Here are some facts about the story that I thought y'all might enjoy along with some possibilities of how the story might have turned out!
1) I didn't know Snowflake's true name (Amaryllis for those of you who haven't caught it haha) until Chapter 25.
2) Snowflake was originally going to be called Winter, but I didn't really like it.
3) Snowflake's true name was going to be Winter because I thought her parents would name her for her fur. But I decided against it, thinking it was too much, and settled with the flower.
4) Snowflake was originally going to fall for Lex, who was going to be her comfort when she and Kendall got into fights. I didn't end up doing so because it seemed cliche, and I wanted Lex to be his own person.
5) I originally planned for Snowflake to go into "training" with Lex as her trainer and still Kendall's best friend. It was how I planned to build their romance, but I couldn't see the training fitting in as it would be a year long, and Kendall wouldn't be involved in it.
6) If you read the "samples," what this story was based off, Snowflake was to fall for another Protector. I really wanted to do that, but the story went a completely opposite way than I thought it would and the idea wouldn't work.
7) Kendall was to have a small fling with Raelynn, who wouldn't have been Lex's girlfriend. But Kendall didn't strike me as the type to do that, and I didn't see Snowflake being the type to ignore that.
8) Snowflake was going to have a friend from her hometown visit and be her savior and Kendall's rival instead of Nolan. But I didn't see how he would know she was there or why he would visit. It also seemed cliche.
9) As you can see, there were a lot of romantic possibilities haha. I originally didn't want to include Nolan at all, but the story seemed to be lacking, in my opinion, so he was added to add some more spice.
10) The idea for Kendall's garden was thought of when I wrote a mini story for my friend. She'd written a rather disturbing remake of Frozen for Snowflake and Kendall, so I gave her something in return. Kendall and Snowflake were on a date, and Snowflake had brought a radio. The song plays as she predicted which embarrasses Kendall, which she of course enjoys. It ends with him trying to get away from her as she sings the song to him.
11) Kendall was only going to have Cayne as a brother. But the two were so alike that I decided to add Calyx to add diversity to the mix.
12) This story was originally a short story with eight chapters for a competition. It won second place.
14) In the "original" version, Snowflake was a wolf most of the time and more docile. She was also more obedient and acted more fond of Kendall openly.
15) Lex was originally going to be a guard. But I changed it because Kendall isn't the type to befriend his employees.
16) Kendall's dad was originally going to be the "bad" parent, but I changed it. He was the reason Kendall's room was clean of dust as he visited it every day. I changed it to surprise people, which it did as they though he was the one who called Snowflake "torrid."
17) Kendall and Snowflake weren't going to end up together. Snowflake was going to be against it too much because she didn't see a human Prince and a werewolf working. She thought too many people would protest and that it would harm them, causing them to eventually break up. So she tells him and they continue on, her as his Protector and nothing else.
18) This story was technically inspired by the short version, but that was inspired by a prompt I found online.
19) The chapter where Snowflake and Kendall first kiss is the most voted for and commented on chapter.
20) I wrote the chapters in notebooks before typing them up and posting them for you. Property of a Gordon was in red notebooks while Patience of a Gordon is going to be in blue.
21) Snowflake's official name wasn't supposed to be revealed until the very last chapter and at the very end of it. But a few of you outsmarted me and started figuring it out, so I had to go ahead and reveal it.
22) Property of a Gordon was started on June 22nd of 2013.
23) The pictures throughout Kendall's room were taken by himself. He took a discreet picture of Snowflake, and she didn't realize it.
24) Hints of Snowflake's true name: Kendall tells her it stands for beauty and patience; her nickname was Scar or Scarlet in honor of the flower's bright red color; Kendall puts the flower in the envelope, and there was also a picture of it on his wall; Nolan called her his flower; and Lance's room was KA3: Kendall/Amaryllis and three for the times it took before the finally kissed.
25) The picture of the Amaryllis in Kendall's room was written before I decided on Snowflake's true name. Kendall also photographed it before knowing Snowflake.
26) Hints that Nolan was truly Talon: Nolan and Kendall's parents never met, which would've given it away bc they would've recognized him; Nolan's name is close to Talon, but not close enough that any of you guessed; Talon "disappeared" and never came back to the meetings, but he was truly in the same town as Snowflake; and Nolan's "older" than Snowflake
27) In the beginning, Kendall explained the reason he got a Protector was because of a note he received, which was written by Nolan.
28) This doesn't pertain to Property of a Gordon, but not all the Gordon stories are going to end as happily as this one did.
29) Not once did Kendall call Nolan by his name; only did he call him it in Chapter Forty One, and it was in his thoughts.
30) I don't really listen to pop music, so whenever you guys would comment "first things first, Amaryllis," it made absolutely no sense to me. I didn't even realize it was part of a song.
31) In honor of the book being completed, I'm attempting to grow an Amaryllis. Let's hope I don't kill it.
32) For those of you who didn't understand the Nolan/Talon thing, here's a brief explanation: Talon was the wolf during the war who represented the werewolves. When the humans proposed the idea of Protectors as a way of controlling them, Talon was both offended and angered. He told them no, but they went on with it. The day they enforced the policy, Talon left to "pout" and think of ways to get revenge, and ended up in the same town as Snowflake. He changed his name and later took interest in her.
33) Nolan was Snowflake's first for most things.
34) Snowflake still lived with her parents even though she was in her mid-twenties. It was traditional for werewolves to venture out later than humans, in this story.
35) Snowflake is older than Kendall by a year.
36) In this world, technology didn't advance as everyone predicted, but downgraded. Hence why there wasn't the use of guns by the guards and why there were palaces still and why the "glass car" was a large innovation despite how dangerous it was. It was based off of another book I wrote and I evolved the world to fit this story.
37) I actually thought His Experiment would be the story that was a success and not this one because it was edited out and much smoother. I really only posted the first few chapters for someone who loved the shorter version. Never did I think I would finish it or that it would receive a million reads and so much feedback. I can't even began to explain how much it means to me
38) Martin, the man who "captured" Snowflake and Kendall, is going to be in Patience of a Gordon as he was Cayne's employee.
39) I haven't let a single person in my life read this story. Most of my friends don't even realize I write.
40) Just like dogs, wolves don't sweat. Unlike dogs, wolves don't sweat through their paws, so the only way Snowflake could relieve the heat in Chapter Forty One was by panting.
41) The water bath part about the cheesecake Alex was making does actually help prevent the cheesecake from cracking so badly and even helps promote cooking. A reader also said they use a butter bath, which is another method!
42) I'm sorry for all you Scarlan lovers, but in absolutely no version of the story did I see the two of them ending up together again. It wasn't even really considered.
43) A bonus fact added as of September 8th, 2015: not a single person has asked what happens to Nolan. No one's asked if he lives or if he escapes.
*side-note added on 12/15/15: if you're interested in a holiday card, or just a greeting card PM me :)