Are you sure you want to be here? (Looks around and adjusts glasses) Okay, here goes.
Element of Truth was started during season one after watching the Andorian Incident. I had discovered despite Kadi's adamant objections that I liked the Archer/T'Pol pairing. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely open minded and will and have read just about anything and any pairing, but I liked the way these two played off of each other. I had also just discovered Captain Archer's fan fiction, made friends with Dee, and joined the CAVe (otherwise known as the Captain and the Vulcan mailing list).
Despite my attraction to these characters, I could not see either of them letting go their prejudices completely to willingly start a relationship, in fact the only valid possibility I could see was if they were forced to acknowledge it through some sort of outside interference. Since Josephine had already tackled Pon Farr in her awesome story Cause and Effect (which you can find on the archive if you haven't read it), I felt I couldn't possible do a similar story justice, so I sat down with Kadi (who often humors my dark side) and began hashing out ideas for Element.
As is typical for me when an idea sparks, the opener for Element was written in a matter of hours and sent to Kadi for editing and addition. The problem we discovered, was not going to be in writing the emotional scenes of the story, but filling in the background for it. Who in the hell would be interested in the mating practices of another species? And why? As with her typical humor, Kadi informed me that it was my idea so I needed to flesh it out, but she was as always an awesome sounding board and came back with several suggestions. In fact, since we had just finished a long awaited Voyager story (three years in the writing and over a hundred pages) by the name of Balance of Power, we were flying high and full of mischief. While not a fan of Archer/T'Pol, Kadi did find a lot about Connor Trineer to be interested in, so she jumped full force into the Trip/Hoshi aspect of the story. Thus the original chapter one was written and posted to Captain Archer's.
Over the next few months, Endeavors was born and our efforts shifted from writing fanfic to developing the site. Real life of course interfered as much as possible and Element was put on hold. Kadi moved and lost interest in Enterprise, leaving me stranded and struggling with a posted unfinished fic. For a time, our attention focused back in on finishing some Voyager stories and taking care of real life (blak)
It was during this time that Dee sparked my interest with a little story called T'Lin and my attention once more shifted to other things. Monsters Revisited was started (the first long fic I had written by myself in years) and when I sent it to Kadi for editing, she hated it. I was devastated. It did however make me stop and think. I had to change gears in the way I was writing. I was so used to painting myself into a corner and having someone write me out of it, that it was a habit. I refocused, made some changes and sent it back for another try. The response was encouraging and even more short stories flowed to the front, but Element was thrown onto a back burner.
Once MR was out of the way, I pulled Element out again and reread what I had. There were these awesome scenes that if we could ever bridge would make an interesting story (or so I thought, as did others who were asking us to finish it). I jotted down some ideas and sent them to my partner in crime and the response floored me. While fully supportive of Endeavors, Kadi had lost interest in Enterprise, in fact the last episode she had watched was shockwave part one and that had been with me. Despite my disappointment, I could respect her choice and the fact that she had no desire to work on it. She was and still is into Voyager as well as other fandoms and I could understand her not wanting to work on it. With that conversation I prepared to do something I had never done before. I was scraping a posted unfinished story.
When I notified people that Element was coming down, the response was overwhelming. I was flooded with personal emails asking me not to give up on it, to keep trying. One of my staunchest supporters threw a virtual fit (thanks Dee). She had, because she kept asking, been the only person to read the entire story as it was mapped out at the time. I'm very fussy about unfinished stories, especially my own, and will not post a piece with holes in it even as a teaser. With Dee in one corner, the CAVe rooting for me in another, and random requests to finish in still yet another corner, I broke policy again and sent the story as was to yet another person, desperate for some possible options. It is here I post a special thanks to Lattelady for taking on the chaos that was Element at that time. While unable to help me come up with anything new, she was however certain that I would find a way to finish it. With my corners filled, I saw no option but to make the attempt. For the first time in months made myself read what I had. I tried to look at it from a different angle, as an editor rather than a writer. I focused in a section at a time and suddenly the pieces began to come together. There were multiple bridges in Element. many of them only a paragraph long, but they took forever to complete smoothly. Finally I was able to post a third chapter. After nearly a year in the works, Element of Truth had newly posted material. I was thrilled. Of course real life has a way of smacking you when you're not looking, and it hit the back burner once more. When I pulled it out again, I was able to look at it with new eyes. Was it really a good story? Did it flow well? Would I read it? The answer amazingly was yes, and the need to finish it blossomed.
The final test came with the final edit, and Kadi offered to proof it, just as proud as I was that it had been completed. A labor of love, my first Enterprise story, finally complete and worthy of the Kadi seal of approval. I only hope you enjoyed it as well.
Special thanks to all of you who refused to let me walk away from this story. I sincerely hope it was worth the wait.
Whew.... that was long winded of me... could have written another story for all of that nonsense... sigh. Well not nonsense really... Element was honestly written for the readers, for they were the ones who encouraged it. But, what else was going through my mind while I was writing? Well we all know by now that Kat has a dark side. Writing is my outlet... Here are some others:
Musical inspiration. Chopin's Fantasy Impromptu, Greenwheel's Breathe, Edwin McCain's 3am, Hanging by a moment by Lifehouse, Wasting my time by Default, I am Mine by Eddie Veder, and Downfall by Matchbox 20. Breathe was the most prominent to the point I was working on a video for it which died when my computer crashed.
Keep in mind that Element is set before Shockwave so anything season one is game, season two doesn't exist.
Thanks again to all!