Hello Fellow Shifters!

I apologize for the delay in this post, I’ll try to get a second one posted later this week to get back on track.

I decided pretty early on to have my Shifter characters be 18 and older. Eighteen is roughly the age the (male) human body finishes growing physically. Girls stop growing earlier, at about 15-16, but I wanted my characters to be closer to the threshold of adulthood.

The decision for which animals to include and exclude was harder. I decided fairly late in the writing process that Shifters can only be mammals, birds, or reptiles — no fish, no bugs, no invertebrates of any kind. This is because I simply don’t want to have to explain where their bones go when they shift. Or what happens if a person shifts into a fish when they’re nowhere near water.

The first Shifter set in stone was actually Ben! As soon as I had his name, I knew he’d be a grizzly as a subtle nod to the show “Gentle Ben”. I agonized over Cassie and Jessica’s animals for the longest time. Cassie cycled through being a wolf, being an eagle, being a hawk, before finally deciding to make her an owl. I knew Jessica would be a big cat, but which one eluded me. Then one night I was researching how each big cat sounds for a different project: The jaguar’s scream gave me chills. I knew then she had to be a jaguar.

Once I had those core animal forms chosen, the rest of the Shifter world started to fall into place. Every animal form says something about the person behind it—their temperament, instincts, and hidden strengths. What animal do you think you would be if you were a Shifter? Let me know in the comments!

Stay Wild

Allie