Cursed - part 7 - final part

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part seven (final part) of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I have never seen anything so terrifying in my life. I stumble back, my heart lodged in my throat. The creator looks human, but he has a presence about him, something so powerful I have an almost overwhelming instinct is to flee, and the only thing that keeps me rooted to the spot is the thought of Josh, of what will happen to him if I fail.
"You came to find us." the creator says.
I nod. My throat seems to be stuck shut. Shadows dance over the creator's face, making him appear not fully present, as though he is half ghost. I take a deep breath and force myself to speak.
"My friend is cursed. I have come to ask you to heal him."
"We do not help humans," the creator says in a loud, grinding voice. "You forfeited any right to our help eons ago."
"We can't be blamed for what our ancestors did!" I say. "Please, I'm begging you. Josh needs your help."
The creator looks quizzically at me, seemingly thinking about it.
"Few would have the courage to find us," he says eventually. "For that, I will strike a bargain with you. Humans earned their curse - we will not take that away. However, we can give you a gift: a gift of power. If you accept it, you will have the power to shift the curse from one person to another. You could move your friend's curse to someone else."
"But... but then someone else would be cursed."
"And your friend would be saved. Careful, for while you will be able to shift the curse to others, this power will protect you - you will never be able to get the curse. If you are to shift it, it will have to be to someone other than you. This is all I will offer you. Take it or leave it."
I stare in horror. I thought I would do anything to save Josh... but what right do I have to condemn others to that fate, simply to save the man I love?
Tears splash down my cheeks as I teeter on the edge, knowing that what I decide will change my life forever. I can't live without Josh. I can't do it... Yet even as I think of saving him, I hear his voice in my head, whispering the words I know he would say if he were here. "Lara, don't do it. Let me go. Don't embrace evil just to save me. Please."
"No," I mumble, but the Josh in my head doesn't relent, and I can't bring myself to overrule him, for I know he is right. If I do this, I am as bad as the creators.
"No," I say loudly, before I can change my mind. "No, I can't do it."
Without waiting for a reply, I stumble out of the clearing, blinded by tears. My only wish now is to get to Josh, to spend what remaining time he has together. My body shakes with sobs as I push on. I was so sure I could save him, so sure the creators would help.
I will never know how I found my way back to the tree where Jane and I confined Josh - not when I was lost in my own head, in a haze of despair and suffering.
I crawl inside, hoping Jane is asleep, not wanting to face explaining right now. The lamp is still on; Jane and Josh are sitting side by side, waiting for me.
I freeze. Josh shouldn't be down here - we locked him at the top for a reason; the curse makes him dangerous, whether he intends harm or not.
"It's ok, Lara," Josh says, seeing my puffy face.
"It's not ok!" I wail, flying into his arms. I don't care if he hurts me, I just want to feel his arms around me. He wraps me gently into his embrace, but I barely feel it. The second his skin touches mine, my vision fades, and I am back in the clearing. The creator is there, speaking.
"Our prophets told us of the day when a human would come and redeem their whole race - one who would choose good over power. That day, the curse would be lifted from all humanity forever. No longer will you have to live in fear, for your ancient crimes are finally forgiven."
The vision fades, and I find myself staring into Josh's eyes. "I'm fine, I'm safe," he says, stroking my face. "They lifted the curse from me."
I don't know what I say - a strange mixture of speaking, sobbing and laughing comes out of my mouth and I am kissing and hugging Josh, delirious with relief and happiness.
When I finally come back to myself, I see Jane over Josh's shoulder, beaming at me.
"I was wrong," she says. "There isn't anything you can't do, Lara."
I look back at Josh and see the rest of our lives together. And I find that I believe her.

