Hello, dearest readers! I'd buckle up, if I were you, because this is going to be a long one... 

(If you'd rather skip straight to the announcement, that's fine! Just head on down to the part that says, 'What happens next?')

So... it's been a minute, huh?

I could spout off some lies for you, if you'd like. I could tell you that my sudden break in updates is because I've been on holiday... for six whole years.

But I think I'd rather tell you the truth instead – because you deserve it.

The Truth

The truth is: I lost my spark.

Poof – gone – never to be seen again... or, so I thought.

It was somewhere around the time I finished Omega, in the last few chapters or so, when it all started to go wrong. I was really struggling with my writing, which made it really hard to finish the story, and I think it all came down to the fact that I'd been falling out of love with the story for a while already. I could tell you that what spurred me on to finish was the thought of writing the sequel (which is sort of true, in a sense) but, mostly, it was just the thought of it finally being over.

I was about fourteen when I first started writing that book and, initially, I had only intended for it to be a personal project. My friend had recently introduced me to Wattpad and I'd thought it would be a fun idea – something relaxing I could do in my spare time, as I was forced to endure the stress of my GCSE exams at school – so I decided to start writing my first ever Wattpad novel.

I hadn't expected it to receive so much interest – any, in fact – and to this day I can still remember the username of the first person who ever voted on that story. I definitely hadn't expected things to snowball the way they did, after that. It was insane and, before I knew what was happening (when I was barely at chapter ten) I had a pretty solid readership behind the story – and absolutely zero plans for how I was going to write the thing.

I had ideas (wishy-washy, at best) and some scenes in my head that I wanted to fit in somehow, but I had no specific plot or plans on how to tie any of it together. I was merely writing each chapter as it came, which made for late updates and rushed writing (because I was all too aware of how long people had already been waiting between uploads, so I didn't want to waste any more time than I had to).

Overall, what that resulted in was a badly written story with major plot holes, poorly developed characters, and a bunch of unoriginal clichés. And that's just scraping the surface!

Thankfully, I had one saving grace – one character I loved enough to keep chugging on. Yep, you guessed it! Beck.

It really sucked that everything else about the story was so abysmal, because I was really keen on writing Beck's story. I'd already had sequel plans forming (pretty much from the moment I introduced him as a character), and those plans kept growing when I saw the response he was getting from readers at the time. They loved him, I loved him, he loved Lucy... it was all extremely unfortunate, especially when my fast-growing hatred for Omega ultimately affected his story, too.

By the time I actually finished Omega (woo-hoo! Finally, right?), two or three years had passed from the day I first started writing it. Unfortunately, being that bit older, I was now able to see how much I actually hated it.

Stupidly, I made the mistake of thinking I could fix it – hence the "under rewrite" absolute joke that's been trolling people for six whole years now. I thought I could go through, chapter by chapter, and patch over the small mistakes to make it better: punctuation, bad spelling, confusing age gaps... you name it, I thought I could fix it. Only, as I started re-reading the whole story, I actually saw how massive some of the plot holes were – and they definitely weren't something that could be fixed with a little polish. So, I felt a little stuck.

And it was here that I really lost my spark for writing. I had dug myself into a hole I couldn't see my way out of, with a second book I wanted to write but a first book I absolutely despised.

It sucked.

Unfortunately, it also meant that I had no choice but to leave our poor lad Beck, heartbroken and incomplete, without any happy ending. 

I stopped writing Lone Wolf.

Actually, I stopped writing altogether – even my own stories that I'd been working on off Wattpad – for about a year.

I stopped using Wattpad, too, because I felt awful as I watched the comments start to roll in. Comments on my stories, comments on my message board... and even some inbox messages, too – all asking the exact same thing: Where had I gone, and when would I be finishing Lone Wolf?

My response? Log out.

And that's exactly what I did.

I buried my head in the sand with full intentions of never coming back – not even as a reader because, every time I logged back in, the questions were all still there. This whole Wattpad experience was turning out to be even more stressful than those damn GCSE exams.

Talk about irony, huh?

Now, don't get me wrong (before anyone here starts getting mad at me about this), I'm not blaming anyone. I wasn't mad about the comments – never have been and never will be – because I know I would be asking the exact same questions if an author suddenly upped and dumped a story, especially one that I'd invested so much time into reading and supporting. If anyone gets to be mad here, it's you at me – definitely not the other way around. And I wouldn't blame you for that, either. It's entirely justified.

