rlm@2: Author’s Note for “Dear Sakura”
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Aside from a brief sentence or two, I’ve never done author’s notes
rlm@2: before. I’m also still new to fan fiction, so your patience really is
rlm@2: appreciated. Thanks seem to be in order, so we’ll start there.
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Thank *you* for reading the story. It’s a bit long, and it’s coming
rlm@2: out in several parts over a period of time, so Faithful Reader’s
rlm@2: dedication is very much appreciated by the authors. We didn’t plan on
rlm@2: it being this long, but then we didn't plan on it being any shorter,
rlm@2: either. We just wrote, and tried to let the story tell itself. It
rlm@2: did. We hope you like it.
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Collaborating with Heather of Amazoness Duo is a delight. Creatively
rlm@2: speaking, we make a very harmoniuos pair. We share a similar
rlm@2: viewpoint on a lot things, and both got on very well in our work. She
rlm@2: was the reason I began to do fan fiction last year. I was inspired by
rlm@2: her work and thought, “I would love to be able to write like that.”
rlm@2: Well, I still can’t write like she does, and don’t expect I ever
rlm@2: will. I have experience in non-creative writing, but she has genuine
rlm@2: talent. As she gains experience, she pushes the limits of her
rlm@2: ability. It’s astonishing to see what she’s done in just the year
rlm@2: I’ve known her. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to assist her in
rlm@2: writing this series. Thank you very much, Heather. It really means
rlm@2: more to me than I can say.
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Finally, thank you, Clamp. Card Captor Sakura is a luminous series,
rlm@2: filled with magic and passion, humor and adventure, and tinged with
rlm@2: the sadness of ephemeral beauty that is so distinctly Japanese. Their
rlm@2: work is a beautiful creation, a rare gift for readers lucky enough to
rlm@2: discover it. The characters are vivid and alive, so real they attract
rlm@2: our thoughts, stir our feelings, and fill our dreams. Fan fiction
rlm@2: covers a lot of imaginative ground, but we wanted the characters to
rlm@2: be true to Clamp's original vision. Thre story takes place six years
rlm@2: after the end of the manga, and about 3 months after Sakura has
rlm@2: married Syaoran and moved to Hong Kong. It begins when Tomoyo writes
rlm@2: a letter to her friend, who is settling into a new life in a far away
rlm@2: place.
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: G.P.
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Hello, minna-san! ^-^ The story you are about to begin reading has
rlm@2: taken something around half a year to write, countless e-mails sent
rlm@2: back and forth to develop, and many a sleepless night. And it's
rlm@2: longer and much more satisfying than a story that took me two years
rlm@2: to write on my own. I've had a lot of fun being a part of this and I
rlm@2: hope you'll have as much fun reading it. ^-^ I've always found
rlm@2: collaborations with other authors exciting. But there are so many
rlm@2: problems with it. If one of you loses interest, the entire series can
rlm@2: collapse. If you have a conflict of interest, then the story can
rlm@2: suffer. If you're writing styles are too dissimilar, then the whole
rlm@2: thing looks painfully welded together. But none of that happened with
rlm@2: this. I got to cowrite a story with my favorite CCS fanfic author and
rlm@2: it went unbelievably smoothly. Through our e-mails, we managed to
rlm@2: work out the direction of the story and more than that, we managed to
rlm@2: delve deeper into the characters and the situations they found
rlm@2: themselves in, getting a deeper look at Clamp's masterpiece as we
rlm@2: went along. G.P. and I both view writing as more watchful than
rlm@2: forceful, so I believe our styles went hand in hand. This was the
rlm@2: most enjoyable time I've had writing since I started years ago. I'm
rlm@2: extremely happy with how things have turned out. I never could have
rlm@2: done this story on my own. The sheer scope alone would have been
rlm@2: daunting, but G.P. always kept me inspired and eager to continue
rlm@2: forward towards the stories inevitable conclusion. I didn't want it
rlm@2: to be over, but all good things must come to an end. Even if no one
rlm@2: reads this at all, I was simply delighted to have worked on it. G.P.
rlm@2: is a magnificent writer and I hope that we can collaborate on another
rlm@2: story in the not so distant future. This story was very emotional for
rlm@2: me and even I had no real idea where it was going at times. I found
rlm@2: myself crying while writing parts of it, lost in the swirling
rlm@2: emotions surrounding our lead characters. This is Tomoyo's story.
rlm@2: This is Sakura's story. I never wanted to impose my will upon it. I
rlm@2: simply wanted to document it. I hope that we've done them proud. The
rlm@2: turning points in the story, and even the ending were surprises for
rlm@2: me. The characters wanted to go their own way and I was more than
rlm@2: happy to see where they would lead. I hope they'll surprise you as
rlm@2: much as they surprised me. 
rlm@2: 
rlm@2: Heather of the Amazoness Duo