About the Novel 
Trapdoor's first chapter was dreamed into being, typed up, and somewhat nervously presented to the Yaoi Underground Mailing List on May the 20th, 1999, back when the web was a far more intimate place. As is the case with many “first” novels, the story is intensely auto-biographical, and was originally intended as a suicide note, for its part. But out of most darkness comes the light, eventually…or so we often wish or hope…
Shortly after I began to write the novel, the Trapdoor website followed, appearing in mid-1999 as part of my yaoi fiction/gallery/info network page the garden of desire, then hosted at labyrinth.net.au/~rei. In early 2001, it moved to its own subsite as part of the new finaldawn.net domain, and stayed there until late 2002, when the domain was unfortunately swallowed up into the domain holding voids for 7 long years.
During this period, given many positive responses, I decided to publish Trapdoor in book form, with 12 chapters—or the first half of the novel—remaining online, both to attract newcomers and to help existing readers remember. The story itself was completed in Los Angeles in March 2001, edited during much of 2002, and finally brought to life as a fully-fledged novel in April 2003. It was originally released under my former pen name—September Dawn, which I used extensively throughout finaldawn.net. Publishing the book via independent means was always my intention.
After finaldawn.net disappeared, Trapdoor moved onto the new website at orchidveil.net, while the short-run print copies came and sold out, and an e-book version was created instead.
At last, in early 2010, it became part of my indie publishing company site, Lost Violet Press.
2010 will see the release of a remixed paperback edition, containing many niggling “fixes” or changes in places, scenes, events, tellings or even characters where I believe I haven’t done the story of Raven and Pegasus enough justice; where I didn’t try hard enough.
Anyway…to all the visitors over the years—those who have contributed fan works, participated in the contests, sent messages, viewed the fan art, read the story, those who have forgotten and those who’ve remembered or stumbled across it again, and those to whom it’s meant so much—a heart-felt thank you.
