1. When you are writing with another person, try not to have the other persons character do much speaking. If I'm writing for Ben Baker and I am in a scene with Charity Weaver I might possibly use the following as a sequence.

Ben strode into the living room with an angry look upon his face. Charity seemed taken aback by his demeanor but sat quietly. Without warning Ben picked up a teacup and hurled it against the wall, breaking it into a hundred pieces as Charity let out a surprised scream. "I can't BELIEVE the NERVE of some people," He said. He looked at Charity and finally calmed down, knowing she would say the words he needed to hear.

Learn to leave your posts open for the other person to respond. In the scenario above I did not even speak for Charity, I'll leave that to her author.

2. Another suggestion I would recommend is to go way back in the Hatrack archives and read some of the earlier posts from the golden days. Look at how the characters and writers interacted with each other and you will see pretty much a writing style just like I have posted above.

3. If you do need/want to use another writers character, have a plan first. Contact the other writer and make a proposal as to what you want to do. Don't just take over another writers character and move them here, there, and everywhere and have them say or make performances that another writer did not give permission to do.

The style above may lead to shorter posts but it really makes writing more fun and utilizes the creative talents of both or many writers in a given scene.

How I wish Rodney Bliss would return soon. He's a very good person to write with and learn from. He's taught me through his writing and suggestion over the years at Hatrack a good etiquette for interacting with other writers. He writes Black Shep Baker. Other good writers from the past are Margit, who wrote Dr. Wells and his family, Jessica Nettles, who wrote the Charming girls and Charity Weaver. Or go back further and look up Cary Bass and his great characters. Wendy who wrote Tansy and Digger Hobbs. Check these folks out. Maybe we can get some of them to return at some point.

Okay, enough rambling. Just some food for thought.

RE:coordination w/other writers via their e-mail - some writers do not have them[?] - personally, while operating from public library I cannot send/receive e-mail

I left instructions for how to coordinate w/me or my chars in several places & apologized in advance to any for inconvenience/delay due to my TEMPORARY problems

I know the feeling about buying books. I can't go to the Thrift Store anymore because whenever I do I come out with a stack of somewhere between five and ten books- and I pay less for them than I would for one new book most other places.

I've read one of the Winnie-the-Pooh books (I don't remember when, where, or why) but not Uncle Tom, though I have read others based in/about that section of history. I don't think I've read the Br'er Rabbit stuff though, unless you count this odd little Disney version of it in this old Disney storybook I had when I was younger.