Written by Charles Well <charles.well@yandex.com> and Sarge AKA Aldric <pietar_the_fearless@yahoo.com> and Nick <newnick1@yahoo.com>
(C) 2020)
The original Kids of Indian Spring (KOIS) story by Jonas Henley can be found here: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/kids-of-indian-spring/
and if you wish to read Jonas Henley's account of the 1968 Mackey Choosing Ceremony, look here: https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/young-friends/mackey-tails/
Also see map.pdf and Springer Families.pdf in the Sandy Jacobs folder on Nifty. There is also an extensive family tree of the Mackey family available in this folder as well.
This story is about sex between boys and is therefore a total fantasy. It was written by an adult for the entertainment of other adults. No children or animals were either involved or harmed in the writing of this story. Please leave now if you are not supposed to be here.
Writing the continuing saga of the Kids of Indian Spring has become a real community effort. My original intention was to conclude the Sandy Jacobs Story after Chapter 10. But my primary co-author and invaluable assistant, Pietar, convinced me that the many loose ends left open by the original author, Jonas Henley, needed to be resolved. As a result, he became the principal author of Chapters 11, 12, and 13. Thank you Pietar for your original ideas, brilliant writing and your continued dedication and commitment to this project. Now a third author, Nick, has volunteered to take on the role of crafting the future long-term direction of the story. You may recall that Nick was first involved in Chapter 12C. Please ensure you make Nick welcome by dropping him a line.
Comments or suggestions may be directed to any of the authors mentioned above. We welcome feedback from readers. It's the only payment we receive for many hours of hard work.
Please consider a donation to Nifty for allowing us to have this resource to share our stories. To donate go here: http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Over the next 2 weeks Sandy guided a new group of scared, angry and embarrassed boys into their new lives as Mackey community bottoms. While it wasn't without incident, in the end everyone adjusted and assumed what would be their role for the next 18 months.
After that he started his campaign for President of the Junior Council. His opponent was not only popular; he was also smart. He portrayed Sandy as overly friendly to new comers and too easily swayed toward changes to Mackey traditions. But Sandy was overwhelmed by the number of volunteers who wanted to help him and the support he got from everyone. After a tough campaign Sandy won by a mere 34 votes. He talked Kevin Mackey into running for the Special Reps position to fill the vacancy created by his victory. Sandy had enough friends on the council to pass measures he felt were important but the kid's community was deeply divided. New comers seemed to be the primary issue.
By the end of 1997 four new families had moved into Indian Spring. That may not seem like a lot but to the old families it was a population explosion. Three of the four newcomers were Mackeys who had married outsiders and returned home to raise families. With a new Choosing coming up there was a lot of pressure on the Junior Council. Some wanted the newcomers brought into the brotherhood and others wanted them excluded. Sandy established a review board to look into each family's qualifications and make a recommendation for or against allowing their boys into the brotherhood. Their findings were presented at a public council meeting and public input was allowed. In the end the system was accepted as fair and Sandy won some new support and respect from the deep Mackey's. He also had to deal with some rather silly issues like a religious mother who proposed the boys at the Choosing be allowed to wear jock straps to protect their modesty. Rumors flew that Sandy was considering the proposed amendment and the council meeting that month was packed with boys ready to aggressively oppose the change. Sandy opened the meeting with a passionate speech calling the change ridiculous and absurd, and he stated that he opposed any alteration to the core purpose of the Choosing. He recommended all council members vote no. The change was defeated and Sandy won even more community support. He continued to serve as president until he turned 18 and went off to college.
Brad Jacobs won a spot on the council when he was 15. He earned a reputation for honesty and fairness and many wanted him to run for president when his brother retired, but Brad had no desire to lead. After college he returned to Indian Spring to teach in the middle school. He is also a coach and the father of twin boys.
Stevie Jacobs had no interest in politics and never got involved with the council. After earning his master's degree he accepted a teaching position in a nearby private college and is working on his doctorate. He is highly respected in his field. Every summer he takes the week of July 15th off and returns to Indian Spring to assist with the preparation and celebrations revolving around the Choosing.
