News Archive for February 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

W.O.L.F. Sector is Now Open for Business

Written by Kodi Wolf at 12:11 AM

Wow. I can't believe it, but W.O.L.F. Sector is finally ready to begin accepting members.

To join, click on the Become a Member link at the top of any page. There's also detailed, step-by-step instructions on the Help/FAQ page if you have any questions.

Unfortunately, opening the site doesn't mean I actually have any new chapters for you to read yet (but they're coming in the next few months, so please read on). Between one family or health crisis after another and working on creating this site, which involved quite a steep learning curve on my part, as well as working on the stories in the Uncharted section, I only have a few chapters for my posted stories ready to be sent to BetaWolf.

The other problem is that it took me longer than I thought it would to get BetaWolf off the ground. I foolishly expected to keep most, if not all, of my BetaWolves and be able to have groups of them working on different stories at the same time. Instead, after such a long hiatus, half of them I couldn't even contact because their e-mails were no longer valid, and most of the rest never responded to my inquiries.

So, I've gone from 43 beta-readers down to just 4. Luckily, they all want to work on everything, but that also means I'm unwilling to split them up between the different stories because it would mean I'd only get one critique per story instead of four. Plus, since most of my BetaWolves are new, I've also asked them for critiques of all the posted chapters to sort of bring them up to speed and also because my early chapters could do with a good once-over. So, it's going to take longer than if they just worked on the new chapters I have ready.

Hence, my new mantra has become, "It's gonna take the time it takes," and I'm okay with that because I'd rather get in-depth critiques than rushed and skimpy ones. I want my stories to be the best they can be. Honestly, I'm just happy to be working on my stories again and meeting my daily goals of getting scenes written or revised. For a writer, that's the best feeling in the world. :)

Anyway, what all this means is that instead of having at least one new chapter posted to the site for the Grand Re-Opening the way I wanted, I can only say I have chapters going through BetaWolf as you read this.

So, here's a breakdown of where I'm at with each story:

Lights of Life — Chapters 13 and 14 have been sent to BetaWolf.

Prisoner of War — Chapter 5 is done, but I'm waiting for BetaWolf to finish with Lights before switching them to POW.

A Bondage Primer — I'm halfway done with Day 11 and I'm hoping I'll have it finished by the time BetaWolf is done with POW.

New Gaia — I have the beginning of the next chapter, but since it's outlined to be quite long, I don't know if I'll have it done by the time BetaWolf is finished with Bondage.

The Vampire Hunter — I'm trapped in rewriting hell and have come up with so many different ways to rewrite the beginning of the story that I've completely confused myself as to which one is best. But once I get that sorted out, the rest of the rewrites should flow a lot easier, and then I'll finally be able to move on to new chapters.

The Trine — Chapter 1 (30 pages) is pretty much finalized, Chapter 2 is almost finished (I just need to figure out one little scene in the middle), Chapter 3 is basically done (just needs some final edits), the next dozen or so chapters just need revisions, and then I only have another dozen or so chapters to write from scratch.

Out of Darkness (the sci-fi rewrite of Assassin) — Chapters 1-3 are finished and Chapter 4 just needs a final scene to be complete.

The Enchanted Queendom — Still mostly in outline form with just a few scenes written here and there.

The Kindari Saga — Same as above (okay, so technically I completed one entire novel for Kindari, but since I decided to scrap half of what's in it and start the story a couple generations earlier, I can't count it :) ).

Anyway, I'm hoping to have the final edits done for those two chapters of Lights within the next few months, though I won't wait to post Chapter 13 if 14 isn't ready, so they may not get posted at the same time.

I'm really excited to finally have the site done. For the past two weeks, I've been almost exclusively focused on writing (just a few tweaks to the site here and there and getting BetaWolf sorted out), which has been unbelievably amazing. With the past year of troubleshooting hell regarding the site, it feels like it's been forever since I've been able to just sit down and work on a story, rather than only jotting down notes or snippets of scenes now and then.

And I know I've said this before at different times when I was taking breaks from working on the site, but this time, now that the site is done, I don't have that feeling like something's hanging over my head, which can really interrupt the creative flow. I mean I know I'll still have to deal with e-mails and troubleshooting when something doesn't work the way it's supposed to, but that's very different from knowing I still have a bunch of pages to work on for the site because it still isn't finished. From this point on, I don't have to think about the site except when I'm using it or someone has a question, so I can just write now.

So, I'm going to get back to it. :)

P.S. In honor of the site's Grand Re-Opening and 12-year anniversary, I'm offering a 12% discount for the month of February good towards any Story or Site Membership. Click on the coupon link at the top of any page to get the code and take 12% off your order.

P.P.S. If you're on the 'kodiwolf' or 'KWLF_subscription_pledge' mailing lists, you should've already received an e-mail announcement regarding the opening of W.O.L.F. Sector. Please make sure to check your e-mail and read the announcement(s) before placing your order.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Stressful First Month

Written by Kodi Wolf at 4:29 PM

Well, this has been one crazy month.

First, I opened the site and was inundated with e-mails, which totally set off my social phobia, so I've basically been in a constant state of panic the whole time.

Then I injured my neck again, so I've been limited to how long I can be on the computer, but because of all the e-mails I've had to respond to, either from people asking about the site or congratulating me on finally opening or my BetaWolves needing help, I've spent most of that precious time writing e-mails instead of working on my stories, which has been really frustrating. To compensate, I've been doing research (watching documentaries or reading books and taking notes) while resting my neck and using ice packs, which has actually produced some really good story ideas for me and helped me solve several problems I was having with a couple stories, so that's been cool. But I'd still rather be writing.

To top it all off, my wife recently had enough of all the homophobic crap from her family and attempted to cut ties, only to receive harassing phone calls from her brothers and an upsetting letter from her mother, plus we keep running into family members at our chiropractor's office, so that's been seriously stressful.

On the bright side, my neck does seem to be getting better and I met my break-even point for the year regarding the costs of running the site, so I don't really have to worry about raising more funds until next year.

My thanks go out to everyone who paid for a Story or Site Membership (and extra special thanks to those who chose to forgo the coupons and pay full price). Your support is much appreciated and while I'm not technically getting paid for my writing yet (at this point, I'm just trying to cover costs and recoup past debt), every little bit helps and brings me that much closer to making that dream a reality.

I'm truly grateful and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present (I turned 36 on the 11th). So thank you.

PS Happy Leap Day! :)