Woofajuana: Blog

S're did the thing... and now, that thing might destroy everything she's ever loved. What is the "Cost of a Bounty?" Enjoy!

I am glad I wrote so many chapters. I've lost the momentum. Life is as life does. I will do my very best to keep it up. Might end up breaking these chapters down even smaller. They get so long so fast. I hit 9k words in one of these later ones. I just let the stream of consciousness take me, and I let the characters give me a natural break away. Sometimes, they are not forthcoming about those.

Now that the momentum is lost, poor Roscrow is stuck in there with a stick and a lost cause, beating back all the other characters. "My bitch! Come back later! Roan! You slippery little shi- Oh, hey, elf sex. Yeah, I could watch this." ROSCROW! "What? you've built me a castle wall and a moat of cock block, what do you expect?"

I'll get back to it. Sometimes, life is so much fun! And then... your cat dies, and it takes you 2 months to finally break down and deal with the grief. I lost myself in the unflappable focus of avoidance, but I couldn't avoid it forever. It wasn't healthy. Life is as life does. 18 years. Is this what elves feel like?

I have moved to a new home for my main writings. However, I will, of course, continue to post here, so do not fear! I will continue to post small stories, shorts, one-offs, and other such things here, as well as The Dragon Tamers, but over on Inkitt, I'm actually updating the stories in real time, literally as I'm given feedback. "In the Enemy's Territory" is closer to a finished product (and is now well over 30 chapters, not because of that much extra content but because I'm breaking it up into much smaller pieces). Currently only have the 2 there, but I will be posting and hanging out there a lot more often, and on Fridays, new chapters of "The Dragon Tamers" will show up there first, and there's a good chance it will look different there than here as I can update and change things in real time without having to bother someone to submit my changes when it's only some grammar or a sentence. You can find me under Cly Anders. Not my real name, but related to me in a way. Hope to see you there, and have a great week!

(Small rant... As a wolf furry, I just have to shake my head at people who write werewolf novels who don't know anything about how WOLVES actually work. THERE ARE NO "FAMILIES" IN A PACK, THERE IS ONLY FAMILY IN A PACK! And yet, these other places I've been posting to are absolutely crawling with the most unrealistic pack dynamics that I have ever seen. They aren't even in line with human royalty! I have rarely kept a peeve as a pet but if I were to, that's the one. You're telling me that an Alpha is an Alpha because they were born that way, even if they did or do absolutely NOTHING to benefit the pack? Man, just ask France how that went.... end rant)

Did I hear people in the back crying for plot? Yes? Well, it was both my birthday and Halloween this week, and I'm feelin' sassy, so open wide and lemme just jizz that plot all over. Hopefully, the formatting all comes out correctly. Enjoy, and I'll see you all next week.

So, I apparently ruffled some feathers with some close friends over the thought that I was insulted by "I like it"s, and I feel I should clarify this.

TL;DR: Sorry, have a chapter.

I am not at all insulted by a simple "I like it." Those are fine. They tell me people are enjoying what I'm doing and that's great. Just like when someone tells me "I like your shirt," it puts a smile on my face. My problem is specifically with The Dragon Tamers story because of how it started, grew and changed. It's been 20 years, guys, did you know that? I started this at 16. And for the decade I lulled, I received almost an email a month with the "I liked it" and asking if I would continue. For a decade! I love you guys so much. It wasn't just from here, it was from all sorts of places I had posted in my early days, but some of you are also here. So when I said I was ashamed, I am ashamed that I created a fandom for something that doesn't exist anymore and I am so sorry to you guys. There is nothing worse than the creator losing interest. It sucks, but it is a sad reality.

Going back to the "I like it"s, that was both the saving grace for this novel, but also my initial downfall. I blindly followed "I like it" and "keep going" and "That's great," and when the time came to fulfill my life's dream of being published, from an actual publisher who had reached out to me with the "I like it," I then received the very first constructive criticism I had ever gotten in my life. "None of this makes sense." There were more words, but that was the gist. So, in my hubris and exuberance, having had my dream dangled right there, I went ahead and published on Amazon. Quite a few people bought it. If you were one, thank you so fucking much! That helped me at a time in my life that I was trying to breathe. But it was without beta readers, without an editor, just a meandering rough draft and those were the comments and reviews I was getting, that it was 500 pages of wander without anything making sense. But hey, dragons and sex so cool! Holy shit, constructive criticism? Wow, mind blown. All I had ever gotten to that point was "I like it" in more or less words. The occasional "it sucks" but those are equally nondescript and ignored.

