She believed she could, so she did.

Grinning, I stared at the words etched in the silver bracelet and nodded my head at the phrase. I slipped it on my wrist and continued getting ready for my first book event.

The bracelet was a gift from my Personal Assistant, Samantha Kelly. Samantha is always in my corner and not only helps me with every facet of my writing career but also much of my personal affairs. She’s more than just my assistant…she’s my best friend.

“Lustrous in Long Beach” was the name of the romance book event that I was heading to. I was very nervous but understood the necessity of attending book events.

“You need to get out and mingle with your readers, Amy. Readers want to see the face behind the words,” Samantha mentioned this numerous times over the past year or so.

Finally, I had agreed, and she began booking me solidly for book events. Some would be local or short distances, but others would be in other states. It would be a lot of traveling, but very worth it. After all, these are my fans.

Knowing that this book event was coming up, I had been bending the ears of my author friends for advice on what to expect. Most of the author friends that made up my inner circle were further along in their writing careers than I was and all of them had opinions that I valued. They all offered up some sort of advice that ranged from what to wear, to the type of giveaway items I offered, and even advice on the location of my table in the exhibit hall.

Honestly, it was a ton of information. I processed most of it and took into consideration what everyone had said to me. Thankfully Samantha stepped in and took the reins of organizing my swag giveaways, which books that I was taking and how many, and even handled the layout of the table for the event.

As I was getting ready which was nothing more than me aimlessly pacing around my living room, panic swept over me, and I raced for my cell phone and quickly fired off a text to Samantha.

We had talked about doing a special basket to raffle off just for my Facebook group supporters. I communicate with the group members the most and wanted to have something special just for them.

I smirked at her text.

A wave of relief washed over me. Samantha never forgets anything.

I nodded at my phone and set it down to resume my routine to finish getting ready. After I walked away from my phone, the noise alerting me of a text returned me to it.

I smiled and replied with the grinning smiley faced emoji that Samantha and I use to let the other know “all is well,” and that I’m stepping away from my phone for a while.

Soon I was in my car moving at a snail’s pace on the freeway heading toward Long Beach. I made sure that I left in plenty of time, so I wasn’t stressed or worried about not making it on time. During the drive, my mind raced with thoughts on the upcoming event.

Finally, I pulled into the valet of the hotel where the event was being held, and while I waited for the valet attendant, I typed out a text to Samantha.

Thank God for her.

I made my way through the crowded lobby that was already full of fans and readers. I was pretty sure none of them were authors or P.A.’s because they would be back in the event hall getting ready. I checked my phone while I waited in the check-in line. It was 9:15 a.m. and the event opens at 10:00 a.m. Plenty of time.

“Welcome to Lustrous in Long Beach,” a cheery woman greeted me from behind the check-in table. “What’s the legal name that you used for registration?”

“Amy Johnson,” I replied and handed her my identification and table confirmation receipt.

“Yes, here you are Amy Johnson, a.k.a. Amy Andrews. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” she said excitedly.

“Thank you. I’m excited to be here. It’s my first event.”

“Wonderful! Here is your entry badge, and I believe your P.A. is already here. This a map of the seating sections and arrangements. There’s a photographer roaming around and he’ll be taking pictures of the authors at their tables along with a group photo just before 10:00. Have a great time, Amy.”

I smiled at the helpful and happy woman and glanced down at the map as I meandered into the event hall. I found my row without any trouble and made my way down the aisle in search of my table.

I recognized many author names and was excited to meet them face to face. Priority one though was to find my table. I spotted Samantha about twenty yards away and was shocked at my table. She had it all ready.

“Looks fantastic, Sam! Thank you so much.”

She squealed and excitedly clapped her hands before hugging me.

“First book event! This is special, Amy.”

I nodded and looked around, trying to take things in. Then it dawned on me that Samantha was wearing an Amy Andrews t-shirt.

“I thought you were going to wear that beige sweater you sent me the picture of last night,” I said.

Samantha waved her hand in the air.

“I decided this would be better because everywhere I walked, I’d be advertising you.”

She’s always thinking. The “Amy Andrews” official colors were vibrant purple and black. While not all my book covers were those colors, all my promo pieces and swag items were purple and black. It was important for branding.

“Everything looks fantastic, thank you, Sam. Now all I need is—,” I started but was cut off.

“A Vanilla Coke?” Samantha finished my sentence, and from a small soft-sided cooler she presented me with a can of my go-to beverage of choice: Vanilla Coke.

This stuff was better than coffee to me. My eyes widened, and a smile spread across my face as I accepted the cold can of Vanilla Coke.

“Perfect, thank you.”

Confident that there wasn’t anything pressing for me to do at my author table, I decided to walk around and check out some of the other authors’ tables and do a little meeting and greeting.

I mostly checked out the other romance authors’ tables and then ventured to the dark romance authors’ tables. That genre intrigued me quite a bit. I’ve read a lot of dark romance and enjoy it. It’s great stuff, and I’d love to write it. I just don’t have the knowledge to write it effectively. All of the dark romance authors that I stopped to chat with were very kind and spoke passionately about writing. I swapped phone numbers with a few of them and moved around the room to view other tables.

