#ya writer

[cryingasiwrite]

Please don’t mind me, I’ll be sitting in the corner writing fanfic of my unpublished wip

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #ya writer #ya fantasy writer #writeblr community #ya fantasy #writer #fanfiction #fanfic

[theaawalker]

My Writeblr Intro

Hey, I'm A.A. Walker! I'm 20 and live in southeast America. I've been into writing and fandom stuff since I was 8 years old. I have situational anxiety so it's been a battle to actually put out what I've written. I've had my work copied in the past, but thanks to my legal rep that's no longer a concern. I work at B&N and I'm in college studying psychology.

I read philosophy, fantasy, YA, biographies, and the occasional horror (the older, the better). I write philosophy, fantasy, and YA, and am revising a book series as we speak. Most of my imagines (masterlist) were pre-written by teen-me but never posted. You can request an imagine after reading the fandom list and guidelines. I'm on TikTok (the.𝚊𝚊.walker), Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and I have a profile on NaNoWriMo. This blog is for posting imagines, sharing author tips, and promoting my upcoming book.

In 2019, I survived something that left me traumatized for life. Then, in 2020, it happened again. I've only recently decided to get back into what I love: reading/writing worlds that bend imagination. And I'd love for you to come along for the journey! 🌎 ❤️ 📚 >> My 2024 Bucketlist <<

#writerblr #writerblr intro #writing community #Writer #writerslife #wattpad #wattpad writer #fiction writer #fantasy writer #ya writer #ya writing #writers of color #queer writers #female writers

[slightlyspicyhunterbutwithwords]

Yo writeblr! Question:

In terms of teen/YA fiction, do we prefer public school or private school? What do you think are the pros and cons? Currently world building for my WIP and I'm trying to weigh which is the better choice. Personally I am leaning towards private school but I'm also worried it is an overused trope. Help me tip the scale!

Also, keep in mind that this isn't just a teen realistic fiction novel, there's supernatural/thriller elements as well. Feel free to comment and/or reblog.

#writeblr #tropes #wip #worldbuilding #teen fiction #YA writing #YA writer

[emmeliamathews]

My Writeblr Intro

Hey, I'm Emmie. I'm 32 and live in the Pacific Northwest. I've been into writing for as long as I can remember. I have ADHD so it's been a challenge to actually finish what I start. I work in a library and I'm in college studying archaeology.

I read horror, fantasy, YA, and the occasional romance (the trashier, the better). I write horror, fantasy, and YA. I always hand-write my stories first, and then type them up. I'm on Kindle Vella, Wattpad, Inkspired, Fictionate, and Neovel, and I have a profile on NaNoWriMo. This blog is my writing blog; my main is GothKrispies.

I recently decided to get more serious about my writing since the sites I post my writing have monetization opportunities, and I'd like to bring in a little extra cash from my writing.

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writeblr community #black writer #writer of color #wattpad #wattpad writer #horror writer #fantasy writer #ya writer #ya writers #kindle vella

[francescaswords]

Show of hands: is there anything you'd like to see from me content-wise over the next year?

Hi hi. I'm working on a few projects (news soon) (soon ish) (look I don't know) and before I commit some of the logistical ideas to stone, I thought I'd ask you guys.

To prove I was paying attention to the last few polls I've shared on Patreon: I am working on some blog posts, some about studying and uni lark, and I want them to genuinely be useful so I'm taking my time. I'm also experimenting with the video feature to share videos straight to this platform. The first one has a sleeping cat. If you enjoy particular posts when you come across them, please consider leaving a comment or a 'like' (I think that's what they're called on Patreon - a little heart icon thing) so I can tell in real time what lands. I'm about to start the final (!) year of my degree so I'm going to be extra busy soon and the better I can gauge what's worth my time to put together, the higher quality it will be.

Cheers!

#Patreon #Francesca's actual words #indie creator #indie author #independent author #YA writer #short stories #No. 1 Readers' Club

[karahelenterzis]

Introduction + Links!

Hey, everyone!

I'm dragging out my Tumblr from the abyss in an attempt to bring it back to life. Let's see if this sticks. I've entirely rebooted my page: the design/theme, cleaned out my posts, and I'm ready to start afresh.

I'm a Greek-Australian writer of mostly YA/Adult SFF, with a particular fondness for high fantasy. I love photography, fairytales, mythology, space/astronomy, and literally anything Grecian.

My Asks are also open, if you have questions!

Things you'll find on my blog:

✍🏻 Writing/publishing

🎵 Music

📚 Books

🖥️ Video games

🏛️ History/archaeology (mostly Greco-Roman.)

You can also find me lingering at various other places on the web, too, particularly Twitter and Instagram (I'm most! active here.) Generally speaking, you can find me with the handle @karahelenterzis.

