Kay Bennson's Blog, page 7

Shrewdest Faction Giveaway!

Okay, first of all can we talk about how GOOD this came out? Like, I'm really proud of myself. The only thing I still have to figure out is how to superimpose over different colors, but I'm satisfied for now!

THANKSGIVING! BLACK FRIDAY! SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY! CYBER MONDAY! OTHER RANDOM THINGS I CAN TYPE IN ALL CAPS!

All of these things are happening in the coming week! I don't know about you, but I'm am very thankful this year! Not only for my health and my sweet baby (because he is awesome), but for my readers, fellow writers, and the fact that I am able to do something I love everyday even if it's only for a few minutes. I want to share my thankful vibes by offering a giveaway!

I'm giving away a signed copy of my most recent book Shrewdest Faction: A Squad Treble Novel. I also wanted to throw in some other fun goodies. I wanted them to be in the theme of Cassie and the squad (may have to fine tune this when I run another giveaway next month for Christmas) but I'm keeping it more writer or reader friendly for now. You will also receive a $10 dollar Amazon gift card and a Studio Oh notebook if you win. (Their notebooks are adorable, I'm probably asking for some for Christmas) All together a $35 dollar value!

Here's what to do: Starting Monday, November 25th you can head to Rafflecopter (The link is below) and see how there are various ways to get entries. Some are as simple as answering a question and clicking a button (You can click for an entry everyday!). You can earn more points by following me on social media and mega points if you review one of my books that you've previously purchased AND/OR buying Limited Truth or Enshrine (again, previous purchases count!). Take a picture of your copy or your receipt of purchase. You can email those to me at kaybennson@gmail.com. I would love to share your photos and get the word out!

The giveaway runs until Monday, December 2nd. I'm planning on doing at least one more for Christmas so fear not if you don't get it this time!

Good luck, Happy Thanksgiving, and don't forget to support your local businesses and artists!

Kay Bennson

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Calling All Writers, Poets, Artists, Fanfiction Authors, Creators, and more!

I'm trying to be more present on my blog, and in the process, I'm trying to be better about promoting myself and my books. I want to pay it forward and promote others too!

If you want to be a guest on my blog, please drop me a line in the contact box section. I can interview you or you can have a guest post.

I'm also up for reviewing books, but I have a few disclaimers:I work full time in addition to writing and editing.I have an infant.I will totally feature you if you write nonfiction, but it's just not my thing to review.
I promise I will get to your book and post about it, it might just be a while.

Looking forward to this!

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

Long time no see! Going to just get to the point with this one.
Where I've Been The biggest thing I have been up to is that I gave birth to my son Dominik on September 12th.  Now I can write about pregnancy and birth and do it justice! I'm sure this sounds cliche, but I really can't imagine life without him now that he's here. Don't get me wrong, he does not sleep for very long clips and is currently the reason why I can't eat pasta sauce, but so far being his mother has been a joy.

My maternity leave ended last week, and I was able to do quite a bit of writing, but I'll get to that later!


The last time I posted, I hadn't mentioned that my newest book SHREWDEST FACTION: A SQUAD TREBLE NOVEL had come out...honestly, that was partially because it a bit of a menagerie. I didn't post about anything at the time, and I'm pretty sure my publisher doesn't police my blog, and even if they do, my new way of life is giving zero you know what's, or at least trying. So here is the concise, as professional as I can be summary of that tale:I had the cover you see here made when I got the contract for SHREWDEST FACTION. I used the same cover artist last time and with ENSHRINE with no issues.Somewhere along the line my publisher's policy on outside covers changed (I don't mean to be rude, but the covers they do are yikes to say the least which is why ALL of mine were made by The Book Khaleesi.) Long story short they rejected the cover.I had an existential crisis and did not answer them, proofread my book, or do writing of any kind because FEELINGS.Months later they were like "Um...you alive?" and I had to finally have confrontation (which I loathe) and tell them how unhappy I was.I was told (even after explaining that SHREWDEST FACTION was the second book in a series; they have so many authors I'm convinced they can't keep all of us straight and they don't do one contract for multiple titles) to have one of their covers (again yikes) or to pay for the rights back on SF.Did I mention that all of this happened while on vacation? Yeah...Just when I was getting ready to shell out, I was told they would let me use the cover I paid for BUT NEVER AGAIN! (I exaggerate)
So yes, I got the cover that matches book one, but I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with this situation. I will not, repeat WILL NOT go through this again with book three. I'm not going to have a low quality cover that makes no sense because of ego or not wanting to be considered a vanity press or what have you. The whole situation is making me not want to submit with my publisher ever again and when Enshrine's contract is up in the next few months I'm going to think very hard before renewing. I am not completely innocent in this, I should have spoke up earlier, I could have submitted Limited Truth elsewhere, but I didn't. Squad Treble is supposed to be four books and now I have to wait for their contracts to potentially run out so I can try to submit to an agent who might take previously published works (sounds like they're a rarity) all because I wanted a cover that would help sell my books. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but we are all kidding ourselves if we think that doesn't matter. Maybe I'm asking too much to have input on reflections of myself?

