The Card Keepers ARG: Q & A Part One

I'm going to start addressing some of the questions I've been asked, but want you to know that you are more than welcome to keep asking questions, and also that I will respond to these more in depth via email to those who asked.

I am completely blown away by your kind and enthusiastic emails! Thank you to Ndemeter, Elethmei, S.P.I., Seadevil, and Pia Ward for the comments and feedback, the positive and the constructive.
Here are some of the questions that have been posed:

Q: Are you a man or a woman?

A: Ha ha! A couple of emails expressed surprise at my gender, which I find interesting. I am indeed a woman. You can read a little more about me here (and see my daughter who keeps me up at night):
http://archeologyoflearning.blogspot.com/p/about.html

Q: How do you know so much about Freemasonry?

A: I made all that up. Just read some stuff on the internet.

Q: Do you read Tarot yourself?

A: I do actually read Tarot! I got a deck about five years ago and have since acquired two more decks. I'm trying to learn more but have done quite a few readings and have been told I have a knack for it.

Q: Were you originally intending to break this ARG into chapters? If so, did you intend to end the chapter where you did?

A: Yes, I originally intended a series of "seasons" (and still do). You'll see that my first post about Anna was titled: "Part One: The Deck." I was actually going to end this chapter with the death of Anna's mother in the house fire. However, something happened as I was writing that scene (those of you who write will understand this) and Katherine Collins set the fire on purpose and then walked out of the house. I was really not expecting that! So we haven't heard the last from Katherine Collins ;)

I honestly thought that I was wrapping it up gradually and effectively and have learned from your feedback that it was all rather abrupt and unexpected, so my sincere apologies. I'm really still learning how to do this, and pacing is pretty tricky. I really struggled with pacing throughout, as most of you commented on.

Running an ARG is a lot like teaching! Some students breeze ahead and I try to keep them challenged and stimulated, while others fall behind. It's difficult to keep everyone engaged and happy. I need to learn to strike a happy medium.

However, I've also learned from being a teacher that it is completely impossible to make everyone happy, so that's something I will not try to do (it simply can't be done). Mainly, I write the stories I want to tell and thoroughly enjoy my interactions with the players.

I was deeply moved by the level of participation in this game, particularly the submissions from the Keepers and the drawings from Tallulah Belle.

I'll address more questions when I can!