Q&A

From Wattpad: How come we never saw any of Marie-Claire and Angela Rose?

Honestly, the reason is that I ran out of chapters. When I decided to end R&W at 200 (which became 206), I left a lot of story on the table. Especially for my OCs. I have a notebook full of little bits about their lives that I won't get to use. :-(

'[...] What happened to Madison? Did she and Christine stay friends?   '(I always wanted you to do a chapter where Madison met Josie, because I don’t think she’d like not being the beautiful blonde of the group anymore!) (from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

Madison married Meyer Steckler, a partner in her accounting firm. A widower with a young daughter (Dinah, eight years old when they marry), he is14 years older than she is and other than being a genius with numbers, is sort of the befuddled, absent-minded professor type who doesn't pay any attention to Madison's fits of bad temper. Madison and Dinah had a rocky start but when Madison tears into a teacher and the school principal for letting a boy in Dinah's class tease her to the point of tears, the relationship thaws and they gradually become closer.

Madison, Christine and Petra did remain friends. Dinah is the same age as Henry so she fit right in with the crowd of kids.

I wanted Madison and Josie to meet, too, because writing Madison in a snit was always fun. Alas, I ran out of chapters. :-(

[...] Did Christine ever forgive Emma and let her back into the circle?  (from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

Not entirely, no. Decades later, Emma came back to apologize as part of the Twelve Step program in AA and although both Christine and Parker accepted her apology, the damage was done and Emma never rejoined their circle of friends.

[...] 'The family tree you have on the Wikipedia page shows that Becky has a daughter so Tempe (in the last chapter) isn’t the only girl. Or am I reading that wrong? '(from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

You are not reading that wrong. Becky and her husband have one child, a daughter named Stella. She doesn't inherit Brennan's ring, though, because she's not from Brennan's line. Max's daughter Temperance is the only girl born in that generation. Sebastian's son Seeley has the next girl. They name her Alfreeda.

[...] Also, you mention that Tempe’s mother is Nigerian but Naomi doesn’t sound like a Nigerian name so I’m curious to know more about her.  (from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

Naomi's father was an American minister who spent most of his life working with the poor in Nigeria. He met and married Naomi's mother there and when she died, returned to the US with his children.

['...] Were Becky and her family there for the ring ceremony? You didn’t mention her or Christine’s son, Seeley. What about Michael Vincent and Tom’s children and their families? Are they still close? '(from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

Becky's family and Seeley's family were all there for Tempe's birthday celebration and the handing down of the ring, I just couldn't get their names in a way that felt organic and not like an attendance roster. Michael and Tom weren't, nor were William and Anne but the Hodgins and Booth clans were always close.

'[...] How many great-grandchildren do B&B have? You say in Chapter 75 that you haven’t confirmed the order but do you know it now that you’re finished with the story? '(from Chapter 206:  Epilogue:  The Neverending Story)

There are thirteen great-grandchildren! I finally had to put them in order so I knew what was happening with the epilogue.
 * 1) Bryce (Daniel)
 * 2) Conrad (Lisa)
 * 3) Seeley (Sebastian)
 * 4) Nicholas (Seeley)
 * 5) Paul (Sebastian)
 * 6) Caleb (Daniel)
 * 7) Warren (Seeley)
 * 8) David (Max)
 * 9) Tempe (Max)
 * 10) Victor (twin) (Henry)
 * 11) Edward (twin) (Henry)
 * 12) Joseph (Henry)
 * 13) Tyler (Sam)

[...] On a side note, now that the story will not be written, can I ask what happened to Angela?  (from  referring to Chapter 106:  A Spark of Madness)

I had this whole three-chapter arc planned where she found out she had colon cancer just before William got married, and hid it because it didn't seem the right time to tell anyone. Then hiding it became a way of dealing with it until Brennan confronted her, and by then, the treatment was more than Angela wanted to endure for the little extra time it would give her. "I want to live the rest of my life, not live out my dying." (I'm still not happy with that line. Hopefully if I'd actually written the chapters, I would have found a better way of putting it.)

I managed to get bits and pieces of it done but it just never felt like a story I could do real justice to without turning maudlin. Plus, I've always really liked Angela so it would have been hard to be that graphic with her death. Wanting to pay tribute to Robin Williams and write something meaningful, too, seemed a fitting compromise.

