Hi Cathy!

First, I'd like to thank you so much for all the reviews thus far. Not only are they encouraging, but they also help me to gauge how the story is unfolding through the reader's eyes and hearts. It lets me know that I am providing quality entertainment for you all, while providing a very important service for myself in getting this all down on paper. Any author would tell you that the characters are intrusive and have no respect of time. So if I'm asleep, 95 times out of 100, they will wake me up, demanding that their story be told. Sometimes they are welcome, but with a screeching character like Michael, and a histrionic one like Deb, I need a mental muzzle to silence them, so it's best to just get up and get writing, LOL

As for your confusion about Gus and J.R., they do not appear in this story. I never thought that Michael should have been a father, not even to a cactus, so this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that, even while changing the canon storyline entirely regarding Melanie and Lindsay. I don't think Lindsay will appear in the story personally, but hers and Melanie's history surrounding their breakup will be mentioned throughout as several points of reference. I want to show the journey of Mel from who she was within the canon to who she is now as a Judge and a woman on her own after a tumultous relationship that crashed and burned through no fault of her own. But at the same time, I didn't want to villify Lindsay, but to understand what she must have felt within herself, and then demonstrate Mel's true love for her in letting her go on and be happy, even if it wasn't with her.

I have gotten to the point where I absolutely LOVE having Melanie around, flourishing and growing as a person and within her career. I've always felt that she was possibly the most misunderstood character within the show, and had things been written differently for her, she could have been one of the most beloved people, right on par with Em, Ted, Brian and Justin. But with a vision clouded by jealousy in almost every aspect of her life, her character was always stifled a bit to me. So I work hard to recharacterize her the way I've always seen her potential growth.

I really hope you continue to enjoy BILG as much as I enjoy writing it. You're absolutely correct in how JT2U and BILG are so different in contrast, and I really love that about each of them. I set out to write JT2U as I would have if I'd been a writer on the show, while with BILG I simply wanted to challenge myself in a completely different way, especially since in one of my RL WIPs, I'm working with 12 main chaarcters, who are also all coupled up with the exception of one. I will admit that sometimes I feel that I'm way too ambitious for my own good, but hearing what the audience thinks of the work I do, shows me that it's a very good thing that I am.

HAPPY READING and HUGS,

~Nichelle