MY BROTHER'S KEEPER - AUTHOR'S NOTES
Okay, be honest now. How many of you had to go back to Chapter Two to figure out who Ron was?
I was very new at posting my writing on the net when I wrote this, and especially new at letting people read what I'd written before the entire work was complete. Heck, I'm still pretty new at even letting people read what I've written! :) And this one was an especially new experience because I had literally only the foggiest notion of where it might be going when I posted the first chapter. The opening paragraphs had been floating in my mind for at least a week while I was doing housework; I didn't even know at that time that Suzanne would be a villain.
In spite of editing, this still has errors and problems. One that especially bothers me is that, extrapolating forward from 'The Fifth Elephant,' there should not have been a heat wave in Ankh-Morpork. The story should have taken place in late winter. And Silicanslateslayers is a poor name for a troll. I'm not sure why he is in here anyway. Also, I guess we must assume this story took place before 'The Truth', since I state there is no clacks tower in Lancre. I'm hoping to address that problem in the story I'm working on now, 'Last Rights'.
Some things worked out as though they went directly from my muse to the computer, with no participation from my brain. The biggest is that I had no idea why I wrote that long section in Chapter One with Vimes, Carrot and the paperwork. It was just fun. It didn't occur to me until much later to write about the clacks from Margrat being lost on Vimes' desk, which became instrumental to getting Angua to the Ramkin house.
Some reviewers have said they were surprised I was able to write a convincing story where Vimes completely loses it and breaks down. The odd thing is that I didn't know that was going to happen until sometime during Chapter 4. I didn't start out to write about Vimes sobbing his heart out. I wouldn't have thought it in character. Vimes just doesn't cry. But when I put him in the situation and said to myself, "Okay, what would Samuel Vimes do now?" that's what came out.
In his review of this story, Intrasonic wrote that the line "Tonight, I will sleep in the knowledge that I have done all I humanly can to save Lady Sybil's life" is out of character for Vetinari, and I definitely agree. That line very nearly got changed to "I do not lose sleep over making the correct decision, Sir Samuel. And I am not afforded the luxury of making wrong decisions." I left it as is for two reasons. First, it works better for the mood of the story. Secondly, I was trying to show a slightly human side to the Patrician. He's taking a personal interest here, by arranging for the assassins to work on an antidote and by going to Vimes' home in person to deliver the bad news. I think he quite likes Lady Sybil. (And it's obvious from my slash writing that I sense a deeply hidden fondness for Samuel.)
I myself am not convinced that this is an especially good story, but I am proud of the reviews it has gotten. People whom I know are much better writers than me, such as The God of Angst, have said they like it. It made Jinxster, Twist, J.D., Xandra, and even Manx cry, which I think is a compliment. I didn't know what the heck I was doing when I started this story, and there's no way in hell I would have finished it had it not been for my reviewers. So this is dedicated to Jinxster, TGoA, Twist, Manx, Ihadanepiphany, Archer, Dreamkin, J.D., and all the rest. Thank you. You guys are great.