Like Stevie, Chase Jacobs never got involved in the council, but he became a highly respected power player in the brotherhood. Everyone knew if you had a problem, Chase could probably help. If you were friends with Chase no one ever tried to take advantage of you.
Kelley Tucker followed in his father's footsteps and went to law school. He practices in Indian Spring and has a family.
Much to everyone's surprise, Ethan Tucker also married and is raising a family in Indian Spring. He has a successful printing business and is still best friends with Stevie Jacobs, although they are no longer sexually involved.
Ashton Tucker is the Deputy Sheriff in town, working closely with Sheriff James Cormack. Both seem to have an uncanny knack for turning up just as trouble is brewing and quickly diffusing any tense situation. Often those involved walk away hardly remembering what all the fuss was about. Ashton has a policy of giving Mackey juvenile offenders 48 hours to turn themselves over to the Junior Council before charging them with a crime. Almost every kid reluctantly takes that option rather than deal with the authorities, fines, parental involvement and possible jail time. The overall result is that Indian Spring is virtually crime free.
Malcolm McEwen went to Art School and became a highly regarded artist. He apparently inherited his mother's talent. His work has been exhibited in several large cities in the region. He never married and still lives with his dad. He and Kelley Tucker are still best friends. He regards the Tuckers as his 2nd family. Kelley and Ethan's children know him as Uncle Malcolm.
Tripp Headley left Indian Spring to attend college and never returned.
Cooper Mackey is a successful farmer in Indian Spring and is raising a large family. He and Reeve Mackey remain close friends.
Reeve Mackey is a successful Accountant. He keeps the books for most of the local businesses including the moonshiners and pot farmers. He is considered 100% trustworthy and confidential. Reeve never married.
Paul Hardin is slowly taking control of the family moonshine operation. He has a natural business acumen and takes great pride in the family product. He has been asked to assist legal brewers in Tennessee and North Carolina who want to improve their product and makes respectable side money as a consultant. His dad is extremely proud of him. Paul is raising a family.
Tim Hardin got in trouble after high school when he and some friends tried to rip off a local pot farmer and got caught. His dad interceded and saved his life. Tim left town after that and never returned.
Tyler Hardin is a junior partner in the family business and keeps things running when Paul is not around. Tyler is single and he is sought after by many local girls.
Kevin Mackey took over as the Special Rep on the Junior Council after Sandy was elected President. He did a great job but after a year he realized he didn't enjoy being in charge. He talked Cal Brewer into running for the position and Cal filled the slot until he turned 18. He was considered and excellent leader.
Rory Mackey and Koby became best friends after Koby was bottomed at the 1997 Choosing. They remained best friends all through high school. When Rory was accepted at The Ohio State it appeared the boys would be separated as the cost of college was beyond Koby's family's reach. Rory's mother went to work and with the assistance of the Mackey Brotherhood, Koby was awarded a full scholarship. The boys both returned to Indian Spring after school and are raising families there.
Scooter Mackey is a partner in his dad's garage and is considered one of the best mechanics around. He also chose to remain in Indian Spring and is married and raising a family.
The town of Indian Spring grew rapidly after land became available for purchase because of its strategic location between Sweetwater and Coolspring. But it still has a reputation because of some of the unique city ordinances and the persistent rumors of the less than legal businesses being carried on back in the surrounding hills. Nothing is ever proved of course and there are never official complaints to be acted on. Some of the older residents refer to that country as "the deep" but nobody can ever give a satisfactory explanation for the name. That part of the county is largely inaccessible by paved road, and the tracks are often impassable during the winter. As a result, the town has attracted more than its fair share of creative, artsy and counter culture types along with a smattering of oddballs. There are thriving communities of potters, painters, writers and even video game designers in addition to the more mundane families. The Indian Spring Farmers Market, held monthly, is famous throughout the state. In spite of its eccentric reputation, it's a safe place to live and there is very little reported crime. Only new residents ever bother to lock their doors.