Right, where was I? Oh, yeah... stressed. It was all a very unfortunate time for me, to be honest – especially with what was also happening in my life outside of Wattpad at the time. You see, for all those years of exams I took (and passed – hooray!), I had managed to land myself a place at university. Eighteen years old and with the world at my feet, I was all set to go off and study......... creative writing.

Yep, I know. What an awful time to suddenly lose my love for writing, huh? 

Needless to say, I was more stressed than ever because I suddenly felt as though my whole future was headed straight for the crapper.

And flush, it did – I dropped out after only one semester, convinced more than ever that writing was something I just couldn't do.

So, I switched to media studies instead (where I got to do some cool things like make short films, learn the inner workings of a live TV set, and discover my love for creating animations). The relevance, you ask? Well, it was here that I started to rekindle my lost love for writing.

Still boycotting Wattpad, I restarted out small. I worked on some of my other writing projects, entered a few short story competitions and, eventually, felt the inevitable tug on my heartstrings from Beck.

Poor, broken-hearted Beck.

So, where does this leave him now?

Keep reading and I'll tell you.

What happens next?

I see you, I hear you, and the answer is... YES! I do plan on finishing Lone Wolf. Beck deserves a happy ending, I agree.

Unfortunately, that still leaves me in the small little pickle of, 'What the heck am I going to do about Omega?'

Yes, I still hate it – very much so – and I also still believe that a few touch-ups aren't going to do the trick. So, the only solution I can see is to rewrite it.

And I do mean rewrite it – completely so. Completely, almost unrecognisably so.

The good news? I've already started! (57,780 words of it, to be exact)

The bad news? I've not finished yet.

And, this time, I don't plan on uploading it until to whole thing has been completely finished, so I can comb through for any major plot holes before people read it.

Then, when I'm finally happy with the first book, I can finally move back on to the sequel.

So, that's the plan – like it or lump it.

I've already come to terms with the fact that some people won't be thrilled to find out that the book they've been waiting so long for is on hold for even longer, whilst Omega is being revamped. 

Likewise, I've also accepted that some new readers (hello, lovelies! Yes, I see your votes and comments in my notification feed, you absolute legends!) might not be overly happy to find out that the 50-chapter-long story they've just read is being completely altered.

I'd like to say I'm sorry but, truthfully, I'm actually not. For the first time in a loooong time, I'm genuinely excited about Omega again! If this is what it takes, then so be it.

So, what's going to change? I hear you ask.

The plot and the characters, mostly.

And what's not going to change?

Well, that would also be the plot and the characters.

Confused? I don't blame you. Let me break it down a little better...

What's going to change?

Plot:

The plot for the revamped version of Omega is still going to be based on the original (or as close to it as I'm happy with).

There will be similar themes throughout, just with something a little extra to add a bit of meat to the story. Reading the original, I often find what even I described in my author's notes as "filler chapters". Translation: a bunch of waffle I'd written because I couldn't figure out how to get from point A (a random scene I'd envisioned) to point B (another random scene I'd envisioned).

In the newer version, I've tried to keep my writing a lot more concise and relevant to the plot. I've also tried to come up with better reasoning for why certain things happen – because half of the stuff in the first book doesn't even make sense.

For example, Lucy running off into the woods to see Beck all the time – the same woods that harbour a dangerous group of rogues – and she doesn't get killed within the first five chapters? ...How does that work? How do they not find her sooner?

And don't even get me started on the amount of times I completely overlooked the fact that they're werewolves. I mean, why the heck did I have them patrolling in human form when they could literally be attacked at any given moment?

I'll tell you exactly why. It's because that dialogue between Justin and Lucy, that night on patrol, is one of the many scenes I'd pre-imagined and wanted to fit in somewhere. Everything else was secondary and completely lacked thought.

So, basically, there are going to be a lot of major alterations made, which should hopefully make things work better for the storyline. Plus, there's going to be some new drama and concepts (not seen in the original) so that this newer version is a lot less... meh.

(Pre-warning: Most of the scenes from the original are being cut from this newer version (even if some of the underlying ideas remain the same). I cannot stress enough that this is going to feel like a completely different – but hopefully better – book).

