The Wolfcat Chronicles Book 8

Yesterday I started revising Book 8 of The Wolfcat Chronicles. Since it has been some time, about five years, I think, since I last worked on this book, I was concerned that there would be a lot of tweaking required. I may still run into that situation later on in the book but six chapter into it I’m not finding much that needs to be changed. Not he optimistic side I’m hoping to be finished with this book before next weekend. Barring anything major that comes up with this revision, it’s possible.

Book 8 begins The Last Wolfcat section of the ten book series, picking up a short time after the events of Book Seven. Throughout One Pack, Mang, a character introduced in Spectre of Dammerwald (Books One and Two), became increasingly important. In the Last Wolfcat he has a major role. When the series was beta tested on Fan Story a few years back many people commented that he was one of their favorite characters. The way the rewrite of the ending is envisioned he will pay a larger role in the conclusion.

The Last Wolfcat tends to be more about Rotor than Ela’na, I can’t go into why that is with spoiling the plot, but it has a purpose. Ela’na has a key role in the finale as well as other books that have a tangential relationship of The Wolfcat Chronicles. Also, as I have said before, I envision a separate volume to handle a backstory issue that some beta readers indicated they would love to read about. That material would not fit into the story arc of this series but some of the subject matter is already handled in two other books I’ve written in draft. The fact that I have written that part of the story allows some depth to the treatment of of the information about it that is included in The Wolfcat Chronicles. There are over twenty manuscripts I have written that are set in the same universe as The Wolfcat Chronicles. I have been working on this story for most of my life. And so, the world has a feeling of completeness and believability about it that I feel is necessary for a fantasy.

Although The Wolfcat Chronicles could be labeled an epic fantasy it is really not. There are elements of urban fantasy and sci-fi throughout. That is not to say it lacks anything int he portions that comprise the epic tale. It’s set on another planet. The characters are influenced and sometimes visit the Earth through connections that exist in nature as well as those produced artificially. And there are parts of the series that take place in the future and out in space.

I set out to write a story that I would want to read. That’s important for the writer and serves as some pretty good advice, really. Some would be authors think that the creative process of building a story ends when they type The End on the final page of the first draft. Most understand that there is still a lot of work ahead with revisions and rewrites prior to subjecting the world to professional editing. I estimate that the average work of fiction will require an author to read it twenty to forty times before it is published. So, the book had best be something you enjoy reading. Otherwise you are in for a painful experience re-reading your words over and over again.

#TheWolfcatChronicles #Revisions