fic has plenty of errors in that regard. That was the most difficult thing for me when I was beginning to write in this fandom. However, I have grown to enjoy writing fic set in the present almost as much as writing historical fic.
ellis-hendricks: What are your worst writing habits?/What are your most overused phrases, plotlines, etc?
geekmama: Wow. There are probably a LOT of bad habits (run-on sentences, excessive use of parentheses and ellipses, etc. etc.etc.), and overused phrases/words. As for plotlines, I find the (comparatively) reality-based canon of Sherlock to be somewhat limiting to begin with (which is why AU’s were invented, I suppose). I try not to repeat plotlines, but of course I’ve used post-ILY scenarios multiple times (and no doubt will again -- the anniversary is coming up on the 15th), and I tend to overdo the h/c as that’s one of my favorite things.
ellis-hendricks: Do you have a writing routine? Where and when? And is everything digital, or are things ever handwritten first?
geekmama: Laptop, ideally in the morning, alone in bed (except for a pile of snoozing dogs), with no distractions like music etc. I can write with the TV or music on, but it takes a lot longer to produce anything. I haven’t produced finished handwritten works since I was in high school, and when I first got back into writing in late 2003 it was on a laptop I borrowed from work -- and it was a revelation! I wouldn’t bother handwriting more than a drabble or the outline of a story, now. Computers FTW!!!
ellis-hendricks: Who do you enjoy writing the most?
geekmama: Sherlock (if I have to choose -- I love Molly, Mycroft, and Lestrade pov, too).
ellis-hendricks: Who do you find easiest/hardest doing first person POV? - Sherlock seems fairly easy a lot of the time (hopefully readers agree -- I may be way off base, who knows?), and maybe Molly for hardest. We see so little of Molly over the course of the series it’s sometimes difficult for me to get a handle on her.
ellis-hendricks: Which fic would you recommend to someone who has never read your stuff before? - Benefit of the Doubt, maybe. I like the way it came out. It was one of those that practically wrote itself.
ellis-hendricks: What do you value most when it comes to feedback?
geekmama: Any feedback is very much appreciated, from Kudos to brief comments, but it’s always nice when someone references a particular phrase or idea they liked. I know how difficult that is to do, sometimes, though.
ellis-hendricks: Would you ever go back and revise old fics - or do you consign them to history once they're published?
geekmama: If I discover (or someone points out) an error I will go back and correct it, but I don’t really revise my stories once they are posted.
ellis-hendricks: What's the nicest/weirdest bit of feedback you've ever had? And does feedback ever influence what you write next, either within a story or in terms of future fics?
geekmama: I have to say I’ve had a lot of great, encouraging comments over the years, and maybe a few negative ones, mostly on FF.net, which I pretty much ignore, though one or two brought up interesting points. I think mostly people leave a comment if they really like something, or just go away if they don’t. Feedback does influence what I write to an extent -- say if someone really wants more of a certain story, or aspect of a story, that gets me thinking how it could be done.
ellis-hendricks: Do you - or would you - write other pairings?
geekmama: Well, yes, I’ve written Mycroft/Lady Smallwood, and John/Mary, and I have a few fics that reference Lestrade/OFC. And of course there are other F/M possibilities. But mostly it’s Sherlock/Molly.
ellis-hendricks: How would you define your style? (E.g. mine was called 'fluffy realism’, which I quite liked!)
geekmama: I agree with that ‘fluffy realism’ definition, the sweetest stuff and easily related to. I would call mine “Romance” if I had to choose a word, the old definition of romance that entails fluff, angst, humor, adventure -- all the stuff that makes a story interesting and fun to read.
ellis-hendricks: What's your method in approaching a story? Do you plan methodically, or wing it?
geekmama: I am somewhere in between. With longer fic I sometimes use an outline, but more often I have a basic plot in mind, complete with ending, and think about it until I’m finally ready (and have the time) to write it.
ellis-hendricks: Who do you write for? Is it you, or are you thinking about trying to please your audience?
