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Dear readers,
The rumors are true, I am indeed one evil son-of-a-bitch.
But before we get into the complete and utter mind-fuck that was Chapter 67, I just wanna start off by saying that holy fuck, we are finally here. I never would've thought this day would come, me finishing Love Arranged, because let me tell you guys right now, it was not easy.
You guys don't know this, but I have been quite vocal about the struggles of writing for a long time now. Specifically writing THIS book, wasn't easy, far from it even. I made a lot of risky decisions in the process of rewriting this book, ones that to this day I'm still having doubts about, but I know that if I don't follow through with it, I'm depending too much on gaining validation.
One of the said risky decisions I made upon rewriting this book, for instance, was the title change. I knew the repercussions that were going to happen once I change the title of this book, but I knew that if I don't do it and keep the title Live with & Be with The Bad Boy for God knows how long, I will have to throw myself into moving traffic eventually.
The second risky idea was changing some major plot points and just completely ditching the previous draft altogether — from dialogue, removing characters, and changing the former ending, it was risky.
I kept second-guessing my decision but I knew that if I didn't follow through with it, it would just be an injustice to myself. When I wrote this book at a young age, I didn't have the intentions of taking it seriously despite how much I do care about this story and its character (contrary to all the times I've ranted both on Twitter and Instagram that I wanted to hit my head on the pavement because of writing this book)
So when I decided to rewrite it, I knew I was going to make significant changes that were FAR different from the previous version, and if you stuck around long enough to know how the previous version's ending came to be, you should know it was a happy ending instead of what you were given with now.
I also don't know if you guys noticed this but I didn't write an epilogue, for the reason that I know that if I do write one I'm closing Evan and Maggie's story, but I knew their story doesn't end here.
That's why I decided, and as risky as this may be, to write two more installments to this book. Again, if you stuck around long enough as my reader you would know that this book was part of a series, The Good and The Bad series — it consisted of Maggie and Evan's story as well as three other more books that weren't centered around them, pretty much spin-offs to put it simply.
I took down those books because I wasn't happy with them, but I did learn to improve my craft by writing them and that at least was something I know I won't ever regret.
And with this new-found improvement that I've garnered, it got me to this conclusion that I wanted to prolong Maggie and Evan's story because their previous canon was so... like it just didn't feel right.
I was young, I didn't know my true potential and it was only when I arrived at the age of fifteen and started to take my craft seriously that I settled with this new canon that I know once I finish their story this time around, they will stay. All three books.
I know I'm never gonna be truly happy with what I write, every day I keep learning but I know as long as I'm doing what's best for me and my art, it doesn't matter if I look back at these books twenty years into the future and cringe my ass off, as long as I can recall the genuine hard work and authenticity I've put into making them, that's what matters.
I got scared coming to terms with this decision thinking no one's gonna stick around to read them, solely because of the fact a lot of readers came and left in the past because of my redundant tendency to publish and unpublish this book because of my indecisiveness.
But even if that ends up being that way, I don't care, just as long as I'm making myself happy or at least two to three people as well, that's what counts.
It was hard building everything from scratch all over again and sometimes I just wanted to give up, but something was always pulling me back and I knew it was the passion that lied within me when it came to writing. How much I truly love what I do and how no matter how many times I take down my books and publish new ones, as long as I'm releasing content that people enjoy, that's what matters most.
So yeah, if you still wanna stick around to see what happens to Maggie and Evan, move on to the next chapter to get all the deets of the 2/3 installment of this book.
But before I disclose this author's note, I just wanna say thank you to all the ones who read and voted and commented on this story despite my very much sporadic updating schedule. You guys always pushed me to be better at what I do and seeing your comments and votes always makes me happy.
Your support means a lot and I hope that once we arrive at the anticipated ending one day, is that you guys will look back at this book and have not regretted a thing, because though this decision scared me in the beginning, it's pushing me to test certain limits that'll help me grow. Regardless of all the hurdles that I've faced.
To put it simply, this book is the Maggie to my Evan, and I had so much fun writing this book despite how much it pushed me into a series of existential crises, and I just can't wait for the next journey ahead and I hope you guys are too.
See you at the next one.
Sarah.
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What do you think?