Indian Spring opened its own elementary and a middle school in 2002. The surname "Mackey" is still the most common in "the Spring" as most people call it, and many with that name are prominent in local business, politics and town government. But like members of some clandestine organization like the Masonic Lodge, they still maintain their distance from newcomers. And some say "their mysteries" as well.
Since the first use of the Dawson Exclusion Rule at the 1995 Choosing Ceremony, the relationship between Near Springer and Mackey youth settled down into a comfortable co-existence. Boys in the older Near Springer families generally have a pretty good idea about the many unique Mackey family traditions. And like the Tucker and Brewer family, there are occasional boys that cross-over and join the Mackey clan. There are still substantial benefits to being recognized as a Mackey in Indian Spring. Of course, once that choice is made, the descendants thereafter are also Mackey.
***
Even though this is the closing to the Sandy Jacobs saga, some mention needs to be made of a few of the near-Springers and other characters that played a prominent role in Jonas Henley's work.
Nathan (Nate) Carlin, who had been Kelley's best friend through most of Jonas' work and even into portions of Sandy Jacobs, remained a very good friend of Kelley. However, he and the boy he first met in seventh grade gym, Jason McCoy, survived a secret gay relationship all through the end of high school. They married a few years later, and moved closer to Cincinnati where their relationship was more accepted. Kelley attended the wedding and visits as often as he can.
David Mackey was still connected to Ian and Jack, but all three had learned to not probe the other's thoughts out of mutual respect. He was pronounced `healthy' by his uncle in California who specialized in Adolescent Psychology. After returning to Indian Spring, he met Angela Mitchell, `The Cutest Girl in Seventh Grade". Unable to speak to her, Ian helped him with what to say through their connection. That eventually led to a marriage proposal. David and Angela married right after high school, a wedding that Ian Cormack and Jack Lanham both attended. They have a daughter, and a son on the way.
Casey Harris' time in Indian Spring was somewhat tumultuous. He had few friends, really almost none beyond Kelley Tucker. He wasn't interested in saving the community, even though his parents were on the committee dedicated to preserving it. He'd had sex several times with Tucker, even though neither of them were gay. And, at some point, he came to realize something about the kid. Kelley had told him he couldn't be controlled, and admitted that giving up his ass to him was necessary in order to find out what it felt like to be controlled. Sex, for Tuck, was an obligation. Casey didn't want that, and he despised the idea that Kelley was using the Mackey rules for his own purpose. He rebelled against his friend, only to find that he had thrown away the best friend that he actually ever had.
He'd gone on to St. Oliver's, only to accidently let on that he'd fucked a boy to the wrong person. It resulted in his being kicked out of the private boarding school. However, there was a silver lining. Tucker's need had been fulfilled, and he still wanted to be friends with him. Neither of them had any further interest in sex with each other.
They remained friends, but Casey moved out of Indian Spring as soon as he could, shortly after graduating from high school. He had a small, two-room apartment that took most of the money he had. If not for his father paying for college, he would never have achieved success in life. For it was at the small private college he attended that he met Sally Johnson. After earning a degree in Agribusiness, he quickly found work and they got married. His parents still live in Indian Spring, but he only returns there to visit them and the Tuckers. His boys will never be raised under the rituals practiced by the Mackeys.
The Cormack's:
James traveled to Ireland immediately after finishing high school. He met with his extended family, and over the next year he learned more about his special abilities. When he returned to his family's home, he enrolled in an on-line college studying Native American Culture.
Connor grew from a fun-loving boy who liked to pick on his younger brothers into more of what James had been – a boy who guided (or did his best to guide) Duncan and Ian. He knew about Ian's new connection with David and Jack, and used those two boys to help him convince Ian that he had to reverse his karma. He later married Katie Whitman, and they now live in Sweetwater but plan on buying some land in Indian Spring as soon as they save up enough money.
