Author's Note-Like Objects

Wow...here we are at the end of another one.

Don't really have a lot to say about this one--it grew out of another "story in the dark" session with Dan (like Blood Ties did) but somewhere along the line developed a life of its own.

As I said way back at the beginning, this was a weird story. It wasn't meant to be originally, because it was written way back before a lot of the developments that occurred in the real Shadowrun world made it sort of obsolete, and long before Crossfire and Inner Demons were even glimmers in my eye. I know there are some readers out there who are a little sick of certain plot elements in Shadowrun stories (cough--Horrors) but hey, what can I say? I like 'em. There are plenty of stories out there involving big guns, cyberzombies, and otaku. I like big-H Horrors and small-H horror. But that said, you can safely ignore this story in 'Hawk's and Ocelot's timeline, because it just didn't happen.

I kind of liked Fang and Striker, but probably not enough to bring them back. I might give them a cameo in an upcoming story to make them "real," but don't expect them to turn up as main characters. As for Roger--you can be sure he'll turn up somewhere. I like him a lot. I figure he'll probably show up in the fifth book of the Crossfire trilogy :) (yes, I do have five planned--and wouldn't be surprised if more suggested themselves before I finish those five).

Anyway, thanks for sticking with us to the end, and I hope you liked the story. If you did, please send feedback. Heck, if you didn't like it, please send feedback anyway. We web authors thrive on it. :)

Thankyous

Got a few people to thank for this one:

First, as always--Dan. He was responsible for chunks of the plot as we worked this story out over the course of at least a month's worth of stories. He still puts up with me, and I'm very grateful for his support.

Next, Shapcano. He was the one who sent me the note back in '97 sometime that said (and this is almost a direct quote): "You have a 150 page novel finished and you're not going to let me read it??" So I let him read it, and he offered quite a few valuable comments. Check out his page--he's got lots of great stuff to read.

DeckerM-- great friend, great writer, and general all-around sounding board and commiserator. She provided lots of wonderful feedback as OG was being posted. Be sure to check out her page as well--real quality stuff, and great reads!

All the folks who have sent me feedback for this and my other stories. I appreciate every bit of it. Thanks, everybody!

Finally, it's gotten to be a bit of a tradition in my notes to include my musical influences while writing the story in question, but the only one I can remember specifically for this one is Toad the Wet Sprocket's Fear, which I listened to incessaantly throughout most of the plot. Go figure.

Anyway, thanks again! Hope to see you for the next one!

Cheers,
--Rat (May, 2000)

Copyright ©1996 R. King-Nitschke. The Shadowrun universe is the property of FASA Corporation.
No part of this story may be reproduced without permission from the author.