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I have so many things I want to discuss about Season of Song, which was finished a few weeks ago. I really feel, Louise, this was your best work yet, though I have loved all of your stories. Gwen and Co, though, seemed so real to me, and so complex. The gray areas in this story reminded me so much of the Anne books. You wanted things to be perfect, but they weren't always, and that was so much more satisfying than if they were.
Some things especially I enjoyed:
Some things especially I enjoyed:
- The strained relationship between Di and Rilla, stemming from Walter's death. People in families don't always have to get along and I know that we all (me in particular) tend to make the relationships in the Blythe, Ford, Meredith clans a real love-fest. This way was bittersweet, but ultimately more realistic, IMO.
- The relationship between Gwen and Oliver. Again, it's easy in fanfiction to telegraph who will end up with whom, romantically, from the beginning, or to set things up very early on. I really have no idea whether or not Gwen and Oliver Grant will take things forward that way, or if Tryg will feature or not, and I like not knowing.
- The fact that Gwen didn't stay. Oh, I wanted her to! Just like I wanted Anne to be able to go to Queens at the end of AoGG. But Anne never would have left Marilla in the lurch, and Gwen never would have left her family. Neither of them would be half so loveable if they did.
- Seeing Gwen and the Blake kids interacting with their parents, and seeing what life in Kingsport is like for them.
- Seeing the relationship between Gwen and Chloe grow and change
- Romance! :)
- The
It's so funny you should write this now, Connie - I've just been sitting here working on the sequel, and took a quick break to rest my mind and see if there were any blog updates!
Thank you so much for your kind words about Gwen &Co. I kind of feel like the Meg stories (and the two previous ones) were just getting my feet wet, you know? I was still feeling my way forward, figuring things out, not sure just how much I dared tweak Montgomery's world. I still love the Shirley-Cecily story, but oh my, it is really just one big cliche from beginning to end! Here with Gwen, I finally feel like the story belongs to me; I'm not writing to conform to a mold, but to tell the story the way that seems best to me.
I owe you a huge debt, also - your Sally story, the way you stood typical LMM fanfic on its head with Irene and the Blythes, especially your portrayal of Diana, all helped me to A) have the guts to take this story in a different direction, and B) see the Blythes more as real people, not just caricatures.
I had the most terrible time wrestling with whether or not Gwen would stay. I agonized over it right along with her. At one point I even had almost decided to kill off John Meredith so that Jonas could take over the pulpit and the entire family could move, and Gwen could have both! In the end, though, that just seemed like a cheap escape. She had to make the hard choice, and live with the result, and I'm glad I went the way that I did. Anything else just wouldn't have been right!
I would love to give you a preview of the next installment - but this comment is already dreadfully long, plus I have to go mess about with supper prep, so it will have to wait until later!
I feel the same way about Cecilia, I really do. She was easy and conformed so much to the basic structure of the Anne books. Alice was me pushing against the outside boundaries of melodrama. And Sally falls in some middle, more realistic place.
As I was reading what you wrote about Jonas taking over for John Meredith, I was thinking both "Yes" and "No" at the same time. It would be perfect--but life is rarely PERFECT, is it?
Thank you for your kind words about Sally! I think you would have come to dear Gwen on your own but I love her so I am happy to take a little credit if I can. ;)