Author's Note –
To my fanfiction readers,
First thing to note – this is not a new chapter and I apologize if you have been patiently waiting for an update. I would also like to apologize as I have not updated this story in over three years (and counting) nor have I given you any notice as to where this story stands. Truth be told, I wasn't satisfied with where the story was heading. There were significant time gaps of when I updated and the reasons for that worked like a continuous loop. I would become stuck and struggle with writing a chapter so I'd wait for a spontaneous idea to pop into my mind that I could feel somewhat okay with incorporating into the story. Then I would update and I would become stuck again. Between these updates were significant time gaps and I move away from the story, take a break, and hopefully refresh my mind. When I come back, the less I remember of what I wrote but I knew I had to put up a new chapter otherwise the story would come to a standstill. So I was working off the fear of never finishing the story but wound up all these inconsistencies in my story – with the plot and the characters – and I end up frustrated every time. Simply put, I was disappointed with myself and with the story.
As the years passed, I come back to this story and I tell myself that I'm not giving up to these stories – somewhere down the line this story will pick up and it'll be good. Then I disappear and genuinely forget about the story. But little reminders come by, whether I'm scrolling through the television guide trying to find something worth watching and see Narnia playing and I'd be too encompassed with nostalgia to pass up the opportunity to re-watch it again. But weirdly enough, even the movie couldn't motivate me to write another chapter. Somewhere in the years that passed, I had given up and I was slowly accepting that what I wrote is the end – it is what it is.
But it was you guys – those kind reviews and messages and genuine enthusiasm towards the story that got me here, finally writing an answer to all your questions. I'm still not okay with how this sequel panned out, but that's how every author is – always criticizing their work and finding every flaw and imperfection. But if there is anything, I could take away from this COVID pandemic would be not to take what you have for granted. The love and support my stories got had been overwhelming and sadly, I've neglected the appreciation you have for them.
I was unbelievably young when I started Bad Boy and the title itself points to how fetus-like I was to choose such a "creative" title. My writing was amateur to subpar and I was horrendously appalled at how repetitive I was. To be fair, I had quite a laugh with myself because despite how utterly appalling my writing had been, I had tremendous fun with the storytelling of it all; character building was my aesthetic. I loved creating Alaura, but I lacked in hitting the realism of her issues. I hit serious issues such as eating disorders and sexual harassment mindlessly. I needed to work on research if I wanted this girl to be relatable and truthful to the struggles people actual deal with on a day-to-day basis.
READ THIS – the only way I'm able to jump back into this story is if I rewrite the story. I'm strongly leaning towards starting from the beginning but instead of making a sequel, I just write one entire story that continues into the sequel. It's been far too long, and I don't remember much of what I wrote when I was fourteen years old. I have no qualms about rewriting just the sequel if that is preferred. The key takeaway for you readers, is a rewritten story about Alaura and Edmund may be in the works.
Wishing you and all your loved ones are staying healthy and stay safe in this pandemic.
- Daisies for Bethany (formerly, Forever. Bethany)