Perils of a Merpony: A Ponies after People Tale

by kitten_girl86

Interlude - by Author

This is kitten_girl86 and I'd like to take a quick chapter to explain some things that have cropped up; get some things off my chest, so to speak.

First of all, thank you to all of those who HAVE been following the story so far. Kathryn's story has become my biggest since Gummy Meets Pinkie Pie and that has kept me going. I loved the original story and I really wanted to write my own to include my love of merponies.

"AND you haven't given up, so kudos on that too. You're already further than many writers on the site get." "And one last positive thing for this comment: I'm super glad you aren't afraid to make things actually _happen_ in your story. There are lots of slow-moving side stories out there. This one isn't, and it's a good change of pace. Keep up the good work!"

It's stuff like this that make me really happy and encouraged to continue writing the story.

That being said, I really did/do want this story to be cannon with the original.

Farmville was only a stop over for Kathryn; picking up Sarah on the way and I didn't expect the visit to be so long. I never meant for there to be so many ponies but it just happened that way. If my creative flow tells me to put something in, I do that. Maybe Farmville WAS an exception... Kathryn has no idea and as such, neither does the reader. OK, so the depth of the swimming pool was a bit much and that was an oopsie on my part. I will/did go back and fix that. The reason for the life jackets was because despite being turned into ponies, they WERE still humans at one point and certain habits still crossed over. Next, I never said that Joe Farmer and Amy Orchard were married. Sure, I said "partner" but unless they changed the numerous meanings, partner can still apply to say a business partner. They were the co-founders of Farmville, hence using the term of "partner"; they had given up their human last names and gave themselves their new ones based on their cutie marks, not knowing what those actually meant.

Yes, Sarah is a unicorn merpony and Patrick is a pegasus merpony. I am not going to change that. I don't care how some might think that Patrick's wings are useless. They're not, and it'll become clear why later. Kathryn's ability to change from Earth to merpony, I'm sorry but it really is only to do with her talent (and the fact that some pony had to do the driving).

Gary's "diamond geode" was a creation of mine so he could have a complete set. I have OCD and the thought of him not having a diamond grated on me fiercely until I gave him one. And i never said he dug it up.... for all Kathryn knew, he had "liberated" it from a museum. Geology has not changed. There will not be any rock farms in my story.

It's comments like

Clearly not 'canon' with the rest - far too many ponies.

that really bum me out and make me not want to continue writing this story. I've never had a story with so much commenting and writing advice before... sometimes I'm not entirely sure how to take it all. I've never been good at accepting negative criticism and that's a flaw on my part, not on any pony else's. While I appreciate the positive on the comments, I feel like all people see when going to the page for the first time is all the negative. Again, another flaw on my part.

Thanks for sticking with me on this chapter... It's helpful for me to clear the air.

...... And now back to the irregularly scheduled updates of Kathryn's story!

Comments

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It's true what they say that it takes ten positive comments to overcome the weight of even one negative comment. Even when, like that one, the comment isn't malicious or intended to be taken in a mean way-- sometimes the most sincere comments can be more of a bummer than the mean ones.

Keep writing. You've already made it so far-- further than many stories do. At the same time, see writing as a skill-improving exercise. It took me a million words before I could write well. That isn't to say there aren't already things to like about your writing. I love the obvious passion for your idea, and for the craft itself. Everything else will come of practice.

So keep writing, and I'll keep enjoying this story.