The End

Cursed - part 6

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part six of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I want to stay with Josh, but my presence is clearly not helping him. He presses himself against the wall, trying to stay as far away from me as possible. I force myself not to rub my aching neck, not wanting to make him feel worse.
I climb back down to the bottom level, locking the trapdoor securely behind me. Jane is looking worried - I don't blame her. I'm sure I must have cried out before, when Josh was attacking me without being able to help it.
"It's the curse," I say before she can ask. "It's getting worse. I need to find the creators."
"How are you going to find them?" she asks. "I know you think this is a good plan, but you have no idea how to find them, no idea if they really are in this forest, and no reason to think they will lift the curse!"
"I have to try," I say shortly. "I'm not going to find them sitting in this hollow tree. Stay here with Josh - keep the trapdoor closed. I'm going out. I'll come back when I find them."
"What if you don't find them?"
I close my eyes for a moment, not wanting to consider the answer to her question. "I will," I say. "I have to."
I crawl out of the small tunnel and emerge among the roots of the huge tree. Looking around, I see that Josh and I slept for the whole day before the curse woke him. Night has fallen, and any search parties looking for Josh will have a hard time finding me, one person alone in the dark.
With no idea where I am going, I just start walking. The creators are in this forest, somewhere; I know it.
As I pick my way carefully over roots and logs in the moonlight, I try to work out where they would be. The legends say that the creators became angry when humans betrayed them. The humans wanted more power and betrayed their own creators to get it.
Yet that doesn't hint at where they would be. They have isolated themselves in this huge forest, cursing certain humans as punishment and leaving us to our fate. Now, I need to change their minds.
I stumble into a clearing where the moonlight shines brightly. A faint breeze lifts my hair from my neck, making me shiver. "Is anyone there?" I call. I don't know if it's just that I'm alone at night, but I'm getting the feeling that someone is watching me.
"I've come to see the creators," I say to the air. "It's important."
There is no answer. I sit back on my heels, wondering where they could be. I reason that the creators made water, so they probably need it, too. I consult the mental map of the forest I have from the hours Josh and I have spent wandering here, and make for the nearest river.
I can hear the rushing of a waterfall ahead and hurry forward; I know this place.
It looks exactly as it did before, but ghostly in the pale light of the moon and stars. More strongly than ever, I feel as though there is someone watching me silently. I spin around, but there is no one there.
Why have you come to our sanctuary?
I turn my head this way and that, but I can't find the source of the voice. "I'm here because I need help," I say. "I came looking for you."
Well, you've found us.
I wait for the voice to say something more, but it doesn't. Instead, I see something that freezes my breath in my throat. The waterfall is rushing down the rock behind it... but there is something more than the rock behind the water. Something big and black is emerging, pushing its way out of nothing. The water parts and I stumble back as the creator makes its way towards me.

To be continued

Cursed - part 5

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part five of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I push the bar underneath the trapdoor, holding it firmly in place. Above, Josh won't be able to get down here and sneak out while Jane and I sleep.
"Ok, that should be safe," I say, slumping against the wall of the hollowed tree.
"Are you sure?" Jane asks anxiously. "What if the curse makes him stronger and he breaks through?"
"We'll hear," I say. My eyes are already closing. It's been almost a full day since any of us slept. "The search parties won't come here for a while," I continue. "We'll be safe for now."
