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Rough draft excerpt.
7 years ago
General
Night comes late in May. The heavens are turning towards summer, and sunset in northern states is often past nine o' clock. But night still comes cold at times, and Zachary's breath steamed as he trotted through the woods, with sunset's ruddy glow lingering in the sky above.
He was a wolf, at least for now; loping easily among the pine trees, ferns, and moss of Washington's coastal forest. This land was lush and wet, often called a temperate rain forest, for it rained or snowed here more often than anywhere else in the country. There were no native wolves living amid these trees. The state had some wolf packs, but they all lived to the east, far away from civilization. Here, though, civilization was quite near at hand.
Ahead of Zachary lights burned, filtering through the trees, and making his amber eyes flash green as they caught the lamps of a little coastal village.
He paused, just within the shelter of the trees, and wiggled out of a little bundle he'd borne on his back. Then he reared up on his hind legs, as if trying to get a better view. The motion continued far past the normal reach of a wolf, flesh shifting unnaturally, twisting and bending, and for a moment a wolf-man, humanoid in general outline, but still canine in nature, leered with lolling tongue at the town spread out before him. Then the shifting continued, and a man stood there, naked in the cold night air. He was tall, his tanned body covered in hard muscle. His hair was dark, and his eyes the same striking amber color they'd been in his lupine form.
He bent and picked up the bundle he'd borne as a wolf. It unfolded to reveal jeans, a shirt, a hoodie, all folded around shoes and socks.
Clothed, Zachary walked out of the woods and into town.
____________________
It's the start of something that's going to be a horror story. But I need to punch it up a little bit, I feel. Not sure how, exactly. The rest of the story seems pretty strong to me. Horror isn't my main genre, but I've read some, and written some before. Just trying to think of a better hook. I don't want to jump into this one in the middle, it needs the slow build. But... dunno.
If I'm quite lucky this'll be published, I'm writing it to submit to a call for furry horror. :3
It's weird, after being used to commission prices, to look at publication prices. They're shit by comparison. But on the other hand, once you're "in" the publishing world you can write something once and keep getting paid for it for a while for not doing anything more, whereas commissions only pay one time.
He was a wolf, at least for now; loping easily among the pine trees, ferns, and moss of Washington's coastal forest. This land was lush and wet, often called a temperate rain forest, for it rained or snowed here more often than anywhere else in the country. There were no native wolves living amid these trees. The state had some wolf packs, but they all lived to the east, far away from civilization. Here, though, civilization was quite near at hand.
Ahead of Zachary lights burned, filtering through the trees, and making his amber eyes flash green as they caught the lamps of a little coastal village.
He paused, just within the shelter of the trees, and wiggled out of a little bundle he'd borne on his back. Then he reared up on his hind legs, as if trying to get a better view. The motion continued far past the normal reach of a wolf, flesh shifting unnaturally, twisting and bending, and for a moment a wolf-man, humanoid in general outline, but still canine in nature, leered with lolling tongue at the town spread out before him. Then the shifting continued, and a man stood there, naked in the cold night air. He was tall, his tanned body covered in hard muscle. His hair was dark, and his eyes the same striking amber color they'd been in his lupine form.
He bent and picked up the bundle he'd borne as a wolf. It unfolded to reveal jeans, a shirt, a hoodie, all folded around shoes and socks.
Clothed, Zachary walked out of the woods and into town.
____________________
It's the start of something that's going to be a horror story. But I need to punch it up a little bit, I feel. Not sure how, exactly. The rest of the story seems pretty strong to me. Horror isn't my main genre, but I've read some, and written some before. Just trying to think of a better hook. I don't want to jump into this one in the middle, it needs the slow build. But... dunno.
If I'm quite lucky this'll be published, I'm writing it to submit to a call for furry horror. :3
It's weird, after being used to commission prices, to look at publication prices. They're shit by comparison. But on the other hand, once you're "in" the publishing world you can write something once and keep getting paid for it for a while for not doing anything more, whereas commissions only pay one time.
