News

Hey! So I know I've kind of disappeared for awhile, but I have been working. The plan was to post the last half of Shifters today.

But I say "was" for a reason.

Earlier today, I went back and read through what I had written. And to my great disappointment, many of the chapters were littered with errors. Not small grammatical errors, but large plot errors that would make an observant reader say "What?".

So I've made my decision. Since I want to make Shifters the best it can be, I've decided to withdraw from the current Textnovel competition. I will take the next month or two to fix the errors I have found, and then resubmit the story for the December contest.

I will also probably make the story private for a little while, until I can put up something coherent. But when I put it back up you'll get to see the edits I have already made to Chapters 28-53, as well as the plot edits I will be making over the next month or so.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I believe it will benefit the story. Thank you all so much for your support! I really never would have gotten this far without you!!!

-Annabelle

Last post for today, I promise :)

I've edited Chapters 26 and 27, so I'm officially halfway through! And I've added it up: Chapters 1-27 total to about 30,337 words, now that I've edited them. My new goal is about 80,000 words. Think I can do it? lol

Thank you so much for all your support, again! 91 votes!!!

-Annabelle

More on oops...

Ok, so Chapters 11-20 are 10,033 words in total. Just in case you wanted to know :)

-Annabelle

25 and OOPS!

Ok, so after I finished editing Chapter 25 I realized that I made a big mistake.

You know how I said Shifters was like 68,000 words? Well, it's not. Evidently the words counter decided to count all those weird spaces that the computer keeps inserting as words.

I did look at the copy of Shifters I have saved, and Chapters 1-10 appear to have about 13,339 words in total. I don't know about the rest, but I'll let you know soon :)

Oh well :)

-Annabelle

21-24

Sorry, I know these posts are kind of repetitive :(

I've edited Chapters 21-24, and I'm hoping to have Chapters 25-27 done by tonight. Then, I'll be officially halfway through!!!

My other goal for tonight is to hit 70,000 words, and I think I'm definitely going to accomplish that. I'm already at 68,000! Yay!

Alright, that's enough talk for now :) Back to work!

-Annabelle

20

I've edited Chapter 20, and I'm moving onto Chapter 21 :)

88 votes!!! Thank you, everyone!!!

-Annabelle

18 & 19

I've edited Chapters 18 and 19, and I'm working on 20. I'll let you know when I've done more :)

-Annabelle

PLAYLIST 2

The playlist works!!! It's at the bottom of the page. However, please be warned: Some of the songs contain slightly inappropriate content. It's not too bad though; it's probably only PG-13ish stuff.

Enjoy!!!

-Annabelle

PLAYLIST

I'm currently trying to post the playlist. I hope it works!!!

-Annabelle

Editing Day, Part 3

I've edited Chapters 15, 16, and 17. I need to stop to do some summer homework, so maybe I'll do more tonight, and maybe I won't. If I don't get a chance to, I'll definitely be back to it tomorrow.

And by the way, Shifters has hit 60,000 words!!! My goal for now is 100,000, and although there is a big possibility that I won't reach it, it's always good to aim high. If I hadn't aimed high, I never would have written this book :)

So enjoy the edits!!! Many things have been written in that did not happen before, so be sure to take a look!

-Annabelle

Editing Day, Part 2

Hey! I've edited Chapters 12, 13, and 14, and I'm still going. This might be a record :)

Chapters 13 and 14 are kind of like Chapter 11, in that they haven't changed too much. I'm finding that as I go through the chapters, most of the action is there, it's the description that's lacking. And these chapters take place in settings that have already been described.

I'll be posting again even later today. And thank you for the incredible 85 votes you've given Shifters!!!

-Annabelle

Editing Day!

I am excited to announce that today I will be editing all day!!! I have already edited Chapters 9, 10, and 11, and I'm still going! Chapter 11 hasn't changed too much, but I figure that a short chapter won't kill anyone :) I'm currently working on Chapter 12.

I'll post again later today to let you know what I am able to get done.

