Where Have I Been? An Update on "Storm Behind Us"
my name is Fraeulein Feldmaus, and I’m the author of the Storm Behind Us series.
Some time ago, I published a beta version of this story on AO3, and last year I took it down. Recently, someone asked me why — and since I can imagine that others may have wondered the same thing, I wanted to answer that question properly here.
First of all, I want to say that it truly means a lot to me that people still remember this story at all. The fact that this world, even in its imperfect early form, stayed with some of you means more to me than I can probably express in a few lines. It is a very special feeling to know that Storm Behind Us did not simply disappear without leaving an impression.
The short answer is: I needed to make a clean cut.
The longer answer is that for a while I was in contact by email with someone who made very big promises — help with publishing, support with cover art, help developing the project, and things along those lines. Over time, it became more and more obvious that I had very likely come dangerously close to being scammed.
That was the point where I decided I needed to step back, clear things out, and remove myself from that whole situation — and in the end that also included leaving AO3. It was not a spontaneous or careless decision. But I was receiving more and more messages, more and more requests, and more and more offers for “collaborations,” and eventually I could no longer tell what was genuine and what might lead me back into the same kind of situation. I did not want to stay in that uncertainty any longer.
But one thing is very important for me to say clearly:
Storm Behind Us is not dead.
Quite the opposite. I am still working on it — only now in a much more serious, deliberate, and thoroughly revised way. My goal is now an actual book publication, and that is exactly why the novel is currently being heavily reworked and restructured.
In fact, the first nine chapters in their current form are already completely different from the first nine chapters of the old beta version of Storm Behind Us. A lot has been rebuilt, rethought, reorganized, and strengthened on a storytelling level. That is not because I gave up on the project. It is because I care enough about it to want to do it properly.
If I write this novel, I do not want to put out just any version that merely “works.” I want to be able to stand behind it fully and say: this is the story I truly want to tell. Not only because I care deeply about many of the people in these stories and because this world means a great deal to me, but also because I value strong, clean, well-built storytelling. And at some point, I simply was no longer satisfied with the beta version.
I am aware that Storm Behind Us is not exactly an easy or mainstream concept. It combines history, early aviation, real historical figures, fictional characters, and a second, deeper layer beneath the visible reality of the story. That naturally makes it something quite niche. But that is also exactly the heart of what I want it to be.
My goal is not just to write a story that gets consumed and forgotten.
I want to inspire people to care about history. About this era. About the people who lived through it. Their hopes, fears, losses, decisions, and the world they had to move through. I want people to become interested in these historical figures, in their time, and in the atmosphere that surrounded them.
At the same time, I also want to create the feeling that there may be something more above and behind all of that — something not fully graspable, something that seems to exist just beyond plain reality and yet flows into it. Something that might draw you in and make you wonder whether there is more beyond what we can easily explain. That, too, is part of what this story is for me.
So what I want to create is not just a historical narrative, but a story that pulls people in — a story that may entertain, yes, but that also awakens curiosity. Curiosity about history, about people, about time, and perhaps also about the possibility that reality may hold more layers than we first assume.
You may also have noticed that the ending of the old AO3 version felt very abrupt. That is because it was never meant to be the real ending. The actual epilogue exists — finished — on my hard drive. I never published it, because everything happened right around that time, and shortly afterward I made the decision to delete the project from AO3 entirely. Looking back, I do think that is a little sad, because I would genuinely have loved to know how readers would have reacted to it and whether they would have wanted to continue with the story.
Because from the very beginning, Storm Behind Us was never planned as a single standalone project. What was available on AO3 was really only the first step. I am planning multiple books, and I am also planning a prequel that reaches much further back in time. The more mystical elements woven into the story will also play a much larger role in that broader structure.
And that leads me to something else that is very important to me:
I want to take you with me on this writing journey.
I want to show you what I am working on, how I build history into the novel, what kind of research goes into it, and how the story is evolving in its new form. I would also love to share more about the real historical people who appear in this project — who they actually were outside the novel, outside the fictional relationships and narrative reinterpretations that become part of the story. It matters to me that these people are not only used as characters in fiction, but also appreciated as historical individuals in their own right.
That is one of the reasons this project means so much to me.
So yes, a lot is currently being reworked, reorganized, and rewritten. But that is also exactly why I believe this version will be stronger, clearer, and better than the old beta ever was. And I truly hope the wait will be worth it. In fact, some people have already told me that the quality has improved significantly through this revision — and that is exactly what I want.
I want to create something I can honestly stand behind.
If you have questions, feel free to ask. Really.
Over the next few days, I will also share a link to my Instagram account. I truly hope some of you will continue to follow this project there, see parts of the process, and enjoy watching this story grow into what it is meant to become.
And to everyone who still remembers Storm Behind Us, or still cares about it in any way: thank you. Truly. It means a great deal to me that this story is still alive somewhere in people’s minds.
