astone2292

Thanks, Patch! After a conversation with my newest editor, I'm trying to polish my writing a bit, so I hope this was a little smoother of a chapter compared to others. The goal is to reduce the amount of point-of-view hopping going on. As much as I love cubism and having all of the perspectives, it can throw a lot of readers off. Eventually, all of my previous work will be re-done to mirror this. Glad you liked the chapter

Possibly, but I'm banking on the premise that he's still undergoing a mutation. This might bring further changes, both physically and emotionally.

Essell's going to be making Garjah take plenty of showers then. Now I want more information about the four-arms! I can't wait to see how they conduct debate and handle politics, especially involving Essell. But first, we need chapter 39! Let's learn about vents!

I knew it didn't seem likely for Garjah to stray from the relationship, but I am curious to see what altercation took place. The four-arms race (did I miss a formal name for the species?) tend to be very docile from my perspective, and I may be wrong on that. I can only assume there are other pair-bonded crewmates and a conflict arose. I can't blame Timok for the research he gave Essell. The human did ask for the information. Same boat with @drpaladin. I'm guessing Garjah doesn't need filters for his vents?

Yeah! I wanted them to have a nice "first" date! It's not even noon and Cyn might be ready for a nap. I'm loving those GIFs! I didn't know Cyn had any sass, but I'm glad he does. I'm not sure Shea would take a chance for adventure with his little deer. He took a bathroom break and he found Cyn in a conversation with strangers. The poor guy probably didn't learn about "stranger danger" in school... Oh, that's just wrong... but it's so funny! A deer and a wolf holds hands in a zoo, and the penned animals all think, "What... is happening?"

I'm sure Shea will start making a list. Salad? Check. Ranch dressing? Check. Frittatas? Check. I agree! Arric's not really good at his job... someone should fix that. I'd say it's pretty handy. Could imagine having to deal with tableware possibly having silver in it? I'd almost keep a plastic set in my jacket pocket. Or get really good with chopsticks...

Thank you! I wanted a nice "lull" before things go back to business for our heroes. I think we can assume the lady put two and two together. "Oh, look at Commander Farren getting a promotion! Why is the deer upset when I mentioned Enforcer Thom- oh..."

"Here we are!" Cyn looked up to the sign above the awning. Field to Fork? What is this place Do they bring the food from a farm and put it on a fork? Bound by Shea's hand, the deer followed the lycan inside the small building. When the door opened, the scents nearly overwhelmed Cyn! There's so much going on! I smell coffee, but I can smell some vegetables. Shea led Cyn to a table, passing several glass displays of baked goods that caught the cernunnos' attention. "We'll look at those

"The Voyage" at Holiday World. My best friend had just cracked my fear of roller coasters, so I went on the newest one the park had built. It was all fun and games until the coaster started it's MASSIVE descent, and my teenage body started slipping through the safety bar atop my lap. I gripped onto that bar with my arms, clinging to dear life with shut eyelids until the ride ended. I haven't been on a coaster in nearly fifteen years.

This is true; anything can happen, especially in a paranormal/fantasy story. Everything's been coming at our cast hot and heavy, so I think it's best to take some time to let things cool down a bit. Dave's got no choice! He's the best one to keep tabs on Stacy in case she goes blabbing! Not saying she would, but one of the supernatural community could never be too careful.

A novel idea, but I doubt the couple would want to leave Owensville. A solution will appear in a few chapters time.

It does make a lot of sense, and it would be the easy answer if Ty would be interested...

Hmm, a new option has been put on the comment section's table... I wonder what else y'all can come up with.

Another wonderful analysis, Philippe! Even as the author, I'm just curious as to when the dust will truly settle.

Oh yes. Population numbers haven't been released, but Owensville is looking at a little less than 10,000. Shapeshifter population around 200.

Do we think Vincent can handle territory of his own? Woah, making the EC submit? I think that's a little much, but our heroes will sort out their new mess.

I guess we'll find out what's going to happen in the next chapter! Solid questions for ruling pack land. Ooooh, a centex two-for-one! I thought Elaine would be better than a bunch of boys. I mean, I could go back to 10k word chapters... nah, that was a lot! Thanks for commenting! I loved it! It should have been seen coming a mile away, but everyone just... missed it! I think it's pretty obvious why everyone's hesitant on applause, but Vincent's wolf's reason is a little out of left field. Teehee, I'll never reveal my story-packing secrets! I love a good wow! It was a lot! Guess we'll need to wait until next week! Ha! Thank you so much for commenting! It's Mesker Park City, the metropolitan area north of Owensville. With his circle of friends, Vincent has enough support to sink a battleship.

“Miss Elaine! Lei!” Seeing his parents-by-bond surprised Vincent! I was not expecting them! He stepped backwards to allow the couple to enter. Elaine stooped ever so slightly to give her fellow mage an endearing hug, “Mason gave us a call not too long ago. He’s up to date on everything, but we thought we could offer a hand.” Straightening herself, her eyes naturally rested on the human girl, as the group entered the living room from the kitchen. She is trying her best to appear calm, “Dave,

I'll say wow myself! I love hearing of binge-reads, and I'm glad you're liking the story! What is up with everyone wanting Cyn ro drop his innocence gig and kick some tushie?

Did a reread, and this part has me second-guessing... Is there an angered state the Four Arms possess that Essell didn't know about, and potentially fell into? While Timok is still on my suss list, I'm starting to be concerned for his health. Garjah's timid actions are concerning me. Essell did something, and it wasn't good.

Lots to digest with this chapter! Essell is being very moody, so the bond may not be complete or there may be an unknown human-related mutation between the species. I doubt Garjah would have strayed from their relationship, so Essell might be smelling a co-worker. I'm going to need next week's chapter to come yesterday!