-Annabelle

P.S.- If some of the later, unedited chapters don't match up with the earlier chapters, just know that they will when I'm done with them :)

Just Checking In :)

I'm back from vacation and working on all that needs to be worked on!!!

79 votes!

-Annabelle

More Chapters

I've edited Chapters 6-8, and I'm currently working on 9. I'm hoping to pick up the pace as the month goes on. Shifters will definitely be finished by then :) However, I will be going away this weekend, so the real cramming won't happen until next week.

Also, I mentioned on Textnovel that I will be posting a playlist soon. I also said that I will be accepting song suggestions. So tell me your ideas! Comment on either this post or the story itself and let me know what you think.

76 votes! Woohoo!!! Thanks, guys!!!

-Annabelle

Combining!

I will be combining some of the earlier chapters, so that all the chapters will end up being around the same length. For example, Chapters 5 and 6 have been combined. The actual content won't change that much, only the chapter numbers and titles. I will still be adding to most of the chapters as opposed to combining them with other chapters, but there are some chapters that really just can't be added to any more.

And, by the way, Chapter 5 has been edited, and more chapters should be done by the end of the day!

Also, I'm sorry about the spacing. I don't know why some paragraphs are farther apart than others. Hopefully I will be able to fix this soon!

-Annabelle

Editing!

I've gone through chapters 1-4 and I've made some edits, and now I'm starting on chapter 5. Chapters 5-53 (holy cow!) will take a little longer, since I have to add to them as well, but I should still have everything in order for the August 31st deadline. I'll post more updates as I edit more chapters, so that you'll always know what's been edited and what hasn't.

Thanks again for all the support you've provided for Shifters!!! 60 votes and counting!!!

-Annabelle

The Story Behind The Story

When I was younger, I would only read classic novels, and therefore viewed authors as dead and gone, and writing as a sacred art that only few could become skilled at. However, as of the end of last summer, I have taken up reading more modern novels, and have thus become addicted to creating my own stories.

As this new side to me emerged, I watched as other interests of mine fell away. I had wanted to be a veterinarian all through my childhood, and had loved animals, but now I found that loved the written word more. I liked the change, but I also hated it. I liked what I had become, but I wasn't able to recognize myself.

However, this is only the background information.

I started to write Shifters at the end of last summer, but I actually started to write it in February of this year. How is this so?

At the end of last summer, I had started to write a ghost story. Yes, a ghost story. The main character was Lily Clark. But it never seemed to go anywhere. None of my ideas worked.

But on one day during the following February, an idea came to me so suddenly that I hardly had time to blink. That idea was Shifters.

I would like to be able to say that my original idea changed as I thought the plot through during various pre-writing stages, but in truth after that one day in February I had the whole story figured out. While new characters and ideas might have occurred to me along the way, I never experienced writers block. It seemed as if the ideas had simply been dropped into my head.

So what does the background information I gave before have anything to do with this?

As I grew and changed, I had begun to feel lost. Like I said, I didn't feel as if I even knew myself anymore. But Shifters changed that. In Shifters, I was able to bring my two selves together, my old-fashioned, animal loving side as well as my modern, word loving side.

And whenever the writing gets to be too much, I simply remember this, and I write on.

-Annabelle

Not Yet!!!

The last three chapters of Shifters have been posted. But trust me, this is no WAY the end to the writing process :)

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be going back and making massive edits. If you have any suggestions, please let me know, for there's nothing too big to change! And I really want all of your opinions.

Also, after I have done a significant amount of editing, I strongly encourage everyone to take a quick read through again. Some characters might be deleted, other changed, and some scenes might even be taken out all together! So if there was something you found silly or irrelevant before, it might be gone soon. Also, stuff might be added that wasn't there before, so keep an eye out for that too!

But to those of you who like the story exactly how it is, don't worry! I won't be taking out anything that I consider to be good or exciting. On the other hand, if by chance I happen to delete your favorite scene or character, don't hesitate to let me know! Nothing is set in stone yet. By commenting, everything can easily be changed back :)

Thank you all so much for your support!

-Annabelle

P.S.- "The Story Behind The Story" will be coming tomorrow, so hang tight!!!

Semi-Finalist!!!

