I'm actually quite proud of myself. This is the first full-length story I've ever finished.

Over twenty-eight thousand words. I think my record before this was a WoW story that topped out around fourteen thousand. I wrote that in 2010.

Go me!

Anyways, I gotta say, I kind of struggled with this. The Invasion, much like the rest of series itself, was written to be a ninety-page story meant to entertain elementary schoolkids. I first read it when I was seven. I loved it. But, rereading it as an adult, I found it to be outdated and, as far as the last half goes, convenient for the characters. I found myself wondering what the book would look like if it took place outside of a major city in 2020, as opposed to the mid-90s Bay Area.

I decided that the kids would have severely limited access to morphs. No tigers or elephants right out the gate. That the most dangerous things they'd find were dogs and rattlesnakes. That the most inconspicuous bird morph they could find would be crows. And that everyone should be teeange shitheads, instead of preteen shitheads. And, while we're at it, let's change up the dynamics of their families a bit.

So I started writing it. Then I dropped it, and picked it back up. And now, I've finished it.

That's pretty fucking cool.

I've already started outlining my version of The Visitor. Much like my version of The Invasion, it'll loosely follow the same plot, with different morphs. I'm thinking spiders instead of a cat. Or something. It'll still be from Rachel's viewpoint.

I plan on doing the entire series, actually. For funsies, if nothing else. I liked doing this one, and I'm interested in seeing how much mileage I can get.

Anyways, if you read all the way through, let me know what you thought. I'm always trying to improve.

-- Zard