geekmama: Mostly me. I started writing fanfic in the Pirates of the Caribbean fandom because I wasn’t seeing fic that went where I wanted to go with that story. With Sherlock it was some of that, and the fact that I wanted to further explore these compelling characters, and writing fic was the best way to do that. But I do write for my audience, to an extent, and it is fun to accept a prompt or theme from someone and write to it. In the PotC fandom we had a weekly drabble challenge for years, and I really miss that sort of thing.
ellis-hendricks: Do you have any WIPs, and do you think new chapters will ever see the light of day?
geekmama: I do have a WIP, Souvenirs, for which I’ve written a couple of additional chapters, and hope to finish some day. But it sort of got waylaid by the whole post-ILY thing. I may finish it. You never know. I also hope to write some more of that Regency AU, Uncertain Terms.
ellis-hendricks: Are you working on anything at the moment?
geekmama: I’m going to try to write something for the ILY Anniversay (January 15th).
ellis-hendricks: What’s harder for you - writing the start of a fic, or coming up with a decent title?
geekmama: Writing the start, I guess. Titles are usually easy. It’s plot and particularly a good ending that take a lot of work.
Reading other people's fics
ellis-hendricks: What are your favourite tropes in the fandom?
geekmama: Post-ILY scenarios, for sure, h/c, kid!fic, Mary is still alive, Christmas stories. Etc.
ellis-hendricks: What things are likely to turn you off a fic?
geekmama: Bad characterizations (we read fanfic because we want more of the characters we love); poor editing / grammar; too many crazy tags; Intro posts that have TMI (I don’t want to know that you’re bad at titles/summaries/etc.), or that solicit reviews too blatantly. Well, those things and just stuff I don’t want to read -- bad porn, excessive violence (torture in particular), stories focusing on characters I dislike. I’m kind of picky, actually. But we write and read in a particular fandom for personal pleasure, and I think authors have to expect that their work won’t please everybody (or maybe anybody - who knows?).
ellis-hendricks: Can you recommend 3 favourite fics that aren't your own?
geekmama: Only 3??? Well, I’ve printed out miabicicletta’s A fearful hope was all the world, and sunken_standard’s Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, so I guess that counts for something. It’s virtually impossible to choose one of Ellis_Hendricks’ fic, they reference so many of my favorite tropes and are all of them deliciously memorable. But then, how can I leave out Quarto’s Competition? Or Emma_Lynch’s Quarantine? Or so many others?
ellis-hendricks: What compels you to leave comments on top of kudos?
geekmama: If some idea or turn of phrase stands out for me, and if the fic is well-done in general.
ellis-hendricks: Quick-fire questions!
John's TEH moustache or his TAB moustache?
geekmama: TAB (I don’t think we are meant to like his TEH moustache, are we?).
Sherlock's purple shirt or white shirt?
geekmama: Gah! Why do I have to choose? Purple, then.
Molly's stripy jumper or cherry cardigan?
geekmama: Stripy jumper, I think, as their relationship is more fully developed at that point.
Mary's christening outfit or black-ops gear?
geekmama: Christening outfit, for sure.
Submitted by OhAine: this is a joint question for Ellis and geekmama: Do you feel that working together as betas has changed the way you both write?
geekmama: Not really, my process is the same and any input from Ellis_Hendricks is given after the fact. I edit the story accordingly, but there are usually only minor changes involved. I am particularly grateful for her “Brit-picking” skill, which obviously makes her far more valuable to me than I am to her -- it’s surprising how many little differences there are between the UK’s culture and California’s. I was woefully ignorant about that when I became involved in this fandom, and I don’t feel I’m much better now, really.
Next week, Friday 12th April 2019, @thisisartbylexie interviews @writingwife-83
Welcome to interview number 7! Guys, this is a two-parter with fandom friends @ellis-hendricks and @geekmama posing a similar set of questions to each other. Ellis won the coin toss, so she’s up first -- discussing why her husband is to blame for her Sherlock obsession, fluffy realism, and why John reminds her of a sad walrus -- with geekmama’s turn coming next week.
