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.