I am happy to announce that Shifters is now in 10th place and is a semi-finalist in the Textnovel contest!!!

Thank you all so much for the support!!!

-Annabelle

P.S.- I will soon be posting "The Story Behind The Story" as a post, as well as additional chapters on Textnovel. Check back in a few days for these and possibly more goodies!!!

Climax

Chapters 48, 49 and 50 have been posted!!!

And, yes, I have finally arrived at the climax!!!

-Annabelle

Technical Difficulties

Hi everyone! There's been a few technical difficulties, but hopefully the new chapters will be up by tonight.

Sorry about that!

-Annabelle

Quick Check In

Just a heads up: New chapters will be posted tomorrow!!!

Read and enjoy :)

-Annabelle

P.S.- Less than a month to go! Vote or comment at www.textnovel.com!

New Chapters

Hey! Just wanted to let you know that Chapters 45, 46, and 47 have all been posted. The spacing is kind of funky, but I'm in the process of trying to fix it. Enjoy!

-Annabelle

P.S.- Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll! Your input was very helpful!!!

Reading Done!

I am happy to announce that I have made it through my entire invites list on Textnovel!!!

Textnovel authors, I hope the comments and votes I have given are helpful!!!

-Annabelle

Reading

So I sat down at my computer tonight, and logged onto Textnovel.

And then, I looked at my invites list.

I must admit that recently I have been neglecting my list of stories that I have been invited to. But no more! Tonight, fellow Textnovel writers, I decided to simply read. I have not finished all of your stories yet, but I'm hoping the day will come very soon. Perhaps it will even be tomorrow.

I hope any comments I make are helpful!!!

-Annabelle

Good Morning Everyone!

"Today's the day! The sun is shining! The tank is clean!"- Finding Nemo

Yes, today is my first official day of summer! And to celebrate, I have officially begun to write again.

Chapter 43 has been posted, and I hope you all enjoy it!

- Annabelle

Last Day of Exams!!!

Exams are over!!!! I will be adding more chapters asap!!! Sorry for the wait, and thank you for the continued support through this busy time.

Despite the lack of time I had for writing, I was able to post a poll, which runs until the end of June. Choose the name of Lily's half sister!!!

Thanks again!

-Annabelle

Chapter 41

Hey!

To all of you who have read chapter 41, I have to let you know that I had to rework it slightly. Or maybe a little bit more than slightly. Any way, the barn owl is now and osprey and there's no question of fatherhood. I don't quite want to get to that part yet.

Thanks for your support!!!

-Annabelle

Holy Cow! It's really been a month????

It's been over a month since I've posted! Yikes!!!

School is wrapping up, so unfortunately even though I've started to add chapters again recently, it won't last long. Finals will soon consume my life :( :( :(

However, then I have summer break! Yay! Writing (nearly) 24/7!!!

I am determined to finish Shifters by the July 31st Textnovel deadline, edits and all. I predict around ten-twenty more chapters, which I will go back to combine, lengthen and change after the plot line is complete. I know I've said this a million times before, but it will happen, I promise!!!

Hold tight, and enjoy!

-Annabelle

Websites... Finally!

Here are some websites that talk about shape shifters. I've read over most of them, but just remember that I am not responsible for anything that is posted on any of these sites. The last link is to the yahoo question: Are shape shifters real? I hope you find them interesting!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapeshifting
http://www.crystalinks.com/shape_shifters.html
http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/non-animal-shifters/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080614044213AALRhZs

Also, I made a slight change to part of the story. Instead of Lily suddenly seeing that lying is bad, which I found to be kind of childish, she sees herself as a naturally honest person who has turned dishonest upon finding herself involved with the Shifters. Just thought I'd let you know :)

Thank you for your continued support!

-Annabelle

Newport

I live very close to Newport, but I must confess that I don't go there that often. Every time I've gone, it's only been for a short time, so I've never really gotten the sense of the whole town. And I can't drive, so it's not like I can go there any time.

So today when my mom and I found ourselves with some free time, we decided to take a drive down there. Not just for Shifters, but also to enjoy ourselves. We're really close. Think Gilmore Girls.