I took it down, and I have mulled it over for a decade. Some folks close to me likened it to beating a dead horse and all I say to that is don't let no one discourage you when you know what it's supposed to be in your heart. I started doing research and working on this world so that it did all make sense. Roscrow was always destined to be a Q'Hu, I simply had not created the species yet. And with every rewriting, even the ones I kept to myself, Jasper kept working his way to the front line. And S're, well, she's always had a thing for the bad boys and she needed two hearts for two boys. So that is why, when a few have suggested I simply split the two books... maybe some other author could. Maybe some other author could just change a few things, give them different names, clean things up, make them separate. I cannot. The characters evolved but their voices stayed the same. They are the same characters, on the same planet, struggling together. I cannot separate these things, and for that, I am sorry.

Since I started posting here and finding new places to post to get more constructive feedback so that I can grow, I have received emails from people who recall the old book from Amazon and from people who recall the horny 16 yo ramblings from the very first place I ever posted (which also led me astray, starting out on a sex site writing sex stories rather than stories with sex in them, but it was a different time back then). Almost all of them with those nondescript "I liked it." And I'm glad you did! Thank you! Genuinely! From the bottom of my one human heart. But I did not. I did not wake up every morning at 4 am because once I realize I'm awake, Roscrow is already poking me. I did not hurry through my day with urgency to get back to the story. It did not consume my every waking moment. Before, I wrote it for the "I like it"s. Today, I'm writing it for the "I like it." And trust me- I'm lovin' it.

As an apology, I have in queue the next chapter to catch you guys up with the furs and new places I've been finding to post this. Truly, I am sorry to those of you who loved the old versions. I hate it just as much when creators I love lose interest. It is my fervent hope that you will like this one. The plot moves because of character actions rather than characters acting to suit the plot. And if you notice any spots they don't, I invite you to point them out. All it's going to do is make my next scheduled project that much better. Dragons to dragons, Roan and his elfy are hot on Roscrow and S're's heels, and that story has not changed, I just never finished it, but it's gonna be sexy.

I'm starting to like Fridays. I wanted to get used to posting on a consistent basis as it's not something I'm used to. Trust me when I say, every bit of me wants to just throw up everything I've written so far, but then you all would be stuck waiting months for more updates, the way I did with In the Enemy's Territory. So, today, you get the "start" of the adventure. Every couple has to start somewhere and so does every story.

For some of you, this chapter will be a bit of a shocker. Yes, Jasper is a main character, now! Quite important, in fact. No longer to sit and pine for something he cannot have in the dreaded "friendzone." Little man will have an interesting part to play among giants and elves. Until he gets there, though, he first has to put on some major rizz.

If my slow progression upsets you, just wait until I'm done and you can buy the finished book. I could have been inclined to jump ahead by another chapter since I'm flying through them, but let me just say, it's a truly sad day when people who identify as animals are more civilized than people who identify as humans.

One thing I brought up with the furries (since they are a chapter ahead for their interactions) is if you're going to tell me how much you liked the older versions, tell-- me-- WHY. Because the rule of writing that I've taken to heart is "write the story you want to read" and I have not once read any of those previous versions EVER since writing them. I cannot stand them. I'm ashamed I ever even posted them. So when I receive nondescript "but I liked the old one," that feels like an insult more than a compliment. I even had a publisher tell me how bad the previous sex-filled human version was, after they were the one who contacted ME to publish it! I never sought them out, and they were all a gush over the start. So when I'm told by readers that my poor, meandering writing is liked more, I'm left curious... is it only the sex? Because that was what the consensuses ended up being among the furs. Sex and dragons. There will be sex in this, I promise, it just won't be first thing out the gate and it's not a major focus. If that upsets you, then you simply are not my demography and there's thousands of other stories to fap to.

Until next week, I hope you all have a great weekend and a safe, fun and fantastic Halloween!