"As an ink-stained scribbler the last 10 years, I've sat in the same chair in our family room, eating ham sandwiches, very much alone." says [writer David] Eddie, a journalism graduate from Columbia University, who also pens an advice column for The Globe's Life section. "But working on The Yard is a lot of fun and very social. . . . We've had a lot of laughs, pinning cards on a wall, bantering jokes back and forth. To be honest, this is the best time I've had in years."

Neel Shah may on to something.