Before we get into all of that, bear with me (yes, this is because I want you to keep reading):
I just have to let you all know that I struggled ALOT while writing this book. Some parts more than others got to me personally and emotionally, but the truth of the matter is, I bawled penning certain parts and screamed before writing others. I really hadn't planned on acting like a total fool with this book but it was really difficult for me to write, a lot more difficult than the first book, and here's why: The characters went LEFT when I wanted and had planned for them to go RIGHT.
That sounds silly. But with characters that become essentially too established in a fictional world, meaning they couldn't be changed so quickly and easily without work because they're pretty much like real people with their own thoughts and feelings, I had many conflicts as to where *I* wanted the characters to go in the story versus where THEY wanted to take me on this next journey. I looked like a crazy person along the way, arguing with them in my head for days on end, asking why the hell they wanted to do one thing when I wanted them to do another. And most times, asking them why the hell they WEREN'T doing one thing when I so desperately wanted them to do or say the exact opposite. I spent weeks on a certain chapter, analyzing it and even my beta readers didn't understand why I was so frustrated, but I was. Because for me, things were not adding up to make sense for WHY so-n-so would do this or say that. I needed a reason for it, because I write for my characters. They are the ones telling the story, not me. It sounds insane, but that's how it is.
This second book was, to say the least, 10X more difficult than writing the second Royal Chronicles book. That book took me on an unexpected journey only because I didn't know where it would lead from beginning to end. With this book, I knew exactly where it would lead and exactly how it would end, and still, I didn't want certain characters to do or say certain things (or form certain relationships) that would lead me there, even if it was exactly where I knew they needed to end up to help their character growth. Because there is nothing worse than a stagnant character. Nothing. Not to mention, this series is also very, very personal for me. It took damn near 12 years for me to finally suck it up and make it right on paper. I first had the idea when I was 17, but seeing how it came out NOW, I was nowhere near prepared to pen a story like this back when I was in HS. Just nope! (I'll delve more into how the story originally formed in another long post.)
Anyway, I just felt I needed to get this out of the way, because part of me felt for this reason that it wouldn't be up to par with Miss Independent, but when I finally shut up and let myself go and talked to friends, I realized that once you've established characters, they will take you places you don't want to go, they will do things you don't want to see and hear about, and they will make things unexpected during that long road/journey to wherever, but nevertheless, they will keep entertaining you from beginning to end.
So if you managed to get this far, congrats to you! You're lucky enough to re-read the blurb for Book Two in the Miss Independent series, as well as (once again) see the new cover:
I hope you have the time and wine to make it through this one reading as I did writing it. Starting today, the book will be available for pre-order on Kindle for $2.99 with a planned release date ofMarch 10th March 2nd, 2015. It can be found HERE. When the paperback version becomes available, I will post that information with a BUMP UPDATE to this post. Paperback version can now be found HERE
I've stated it in a previous post, but I'll state it here again to clear any pending confusion: Miss Independent will remain at $.99 for the duration. However, after April 14 of this year, it will no longer be made available via Kindle Unlimited as I'd like to widely distribute the books. As much as I'm certain it helped in gaining a readership for this series that I never managed to achieve with the others I've written, I can't continue to put all of my eggs in one basket if I hope to expand my audience to those who do not have access to a Kindle. I am loving the people who managed to find me amongst so many great Indie's on Amazon and I hope to find more! So spread the word where you can! The survival of this series really depends on my readers! I love the story and characters, but I can only read it over and over again myself so many times.
Decision Makers will not be enrolled in KU and neither will the other books in the series.That being said, this book *may* be eligible to download for free via KU temporarily. I say that because I am not sure if you can, but it appears to be that you are able to download it via KU for the time being since Miss Independent is still enrolled in the program and this book is part of that series. That sounds a lot more confusing than it actually is, but how you choose to read the book is truly up to you once you reach the page. <<<<<<<< This has been fixed! Once the book becomes available, it will *not* be eligible for a free download via Kindle Unlimited, so that I may distribute the books via various channels. I apologize for any previous confusion!
Now, I really encourage you all to try this one. I like to think of this portion of the series as a 'transitioning' period for the characters. There are a few new people that we meet along the way to help in creating some big changes for the major players!
As always, happy reading and enjoy the remaining weekend!
