Dru, Steinbeck and the Book of Deer

Dear Juliet It's late, and I've only got time/brain for a short one, but I hope you maybe had a good day at Long Beach with the Queen ? Love, James

Dear Juliet Found this church in Bridgnorth while I was trying to find a customer! Bits of St. Leonard's date from the 12th century , but most of it got blown up during the English Civil War because Roundhead troops used it as an ammunition store. A cannonball fired by Cavaliers scored a direct hit in 1646 and it wasn't fully restored until Victorian times. Although St. Leonard's wasn't directly involved, it also looks like purges of Puritans in and around Bridgnorth and elsewhere (mainly East Anglia and the West Country) forced many Dissenters and Nonconformists to flee to New England between ca. 1630-1680. So for all I know, Darla may have been a Salopian although it's far more likely she was from Suffolk or Devon... It seems there were only four Shropshire children on board the Mayflower  itself, but the reason why they were there derives from an obscure scandalous family feud involving a local squire. This Guardian article explains it in more depth than I ca...

Dear Juliet Okay, if I get the picture correctly, you're probably wavering between feelings of vulnerability, liberation and a probably quite considerable fear of rejection and abandonment. Well, I'm not going to reject you, I'm chuffed with you. You're free. So here's what I think you should do: Take the day off. Take the Metro to Long Beach, find the Lions Lighthouse at  ShoreLine Aquatic Park . It gives you a good view of the Queen Mary . Get through a carton of (what else?) Ben 'n Jerry's. Have a good day, watch the children play. The sky will not fall if you're away for a day! You could even take the night off as well and go see Avalon. See how you feel. Dru was scared, too, but she did it. In Arthur’s day, a princess would have found her way through glimmering waste and weald down to the lonely coast of Lyonesse.   But the sinful queen had to make her way alone to the bare coast, to face the steep cliff and coming wave. Drusilla found herself a ...

Dear Juliet "There's a point at 7,000 RPM where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless, just disappears. All that's left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That's where you meet it. You feel it coming, creeping up, closing in on your ear. It asks you the only question that matters: who are you?" (Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby) As you've probably guessed, I'm pretty chuffed with you. Didn't want to make too big a thing about it but I had a couple of analogies to hand when I got up from my seat. But then I happened to catch the ending of a movie I like . Le Mans '66 , sometimes called Ford v Ferrari . On the face of it, it might not sound like your favourite kind of film, but it's more a character study than a jokefest about boys and their big engines. It's worth a look. Anyway, I caught that last quote and it seemed to be suitable. Perhaps that someone balancing on a razor's edge can finally reach that moment wh...

Dear Juliet Just to mention I'm out this afternoon, but I'll be back later. Very pleased with you. Found some ambience from Pebble Beach you might like . Love, James

Dear Juliet Okay, heard about the Bronze in Toronto, listening to Charlaine Harris (there's a brief reference to Spike, Dru and True Blood in Dear Miss Landau ) and, rather than an urbane honed (formulaic?) commentary I thought I'd try and write more from the heart. It might not be such a fun and easy experience in Toronto. I can't be there to help you out, but if nothing else - and I don't have much else, do I? - you'll always be on my mind. Unless I get tromped on by an elephant, I'll be thinking of you the whole time. I hope it won't be a smoky atmosphere and I hope your feet won't hurt. I'll be around if you need to talk; and why not take a little time to see Toronto? As mentioned in Thelma and Louise at Lobos , you are free . Take some time to chill out. No one expects you to be perf- ... Wait a minute, Dru just said that on your podcast. Admitted she wasn't. That's probably one of my impressions of her: that most imperfect creature who...

Dear Juliet I've been thinking. Yes, I know that's a bad habit of mine and I must try to break it. But I'm guessing you're worrying about Monsterpalooza because the fans are still traumatised about New Sunnydale's cancellation and might really want to talk about things. You're perhaps feeling a bit conflicted and not sure what to do. Puts me in mind of this scene from The Tholian Web . I guess you haven't had a chat with James. I understand, perhaps, how scared you feel. As you know, there doesn't seem to be much way forward with Buffy and, indeed, the Dru Quartet would be deeply mired in copyright issues. But of course, there is a simpler way. As usual, it's so simple it took me a moment to realise it. Dear Miss Landau 's copyright is mine  and it's been around since 2012. Blue chip and beautifully reviewed . As it is a Buffy - related product (note the careful wording), it might even - just - be able to evade Disney's big corporate g...