Ellis_Hendricks (interviewed by geekmama)
We are, respectively, a Californian and a Geordie, and we got to know each other through reading and reviewing each other’s fics (geekmama’s ‘Time of the Season’ series was one of the first fics I read and loved). Geekmama has been writing in the fandom for around 3 years, and I’ve been doing the same for around 2 years, spurred on by the end of series 4 (and the ILY scene in particular). We started beta-reading each other’s work around a year ago, and are always discovering new and unexpected words and phrases that don’t translate across the pond! Although we’ve used the same set of questions for these interviews, we haven’t seen each other’s answers – so it does mean that if nobody else is interested, at least we will be!
Questions about the series
geekmama: Was there a particular moment in the series that set the ship sailing for you?
Ellis_Hendricks: It happened as soon as I started paying attention properly! I missed series 1 when the BBC first showed it, and when it was repeated, it was my husband who wanted to watch, and I was just casually joining in. But I think it was probably ASiB that did it for me - the contrast between Irene and Molly, and the manner in which Molly stood up for herself.
geekmama: What's your favourite episode and why?
Ellis_Hendricks: I know it’s considered by some to be the least ‘Sherlock’ of Sherlock episodes, but it’s got to be The Sign of Three. The Best Man speech alone is an amazing piece of writing and performance, but then you’ve got the Worst Stag Night in History (™), Sherlock’s Mind Palace interactions with the women caught up with the Mayfly Man, and of course, Molly stabbing her fiancé with a fork! But it also reveals some of Sherlock’s secrets (his love of dancing) and vulnerabilities (his loneliness), and they’re so deftly woven into the action and the comedy. From a Sherlolly point of view, the ‘planning the stag do’ scene is always going to be a classic (I particularly love how Molly has the upper hand here), and then there’s the look on Molly’s face during Sherlock’s speech that so clearly shows that she only has eyes for the Best Man.
geekmama: If you could ask/tell the series writers one thing, what would it be?
Ellis_Hendricks: Very hard to pick one thing, as there are so many moments when you really want to interrogate the writers’ intentions, particularly when they (deliberately, infuriatingly) leave things vague! I have always wanted to know, though, how Janine came to be Mary’s chief bridesmaid - was Janine a pawn used by Magnussen to befriend Mary and gain her trust, was she in on it in some way (seems unlikely), or were she and Mary genuinely just friends and the connection was just a massive coincidence?!
Oh, and at what point did Sherlock realise that Molly was engaged? The way the camera zooms into her engagement ring implies that this was the moment he noticed (and his previous behaviour would largely support that) - but it’s hard to believe that Sherlock would miss a detail like that.
geekmama: Do you have a controversial opinion about the series? E.g. a character who everyone else hates, but who you love?
Ellis_Hendricks: I’m not keen on Irene, although that’s probably not a controversial opinion. But it’s not particularly for shipper reasons - I just don’t like what the writers did with the character, which, to me, was quite tired and hackneyed. I do have a soft spot for poor Tom, though - and actually, I don’t think his ‘meat dagger’ idea was that idiotic! In other circumstances, if Sherlock had come up with that, it would have been hailed as genius!
geekmama: Have you ever, when watching an episode, cracked a case before Sherlock?
Ellis_Hendricks: Ha! No. Although I did notice right away that the same actress (Sian Brooke) was playing multiple roles in TLD - not that I worked out why, though!
geekmama: With whom would you rather be stuck at a wedding table - Janine or Irene? Donovan or Anderson?
Ellis_Hendricks: I would be massively intimidated by all three women, for different reasons, and Anderson would obviously be intolerable. It’s probably got to be Donovan - she’d have some good police stories, at least, and she probably wouldn’t try to make me dance.
geekmama: Who would you rather bring back in series 5 - Mary or Moriarty?
Ellis_Hendricks: I really like Mary, but I would throw something at the TV if it turned out she’d faked her own death somehow. I was sad she was killed off, but once it’s done, I think it has to be final. Moriarty has probably had his day now, too, especially in the light of the revelations about Eurus - although his suicide was a brilliant shock, I do wonder whether Moftiss killed him off too soon.
geekmama: Whose house would you prefer to live in - Sherlock's, John & Mary's, Molly's or Mrs Hudson's?
