Key - Author's Note

In any endeavor of epic proportions, many choices must be made, particularly in light of one’s budget. And, so it is with this endeavor, Key. In these early days of the creation of this tome, two choices strongly affect the narrative which may cause some degree of distraction. The goal of this note is to highlight these shortcomings with the hope that the reader’s understanding of the producers’ constraints will help nullify the distractions and allow the reader to enjoy the tale for what it is.

The best stories are often immersive. The reader is transported to a different time or place where they feel they interact with entities native to that environment. Perhaps, in a historical novel, a reader may expect that the mannerisms, word choice, and speech patterns of the characters meet some standard preconception of the time period.

One of the choices that we had to make is that these conventions have been discarded. I have coerced a collection of amateur writers to work - worth precisely every penny they have been paid. Unfortunately, they are incapable of faking the linguistic nuances of the historical time periods which form the settings in this work. Resultantly, I have asked that they write in their native, comfortable style - colloquial, 21st century, Americanized English in all settings in order to avoid slipshod and distracting mistakes.

When a professionally written novel takes place in a foreign culture, often, words and concepts are borrowed from the language to paint a suitable picture of the setting. Additionally, characters proceed through the narrative performing activities that are normal in the society in which they live. This epic tale contains innumerable characters from many heritages, races, and cultures. Indeed, one should assume that a majority of the characters in this tale are from all sorts of places with all sorts of non-Western heritage. Unfortunately, my current collection of writers are shiftless, middle class, and white. Their skill level is simply not suitable to describe these foreign cultures and perspectives in a way that would not exoticize and, likely, offend individuals of the culture. And so, I have asked that they refrain from attempting to write from a voice unfamiliar to them. The downfall of this choice is that an inordinate collection of the characters in this tale may “come off” as merely shiftless, middle class, and white.

I apologize for these shortcomings and hope that my writers are at least capable enough to present this tale, twisted and complicated as it is. If not, do not blame me, for I have written none of it.

I have not even written this author’s note.

Sincerely,

Hollow Well