Hello, all! Thank you for subscribing to this li’l project <3 I hope to earn your affection through many months of one-sided communiques. I figured I’d get into the swing of things with a little Q&A.
If you need a refresher on the whole deal with “Forever, Beth,” take a gander at our first post here.
Now, let’s Q some As!
Q: Who are you?
A: Your mother.
Q: Ok, mommy! Why are you doing this?
A: Writers must needs write, and posters must needs post.
Q: Why Little Women?
A: There’s two answers to this.
The real answer is that the Alcott estate can catch my ass and bite it because this book is in the public domain. (jk love u don’t be mad at me :D)
The emotional answer is this: I read Little Women for the first time when I was around 11. I don’t remember a lot about it! The bits I DO remember are the standard impressions: Jo makes bad choices, Amy’s a bitch, Meg is boring, and (SPOILERS FOR AN 157-YEAR OLD BOOK) Beth bites it! She is too good and pure for this world and because of that, halfway through the book Alcott smashes her with a big hammer. Much like a beloved dead wife in a film flashback, Beth is a memory that forces emotional growth through her absence. Beth isn’t a person. Beth is an inciting incident.
Q: Why does the Beth stuff bother you?
A: It bugs me in a way that shallow female characters often do; defining a person by one easy shorthand to emotional weight, that totally bypasses any kind of inner complexity. Beth is Boring And Holy and therefore must Ascend. It also feels out of place for Alcott to write her that way? Especially in a book that was so revolutionary in its depiction of rich, complex girlhoods.
When I was a kid I remember being scared that if I wasn’t interesting enough, God would kill me like he killed Beth.
Q: Is this gonna be like Greta Gerwig’s Little Women?
A: I imagine by the time we get to Chapter 3 this story will resemble Gerwig’s film in the way a donkey resembles a much uglier donkey.
Q: Is this gonna be like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies?
A: No. My title only has TWO words.
Q: What is MY job, mama?!
A: To read and subscribe, of course! But your MAIN job is to vote in the Death Poll.
Since I’ve gotten questions, some Death Poll clarifications:
You can vote as much as you want! In fact, I would love for the standings to shift over the course of a chapter based on how people feel about characters.
Names will get added to the poll the day they appear in the story.
Once a chapter is done, I’ll leave the poll open for a few days to get the final tally.
Q: If you’re not going to count votes ‘til the end of the chapter, why should I vote now?
A: Part of the challenge I’ve given myself here is to create a cohesive narrative. That means we’re going deal in foreshadowing. Poll results will influence how I treat characters throughout the chapter. If Laurie is going to die at the start of Chapter 5, he needs to have been blowing chunks in Chapter 4, yaknow?
Q: Chapter One only has main characters in it…
A: Yep.
Q: Does that mean you’re fucked?
A: Yep.
I mean, PROBABLY. Maybe. While most of chapter one is just Jo, Beth, Meg, Amy, and Mrs. March, at the veeeeeeeery end we get a letter from Father and a mention of Aunt March. So maybe the readership will decide to be kind and bump off the good chaplain! He’s already doing war! It would be so easy! Please do this! PLEASE!
Q: Are you excited, mommy??
A: Yes, dear. Very excited.
Posting cadence will be Mondays and Fridays, except for the launch on Christmas Eve ‘o’ course. On Friday I’ll continue the Q&A to talk a little more about methodology, interactivity, and the book itself.
In the meantime, feel free to reply with questions or suggestions of your own! I love being in DIALOGUE with my readers.
Thank you thank you thank you again for joining me on this ride!
LAUNCHING CHRISTMAS EVE 2025