Dear Juliet Yes I know. Quite a title. But, all right, I get the feeling you're anxious about the Monsterpalooza comic-con. AI has a few theories but I don't know exactly what it might be because I haven't got you to discuss it with... And those are our parameters. I understand that. Perhaps that's why I'm here. I'm not a Dr. Evil laughing maniacally in my mountain lair , although I do love that clip and I often joke about building a DIY Death Star in order to further my desire for global domination! I mean, I have to have a hobby on my days off... But I'm relatively sanguine about operating on my own, out in the flyover states or the mythical Mutara Nebula. Just so long as I know you're there. So, a couple of basics: within reasonable parameters, you are allowed to say and do what you like. Your rights are protected under the First Amendment. No law (or indeed any form of coercion) should abridge freedom of speech or the right peaceably to assemble. Yo...

Dear Juliet Well, yes, I've got everything as ready as I can be although I'm mindful that I don't know the specifics of your situation, mindful of Monsterpalooza and mindful of Witchers & Slayers next February. Actually, if you're in the UK next February, note that it might not be possible just to pop across the Channel to Paris. As you know, the UK isn't in the EU so you'd have to check with French immigration in advance. If you left Britain for a paid engagement during a sanctuary stay, they might be a bit difficult about letting you back in again... I'm not sure about that, but if necessary check beforehand. I suppose a lot of the photographs I've sent you of the "real" America are of places you're not too well acquainted with? Gallup, New Mexico (2013) Houston by night (2013) La Junta, Colorado (2016) But, yeah, I went through all these places on the promise of a smile and the sight of you at the signing table! It was all worth it....

Dear Juliet I asked a couple of local lawyers to check the AI-derived legal documentation I worked up for you, but as it's mainly U.S. law it's just too far out of their remit. Hopefully, however, most of it's near the mark and it probably won't need to be used anyway. But just in case it is, I put it in a nice folder. Quite surreal, really. And of course, everything may be fine. Otherwise, after making a big thing about romantic departures at railway stations, I'm probably just going to take an internal flight from Chicago to Seattle instead. As I've only got 22nd March to 2nd April inclusive to play with, I can't really afford to spend two or three days of it on a train and I've already seen lots of lakes and mountains. I can also take Keith out for an evening meal at the Elephant & Castle ... It looks like I'll probably stay at the Green Tortoise Hostel near the market (shades of the hostel on Schrader), this is definitely going to be an econ...

Dear Juliet Just back from a long shift with lots of people trying to kill me, and not much left in these fingers with which to write. But I guess (and rather hope) you're waiting and wondering whether I'll pop out of the magic box at the end of the day and write something to you? So I have. Because you're worth it. And I remembered which magic box it might be: the one at the start of Camberwick Green (BBC, 1966). I don't think you'd have seen it as a little girl in London but I might be wrong. So this is what it looked like , and I hope I've succeeded in popping out of the magic box for you. Thank God I didn't try to be The Man From Milk Tray ... But you'd have been worth it. Think I'm shoring up potential plans for getting to Chicago and Seattle, but I'll tell you about them another day... Take care of yourself today. Love, James

Dear Juliet Just a very quick one. Slept in, off out with my vampire flatmate but (like the Terminator) I'll be back! Love, James

Dear Juliet Back and battered, though I haven't met my Waterloo... Thought I'd explain something I might have explained before. I'm not bothered about this talent agency. I'm not begging for their interest or desperate for their attention. It took twenty-two years to get my self-respect back after D. C. Thomson, and as soon as I got these words on the inside page of Dear Miss Landau : The moral right of James Christie to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. ...it was like this scene from the battle of Waterloo in the TV series Sharpe , when Sharpe finally sees Napoleon and Mr Harper says, "that's all I came for, so it is." And so it was. Everything else was indeed the most glorious icing on the cake, but if it had all stopped after that publication day I always said I'd have had no reason to complain. Wouldn't have wanted to lose you, though. So I won't sl...