Jane seems to take my word for it, because she lies down without further comment and soon her breathing is deep and even. Despite how tired I am, I find myself lying awake, worrying. Josh has had the curse a few days. In most people, it takes no more than a week to become lethal. I need to get going on finding a cure, or it may be too late for all of us.
Finally I give up on sleep and light the lamp. The smoke circles up through small holes in the divisions between different layers of the tree. I take out some dried fruit to chew on and think. If my theory is correct, the creators dwell somewhere in this forest, and they are the only ones who can take the curse off Josh. The problem is that I have no idea where in the vast forest they could be, nor how to contact them.
"Lara?" Josh's voice carries easily down through the thin wooden barrier.
"I'm here," I call,  bracing myself for another round of Josh berating me to let him go before hurts me without wanting to. I am surprised - as well as relieved - when he doesn't. I listen, but he is silent. Finally, I can't sit down here alone anymore. If ever I needed Josh, it's now.
I pull away the bar to the trapdoor and try to push it open, but it won't go up. "Josh?"
"Don't come up," he says. "I'm safer alone."
"I'm not leaving you all alone with the curse," I say. "Now get your butt off the trapdoor."
He hesitates, then sighs. He can't stay away from me any more than I can stay away from him. I quickly climb up, closing it behind me.
"Hey," I say, wrapping my arms around him. "It's going to be ok."
Josh hugs me silently and I turn his face up, kissing him softly.
He pulls away. "I could hurt you."
"No you won't. I know how the curse works," I say quickly, before he can protest, "but I also know you, Josh. You would never hurt me. Please, just trust me on this. Let me help you. I'm going to save you, I promise."
Finally, I see what I am looking for: a speck of doubt. "You really think you can beat it? No one has ever defeated the curse before."
"There's a first time for everything. Now lie down - we both need our rest. They'll be looking."
He reluctantly lets me ease him onto his back, stroking his hair. "We'll be fine," I murmur. Josh's arms wrap around me and I breathe in deeply. Finally, my body relaxes and I drift off into sleep.
I wake with a shock. A scream is locked in my throat, the pain everywhere. I have heard people describe what it is like to be struck by lightning; I imagine this is similar.
I twist around to see someone behind me. His hands are on either side of my neck, and the pain is emanating from those two points. I struggle, but he is too strong.
My breath is coming short and fast, and there are spots in my vision. I stare at the man. His eyes are locked with mine. Wait a moment... Josh, that's Josh. It's Josh as I've never seen him, though. The expression on his face is lethal and cruel; I have could never have imagined it on his face before seeing it. As it is, I barely recognise him. At once, I know what is happening: the curse. It's telling him to kill every living thing in sight, and giving him the power to do it.
"Josh," I choke out. "It's me."
His eyes flicker, but I am fast losing consciousness.
"Josh..."
The black spots expand before my eyes, but I can still hear his gasp of realisation as his hands fly off me. As my vision flickers back, I see him scrambling as far away from me as he can, his face set in horror. "Lara," he whispers. "I'm so sorry." He stares at his hands in shock.
"It's ok," I gasp, getting my breath back. "It's fine, I told you that you wouldn't hurt me."
He is shaking, and I make to go over to him, but Josh holds his hands up like a shield.
"Josh, listen to me," I say. "No one with the curse has been able to back off once moving in for the kill before. You just did. I told you that you're different."
He doesn't even seem to hear me. Lost in some private world of terror, he presses himself against the inside of the tree trunk, staying as far away from me as possible.
"Hey, are you two alright up there?" Jane calls, apparently having woken up."
"Fine," I say after a slight hesitation.
I look again at Josh, whose eyes are closed and face is twitching.
I wonder what I have gotten us into.

