“Solitaire Till Dawn”, End notes
[ Endnotes posted 13 Dec 2014 ]
Where did the idea for the story come from?
This one goes so far back in the mists of time that I can’t even begin to offer a proper answer. The basic premise - man seeking his family while driving endlessly and aimlessly through a city seemingly populated only by the walking dead - was in the back of my mind for a long time, and only gradually began to accrete more of the details that would eventually turn it into a story.
Is there any particular significance to the title?
Besides the meaning inherent in the story itself, it’s a line from “Flowers on the Wall”, a 1965 song by the Statler Brothers. Liked the song, liked the line.
What is the thing I like most about this story? the thing I like least, or about which I feel most doubtful?
For quite awhile, this was one of my favorite stories. (Won a few awards, too.) Done back toward the beginning of my Buffyfic ‘career’, I was still focusing on the background characters and ‘untold’ stories that could be kept consistent with canon. A story about Kendra, between her first appearance and her last - both in BtVS Season 2 - certainly filled the bill. Also, it was the first time I’d gone full-out on something that had impressed me strongly when I first started reading Buffyfic. I’ve made previous references to “ Not Even Jimmy Olsen”, by blairprovence, and how it showcased the world of Buffy by depicting it through the eyes of a civilian caught up in what passed for ‘business as usual’ in Sunnydale; though James played a substantially larger role than NEJO’s narrator, he was just as far out of his depth. And, of course, the story itself had … elements … that I was quite satisfied with.
What I liked most was what I already named, the theme of someone caught up in a nightmare and barely managing to survive, while the primary work was done by the central heroine elsewhere; following that, of course, the terrible twist at the end, where his own victory was turned to ashes by something utterly outside his control.
There wasn’t anything I didn’t like, but as to doubtful … I would need someone else’s input to reassure me that my depiction of Corinne (both James’ observations in her absence, and her actual words and behavior once she appeared) weren’t two-dimensional and/or one-sided.
Is there anything I think I could have done better, or might do differently if I had it to do over?
Except for the possibility I raised (preceding) about whether or not Corinne was fully presented, no. I was very pleased with what I accomplished here, and have never felt any need to revise.
Do I have any plans to follow up on this story, or to use the character(s) or situation in a subsequent fic?
There was a brief reference in “… Than Meets the Eye”, and an even more obscure touch in “ Morning’s Echo”, both just enough to show that those stories took place in the same ‘canon’ as this one. That’s as far as it ever went, though, or is ever likely to.
Any observations to add at the end?
Only one, small and rather personal (which means largely irrelevant). At the time I wrote this story, I was still unwillingly divorced from the woman I would eventually remarry; when I read it to her, years later, I noted to her that Corinne’s character was not based on hers, but that James’ hopeless devotion to his wife was very much from my own experience. Make of that what you will.