Frequently Asked Questions: To the Wolves
Cleaning up my profile over on ffn, and decided it really made more sense to house these things here. Feel free to comment with any queries you think should be added to the list! ;)
What's the deal with the dates in the prologue? Is this set in the future?
No. The dates are meaningless except to show the passage of time. The TtW universe exists entirely apart from our world and timeline, and that of canon Twilight.
How old are Jake and Nessie? (Isn't that a little... gross? o_O)
Nessie has just turned 16 in our story, whereas Jake is more like 20/21. Since 16 is considered adult in both of their societies, there is nothing wrong with their relationship. Being older than we saw him in the canon does make Jake act somewhat more mature, which makes him interesting to write while trying to stay true to his character, and also means that he has a better control of himself as a werewolf, since he's been doing this for several years now.
Do Nessie's people still have some vampiric nature in them? How are they related to the Volturi?
Yes, they do. The Cullens and the Volturi are the same race in this, but the Cullens have rejected the 'natural' carnivorous and cannibalistic lifestyle of the Volturi, instead choosing to live as strict vegetarians. If they were to stray from that diet, they have the potential to become just like the Volturi again though..
Why doesn't Jake tell Nessie about the imprinting?
He has his reasons... One of them, at this point, is that he doesn't want to freak her out. They just met, after all. She's fond of him, but telling her that he will always love and protect her would be a lot to swallow at this point. And there's also, of course, their respective political positions - Nessie isn't traveling to the Quileute kingdom for fun, remember. Things tend to get messy when politics get involved..
Re:Chs 4-7: Are they EVER going to reach the Quileute kingdom?!
Yes! Omg! Would you believe me if I told you that they were originally supposed to be there by chapter 3? Then it became chapter 4... then 5... These chapters have a way of growing and expanding on me, mostly because I'm finding that the characters have really strong internal voices, and they both like to talk. To each other, to themselves, talk talk talk, haha. I can tell you definitively now, though - they're going to be get there eventually. ;)
Why does it take you so long to update?!
Partially because I'm just a slow writer, though the Twitter #WriteAlong is helping with that, but it's mostly because of work. I'm in the army, and am currently going through some intensive training. I'm state-side right now, and so luckily have computer and internet access, but free time is still hard to come by. My work days are 12 hours long, if not longer, including mandatory physical training every day. But writing is what I do to relax, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning it ever - you just might have to wait a little while for an update ;)
Is TtW on hiatus? When is it coming back?
Officially, no, it is not. Unofficially, I guess you could call it that. The time since I last posted a new chapter has been spent graduating from one intense army school, relocating halfway across the country, starting a new, equally intense training schedule, falling ill and battling with the monster that is the military healthcare system, and spending the holidays with family. Oh yes, and let's not forget NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, during which I consciously set aside TtW and all other fanfic to try to work on my o-fic, Bright Eyes. Now that all that is over with, and I'm finally settling into a more regular schedule at work and with my health, I'm working on fic every day once more. As for when it's going to be updated again? I don't know. Eventually. I'm still a slow writer, remember ;)
The plot of TtW is so original! Are you going to publish it as o-fic?
Again, yes and no. I do have a novel in the works that is the o-fic version of TtW, but it's not one of those where you just go through and replace all of the Twilight characters' names with different ones. That's pretty sleezey, in my opinion, and I'm always disappointed when I see other fic writers do that. What I'm working on is a complete re-write, with the same basic plot and world, but a different setup, different history, and very, very different characters, now that I'm not channeling Twilight-canon into my writing. I think anyone who's enjoyed TtW so far will really like the o-fic version too, and I think - I hope - that you'll be able to fall in love with my original characters the same way you did with Nessie and Jake in TtW. :)
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's read and especially reviewed up to now! You guys mean the world to me, and I'm so grateful to have had you all along on this journey! More will be coming eventually, I promise.
What's the deal with the dates in the prologue? Is this set in the future?
No. The dates are meaningless except to show the passage of time. The TtW universe exists entirely apart from our world and timeline, and that of canon Twilight.
How old are Jake and Nessie? (Isn't that a little... gross? o_O)
Nessie has just turned 16 in our story, whereas Jake is more like 20/21. Since 16 is considered adult in both of their societies, there is nothing wrong with their relationship. Being older than we saw him in the canon does make Jake act somewhat more mature, which makes him interesting to write while trying to stay true to his character, and also means that he has a better control of himself as a werewolf, since he's been doing this for several years now.
Do Nessie's people still have some vampiric nature in them? How are they related to the Volturi?
Yes, they do. The Cullens and the Volturi are the same race in this, but the Cullens have rejected the 'natural' carnivorous and cannibalistic lifestyle of the Volturi, instead choosing to live as strict vegetarians. If they were to stray from that diet, they have the potential to become just like the Volturi again though..
Why doesn't Jake tell Nessie about the imprinting?
He has his reasons... One of them, at this point, is that he doesn't want to freak her out. They just met, after all. She's fond of him, but telling her that he will always love and protect her would be a lot to swallow at this point. And there's also, of course, their respective political positions - Nessie isn't traveling to the Quileute kingdom for fun, remember. Things tend to get messy when politics get involved..
Re:Chs 4-7: Are they EVER going to reach the Quileute kingdom?!
Yes! Omg! Would you believe me if I told you that they were originally supposed to be there by chapter 3? Then it became chapter 4... then 5... These chapters have a way of growing and expanding on me, mostly because I'm finding that the characters have really strong internal voices, and they both like to talk. To each other, to themselves, talk talk talk, haha. I can tell you definitively now, though - they're going to be get there eventually. ;)
Why does it take you so long to update?!
Partially because I'm just a slow writer, though the Twitter #WriteAlong is helping with that, but it's mostly because of work. I'm in the army, and am currently going through some intensive training. I'm state-side right now, and so luckily have computer and internet access, but free time is still hard to come by. My work days are 12 hours long, if not longer, including mandatory physical training every day. But writing is what I do to relax, so you don't have to worry about me abandoning it ever - you just might have to wait a little while for an update ;)
Is TtW on hiatus? When is it coming back?
Officially, no, it is not. Unofficially, I guess you could call it that. The time since I last posted a new chapter has been spent graduating from one intense army school, relocating halfway across the country, starting a new, equally intense training schedule, falling ill and battling with the monster that is the military healthcare system, and spending the holidays with family. Oh yes, and let's not forget NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, during which I consciously set aside TtW and all other fanfic to try to work on my o-fic, Bright Eyes. Now that all that is over with, and I'm finally settling into a more regular schedule at work and with my health, I'm working on fic every day once more. As for when it's going to be updated again? I don't know. Eventually. I'm still a slow writer, remember ;)
The plot of TtW is so original! Are you going to publish it as o-fic?
Again, yes and no. I do have a novel in the works that is the o-fic version of TtW, but it's not one of those where you just go through and replace all of the Twilight characters' names with different ones. That's pretty sleezey, in my opinion, and I'm always disappointed when I see other fic writers do that. What I'm working on is a complete re-write, with the same basic plot and world, but a different setup, different history, and very, very different characters, now that I'm not channeling Twilight-canon into my writing. I think anyone who's enjoyed TtW so far will really like the o-fic version too, and I think - I hope - that you'll be able to fall in love with my original characters the same way you did with Nessie and Jake in TtW. :)
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's read and especially reviewed up to now! You guys mean the world to me, and I'm so grateful to have had you all along on this journey! More will be coming eventually, I promise.