Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Hitting "Publish" on this chapter was one of the most difficult things I've done. I have never finished a draft before. Ever. And I am convinced that I would not have completed this one without all of you. You, my dear, wonderful, Wattpad readers, are the reason that I have kept going for this year or more, as I have posted, chapter by chapter, the first draft of my first book. Having never finished anything before, and knowing that this is not the end of Blayre's story, I am not sure how I am supposed to feel... relieved? Excited? Ready for the next step (if we are being honest, I can't wait to sink my teeth into edits... though I'm going to give myself a little break first).
The ending was not exactly the one that I had planned. Much of writing this book has been like this. The characters drive the story, and as an author, reading your feedback on the parts that surprised you the most - well, those were the parts that also surprised me the most.
I could go on forever about what it is like to have just finished the first draft of UNMARKED, but I'm going to stop here. Thank you again, readers, for making this possible for me. For inspiring me to keep going when I was busy with my full time job and graduate school, or when I was just plain uninspired. This story is for you.
Be sure to hit the follow button on my Wattpad profile, to be updated when I begin to write Book 2!
And while you wait for me to get writing again, here's a compiled list of wattpad authors, who I think you'll enjoy reading in the meantime!
I'm trying to @ them but wattpad is being silly so here are their usernames:
millosophy - talk about beautiful writing style. His characterization is phenomenal and his imagery has me super jealous. Song of Olympus is basically an Ancient Greek Game of Thrones
paisleypikachu - if you're craving adventure similar to the one found in UNMARKED, with multiple POVs and a great cast of characters, check out Ever So Lightly (also, I seriously envy that title, it's great)
azimodo - the main character in Paragon would be BFFs with Blayre if their worlds were ever to collide. Plus, I love all the characters. Plus, I love the world building.
druidrose - if you haven't discovered her on wattapad yet, then IDK where you've been! Check out her Empress Series of course, but I am also really enjoying her most recent WIP, Rogue Assassin.