Foreword

This is a ‘do-over’ story. You probably already know that, from the story codes. If not, well, it still is. It also counts just as much as a ‘coming-of-age’ story.

There are some giants in this field. “Once More With Feelings” by The Night Hawk, “Doing It All Over” by Al Steiner, “A Fresh Start” by rlfj, and the sadly unfinished and therefore cliffhanger-y “Rewind” by Don Lockwood are a few favorites. There are plenty more. If you like those, I hope you like this story. If you like this story, and haven’t read any of those, go read them.

There are some similarities, by nature, to a number of other stories. There are other stories set around the same time; there are stories where characters do a few of the same things. That’s inevitable. Some of the issues my characters struggle with are prominent in other stories. Sorry; a lot of those issues are ones I struggle with too. I’m not going to avoid writing about them because someone else did it too. If something turns up that feels overly similar to another story to you, apologies. I didn’t do it intentionally. Please let me know.

My characters are talky, wordy. They think about a lot of things. Sometimes repeatedly. If you want to move rapidly from encounter to encounter, probably you’re in the wrong place. Sex is definitely involved; people want to have sex, plot to have sex, and do have sex. But it’s slow in developing and the great majority of the text is not directly concerned with sex.

One important note: I’m telling the story of many people’s lives, seen through the eyes of my main character. Bad things happen along the way, sometimes to good people. If they’re outside the story codes, I’m not going to add extra warnings. That seems consistent with many other stories. I don’t want to say ‘X happens to someone at some point’ and have everyone wondering to whom X happens and who the bad guy is who does X. I apologize if someone is upset by something that happens. I’m personally upset by some things that happen, but the story is richer for them, I think. There’s lots of happiness and love, but all happiness and love all the time makes for a bland story.

Is this autobiographical? No. Of course not. I never got sent back in time, never had a surprise sister, nor a group of friends like the one described. But yes, there are semi-autobiographical elements. More will turn up as a blog entry. I will say that some characters insisted on their names. Steve (my main character) in particular is someone who didn’t let me change his name.

The ‘big picture’ of the past is mostly the same. I’ve taken a bit of license with history, though, in places. Usually smaller ones, at least well into Book 2. If something doesn’t line up, it might be a mistake, it might be intentional. On the other hand, things can be completely different when you’re looking close-up. That’s not a spoiler; it’s clear right away. It’s a “do-over”, but things are not exactly as Steve would’ve expected.

Story codes: I’m trying to strike a balance on them, and I’d rather add a code than violate expectations. If there’s a fight, and there will be — we’re starting in high school, right? — Violence is appropriate. If you want violence with your sex, though, look elsewhere. Spanking? Very light (so far). One particular code is problematic. Per the SOL definition, it does not apply, so I’m not using it, even though it’s a running issue. On the other hand, I’m not using M/M, because any serious M/M content is offscreen; there’s hugging and kissing and holding of hands, but what M/M couples do in privacy is left as an exercise for the reader. It’s first person and, so far, Steve just doesn’t swing that way, despite one moment of temptation somewhere in time.

Chapter 1 »