This last November, I finally finished The Atropos Project. It took over a year from my first scribbled lines to the final posting, and if you read the maintenance section on my fiction pages you'll note that as late as last month it was still being updated. Atropos is the longest thing I've ever written, fanfic or otherwise. And, let me tell you, I had to argue with my characters every step of the way.

Of Benefactors and Angels got a new addition with the drafting of Vengeance. The OB&A end of things has had the most time spent on it, with the least to show for it. Charity is the hardest of my characters to write because she puts me in such a maudlin mood. I can't tell you how many pages of Charity being depressed I've filled up, none of them worth posting because nothing happens in them.

And another Caplan family vingette, Being Alone was drafted -- probably also at three in the morning. That seems to be the time that my rather sadistic muse likes to become active. It's the first of my TF pieces that is strictly TF, without any of the fanfic aspect.

Otherwise, I was in a bit of a creative dry-spell, mostly induced by the fact that I graduated from college, lost my job, and moved into my mother's basement: always one to be a credit to my generation, I am. Then, for the first time in my relatively short writing career, I was inspired to write a whole story that wasn't fanfic or science-fiction (though the plot is held together by a little mind-reading). Of course such a monster would have to be about the Caplans. The result of that work is currently titled Leave Youth Its Roses. The working title for the piece was AfterImage. The piece took about two months of concentrated writing, and incorporated some scenes that were drafted out months ago.

Since Tomorrow's Future began, I've created 24 characters and one secret Organisation for it. Most of them in the past year. Youth introduced the characters of Aaron and Hannah Davidovich. Aaron was originally invented as just a name, a place-holder on that family tree I mentioned in the previous essay. Hannah was always supposed to be a main character. She was invented because I've tried to make each character interesting in a "normal" way as well as in their own unique "TF" ways, and I figured the easiest way to screw-over Aaron was to give him a child.

Two other place-holders I created were adopted by one of my fellow TF authors, Stephen Fitch. He was officially welcomed aboard during this past year as well, and I have absolutely no idea if/when he'll ever publish his first piece. When he first pitched his idea, I said I could loan him some incidental characters if he needed them. He did such a good job fleshing them out that he's welcome to keep them, if he wants. They were originally invented for the OB&A series (as can be seen from their names): Angie and Mitchell Simon. [You mean you've read the series and you hadn't noticed that all the characters are named after either Angels or synoyms for 'Benefaction' -- shame on you!] Stephen also talked me out of making Aaron into a vampire and talked me into making him an official TF in-joke.

A TF in-joke? As you know if you're reading this, we have quite a few of those, ranging from the coffee/cocoa/mocha joke that Kyrie single-handedly managed to overuse in her debut piece, The Prime Factor, to the overuse of the name "Hannah" that Selma and I are diligently working on. See, Kyrie made a wish that TF include some normal folk. What's the addage about being careful what you wish for? Aaron is the answer. He's not only going to be normal, he's going to be so normal that he's never going to seriously notice any of the not-so-normal stuff going on all around him. And, believe me, there's going to be a lot of abnormal stuff going on. Especially if Stephen has his way.

Face it, when one of your cousins is an Immortal (as of this writing, the story where Gabby dies for the first time is still on the drawing board, but the date that it happens is December 6, 1998) and two are Tomorrow People, a lot of strange stuff is bound to happen in your vicnity. It should also be noted that Aaron's mother is a Watcher (retired), as will be his daughter one day, and that he is scheduled to begin dating Charity soon. Oh yeah, and thanks to Stephen, one of Aaron's roommates is a Vampire Hunter and the other . . . well, we're not quite sure what the other one is yet.

Youth also inspired the creation of Jamie and Mrs. Schrader: both created for the sole purpose of forcing Aaron to take custody of the child he doesn't want. As of this writing, they will never be more than place-holders. While Jason Rosenberg, mentioned in Introduction, was originally created to be a main character, he's never made it into a TF piece. He did sign himself on as a main character in Forging Amanda, a non-TF, non-sci-fi story I drafted for a fiction class. Please don't ask to see it, as it's nowhere near finished and probably never will be.

There's a new character in the wings who no one has met yet. His name is Alejandro Victor Montez de los Reyes. He was originally invented for a non- TF piece called One Abhu, about The End of the World, Mayan style. Instead, he moved to Chicago and ended up in the same highschool class as Rachel. He was originally supposed to be a deity. I highly doubt I'll go through with that, but this is TF, so one never knows.

As for the Caplans themselves: Rachel turned out to be a boon. My original trepidation over using her is long gone. She's one of the few characters I have who is based on a real person: she's sort of a conglomeration of all the Deaf students I've had the pleasure of working with over the past few years, one in particular who I can't name and who knows nothing about any of this, but who still deserves a big thanks. Robbie finally managed to die, in Atropos but not before championing for his sister one last time. Nor did he die when and how I wanted him to. Gabby, who hasn't managed to die despite all my efforts otherwise, is revealing a lot of hidden resentment towards her adoption and towards both Rachel and Robbie, which she takes out on Aaron. And then there's Charity -- not a Caplan, but I tend to lump her in with the bunch. She's turning out to have a real vicious streak, as well as an ability to hold grudges rivaled only by Duncan MacLeod. She's also revealed herself as a major co-dependent.

What does the next year have in store for the Caplans? Look for the return of Samantha Rowan and O.P.U.S.S., Gabby's going to die (this year for sure, I hope), Rachel isn't, Aaron might, Charity undoubtedly will -- at least once . . . per story. I hope to finally get Jason introduced, and to get the crossover with Greer and Michael that I've been planning for over a year written. Someone will lose thaer memory, someone will fall in love, someone else will fall out of love, and there might even be a wedding in store. Death and grief will continue to be big topics, along with the importance of families, the nature of self, and the thrill of having one's own spaceship on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific.

© June 1997

While I'm being complete, I should take this opportunity to include the sonnet Youth Gone. The title of my piece Leave Youth Its Roses is adapted from one of its lines.