"The Redemption of Jake Barnes": One Possible Epilogue for "The French Connection"

[bluestocking79]

Oh, don't worry. I haven't gone crazy and self-indulgent and started scripting Severus and Hermione's adventures in Paris for the next 19 years. Actually, I didn't write this piece at all; it's a beautiful, Hemingway-inspired gift from bohemianspirit entitled The Redemption of Jake Barnes. I sent her "The French Connection" near Christmas for her perusal, and

Comments

[sander123]

I refuse to read it - although I'm sure it's amazing, I love open endings - for me it's a quality sign in original fiction and I hate the long-winded epilogues that tell you everything about the children and the children of the children :)

So I think it shows your strength as a writer that you don't indulge in the siren-call of a sequel (I'm sure you were pressured about it).

I refuse now - but don't ask me, what I will do, when I read the F.C again - unfortunately I'm not very rigorous about my principles ;)

[bluestocking79]

for me it's a quality sign in original fiction and I hate the long-winded epilogues that tell you everything about the children and the children of the children :)

Generally speaking, so do I. From the perspective of a reader, I resent the author's lack of faith in the reader, and from the perspective of an author, I don't want to limit the places where others can take those ideas. I did feel a certain amount of temptation to write an epilogue for the story, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked the idea. It's hard to let the characters go, but I feel like it is rewarding to do it.

don't ask me, what I will do, when I read the F.C again - unfortunately I'm not very rigorous about my principles ;)

Hee! I think that goes for many of us. I hate to tempt you further, but I have to tell you that this is a fairly open-ended epilogue! It doesn't tie everything together in a neat bundle; it's just a glimpse of what daily life could be like. No 'all was well' here!

[bluestocking79]

Mmm, that is very true with 'Severus Evans'--the real story starts after that initial romance. I've enjoyed that immensely, the way it grows richer with each installment.

FWIW, I completely agree about this piece being an 'illumination'--it doesn't really feel like an epilogue to me so much as a character study. And I dig that. *g*

[bluestocking79]

If that was a hint to get my butt in gear with posting the next chapters of SE, it worked. ;-)

~cheers~ Yay! My evil plan worked! ;-) Seriously, I was really happy to see the new chapter up. I always enjoy reading a new installment.

Re: backstory, I know what you mean. I often find that when I first sit down to write a story, I need to actually write out all that backstory first. A lot of it never makes it to print (you should see all the things that never made it into 'The French Connection'), but it informs the rest of the story--it deepens it and adds resonance. I see the same thing in 'Severus Evans.'

Man, I wish the world were filled with more people like you and I

LOL! So do I! The one nice thing about academia is that pretty much everybody there is nerdy and quite proud of it. These are people who get completely excited about character studies and rocks and a new translation of book that's been around for 200 years. *g*