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•  How the tradition began

When I launched this site in September 2002, I posted a poll to gauge interest in an online novella. After receiving, oh, at least a couple of dozen responses, I decided to give it a shot. The result was the 2003 e-serials, Savage and Ascension.

As 2003, and its e-serials, drew to a close, readers started asking what the next one would be about.  I decided that meant I'd darned well better consider writing another one.  At the end of the year, I posted a poll on the discussion board.  Did readers want a 2004 novella?  And, if so, about what?  Over five hundred readers responded this time, and the 2004 e-serial, Beginnings, was launched.

In 2005 I decided to try something new, and replaced the novella with a dozen original Otherworld short stories.  Again, I polled readers, this time for both "starring characters" and plot ideas.  You'll find the stories, separate and compiled on the Otherworld Tales 2005 page.

In 2006, I returned to the novella.  As usual, I polled readers.  The winner was a "Lucas" investigation, narrated primarily by Lucas, with some third-person narration by Sean Nast.  The resulting novella was The Case of El Chupacabra.

•  The final year

2007 will see the final "official annual online fiction offerings."  After that, there will be short stories added sporadically.

•  What are they about?

The first three novellas are Bitten prequels.  Those are the topics that were chosen by readers, not surprising considering that, at the time readers were polled, only Bitten and, the sequel, Stolen had been released.

The first novella Savage, covers Clay's childhood.

The second, Ascension, is the story of Jeremy's rise to Pack Alpha, again told from Clay's point of view.

The third, Beginnings, covers the period when Elena met Clay, and is told from alternating Elena/Clay viewpoints.

For 2005, I did an original Otherworld short story a month.  For details on who and what the stories were about, see the 2005 short stories page.

For 2006, I went back to a novella, and doing one that isn't werewolves or a prequel.  It's a Lucas & Paige investigation, narrated by Lucas, set between Haunted and Broken (i.e. spring 2004).

For 2007, I'm doing a graphic novella, Becoming, with art by Xaviere Daumarie, which will cover the period immediately after Elena was bitten. I'm also doing a short prose novella, Framed, with Nick, taking place between Broken and No Humans Involved.

•  Do you need to read the books first?

The novellas and stories are intended to supplement the series.  The online fiction can be read separately (or so I'm told!) but I skimp on background details.  For example, if you were to start with the third one Beginnings, you're going to get pretty far into it before it's completely clear that one narrator is a werewolf.  Start with the first one, Savage, and that isn't as a problem, though you'd find that I don't detail my werewolf mythos the way I would in the novels.  It's a matter of economics—most readers have already read the books, and with a short novel, they don't want me wasting time regurgitating what they already know.  So new readers are throw in and left to sink or swim.  Sorry!

•  Where can I find them?

They used to be all available online.  But after years of giving them away, I've contracted to have some published in a collection with my share of the proceeds going to charity.  Details are still being worked out, but you'll find a longer explanation here.

As part of that contract, I negotiated to retain rights to the most recent novella and most of the short stories.  These are still freebies.  You can find the novella, Framed and the remaining eleven short stories still available free online.

•  Why is the latest installment late?

For the prose novellas, I've only ever missed a scheduled posting once, and I knew I would over a month in advance, so I gave plenty of warning.  Otherwise, for over three years now, I've made every date, usually even posting a day or two in advance.  That means, if the date of a new installment posting has passed, and you don't see it on the site, it's almost certainly a "caching problem" with your browser.  But there's a way to "cheat" and jump straight to a new installment (if it's been posted!).  Just click here for the instructions.

With the graphic novella, there have been delays with the art, but I'm posting pages as quickly as I received them.