The Happy Happy Village

Thank You All!

12/30/2015

Dear Reader,

I would like to say thank you all for reading this book of mine. I've written a few other stories in the past few years, but this was my first ever short novel. This has been in the works for over seven months, starting back as early as May 11th of this year. Through the many bumps and bruises (which could easily make another story on their own) this story has caused me, I'm quite satisfied with how this turned out really. It's no masterpiece, but this is my first short novel after the 2 rough attempts before this. It's true what they say, the fun is in the journey. I enjoyed this project while it lasted.

It feels like yesterday when I first began the rough draft of The Happy Happy Village. To write a novel, even if it's a little over 51,000 words, is pretty much a rite of passage in the art of writing. A true test of patience, thought, heart, soul, and determination. For the longest time I've thought that it couldn't be done, but here I am. Here I am on the day before New Year's Eve, with the thank you letter for my first ever short novel. I think I've earned the right to feel satisfied!

To the Wattpad creators,

Thank you for creating this site, I don't think I would've finished this book if someone never told me about this site's existence. For the first 6 months of this project I've worked in the isolation of my room. I told very little about the book and I took on my problems on my own. No doubt, my experience with writing this novel could've been made easier had I found this site much early on. I never thought that I would receive so much feedback or even a small handful of followers on my first story.

I really do admire the simplicity of going around and discovering stories from other humble writers on this site. I can't thank you enough for providing such a (mostly) positive environment, an environment ideal for writers and artists who wish to improve their craft and share it.

Thank You!

Special Thanks

Special thanks would have to go out to Julia Cameron and her Artist's Way trilogy, I owe my future to these books. If you're a writer or an artist who's facing a creative block, I highly recommend giving them a read.

I would also would like to thank the You-Tuber/music artist Vylet Pony for making the song Equality as featured in the header. The song is brilliant, and I think it really co-insides with Lisa, Gordon, and Harold's struggle with being free from the Happy Happy village and live life free like the main character John Eliot.

And lastly, I would like to thank verde56. Always willing to vote and occasionally comment whenever I bring a new chapter.

Bonus: The Inspiration

Sometimes the best inspiration comes from something you love, and at the same time it can come from an unexpected source. The inspiration, the kicker that began the 'from nothing to something' journey for this project, was an episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. No joke.

You're probably a bit confused aren't you? Just take a look at this:

Yeah, from the season 5 premier episode The Cutie Map parts 1 and 2, both the plot and the characters influenced this novel's conception. I would even go as far as to call The Happy Happy Village a darker adaptation of the episodes, certain elements from the show were molded to create a slightly darker more mature theme.

An example:

The vault of cutie marks (The butt symbols that determine destiny in the show) and the cutie un-marking (Where the cutie mark is removed and replaced with an equal sign for hindrance) in the show, inspired the basement of hearts, Mercedes' heart removal ability, and the initiation of burning an equal sign into the back of one's neck.

So what's next for me now?

I'll be taking most of January off. I've been well conjuring up my next story inside my head for quite a while now, and I can't wait to get started again once the time comes. But rest comes first for me, it's top priority

In the meantime, if you have any final comments, votes, or anything you would like to tell me dear reader, go ahead. I won't stop you. Even if you haven't commented yet, some criticism is better than none.

Until next time my dear readers, stay tuned...

-Joseph Shleck-