Hi! I just finished reading TQR and I absolutely loved this book! I really enjoyed how the adventure aspect of the book was the main focus (don’t get me wrong I loved the secret, slow-burning romance between Brienna and Cartier, but with some YA novels I f

Thank you so much! I am so happy you enjoyed TQR!

Okay, so I have been writing since I was a teen. I wrote quite a few short stories, endless chapter 1′s that went no where, and a novella when I was 16. I remember the exact feeling you are describing, because I felt that way for quite a few years. Frustrated, because all the stories I worked on didn’t seem to make it very far, or came slowly, or were too much like my other favorite books. But I kept chiseling away at words and paper. Eventually, years later, I had a breakthrough.

I was 27 when I wrote TQR, and I drafted it very quickly. I had a glimpse of Brienna sitting in a library with Cartier, and I did not let it slip away. I spent evenings, weekends, and lunch breaks drafting this book. 48 days later, I had a full manuscript. But honestly? I had been writing for fifteen years. It took me fifteen years to reach that moment.

No writing is ever wasted. It is all building material, sharpening you and molding you and challenging you to become a better writer.

And I want to encourage you to keep writing. Keep chiseling at it. Even if it comes slowly and painfully. Because you never know when you will get that breakthrough, when you will envision that character who has been waiting years and years for you to discover her.