Life With A Werewolf Compilation is complete! Kinda.

I still have to comb through and search for more mistakes. Mistakes like...the vampire with the name that keeps changing - Yes, our meth headed Vampire will be "Milton" in the compilation book.

I need cover art.

I need a voice actor.

I will be working on those two things this coming week.

Thanks everyone!

Bit of a dramatic thing, this week. Perhaps some humor in it as well.

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....lean-Up-Effort

Hope you enjoy this one.

I got a good review on it!

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/697080048

Also, official nominations for the Ursa Major Awards are now open. I of course, would love your vote! I'm not going to lie. But, there are several great authors, artists, and musicians who would like your vote as well. You can submit nominations here:

https://ursamajorawards.org/nominations.htm

Thanks everyone! See you tomorrow for the "Life With A Werewolf" Update.

This week, Jason pontificates about werewolves and conventions.

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....At-A-Horrorcon

I'm also accepting stories for a compilation about the side and background characters of this universe. If you'd like to participate here's a form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1.....orm?usp=dialog

Not satisfied with the quality of the current werewolf journal. I probably have way too many irons in the fire, lol. Skipping this week's update most likely. If something clicks and the quality way improves, I'll let you know.

On the book front, it's coming along. No major changes are being made. I'm just correcting grammar and editing mistakes really. The original will stay on writing.com.

Thanks everyone!

Lu-Man

Hello everyone!

1st up: Got a new "Life With A Werewolf" up!
https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....erewolf-Hunter

This one is a little bit of a tear jerker at the end. Well, it's intended to be so, anyway. Hopefully I got that right.

Second, is I finally cleared it with Amazon. I can put a compilation of "Life With A Werewolf" up for sale on Kindle, as paperbacks, and even have a version on Audible!

So, yeah, I'll be working on that starting immediately. If anyone wants to be the voice for the audible series, please hit me up. I'll have a script on ACX in a couple months, probably.

That means I have to remove the YouTube portion of Life With A Werewolf. I'm not against that. Sorry to some of you who've enjoyed that. Hopefully though, you'll get far better quality than what I've given ya on this.

I'm intending the first compilation to go through the first Nobility saga.

I'm also going to be doing a series of shorts within the "Dreamers of The Sea" universe, taking place after the events of the book. General slice of life events and details of Cloyd, Woodrow, Sherythe, and the rest. Nothing crazy. I have ideas for a future sequel, but not sure if I'll do one or not.

I think that covers everything. I hope ya'll are having a great weekend. Thanks everyone.

Lu-Man!

Happy New Year Everyone! Even though the year is ten days old, how long does it take a year to get stale and what's the return policy on these things?

We've got a new blog post from Jason:

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....try_id/1082202

We've also got a new update over on the YouTube side of things. There should be a second update later on today or tomorrow.

I'm trying to work the updates 2 a week until I get caught up. Or until YouTube starts blocking videos for whatever reason and I have to move them all to Rumble. Either or. The way my luck has been running, I'm betting it's going to be the latter, lol.

They're part of the playlist, which I'm putting here. This way, you'll be able to listen to the entire blog from start to finish. Which is about episode 9 I think?

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=P.....awedGQUPVDnZ9K

Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years. I hope you're not buried under 9 feet of snow and that the year is starting off well for you.

Have a good weekend everyone.

There's a kickstarter for a new furry zine. They'll be seeking anthro stories, the kind that are regularly featured on the Thursday Writing Prompt. I know it's right after the holidays and money is tight for everyone, but this is literally right up our usual alley. If you can spare a buck, I think they'd appreciate it.

Here's the link for their project:

https://plotthoundmag.com/submissions/

Here's the link for the kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....-magazine-2025

Hello everyone!

I'm back from my respite. It was a very restful vacation, and allowed me to take a good, long hard look at some of the way I've been doing things. My writing hobby started to get a bit more serious in 2024, and is crawling closer to that goal: having it be my official occupation.

