End-of-Novel Author's Note

Hey, everyone!

First and foremost, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for staying with me through it all. I started Fox Life on a spur of a moment on May 31st. I had no plan or any idea where I was going, so it was heart-warming to see people enjoying my story even as I stumbled and had to pick myself up from writing myself into a corner at times. You're all amazing, no matter if you've been with me since Chapter 1 or read it just today, and I can't thank all of you enough. You're what keeps me writing each morning.

Now, there were a number of things in Fox Life that I considered, but didn't manage to incorporate into the story so they were kind of left out. At times it was for the better, but at others it may have led to some confusion, so I'm going to answer some questions:

1.What about Tyler's family? Did they volunteer to be subjects? What's their connection to Iris' family?

The short answer for that is that they didn't volunteer for anything; they were born in the lab. Two generations ago, in Iris' grandparents' time, a certain group of scientists decided that human and animal gene mixing was the future. They collected poor and destitute people who wouldn't be missed and experimented on them. Many subjects died by accident before they created a human who could turn into a weasel. They then tried the same process with other animals, but it resulted in failure in most cases. After a lot of work, they only managed to get a man who could turn into a donkey and a woman with which they tried something more special—a fennec fox.

Tyler and his family are descendants of the donkey and weasel people being matched together. Tyler's parents grew up in the lab, but after what happened to Iris' father and since experimenting on humans became harder and harder for people who didn't have great backing, the scientists let their subjects out but kept them under constant surveillance and brought them in the moment they changed.

Why Tyler and his family didn't try to run away? They were indoctrinated that they were less than humans and had to follow every order to the letter or be punished with pain worse than death. They also saw what happened to people who tried to run away, namely Iris' father. The legend was born because of them wanting to feel like there was something special about them, even if they were now the worst sort of existence.

Tyler had been waiting near the airport on purpose, knowing that Iris would be there. He was told to bring her back into their fold, and the easiest way to do that was by making her fall for him. The scientists hoped to make it natural and not rise a fuss because they were afraid of Kyro and what he could do.

2.Why was Homeland after Iris and who/what is Greensten?

Greensten is a company created by the lead scientist that started all the experiments. He was a rich and influential, so no one ever questioned him. Throughout the generations, however, the company changed. Since the men of the family were more interested in working on their subjects than dealing with business, they let others control the company as long as they could use its power under certain circumstances and would receive a small portion of the profits.

When Iris revealed herself in the states, Chris (lead scientist of this generation) contacted Greensten and had them use its power and influence to contact Homeland with data regarding human experimentation. There was nothing that could incriminate him in that information, but a video of Iris turning into a fox in the middle of class. Homeland didn't believe it right away, but once they found out that her passport was fake and she should be in UK, they grew suspicious. They decided to bring her in for questioning.

3.What about Aunt Maddie? Did she really have no other reason than cowardice for what she did?

That's a hard question to answer. From Iris' point of view, it's cowardice, and partially that's true, but how much could Aunt Maddie have really done? She was nothing but a teenage girl when her parents threw their life's work at her and said that's now her responsibility. Could she have tried to resist more? Maybe. But could she have shut down the whole operation and saved her sister with her boyfriend? That's unlikely.

While Chris' (lead scientist) parents were alive, they were much more involved in the real world and had great power. There was a good chance that Madeline would have been silenced before she could utter a word to the media. But even if not and she succeeded in spreading the word, who could say what the government would have done? There was a good chance that Daemon would have been taken in by them and locked up in another cage.

Madeline only did what she thought was best for everyone, but it's hard to say if that was really the best choice available.

4.Something about Lily?

There's not much to say about her past besides growing up in a really bad home, but all of you already know that. Instead then, I'll tell something about her future. She'll grow up to be a spoiled little princess, but one that is strong and compassionate due to Elise's influence. Her best friend is Mila, and the two will make the men go crazy once they reach their blooming years. However, since Gale taught Lily self-defence, no one would be able to take advantage of her. After finishing a degree in business, she'll start her own company and find herself interested in the boss of a company she'd forced to go bankrupt because hers took their place in the industry. The story of the two will be wrought with tension and anger, but in time, they'd forgive each other and let go of the past and live happily ever after.

5.Are you going to write anything else?

Certainly yes! How could I not when I have all of you cheering me on?

I'm planning to take the first half of January for planning. I want to incorporate all that I learned from Fox Life into my new story and make sure that it flows even better. This means that I want to have a general idea of where I'll be going with the story before starting it and have a good grasp of my own world. Also, I have more exams (of course, how could I be done with only four before the holidays) at the start of January, so writing would be troublesome anyway. Due to this, you should look forward to my new story around the end of January.

What story you ask then? Well… it's going to be about witches!

In a world like our own, witches walk among people unseen and unknown. Normal people have no idea of their existence, and our protagonist is just like that. Yet when she gets in trouble, something magical happens and she meets an unlikely companion.

You may ask why the description is so vague, and my answer is—because I'm still in the planning phase! I know the idea behind the story, but I'm still in the process of figuring out how exactly I want to put it to paper. It's going slow but well, so look forward to the novel showing up in the near future. I promise it's going to be a memorable adventure, just like it was with Fox life.

And this is it. One more thank you for everyone who's come this far, and I hope to see you all in my next story!

SteelCrown

P.S.

If you want to keep in contact with me during the month of planning or contribute some ideas, you're welcome to join me on my discord. People present there have the chance to influence the upcoming story, just saying…

https://discord.gg/ZegeFhH