A Note from Elle

Please don't hurt me! Really, pretty please? I know that cliffhanger was brutal, and if you're new here, well... I'm not the least bit sorry, but let's talk about Frankie and the genesis of this whole book.

But first, you can ready the first 2 chapters of Book 2, Dark Bonds by clicking HERE!

I've always been drawn to writing series because, let's face it, readers love them, and I personally have a soft spot for duets (Need a recommendation? Hit me up, I'm a slut for them!). Naturally, I planned a trilogy. After working on standalones for so long, I felt like I needed a new challenge. Many of you have been asking about Ash's trilogy (if you've read Surrender, you know what I'm talking about), but my heart just wasn't there yet.

Then, one day, as I was flexing my finger muscles, swiping through TikTok, I stumbled upon the song "Shadow" by Livingston. It struck a chord with me. It's about anxiety and depression, topics that are very close to home. You might not know that the whole reason I began writing was to navigate the chaos of my own life.

This year has been particularly tough with managing AuDHD, an autoimmune illness, and bouts of depression. I started IVIG therapy, which involved being hooked up to a machine pumping in happy plasma, but let's just say it was tough.

Out of this perfect storm, Frankie was born. I haven't delved too deeply into what happened to her yet—partly because it's traumatic, and I think you can piece those parts together yourself. We all handle trauma differently, but Frankie? She was just going through the motions of life until four new students showed up at Shadow Locke University. That was when she slowly started to awaken.

I don't think she's fully aware yet that she's also a bit of the problem, but she will be, and she probably won't apologize for it either.

So there you have it—over a hundred thousand words born from what I felt, channeled into a story that I admit involves a bit of gaslighting. I am a little sorry for that, but hey, at least I remembered the trigger warnings.

Too soon?