So much for being concise.

On a much more positive note, I've been freelancing a bunch.  Primarily, I have been working as a content editor for another small publisher. I will get royalties for that in spring of 2020. I've also been assisting on a Korean to English comic and it is adorable. I did a few ghostwriting assignments, but they want those erotica romance stories that aren't really my wheelhouse. Some money is better than no money, right? Where I'm Going 0Number one thing: being more present here and on social media. Now that I'm home more and not dancing, I'm doing my damndest to promote my books that are already out. Enshrine is going up for some new reviews and Limited Truth is going on a blog tour in January 2020. I'm going to be better about posting on here as well. (No really!)

I'm planning on posting to this blog once a week. I'll be posting about what I'm working on, but other things too. I'll probably do a seperate post about this, but I'd like to promote other writers, authors, and artists. If you want in, let me know in the contact me tab!

I had really terrible writers block for almost the entirety of my pregnancy. I think this was partially due to Cover-gate (why work on something that was going to end up with an unprofessional looking cover?) and having no prospects to go up for query else where, but also just from being tired and uncomfortable. I wrote a few snippets, but was not in love (which apparently is called Imposter Syndrome???)

Now I have the opposite problem. I've got four WIPs and I'm wishing I could still be home writing all day long (getting really good typing one handed with the baby). There is a whole Works in projects page now so I won't elaborate, but the third squad treble book is coming along (but don't expect it anytime soon), I've got something Going for NaNoWriMo (I'll talk about it in the next paragraph). a dystopian I may jump back one I start querying the NaNoWriMo book, and a gymnastics thing I hope to tackle.

So I feel like my NaNoWriMo project is kind of cheating, but if nothing more, the challenge is keeping me accountable. It's an old WIP, like from before I was married and was still in college blast from the past. The rough draft was finished way back when and then I started a second round shortly after. NaNoWriMo has been mostly me typing it up but also changing and adding things because it was overwritten and a little too "my man left me, woe is my sham of a life" for 2019/2020. I'm hoping to polish it after this round and query agents if all goes to plan by early 2020.

So look for me this weekend, though I may post about featuring other creators before that!

Yours in writing,

Kay

Why ENSHRINE doesn't have a sequel...yet.

​ . I know. Shocking. I wish I could tell you that I've been off doing amazing things. (I mean, does cooking a baby human count? because that is happening...but other than that) but I've been on a creative downer. I blame five year olds, Irish dance, and other reasons that I have to talk about tastefully. Excuses, yes. The end of me? Absolutely not.

Okay, so one of the biggest things that my friends, family, and even people who reviewed my debut novel ENSHRINE ask is if or when there will be a sequel. That was a difficult question to answer for YEARS. Yes your heard me, years. I think enough time has finally passed that I can talk about it now to some degree.

I wrote ENSHRINE in 2015. It is insane to me that it's been so long. At the time, I taught 1st and 5th grade English studies at a Hebrew Day School. While I am not Jewish myself, I was immersed in their culture. The whole thing was fascincating, I learned things every day. I also got to see a different view of regligion. I have been Catholic my whole life, but it was interesting to see that some things were extremly similar; the belief that a higher power had a plan for you, that being good to other people was important, and I think overall that is was important and encouraged to show your faith outwardly. If you've read ENSHRINE, you probably get some of those undertones, though I tried to keep it vague on purpose. I think it's funny, now that I work at a Catholic school I feel like my faith is even stronger (or I'm just getting older...) but there was something about that year that can't be replicated.

