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A Note From Riley I'm not sure if this is better characterized as an economy-sized Author's
Note, or an open letter from writer to readers; either way, I do
ask that you all ****PLEASE**** read this before going on, and
especially before emailing me, as it is intended to answer some "frequently
asked questions." The situation is this: in the last few months I have received enough
conflicting feedback on Pawn to Queen to give Kafka emotional vertigo.
I suppose I should be grateful, given the number of writers who complain
that they find it hard to continue when no one reviews their stories,
that I have such, ah, prolific readers. Unfortunately, however, none of
my readers agree with each other. I think many if not most of you can
appreciate how this could leave a writer feeling more than a little paralyzed.
I know that whatever I do next with this story, I'm all too likely to
have someone out for my blood.
For any ficwriter getting this sheer quantity of feedback on
a work-in-progress, it's exactly the opposite; there is no hope
for a long-term relief: we cannot accept material compensation for fic,
and even those of us working in the direction of original writing and
publication have to be extremely circumspect about letting the connections
between our noms de plume and noms du 'Net, as it were, become known,
lest Warner Bros. or some other copyright holder wind up with the rights
to our every thought as a result of copyright issues. So we find ourselves
trying to keep up with a professional writer's level of "fanmail"--- without
hope of turning pro and supporting ourselves (thereby freeing up the time
otherwise spent on dayjobs and the like) with the writing. Unfortunately, some people didn't get the message, or didn't think my
request worth honoring, and I'm still getting deluged with emails, mostly
nagging me to post more of the story. I'll be honest, this sort of behavior,
rather than encouraging me to post, is inspiring me to take the damn thing
down entirely, maybe posting in its place a "Roll of Dishonor" listing
all of the people who've nagged and pestered me, with special prominence
for those who stated outright that they saw the message on ff.net but
thought it was high time I got back to work again--- it had been as much
as a month, after all, and who did I think I was not spending every moment
of fic? (No joke, I've gotten these, and they make me even more ill than
I already am.) However, I have gotten some very lovely, touching, and kind
emails from folks expressing their support for my RL problems, and also
saying how much Pawn To Queen, and especially the struggles of the young
women (Hermione, Blaise, and Claudia) has helped them and inspired them.
It's for these wonderful people that I'm attempting a compromise. And here be the compromise. Despite my health, and in the few blessed
intervals when my inbox wasn't too insane, I've managed to put together
some assorted chapter-snippets and a rough outline for the next 70+ chapters.
My archivists have been kind enough to post the outline with links to
each of the chapters. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that most of said chapters are works-in-progress.
They have not been beta'd and many are unfinished or rough-drafted. I
am posting them for the enjoyment of those who just want more of the story---
not to encourage another 40hrs/week round of commentary, much less to
encourage the typo police (another of the banes of my ficwriterly existence,
as I only galley-proof, i.e., do exhaustive line-by-line edits for punctuation
and spelling, in return for royalties. If this bothers you, go read someone
with stricter standards, though I warn you that you'll have a hard time
finding them in fandom, and even in published writing.) Enjoy, bear in
mind that these are rough-outs, not finished copies; take the chance,
if you like, to see this as a wee little window into the creative process,
to poke around in a writer's head a bit, rather than looking for a finished
product. And by all means, if spoilers annoy you, don't even read the
outline! But don't email me asking for updates, either. This is all I can manage
at the moment, and I really am in need of that retreat-in-the-sense-of-renewal.
I don't know when I'll have the physical and mental stamina to resume
the story beyond this point. Right now I'm hoarding my energy reserves,
trying to get my health under control, and writing what I can when I can.
And endeavoring to follow Walt Whitman's sound advice: "Reevaluate everything
you have been told... dismiss that which insults your soul." Ultimately,
that may be the first task of the creative person, and I find I need some
time for that reevaluation as well. Please, give me that time. I love
hearing from people who want to share a deep personal or philosophical
reaction to my work, but the bulk of my free time (i.e., writing-time),
alas, seems to be spent in answering one-line update requests. Well, you
have your answer here, and emailing me will only slow the process down.
That said, follow the link for the outline.
Last updated: 7 August 2002 by Hecate
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