The Road to the Finale

Man...this has been a long, long road.

I didn't intend to write this story. I had an idea for a few different fics after I finished West & Vega: The Untold Jori. I've discussed this in other blogs so I won't repeat myself here. I published the first chapter of this one on September 2nd, 2021. I never imagined that in 2023, I'd still be working on it.

I finished #GrandFinale in just a few months. It was a shorter story (the shortest of the series, at a lean 37,274 words (technically a novella). The Untold Jori was a bit larger and grander in scope, finishing at 91,423 words, which is considered a proper novel. I started publishing that one on May 20th, 2021, just a few months after #GrandFinale. Needless to say, I wrote a lot faster back then and had a lot more free time.

As of this blog, One Last Song sits at 147,029 words and is the longest thing I've ever written. We are beyond the halfway point of the story by now, and have begun what I consider to be the road toward the end. We aren't in what I'd consider the endgame just yet; that will happen when Cat concludes her part of the story and we shift into what I am temporarily referring to as One Last Journey. From there until the end, the interludes will cease and the narration will rotate between our three leads, with each taking the helm for one more chapter that will wrap up their narratives.

Of course, that's not all. A story this size demands a suitable conclusion, and since this is my last fic in this universe, each of our girls will get their own ending. Because I'm not a fiend, I will release all of the endings at once, so you won't be waiting weeks between them. They'll be a little shorter than a typical chapter. Once those are done, I've got one final interlude and an epilogue (which I will release alongside the girls' endings). So you'll get the entire ending all at once.

If anyone cares, the breakdown looks like this:

• Cat: 8 chapters (4 interludes, 4 modern-day)

• One Last Journey: 3 chapters (Tori > Jade > Cat)

• The Endings: 5 chapters (3 "endings" - Cat > Jade > Tori; 1 interlude; 1 epilogue)

Seems like a lot when you look at it that way, but you can expect things to really begin moving towards their conclusion, even as we finish learning about what happened at Tori and Jade's wedding (an event that quite possibly had a big impact on our dear friends, Sam and Cat). You can also expect to see many more cameos and appearances from old favorites and new. In the most recent chapter, we met up with Carmine, Sam's uncle who Freddie had the misfortune of meeting once. Before the end, we will catch up with Carly Shay, Harper, Freddie, Millicent, Spencer...and those of you who have speculated that we haven't seen the last of Hayley Ferguson or Tara Ganz, it's not really a spoiler to say you might be right. I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to that conclusion! And there may be some more surprises in store before the end. We haven't really caught up with Andre, Beck, or Robbie just yet either.

There's some great music still to come as well. I never know how much my readers invest in the songs, but as I've said before, music factored so heavily into the show and was such an integral part of the girls' identity and self-expression, I feel it would be a disservice to not include some great tunes. Not to spoil any details, but my playlists for the upcoming chapters feature tunes from Sheryl Crow (you will love this moment, I think), another tune from Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and even the legendary Van Halen.

I just wanted to share some of this to assure you all, I've got a plan in place for the conclusion of the fic, and it's just a matter of getting there. I'm sure my lengthy absence from posting recently was concerning (and thank you so much to those who posted or reached out to me, that is the most amazing thing and I'm grateful for you all!), and I'm sorry for worrying or disappointing anyone. We're close, and I promise to work just as hard on the final 16 chapters as I did on the first 25! It's been such an exciting and rewarding journey and I've had the chance to meet and chat with so many wonderful people since I started writing these fics back in March of 2021! (Yes, March 25th will be my 2 year anniversary since posting the very first chapter of #GrandFinale on AO3!)

I wish I had an end date in mind, but I never know how long the chapters will take. I have outlines for all of them but sometimes the characters have other ideas (like Cat changing up the entire plan for the Jori wedding on me!). I hope you'll all enjoy the ride!