After sitting on my debut for what felt like years, in 2023 I decided it was time to stop saying I would publish and just do it! Saying and doing are two differnt things that a lot of us get hung up on. Publishing is terrifying. It's basically cutting yourself open and inviting people to take a look around and hope they like what they see.
My debut was inspired by a couple of books. I've addressed this before. But the two books were Taking Chances by Molly McAdams and A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner. In terms of the second chance, it was ALLtW that inspired that part of my book. But in terms of the accident, Taking Chances, showed me that I can take out a character in a more permanent way.
This book follows Kamryn and Liam as they head to college in South Carolina. Kamryn has secretly had a crush on Liam, but due to the girls he would hook up with, she never thought she was his type or that they would have a chance to be a couple. When a dare has them kissing for the first time in their decades long friendship, that's when things shift for them. But still scared of rejection, Kamryn suggests a friends with benefits relationship. What happens when Liam gets scared? Enter Mason.
The reception that I've been getting from readers when it comes to Mason is overwhelming. I've noticed readers gravitate towards white MMCs, so to have a Black MMC that my readers love, proves that when the right author writes diversity the readers will come.
I always knew Kamryn and Mason would be the end game. And it was a big risk to cut off the Kamryn and Liam line in a non-reversible way.
The reception for Kamryn...isn't bad, but it's not as high as I hoped. Kamryn is eighteen when the book starts. So not every decision she makes will be the right one. She's a child when this starts. And expecting her to make true, fleshed out adult decisions, regarding love, would have been a disservice to her. So her book is messy and shows the immaturity from a character her age.