To be continued

Cursed - part 4

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part four of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

My eyes are drooping in exhaustion, but we don't dare slow yet. When Harrod wakes up and discovers Josh is missing, he'll send people looking at once. We need to be far away from here when that happens.
"Lara?"
I shake myself, realising that my eyes had closed. "You ok?" I ask, glancing over at Jane.
"We'll need to stop sometime," she points out. It is hard to hear over the galloping of the horses and I lean closer to her.
"I know. There's a place where Josh and I used to go - it's far away, but well hidden. We can rest there."
Jane looks like she wants to ask what place, but she is too out of breath. I glance back to see Josh bouncing along on his horse behind mine. He can't balance properly, tied as he is, but the ropes Jane and I wound around him hold him on the saddle, if not comfortably.
Dawn is just lighting the sky. We had better be under cover by the time the sun is up, or we'll be visible to anyone who cares to look. I peer around, trying to remember the place. Josh and I haven't been there in years - it's too far away to make an easy day trip. The forest is on our left, but we ride alone the flat ridge, sacrificing the increased visibility for increased speed.
As we ride, I see the correct signs. The forest of Grelan looms bigger and bigger in my vision. Nearer to home, the trees are normal sized. Now, they seem to touch the sky - we can't even see the top branches. One tree looks as wide around as a house. Most people won't come near this place - they say it's unnatural. Unnatural it may be, but Josh and I never agreed that unnatural is dangerous. We explored thoroughly in our youth, and it is serving us well now.
I slow as we reach the place and Jane follows suit. "Are you sure about this?" she asks in a hushed voice as I lead us into the trees.
"We need a place to hide," I point out.
She looks around and shivers. I hear a muffled noise behind us and see that Josh is trying to say something through his gag. I let his horse catch up with mine, pulling in the lead as it comes. No one will hear yelling him now. I gently remove the gag and brace myself.
"Let me go, Lara," he says at once. "I'll just hurt you as the curse progresses."
"Not a chance," I say, rolling my eyes. "Did you really think I'd just sit by and watch you die?"
"I could kill you!" he says angrily.
"Not if I break the curse."
His eyes almost bug out of his head. "There is no way to break the curse! You know that - everyone knows that."
I gesture around at the forest of Grelan. "Do you remember the stories we heard about this place? They say that this is where the world began. Your parents told you the legends, too. They say the creators made the world and humans with it. They became angry when the humans betrayed them, though, wanting more power. That's why no one comes here."
"I know that," Josh says. "That doesn't have anything to do with this."
"What if it does, though?" I ask. "What if they cursed us? It makes sense. We don't know where the curse came from. It might have been the creators. If they cast it, they can undo it. We just need to find them."
"All of that is speculation," Josh says. "This isn't a game, you could die here. You've had this theory, what, a couple of hours? I know you would have told me if you'd thought of it sooner. You're so desperate to save me that you've been thinking up wild solutions the whole time we've been riding, haven't you?"
"Sometimes in times of great need, people see with more clarity than ever before."
"I don't care!" Josh yells, angry now. "This is your life we're talking about, Lara!"
"Yes, it is my life!" I shout, suddenly equally angry. "Did you ever consider what would happen to me if you died, Josh? Did you? I'm doing this to save my own life as much as yours! Remember before you found me? It was a miracle I lived that long."
He opens his mouth angrily to reply, but Jane, who has until now remained silent, breaks in. "She's right, Josh. I've been her best friend for our whole lives, but even I couldn't get through to her. We thought she was going crazy, retreating into some distant world of her own, but you pulled her back. I watched my best friend come alive again because of you, and I'm not going to watch her go back there."
Josh takes a deep breath, marshalling his next argument.
"I don't want to hear it," I snap. "We're saving you and that's all there is to it."
Of course, he keeps trying to dissuade me, but I shut his voice out, looking carefully. "There it is," I murmur after a while. The sun has risen now, but we still have some time. People will be reluctant to come here - they'll only do it when there's no other choice. Josh and I never told anyone else about our secret place. We'll be safe - from others, at least.
"It's here," I say to Jane. "We'll have to set the horses loose - take all your stuff."
I approach Josh warily, worried he'll somehow escape when I untie him. Instead, I decide to wait until Jane and I can both get him inside. I tell her to hold his horse while I kneel down, searching for the entrance.
The great tree has gnarled roots sticking up as much as three feet into the air. Finally, I find it - the small cavern beneath two roots, just big enough for someone to climb into.
"We'll just find you if you run," I say warily to Josh. All I want is to sleep, but we need to secure him first.
Jane and I loosen the ropes from the horse, but keep him securely tied up. "Go," I say, gesturing to the hole. Josh looks at me, but seems to decide that cooperating for now will be best. He gets onto his knees and crawls out of sight. Jane and push our supplies before us, following him.
We crawl through the earthy tunnel into darkness. I can tell when we're there. There is suddenly space all around us. Light flares up to the left as Josh lights the lamp we'd left here the last time we visited.
"What is this place?" Jane whispers in awe, straightening up.
"Somewhere where we'll be safe," I say. I glance around. Josh and I never worked out how a whole tree became hollow, but we've used it as a secret hideout for years. Now, it is our only hope to save him.
"Settle down," I say to the two of them. "The others will be looking soon. We're in for a long day."

To be continued

2 year writing anniversary!

Exactly two years ago today, I sat down at my computer. I didn't know what I was doing. I just wrote the words 'chapter 1' and started. The words flew from my fingers and didn't stop. They still haven't stopped.
Within a few months of that day, I had a book.
Some time after that, I had a trilogy.
Maybe six months after I finished my first book, I started sending it to publishers. The rejections were stinging and frequent, but over time, I learned to deal with them, because I had a much bigger goal in mind.
2 years and about 80 rejections later, I am here. The third book I wrote was published just last month.
I don't know exactly what made me sit down on that fateful day and start writing, but I do know that I have never looked back. If I try to think of a life without writing... well, it's about as easy as imagining a life without breathing.
Today, I celebrate that first decision, as well as every one that has come after it. I have regrets in life, as everyone does, but this is not one of them. In writing, I have found my world, the place where I truly belong.