It was a perfect cocktail.  I had an injury that kept me from my other life consuming hobby (Irish dance) so I had lots of free time. I had this amazing group of students that pushed me and are really the reason I have any books published at all right now.  They begged for me to read to them my manuscript instead of a read aloud book. I CANNOT believe for the life of me that I did not get in trouble. It had nothing to do with school, it was watered down, but still not super appropriate for middle grade (My current boss WILL NOT let me talk about it at school to my students so...) and honestly, I was invested in the plot, the characters, etc. Do not get me wrong, ENSHRINE IS NOT PERFECT. Someone on Goodreads recently gave it one star and I'm glad it happened now and not when it intially came out because I've had time to let is simmer and realize that I have so much life to live and that I'm not amazing yet. It's not perfect writing I'm rambling here...I loved the world of Rosementh, I had prequels, and sequels and spin offs in my head...

...but then nothing happened. You may or may not be wondering why. I couldn't tell you for a long time. Now I am able to at least attempt.

The following school year, my school got a new principal. Without going into too much incrimating detail, this person appeared kind on the surface, but was anything but. Two faced, passive aggressive, bluntly...a snake. While I can only give my side of the story, this person would act like everything was fine, when really they did not like me as a teacher and in my humble opinion as a person because I was not a subserviant woman. I was too "strong girl" for them. This person had the nerve to parade me around in front of their previous employees, put me in uncomfortable, borderline innapropriate situations, and actually used the phrase "we have to find a way to market you to get people to come to our school" when I ended up getting my deal for ENSHRINE. Work was stressful, my stomach used to flip when they would walk into a room I was in. I will clarify that no, this person never touched me, but I certainly felt like an object in their presence. It was not fun. To summize this already long paragraph. I was "let go" because this person wanted to go in a "different direction" even though up until they notified me of this they seemed happy with me. Once again (God, I sound like a conspiracy theorist) I can only speak my feelings on the matter but I was one of MANY (try like 7 or 8) that either quit or were not asked back and I think in my case it had to with not worshipping this person, being strong willed, and other reasons I don't feel comfortable typing out. Needless to say all the warm fuzzy things I felt while working there were gone. I was bitter and hurt and even though ENSHRINE brought me happiness, it hurt too much to go to Rosementh where secondary characters were based on former students, where the windows by my first grade classroom were where I literally wrote the book's first words. The spring sun Sage felt... it was winter sun for me but...I don't know...it felt like my safe writing place had been stolen from me. I had spent hours in various nooks and crannies after school or during prep periods in the building writing my debut novel, and it was gone.

It was even harder when I had former students from that special class emailing me. Even at my new job. That hurts the most...We went back and forth for a while and I tried to keep up with her and my chest hurts even now as I write this. This child was one of a kind. I hope she writes books of her own someday and if she is reading this...I'm so sorry that we fell out of contract and I think about emailing you often and I'm worried too much time has passed and I hope you know that me struggling with all of this never had anything to do with you. Someday YOU WILL READ EMINENCE AND FORGET ME NOT.  

Straight up, Enshrine has a sequel. It has a prequel as well, but the second book in the story, called EMINENCE had over 30,000 words before someone thew the proverbial hair dryer in the bathtub (I'm dramatic, what of it!?) It is completely outlined. IT HAD MULTIPLE SHIPS (isn't that the goal?)

There were other minor issues before my former employer destroyed my happy place. The first being that as I write more, I find that my style of writing is not Pollyanna Vanilla. I like swear words, and if people feel strongly about each other and they want to show it by getting naked...welp...I'm not going to "keep it clean".  I struggled with this for a while. While by no means is what I write pornographic or anything like I did for ghostwriting, I was initially horrified at the thought of some of my more conservative coworkers (both Jewish and Catholic) reading it and even more so when I found out that twelve-year-old girls were buying and reading my books a few towns over (one of my friends was literally buying them for her daughter, nieces, and daughters friends) because my (spoiler alert) my married couple has sex in book two. I think i'm a little bit wiser now and know I should just write for myself (plus they are 15/16 now ha!)

Also can we talk about how people have asked me to (again spoiler alert) unkill several characters in ENSHRINE? I feel like that is an absolute TABOO that should not be broken. That's like Darth Maul coming back in the Clone Wars Series (My cousin and I literally had an agrument about this on Memorial Day) YOU DON'T DO IT. DARTH MAUL GOT SLICED IN TWO. DEAL WITH IT. I don't care what is cannon and I digress...I actually considered it for half a second though. Again, write for me. Let your characters stay dead. Even if your mom doesn't want them to be (Hi MOM!)I'm getting to the end here! I promise.

