Wow! Time flies! It's time for Ask An Author! We're dipping our tootsies back into some fantasy writing, but with a healthy dosage of sci-fi! This one is a little special because it's a sequel. I got the chance to interview another rising star in the GA community, @Yeoldebard! As a member of the Million Word Club, this author has a plethora of stories in their arsenal. Let's dive right in! A little message from the author first! This story can stand alone, but the first story, Wolf Pack, will help shed light on how this story was born. 

Inspired by other Gay Author News and Writing World blogs, I'll add in a few more details about the stories we interview. Let me know if this encourages interested reading!

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The Neko's Tail
Yeoldebard

Word Count: 94,020 / 42 Chapters / Status: Complete / Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi / Rating: Mature

For those of you who wondered what happened to Elias when he went missing in Wolf Pack, here is his story. A young neko, lost in a new reality, making new friends and being brought out of his quiet shell.

Elias, to me, was a beloved character in the first story, Wolf Pack. I was thrilled to see him getting his own story. His character's mentality is powerful, and he is one of the most beautifully crafted MCs in any story I've read. What was the inspiration for creating him?

Elias was originally just a throwaway character, one inspired by a friend's insistence that I was more furry than anything. I decided to mix nekos and werewolves because of her, and the rest is quite literally history.

But Elias took on his own role in the story. Quiet, broken, he became a symbol of me, of my own struggles. Throughout my childhood, I found it hard, nearly impossible to be heard for who I was, and Elias was my way of working through that. You'll notice more than a few of my characters are selectively mute, or fully mute, because for the longest time, I was not allowed to have a voice. They are my way of talking to the world, of getting my story out.

This is a sequel. The first story is full of medieval and fantasy tropes. You completely turned this sequel upside-down, turned it around, and sent it in a direction I didn't think was conceivable! How... Did... What... Why... I'm speechless! Straight up, this is the most creative thing I've ever seen! It was absolutely beautiful! Are you a god? A writing god? But seriously, where did this come from?

Elias was never truly meant to be in Wolf Pack. But I had made his character, and I couldn't let him go. He needed a different story to shine in. I had just finished reading Kidnapping Is Always an Option for the first time, and it got me thinking about why we always see modern people abducted by aliens. And I decided to try my hand at changing that. It was the perfect out for Elias. He could escape his former life, and I could start building new species, new creations, something that I have always enjoyed doing. More than that, it was a way for me to stretch my horizons, challenge myself. And it really was a challenge. I learned a lot about myself as I wrote The Neko's Tail, and even now I enjoy looking back to see my early work, to remind myself of where I've come from.

At this time, I haven't continued on into the series, but that will be changing very shortly. Iason is an interesting character to me. Not much is given regards to his and Artemis' history. Is there a possibility for seeing my second-favorite Egaro in a future story?

I can make no promises of seeing this particular Iason again, but Egaran Stars has a Iason that is very similar to this one. While that story is a much later inclusion to the universe as a whole, it goes much more in depth regarding both Egaro and Faro culture, and even introduces a new species discovered by Elias himself during his travels with Artemis. Iason himself is sort of a spiritual successor to another character of mine, Maximus Markhaus. His story is one of those included in my furry story, though he is not nearly as sexual as the average Egaro.

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Well, that's another Ask An Author in the books! I hope y'all go check this story out. As soon as I got this set of questions, I had to read it! Give a comment down below if you've read this, or any other of Yeoldebard's stories. If you haven't, links are in the title and author's name above. 

If you've read a riveting story, shoot me a PM with three questions! I'll track down the author, knock on their front door, and ask them for you. All authors and stories are fair game. Ask An Author is a great way to give your favorite author a spotlight on their work! 

I'll see y'all next month!