What comes next??

The short answer is I have no idea!

I mean, I have an idea as far as the goings on at Colonial Academy (tons of ideas!). It's all the things that go into this whole independent publishing thing that can make it pretty daunting at times.

But more important than the nuts and bolts behind the scenes is YOU!

YOU are some of the most important people in my life right now, and I wanted to say HI

HI!

If you're here, I'm going to assume that you have read the book and liked it enough to come see who I am and what I'm doing next.

Welcome, and I love you!

I guess that's coming on a bit strong, but it's true. It's a pretty crazy new reality that I'm living, and I'm sure there will be stumbles along the way ("Why is she not sending updates?" "Where's my extra scenes???" I'll get to that, I swear...) but I'm beyond excited to have the opportunity to share Sadie's world with all of you after so much time building Colonial Academy by myself and filling it with interesting people and intense situations that I could only talk about with a couple of dedicated readers.

A brief update on things is: Sales of The Vessel are happening. YAY!

Reviews of The Vessel...not so much. NOT...YAY!

Believe me, I get it. Before I undertook all this I wasn't one to write reviews very often myself. I'm also one who tends to pass over a book with 8 reviews when I'm looking for my next series.

Now I finally understand how mixed up that is. Reviews are everything to a new author.

I also feel a tremendous amount of guilt and if you're a writer who I've read I apologize and I promise I will be much better about showing love in the future.

If you're a reader looking for a fun series out there, I'm sorry for not giving my favorite authors a boost by writing more reviews.

Because even a two sentence review is extremely helpful.

If you liked The Vessel, a quick note saying so with maybe a couple things (one?) you liked about it would go a long ways towards getting more eyes on the pages.

If this kind of book is your thing and you didn't like it, I still want to hear from you. I want to know what didn't work? What did you want more of that you didn't get?

I mean, maybe if you're feeling one star about it you can go about your day and we'll just pretend we never had this conversation, but if you have opinions and want me to know what you hope to see going forward, please do let me know.

As of this missive/plea, there are literally 8 reviews on Amazon (I wasn't being hyperbolic) but between sales and Kindle Unlimited views, I know there are way more than that who have read it, and need to hear from you.

And I'm sure you'd love to hear from me with updates about Colonial #2 and the YA epic fantasy world I've been crafting.

That's fair. Quid pro quo, no?

Right now I can tell you that Colonial #2 is well underway. I've got 20 chapters and I'm cruising (chugging?) along towards a place where I can get it in the hands of beta readers.

Yes, I'll need readers. Wanna help out? If you want to give early feedback on #2 please say so in the comments section. Tell me a little about yourself and why you think you would be a valued addition to Sadie's world and I'll see who sounds like a good fit to join the family and friends who helped out in the first round and want to do it again.

On the technical side, I beg your patience with me. I'm still figuring out how to do the web site thing, and I have not yet set up a newsletter where I can do this more often and more directly.

And yes, the bonus scenes are coming! I have dozens of scenes that I pulled from the book, and more that I wrote just to kind of hang out with the characters, and I will be sending them out... as soon as I figure out how to do it.

I think about y'all each and every day and wanted to let you know it, and tell you how important you are to me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to school. And the town outside of school. And the coffee shop where Wesley is working. And the compound where Progeny is holding Quin Rockwell. And to Sadie's first date...

See you soon!