Astoria

f i n a l n o t e

"Once upon a time, there was a huge empire."

So began the first original story I had ever written. The rest, as they say, is history.

But perhaps a bit more detail...

I was a sophomore in high school when I first had the stirrings of an idea: the idea that would later become "The Pardoning of Westerholme" in its entirety. I spent some time recently, searching through boxes, to find the binder in which my original story resides. Reading through what I had written...Was incredibly...strange? But cool at the same time. It was great to see how much I've improved upon the idea and fleshed it out until it was complete. (The beginning quote for this note is taken from the first version.)

Some things stayed the same...but most things changed drastically between the three different times I attempted this story. Attempt number one was sophomore year. Number two was the summer before my junior year.

What still remains the only completed attempt is the one you just finished reading. (Or hopefully just finished reading, unless you skipped to the author's note, in which case....GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING.)

In the first version, the main male character was "Dorst" and he ruled the empire of "Alacia" from the capitol city of "Astoria".  Only in the second version did he take the name "Antony". The second version was also the one where I went with "Astoria" for the name of empire. Meredith has been through three name changes...First May, then Katarina, and finally, Meredith.

Not all characters changed...

Ramona has been the ever faithful and motherly cook through all three versions. Lady Catherine has spent all three versions terrorizing the characters, but only in the third did she find some form of redemption.

Jonathan cropped up in the second version and stuck it out for the third. "Lucas" from the first and second versions became "Kade" for the final version. A girl named "Heidi" became Isabella for the third version.

In the first version, "May" (Meredith's first version counterpart) was simply an unfortunate new maid who found herself at the mercies of Hilda, the evil housekeeper. Only in the second version was Meredith (or Katarina, as she was in that version) a Princess of Borgavia in hiding.

Anyways...I guess I just want to thank those of you who stuck with this particular version.

As an author, looking back is kind of a humbling experience. I'm going to miss these characters. I've been living in their world since July, and part of me is sad to leave them behind and move on to something else.

I hope, though, that some of you might stick with me as I move forward in my writing endeavors. You, my readers, mean so much to me.

-s|m