The Year in Review

Dear Readers,
So I started with this probably two or three years ago. It was an outline, the same sort of outline I use to start all my stories. It started with couple and listed their children, grandchildren, and their ages. That was it. My love for country comes from living on a gorgeous property with a creek in the rural area of a gorgeous community. So I set my scene in the country. My long-time love for the 19th century had me set it in 1873 (it was later changed to 1875 to make railroads more of a possibility). My appreciation of fine Victorian things forced me to make the family successful. I am also fascinated both by the English aristocracy and by 19th century Americana, so that is how John Henry Marshall, eventually to become the Duke of Stancliff, made his way to Montana. Montana? Yes, it was originally going to be set in Montana. And, yes, I'm a romance novel fan, so I had to have the girl. She was the young woman just starting out on her own, Tess Hartley with a secret in New York, and she had become friends with John Henry's handsome 23 year-old son, Nick, the one with the cool horse. And Georgie? I'm a big fan of Gone with the Wind, so that's why she's from the South. I made up the rest myself, I think.

Like usual, I put this creation aside and got on with my life. A year or two later, I had just gotten really involved with the internet (and I had just finished classes for the year) and wanted to do something original. I looked all over and couldn't find examples of original online soap operas. That's what I wanted to do. Then I looked through my computer files of all the unfinished stories I had. I guess that one seemed the most promising. But I needed a title. A wise (and very old) woman suggested I name another story after its location, taking after such "greats" as Coronation Street, Santa Barbara, and Dallas. I did the same for this one. My problem? I didn't have a location. So I thought. Tess and especially Georgie had just "liberated" themselves from Leroy's place, so that's where the Liberty came from. I've already mentioned the creek running through my property, so I've always been naturally predisposed toward them. Thus, Liberty Creek was born.

I planned the jump from January to July from the beginning, even before I decided to put the thing on the internet. That was so I didn't have to write the boring stuff that happened in between. It was just coincidence that the timing worked out so well. I was prolific in writing that summer. I was bored. I also think my writing improved a great deal. All the characters up until late August had been planned from the beginning, even Gabe and his children. I'm not sure where the idea for Stuart MacKenzie came from. Her femininity was planned from the beginning, I can say that much. Perhaps I was recalling stories I'd heard of Calamity Jane. Anyway, Stuart's purpose was to cause conflict from inside the family. Infidelity. With Georgie and Tess, Leroy/Jed was the big mean thug who eventually died, but Stuart caused problems and stuck around, and the problems are still being felt.

Around the beginning of the school year, I started to lag off and almost stopped writing altogether, but I'm glad I didn't. Now I wouldn't dream of giving up Liberty Creek. I'm too involved. They're my children. I named them all, with the exception of a few created by my slave, Heather. So anyway, around this time the story was beginning to lag and I needed something new. I introduced who was supposed to be an eccentric old man and his wife, Lazarus and Danielle Carrol. Remember the very old, wise woman who gave me the suggestion on how to title it? She is Lazarus Carrol (name changed, of course), only there were no female judges anywhere at the time so I had to make her a guy. Lazarus is actually almost twenty years older than my friend. His age came about at a time when we were discussing what she would be like when she was retired and seventy. Lazarus's problems with the fountain mirror my friend's problems with her dreaded backyard pond. Princess, the prissy poodle, was supposed to be an insult to Kiwi, my friend's thoroughly pampered pit bull. Red mirrored, Buddy, Kiwi's friendly across-the-street neighbor. Though no romance bloomed between Buddy and Kiwi, it did for a while between Princess and Red.

Just before this time, my friend decided she was going to force me to develop my characters by taking over the character of Robert, who had been sorely under-used. She made him an unhappy, misunderstood young man who was turning to the bottle for comfort. He was supposed to come back and cause trouble at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but so-called "real world" problems pulled my elderly friend away from her duties here.

Man, I can go on. I threw the England Marshalls into the mix because I wanted to be able to easily send characters to England. Richard and his three offspring were there to cause trouble, except for Freddie. His long-lost love story was thought up at the last minute. He was going to be bitter and jealous, especially toward Will.

So around January I got a letter from someone wanting to join in on the fun. Great! A slave. Heather has been an invaluable asset. She not only writes for Madison Taylor and several other lesser characters she's introduced, she also takes care of things my graphically-challenged computer cannot. Now that we're moving into the summer, we might find time to get two episodes out per week. We might have to, because Heather's storyline aspirations are jam-packed.

I'm almost done now. Be sure to read Heather's wise words. They're shorter than mine, I promise. And I swear it was only a coincidence that she came from a small town called Liberty. Oh! And I almost forgot to mention Kathy. Her artwork will start appearing soon, and is already here in the form of a picture of Joey Kincaid. Am I done? I think so. Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to do so.

Most Sincerely Yours,
Libby

P.S. Liberty Creek is not my real name, nor is Libby. And now, Heather (and that is her real name):

Dear Readers,

I've been writing for Liberty Creek since January. I found the site through GeoCities' Cool Site of the Day. I spent two nights reading all of the profiles and episodes, and I was hooked. I decided that I wanted to get in on the fun, too, so I e-mailed Lib with my idea of bringing a new character into the mix. That character was Madison Taylor. All I had in my head was a basic idea of who she was and where she was coming from. In my mind, her past was just as much of a blank to me as it was to anyone else– including the readers. But, as time went by, her life slowly began to form in the recesses of my mind. Her dark past with Jonathan; her long-lost brother, Cole; her connection with Robert Marshall... all of these things became clearer and clearer to me. Not only that, but I've been plotting and planning a few more events for her as well, containing some of my newer characters. Look for a friendship to bloom between Greta and Madison, and a surprise visit from Maddie's best friend, Emily, as well as a few other things I'm not at liberty to mention yet (no pun intended).

Working with Lib has probably been the best experience I've ever had as a writer. Sure, she's picky about some stuff, but she usually lets me just go with my own instincts. That's good, because I hate it when people try to tell me what and how to write. I like to be able to express myself however I want, and she's always been behind me 100%, encouraging me to do just that. I'd like to thank her for all she's done for me, starting with letting me become a part of the Liberty Creek family.

I'd like to thank a few other people as well. Kristy, my guinea pig, for giving me her opinion on my ideas before I send them to Lib, and for being one of our most devoted readers. I'd also like to thank my boyfriend, Lance, for urging me to get into this in the first place. And last, but most certainly not least, I'd like to thank the fans who have made Liberty Creek the success it is today. Without your continued support, the Marshalls, Kincaids, Carrols, and all the other families would surely perish.

It's been a great five months for me. I hope we can carry on like this forever.

Peace and Love,
Heather

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