The Cafe de Minuit is a magical realm unto itself that exists in the guise of a very elegant cafe/bar/hotel and is the setting for an RPG (role playing game) played by email (aka PBEM).

Q. Is there an age limit for the Cafe de Minuit writers?

The Cafe de Minuit is NC-17 rated due to the occasional occurance of violence and sexual situations within the posts.

Q. Are we allowed to use characters from novels, television, movies, etc.?

The use of characters belonging to other people, no matter the media, is absolutely FORBIDDEN. You may base your characters on such beings, though creating exact duplicates is discouraged.

Q. How do I join an ongoing plot?

Write to one or all of the writers involved and ask if they have a place for your character in the story.

Q. What if I'm not interested in an ongoing plot or there's no room for me in one?

Pick a character who doesn't seem really busy and ask the writer if they'd like to interact. If there's a particular writer whose style you like, contact him/her and see if they'd be interested in creating a character to interact with yours. That happens a lot around here.

Q: Where is the Cafe de Minuit located?

The Cafe is everywhere. Literally. It dwells within its own realm and appears wherever it is needed...England, France, California, Texas, Iowa...Timbuktoo...anywhere. That actually makes for an interesting bit of conversation between characters sometimes.

Q: How does time pass/how does time work within the Cafe?

As mentioned before, the Cafe dwells in its own realm. The sun does not shine there. No matter how long the character remains within the Cafe's walls - and that includes the garden - it will always be night. Time itself passes differently as well. Someone might be in the Cafe for months on end, but upon stepping outside its realm discover that only an hour or two, or even just a few minutes has passed. On the other hand, a person might leave the Cafe for years and come back to find that only a few moments have passed inside. We pretty much leave that up to the discretion of the writer, but that's a basic explanation.

Q: Is there always a full moon outside of the Cafe?

Not necessarily. That's another of those discretionary items. There can be a full moon, half moon, crescent moon or no moon at all.

Q: Where are the rent rooms in the Cafe located?

There are rooms located upstairs and downstairs.

Q: I do not understand the subject headers, with the numbers and the names in parentheses, what does it all mean?

The numbers are there for one reason and one reason only. Sometimes people's mail runs more slowly than others. If we have a great number of posts in a week and say Jane Doe's mail is running slow...she doesn't get the posts in order and then she has to dig through each and every one, checking the dates and times to see which one came first, second, third... In order to make it easy on poor Jane, we number the posts. That way, she only has to go through her mailbox and open the numbers in order.
As for the parentheses, we do that to help poor Jane know when her character is mentioned in a post. She might not have time to read each and every post to see if her character is mentioned, so we make it easier by telling her in the headers. For instance, if the 23rd post is written for Anjou and in it he pays particular interest to Sally, Jake and Caliga, then the header would read:

Anjou 23 (Sally, Jake, Caliga)

Some people take that a step further and note who their character talked to specifically and who is just mentioned separately. For example, in Anjou 23, if he spoke to Caliga, but merely observed Jake and Sally, it might read:

Anjou 23 (Caliga {Sally, Jake})

That lets Sally's and Jake's writers know that they do not, necessarily have to worry about reading the post in detail.

Q: How often can/should I post?

Q. How long should my posts be?

AT LEAST two paragraphs. Please do not send three or four lines and call that a "post". A *post* is at least two paragraphs, preferably more (It's VERY difficult for the writers you interact with to find anything to work with if your post is simply part of your last one, part of their last one with another line for your character tacked on the end. It's FRUSTRATING beyond FRUSTRATING!), of your own work...not a paragraph of some passage from a book or lyrics from a song. "Posts" like that are a waste of space in the archive account and impossible to use in moving a storyline along.

Q: Should I use Plain Text or HTML format for my posts?

Plain text. No HTML or rich text, please.

Q: What is a 'House Special'? What do they mean when they refer to a 'Special'?

A "Special" is the drink of choice for the vampires and other blood drinkers. It's blood mixed with just a bit of vodka or whiskey or wine...whatever suits the tastes of the patron ordering.

Q: How does one go about obtaining a room?

You can see the manager, Anjou, his assistant, Caliga, the bartender, Willie...or feel free to "make up" a waiter, waitress or other bartender if the others aren't available.

Q: In some of the posts I see sentences punctuated with "::" at the beginnings and ends...what does this mean?

In most cases those are thoughts. A lot of the characters communicate in silence and "::" usually denote those communications. They can also simply denote the thoughts of the character to him or herself.

For example, Anjou is observing the goings on in the Cafe proper and thinks Caliga needs to take a break.

Anjou watched Caliga as she rushed to and fro, busily tending to customers and waitstaff alike. ::She really should take a break...:: he thought to himself, noting the stress written in her furrowed brow.

Or, he might tell her so, without ever saying a word out loud.

::Caliga:: he told her silently, ::It is time for a break. You are working far too hard.::

Q. Where can I go to find a copy of a post I'm missing?

The Cafe has a Yahoo account set up for just this sort of problem. You can contact Nia for the login and password information.

Q. What is the Cafe's policy on off-topic posts?

Off-topic posting is fine...as long as it's done in moderation. HOWEVER!!! Choose your off-topics well. We love to hear good news...getting married, had a baby, graduated, aced an exam, started a new job, got a promotion, birthday announcements, etc. We encourage that sort of off-topic posting. We DO NOT allow spam, attachments or "chain letters". Those things just take up space and usually end up just making people mad. Offenders in that vein will be removed from the list.

Q. How long should my character's bio be?

There really is no preferred length on that. Just keep in mind, though, that, as your character's storyline progresses in the Cafe, we will learn his or her history so it isn't necessary to give full details in the bio.

Q. What sorts of warnings should be placed on posts?

Generally, if a post has an abundance of violence or "bad language", a warning for those should be noted in the subject line and at the beginning of the email message. It's also a good idea, if there's sex in a post, to stick a "smut" warning on it.

Q. What should I name my character(s)?

The only thing we ask is that you check the character bios and make sure no one else has used the name before you. It gets confusing to everyone to have more than one character by the same name running around. Aside from that, you may use any name you like, so long as it isn't vulgar or profane.

Q. Where do I send pictures of my character(s)?

Directly to Nia. No one else on the list can do anything with them, and no one else wants the attachments anyway, so send them directly to her at nia@pvco.net.

Q. Where can I find the email address of another writer?

On the bio site, right beneath the name of his or her character.

Q. When is it okay for me to write for another person's character?

***ONLY when you have permission to do so.***

Aside from that, it is never okay to write another person's character. If you didn't create the character, you don't know the character's inner thoughts and feelings well enough to do this. At times, it may be necessary to write a general reaction to something your character does, but do not *EVER* presume to speak or think for the other character.