Hello to all the members of our Nine Lives family! Whether you've been around for the past year and a half or you just signed up today, we're so glad you decided to enter our little Caryl madhouse. There are crazy levels of talent happening here. It is so awesome!

There are a few housekeeping items that I feel needed to be addressed. For once, I'm gonna try to keep things short and sweet... It probably won't work, but the intent is there.

• GREAT NEWS! The Writers Chats have become so popular that, in addition to hosting them twice a month now, we've added 2 people to our staff. Sweettooth7 and jaibhagwan are joining our team as Chat Moderators. They will assist meeshie and the admin team in running the Writers Chats starting in May. Welcome to the team, ladies!
  
  
• Our very own subvservivegrrl has been hard at work revamping the Beta 101 page. She's off to a great start and will be adding even more tips and resources for those looking for a beta and those of you looking to BE a beta. (Something we highly encourage!)
  
  
• The Summer Survival Series is returning! Round 2 of our popular fanfiction challenges will start in May, so get ready for a summer of fun!
  
  
• Speaking of fun... stay tuned for a super-special announcement to occur within the hour! DUN DUN DUUUUUUN...
  
  
• We've updated the FAQ page to be the primary one-stop source for answers. It's absolutely necessary, especially for our newer members, to review this page. It has the information the admin team gets asked about most. If for some reason, you don't find what you're looking for on the FAQ or things don't seem clear, please feel free to PM an admin or even just ask in question in the shoutbox!
  
  
• Speaking of the shoutbox, everyone please take a minute to review the Shoutbox Code of Conduct. Seriously. I'm begging you.
  
  
• We will be utilizing our Twitter account a lot more starting in May. If you're not following us already, do so! @NineLivesCaryl

• I just wanted to point out a couple of helpful hints to our authors, and to any of our members who haven't posted their fics yet:

  • Chapter Notes: I notice a lot of people using this section to place their authors notes or disclaimers. This actually is the summary post for each chapter that ends up in the index/table of contents page of each story. I'd suggest placing any author's notes in the actual story text or at the 'End Notes' section.
  • Copy/Pasting: If you're copy/pasting your story text from a program like Word or even Google Docs, click the button on the Story Text box that looks like a clipboard with a W on it. It will keep any special formatting (paragraph spacing, bold, italics, etc) that you have already done. It's a bit faster than copying and then reformatting within the system.

This site exists for you. We work as hard as we can to keep NL a haven for all Caryl/McReedus fans alike. The fact that you're here and you're enjoying the site means everything. Thank you. Thank you for making Nine Lives a wonderful home for all Caryl fans!

Now stay tuned for something amazing...