The Rogue Guardian

The Last Author's Note

It's kind of ridiculous to me that we're here, but... we are. The final chapter goes up this Saturday July 1st. The epilogue will follow on Saturday July 8th. The third book is posted under the the temporary title of "Third Book in the Guardian Cycle" and I encourage you to go add it to your libraries now so you don't miss it when I start posting chapters there! The first chapter of the third book will be posted (of course) on Saturday July 15th. The actual blurb of the third book will go up at the same time as the epilogue of The Rogue Guardian, that way you can't get spoiled before finding out the plot twists at the end of this book ;)

So yeah — what the hell? — the second book of this weird monster of a trilogy is almost complete. Which, if you remember how surprised I was to finish the first book, you know is a big shock. It's made even more shocking by how hard writing has been this year. I've been busy, and too tired to write even when I'm not busy, and I've interacted less on wattpad than I used to. I'm sorry for all that. Sorry for the late and missed updates, the comments that went unanswered for too long, and the stories I desperately need to get caught up on. And I'm so grateful for those of you who are still with me, even though I've been slow and very insecure about my writing this past year. Your comments have made the difference, really. This story, like The Royal Thief, would still be in pieces in my box of unfinished writing without your support. When I wondered if I could ever finish a sequel, you guys reminded me that I really, really want to.

And it hasn't all been bad! Do you know how long I've wanted to bring Joshua from hypocritical enemy to grudging ally? Practically since the first chapter of the first book. And Roman has been trying to claw himself into the series for quite a while now, so he's very happy to be here. And how long I've wanted to show everyone how much I think PROPHECIES ARE STUPID? That one's been held in for a while. And I've gotten to keep writing my favorite snarky, reckless, arrogant thief, even if it took me a while to find her voice again. (Remember that third-person POV disaster at the beginning of the book? Not a good choice! But I'd like to think I learned something from it. Maybe. Who knows, really.)

Even if this book was difficult, I have to keep reminding myself it was also, at many times, a lot of fun. I hope you guys had some fun with it too.

So, to repeat my ending from the last "last author's note" I wrote: on to the end, and from there to the beginning! I hope it's been a journey good enough to keep reading.