Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Caffrey Conversation Crew!

It's the middle of March, Silbrith is posting about Irish threads in her most recent stories, and that means our characters are donning green and preparing to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. It also means I'm reflecting on the Irish elements in my stories, and how they became part of the Caffrey Conversation. Let's start with Neal, and how he reminded me of an iconic character in J.D. Robb's In Death series -- mysteries set in New York City a few decades in the future.

The Celtic Connection

As we approach St. Patrick's Day, Mozzie is brewing a special batch of green-tinted honey mead to celebrate the occasion. I'm sure Neal will want to pick up several bottles for himself, Henry, and Angela. Neal's Irish heritage is original to the Caffrey Conversation AU. Despite his given and surname both being Irish in origin, the TV series never developed the thread. Penna began the process in our stories. She provided Neal with a grandfather, Edmund Caffrey, whose grandparents came from Ireland. Edmund was quite proud of his Irish roots and was fond of adding an Irish accent to his reminiscences. Penna also endowed the Caffreys with distant relatives who settled in Appalachia from Ireland and are now itinerant folk musicians and instrument makers. In Caffrey Flashback, Edmund told Neal that according to stories that had been passed down in the family, the Caffreys were descended from ancient rulers of Ireland.

Doppelganger Dilemma

When I decided to write a crossover series that blends the worlds of the Caffrey Conversation AU with Supernatural, my original intent was to make all the stories road trips with no involvement of the other White Collar team members or Caffrey relatives. That didn't last very long. One character after another began tapping me on the shoulder with ideas on how they should be included. First it was Travis who, as a good friend to Mozzie and a fellow astronomy enthusiast, made a strong case to be part of Fireflies at Midnight. Next up were Diana and Jones. They argued that their investigative skills would make it impossible for Peter and Neal to keep the supernatural events a secret. Dark Rabbit is just the beginning of what they'd like to see happen. Now Angela Caffrey and her boyfriend Michael have entered the mix. Her cousin Henry Winslow, however, has yet to make an appearance. Henry is one of the most popular characters in Caffrey Conversation. How could he possibly be excluded? The answer is it's complicated.

When a Bunny Becomes a Rabbit

Angela Caffrey has been associated with bunnies since her first appearance. (See last week's post on Angela Caffrey). When I decided to feature Angela in a Crossed Lines story, I was faced with a quandary. Should Angela remain Funny Bunny, as her grandmother nicknamed her, or was she ready to go dark side?

Angela Caffrey

One of the differences between Caffrey Conversation and White Collar is that Penna created an extended family of Caffrey relatives for Neal. His older cousin Henry has been featured in many stories In my latest story, Dark Rabbit, it's time to show some love for the youngest Caffrey cousin—Angela.

Chocolate Box 2018

Last year I participated in the AO3 Chocolate Box exchange, and when it completed I decided I definitely wanted to sign up again in 2018. Now that authors for this year's exchange have been revealed, I can finally post links to my stories and share tidbits about the experience. Each time, participating in this challenge meant writing pairings and even fandoms I'd not written before. It was so much fun, Silbrith probably wondered if I was ever going to stop sending her stories to beta. Seriously, I wrote seven stories in a month. Silbrith had no idea what she was getting into when she offered her beta services. (Thanks, Silbrith!)

A Herculean Effort

With all of the coverage of the winter Olympics recently, I've wondered if I should try to make a link between that competition and our stories.

The only direct link is in By the Book, when Henry says that during the most recent winter games he became a fan of curling. But indirect links? We certainly have competitive characters, many of whom are in excellent physical condition. Those, however, didn't inspire me to write a post for our blog. What did inspire me was... Silbrith!