[...] 'Is the treehouse, perhaps, where Max was conceived? ;-) '(from Chapter 198: The More Things Change)

What an EXCELLENT idea! I wish I had another chapter available to write because I would totally use it! I can see it now - B&B babysitting while Zach and Petra have a date night. When they find everyone asleep when they get back, Petra has the idea to sneak up to the treehouse. Booth wakes up and hears noises coming from the backyard and triggers the alarm. The police show up and Zach and Petra are caught in flagrante delicto, and voila! another Booth family legend is born. Written or not, that is now part of Roots & Wings universe canon! :-)

Where is Seeley Lance Wick-Sweets?

He does not exist here. Although I mention the dance competition from S8.10 "The Diamond in the Rough" in Chapter 114: Tales from the Closet, 'Roots and Wings' builds from Seasons 1-7, and none of the events that happen after S8 happen in this universe.

[...] Is Lisa really going to marry Harland's son?!

Yes, she does. The idea of having Booth related to Harland by marriage was too much fun to resist. One sort of 'out there' version of Lisa and Felix is in "Bones In Death," the crossover I wrote for "Bones" and the In Death books.

'[...] First is that the house from when Angela's boyfriend was killed? '(Related to Chapter 157: It Is So Ordered)

Yes. The "cabin in New Mexico" that Tom refers to was left to Angela after her boyfriend was killed in S1.17 "The Skull in the Desert."

'[...] Question - are the rockers you named real people? I don't recognize the names but if they flamed out real that would make sense. '(Related to Chapter 145: The Riot Act)

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, Janis Joplin - those are obviously all real people. The other names Billy mentioned are only real in my head. (If there actually is someone out there who shares one of those names, it is purely coincidental.)

[...] 'After reading this chapter I spent the next 30 minutes tracking down the chapter where Madison found the Christmas Jammie picture - Was it the same one? '(From Chapter 119: Twelve Days of Christmas: Picture Perfect, referring to Chapter 66:  Friends with Benefits)

Yes, that picture is the same one Madison sees on the shelf on their first overnight stay at Christine's house.

'[...] Question about Michael and Tom: is there any reason why the kids are using Tom' surname as opposed to Michael's or even a hyphenated version of both? ' (From Chapter 75: Family Tree and Chapter Chronology)

I'm pretty sure that Chapter 131: Rules are Made to be Broken explains this, too, but Michael and Tom had their children via surrogate. Biologically, Barney is Michael's son and Marie-Claire is Tom's daughter but they're all one big happy family.

One of the chapters I won't get to write involves the battle of hyphenating or not hyphenating and suffice it to say, Tom won the non-hyphenating battle.

[...] ' Lisa Meg? Any particular significance? '(Related to Chapter 100: Special Delivery)

Meg is (obviously) for Andrew's biological mother from "The Baby in the Bough." Lisa is my daughter's name and when I needed a name for the little girl in The Story in the Tale I went with what I knew. It was my first multi-chapter story so I hope I can be forgiven the self-indulgence. :-)

[...] '(chapter 164) I do not recall your describing Petra as being black prior to this story. That is why I could not follow the story at all until the end. Am I correct? '(From review left for Chapter 164: Out of the Bubble)

Petra's parents were introduced in Chapter 92: Watchful Eyes and are clearly portrayed as an African-American mother and a white father. I thought I'd done a good job describing her as biracial in appearance before then but I probably should have gone for less subtle, more sledgehammer. :-)

'[...] I think we need to know more about William Hodgins. Why is he diving with sharks? Did I miss something? '(Related to Chapter 88: Zach and Petra Missing Pieces Part 2)

William Hodgins is a marine scientist with an emphasis in shark biology. He teaches at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. I'm sorry that I didn't get to play with William a bit more. He's irreverent, sarcastic and fun and more than a little bit of a playboy - just like Hodgins when we first meet him but without the anger issues. William is the last of the four (Christine and Zach, Michael and William) to get married and enjoys every minute of his bachelorhood.

'[...] Is this the incident that made Zach want to be a doctor? ' (related to Chapter 86: Fallen Hero)

I like to think so! Being told "Doctors are magic" is the kind of thing that would resonate with a thoughtful, impressionable little boy.

'[...] Did she really see Booth? '(related to Chapter 64: Fate)

As far as I'm concerned, yes. Booth really came back for her, and Brennan really saw him, just as young and handsome as he had always been to her, no matter his age.

[...] Not to insult any of your characters, but why is Madison still around? (related to Chapter 52: Hiding in Plain Sight)

I love Madison. She's not an easy person to like, I know, but she's loyal to a fault and she's extremely loyal to the Booth family. As she says to Christine later, she's a bitch but she doesn't hide it.

