Seven months

Seven months...
God, doesn't that seem like a long time?  I can remember, though, seven months ago this book --this entire series--was just another idea that had come to mind.  It was something I said, "Yeah, I'd like to do this" but never actually imagined doing.  Seven months ago I was determined not to start another book.  I told myself to wait before I began Cursed with Power, since at the time I was focusing on finishing Everblue and getting Certain Fate public on inkpop.

Instead, I broke my promise to myself and honestly I'm glad I did.  Despite the few people who are interested in the other two books I still have yet to finish, I am glad that I started Cursed with Power.  After I wrote the prologue I just fell in love.  This kind of love was not like the other love I have known in life.  This was a kind of love that I could make grow every single day.  I know it sounds cliché, but that's exactly what happened.
So long ago I did not know what was next for Celestria Hale.  She and I traveled here and there throughout her story because, like her, I was lost with where to go next.
Months ago when I came to you and said "I'm finished", I was not being honest.  I was lying to you, my readers, and myself.  When I said I was finished, what I actually meant was it's all written out in Word and now I'm going to change it all to make it better.  That's what I did.  So if you were to ask me what the highlight has been of my Junior year in high school, I'll tell you it's been working day and night on this book.  Whether it's been researching, reading, editing, or adding in more.  This is the journey of a lifetime that, no matter what, I will continue to enjoy through the good and the bad.

I was speaking with one of my readers today, and she and I were remembering when there used to only be seven chapters in total of Cursed with Power up on inkpop.  Remember that?  Then my posts on the blog came where I would attempt to explain why it was going to take me a week to finish chapter eleven.  That seems so long in the past now when you look at where this has came.
Now I'm working on chapter twenty, and as I told you in my last post I feel like the story is becoming much longer than I originally planned.  I had it figured out that by January I would finish the book with twenty four chapters.  However, now I'm going in the direction the wind blows me.  Like Celestria said, I don't know where it is taking me.  At least, not just yet.

We went from having a MC who was mostly alone through the entire book to her meeting up with handsome and funny Léal Irvine.  Oh that Léal... I wonder how everyone would have reacted if he never had been in this book to begin with.  As I told you once before, he was not originally supposed to have a large role in Cursed with Power.  Despite his absence after a particular chapter, Léal has ended up becoming a more main character than most anyone else through this book beside Celestria, of course.  He not only caught Celestria's admiration and attention, but he seemed to get the attention of the readers as well.  He's the man everyone says they "want", yet we don't know anything about him...
Then there's Alaire, who never originally was planned to be in the book at all.  Out of nowhere Celestria was seconds away from death.  Someone had to save her.  I'll admit at first I thought, "Yes, now Léal can come back!" but then I realized... Everything Celestria and Léal meant to each other would be thrown away if he came back out of nowhere.  I thought and I thought... Then I decided Alaire needed to be the one to rescue Celestria from death.  In return, she would gain a "partner" and he would gain a personality I had never fully understood for him.  He started out as a quiet man, but once I threw him into the action I saw a darker and deeper side to him.
The dramatic changes in plot that have been made to this book... I could tell you about them for days, but honestly I think I would bore you.

Let's not forget the dramatic cover changes that have been made during these long seven months.

  

Exactly, look at all of those covers! There are just such an overwhelming amount, and I keep them all.  I guess it shows how the book evolved and changed throughout the years.  Who really knows?

Enough with cover madness; trust me it drives me insane.  The purpose I wrote this post was because I wanted to share with you how the book has come along.  I wanted to share with you the memories, and lastly I wanted to remind you there is more.  This journey Celestria is involved in is one we all have become involved in by reading the story.  While I know many of you are excited about the coming of New Life, I want to remind you that before that books evolves into all that it can be there is a very long road this book and I must travel down.  When it's finally finished I know getting it published will not be easy.  I spent four years of my life attempting to get The Magic of Light published, which now just seems like a joke.  If I can say I've have that book "finished" for five years now, I must certainly can say that whenever this book comes together I'll have more hard work to show for it.  There might not be over 30 some characters in this book, but my ex told me, "You're the only one of all my girlfriends who has written a book....and been so dedicated."

It's been a great and pain-in-the-butt seven months, but I hope you will continue to stay as I finish out this book and get into the madness once again with mailing agents and whatnot.

It started out with an eye...

And now look at all that it has turned into.  Madness, characters, plot, history, fantasy, magic, love, and so much more.  (Mostly madness, though.)  

"There's a lot that I want." He said. He smirked as he said it like he knew he was pushing my patience.