First, 2024:

The good things that occurred: Getting my novel out. That was a big one for me. Also, my blog getting more attention. Started a YouTube channel for writing advice and general writing insanity. Haven't really promoted it much yet, due to not quite knowing where I'd like to focus the channel at quite yet. Got the prelim done for my first human only novel - "The Hunters". Doing some work to clean up the details and things right now in the first edit. Searching for logic holes, that sort of thing.

The Ex37 Compilation was a success and a lot of fun! I'm considering doing another one in the future. Though, that one will be one I'll sell when I do.

The bad things:

Attempted, several times I might add, to put writing advice on TikTok. I gave up on that after being permabanned for the second time for the crime of existing. I can only assume that's the violation, cause they wouldn't tell me anything more than "violation of community guidelines", but never cited any specific examples. So, goodbye TikTok. Wish I could say it's been fun. You wanted me gone, guess what? You're not the only one.

There was some blog drama earlier in the year. Mostly, it was due to shifting where the blog was at and that sort of thing. But moving it from the old location was a pain in the butt. I also had to put several projects on the back burner as I attempted to figure out their future direction. Those projects being "Of Three Minds", "Murderdome" (need ALOT more research for that one first), and my upcoming furry murder mystery thriller - Cadaver Dogs.

For 2025:

The big two is hoping to get the Life With A Werewolf compilation out by September. I'm also hoping to have my novel, "The Hunters" out around that same time as well. I'd like to begin working on Cadaver Dogs next, if my brain can settle on were to start, lol.

My other big hope for 2025 is the YouTube situation. Currently, I've moved the audioblog for "Life With A Werewolf" over to it's own channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LifeWithAWerewolf I officially have a goal for that channel. For the audio portion to have some animation within it done by actual humans. As it stands right now, I may have to settle for AI animated backgrounds only as the audio plays. I don't like or want that, but I simply cannot afford to pay an animator what they're worth, and I refuse to try and find someone on the cheap.

For me to achieve that goal, I'll require that channel to gain enough subscribers to pay for the animator. I cannot draw my way out of a wet paper bag, unfortunately.

But first, will be a regular posting schedule. I plan on recording eight different videos at the start of the month, and posting about two videos a week until they're caught up with the blog. Real life B.S. pending, of course.

I'm also hoping to have my regular YT channel's focus nailed down by the end of January.

My final hope for 2025 is learning more about advertising and getting some of these books sold to a bookstore or two.

One more thing I've got to do, is cut way back on my YouTube video time and increase my reading. That will be a little more difficult for someone with an addictive brain like I have. But, I think I can accomplish it. 3 weeks to a habit is what I've heard before, if memory serves me correct. Hopefully that's true.

A final belated thank you from the right side of 2025 and wrong side of 2024. May this year be better than last year, and may everyone have a great year.

Thank you all!

Still away. Will be home at the end of the week and will give you a longer journal then.

Hope this new year brings you peace and happiness. Much more than the old year did.

In honor of the season, and to be a little silly, here's a reposting of something I wrote a couple years ago.

Just imagine Bing Crosby singing this:

Oh, I'd love to be a Christmas Werewolf
Crashing through the trees all trimmed in lights
I'd love to be a Christmas Werewolf
Just to have a scream less silent night.
Oh! Ho! The mistle toe,
Happy I would be,
Getting to hold and bite my lover,
near a blood drenched Christmas tree!
I'd love to be a Christmas Werewolf
I'd make my lists and check them twice
Bring great toys, to the good girls and boys
But the bad kids I bet taste real nice.
Oh! Ho! Watch them go,
dashing in the night
it would be fun to chase my friends
beneath the full moon light.
I'd love to be a Christmas Werewolf
dashing across the rooftops on late that night.
And on New Year's day,
I'll get to play,
with my new wolf friends
all night!

Merry Christmas!
And a Happy Newwwoooooo Year!

I've talked about these guys before, but...they need everyone's help. Something as little as a subscription would mean helping out real live human animators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCAJ7DOVIL0

Didn't get to a blog post this week.