Duncan was just a lad of 12 when his brother James was allowed by the Junior Committee to attend a Mackey Choosing ceremony. It was a first, and it came about because Kelley Tucker and Cal Brewer had been placed on the list. As the Near-Springer Representative on the Committee, his older brother had to attend to their protection and interests. Duncan knew much of what happened at Old Knot, most of the kids who lived in Indian Spring but were not Mackeys did. But he was extremely jealous. When James moved on, he thought about trying to become the one to replace his brother, but he could see that in the voting he wouldn't stand a chance. But he did have something important that he believed needed to be accomplished. As far as any of the Cormack or Lanham's went, the Tuckers were related. Not by blood, but they were cousins by choice. And both Kelley and Ethan Tucker had been harmed by another non-springer boy, who was apparently getting away with it. So, working with someone who knew the layout of Old Knot, he took matters into his own hand. And, in 1996, it payed off. To protect himself, the boy never knew until it was too late that he had been set up, and to this day he still has no idea who did it. Nor did anyone else. The perfect crime. By then, Duncan fully understood that how he acted, and the things he did, mattered. He'd experienced how badly things could get when you acted evil. His brother Ian was a living example of that. So immediately after his success in secretly appeasing the harm done to the Tucker boys, he changed into doing all sorts of good things. Within his family, but also to the community. When the tornado hit, he went door-to-door helping those who needed it. He went to the hospital to visit the Brewer kid who lost part of a leg. When it was time to go to college, he chose a small one nearby. There he met a girl, and they married when they were both 21. It was an important marriage, as the girl had been born Faye O'Shaunessy. And like the Cormacks and Lanham's, and even the Tucker boys, that family contained the magic learned centuries ago in Ireland. They had a son, and they are dying to learn what abilities he will be blessed with.
Ian had learned, much too late, the lessons that James had tried to teach him about karma. How what he did, affected his life. He'd been born with the ability to make people do what he wanted. And by the young age of 10, what he wanted was sex. He never had to use his ability to have sex with Brianna Whitman, from the start it had been her idea. But when not with her, he wanted more. He convinced Joey Vargas, Billy Larson, Greg Allen, Morgan Nash, and Zeke Prosper to allow him to fuck them. Even his cousin Jack. But using his power for personal pleasure was affecting what he was, and one night he made the fateful decision to give a gift to Jack. He had Morgan, the boy with the golden tooth, give his cousin the best blowjob he'd ever gotten. Now, he had no idea that Jack, who was angry that Ian had used his power to allow him to stick his small dick into his backside, was planning to get his revenge.
But on the summer solstice, Jack saw that the gift his cousin was giving was the best he could ever hope for. Because Ian had fucked Morgan, when the blowjob was complete, Ian had been stripped of his power and it had been taken by Jack. But it set in motion a mess that was almost beyond the ability of James and Conner to fix, and nearly resulted in the death (or worse) of he and Ian. Saved by Kelley Tucker (who'd been battling his own demon), it was time to make amends. He loved sex. Boy, girl, it hadn't mattered to him who he stuck his dick into. But he wasn't gay, not in the least. One thing helped. Other than by Jack, no Cormack boy had ever been fucked, and there was a reason for that. But that didn't mean he couldn't use his mouth. During the month of July, he visited all the boys he'd harmed. Jack made his tell each of them he had taken advantage of them and needed to repay them. Starting with Joey Vargas, he offered 3 blowjobs to each.
Only now, all of the boys he visited had also aged a year. Joey, instead of a prepubescent boy of eleven, was now twelve, and puberty was well established. Next came Billy, another new comer to the changes down there. Then it was Greg Allen, who was then fourteen. Ian swore he could taste the kids cum for a year after he finished the third one. Morgan demanded more, and Ian gave in, giving the boy with the golden tooth a blowjob a week for 8 weeks. Two whole months. And Morgan twice invited another of his friends to witness it. With pushing from Jack, Ian also blew the two friends. That left Zeke Prosper.
