in thE [sweatshop]s of loveplay

Okay, so I've dusted off one of three novels in progress-- the one I set aside a couple of years ago. Then, I was about a quarter of the way through... I'm still there.

And it's hard going! I mean, I left all my characters hanging, and there's no telling what they've been up to since, so right now I'm trying to get everyone back where they're supposed to be [insert footage of cat herders], and gather my notes. I'm also trying clean up a few plot problems I have with the beginning. What compels Angelina to sit with Etienne, and why insist they sit in such a way as to allow neither of them a view of the other?

A very fine and particularly scarce wine.

The particulars in specifics? Why is the wine so good? Why is it scarce? And why is Angelina so initially furious at Etienne? Or could it be she's furious with herself? Can the wine be SO good as to make her sit with the man who has bought the very last case available to the public? And why the screen to prevent Etienne from seeing her? And how much exactly DID Etienne shell out for those last twelve bottles?

Most of these questions I already have worked out. The one that's truly been giving me hardships is the question of "Why" the wine is so scarce, and why the last case was available where it was.

You see, it was Angelina's intention to buy that case, but when she allowed three weeks to pass beyond the date she promised to make the purchase, someone else came in looking for the "Angel" he had seen on the fountain's edge, just one hour before, outside a small but prosperous ristorante in Venice.

When the owner's wife realized who Etienne was looking for, she offered him a glass of their best wine. So good was the wine Etienne decided to buy some, but the wife, thinking to set the two up, would only sell the wine by the case... the last remaining case... the one Angelina desired to buy.

Oh! And for those wondering about this post's title? This book I'm writing is titled In the Gardens of Loveplay... Aaaah, beginning to make sense now, isn't it? Sweatshops? Hard work?

Yes, it is.