A little under the weather, trying to get YouTube videos edited for the other channel, and have been spending time updating the Universe rules.

https://www.writing.com/main/view_i.....Universe-Rules

This is for those who are thinking of contributing to the Anthology. I'll try and update this off and on until it's somewhat complete.

The rules now include how the mythicals can be hurt or killed. They also include a brief bit of information on the Grey's crime family. You'll remember them from Elouise's debut. They're about due for another round of trouble, aren't they? Hmm...

That's all this week. I probably won't be doing any updates over Christmas and New Years. If I do, I'll of course give you a shout here.

Thank you everyone!

Lu-Man

I want your stories!

My werewolf blog, "Life With A Werewolf", is seeking stories about your characters or my background characters. This anthology will be called "Lives Of The Werewolves" and will be sold on Amazon under their Kindle label. I also plan on putting the stories on audible.

I am seeking publishing rights and will be selling the compiled stories as part of the anthology. The authors selected will receive a onetime payment of $20 via PayPal. Would pay you more if I could afford it, sorry. (If you wish to republish your accepted story after publication, ask me please.)

- What is "Life With A Werewolf"?

It's a long form story told in a blogging format. Jason is a medically retired military veteran who was adopted by a werewolf into his pack. Chaos ensues. The blog starts here:

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....me-To-The-Pack

There will be a cheat sheet available for those who don't wish to read over 110+ posts. Though, I recommend you read a couple to get a feel of what the blog is like.

- What I want:

Stories of back ground characters or characters of your creation. Use any species given within the blog itself (see species list on cheat sheet). Make it funny, light action thriller, or horror thriller. I intend fun horror with this. Themes of the blog are horror, thriller, friendship and family.

- What I don't want:

Stories with gory or grotesque scenes. Stories of a pornographic nature or with sex scenes. Stories based on romance. And absolutely NO sociopolitical themed stories. This is intended to be true escapism entertainment, not propaganda.

Oh yeah, and ABSOLUTELY NO AI STORIES OR CONTENT! WHAT-SO-EVER! NONE!

I want your true brilliant creative self, not some photocopied version of it. If you are caught attempting to give me AI writing, you will be immediately rejected.

- Length:

1500 - 15,000 words. This length isn't a hard and fast rule. If your story is a little over or under but it's worth the read, that's fine. If you go way over, it will be an automatic kick back.

- Will you critique my story?

Probably not. If I have time, I'll give you reasons as to why it wasn't accepted. However, if I have a huge influx of submissions, I won't have the time.

- How many slots are there?

At least ten. I may increase the limit if I get good contenders.

- Does this pay?

$20 via pay pal. I'd give you more if I could afford it. Unfortunately, I'm one guy doing something as an experiment and not part of some major publishing firm.

- I have a great idea, but I really want my werewolf to be a villain.

Go right ahead! There is no hard and fast rule that says werewolves must be heroes. In fact, there's two separate story lines in the blog where they're not. Read "The Nobility" or "Voice From The Dead" storylines on the main blog if you're curious:

https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/lu-man

- What's the submission deadline?

May 31st, 2025.

- Can I use Crash or one of the main cast?

Only in passing. If your character bumps into Crash in a supermarket or something and he says two lines of dialogue, that's fine. If your character has to save Crash or one of the main cast (or vice versa) then no.

Why? Cause it would be too difficult for me to keep up with. Also, it gives a dividing line between this work and the blog. This gives people who haven't read the blog or have only glanced at it a point to jump in from and will allow people to enjoy the anthology on its own. Including the main cast will make that too difficult.

- I have a really good idea for this villain that you killed. Can I use them?

No. They're dead. This isn't Marvel or DC. I don't resurrect characters. However, if you wish to use a villain that I didn't kill off, then go right ahead. Just don't kill that villain.

0 Do I have to use your characters?

Absolutely not! As long as your characters follow the species guidelines, I'm happy. You don't even have to base the story in America if you don't want to.

- Will you use my character in the blog?