Cursed - part 3

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part three of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

"Are you sure he's asleep?" I ask for the third time.
"Just go and check yourself if you don't believe me," Jane hisses.
I shake my head, staring anxiously at the dark house. Jane went to check because she has a lighter tread than me - she has the slightly spooky ability to move completely silently when she wants to.
"If he's not, and this goes wrong..." I trail off, letting her fill in the blanks.
"I'm sure," Jane says. I take one long look at her, then nod.
"Ok, let's go. Do you have it?"
"Right here," she says, patting her bag. I don't know where she got the rare ingredients that fill the bottle she is now touching, but within a few minutes of me telling her the plan, she was back with them. "We just need to empty it over his face," she says. "It'll change to mist and once he breathes it in, he'll sleep for hours."
I nod. "You ready?"
"Ready."
Together we go through the motions of the hastily made plan. Jane wanted to go up by herself, as there is less chance of her getting caught, but I put my foot down there. This is my mission; the risk should be mine, too.
We creep up the stairs and into Josh's bedroom. Janet quietly passes me the key she stole from his father's room. I get ready to unlock the chains around his wrists, but first Jane needs to knock him out - if he realises what we are doing, he will no doubt start yelling. Once Harrod gets his hands on us, we'll have no chance of getting Josh out of here.
It is too dark to see clearly in here, so Jane taps me once on the shoulder before creeping right up by Josh's bedside. In one quick motion, she unstoppers the bottle and empties it over his face, jumping back.
I can't see anything, but Josh continues to breathe deeply and I get a faint whiff of something sweet floating across the room. Without waiting to be told, I rush forward and unlock the shackles that bind him to the bed. Together, Jane and I grab him and start carrying him down the stairs.
With me holding Josh's feet and Jane his arms, we run to the horses. We have ropes to tie him down - we can't expect him to stay on unconscious, not at the gallop which we will have to ride at, at least until we escape.
So far, everything has gone to plan. My heart is beating at a frantic rate. If we can just get away, we have a chance to try to save Josh before the curse takes him - but we first need to hide him from those who would have him killed. Including himself. Not sure how we'll manage that.
We are tying Josh to the horse when something unexpected and unplanned for happens.
Josh starts to wake up.
"I thought he'd sleep for hours!" I whisper in panic.
"So did I!"
Jane and I stare in horror. It must be the curse, working the drug out of his system faster than we thought it would.
"Hurry," I say. "Get a gag. I'll tie him."
I lash Josh to his horse as fast as I can, but he is quickly becoming aware.
"Lara?" he mumbles groggily.
"Don't speak now," I say. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."
He starts to struggle. "What are you doing?"
"I'm saving you," I say shortly.
"You can't! There is no cure for the curse, you know that! I'll hurt you, Lara, I won't be able to help myself; no one with the curse can."
"You won't hurt me," I say, trying to buy time until he is tied.
"No, can't do this, you can't put your life at risk for me! Lara, I -"
His words are cut off as Jane stuffs a piece of material into his mouth - just in time, too. Someone would have heard him in seconds if his voice kept getting louder.
Josh is frantically shaking his head at me, but I ignore him. There is no way I am going to let him die - he should know that by now.
Jane and I mount up and I grab the lead that is attached to Josh's horse. He struggles, but he is tied too securely. Together, we gallop off into the night.

To be continued

My Story

So I was creating my website, and I decided that I should put up a more detailed post about myself and how I started writing. Here it goes!

Here I’m just writing a bit about myself and how I became an author. Since word-limits were never my forte, ‘a bit’ may be a stretch.

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and grew up with my parents and sister in the city bowl. Carla – my sister – was born two and a half years after I was and we fought a lot when we were younger, but we like each other more now. From a young age, our parents – Colleen and Steve – read us stories before bed. That was when I first discovered that I loved going into other worlds.

I went to St Cyprian’s School all my life, a private girl’s school near to my house. Carla spent many years there as well, but she moved when she was fourteen, wanting a change. Change and I are not good friends, so I stayed at St Cyprian’s. My mum was a junior school teacher for many years, and many of those years she taught at St Cyprian’s.

When we were taught to read in school, I hated it. I despised reading and resented being told to do it. Of course, my teachers and parents insisted that I had to. I went on hating and rebelling against it until one day my mum gave me a new book to try. Gritting my teeth, I angrily started with this new chore.

That was the book that first got me into reading. I loved it and flew through it faster than I had anything else I’d been asked to read. It was called The Headless Ghost in the Goosebumps series. From then on, I would only read Goosebumps. As you can see, even as a child I was very rigid about many things.

Over the years, I branched out from Goosebumps, sampling other genres. My parents had read Narnia to me when I was young, as well as The Neverending Story – both of which I had loved – but the first fantasy I remember making a huge impression on me is, of course, Harry Potter.

I don’t remember this, but my parents told me that when I was nine, my teacher said something insulting about Harry Potter. I stood on the desk and screamed at her, refusing to sit down until she took it back.