'[...] Did you wait until the royal prince was born, to get his name in this story? '(related to Chapter 46: Place of Honor)

I totally did!! One of the chapters I won't get to is the story of Brennan going back to England to help with remains discovered when a medieval cathedral collapses. After she helps identify them as belonging to a lost member of the Plantagenet family from the War of the Roses, she's given a citation of appreciation from the current royal family, and the whole Hodgins/Booth clans make the trip over to see her audience with the King. . .where Michael flirts a bit with Prince George (who totally flirts back, no matter what Christine says :-D).

[...] Why do her [Petra] parents hate each other? (related to Chapter 92: Watchful Eyes)

I’ve been going back and forth over answering this since I went through all the reviews to make this list of questions, mostly because I know I’m going to sound like a loon in talking about these people as if they’re real. But okay, whatever. If you’re here, you must be interested so hopefully you'll cut me some slack.

The opposite side of love is indifference not hate, and Bobby and Freeda’s story is not one of indifference. They met in college (they are younger than Booth and Brennan) and married when she got pregnant. Freeda’s family is filled with professionals – college graduates, educators, attorneys, physicians – and with Bobby studying biology, it was a natural assumption on her part that he planned a similar career. It wasn’t  until after Petra was born that she found out where his real interests lay. In R&W, recreational marijuana is legal nationwide but it wasn’t when Bobby started growing it on a commercial scale. He concentrated on medicinal applications at first (which were already legal) but as Madison so scathingly said in Chapter 55: Three Musketeers and a Mascot,” it’s still marijuana and the stigma is there – and that’s where their problems started. Freeda is a very proud woman. She refused to raise her daughter as a single mother. Bobby refused to be the one to ask for a divorce. By the time Christine meets Petra, the couple’s stalemate is embedded in concrete and their relationship is acrimonious to say the least.

But time, distance and grandchildren are their own form of healing. There’s a moment during Zach and Petra’s wedding (as of this writing, that chapter is forthcoming) that starts the process. While they never exactly reconcile, I like to think that after a certain period of time, Bobby and Freeda finally reach an understanding and their grandsons see a totally different side of them. After R&W is finished, I'm going to continue Zach and Petra's story on FictionPress (the original story side of fanfiction.net), and I'll use that to explore all of them a bit more.

[...] 'Yea, B&B are my #1... What others are in your top 5? '(related to the AN on Chapter 80: The Best Laid Plans)

My favorite top 5 couples:

Elizabeth and Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

Eve Dallas and Roarke, JD Robb's In Death series

Jacques and Shea, 'Dark Desire,' Christine Feehan's Dark Series

Matthew Clairmont and Diana Bishop, Deborah Harkness All Souls trilogy

S1-7 Booth and Brennan

'From Wattpad: Intern Fisher? '(related to Chapter 4: Teamwork)

Yes, that Fisher. He's my favorite intern and I like to think that eventually, Brennan's interns actually graduated. :-)

'From Wattpad: Is it THE coffee shop? '(related to Chapter 7: Her Father's Daughter)

No. The coffee shop where Andrew and Christine meet is near the Marshall University campus in Huntington, West Virginia.

'From Wattpad: How come we don't see any of Michael and Tom's daughter? '(related to Chapter 131: Rules are Made to be Broken)

Honestly, the opportunity just never came up to tell a story about Marie-Claire. I wanted to do something fun with her and Zach's sons, because she's dainty and ultra-feminine and they live in a house full of rowdy boys but it was never the right time. I know there's a finite amount of patience with original characters in fanfiction, and for most people, if a story isn't B&B-centric, they're not all that interested. I thought that going so far off the beaten path as to accommodate a storyline about Michael and Tom's kids was just a step too far.

From Wattpad: How did she die? (related to Chapter 64:  Fate)

Brennan's heart just stopped. The minute she put her hand in Booth's she passed from this life to the next. It was easy and painless, except for the children she left behind.

'[...] What happened to Kennedy in your universe? I can't remember if she appears later in your fics (as an adult) '(related to Chapter 123: 12 Days of Christmas: Curtain Call)

Kennedy's mother remarried when Kennedy was 10. They moved to Arizona when she was 11, in the middle of their sixth grade year, leaving Christine bereft and a bit lonely until the start of seventh grade, when she met Madison, Emma and Petra on the first day at her new school ('Three Musketeers and a Mascot'). Kennedy is a decorated combat pilot in the Navy ('The Blink of an Eye') and has a son the same age as Seeley. She and Christine meet again when she's transferred to the Pentagon near the end of her career and their friendship picks up right where they left it.