I might. If your character makes an impression on me, I just may give them a guest spot. However, there's no guarantee that I will.

- My story didn't get accepted. Can I post this elsewhere?

Go right ahead. The worst I'll do is tell people that your story is non-cannon.

- My story did get accepted. Can I post this elsewhere?

Not yet. Ask me once the book is published.

- Can I include blood?

Yes. I'm fine with some blood. I don't want detailed scenes of people getting their arms chewed off or anything of the sort, however.

- Okay, I'm in! How do I submit?

Easy. Note me on FA, Telegram, or Discord. Or, use the form linked below:

https://forms.gle/zERgivWRbRdP5dyB8

- So, where's that universe cheat sheet at?

The link below:

https://www.writing.com/main/view_i.....Universe-Rules

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....try_id/1081183

Had a bunch of stuff on my plate lately. Trying to set up a separate YouTube page for the werewolf blog, trying to get final trips planned for the holidays. Trying to get details of the Life With A Werewolf Anthology series up. Plus I started binge watching "Justified" lately. So, yeah. Sunday update. Sorry!

The Anthology story announcement will come soon in a few days. I'm ironing out details currently.

Friday's update will be the last for the year. Travel for Christmas and all.

Thank you, everyone!

Okay,

So, I'm currently wondering if I attempted to create a LWAW anthology of sorts involving all sorts of writers, would anyone be interested? The idea is to have an Anthology of stories that would be sold on Amazon and even have a reader (not me!) for audible.

This project would have rules of course, but I don't want to begin creating specifics and such if no one wants to do it. If you're one of the ones who'd be interested, please let me know by commenting here or shooting me a note.

Thanks.

I figured I'd give an explanation.

I'm a little tired, saw a video that tapped my anxiety, and posted without following the second rule: Always re-read what you post before submitting it. I've deleted the journal.

I'm still very leery about AI. Cause, I've heard and seen FAR too many examples of other creators getting ripped off over the years. I'll do more research on the topic before posting about it again.

But first, I'll take a nap, lol. I need one of those.

Due to some travel this weekend, I'm posting my "Life With A Werewolf" blog early.

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....-Buying-Season

Jason pontificates a bit about the current season, and gives his reason for changing the name.

That's it. No werewolf shenanigans this week.

May get one next week.

I contributed one story to this:

workfurhirebook.carrd.co

It's a great howto book from a furry who is also a job coach. The short stories are great little snippets showing different examples of the job search process. Such as interviewing, resume building, special requests and more.

It's currently available on digital with the physical copy coming in soon. Entertaining stories and you learn about the job market at the same time. What's not to like?

Hello everyone!

Well, the audio book has been out for about a week now. I've sold at least 10 of them that I'm aware of so far. Not the thousands I went to bed hoping for, but far more than the zero I went to bed dreading. So far, it's off to a start. Whether good or bad remains to be seen. I believe I'll get more sales once Amazon finally puts the audio book on the main Amazon page.

Here's everything that I remember I attempted:

- A commission campaign. I commissioned several images of scenes throughout the book. It was interesting and fun to see everyone's reactions. No direct sales from it, though it kept the book in people's consciousness for a while.

- Banner ad Campaign. So far, I've sold about 3 books total from the banner ads on both Furaffinity and soFurry. The banner Ads are smart for advertising your web comic, your YouTube page (something I'll take advantage of later) and such things. As far as reading is concerned, my book didn't receive a lot of sales from it. However, it did get a bit of traffic, so there is that.

- Attempted TikTok campaign. TikTok killed this before I even had a chance to make the attempt. Two different TikTok channels were attempted, both was killed by TikTok themselves. They claimed "repeated violations of community guidelines" but never cited any examples nor gave any leeway for me to correct what they considered slights. I will never again attempt anything with TikTok.

- Chapter posting campaign. No direct sales from this, but it did keep the novel in people's minds.


