Hello readers, this is the author of The Happy Village, SlimJim, and I want to thank you guys again for reading. It has been a pleasure to write, and while I can say it’s not the most spectacular novel in the world, I’m glad to have enjoyed the process. I know this story may not be popular in a website like Royal Road, but hey, where else can I share it?

Honestly it took me seven months to make the novel in its final form, which consumed a lot of my free time. In the first draft I wrote as much as I could, as fast as lightning, without holding high expectations for it. I didn’t worry at all about the grammar, characterization, pacing, and so forth, and I just let it all out. It was when I started the second and third draft that I decided I had to evaluate the entire story. Nothing comes perfect the first time you put something on paper. I was frustrated with the finished product of the first draft, and I initially thought it would turn to be a huge failure—but that frustration inspired me to push forward.

I made a detailed outline, followed through it many times, and rewrote the entire novel. It was hard work. With rewriting, I removed the unnecessary parts in regards to description and dialogue, added a few new chapters to better reflect the narative, and fixed the sentence structure. Still it wasn’t enough, so I pulled onwards to the fourth and fifth draft, further refining the piece before I was ready to submit it to this website. Laborious, but it paid off well, and for sure it was worth my time.

You might ask, what’s your motivation to write the story? Well to be honest, I had no idea at first, and my mind wandered back and forth. I tried very hard to come up with something. I hopped from the idea of low fantasy to science fiction, and as they were the most obvious considerations I took them into heart. But in understanding that such genres are complex and require a lot of knowledge, it would be hard to revolve The Happy Village around the basis of spaceships, dragons, or an alien invasion. So I chose to go for the tragedy and slice-of-life route.

The circumstance that led to the creation might be weird to many. Last year when I browsed Twitter, I stumbled upon an illustration, a sullen one that captivated my eyes. That illustration was made by an artist named Kobuta (all credits to him): it is the one that is the main cover of this book. In it, as a short-haired girl is about to break into tears, the long-haired one comforts her, and they seem to be in a forest or a marsh. Just with their downtrodden faces alone, it broke my heart, and I sympathized with the girls in the illustration even if it didn’t clearly show a theme. It made me think, “Wow, this is such a compelling artwork. Can I make a story out of this?” That was when a light bulb appeared from the top of my head, and I began to ponder about it for weeks. Right after, something clicked in my mind—from there, I got myself to work. And behold, the novel was born.

If you have read the last five chapters, you might be either sad or discontented. It’s okay to react that way, and for me, I struggle the most when it comes to nailing resolutions. Originally, I didn’t know what to do with the ending; I had planned to write an additional chapter where Naransaya saves Sachen and Neha, sends them to another village, and offers herself to be the female candidate to the spiritual mission. But it wasn’t so. In the first place I rushed Naransaya’s development, and she became a two-dimensional person, thus she has no influence in changing the outcome. In my opinion she’s a weak link, a subordinate to Yebuka's scheme. But at least she gets the result she want. Second, since this story has a tragedy genre tagged to it, there is bound to be heartbreak and defeat for the protagonists. No matter how much they fight against the High Order, everything falls apart in the end, and they are left with nothing but despair. It’s a reality to many people in our world; their efforts come to naught, simply because they are unlucky or that people keep putting them down.

There are no plans for a sequel. The notion of making a sequel has bothered me for a long time, and I understand if you guys want more to the story. But I discarded it. I have a few reasons, but I don’t want to pinpoint everything and go into great lengths. One reason is that the sequel can serve as a game changer to the sypnosis in a bad way. In the beginning, I had thought of making Azukunika the protagonist, in which she breaks out of prison and gathers an army from the barbarians to destroy the village once and for all. Then she learns more about the civil war, Neha and Sachen, and her family’s background in occult stuff. Just imagine if Naransaya and Azukunika have a showdown, the latter would be confused by her doppleganger! It sounded awesome in my head, but I realized it wouldn’t fit well in the atmosphere and emotions of the narrative. If such events happen, the storyline would lose the original themes of grief, longing, and anguish, and the themes would become a different mold. The events would drag things on and act as a feels-good resolution to the audience. For the girls to be saved by a miracle, let alone Azukunika, might be a deus ex machina. In truth, I fancy to write ambiguous, pessimistic endings. I believe it’s better to leave The Happy Village in a sad note, and to give closures to Neha and Sachen.

Once again I like to thank you all. I hope by the time you finish reading this author’s note, you’ll share the novel with other people and talk about it. If you have any questions on the subject of the story, the narrative, or anything, feel free to PM me. Also, if you have the opportunity, you can leave comments to the chapters or write an overall review. I’d be happy to read them.

Otherwise I wish you the best. Au revoir, and until then.

-from SlimJim