This boy was different. Zeke had been struck by lightning (or so went the story, but Ian knew his memories of that night had been altered by James) and did not remember ever doing anything with Ian. He refused the offer. Needing to amend things, Ian almost used his ability to make Zeke accept them, but he was stopped by David Mackey and Jack Lanham, who knew everything since they all shared the same thoughts. After some questioning, Ian learned that Nathan Carlin, Kelley Tucker's best friend, had been in love with Zeke. But now, Zeke didn't remember that either, and swore that he was not gay, thus rejecting Nate's desire to team up sexually again. Ian explained as best he could, and gave the three blowjobs to the former lover of the Prosper boy. It was finally done, his karma restored.
Ian later married the first and only girl he'd ever had sex with – Brianna Whitman, the younger sister of Connor's new wife. The ceremony was right after they graduated. Shortly afterwards, Ian was called to the Witch's Cabin, Grandma Corbin, Cleveland's first wife. Kelley took him, as the path went through the deep woods in Mackey-only territory. They were challenged twice, but even the deep Mackey's had enough respect for the Tucker boy to let them pass. Before she died, Grandma Corbin set him on his life's path, giving him some Mackey status by having him take over her role as healer and life guide.
With help from family and friends, they were able to purchase some land and hand-built a functioning cabin to live in. Mackey's were at first reluctant to visit Ian and his young wife, as a non-Mackey had been allowed to build in the Deep territory, but Grandma Corbin had set them straight. With the knowledge of herbs he'd learned from her, and his ability to get people to open up and tell them what troubled them, he was able to earn his way into acceptance. When he and Brianna had a son, it was determined that the boy would attend the Choosing on his 12th birthday, which would thus solidify the Cormack name into the Mackey tradition.
Like his cousin, Jack Lanham had nearly paid a severe price for destroying his karma. Angry that Ian had used his power to make him `want' to allow him to be fucked, he plotted to use magic in return. Although he did not have the history of acting evil that the Cormack boy had, he still committed a major breach that nearly killed him. And in turn, could have easily caused the death of his older cousins. But Kelley Tucker had given him a reprieve, and he and Ian now shared the same brain. Along with another boy who had been directly affected by the monsters – David Mackey. He wondered; how do you make up for the harm that you caused? He knew what his cousin needed to do, but for his own actions he was at a loss. The answer came to him in a dream. He had a younger brother, Patrick, who had just turned eleven. The boy seemed to have no ability at all, which was unheard of for a Lanham boy. It took three years of work, often resisted by his brother, before they stumbled upon it. Patrick was able to make charms. Not soft ones that had limited powers, but powerful ones. The summer before he graduated, he and Patrick traveled back to the family's roots in Ireland, where a proper teacher was selected to work on developing the skill. While there, he met a girl. Not just any girl, but one he'd heard of years ago and had forgotten until he met her. Ashton Tucker had told him he'd marry a girl who would stand by his side forever, and her name was Audrey. Jack knew the minute he met Audrey Conner that she was the girl his young cousin had described years ago. Although only fourteen years old, he courted her, and the day before he and Patrick were to return home, they had sex (witnessed by Ian and David!). It was the first girl he'd ever done more than kiss. Two years later, she came to the Spring as her family was in the process of purchasing an empty house there. They resumed where they'd left off, and when they were twenty, they married. He got a job in the office of a local construction office, and they moved to Sweetwater, near his work. They have two sons. And the odd thing was, the first one was born the same day, the same hour, and the same minute, only a year apart from Ian's son, just as he and Ian had been.
If you are ever in Indian Spring on July 15th you are bound to notice the complete absence of boys anywhere around town. Even the non-Mackey newcomers have learned through the grapevine that it's best to stay out of sight on that day. The Mackey boys themselves will all be deep in the woods observing a family tradition handed down from one generation to the next and still practiced to this day.
The End
Note from Charles (Chuck) Well
As this is the last chapter in the Sandy Jacobs Story, I wanted to take a minute and reflect on this almost three-year journey.