As you can see, ‘fan’ is an understatement.

Over the years, Harry Potter was always with me, and I reread it constantly. I also tried other books and finally found my genre in fantasy. I still carry a book everywhere – I’ve been doing it for so many years, I feel naked without it. Some of my favourites apart from Harry Potter are The Sword of Truth, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Law of Nines, Hush Hush and The Host.

Of all of these, The Sword of Truth has changed my life the most. Terry Goodkind goes out of his way to teach as well as to tell a story, and so much of what I know about life, I have learned from him. If you asked me which one series I would take to a deserted island with me for the rest of my life, I would spend hours agonising, but in the end probably say I’d rather not have water on the island, as there’s no way I can live without Harry Potter and The Sword of Truth.

When I was fourteen I got depression. The next few years are kind of a blur in my memory, but I do remember I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when I was sixteen. At the time I was too depressed to care about anything much, but knowing that about myself has certainly helped me in later years. I now see a specialist in Autism who helps me with things like social skills which I struggle with.

One of the main aspects of Asperger’s is rigid thinking, which I certainly have! For one thing, I fail to understand how people can ‘not read’. I consider myself deprived if I don’t read for at least two hours every day.

This is for everyone who says they don’t have time to read: we all have exactly the same amount of time – twenty four hours every day! We choose how to use them. If you choose to prioritise other things above reading, that’s your business, but don’t try to pretend it isn’t your choice.

One other main aspect of my rigid thinking is very harsh views on punctuality. I will not cancel or be late, ever. Even if I’m terribly sick, unless I’m in hospital, I will drag myself to whatever arrangements I have, no matter what. Unfortunately, I expect the same high standards from everyone else as I do from myself, which obviously leads to a lot of disappointment and frustration for me.

When I was seventeen I started tutoring maths. I didn’t know what it would be like – when the head of the maths department came asking for volunteers, I thought I’d give it a try. In fact, I loved it. To this day I still tutor every afternoon. Most of my students are in high school, but I have a few juniors, too.

When the time came for me to leave school, I had to make a choice. I had to choose between science and fantasy. The two things I always loved at school were maths and English creative writing. I had an amazing talent to take any topic – no matter how normal it sounded – and turn it into a fantasy story. I also had an inability to remain below word limits, but my teacher was really nice about it.

However, while I lived for reading, I hated most of the set works the school chose for us – for someone who loves fantasy, The Great Gatsby was just incredibly dull. If I studied English at university, I wouldn’t be able to specialise in creative writing for years, and I’d have to suffer reading books I hated. I decided that was definitely not an option.

So I went for maths. I got into UCT and started off my BSc. It soon became evident that this wasn’t the right path for me, either. I hated it and was really miserable there. That’s when I started writing.

I hadn’t written anything in the year since school ended. I just sat down at the computer one day and started. I had no idea where I was going, but a story emerged from under my fingers. From that day, writing has become every bit as essential to my life as reading.

Because of my Asperger’s, I often find the real world very difficult to relate to. Fantasy is always there for me when life is too much, whether it is reading or writing I need. I form intense connections with characters, more so than with many real people.

It took me a long time to decide to send my book to publishers – I was afraid of rejection and how it would make me feel. Finally, I decided that it was worth the risk, that I wanted to be published more than I wanted to feel safe and secure. I started sending.

Of course, I got the usual reams of rejection letters, which I coped with quite well. I just kept trying. I can be stubborn; very stubborn. I decided that publishers and agents would get tired of rejecting me before I got tired of sending books to them. Even if it took twenty years, by the time they were looking at my 50^th book, cringing, feeling sick at just seeing my name one more time, they would give up and accept me. Fortunately, it didn’t take that long.

Equilibrium was the first book accepted – the third book I’d sent to publishers and agents. It took two years of rejections, but it was well worth it! When I got my acceptance letter from Black Rose Writing, I was in a state of complete shock – I guess I’d gotten so many rejections, I was beginning to think it would never happen.

That shock wore off and turned to joy and triumph when I started preparing for the release. Firstly, I joined every social network known to man, then I did what I do best: I wrote lists. Every single possible thing that could need doing for my book, I listed and I did. I posted, tweeted, organised book launches, talks to schools, commissioned artists and video specialists, arranged interviews… you name it, I did it!

I am determined to make my books a success – they will sweep the world like Harry Potter if it’s the last thing I do! You don’t believe me? Just you watch.