Okay. I’m back. And this time I’m probably going to go a little “Sylvie” on you. You know, the practical, pragmatic, ‘just put it out there and take no prisoners’ Sylvie.
Early in September, I wrote a post about why you can’t find detailed character lists and that wasn’t enough. I’ve had some straightforward questions and some sideways comments about this and I recognize them all. And it’s okay. Don’t apologize or feel bad. You get to ask questions of me. That’s the kind of relationship we have. I’m not mad or upset. Just going to do a little cleanup here.
Like I said before – I get it. Don’t think that I don’t. But for every helpful reason you give me to fix this, what you don’t see are the myriad reasons behind the decisions I make. I’m a smart woman and have been around the sun way too many times. I don’t make decisions lightly – especially about something I am so wholly invested in. I spend a lot of time in thought and contemplation about danged near everything that I do and I make decisions based on what works for thousands of readers, even if it frustrates a dozen or so people.
The thing is – I’m also wholly invested in y’all. You are the reason I write and you are the reason that I am still working to discover a clean solution so that you can get your hands on all of the information you want – whenever you want it.
I understand that re-reading the entire series for a little information about a character is impractical for most people. That’s not a good option. It never was, though some of you enjoy doing that just for the sake of the stories.
Because there are so many reasons, I won’t go into them all. I actually shouldn’t have to. After 15 books and nearly 4 years building this community, I hope that you trust me to do whatever I can to do right by you.
Now, don’t you dare try to build me up in comments by slamming those who are asking for this or offering unhelpful/helpful advice. Stop it. That’s not being a good Bellingwood-ian. We’re a community. I got this.
For those of you who run into trouble remembering a name, or how a character entered the series, I can’t stress enough … ask questions. That whole community thing? You all love talking about these people. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world. The comments from yesterday’s post on the person you’d like to have coffee with are amazing. You really get these people.
So ask us. Or ask me. I guarantee you that I will answer your question faster than you could probably look it up anyway. Send me a message or an email and I will tell you what I can.
Okay … caveat. I’m not awake in the morning. My general hours of business are from about 10:30 am – 2:30/3:30 am. But the FB page is always on and someone is always hanging about.
For those of you who know your characters really well – pay attention to posts on the page that might be asking for a name or a connection or a relationship. Just answer the question for me and all will be awesome.
Be gracious, be kind, be loving, be grateful, be Bellingwood for each other. Because when you are that to each other, you are that to me. There’s nothing more amazing.
And oh by the way, I’m getting closer to a good idea on this list thing. That whole patience thing? It stinks … but it’s a virtue!
I love you guys.