I'm a semi terrible person and I have not actually gotten through Game of Thrones in its entirety. That being said, I know the Stark storyline backward and forward. I relate to them in my dance journey (I had a Stark themed cape for my previous solo dress) and at first I regretted that choice because let's be real, the Starks have seen and dealt with some shit, but now seeing how it has panned out (I mean GRRM may deviate) I think that I need to stay loyal to my house because it all turned out right in the end. I mean if Sansa can go from this to where she ended up. I can get through my problems too.


That's my long, conviluted way to say yes, I'll be taking a stab at Eminence again. 

I had at least three other things I was going to post about...but this is long enough as it is. 

Bye for now,

Kay

I love Surveys

 What type of writer’s block do you experience the most? 
Lately it seems to be that everything I write seems stupid.  So I tear it up or start over.

 Are you a supporter/lover of fanfiction?
Yes! Sometimes I think I read more fanfiction that actual fiction but some of it is SO AMAZING that it puts my writing to shame. I like Star Wars (RebelCaptain and Reylo pairings) and Sailor Moon (Usa/Mamo for life) fanfiction. Comment if you want recommendations!

 Would you want to live in one of the fictional worlds you’ve created?
Honestly, probably not? While Rosementh is beautiful, I wouldn't want to live somewhere where Dayton was in charge. I also feel like all the other places that my books and stories take place have bad guys and monsters running amok. 

On the other other hand, Settontown is very much based on the town I grew up in and currently work in so I guess I can say that I have lived in one of the worlds from my books.

 What’s more important to you: characters or plot?
Oh, that's a really hard call. I'm going to say characters because I feel like sometimes they run the show and the plot changes because of their decisions and feelings. I hope that doesn't make me sound psychotic. 

What’s a common writing tip that you mostly ignore?
I read alot that you should just write your rough draft and come back to it later. I usually reread what I've done every once and a while during the process. It helps to validate myself because sometimes I have the self esteem of a sheet of paper.

 What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?
Growing up I never used to outline and then my plot would fall of a cliff and I'd have all these partially finished manuscripts. I find that when I outline I have much better results. 

 How many projects do you usually have going at once?
This is not an easy question. I'm going to make it into teirs.

How many ideas do you have at once: hundreds

How many unfinished manuscripts do you have: dozens

How many manuscripts have you actually worked on recently and consider a wip: 3. The third installment of my Squad Treble Series, an urban fantasy that nods at the fandom that defined my childhood, and a crackfic that will most likely never be read by anyone other than me because reasons.

Which of your characters would become your best friend?
Nev, Cara (because she is based on my best friend), and Heather.

And come on, We all wish Aaron was into us.

Which of your characters would become your sworn enemy?
Easy, Dayton. 

 Pencil, typewriter, or computer?
Hot pink pen everywhere but home. Computer at home.

 Do you have a set writing space? Or do you write everywhere?
I don't have a set writing space at the moment, though I will have my office someday with all my fandom junk. I mostly write everywhere, but have my best luck somewhere quiet or at home.

Are you comfortable writing in public places?
I have written standing up at my second job, while my students nap, in libraries, in Starbucks, and my favorite one was in a bar during my husband's band gig. That was a real conversation starter...

 Do your stories usually contain lessons or morals?
That's not necessarily my intent, but I do think it happens. I think ENSHRINE has more of this than LIMITED TRUTH, but I think i've had so much trouble writing the next book for ENSHRINE because I was in a weird place in my life when I was writing it.

 Do your characters control where the story goes or do you maintain control?
Um, I currently have a seventeen-year-old boy that can see and control the dead in my brain and he's pretty mad I got another book deal since I was just attempting to write his and his magical super hero girlfriend's story. So yeah, I think the characters run the show sometimes.

 Are you open to co-writing a story?
It would have to depend on who wanted to write with me. I'm terrible with deadlines and self doubt so I wouldn't want to put someone through that. My brother and I always talked about colaborating one day. Maybe that will still happen.

A Promise

Hello out there,

It's been over a year since I last posted...I have no excuses. I really don't. I didn't have writers block for a year. In fact, my book Limited Truth: A Squad Treble Novel came out in February of 2018. If you are scratching your head thinking that you had no idea, well, you and most people. It's my fault really. I didn't promote it well.