But, since my mom obviously knows about Shifters, she offered to show me the different aspects of the town, and it's given me quite a few ideas, concerning both Lily and the town of Newport itself.

Since most of these ideas would have to have been introduced at the beginning of the story, I probably will not be adding them until after the story is complete and I am tweaking things, but let me say this:

Newport is an amazing place. It's small, yet open. Lively, yet quiet. And I have not yet done it justice.

-Annabelle

I'm back!!!

The title of this says it all: I'm back!

I'd like to thank all of you for your patience. It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, and writing can't always come first. But now it's right back up there at the top of my priorities list.

I've started to add new chapters again, and I hope to make significant progress over the next few weeks. Enjoy!

-Annabelle

Chapters

I just wanted to let everyone know that I won't be able to add many chapters over the course of the next week. Theatre calls! But I'll be back on schedule after that.

Thanks for your patience!

-Annabelle

Email

The email address for this story is:

ShiftersNovel@aol.com

You can send messages to this email if your have any questions or comments on the story, or about textnovel in general.

-Annabelle

Progress

Looking back on all that's happened in the past month and a half, it's amazing to see how far Shifters has come. With 20 votes and counting, I couldn't be more proud. I must confess that I never thought I would come this far.

I'm still looking for websites on shape shifting, unfortunately. I'm hoping to be able to find some to share with you soon.

Lastly, I'm in the process of setting up an email account for Shifters. I'll post it when it's all set :)

Thanks again for all your help!

-Annabelle

Update and Links

There honestly hasn't been much to post lately, but I'd like to once again thank everyone for their support. I know I've mentioned this in almost every post, but it deserves constant recognition, in my opinion!

I also realize that I haven't been keeping up with the additions regularly. This is mostly because they take longer to write than the new chapters. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the weekend. Teachers really should give less homework...

Lastly, I'm trying to look for some links to websites containing information on shape-shifters. So far, all I've got is Wikipedia, but once I find more I'll post them!

-Annabelle

Invites and Additions

First of all, I wanted to just say that if I sent anyone an invite twice on Textnovel, I'm sorry... I haven't been going about it in the most organized fashion.

Also, as some of you might have noticed I have started to add more description to the first few chapters of Shifters. I'm working on Chapter 5 now, and hope to at least double the lengths of all of the novel's chapters. And with that comes a suggestion.

I'm trying to add to a chapter a day, so it will take me awhile before I'm all caught up. But when I'm done with these edits, those who have been keeping up with the story might want to go back and skim over the additions. You might learn something about Lily or one of the other characters that you didn't know about before!

And lastly I want to, as always, thank those of you who have voted for and commented on Shifters. Your support and thoughts have been very helpful!

-Annabelle

Oops...

I just realized that I had a million events in the story happening on the same day!!! Ahhhh!!!

I tried to go back and give Lily a bit a rest between some of these happenings, so hopefully it will seem a bit more realistic now, time-wise.

Sorry about that!!!

-Annabelle

Sick!!!

I haven't been able to post recently because I've been sick!!!

But it has given me some time to think. I'm guessing that I'm about halfway through Shifters, and I think it's time that I take a short break from adding to the storyline to go back and improve earlier chapters. There are certain places where I would like to add much more description, and I can almost feel myself using the same words over and over again, which is also something I would like to fix. Later today I'm thinking of pulling out a magical thing called a Thesaurus and trying to expand my vocabulary :)

So, in short, there won't be as many new chapters for the next few days. But I'll try to alternate editing and writing to keep the story moving somewhat.

-Annabelle

Coldplay and The End (no, not yet!)

I probably won't be posting every day from here on out. There's really not that much to say! Just wanted to get that out.

Also, I want to thank Coldplay for their song The Hardest Part (not that they'll be reading this, more for Coldplay fans like me). It gave me an idea that will help intertwine two things that I wanted to happen at the end of the story.

Which brings me to another point. I think I've come up with how I want Shifters to end! Kind of a bittersweet moment for me. I'm can't tell you yet, though. You'll have to keep up with the story to find out!