Ellis_Hendricks: If the rest of Molly’s flat/house is as nice as her kitchen, then Molly’s (although the kitchen wasn’t at all what I would have imagined for her). Although it has some nice quirks, I would generally see 221B as a horrible regression to student filth.
geekmama: In your opinion, who has been the best series villain - Jim Moriarty, Charles Magnussen, Culverton Smith, or Eurus Holmes?
Ellis_Hendricks: I think it has to be Jim, if only because he was the most fun. Magnussen and Smith were clearly despicable human beings in their own way, and they were both incredibly chilling. Although Eurus is a fascinating prospect, as a character in this particular show (and with the history she was given), I found her harder to buy into - it was all a bit too Silence of the Lambs.
Questions about your writing
geekmama: What was your first fic? What prompted it, and how do you feel about it now?
Ellis_Hendricks: It was ‘Completely Backwards’ - aka, Sherlock hatches a plot to get Molly pregnant, because he somehow thinks it will make her happy. It ended up being part of a much longer series, although I didn’t plan it that way. In fact, I wrote it more or less freeform, and it wasn’t beta-read, so I guess it’s a bit rough around the edges - looking back, there are a few small plot points I would change (mostly due to my relative lack of grounding in the series at the time), but it more or less stands up. Two years later, people are still reading and liking it, so it must work okay!
geekmama: Which fic are you most proud of/most attached to, and why?
Ellis_Hendricks: I’m genuinely quite proud of all of them, but I’m really pleased with the way both ‘In Loco Parentis’ (which follows Sherlock and Molly through 18 years of godparenting) and ‘A Knockout Christmas’ (Sherlock does A Christmas Carol) turned out. Both were quite big challenges. ‘In Loco Parentis’ involved thinking about how Sherlock and Molly would develop as a long-term married couple, how everyone’s lives might change and move on, and also both creating and sustaining original characters (in the form of their kids - and to an extent Rosie, who is not mine, but who we only know as a baby, and therefore have to take a guess at!). ‘A Knockout Christmas’ was an idea that came to me in a moment of insanity, and which I wrote fairly quickly - but I felt as though it had to strike a balance of being true to the series, and close enough to A Christmas Carol so that it followed similar beats and themes. Oh, and getting the choice of Sherlock’s ‘ghosts’ right was vital as well!
geekmama: In what ways does that old rule, “Write what you know” affect your writing?
Ellis_Hendricks: Quite a bit, I think. Or if I want to write about something that I don’t know, I do sufficient research so I can at least bluff that I know about it! My background is totally arts-based, so I feel very out of my depth when writing about anything sciencey (Chemistry was my worst subject in high school - I felt like doing a victory parade when I passed that exam!). I’m also not well-versed in fantasy or sci-fi literature, so I would also feel a bit of a fraud attempting something in an AU along those lines. Most of my fics are straightforward family/relationship pieces, and I suppose that’s my comfort zone. Generally speaking, my life is far too uneventful to actually inform plotlines - although Molly’s medical emergency in ‘Under One Roof’ was based on the birth of my younger child (and writing it served as cheap therapy!)
geekmama: What are your worst writing habits? What are your most overused phrases, plotlines, etc.?
Ellis_Hendricks: I’m not so hot on writing beautiful, detailed description, so I feel it’s something that’s lacking a bit in some of my fics - and it’s kind of out of laziness, and an impatience to get to the bits I do like! I think that I’m a bit repetitive when it comes to describing people’s gestures/facial expressions/reactions, and I’m also guilty of burdening characters with the same old verbal tics and quirks. In terms of plotlines, you could probably argue that all of my fics are basically the same story written from a slightly different angle!
geekmama: Do you have a writing routine? Where and when? And is everything digital, or are things ever handwritten first?
