Posted by Attica on June 18, 2002 at 14:15:27:
The Authors Forward
(For those that prefer to not read egotistical ravings, please go directly to the story)
It's been three years since I last wrote anything for the community. I had never intended to be away for so long but inspiration and the muse can't be rushed it seems.
This is only the third story that I've written and I am coming to the sad conclusion that every story I write ends up with these essential qualities:
* They are told in the first person.
* They always involve some form of dialogue, either self-directed or caused by someone else. There's something about the dynamics of a conversation that allow me to drive the narrative forward and not get bogged down.
This story took me a lot less time to write than _Postcards from the Fall_ (for those few who can remember it) because I think I'm more comfortable with my own style. Postcards was the first story I ever wrote and I think there was some desired perfectionism going on that I could have done without. I was acting like Hemingway: searching for that one perfect sentence when I should have just kept writing. It was also way to big. Hopefully I've chosen something a bit smaller this time. That is, if you consider 15 pages smaller.
For those of you that have read _Postcards_ have probably read the version where the ending got chopped off. I don't know if this was intentionally edited or a copy-paste mistake. Hopefully this story will be archived in its entirety.
This story is dedicated to the folks at Club-Dead for their dedication in continuing in the face of stupidity. Some day I'll be able to afford a custom scene.
Feedback is always welcome and desired (if you can slog through the story at any rate.) Send your laurels and your rotten tomatoes to atticaprison@netscape.net. I will appreciate every single note and I will respond personally. (Which is a pretty safe thing, since I got a grand total of four notes last time.)
Anyway...enough of my ramblings. I hope you enjoy reading it at least as much as I did researching and writing it.
- A