END NOTES

Thank you to those of you who put up with my lack of updates and your patience with the story. I could not have sustained this story for this long if it wasn’t for all  the kind comments- you always made my day, whether it was a simple ‘hello’ asking when I was to update next or comments on the latest chapters- thanks for keeping with it and sticking through, you have no idea what it means.

Girly, I know you’re reading this- thanks for being the first to give me feedback on the chapters, your contribution has not gone unnoticed.

I had a great time developing Minna, although by the end of it you’re wondering ‘how on earth?’ (Hehehehe…) It was a spur of the moment thing I did in the middle of an Australian summer night (15th January 2001, to be exact), four days before I was meant to fly out to Hong Kong- I thought all my ideas would have flown out the window by the time I got back, but luckily they didn’t, and I think the last say… twenty chapters (last? LOL!) were truly inspired by some incredible songs (Gunning Down Romance, Everywhere), a couple of situations I witnessed and a lot of stress due to finals (I had to release it all somewhere!)

A couple of quick notes though:

Finished: 15th January 2002- I know my last update was later than this, but I had actually finished on the day I started a year ago… spooky, eh?)

Final update: 22nd January 2002

Where did the character of Minerva come from? Minerva is an extreme version of me… I’m extremely cynical when it comes to the male species, and some of the detriments (well, not some, probably most, LOL) of Minna herself come from things I’ve experienced… this was an avenue for me to lay the conceptions I had about men to rest… um… I don’t know whether it worked, but I had a ball developing Minerva!

So have I actually met AJ? Hell…. NO! If I did, I think I’d be, one: a total bitch- he’d be wondering what’s up my ass- I’d be all coy (not in a good way, either). Besides, I couldn’t have put Minerva and AJ in some of the situations I did if I had met him- it’d be way too weird! Can you imagine if he read some of the stuff we wrote out there- wooh hoo, I’d be scared!

Is there going to be a sequel? Well… I don’t know… I got inspired by the new 112 album, ‘Part III’ before I had even put up chapter 22… I have written a couple of notes, started the first chapter or so...but I don’t know- sequels always seem to be so tacky, I’m afraid it might ruin the actual story line- what do you think? Email me with your answers, or better yet, sign the guestbook!

 

Some things which you probably missed (probably cos most of it’s ‘Australianised’ or ‘Brit’)

  • The title of the story ‘When Words Just Aren’t Enough’ is a play on some of the lyrics of Coco Lee’s ‘Just No Other Way’-

‘…baby don’t just say you love me/ ’cos words are not enough/ I wanna see it in your eyes/ believe it deep inside…/

I spent about a week tossing between that and ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’ by Madison Avenue, which is kinda where the summary came from.  

  • Minerva was one of the most important goddesses in ancient Roman mythology. She was the favourite child of Jupiter, the king of the gods. One myth tells of her being born out of Jupiter's forehead, fully grown and dressed in armour. Minerva resembled the Greek goddess Athena and like her was a virgin goddess. 

    Minerva had a variety of functions. Originally, she represented skill in handicrafts, particularly those associated with women, such as spinning and weaving. Later, Minerva came to symbolize general skill. Still later, the Romans worshipped her as the goddess of wisdom. The owl has traditionally been considered wise because it was the bird of Minerva. 

    The Romans, who believed that warfare involved the higher mental powers, worshipped Minerva as the goddess of the intellectual aspect of war. Most artists showed her wearing armour and a helmet. Minerva carried a magic shield called the aegis.

World Book, 1998

  • Minerva always referred to her father by his name, Lysander. She does not once call him ‘father’ until the epilogue.
  • The word ‘love’ was never used between AJ and Minerva. The closest they came was ‘I care’ and “I feel you’
  • A lot of this story was written at three in the morning after I got home from uni! LOL!
  • The word ‘fuck’ was first used by Minerva, accusing AJ for being promiscuous
  • AJ and Minerva’s mouths were ‘clean’ of the word ‘fuck’ before Minerva used it- after that, the same word was used to varying degrees 47 times - wooh hoo, someone’s mouth got a work out!
  • ‘Rosalind’ was inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.
  •  
  • ‘Lolita’ was and still is one of the most controversial movies of all time. It is about a fourteen year old girl engaging in a sexually charged relationship with a forty year old man; her ‘sugar daddy’ so to say. There are two versions; one made in the 1940s, and a more recent one, directed by the late Stanley Kubrick- this one was banned in Australian cinemas after only being up for two weeks.
 
