Hey, Laina,

Thank you. This was my very first foray into the world of fanfiction. I was absolutely terrified, to the point of not posting at all. But my friend threatened that if I didn't post, she'd steal my login and password and post it for me.

I've come a long way from this - my one-shots now are usually longer than this whole multi-chapter story - LOL. But I'm so glad you enjoyed this early effort.

Jules

Thanks for that, Laina.

This was my second story I'd ever written, and my first attempt at a humour one. But it sort of morphed into a bit of humour and a bit of drama, so I just let the story take me where it would. 

I find writing a very organic process at times. I start out with an idea or a scene, or perhaps a bit of dialogue, and then build the story around that. Sometimes it takes me strange places before the ending, which is usually not too much different from how I first imagined it. This one was a bit like that. I had the idea for the Impala to be possessed by a ghost and to chase Dean, and the poltergeist in the theatre grew from that. 

Glad you liked it.

Jules

Thanks for that, Laina.

I threw everything but the kitchen sink at this one. And I had fun doing it, too. I do like the humour ones, they make a nice break from the angst. 

And I had lots of fun putting the boys up at a luxury resort instead of their usual dive of a motel, and then throwing their worst fears at them willy-nilly - lol. 

Sadly, as with a lot of fics, I got Kripke'd and this story is now AU, thanks to the real Trickster being Gabriel...*sigh*....oh, well. I still had fun.

Glad you loved the story so much.

Jules

Hey, Laina,

Oh, absolutely. Even if they were fighting, cut one and the other one bleeds. That showed in the way Sam dropped his plans and took off to find Dean in Scarecrow, and a thousand other times for them both during the last seven seasons. 

This was an experiment, to see if I could pull it off. I'd read a Star Trek fanfic which was nothing more than a dialogue between Spock and McCoy in a similar situation - pitch-dark and no descriptions virtually, but in that, it was pretty easy to pick who was talking.

So I played a little, to see if I could pull it off with a SN fic. Glad it worked - whew.

Jules

Thanks, Laina,

The Stanford years have always intrigued me, especially given Dean's comment in the pilot about having left Sam alone for two years. I've quite often wondered just what happened to have that complete break. 

And then of course, when Dean told Sam in Bugs that John had been by to check on him, I just naturally thought that Dean had as well - and he wouldn't have let Sam's first Christmas away from home go by without at least a drive-by visit. 

Glad you enjoyed this.

Jules

Hi, Laina,

Sorry for the late replies - things have been crazy of late. 

Ah, so glad you loved the kissing scene. I wrote this for a friend of mine who wanted a kissing scene with Sammy, so I built the whole fair thing around it. And of course, it was so much fun to embarrass poor Sam like that - lol. I'm just evil at times. 

Thanks so much for reading.

Jules

Thank you for that.

Sorry I fell behind a bit in the reviews - we've had a death in the family, and the last couple of weeks have been a bit all over the place. 

Ah, yes, Dean rushing into the burning motel - I had been planning that right from the beginning of the story. Actually, that scene, the St Christopher medal for Sam's birthday, Sam tackling the ghost hunt on his own and getting in over his head, and the little scene where Sam's tracking Dean and Dean sneaks out and yanks him back by the hood of his jacket - they were all in my original idea and outline. 

Originally I'd planned to have the hoodie yanking scene in the actual haunted house, but as I got stuck into the story in earnest, I couldn't actually fit it in, so it progressed to the alley instead. 

Sometimes writing for me is a bit of a chess game - I know the end result, but then I have to work out the strategy to get the tale there. 

Thanks so much for reading - I'm glad you loved this one.

Jules

This was the first story I'd written where I actually named the chapters - just a wee bit of trivia there for you - lol. And it was an absolute bear trying to come up with the one for the fourth chapter!

I like the tables being turned for a change, too, with Sam having to be the big brother for a while. But Dean always drops back into his proper role before too long - lol. 

Thanks so much for reading, Laina.

Jules

I had the idea for this while my auntie and I were away on a short holiday, but with one laptop between us, I just picked at the general outline until we got back home.

But I wanted to showcase the hunter skills of both boys, and what better way to do it than to separate them and have one hunted. 

I thought at the time that Sam's skills had been a bit under-estimated by some fanfic writers, and of course Dean's tracking talents are always a joy to behold. So I bundled it all together, shoved it at my muse, and she hit me back with this.

So glad you enjoyed it.

Jules

Thanks so much, Laina.

This was intended for one of those fanzines, but I chickened out. One of the other site authors at the time tried to talk me into it, but I just couldn't do it. Couldn't face being edited to death, and then not owning the story for twelve months.

It's just not me...*cluck-cluck-cluck*

I had lots of fun with the symmetry of the story, repeating the same incident ten years apart. Probably stems from me being a bookkeeper - I like things neatly balanced - lol.

Thanks heaps - I'm glad you loved it.

Jules

Thanks Laina,

I just really wanted to write some down-time. I think I was intrigued by what could go on between hunts. I know we miss out on a lot of the good stuff off-camera, so to speak, because this isn't The Truman Show after all, so this was my way of taking a peek "behind the curtain".

So I was determined to have a little fun with it while I was there - lol. And Dean getting a little double-meaning in there when describing the way to make the perfect cappuccino - I have to admit, I snickered my way through that scene - lol.

Thanks so much.

Jules 

Aww, thanks Laina.

Even though it took a fair bit of research with distances and travel routes, I enjoyed writing Sam's cross-country flight to prove his brother's physical status, and Dean's frantic race to catch him before he took off again.

And I'd not long gotten hold of Hancock on DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I just had to throw in a reference there.

So glad you loved it.

Jules

Oh, my goodness, you tackled the monster!

That's quite a feat - this was a beast to write, and ended up way over my original estimate of nine chapters...*shakes head*...

When we hit about thirteen chapters, I think, we started a betting pool between the co-authors and beta, as to what the final word count was going to be. Petra won the jelly beans, as I recall. I was way off. 

Thank you very, very much. We slaved, sweated blood, and just about sold our souls for this fic. It took eight months, and that wasn't just a few hours here and there - there was hardly a day that went by when we weren't planning, researching, writing, actioning the beta notes, shooting emails back and forth about facts, scenes, dialogue, etc. It consumed us.

But it was worth it. I think all three of us collapsed in a little heap at the end when the final chapter was ready for posting - and when we did post it, our beta was here with us in Oz on holiday, so we all crammed into my little home office and cracked open a bottle of red wine to toast the completion of the story.

So from both Petra and me, thank you so much for motoring your way through this epic, and we are so very glad that you enjoyed the ride. 

Jules & Petra