With “Otherwise a Perfect Sky” as your introduction to me, how did everything else I did NOT seem like a letdown?

The plotting and characterization for which you give me credit … I write the kind of stories I like to read. I’m not just having fun (though writing Buffyfic is great fun), I’m trying to build a world I can believe in, treat the endeavor with the respect it deserves. If that works for other people, bonus.

I just checked it, and my commentary on “A Single Stick of Kindling” was quite restrained. I read the story again, for context, and you deserved better than I gave you. That was nicely done.

Finally, “Under the Gun” was written quickly, to meet a deadline, after I’d determined that I wouldn’t be finishing “Into the Abyss” in time to submit it for that year’s summer_of_giles. I was satisfied by what I’d done there, but wouldn’t have listed it (and don’t) among my best works. That you cite it as your favorite just shows that we can’t always predict how our stories will be perceived, which can be a reward as well as occasional pitfall.

Thank you.