AAAHHHHH

Trying very hard to stay positive, but it feels like a full time job right now. I know that not everybody is going to love what I put out, but it doesn't feel great to hear that its not good. This exact situation was the main reason I never wrote anything before now. I just need to pick myself up and keep moving.

Writing

When I started writing the first book, I never expected it to be more then just a one off. But Jilly was in my head so much, bugging me to make her into something more. Jilly is growing so much as a character. She has definitely evolved far more then I though she would. This book is going to a whole different direction then it was originally going to go when I started to write it.

New ideas

I'm talking with the amazingly talented Sunny Randel about doing a graphic novel. I'm not sure if it will be the first book, just in graphic novel form, or a side story. I'm excited about the possibility of seeing my characters come to life.

2nd book

As I've been writing the second book in the series, its been interesting to see how different the process has been from the first one. I've been able to delve more into Caroline's life, and her relationship with Jack. I also introduce you to Nikolai and Katya, who were briefly mentioned in the first book. There's also going to be some new characters introduced, and I'm really excited about how they are fitting into the story. I'm on track for this book to be around 25-50 pages longer then the first book, which is great since the feedback I've gotten so far is that people wish Marked was longer.

I'm toying with the idea of doing a novella concentrating on William's past from leaving Boston to when he came back in present time. I've already written a few chapters of it, and I like where its going. It will give my readers a chance to see where William has been, and what he's gone through. I'm not sure when I would be releasing that, if it would be between the first and second, or the second and third.

Marked

Marked will always be a special book for me, it will always be my first. I felt such a sense of accomplishment typing out the story and bringing Jilly and William to life. William is modeled after my husband, although I will say that it wasn't my intention to make him that way. The more I wrote, and the further into the story I got, the more like my husband he became. I wanted Jilly to be instantly likable, and for people to just fall in love with her the way I did.

For all of you out there who have wanted to write a book, my advice to you is just do it. If you don't believe in yourself, you'll never get far in life. I was lucky to have an entire army of people behind me cheering me on, they all made this such an amazing process. The writing process was a lot easier then I originally had thought it would be. To write the book, it took me a little over 2 weeks, it was the editing that took the most time, and I had a lot of help with that from my amazing mother in law Cathy.

I'm in the process of writing the second book in the series, and I should hopefully have it done in the next month. I'm also thinking of having a novella concentrating on William's past. I hope everyone enjoys reading Marked as much as I enjoyed writing it.