Ellis_Hendricks: Oh, for a writing routine! When I come up with an idea, it’s a case of frantically jotting down notes (usually on my PC or phone, but occasionally on paper if that’s more convenient at the time) - I then try to work those notes into a story plan in bullet points, usually including bits of dialogue if it occurs while I’m thinking. I generally have to write in short bursts, as and when I have time - at my desk during my lunch hour, on my phone while commuting (by train, I hasten to add - not while driving), at home once the small people have gone to bed. But if I had more time, I know I’d only procrastinate!
geekmama: Who do you enjoy writing the most?
Ellis_Hendricks: I’d love to give a more interesting answer, but it’s probably Sherlock - although writing his parents is also a lot of fun.
geekmama: Who do you find easiest/hardest doing first person POV?
Ellis_Hendricks: I think I’ve written from Sherlock’s, Molly’s, John’s, Mary’s and Mycroft’s POV, and to be honest, I’ve loved doing all of them, because each presents a different writing challenge. Mary was possibly the hardest, because she’s such a closed book in a way, and so much is unknown - and because I want to be sympathetic to her, at the same time as finding some of her choices questionable! Writing ‘A Dead Man in the Family’ really got me into writing Mycroft - to the point that I actually started to feel an affinity with him, which was a bit disconcerting!
geekmama: Which fic would you recommend to someone who has never read your stuff before?
Ellis_Hendricks: Hmm, if someone wanted a quick taster, maybe ‘The Wedding Planner’ or a recent one, ‘A Piece of That’. Most of my fics are multi-chapter, so if you’re willing to get your teeth into something longer (so to speak - that sounds wrong!), you could try ‘Not What it Looks Like’ (only 3 chapters), or start with ‘Completely Backwards’ and then see whether you want to keep reading that series for the next five months!
geekmama: What do you value most when it comes to feedback?
Ellis_Hendricks: All feedback is wonderful (except for the time a 12-year-old tried to start an ALL CAPS fight with me about Eurus!). For me, the greatest compliment is when people say that the characters feel authentic, and/or a story feels like a missing scene from the series. Anytime that someone says a story made them laugh, cry, or otherwise have a spontaneous outburst of emotion, that’s amazing, too. But having that dialogue with readers is what is important - the feeling that you’re not just throwing out stories into the void, and the encouragement that keeps you writing.
geekmama: Would you ever go back and revise old fics - or do you consign them to history once they're published?
Ellis_Hendricks: No, I’m pretty much of the feeling that what’s done is done. The only changes I’ve made are spelling/grammatical ones that I’ve spotted later on - or when I’ve spotted a glaring error that might throw people out of a story. I don’t think I’d ever do a wholesale rewrite.
geekmama: Do you - or would you - write other pairings?
Ellis_Hendricks: I write other established pairings, e.g. John and Mary, and have written post-TFP fics where Mycroft and Lady Smallwood are a couple in some way, but I haven’t written other fan pairings. Everyone is totally free to ship who they like, but I guess I just write the ones that appeal to me.
geekmama: How would you define your style?
Ellis_Hendricks: One reviewer described it as ‘fluffy realism’, so I think I might pinch that! Generally, my fics are fairly close to canon, and use events in the series as a hook or jumping-off point.
geekmama: What's your method in approaching a story? Do you plan methodically, or wing it?
Ellis_Hendricks: I used to wing it, but I’m better at planning these days - it at least means that if I lose momentum or have a gap between chapters, I’ve got something to fall back on. When writing a multi-chapter fic, I used to publish a chapter and then write the next, but now I tend to try to write the whole thing first (or at least get a few chapters ahead) - much less stressful that way!
geekmama: Who do you write for? Is it you, or are you thinking about trying to please your audience?
Ellis_Hendricks: Certainly in the early days, I was just writing things that I would like to read, as there was no guarantee that anyone else would be interested! That’s probably changed a bit now, but I go by the rule that if I don’t find something engaging and entertaining, then I’ve got no right to expect that other people will!
geekmama: Do you have any WIPs, and do you think new chapters will ever see the light of day?
Ellis_Hendricks: No, I don’t have any WIPs - I’m not good at juggling more than one idea at a time, and I’m a bit of a compulsive completer, too. If I get a new idea while writing a fic, I make a few frenzied notes and then bury it until I’m ready.
geekmama: Are you working on anything at the moment?
