Like most of us here, I’ve been outed several times over by now, both in a mostly humorous thread at Nine Moons and in a more serious one at Times and Seasons. Let me just say here that when we started this project, there was a timetable we were following, and planned to out ourselves at the end, along with an explanation of what on earth we were trying to accomplish. Since that’s no longer an option, I’ll add my explanation/apology to Steve/Jenn’s now.
First, let me say that although I can’t speak for everyone here, I don’t believe any of us ever considered this blog as a joke or a parody. At no time did I get the impression that any of the Banner bloggers were snickering at people for believing in us. All the same, I did worry a little about this angle going into the project. I probably should have paid more attention to these misgivings. In my defense, soon after we started, we began getting comments pointing to our fictionality, and as time went on, the general consensus from these commenters seemed to be that it didn’t matter, they were still enjoying the ride (which was one of the explicit goals from the beginning: good stories, not realism or convincing fakery). I was very surprised to find that this wasn’t the case for some or most of you. I realize now I was wrong, and I really am sorry about that.
I was and still am excited to write alongside my fellow fake bloggers, however. As a collaborative creative writing exercise goes, there couldn’t be a better group to work with, and they’ve been supportive and helpful behind the scenes. I’m not too proud to say I was the last of them to be asked to join, and that the person they had in mind originally is a wonderful writer who apparently had better judgement than I’ve shown. I took over the character she had outlined and altered her personality and storyline to explore my own fascination with just how far many adult women will go to try to please everyone. Again, it wasn’t my intent to poke fun, because I’m not immune to this particular problem. Many of Mari’s experiences (even the missing neighbor and undeliverable package) have really happened to me, friends, or family members. I had a few more odd occurences and familial strains in store for her (more family members and near-strangers moving in with her, as well as the calling as nursery leader, with the mysterious package outcome and a wedding saved for the very end), and was building up to a crisis wherein she would be forced to rethink what a good person should feel obligated to do for others. Some of these situations were tied up with Miranda (Mari’s brother’s wife, going through a rocky patch in her marriage and mental state) and Greg’s stories.
I know some of us have already contacted people we know have been upset by our duplicity. I add my very sincere apology to the mix. And if anyone else would like to comment here or email me, either with questions or just to make sure I feel the full extent of my blame, I’m up for it.