I guess I saw how well received my first book was (which honestly was great for friends and family and maybe even locally, but could have been better overall) and I figured that people would just read it. I barely promoted it. I could say that my day job consumed most of my time or that I've been focusing on other time sensitive passions I won't be able to do forever (i.e. be a competitive Irish dancer) but as I previously stated...that really isn't a good enough reason to fall off the face of the earth.

I will be honest with you, promoting yourself is hard. Not only do I find the writing aspect of all this much more comfortable than playing around on Canva, Photoshop, or the hundreds of royalty free image sites (honesty hour: I HATE the royalty image sites because they never have exactly what I see in my head, but you got to do what you got to do) but I also still find myself being nervous about what people think of me. If my banners and whatnot make people interested or turn them off.  As previously stated, I think this is more of a "real world me" than a Kay Bennson problem. I have always been happiest flying under the radar but that doesn't make you a career author or a champion Irish dancer so let's call that a work in progress.

Where I'm going with all of this is I'm making a promise to myself and to you to be more present with my books as well as on here and my other social media sites. I spend so much time and effort making these amazing stories that it's not fair to myself and to other people that I don't push all the way.  How can I become better if I don't put myself out there for feedback? It's scary, but I think back to what I was like before I had any books published. If I hadn't talked about ENSHRINE to my 5th grade class at the time, I would not be here. So who knows where I will be down the road if I don't make myself uncomfortable. 

So do me a favor, and read ENSHRINE and LIMITED TRUTH. Enjoy them. Review them. I love when my family and friends tell me what they liked and didn't like. Now it's time to hear from more people so I can continue to improve my craft and bring more great stories to you.

Sincerely,

Kay

A Letter to my Fifteen-Year-Old Self

Dear Kay,

I just want to tell you how proud I am of you.  High School can be tough and managed to get through it somewhat gracefully. I could go into the moments that are upcoming in your life that will shape you and make you into me, but I'm actually writing you this letter to say thank you.

Thirteen years ago you wrote a short story that you shared with your brother and your best friend. It starred your friends and acquaintances at the time. You wrote sequels and your best friend drew covers for them. I know you always hoped that you'd have a book published someday. It was in your top three goals. 

Well, not only do you have a book published at twenty-eight years old, but you know that story you lovingly called Squad Treble? Well, it's being Published in 2018. It's going to be the first of 4 books. Your future editor has helped make it into something incredible. You should be so proud of yourself. 

So thank you for not being typical. Thank you for putting up with the bull and not losing sight of your dreams when it would have been so easy to conform or take the easy way out. Someday I hope our future self is writing us again, telling what us what life is like as a career author is like. If we can accomplish this goal, we can crush anything.

With love,

Kay

The Calm Before the Storm

My book comes out Monday.

On the one hand, I'm so excited that my book comes out Monday! I've been waiting my whole (albeit young) life for this moment! I'm going to be a published author, it's going to be the first of many. This is great!

On the other hand, I'm kind of like Sheldon. My book comes out Monday. Am I ready for this? What if no one reads it? What if people hate it? What if it's the opposite and it's so popular that my life changes completely. Lets be real...The last of these questions does not scare me as much as the other two do.

I'm attending BookCon tomorrow as a spectator. I'm excited at the prospect of seeing famous authors in the flesh and maybe meeting a few new awesome ones that I don't know yet. I had this moment where I went,  "Will there be a day that someone is excited or nervous at the thought of meeting me?" Will I be attending BookCon or BookExpo as panelist or guest someday? I certainly hope so and I hope by then I'll have this whole Author thing a little more figured out.  I'm still at the point of trying to secure places to meet readers, both in person and on the internet. I'm also trying really hard to be open minded and not paranoid about people's intentions. This is more of a "real world me" problem, than a Kay Bennson problem.

I will attach the buy links as soon as they are live on Monday. I wish I could tell you how much everything will be, but even I do not know that information at the moment. Here's what I can tell you though:

1. I'm doing a giveaway where you can win a signed paperback copy of my book and a $10 Amazon gift card. Fill out the form and good luck! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

2. I'm buying a bulk shipment of paper backs if you want a signed copy. If you are local, you can pick one up at some of the events that I'm trying to lock down or I can bring it to you. If you are not local, I'm willing to ship. As soon as I know prices, I'll forward that info!

3. I'm going on a blog tour, and there will be another signed paperback up for grabs as well. I will post in more depth about that next week as well.