I first became interested in the Indian Spring world through the writings of Jonas Henley in late October 2005. That was when the first chapter of the Kids of Indian Spring was released at Nifty and straight away I was hooked. I quickly came to the conclusion that this was one of the most erotic stories I had ever read. Jonas Henley created a culturally rich world populated by realistic teen and preteen boys that led stimulating and attention-grabbing lives. He filled his writing with strong characters who faced insurmountable challenges, a great deal of enticing action, some mystery, and his skill in writing erotic sex scenes has never been surpassed in my view. Each month I waited with great anticipation for new chapters to be released.
I corresponded with Jonas on many occasions to thank him for all his hard work and great stories, but unfortunately our emails never really went much further than that. Then in 2011, he ceased writing, with the Kids of Indian Spring saga far from complete. Like many others, I tried to contact him but never received a response. I gathered from our brief correspondence that Jonas Henley was elderly and it is my assumption that he passed away. In his emails, he often made light of some of his illnesses that sounded rather serious to me.
To fill the void left by the disappearance of my favorite author, I started creating fantasy concepts for extending the unfinished work of the Indian Spring world from late 2017. I had no idea what I was doing of course and had never had anything published before. So rather than completely plagiarizing the ideas of the great author, which I assumed would upset many readers, I thought it prudent to take one minor character that Jonas never fully developed, and expand his story further. Thus, the Sandy Jacobs Story was born. Of course it is essential to reiterate that Sandy inhabited the world created by Jonas Henley and it was only through the power of that writing and an obscure reference in Chapter 25 in the original Kids of Indian Spring, that Sandy was destined to have the extensive archive of some 66 chapters he has to his name.
The first chapter of the Sandy Jacobs Story was posted at Nifty on 17 April 2018 and, much to my surprise, I was inundated with flattering comments from readers, who were glad their favorite story world had been resurrected. Since then, writing Sandy's story has become a community effort and I have been fortunate to have met (virtually) many people I now regard as close friends from all across the world.
I had a broad outline for the immediate future of the Jacobs clan and intended to close the Sandy Jacobs Story at the end of chapter 10D – the 1995 Choosing Ceremony. However, by this time my good buddy, Pietar, had joined me on the Indian Spring team. He had far more experience than me and had been published under numerous pen-names including Pietar and Sarge, on many websites. He began suggesting ideas and then writing large chunks of text. By that time we had also received dozens of requests for the missing "White Party" chapters that Jonas never started. Pietar agreed to take that on as an independent project and with input from several readers, the three parts of Chapter 8 were added to the Sandy Jacobs saga.
By the time we were putting the finishing touches on the 1995 Choosing Ceremony, it became clear we were unlikely to ever hear from Jonas Henley. One of my secret goals in writing Sandy's story was the hope of instigating some response from him. I had held a secret fantasy of checking my email one day and reading an angry note from Jonas about my plagiarizing the story world he had created. Unfortunately, that response never came and Pietar was of the view that we needed to do proper justice to Jonas's work and provide an ending. Once again, he undertook that project and almost single-handed, he wrote the bulk of chapters 11 to 14. We have no idea how Jonas actually intended to end the Indian Spring story, but Pietar's skill and original ideas strongly fit with what might have been. He has also written several other stories in the Indian Spring world you might like to read - Warriors of Indian Spring and Mackey Farms are two that come to mind. They are both available in the Young Friends section at Nifty.
As the writing of Chapters 12 and 13 were well underway, a third person joined the Indian Spring writing team. Nick came to us with new ideas and bubbling enthusiasm and soon made important contributions to those chapters. He also insisted that there was still a great deal of life in the Sandy Jacobs story and he volunteered to continue writing until the completion of the 1997 Choosing. He has been diligent in keeping that commitment. Pietar and I provided advice from time to time and some editing, but almost everything from Chapter 14 onwards is Nick's work. It has been a real pleasure to watch as the new chapters arrived at my Inbox, each better than what came before.