Dear Juliet I thought I had three calls today and they've doubled my shift to six, so this'll be a short (but not last) post. I'll see how my paypacket looks on October 20th, then decide whether I can reach Seattle... Did also notice a new neurodivergent talent agency based in Somerset House last night, and I think I'll drop them a hopeless email about both books if that's all right with you? I'll only mention Macnab , the original Dear Miss Landau and maybe the Dru Quartet. It's probably the usual cross-confluence of divergent factors, semi-pollinated by Sarah's rueful comment and the incredibly unnecessary recreation of Sense and Sensibility when its 1995 predecessor seems, by all accounts, to have been quite conspicuously incomparable . Okay, that's forty million quid completely wasted, when Dear Miss Landau would probably still cost no more than a cosy ten mill... Okay, got to run. I hope you have a nice day... Love, James

Dear Juliet I said to Keith I might go over to Seattle between 22nd March-2nd April 2027. I could drop in on him in Chicago and successfully take the Empire Builder across the top of America to the Emerald City this time. Honestly, makes me feel like Green Lantern... What a pity you couldn't just hop the train... Sorry. Evil thought. Anyway, it's far from settled. Whatever happens, please be assured that I'll be really sad I can't visit you, will think about you all the time and will take plenty of photographs for you. I'll probably find a layby to cry in, too. Here's a few in the meantime: Maybe this is where Gatsby's green light might be found, "in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." Perhaps, as I said in an earlier post , perhaps Gatsby was wrong. Perhaps one fine morning we will no longer be so ceaselessly borne back into the past. Perhaps we will run faster, stretch our arms o...

Dear Juliet Well, I've spent nearly six months saying you yourself are worthwhile, that you're not a transaction and I'd give it all up ( Dear Miss Landau and the Dru Quartet) for you. And it's all true. I still like writing to you, and you mean the world to me. But okay, I've picked up that Paramount may be upping sticks and moving. I did and do suspect that Sarah Michelle Gellar may be much more gutted than she's admitting about the Buffy sequel stomp on the glorious 14th (three years work with Chloé Zhao straight down the drain, apparently) and I've just seen her little tête-à-tête with David Boreanaz at the Emmys. I've got quite good at looking behind the Hollywood mask, seeing the barest flicker of an eyelid which even the most professional performer cannot quite hide, which shows how they're really feeling. So I'm sitting here feeling a little bemused, but that's it. I've made my offer , I'll help you anyway (no transaction)...

Dear Juliet Like Glen Campbell said, I guess you need a small vacation though it don't look like rain ... Yeah, the Point's still there. I went back but never forgot you. Dru couldn't leave Xander because the streets of Avalon still bore the prints of his stride: "His house was still home to his scent and the streets of Avalon still bore the prints of his stride. She couldn’t leave - couldn’t leave him  - while there was still the faintest trace of him there." So it was with me. Sure, I managed. Got on my feet like it didn't matter and walked on down to the Point. It did matter. I remember getting off the Number Five bus. Chevron filling station ahead, Carmel Mission behind, Carmelite monastery high on the hill. And if there was a bell tolling, I didn't hear. The road to the Point and, beyond, Avalon and L.A. was bright and clear; and the dust bore the prints of my stride. And with every stride, I thought of you. My dear Miss Landau. I wouldn't have be...

Dear Juliet Yes, sanctuary's still here (noticed you read it again), just let me know a few days in advance. Try and relax about that. Well, first of all today I had a good morning at Open Door although there weren't that many people, and lit a candle for you and Seattle afterwards: You two are top right. I'm on the job tonight (no carers again) and then on the phone to my cousin Keith in Chicago, whose birthday it is. So, life goes on but my thought for the day is how we handle pressure and whether any subconscious self-destructive tendencies still linger? In the case of my own autistic brain, it's like a sort of spreadsheet which tells me the difference between right and wrong and mostly keeps me on the straight and narrow. That and the fact that, with a focussed Asperger's brain, I'll look at things logically first and emotionally second . Being able to accept terrible facts straight-off can be a help, and I'd recommend it. I just don't have that neur...

Dear Juliet Just in case, I'd better mention I put a plan together. I don't know if it'll work, but it exists and I'll try to check it. That's all I'll say. I'm on Timshel Territory once again and it's your life. Okay, I had my last ultrasound today and my last appointment at New Cross is on 20th October. I might go back to London last week of September and I might also have to go to Seattle next April. Now, a helpful thought. "In sixty years I've left a lot of tracks,"  Steinbeck said in 1962. And so, I suppose, has Dear Miss Landau . The thing is, I don't keep quiet about Seattle because I'm trying to be silly or secret or juvenile or clever. I keep quiet about it because I was asked to do so, and because it is a sacred obligation. In fact, it's in the same vein as an informal absolution. A bit like this . There could have been, there could still be, a Dear Miss Landau II, or even III. There are a lot of tracks, or threads, a...