One last thing: I metioned that I would be going back and adding more detail after I finished the story line. Just wanted to warn people ahead of time that this may include condensing and splitting up chapters. I won't be doing this for awhile, but it might be confusing when I do start, so I wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Thanks again, as always!

-Annabelle

Double Digits & Details

It's official: Shifters votes have hit double digits. Thanks, you guys!

Also, I'd like to remind everyone, (or tell everyone for the first time, as I don't know if I've mentioned it before), that I will, after finishing the general storyline, be going back to the beginning to add in more detail. Chapters are averaging to about two pages in length for now, but by the time the story is complete my goal for an average chapter will be around four to five pages. Or possibly five to six. It all depends on how many chapters I end up with in the end :)

-Annabelle

Characters & Names

After I posted yesterday, I realized that there actually were a few edits I had wanted to make. And big ones at that.

First of all, the fainting scene seemed a bit out of character for Lily. So, I replaced it with another showcase of her temper.

Secondly, the name "Lightning" was seeming a bit cheesy to me, so I changed it to "Flash", an equally suitable name.

And lastly, to make "The Collision" sound more, well, established, I decided to translate the name into Latin. So it is now referred to as "Offensus".

That's all. For now :)

-Annabelle

For the Very First Time...

I have no edits to announce!

I would like to keep up posting as much as I can, however, and since I have the time, I want to again encourage anyone who likes Shifters so far to vote and/or review the story on www.textnovel.com. Your support matters!

-Annabelle

No School! & Sophomore Change & Votes!

It's a snow day, and I don't have school! Yes! Which means, of course, more updates and additions to Shifters.

Lily is now a sophomore. Reading over what I've already written, I realized that the story has ended up being more characteristic of books meant for kids in junior high to early high school, rather than in late high school. I've found that between Twilight and Inkheart, it's more similar to Inkheart, and the main character of that story is only twelve!!! So I've lowered Lily's age. However, she still must be able to drive, so sixteen is my minimum. It fits.

If you feel this is a bad change, please say so! It's easy enough to put things back the way they were. And this goes for any changes I make :)

Lastly, I'd like to announce that the number of votes for Shifters has tripled since Friday! Thank you for all your help!

-Annabelle

More Changes

To all of you who knew Dr. Brown as a woman, she is now a man. This is due to an upcoming event in the story that a male Dr. Brown would suit better than a female, in my opinion. I also wanted to strengthen the relationship between Russell and Dr. Brown. That's all I can say without giving away any information to those of you who haven't read that much of the story yet.

Also, if you are confused in any way, please comment, or review the story on textnovel, and let me know. I will go back and try to clarify anything that doesn't make sense in the story, I just need to know what that may be. It's a lot, and I myself sometimes become befuddled in all the aspects of the Shifters!

And don't forget, if you like the story on textnovel, give it a vote! I thank all of you who already have!

-Annabelle

Shifters Editor's Pick! & Recent Changes

Shifters is now an Editor's Pick on textnovel! Yay!

A couple of changes to what has already been written:

1) I've decided to change Rogers High to Newport High, as Rogers High is the actual High School of Newport, RI.

2) Lily now owns a Jeep instead of a Toyota.

That's it for now!

-Annabelle

Hey Everyone!

This is a blog dedicated to my story on textnovel, entitled Shifters. I will be posting information as much as possible about the characters and the story, as soon as I get the hang of blogging, (this is all rather new to me). Hopefully that will not take that long :)

Let me give a brief description of the novel first. Lily Clark, the main character, hits a dog with her car. But when she takes it home, it turns into a boy named Russell Brown who she had just met at her local grocery store. When he claims that her unborn half-sister will have the same power as he does, and will supposedly be even more powerful than other "Shifters" (as they are called) by being the first to have both plant and animals strains of the shifing gene, Lily's entire family is put in danger. And the real question is, what if her half-sister isn't the one that needs protection?

If you're interested, give it a read on www.textnovel.com. And if you think it's good, please, vote! And if you think there are areas that need work, at least leave a comment!

Thank you for your support!

-Annabelle