Of all the things I attempted last time, for my next novel, I will keep the banner ad campaign. Substitute TikTok for Rumble or YouTube. Most importantly, I will do my best to ensure there's an Audiobook available with the novel from day one. I've also started something else: campaigning and talking to local bookstores. Who knows? Perhaps each bookstore I talk to will agree to hold, say four books. If I get ten stores to agree to that, that's 40 books that's out there for the buying public. More importantly, I'm getting the name out there.

I'm also continuing my YouTube channel for writing advice and random stories and poetry and things. Rumble will have my more advanced edited advice pieces, book reviews and the like.

Bad news is I'm not a best selling author. Good news is, I never expected to be on my first book. These are just the building blocks of what I hope will soon be a career capable of at least supporting myself with my writing. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll even sell enough books and audio stories to break even with this gig.

Expect to see me next year at a couple of conventions. I'll try to sell books in artist alleys and the like. If that is, I can get space and the convention is allowed to have one, lol.

This is not giving up. This is getting started. Got to always keep that in mind. Selling a book starts with a good story. Continues with a good cover and blurb, and finishes with good connections.

If you've been following along through all of these as advice for your own journey through this, I'll give you one more take away. Don't measure your success in sales numbers. Especially for your first book. It's a shrinking market for all of us writers out there, no matter what format we choose to tell our story. Some days you will have zero sales. And you'll be staring at that zero hard wondering "why the hell did I just spend all that time writing this book then?"

I'll tell you why. It's the same why for me: It's a story you fell in love with when you put the original idea down. A story that you labored over day after day and night after night bringing into the world. A story that someone else will hold in their hands. One they will get to know your characters through. A story where they will cheer with your characters and cry with them. A story that person will tell you "I loved it", and "that character is my sister. My brother. My uncle. My father. My mother."

That is why you write. That is why we all do. That is why we, especially on those slow sales days (or in my case, weeks!) we do not give up. We keep writing. I will keep writing.

As someone has once said: "Writer's write. It's what we do."

Thank you to everyone who's been reading these. To everyone who has encouraged me along the way. To everyone especially who has purchased a book. I hope I've entertained you.

Lu-Man!

Got the new Life With A Werewolf up!

https://www.writing.com/main/books/.....giving-Healing

Going for more light hearted ones for now. Next week will either be early or just skipped due to a trip I'm taking.

Hope your day is going well.

Also, my book is now available on Audible:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Dreamers.....e_location=pdp

Thanks everyone. I hope no one is hurting themselves over Black Friday Deals.

Here's a Thanksgiving tip!

If you make peanut butter and jelly boiled eggs, your relatives will never ask you to cook anything ever again.

Just now!

Listen to Dreamers of the Sea by Louis Williams on Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/B0DP1F9D.....ORAP0511160007

Hope that works for everyone

There is one medium I haven't spent a lot of time in advertising with.

I've done banner ads (the ones on FA should pop up any day now, woo!) I've done Amazon ads, Bookbub, thrift books Kindle. I've done everything short of taking out a billboard. And to be honest, as cheap as billboards are these days, if I could figure out how to do that, I probably would have done that too.

I've given away books, I've tossed cards around at a convention. But the one thing I've forgotten to do in the regular world is to hand out cards to regular people.

This one is tricky. Cause yes, most people enjoy listening to books. But they're not keen on reading them. Also, furry books make most people more than a bit skittish. They either expect kid things or creepy things. It's hard to talk people out of that pre-conceived notion at times. For a guy who is socially awkward and a natural born introvert, it's downright impossible.

But those little business cards with your name on it, book on it, a QR Code, and a link to buy it really does make a difference at times. I noticed when I sent my mother a few for her books. She sold quite a few of those little books on her own. She's like a salesman ninja with them. One or two quick pieces of conversation, and you have a card in your hand and a funny story from a kind old lady who desperately wants you to buy your $8 book. Who wouldn't do that?

Those cards is something I have to give a greater push with. I'm more apt to do it at conventions for, well, obvious reasons, but perhaps I shouldn't limit myself to furry cons. Maybe there's a small scifi and an anime con nearby? Hmmm....