The Sandy Jacobs story has been a big part of my life for over three years now and I'm sure I'll miss him when he's gone. But Sandy has successfully negotiated each of his brothers through the Choosing Ceremonies and the other pitfalls of the Mackey world and it's time he moved on. And I'm sure each of us on the Indian Spring writing team feel the same. We apologize to our many loyal readers, but nothing lasts forever.
Let me conclude by stating that I still regard Jonas Henley as the greatest author of erotic fiction who ever put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard - in the Young Friends genre. Our poor attempts at writing could never match the abilities of the original author, but we did our best. We dedicate the 66 chapters of our work to the memory of Jonas Henley and may the Kids of Indian Spring live forever. But as you can see from this short summary of the last three years, the facts behind the creation of the Sandy Jacobs Story are amazing in their own right. A million thanks to Pietar and Nick and the many others who provided input, comments, and suggestions over the years. Without your help, the SJ saga would have been a mere shadow of what it became.
Note from Pietar
I was among the many people who wondered what happened when suddenly Kids of Indian Spring (KOIS) stopped updating. I had lists of all the characters that Jonas had created and tried to keep track of the interrelationships between them, and on a few occasions, I thought about tossing them out. However, I hung on to them and was glad I did once Charles Well picked up the series. He didn't want to continue with the story of KOIS, so instead he began the Sandy Jacobs (SJ) story. He addressed his reasons in his section.
Many readers wanted to learn about the White Party, which Chuck didn't plan on writing as it didn't involve Sandy Jacobs. I had been in contact with him prior to that, and was beginning to get involved as a proofreader, and I accepted the challenge to write it. Sam (Sam_The_Ham) had some ideas that he thought belonged in the White Party if we wrote it, and several of them I incorporated into my version. This was the first time we had taken the story line and non-Mackey characters directly from KOIS, so I worked hard to try and match Jonas' style of writing and what I thought he would have done if he'd had time.
The success of those chapters brought me fully onto the creation of SJ. I contributed paragraphs here and there, but mostly did editing and research. As Chuck stated, when we were looking at ending the story with the completion of the 1995 Selection, I pushed him to write an additional chapter to close as many of the loopholes that existed in KOIS and SJ, and he agreed.
That caused me to really look at the magic component of KOIS, something that Chuck wanted to minimize in SJ. The final chapters in KOIS dealt almost exclusively with it, and unlike the White Party, Jonas gave no clues as to the origin of the monsters he created. I wanted it to have a sense of realism, so I took the liberty of using Irish and Native American lore to complete what Jonas had left unfinished. I didn't get many comments, so I don't know how much readers appreciated my efforts, but I was happy to see what we thought would be the final chapters get published.
As Nick began writing the next Selection, I contributed the idea of Tripp Headley getting a note about the selection and drawing him to it. Nick incorporated it, and ever since then readers have asked, "Who gave Tripp the note?" The truth is, I had my own ideas, but never selected any one person. Clearly it was someone who knew the where, when, and layout of where the Selections were done. Originally, I left it up to Nick to determine if this was going to be revealed or if it was to remain a mystery. However, I don't like finding unanswered but important events in stories I read. Thus, if you look close enough, you may find a paragraph that seems to relate to this. For those who what to know, good luck. All you need to know is there.
Other than that, the story kind of drifted away from the original descriptions of Indian Spring, and I started focusing more on grammatical issues and less and less on the story itself, leaving that up to Chuck and Nick. The two selections added by Nick completed the story, and we were left with our closing remarks. I'm happy to have been a member of the team that wrote the SJ saga. Thanks to all the readers out there who have stuck with us for 41 numbered chapters and many sub-chapters. We all hope you enjoyed the story. This has been a 3-year commitment, and we are done writing it. I have returned to my own stories, but I have no regrets for the time I put into SJ.
Note from Nick
Of course, Nick was also invited to share his thoughts on the experience of being a major player in writing the Sandy Jacobs Story, but he declined. His comment in an email stated.
I would rather not participate in the history pieces you are writing as I find I can't write about myself or my thoughts. Guess I'm just a quirky guy.