Chapter 439: Author's Note
Hey, y'all—
Phew. . . A Magical Journey has finally come to an end. Well, there will be an Epilogue volume, but that will be released slowly and will be directly released to the public— the Epilogue volume will come out slowly, like over a year maybe, and it will cover the future life of Quinn and the people around him. I will make the Epilogue as satisfactory as possible, full of great moments with no sadness or tragedy (maybe a little bit, who knows).
It has been a year and a half since AMJ had taken form through words. A year and a half isn't a long time when it comes to fanfictions or even web fiction, but to me, this time seems like long. I can remember the day Quinn was created, the day when I wrote chapter one, and the day when chapter one was posted. This project brought me out of the burnout that I had suffered from my first work, and what returned me to writing and reminded me about the joys of it all. So I can only understate how important AMJ is to me. . . it has been the one consistent thing in my life recently. It was an endeavor that had begun as just something I wanted to try out with zero planning and vision— however, it turned out something that had been fortunately liked by few and many— and I'm truly glad that it turned out the way it did.
To be honest, I haven't talked much about the monetization aspect of AMJ, but to open up— if not for AMJ, I would be in a different position in my life. The financial burden that AMJ lifted off of me is something that I can't even begin to describe, as I would have to reveal so many things that I would rather not revisit.
And because of all you lovely people who have supported me, I am where I am. I never imagined AMJ getting the response it did, and it not only improved my financial situation and life in general— but most importantly, it did wonders for my self-confidence. The 'me' from before AMJ is much different from the current 'me'— the improvement in how I see myself has been the biggest takeaway from AMJ. It has shown me that I am capable, competent, and an independent human being— I can't stress how great of a feeling and motivator that is.
I couldn't have done it without all of you. . . . thank you so much.
However, as much as I love AMJ, I hold several regrets about it. I feel I haven't done the story and the characters justice. I left so many exciting plot threads unexplored that could've elevated the story to another level; instead, I chose to pursue things that were frankly unnecessary and shouldn't have seen the light of the day— I screwed up the pacing on multiple occasions, opened things that and never closed up, betrayed expectations I set up myself, and so many more things that I wish I could go back and fix. I feel every character (including Quinn) merited so much more; they deserved their story to be told by a better writer than me, and shine more and become existences that would stay in people's minds long after AMJ had ended.
For that, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and promise that I will do better. . . .
Let's talk about the future, shall we? I have no intention whatsoever to ever stop writing. I only wish I could've started earlier so I could be better today. As some of you are already aware, I will be taking a break of around two months before my next project goes live— between now and then— I will be refreshing myself, reading, plotting, writing some, and generally preparing to launch what's next to come.
I am eager about what's next to come. Excited to start something new and exciting! It will be another fanfiction. I want to spend some more time working in other authors' sandbox before building my own. And I just love fanfiction so much!
Though the next time you see my writing won't be a fanfiction but something original. Surprise! Within a month, I will be releasing the pilot chapter (first chapter) of an original story that I'm currently brainstorming on. It will be just that one chapter; it is just an experiment and something to scratch the 'original' itch. It will be hosted on Patréon exclusively, though it will be a public post, so everyone will be able to read it.
Let's see if FictionOnlyReader can write an original and make it interesting. Do read it when it comes out.
Signing off,
FictionOnlyReader.