Ellis_Hendricks: All I have is an outline for a one-shot, which I’m hoping will see the light of day before too long. These days, it’s really hard to come up with something that hasn’t already been done (and done well) by someone else!
geekmama: What’s harder for you - writing the start of a fic, or coming up with a decent title?
Ellis_Hendricks: The start of a story, because of that need to grab people (hopefully a reader might forgive a crap title?!). I had a teacher who said that once you’ve written something, you should always go back and jettison the first paragraph, because it’s usually a pointless preamble - not sure whether I agree with that entirely, but I do always check to see whether there’s a better way of just jumping into a story.
Reading other people's fics
geekmama: What are your favourite tropes in the fandom?
Ellis_Hendricks: Lots of the old favourites. Off the top of my head...bed-sharing, Molly as ‘the missus’, secret dating/marriage, being lab partners, accidental pregnancy.
geekmama: What things are likely to turn you off a fic?
Ellis_Hendricks: I try to be pretty open-minded, but I’m not keen on fics where Sherlock is portrayed as insanely jealous or aggressively dominant, or when Molly is a bit of a teenage fangirl, usually with little or no backbone. Another is where Tom turns out to be a total bastard, either before or after Molly breaks up with him - I know we don’t see a lot of him, but I don’t read him that way at all, and I like to think that (even after Jim from IT!) Molly has better judgement.
geekmama: Can you recommend 3 fics that are not your own?
Ellis_Hendricks: No, because I’ve read too many good ones. But I’m always excited when I see something new from geekmama, MizJoely, Writingwife83, waitingtobedistributed, OhAine, Quarto, sunken_standard, miabicicletta, forthegenuine or hobbitsdoitbetter.
geekmama: What compels you to leave comments on top of kudos?
Ellis_Hendricks: I don’t know exactly - but it does feel like a compulsion. If something has really impressed me, moved me, made me laugh, or has prompted me to go and read the whole thing again, then it definitely warrants a comment.
Quick-fire questions!
John's TEH moustache or his TAB moustache?
Ellis_Hendricks: TAB moustache, because it’s acceptable for the period setting. TEH moustache makes him look like a sad walrus.
Sherlock's purple shirt or white shirt?
Ellis_Hendricks: Can’t say I’m fussy in this regard, but...purple. Or the all-black get-up from ASiB.
Molly's stripy jumper or cherry cardigan?
Ellis_Hendricks: Stripy jumper - it looks cosy (although I would snag it on everything).
Mary's christening outfit or black-ops gear?
Ellis_Hendricks: Black-ops. I’d wear it when I’m surreptitiously moving my neighbours’ bins.
Submitted by @thisisartbylexie: Your way of presenting Mary and Molly's friendship is so realistic and rich. What made you want to write about it?
Ellis_Hendricks: Thank you - and that’s such a great question! (I also had no idea that artbylexie had read my fics, so that made my day.) Well, I’m a feminist, and I think that female friendships are worth celebrating whenever you can. Also, Molly and Mary are both such brilliant characters in their own rights, and I was keen to think about their lives outside of their relationships to the men in the series. It always fascinated me that Molly wasn’t a bridesmaid at the Watsons’ wedding, but she was made a godmother less than nine months later - so a strong friendship must have developed in that time. I tend to think that, because of her past, Mary wouldn’t have fostered many genuine friendships, but that she can’t help but make an exception for Molly. Makes me want to write something else for them now!
Submitted by @ohaine: this is a joint question for Ellis and geekmama: Do you feel that working together as betas has changed the way you both write?
Ellis_Hendricks: Yes, I’m certain it has made me up my game! The quality of geekmama’s own work (both creatively, in terms of plot, and technically, in terms of grammar and structure) is very high, so I suppose I have that to aspire to when I write, too. She’s great at spotting my errors or opportunities for improvement - I guess that could make me lazy (knowing she’ll pick them up), but I think it makes me more determined to do a good job first time around, so she doesn’t have too much to do!
