Thank you all for joining me in my thanks and behind-the scenes look at Forever Morning.
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Disclaimer: Twilight is not owned by maplebird, who is appreciative to all her readers.
Author's Note
Let's just get the thank-yous out of the way first, shall we?
First and foremost, I would like to thank Stephenie Meyer for writing the Twilight saga and being so supportive of all us FanFictioners who just want a piece of Twilight; so much that we manipulate and twist the story beyond recognition. Anyway, thank you.
Thank you for allowing all us wannabe writers to actually get our name out there. Thank you for allowing me to publish my work without consulting an over-paid agent.
Thank you Sarah, or, TheRainIsMyMusic, for being the other half of my brain throughout this whole project. You introduced me to FanFiction when we were in Tennessee, in the wee hours of the night a year ago, and it just skyrocketed from there. Thank you for putting up with the texts at one in the morning, for staying up with me just to argue about the technicalities of the whole hybrid thing, and thank you for not going all psycho on me when I ask questions I already know the answers to. Thank you for inspirations, support and undying love only a god sister can give. I know this gets tossed around a lot, but this story TRULY wouldn't have happened without you.
Thank you to my muse, my imagination, whatever you want to call it, for making me go days with five hours of sleep, keeping me up with your crazy ideas. This is your story.
Thank you to my computer for not breaking down, as I trusted you with my story's life. I'm going to back all my files up after I finish typing this…
Thank you, Writer's Digest for giving me great tips on how to improve this story and my writing life.
Thank you to the Tennessee wildlife for giving me my username and the first spark to Forever Morning.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, readers. There were not many of you last time I checked, but if by the time you read this, then you obviously enjoyed this story so much to see it through to the end. THANKS!!!!!!!!
Now, the fun part! Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuuuuuuun!
All right, here's all the scoop I couldn't fit into the story.
I gave Leora the nickname Leo, traditionally a boy's name, because, well, I have a boy's name. I wanted to prove all stereotypes wrong. Girls who have boy names can be strong, independent women while still being feminine. If you have a problem with that, take it out on a pillow.
Just as the Wolves are named Quileutes, The Troop is named Concoloras. The name (I made it up, but) it comes from the Cougar technical classification Felis concolor. Unlucky for me, I found this out after I wrote the story. Oh well.
The Concoloras still hold some magic in their line, as do the Quileutes. The Troop's magic is most amazing when it ensures that one couple gives birth to a boy and another couple gives birth to a girl. Or, for all you non-believers, it could be a controlling/ensuring the survival-of-the-species thing in their genes. You may pick.
E, had he stayed and received his name at the First Change Ceremony, would have been Elliot or Esaki. Elliot because I love that name and one character always has the name Elliot in my stories. Esaki because there was a Japanese physicist, born in 1925, who received the Nobel Prize in 1973. His full name is/was Leo Esaki.
Had Lancaster stayed with the Troop, his name would have been Lionel. But you're right. He doesn't deserve such a fine name.
Sarah and I discussed the hybrid situation at length, and the explanation given is truly the best she and I could come up with. If it doesn't make sense, I'd love to discuss it with you. It's semi-AU because of that chapter anyway.
The mental block the hybrids put up in their minds came up unexpectedly. I was writing Jump? (chapter 7) and it just happened. I used it as a hindrance for the Cullens to overcome in their desperate search for Leo. Then I used it with Lancaster. I wanted to use it with E, but a situation never came up that he would need to use it. (F.Y.I, E can use his own block, but of the three, Lancaster's is the strongest. He's the weakest physically, but the strongest mentally.)
Despite the mental block coming from an impulsive idea, I have come up with a decent reason for its existence: Because the vampire race is nemesis to the shape-shifter (SS) race, the SS side needs a way to protect itself from the vampire side. (Physically, the human remnants separate the two, but the Block protects the SS side mentally from being infected by the vampire side.) When this Block is activated, it not only protects the owner's mentality, but it also protects the owner from other vampires when they use their ability against said owner. Nothing gets through, and nothing goes out.
Forever Morning was a lot of firsts for me:
My first FanFiction.
The first time I have ever completely filled a notebook with just a story.
The first story of mine to span more than one notebook.
The first chapter story I have ever finished. EVER.
My first published story
My first story where the readers were people I had never met.
The only time I had ever thought back to Twilight and considered changing a few things; also, when I realized that I actually wanted a whole new main character. A viola! Forever Morning.
I began to write Forever Morning anywhere from June 29 through the 5th or 6th of July, 2009.
~The first notebook containing Forever Morning was finished on September 13, 2009.
~The story was finished in the second notebook on November 11, 2009 at 12:00 am.
~I finished typing the 17 chapters on February 6, 2010.
~Between writing, and typing based on today, February 7th, 2010, (assuming my math is correct) it took seven months and twenty-three days to finish this story, not to mention whenever I get around to posting this.
~If I post this on April 29, it will have taken nine months to finish this story, start to publication. 9 MONTHS! Wow, I cannot even imagine being pregnant for that long. It is also as long as the average school year. Crazy.
Well, I guess that's that. Gee, after all that work, it comes down to this letter. Kinda strange. Doesn't feel quite over yet... I hope you have enjoyed reading Forever Morning, because I sure as hell have enjoyed writing it.
Next, I'm considering writing an Outsiders FanFic (from the book The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.) There seems to be an absence of Outsider FanFics that speak to me. I'm also considering some Heroes stories, and sprinkling in some Degrassi, Criminal Minds and some Harry Potter stories. We'll see what happens! Stay tuned!
Remember to dance in the rain.
~maplebird
3/5/2010