Author's Note: Passing the Baton
Title: The Fire of the Sun
Author: audreyii_fic
Fandom: Twilight (Team Jacob)
Rating: T
Characters: Full cast (Jacob/Bella, Sam/Emily)
Genre: Romance/Angst/Wolfpack!Humor
Warnings: Language, violence, and references to adult behavior. (Click here for more details.)
banner courtesy of untilwebleedoz
Summary:
Sequel to The Movement of the Earth. Bella finds the cost of joining the supernatural world may be higher than she can pay. ( Click here to start from the beginning.)
Author's Note:
Edited: I was totally wrong about mera-naam-joker's intended participation thanks to my internet being a bitch at a critical point in time; fixed!
Author's Note: Passing the Baton
(or, the author freaks out and her friends rescue her)
Sooooooo... yeah. I got stuck. I ran out of steam. I hit the wall. Whatever metaphor most suits the situation, the simple fact is that I could not find the strength or will to finish this story.
This was, in addition to being humiliating, profoundly annoying. In the past when I have abandoned WIPs, it was because I'd written myself into a corner; in those times I simply couldn't figure out how to proceed with the story. That was not the case here. I knew exactly how the rest of The Fire of the Sun was supposed to go, each chapter, each scene, sometimes down to direct dialogue. Also, the problem wasn't that I didn't feel like writing at all -- I finished Pieces of the Memories and a long one-shot for another fandom. I could write. I wanted to write.
In short, there was no reason for being stuck. I kept sitting around, waiting for the muse to return.
Months passed. Nothing.
So, because I am obviously a very adult, mature, level-headed person, I melodramatically descended into ridiculous angst. I began to avoid the fandom all together. I seriously considered simply jumping ship, moving to Uruguay, and changing my name to Towanda.
Then -- in true Twilight fashion -- I HAD A DREAM. I could outline the rest of the story! And then post it! And then at least the readers wouldn't be kept in suspense as to how the story would end!
I asked advice from everywhere, and people were awesome and gave awesome insight and talked me down off the ledge. It was a pretty even split between folks who thought I should post the outline (and thus confess defeat) and folks who thought I should announce semi-permanent hiatus (in case I one day came back to finish). There were excellent arguments for both sides.
Eventually I leaned on the side of posting the outline. I began to write it out, showing it to mera_naam_joker and Naranwien as I went, so as to check whether or not the Cliff Notes made any damn sense at all.
Then it was Naranwien who said, "Why not get someone else to take over?"
And I said, "Would you do it?"
And Naranwien said, "Eep!"
But at the same time, Nara admitted a certain curiosity in the challenge that FotS would present. But... eep!
Then I said to Mera, "How about you?"
And Mera said, "Eep! But if Nara's in, I'm in."
I prostrated myself at their feet. They agreed.
Long story short (hah, like I ever tell a short story) the illustrious and extremely talented Naranwien and mera_naam_joker will be continuing The Fire of the Sun from here on out. While they will be following my ridiculously-long outline (and I imagine I will be chipping on dialogue and certain scenes from time to time), they will have creative control and will make their decisions accordingly. I am not bullshitting anyone when I say I have the absolute, utmost confidence that they will not only do justice to everyone's expectations, but that they will outstrip me in the process. By the end everyone will be wishing they'd written the entire thing to begin with.
Nara has some projects to finish up before she gets started; update scheduling will be at her and Mera's discretion. When the time comes, I will post announcing the next chapter; it will be linked to her FFn page, because she will naturally be taking the page hits and reader reviews that come with owning the story. Because she doesn't use LJ, however, I'll continue posting alerts on SOB and TATS whenever it's updated.
In the meantime, I heartily recommend reading Naranwien and mera_naam_joker 's fabulous fics, if for some reason you haven't already. In particular, if you're curious about how Nara, Mera, and I work together, they and I have been collaborating on a dark story called Abiding in the Turmoil. It can be most concisely described as MotE/FotS!Jacob's worst nightmare with regards to the imprint. It also features an insane amount of sexytimes.
I realize I am threading the needle, and words can't express my embarrassment that I bit off more than I could chew with this story. But at the same time, words can't express my gratefulness to Nara and Mera to being willing to take up the baton and run where I have failed. Also, thanks again to everyone who gave me such useful and soothing advice while I freaked out in such a childish fashion.
Mostly, though, thanks to everyone who's read so far, who's stuck with this in spite of the hiatus, and I hope you enjoy what comes next! :D
(PS. I'm planning to write some fluffy smut as a general apology. So there's that.)