It was a long day at work yesterday, so I didn’t manage to get this here when I updated it everywhere else. Friend of the Wood is live in the Literotica Summer Lovin’ contest!
I just put it in the queue at Storiesonline, so it should post there soon. SOL readers can feel free to get a sneak peek and vote for me in the contest at Lit, though 😉
And, it’s live on Storiesonline as well!
The newest story in the Magic of the Wood series, “Friend of the Wood”, is in the queue at Literotica for the Summer Lovin’ contest.
As long as there isn’t a contest posting snafu, it should be up tomorrow morning, so keep your eyes open! Odds are that I won’t have enough time to do the announcements between when it posts and when I have to leave for work
I just did my first pass through “Friend of the Wood”. Tweaked a few things and added a couple of lines that I’d forgotten ( heralding back to earlier scenes in the story ). The main thing I did was change the ending, though.
When I read it “cold”, it felt too quick to me. I ended up condensing it and alluding that something was going to happen in the future, rather than having it actually happen in the story. It feels much more natural now.
Going to give it a couple of hours, then go back and tweak the scenery a little in a few scenes. I have a habit of centering so much on my characters that I forget about the world around them. I end up having to come back in and build set pieces around them most of the time :p
I actually have an idea for another story in the series — a short one featuring Melinda and Glen. It was inspired by the current contest at Lushstories ( where I post stories under my RR name ) that fits perfectly with those two. If I write it, it will actually be a jump backwards in time from the “now” of Friend of the Wood — probably falling between it and Beauty of the Wood.
It may even be exclusive to Lush. It’s going to be a shorter tale such as those that do well there, and more of a moment in the life than the rest of the stories in the series. If I decide to do that, I’ll probably release an Ebook for it here on my website shortly after publishing at Lush for people who only read on the other sites.
Besides that, there’s always been another story at the edges of Friend of the Wood. I ended up cutting a character out ( other than a brief mention ) and saving what he was all about in a notes file. If I decide to go through with that one, it will begin at the same time as Friend of the Wood, and the ending will be shortly thereafter.
This one would end up as a story on my “Shorts” page. It’s a little more than a moment in the life, but still not quite on par with the depth of most of the stories in the series. Something important is going to happen in the tale if I decide to run with the idea.
It will be like the rest of the stories in the series in that there will be no need to read it to understand later stories, though. The whole series is designed to be stand-alone tales that are enhanced by reading what’s come before.
Going to take a break for a few, then get back to editing.
Now that I’m down to the last scene and happy with what’s come before ( though there’s still the editing process to go ) I finally feel safe revealing what I’ve been working on for the Summer Lovin’ contest at Lit.
The next story in the Magic of the Wood series will be “Friend of the Wood” and features Terra, who is Dan and Brooke’s daughter. She has a twin sister named Ella and a younger brother named Dale who will also have supporting roles.
I’d originally planned to use these characters for Earth Day this year, but the idea I had just wouldn’t come together. The characters are the same other than a couple of quirks, and there’s a general theme that carried over, but pretty much everything else about the summer version of the story is different.
Like I said at the beginning, I’m working on the final scene of the story now. That means that I’ll have plenty of time to pass it through Mistress Lynn ( who has first-read most of the series for me ) if she has time, and get it to Roust for final editing before posting. There’s even a chance I’ll be able to do all that and still have it ready for posting during the first week of the contest! W00T!
I will probably aim for Thursday night rather than the 20th start date. I always have a lot better luck with stories that post just before the weekend than at any other time.
That’s all for now. Just wanted to reveal it, since I’ve been hinting around the edges of it for a while now. I’ve had so many stories in this series sputter out on me that I didn’t want to tease another that never materialized.
My entry in the Summer Lovin’ Contest at Literotica is up!
Stand warned that is a taboo story, if that creeps you out. If not, go give it a read and a vote!
Lots of new stuff close on the horizon, including two multi-chapter stories.