#introduction #personal #ya writer #adult writer #amwriting #writers of tumblr #authors of tumblr #books and reading #fantasy writer #SFF writer

[kylieannwrites]

— —  ɪ'ᴍ ᴀɴ 𝕆𝕄𝔼ℕ ɪ'ᴍ ᴀ 𝕊ℍ𝕆𝕎𝕄𝔸ℕ ɪ'ᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ℍ𝕆𝕃𝕐 𝕃𝕆ℝ𝔻  — —

Ever since listening to Jamie Bower’s song “I Am”, these characters have existed in full glorious bloom.

Meet Matthias Bell, Eli Bennett, and Lottie Roan. The three morally grey protagonists from the queer southern gothic paranormal western YA that won’t get out of my goddamn head.

#amwriting #young adult #writing aesthetic #character aesthetic #WIP #writing WIP #my writing #southern gothic western #vampires #queer love #writingcommunity #YA writer

[vaguelywrites]

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓸

𝐀 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐝, 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫- 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.  𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 

“𝐈𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞�� 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫.”

𝐀 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭- 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠- 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲. 

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐢𝐚. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥- 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞. 

𝐀 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 

“𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐌’𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲. 𝐓𝐞𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲?” 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 

“𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. “𝐎𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐈 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.” 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 

𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐬𝐤’𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. “𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐦’𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.” 

𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫. 

“𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨, 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐎𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭, 𝐦’𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.” 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 

“𝐈’𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 

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𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤, 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞. 

“𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦- 𝐈𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞. 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐯𝐨𝐫, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐧𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬- 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝.

“𝐖𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞.” 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮���𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲.

“𝐈 𝐚𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥.” 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 

“𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧. “𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚.”

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭. 

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝? 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬.

“𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲? 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞? 𝐎𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧?” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝.

“𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚.” 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧. “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.” 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭-𝐬𝐨-𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. “𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨. 𝐀 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐨, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭. “𝐒𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭,” 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐰. 

“𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞!” 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭. 

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧. 

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫- 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 

“𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 

“𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?” 𝐀𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫? 𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲?” 

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚.” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟. 

“𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭.” 

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.” 

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. “𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐮𝐥. 

“𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. “𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧? 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧.” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. 

“𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥?”

“𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭?”

#authors #book blog #bookish #independent author #indie author #book review #writer #creative writing #ya fantasy #ya #ya writer #ya author #ya fiction #young adult #young adult romance #fantasy #fantasy romance #fantasy romance novel #romantasy #new book

[catfayssoux]

WHO NEEDS MIDDLE BITS WHEN YOU CAN HAVE ✨ 𝒔 𝒄 𝒆 𝒏 𝒆 𝒔 ✨

#destination procrastination station #writing memes #writing humor #writing #writeblr #my writing #fantasy #fantasy author #romantasy #ya fantasy #writerscommunity #ya romance #novelist #writers #writer #writers on tumblr #novelist memes #novel #procrastination #wip #current wip #work in progress #feral writing #writing blog #meme blog #author #ya fantasy author #authors #cat fayssoux #writers of tumblr

[wanderlustywriter]

What It's Like to Traditionally Publish a Book (Part 1)

Thoughts on the publishing process, 1 year out Last year I announced that I had finally, finally sold a book! So I thought I’d do a quick post documenting how it’s been going so far… Continue reading Untitled

View On WordPress

#Editing #novels #Publishing #thriller writer #trad pub #Writing #YA writer

[cryingasiwrite]

My Writing Process:

Get idea

Think about idea

Make outline

World build

Edit outline

Write .5 of first draft

World build

Edit .5 of first draft

Finish first draft

Edit

Believe that I’m done

World build

Fix world building in first draft

Edit character A storyline

Edit character B storyline

World build

Edit character C storyline

Believe that I’m done

Change gender of character D

Edit and fix character D storyline

Wait 4 months

Believe that I’m done

Start outlining the sequel

Change character A’s gender

Edit character A’s gender

World build

Edit world building

Am I done???

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #ya writer #ya fantasy writer #ya fantasy #write #jace

[theaawalker]

SAY HELLO TO YOUR NEXT YA READ...

GENRES: Fiction / Fantasy / Philosophy RATING: Young Adult (13-19) SUBGENRES: Coming-of-age, adventure, found family, action, royalty, mythology FOR FANS OF: Narnia, Lord of the Rings, X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, & Rise of the Guardians

The Guardians of Camoria, or GOC, is the name of my upcoming, original YA series. The story follows Duke Guarder, life-force wielder, prince, and prophesied savior of Camoria (meaning 'all in existence'). On his sixteenth, he is called upon by the goddess that chose him. Duke is whisked from his safe kingdom and travels infinite realms to find 7 Guardians, who must aid him in stopping an ancient evil, known as The Creature, from ending Camoria. Can Duke convince the 7 less fortunate, vastly different, elementally-powered strangers that their world is worth saving? The Guardians of Camoria features 7 installments with genres of fiction, fantasy, and philosophy.