Next week, April 5th 2019, the shoe is on the other foot and @ellis-hendricks puts her questions to @geekmama
How about #85 (If you die, I’m going to kill you.) and #100 (I’m sorry, but that was adorable.)?
“—and after subduing thewould-be murderer—”
“I’m sorry, but that wasadorable,” Mary interrupted with a laugh.
“Yes, almost being beheaded isabsolutely darling,” Sherlock groused.
“No, the way you stood there withthat trident—”
“Sasumata.”
“Wait, so, when did oranges comeinto the story?” Greg asked, wondering when he’d missed thatpart of it and if the ultra-posh just kept bowls of fruit lyingaround in every room of the house.
“Sa-su-ma-ta, not sat-su-ma,”Sherlock enunciated, looking annoyed. Molly handed him a glass andhe thanked her absently, everything about him settling once she wasin his space.
“It’s a thing that looks a bitlike a pitchfork,” Molly supplied helpfully.
“It’s actually nothing like apitchfork, Mary was closer with trident. It was used in feudal Japanto—”
“I’m sure if he cares he canGoogle it,” John piped up as he came back from Sherlock’sbedroom after putting Rosie down to sleep.
“Anyway, even after they took thebloke away in handcuffs, this one was roaming around with the thinglike he was on guard duty,” Mary said. She handed Greg herphone; it was a picture of Sherlock standing, very seriously, with athing that did look a bit like a pitchfork, Molly next to him givinghim a look that was somewhere between fond exasperation and seriouslyquestioning her life choices.
Bit like that painting, Gregthought. The one with the farmer and the house. American Gothic,something like that. Whatever.
“It isn’t every day one gets tohandle authentic samurai weaponry, I was making the most of it,”Sherlock defended, sipping his drink and then making a face. "Didyou make this with paint thinner?“
"If you wanted a Shirley Templeyou should have said something,” Molly said.
“I didn’t realize the alternativewas a glass of pure ethanol.”
“It’s not pure ethanol, I used asplash of bitters,” Molly said, hiding her smile behind herglass.
Sherlock rolled his eyes and shook hishead, but took another sip of his drink anyway.
Greg wondered when the wedding was. Maybe this time he had a shot at groomsman. 'Course, Sherlock wouldhave to pull his head out of his arse first, which would probablyrequire a jemmy and possibly a winch. "So, you, ah, going oncases more often these days?“ he asked, fishing.
"Mm, sometimes,” Mollynodded. "Needed me to round out the numbers again. I got to befake-married to Mary this time instead of John.“
"So you two—” Greg said,pointing between John and Sherlock. He could only hope there was apicture; there was still a betting pool down the lock-up from yearsago and he wouldn’t mind coming away with fifty quid.
“Waiter,” Sherlock said.
“Bait,” John said.
Bollocks,Greg thought.
*
“No, you said, ‘If you die, I’mgoing to kill you.’ Which wasn’t at all redundant,” Sherlocksaid, his cheeks slightly pink from his single drink. He really wasa lightweight.
“Next time you’re hanging off abalcony by your fingertips, I’ll strive for 'precision in language,’”Molly teased in that impish way of hers.
“Next time I’m hanging off abalcony by my fingertips, you could do something to help instead ofshouting at me.”
“Should I have tried to catchyou?”
“You easily could have, you’refreakishly strong,” Sherlock said, earning him a scowl.
Mary came back in the room with astill-sleeping Rosie, giving everyone a wave before headingdownstairs.
“That’s us, then,” John said,twirling his keys. "Sherlock, behave.“
"Why do you always tell me tobehave? She’s the one that starts it.”
“You’re older, act like it,”John said on his way down the stairs.
“Right, well, I should be headingoff, too,” Greg said, setting his empty glass on the desk. “Molly, you want a lift home?”
“Oh, ah, no, I’ll get a cab. Going to stick around for a bit and tidy up so Mrs. Hudson doesn’thave to,” she said, looking at Sherlock’s back. It wasn’t thenormal annoyance because he made everyone else clean up after him;there was something a bit cagey about it.
Huh. Maybe he’d pulled his head out ofhis arse after all.
