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This is going to be an interesting story for me. I hadn't written in almost six months when this idea came. It also, for those who are wondering, offers a great deal of insight into my personal writing process. If anyone was under the impression that it was going to be longer than it was, well, you were right: I had plans to build this up to novel-length proportions. But all this story was was an interesting situation—a person in crisis. A crisis is different than a character arc, as television reminds us; you can solve a crisis without having to alter your personality or even go through any sort of introspection. You can weather a crisis without having to change. To me, stories need character arcs, and, to me, the person of Madison Bechtel did not have enough of one (or, perhaps, a good-enough one) to support the kind of stories I like to write. So I tied it off and gave it up. Who knows?—perhaps I'll finish it later, the way I did 90 Days. I can't make any promises, though. (Seriously, this kind of story makes me long for the early days of this site, where I had written every word of the story before I even started to publish it.) First off, an acknowledgement, to author Jared Diamond. I first heard of him through his seminal historical work, Guns, Germs and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies , an extremely useful work for those of us who have interest in epic fantasy and need to understand how and why societies are built. Recently I picked up two more of his books: one, Collapse, predicting future historical trends, and the other, Why Is Sex Fun?, about the evolution of human sexual behavior, which is quite weird compared to that of the rest of the animal kingdom. (I mean, how many other species have developed oral sex?) The moment I read, in it, about Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, the character of Madison Bechtel sprung fully-formed into being. The last time characters did that, their names were Arie and Brandon. So, a dedication and acknowledgement of deep debt: to Jared Diamond, historian, geographer, physiologist and all-around thinker. This story would literally not exist without you. Next, some smaller but just-as-important debts: particularly to everyone who has helped me with feedback, idea-bouncing, commentary or just plain support. In no particular order: fellow SOL author Janna Leonard, for advice and reading suggestions; my friend Anne; Internet friends Aly, Sarah C and Lisa B; and finally two people whose confidence has been inestimable but whom I shall not name, because they prefer their privacy. Let's just give them pseudonyms. Umm. How about "Zach" and "Christa"? Yeah, that sounds good. The name Madison chooses for her private parts in Part 4 is a tribute to Eddie Izzard, the world's funniest British transvestite comedian. ...Okay, maybe the world's only British transvestite comedian, but were there another he'd still be funnier. That's all I've got for the moment. Please be patient with me as this story unfolds. There's a great deal of challenging material to develop, and I'm working the kinks out of my wordy-gurdy which has lain fallow for so long. I'll write this story if it kills me—but be patient, because frankly, it probably will. |