  • The ‘Rat Pack’ was made up of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and I cannot remember who else- Sammy Davis Jnr, I think… The ‘Brat Pack’ consisted of Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Rob Lowe and a few others… based on the movie ‘The Breakfast Club’.
  • Kylie and Louise are real artists; Kylie Minogue is Australia’s ‘Soapie-turned Pop Princess’ who seems to sell more albums the less she has on. She’s huge in the UK and Australia loves her to death- she dated the late Michael Hutchence (INXS), before he got together with Paula Yates. She was a huge part of the Sydney Olympics in 2000- she was the older version of ‘Australia’. She did have a hit called ‘Confide in Me’ in 1996.
  • ‘Louise’ was part of a UK girl band (either All Saints or Eternal, something like that!) in the mid 1990’s. She left to pursue a solo career, but I have no idea whether she was successful… she did perform at the 1997 Smash Hits Winner’s Poll Party. I have NO idea whether AJ and Louise got together after the show or not, that was from my imagination, so don’t go asking about it! It’s not true.
  • The Backstreet Boys did perform ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’ on the 1997 Smash Hits Winner’s Poll Party- AJ’s pants were about to fall off during the performance; his pact was too heavy- that is a fact! The Boys were voted ‘Best Band in the Universe’ by the Brit Public in both 1997 and 1998. Nick also won for ‘Best Hair’ in 1997.
  • I don’t know whether they appeared on Top of The Pops that year, or at the same time if they did.
  • ‘Hello!’ is a real UK magazine-it’s even spelt that way, right down to the exclamation mark.
  • The chatroom dialogue and names are not people I speak to- I made them up, so if you really did come across yours- I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was real… I don’t go into chat rooms at all (well, not BSB ones), I do chat on AIM though- sweetsaya101 (Do I think I’m sweet- hell no! I couldn’t think of an inventive name, so this is the only one I came up with)
  • ‘Stubbies’ is actually an Aussie term for bottled beer; I’m not sure whether they use it in England- ‘Guinness’ is an Irish beer, like Foster’s is an Australian beer.
  • ‘Fawlty Towers’ (no, it’s not a typo!) and ‘Men Behaving Badly’ are British sitcoms- whether they are still running in the UK is another question. Fawlty Towers is a satire, set in a posh looking hotel in London, and has been on since I remember. ‘Men Behaving Badly’ is… well, just that… men behaving badly, what else, girls?
  • UK band 5ive broke up late last year (2001)- they did admire the Boys and did ask for advice in the beginning of their career, like Irish band Westlife (who thanked the BSB on their first album – I am NOT kidding, check it out if you get a chance, there is a brief mention)
  • I don’t know if the rest of the Spice Girls met the Boys, but I do know at least Emma Bunton met Howie, during the Boys ‘Into the Millennium’ Tour in 1998-1999.

I hope I cleared up some of the references in my writing, I know not everyone knows who Kylie is and stuff, so that’s cool… this is just to give you a bit more info on who they are.

 For the girls out there, who think like Minerva and act like her in some way- please don't do it, you'd be alienating yourself from some of the most precious things only men can teach you (no, I'm not talking about sex!)  It's great to fraternise with your girlfriends, but don't shut out boys all together, no matter how barbaric they seem, whether they broke your heart or what not- cos it's not worth it, your making yourself miserable, not them. Show them that you bounce back as easily as you take the blow, because challenges are what life is about; dealing with the male species is just one of them.

Now that I’ve finally finished blabbing-

Thanks for reading and voting (wwjae won for ‘Best AJ Story’ in both the Dreaming Awards 2001 & Affectin’ Our Realities’ 2001-2002) once again… you read all the way to the end, I feel so honoured!

 

 

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