Warning: Author's Notes
Dear Readers,
All characters of the Kim Possible show are the property of Disney, Inc., and I presume the character Jonny Quest still belongs to Hanna-Barbera.
One of my goals is to offer another spin on the Kim/Ron story that explores some of the emotional and psychological dimensions of their evolving relationship, yet do so in a way that is consistent within the implied boundaries of the cartoon series. The idea for this story began with a quote I remember reading years ago: "the guy starts thinking about in the fall what the girl has been planning all summer long."
This was a challenging story to write. I started on something more epic and darker in scale, but it just wasn't going anywhere. But I liked pieces of what I had already written, mainly the M Word scene in the opening chapter. I started over with a different set of villains and a new narrative that more naturally wrapped itself around the M Word theme. It turned into my homage to the late 50's and 60's. I tried to imagine what a middle-aged Jonny Quest might be like, given his unusual boyhood. And the potential interplay between the Kim-Ron-Shego-Drakken offered much richer plot possibilities than my original pair, the Director twins. Hope you like the results.
I have spent some time in Southern California and tried to add enough details to give the story a sense of authenticity. Details can be a pain, though. For example, Jonny Quest's original vehicle in the story was the classic 60's era Corvette Sting Ray. After much mechanical and grammatical sweeping and dusting, it suddenly dawned on me that Ron's electromagnetic rings wouldn't work too well on a Corvette—Corvette fans will know why. Argh! Hence, there was a last minute switch to a Jaguar E-Type. But then that meant Ron couldn't climb into the back seat, because Jaguar E-Types didn't have backseats. More Argh! Ultimately, I fall back on a writing maxim of the western writer, Elmer Kelton, who adeptly uses history as a backdrop for his novels, but who also wrote that a fiction writer should never let a fact get in the way of a good story.
One final comment, for the past few holidays, I've been searching for old recordings of often out-of-print albums that I grew up with and giving them to my parents as Christmas gifts, including Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall, The Johnny Mann Singers Christmas album (still my favorite holiday music), and of course, Provocative Percussion. As Ron noted, it is rather cheesy lounge music. But as Kim discovered, it's also sexy and fun. Great stuff.
Enjoy.
The Lady Rhetorica
PS: Thank you, J. K. Rowling, for your beautifully written universe about the boy who lived.