Characters:

I will be keeping all of the relevant characters from the original version (by which I mean the ones that are actually important to the storyline).

For some reason, I'd had it in my head as I wrote the original that, just because I'd made a point of saying the pack was made of fifty members, I actually had to mention all fifty of those members at some point throughout the story. I've since realised that it not the case. There's no point adding characters that aren't needed, just for proof of numbers, so a lot of them are being binned off.

I also feel that character development was a bit flat in the original version, so I might be improving and altering some of the characters that I do keep.

David and Wendy, for example. I mean, for two people supposedly in charge of leading the pack (which arguably makes them two of the most important in the whole story), I feel they are completely irrelevant most of the time. I put zero effort into them and it definitely shows.

There will also be completely new characters! I won't go into details on these for obvious reasons – no spoilers!

POV:

This one's pretty simple. Basically, I'm scrapping the point-of-view change.

It's messy, completely unnecessary for the storyline, and makes things a little transparent and boring when people can see what both characters are thinking. I feel it takes some of the mystery away from why certain characters do or say certain things, which makes for a less fun read.

(Side note: Obviously, there are some stories by other authors that POV change works really well for. I've read many a book in my time with two or more, and I've loved every word of them. I'm solely saying this in relation to my book).

The whole of the new version will be written from Lucy's POV.

New cover and blurb!

So, what happens to the original?

Honestly? That's totally up to you.

As you've probably gathered, I'm not exactly fond of it. So, I'm not overly fussed with what happens to it, either.

I can delete it – set a date for deletion (a few months maybe?) so that anyone in the middle of reading it can have the chance to finish if they want to, and then eventually I'll scrap it.

Or, I can edit that pesky "under rewrite" rubbish in the title to "old version", and just leave it like that for anyone who might want to return to it at some point – especially if there are some who don't want to read the newer version or sequel, and would rather just treat it as a completely separate, standalone book.

As long as I don't have to read it ever again, I'm happy with either of those options.

Eventually, I'll base the decision on whichever option seems like the most popular choice and take it from there.

When is the new version being released?

Unfortunately, that's one question I can't answer just yet.

As I've said previously, I want to get the whole thing written first before I start uploading it. And I don't want to guesstimate a release date until I'm 100% positive that I'll be able to follow through. According to my plan – yes, I actually have one this time – I'm about halfway through the writing stage at the moment.

The best I can tell you is to stay tuned for any updates! I'll let you all know closer to the time of posting.

Any other questions?

I've tried my best to give as much information as I can here (hence the literal essay you've just read) but if there are any other questions that you have, just pop them in the comments! I'll answer them as soon as I can and, if I see any that are repeated loads, I'll edit the answer up above somewhere for everyone to see.

In the meantime

So, here's the part where I add a little self-promo... because I obviously have no shame.

If there's anyone out there on the hunt for something new to read – something to fill the time until I start to release this new version of Omega, so the delay doesn't seem quite so long – here's another story I've been working on!

You'll be pleased to read that, this one, I have already started uploading. It's not completed yet, but it's definitely over the halfway mark, and I've been updating (consistently) every Thursday at 9am, UK time.

It's not a werewolf story (or supernatural in any way) but if goodgirl-meets-badboy tropes are your jam... this is the story for you!

A final thank you!

If you've made it this far, I commend you! I really wasn't kidding when I said that this would be a long one.

Before I go, I just want to say sorry again for the massive delay in my writing. Even for someone with late-update-syndrome as shocking as mine once was, a six-year-hiatus is ridiculous.

I'm sure most people won't read half of what I've just written – if anything, at all – and I doubt many of those that do will be all that interested in reading the ins and outs of my experience so far as a writer. But, even so, I wanted to explain myself a bit, so you might hopefully understand a little better what went wrong, and why I suddenly lost steam in the middle of Lone Wolf.

Thank you so much for any support (past or present) that you've given on any of my stories. I really do appreciate every single vote, comment, add, or share that you've blessed me with!

And a massive thank you, too, if you've made it here, to the end of this update! If you don't plan on reading the new version of Omega (or anything else I upload in the future), then that's totally fine and I wish you all the best! And, if you do plan on taking a chance on Omega 2.0, then all that's left to really say now is... until next time!