Volume 1 is to be released between 2025-2026. 🏛🌻📜

WANNA JOIN THE FANDOM? Guardians of Camoria Server Instagram Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the.aa.walker Newsletter Sign-up

PROPERTY OF A.A. WALKER, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©️

Legal representation: https://www.khlawfirm.com/html/atlanta-copyright-litigation-attorney-lawyer-atlanta-georgia.html

Source: guardiansofcamoria.wixsite.com

#booklr #academia #artists on tumblr #fiction #fantasy #philosophy #young adult fantasy #ya writer #ya fiction #young adult books #the chronicles of narnia #lord of the rings #x men first class #harry potter #percy jackson #rise of the guardians #writerblr #y2k books #nostalgic books #found family #coming of age #adventure #action #royalty #mythology #ya writing #ya novels #ya books #ya fantasy #young adult

[slightlyspicyhunterbutwithwords]

In case you haven't noticed, writers are crazy people.

Am I living in a semi-permanent existential crisis in a shit-eating economy in an unfamiliar, new state while carrying around unresolved trauma and struggling to find new employment, going to online college with possible debt hanging over my head, desperately clinging to whatever I believe in, wondering how I will make everything work or if I will even survive into next week? Yep.

Am I going to spend the little free time I have binging every possible piece of media there is on organized crime to make sure that my novel is authentic to the best of its ability, and taking notes on said media to paste all over my wall as reminders if I stray from my desired authenticity? Oh, oh yes.

Sure, I'm going through family troubles and maybe renting my first townhouse and rehabilitating a traumatized dog. But that isn't going to stop me from hopping on Google Docs AND posting on Ao3 at LEAST three times a week.

We writers embrace the chaos.

#writeblr #ya writer #writing community

[anneapocalypse]

So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

#yes i'm just going to come out and say it i'm talking about sera #not exclusively but i am talking about her #'but her writer actually iS A--' you don't know that! it doesn't matter! and i don't care! #just say that you do not like the character. #people will reblog posts about the latest actor or YA author or whatever getting forced out of the closet and be like #'wow. :( that's terrible.' #and then GO RIGHT BACK TO DOING IT #when are we going to learn #when are we going to stop doing this BEFORE somebody is forcibly outed #because in practical terms #that means you have to be okay with queer characters being written by straight people. #you have to stop weaponizing that against writers you don't like. #you have to be willing to critique the writing on its own merits #without using the writer's (assumed) identity to prop up your arguments #that's how it works #but who wants to actually change the way they talk about media #when tearing apart people's identities for clout is far more entertaining. #gwaren exports #fandom problems #fandom critical

[kikifulton]

I am the author of three novels. Clandestine, The Tragic Life of Cecilia Jackson (Souls of Mortals series), and Young Love (Ghostly Shadow series).

You can purchase my books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google books, and Audible.

#ya paranormal #ya books #ya novels #ya romance #self publishing #ya writer #kindleunlimited #audible #romance #indie writer #self pub #booktok #book nook #book blog #twilight series #hush hush #shiver #shades #ghosts #ghosts stories #supernatural #fiction

[francescaswords]

Starting (continuing officially?) a street team!

Hello lovely humans,

I've been mulling over how best to approach the beast that is being self published and the eternal struggle of my work reaching people who haven't heard of it but might like it. I remember the days of street teams, when fans of books or bands would literally go outside and hand out leaflets for their Fave Thing, or phone into radio shows asking for a song to be played, or request the book at their local library. Now days I suppose it's more online-only, where people will share graphics on social media or suchlike. Different medium, same concept.

And I thought: quite a few of you are already doing that for my work, something for which I am eternally grateful. So why not have a go of making it official?

Being a Francesca's Words Street Team Human

What it involves:

Requesting copies of my work to your local library

'Shelving' my work on Goodreads, Storygraph or your book review site of choice

Sharing graphics or book photos to your social media (bonus points if you do this on Tiktok, which I cannot get along with personally and on which I have no presence)

Telling your mates about my work, suggesting my books in your reading group, generalised sharing

Here's how long it lasts:

However long you want, although expect lots of cool stuff to look at and share when I'm publishing work, and quiet periods when I'm working on new things

Here's what you'd get:

I'll add you to a spreadsheet of Street Team Humans and ensure that you too get early access links, plus freebies as I can offer them (please note to make it worth my time, you'll have to show evidence of taking part).

NB: this is not the same as joining my Patreon, although you can do that too!

If you're interested, please sign up here. If you have any questions, just ask! If it doesn't work, no harm no foul.

Look after yourselves,

Francesca

#street team #indie author #indie writers #indie creator #YA author #YA writer #Patreon #Francesca's Words #Francesca Astraea