Story Of The Month: January 2006:
To start off the New Year, we have one of the most exceptionally well written, engaging and perhaps lesser known fan fiction, which also relaunches the Story Of The Month feature at the BFFD.
This is a different story from most other typical Beatles stories in many ways, not least of all its genre, style and characterisation. Written by Sarah Henley, of St John's Wood Station fan fic directory and archive, I think it is also one of my personal favourite fan fics!
Change My World is a supernatural, science fiction, alternate universe story, starring Paul (or Will, if you like!) and answers the question, what if Paul McCartney really had died and been replaced? Dealing with the 'Paul Is Dead' hoax, and making it disturbingly realistic, Change My World begins at the end, and then travels back to tell the story of how Will Campbell came to replace Beatle Paul after his sad and secret death - not that the other Beatles are entirely happy with this, least of all the real Paul McCartney!
I've been writing fiction and some poetry since I was six, but I've only been a Beatles fan since I was seventeen, so my fan fic portfolio is a small one: there's just Change My World and two shorter stories, "War Is Over If You Want It" and "Nothing Is Real." My other writing is in numerous genres, though mostly epic fantasy. My ultimate dream is to be a published writer.
My influences change depending on who I'm reading at the time! While writing the last chapter of CMW I was reading Salman Rushdie, and I can definitely see his influence on my writing style in that part. I pretty much pull the little bits I like from other writers' styles and cross my fingers in the hope that my own writing doesn't sound too uneven. As far as Beatles fan fiction influences, of course, [Diane's] "Into My Life" is way up there. It set the bar high and I'm still stretching out to reach it. I've read "Skywriting By Word of Mouth" too, which I highly recommend, though I am no match for John in the mastery of words.
I was babysitting my cousins when the main question of this story popped into my head. I was making them lunch, sandwiches or macaroni or something, and staring out the window, when BANG! it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks (though it hurt considerably less): what if the "Paul is Dead" hoax is actually not a hoax? I knew from reading a few other stories that William Campbell was mostly portrayed as evil, which I couldn't understand. I figured something terrible must have happened to him, so scarring that he would be willing to live someone else's life, and I wanted to explore that.
The hardest part was probably writing John, George, and Ringo because they've lost their best friend, and it would be easy to go overboard with the drama and angst. I wanted to make the story as realistic as possible, so
I depended heavily on maps of London and my little book "The Beatles: A Diary" [by Barry Miles] for the day-to-day details, and the site "Officially Pronounced Dead" for all the PID clues.And if Paul read this? Oh dear. He'd probably check to see that I know he isn't actually dead!
The pearl jewelry set proved to be the perfect gift, for Jane squealed with delight when she saw it and insisted Will put them on her at that moment. As they danced later, to the hotel's club singer doing an old Frank Sinatra tune, she put her lips near his ear and whispered, "Everything has been amazing, Paul."
"I'm glad ye liked it," he replied, feeling dreadful.
"And now that you're not touring anymore, I hope we can spent a lot more time together in the future." She gave a deep sigh. "Think of all the things we can do this summer."
"Yeah, I know," Will said. After a brief hesitation, he added, "I've been lookin' forward to it."
He felt her smile, and she kissed his cheek. "I love you, Paul."
Oh Christ. I can't say it. Don't make me lie to her.
"I love you too, Jane."
Many thanks to Sarah for her co-operation and permission to use her story.