4. I've been writing like crazy and I am about ready to start having beta readers look at my wip. Hoping to submit it in the coming months. No, it's not Enshrine related, but hoping to jump back in to that sequel soon.

Talk to you later,

Kay 

Check out Plots & Schemes Vol. 1 by My Fellow Solstice Authors!

Enter to win! That’s all you have to do. Solstice Publishing is celebrating Plots & Schemes Vol. 1 becoming a best seller in Germany during its release by giving away three autographed copies of the print edition of this fabulous anthology.
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All you have to do is click on the Goodreads link between May 26 and June 9 and enter. It’s that simple. Once the contest ends, Goodreads will notify us of the winners names and you will receive your copy.
 

 
Her child vanishes in a puff of smoke.
 
When Murder is on the Itinerary
 
An eavesdropped comment leads to an impossible scheme!
 
Mysterious events pull Dana into danger.
 
A rock star’s murder leaves Emlyn Goode questioning everything she knows about herself.
 
Murder most foul puts this cop to the test
 
One murder, one plan, two possible outcomes.
 
Losing your mind is scary...
 
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A smile was on his face. Despite the fact that he was supposed to connect with the egg donor of this lovely child, he had no thoughts of doing that or returning the kid at the appointed time. His timing was perfect. The child--Lanie is such an idiotic name; I’ll have to come up with another one—would be five in a few days. In time, she would forget there had been his loser ex in her life. She--Sheila will regret divorcing me—had battered through his training, all he’d gone through to make her a compliant and complacent wife. She’d run away after he ordered her to get an abortion.
Good thing the bitch ignored me. I wouldn’t have this gorgeous child to raise to be like me.
Granted the child was weak now, but he would fix that, as soon as he made sure they vanished forever. No one would stop him from raising his daughter as he saw fit, and that meant keeping her away from her weakling of a mother.
Quietly, Mark Jannson, scion of the globally famous Jannson family, whose assets numbered in the billions, removed anything he considered important from his lavishly furnished thirty room mansion located in the mountains above Denver. His mother’s jewels were carefully packed into a leather satchel, to be given to his daughter, if she remained true to the Jannson name. The woman who called herself his mother had been consigned to a hovel in the southeast somewhere, once she showed her true colors by attempting to take him from his father.
“Let the bitch live in poverty the rest of her life,” he whispered.
 
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To The Story I Just Won't Let Die

Any authors or writers out there have a story concept that they can't let go of? For whatever reason it's special to you, and you won't rest until someone else gets to enjoy it? 

My current work in progress is that for me. Yes, ENSHRINE is important to me because it's the first book I am getting published, and it made my heart sing as I wrote it, but this story has been in my head and heart since I was FIFTEEN! You never forget your first love, right? Just like ENSHRINE, it started with a dream. I was in an extreme game of capture the flag, when my friends were guiding me towards a boy I'd had my sights on at the time. Something had gone horribly wrong, and as he said goodbye to me, I vowed to avenge him. 

A few weeks later, my brother and I were at my great aunt and uncles house and it must have been rainy, because instead of playing in their yard, I typed the whole thing on the computer in an afternoon. Back then it was only 5 chapters, and the bare bones of what it is today was born. I had sequels, my best friend drew the covers for them. I still have them kicking around somewhere.

About 4 years ago, on my honeymoon of all places, this story wanted a second chance. I really wanted to be a published author, and I thought this story had the potential to be picked up since the whole science fiction dystopian thing was huge. I went through a whole new rough draft, it was twenty one chapters and took up multiple notebooks. Relationships were changed, characters and plot lines were fleshed out and I began to edit it. Now that I'm a few years older, I know what wasn't working with revising it. Then Enshrine overloaded my senses, but now that it's finished, (Sent the final version off today!) this labor of love is getting it's 3rd and final chance. It's 7 chapters so far, 27,000 words, and already different (Two of my characters are up in my music making me fall in love with them being the couple you want to get together and you get frustrated about until they make out at the end of the series...not who my dream was about all those years ago, but really...it makes sense.) I'm looking forward to working on it!

So to sum things up, don't give up if you have an idea that you love but isn't working. I will most likely cry if this work in progress gets a contract because I believe it has shown how I've changed as a writer in 12 years. I want to go back in time and find my fifteen year old self and hug her, tell her that she can do anything. Even if it's not writing, but you find yourself relating to what I'm saying, go for it. You won't regret it, I promise.