I love this comment, especially the analysis of the lycans' behavior towards Cyn! I started my coffee drinking journey at my salesman job, selling mattresses. They had the biggest and fanciest Keurig machine and said to drink as much as I wanted! I like my men the way I like my coffee too, the way it is served. Ha! I don't think Kieran would be able to sneak past his sleeping Alpha, or manage to borrow them while the rumpus was going on. Introducing Folger's Full Moon! The coffee guaranteed to keep you on your paws! Oh, I think we all know what Cyn's reaction will be if he has any kind of pancake... Don't tempt him with Denny's All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes for $4. (Come to think of it, I'm surprised more lycan don't order this with their increased metabolism...) I struggled with coffee, but, I looked to my fraternity experience when it came to beer. Just. Keep. DRINKING! It was an acquired taste for me, but I got it pretty fast. This reminded me of my incredibly southern-drawled babysitter who constantly told me to quit pouting (pronounced POW-tn with no "I" inbetween the t and n). Imagine me at the age of six, not knowing what this word meant and getting verbally harassed for doing something I didn't know I was doing. @NFields1608 likes flavored creamers to an extent of gross fascination. Working at a grocery store, I send him pictures of the newest creamers that come in, and he immediate wants to try them. I had to put my foot down when he wanted to try the Fruity Pebbles creamer... I settled and got him the Cocoa Pebbles one. Please refer to the last paragraph of Danner's quote... Egg scramble = breakfast salad

Wow, Patch! You really are calming down a bit! Glad I can make everything "gray" for ya every now and then. 🤍

Is it that time already? I believe so! Boy, oh boy, do we have a special treat today! We're doing things a wee bit different today, and I am so excited about it! Normally on Ask An Author, I get to pester an author about a story, but not today. This time, I got to pester one of our beloved Administrators about THREE stories! That's right, we got ourselves three amazing questions about a series! I hope y'all are ready, because we're diving right in. Here we go! • • • • • Carthera Takeover Tales Cia The Carthera are a violent race, never failing to respond to battle, they nevertheless are a proud and honorable people. Except for the ferals. Battles for territory, fighting persecution from the humans, for the right to rule, have echoed down through the ages. In these modern times things are different, easier. Laws are made--and enforced--and peace, of a sorts, is possible. Some seek to end that. My favorite pairing is Dav and Ellis, don't know why, but do you have a favorite pairing between Natham & Velaku, Bashta & Cavel, and Dav & Ellis? If so, who and why? Dav and Ellis as well! Probably because I put a lot of myself in Ellis. Oddly enough, while I loved writing Dav as a character, I absolutely hate snakes in real life. My teen daughter has a 2 year old ball python that's somewhere close to 3 1/2 feet, and it's all... ewwwww. She wears it like a necklace and watching it move around her head creeps me out. Somehow, though, the idea of all that sinuous movement in a man? 😊 Totally works! How did you come up with the specifics of the plague that spread through the jaguar clans? ⚠️ This will have a spoiler, FYI to readers who haven't read Book 2 in the trilogy! ⚠️ Carthera have only been "accepted" in "human society" for about 50 years in this trilogy. So the medical knowledge isn't quite up to date. I treated the plague much like Ebola. Exposure from contaminated surfaces (the statue) then person-to-person among the vulnerable and least 'clean' (aka children who don't tend to wash up well). Antiserum from survivors was the most effective treatment for ebola for a long time. FYI, I used to work in the medical field, so that's one of my areas I try to be very exact and make sure is realistic, even when I'm writing a scifi, paranormal, or fantasy story. The Carthera are incredibly interesting to me. What made you detour away from the typical shifters and instead create the Carthera? I'm never one for writing 'run-of-the-mill stories' where I follow along with conventional mythos. I love to create twists. Either in the idea behind the original mythos I'm basing my storyline on or morphing the character types or as I'm going along in the plot events. Okay, okay, sometimes I'm greedy and do all three. I like shifter societies who have all sorts of animals (OMG, why limit myself to a single species when I could play with so MANY?) who carry their animalistic traits into their human form, and I do like it when they're integrated instead of being hidden society alongside humans. So with my Carthera, I decided to create "shifters" with mixed animal/human characteristics who were integrated into society, but I figured by timing it to recent 'coming out' as a species to humans I could also incorporate a lot of different societal dynamics in the storylines. One of these days I want to come back to the world; I have some ideas with ocean shifters, since they are some of my favorite animals. • • • • • Unlike Cia, I love snakes! Let me tell you, if I ever got my hands on a man like Dav, I might be tempted to kick my husband to the curb (sorry, Noah...)! The second I got the request to go bother Cia, I screamed like a little girl! I dropped everything and wrote the fastest PM in my life! This series is one of the very few reasons I made an attempt at writing, and I come back to these stories often frequently regularly a lot when I want to get away from everyday life. Make sure to check out Cia's other amazing stories through the link in her name under the series title! If you have read a riveting story and want to ask the author about it, send your questions to me and I'll happily knock on their inbox for you! Until next month, buh-bye!

Ha! I suppose plant-based bacon would be the potential option here, but there are still plenty of vegetarian breakfast options out there. I've aimed Cyn and Shea to be around 25-26. Shea's age was barely hinted when he was introduced: fresh out of lycan hunting/tracking training, registered as one of the best sniffers in the area and we immediately put to work. Cyn didn't get much of a hint, other than his overabundant innocence. Once the book is done and is in a proper final edit, I'll include some details. Let's hope the truck has some useful leads! I'm going to stray away from the hacking concept. Most TV shows have ruined it for me, with this instantaneous results and determined faces as they furiously smack their fingies against clickity-clack keyboards.