I just have to let you all know that I struggled ALOT while writing this book. Some parts more than others got to me personally and emotionally, but the truth of the matter is, I bawled penning certain parts and screamed before writing others. I really hadn't planned on acting like a total fool with this book but it was really difficult for me to write, a lot more difficult than the first book, and here's why: The characters went LEFT when I wanted and had planned for them to go RIGHT.
That sounds silly. But with characters that become essentially too established in a fictional world, meaning they couldn't be changed so quickly and easily without work because they're pretty much like real people with their own thoughts and feelings, I had many conflicts as to where *I* wanted the characters to go in the story versus where THEY wanted to take me on this next journey. I looked like a crazy person along the way, arguing with them in my head for days on end, asking why the hell they wanted to do one thing when I wanted them to do another. And most times, asking them why the hell they WEREN'T doing one thing when I so desperately wanted them to do or say the exact opposite. I spent weeks on a certain chapter, analyzing it and even my beta readers didn't understand why I was so frustrated, but I was. Because for me, things were not adding up to make sense for WHY so-n-so would do this or say that. I needed a reason for it, because I write for my characters. They are the ones telling the story, not me. It sounds insane, but that's how it is.
This second book was, to say the least, 10X more difficult than writing the second Royal Chronicles book. That book took me on an unexpected journey only because I didn't know where it would lead from beginning to end. With this book, I knew exactly where it would lead and exactly how it would end, and still, I didn't want certain characters to do or say certain things (or form certain relationships) that would lead me there, even if it was exactly where I knew they needed to end up to help their character growth. Because there is nothing worse than a stagnant character. Nothing. Not to mention, this series is also very, very personal for me. It took damn near 12 years for me to finally suck it up and make it right on paper. I first had the idea when I was 17, but seeing how it came out NOW, I was nowhere near prepared to pen a story like this back when I was in HS. Just nope! (I'll delve more into how the story originally formed in another long post.)
Anyway, I just felt I needed to get this out of the way, because part of me felt for this reason that it wouldn't be up to par with Miss Independent, but when I finally shut up and let myself go and talked to friends, I realized that once you've established characters, they will take you places you don't want to go, they will do things you don't want to see and hear about, and they will make things unexpected during that long road/journey to wherever, but nevertheless, they will keep entertaining you from beginning to end.
So if you managed to get this far, congrats to you! You're lucky enough to re-read the blurb for Book Two in the Miss Independent series, as well as (once again) see the new cover:
In DECISION MAKERS, the second book
in the Miss Independent series, Vanessa begins to wonder if a real life with
Maurice will be better or worse than the fantasy she always dreamed of having with Nathan.
Meanwhile, Nathan and Sheila come to some big decisions regarding their
upcoming wedding, as Nikki finally decides what to do about her relationship
with Oscar.
I love this cover. The model is just perfect for the character I had in mind. I originally wanted to put the Vanessa character on the cover again, but something about that wasn't working for this book. It fit really well with the first book, her being labeled as 'independent' and shown walking, so to speak. This novel, if you can't tell from its name already, is about making a decision and sticking (or at least trying) to it. The model being in place with the intense glare just works for me. Can you guess who he is supposed to be?
I hope you have the time and wine to make it through this one reading as I did writing it. Starting today, the book will be available for pre-order on Kindle for $2.99 with a planned release date of
I've stated it in a previous post, but I'll state it here again to clear any pending confusion: Miss Independent will remain at $.99 for the duration. However, after April 14 of this year, it will no longer be made available via Kindle Unlimited as I'd like to widely distribute the books. As much as I'm certain it helped in gaining a readership for this series that I never managed to achieve with the others I've written, I can't continue to put all of my eggs in one basket if I hope to expand my audience to those who do not have access to a Kindle. I am loving the people who managed to find me amongst so many great Indie's on Amazon and I hope to find more! So spread the word where you can! The survival of this series really depends on my readers! I love the story and characters, but I can only read it over and over again myself so many times.
Decision Makers will not be enrolled in KU and neither will the other books in the series.
Now, I really encourage you all to try this one. I like to think of this portion of the series as a 'transitioning' period for the characters. There are a few new people that we meet along the way to help in creating some big changes for the major players!
As always, happy reading and enjoy the remaining weekend!
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