As it neared 10:00 a.m., I made my way through the paranormal romance section back to my table. Samantha was sitting there feverishly typing on her phone as I sat down beside her.

“Okay, pre-game check,” she started and then set her phone down. “Payments. Your phone is set up to accept electronic payments and credit or debit cards. When I picked up the Vanilla Coke this morning, I also got lots of singles and some fives for change,” Samantha said as she showed me the app on my phone that was set up for payments. I nodded. “Swag...bookmarks, pens, stickers, and magnets are free for anyone along with the info postcards. Anyone who purchases two books gets one of the purple and black Amy Andrews tote bags. Got it?”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready,” I said and twirled my unique book signing pen.

She grabbed my pen and stopped me from twirling it nervously as I raised my eyebrows at her. Samantha countered my raised eyebrows and raised eyebrows of her own as if I knew what she was insinuating.

“What?” I asked.

“That’s a nervous habit. Stop and think before you move much. You don’t want to come across as a nervous wreck,” Samantha advised.

“But, I am a nervous wreck,” I reminded her.

“I know this, and you know this. But that doesn’t mean that your fans and readers need to know this. Understand?”

I nodded. Sam was right. I needed to calm down and focus. I put my hands on my lap, and Samantha shook a tiny box of something close to my ear. Frowning at the noise, I turned my head to see what it was.

“Here, I got your favorite,” she said and opened the top to the tic tac box.

“Mmm, wintergreen Tic Tacs,” I marveled at the box with my favorite tic tac flavor and dumped a handful in my mouth. “Thanks, Mom,” I teased.

We often joked about her treating me like a crazed child that’s always in need of being occupied and contained. We’ve been doing it for years, and it’s really quite comical because I’m usually the calm one while she’s the one running around crazed and multi-tasking. Yes, I’m usually the calmer one…except for today.

Moments before the event opened all the authors gathered for a group photo outside. I was fortunate enough to be able to blend in with the middle of the pack.

Back at the table, Samantha was still texting away on her cell phone and didn’t look up as I sat down.

“I posted some pics of your table on your social media sites. Now let me get a picture of you behind the table. Smile and don’t look nervous,” Samantha said and quickly walked to the opposite side of the aisle and snapped a few pics with her phone. “There, uploaded.”

“Lovely. I didn’t even get to see them,” I said sarcastically.

“They were fine. Trust me. I wouldn’t let an awkward picture of you post anywhere. Oh, don’t forget, your mega fan Jen Caster-Braxton bought a special V.I.P. ticket to the event.”

“Okay, I like Jen a lot. She’s the lady who owns a no-kill animal sanctuary,” I said.

Jen is one of my favorite fans that I chat with often. It’s not daily, but a few times a week. And I always catch her posts about a new cat or dog they’ve taken in. She lives in a remote area and her and her husband have acres and acres of sprawling land for the animals. I have a soft spot for animals and anyone who does nice things for them.

“Did you know that she and her husband are both veterinarians?” Samantha asked.

“No, I had no idea. How’d you find out?”

“I scrolled back through her posts from a few years ago and saw their ‘Paws Cause’ animal clinic sign. It’s on their property, and I read that they both travel to other rural areas to visit animals.”

“Such giving people,” I said.

People started filing in and began milling around. The aisle across from me grew crowded very quickly. They were the dark romance and erotica authors.

“I should try my hand at dark romance. What do you think, Sam?” I asked.

“I think it would be a fantastic idea.”

Soon, my own table became bustling with people from all walks of life. I spoke to everyone that stopped by the table. Some knew the books, while others were brand new to them.

“Amy Andrews! Oh, my God! Finally, I get to meet you!” Jen Caster-Braxton exclaimed as she approached the table.

I stood to greet her and held out my hand to shake hers, but she stretched across the table to hug me. She was a tall lady and wore my signature black t-shirt with the vibrant purple rose.

We chatted for a few minutes about her drive to the event. Turns out she lived outside of Bakersfield and traveled two hours just to meet me today. So sweet.

“So, I have all your books on my tablet already, but I’d like to purchase them to have in paperback,” Jen said as her eyes roamed my table.

Samantha jumped into action and began gathering my books and set them just to my left, and I sat down to begin signing them for Jen.

“What would you like me to write inside of them?” I asked Jen.

“To my biggest fan, Jen,” she beamed. “And sign your name, of course,” she laughed.

“Of course,” I smiled.

I grabbed my special book signing pen. It was a bright purple pen with a silver tip and had “Amy Andrews” engraved in a beautiful script on the upper portion of the pen. I tuned Samantha and Jen out as I concentrated on signing the books. Once finished, I placed them all in the black canvas tote bag that had my bright purple logo on it. Samantha grabbed up some swag items and put them in the bag as well.

“It was lovely to have finally met you, Amy. I am constantly telling my husband about your books and the characters. I love your Alex Gains character. That is one sexy man.”

“Thank you, Jen. Alex is a fan favorite. I’m happy to hear he is your favorite as well.”

“Oh, yes, indeed. I could use an Alex Gains on our land. I could send him out shirtless to feed all the animals while I sit on the porch and just watch the sweat bead down his sculpted chest. Mmm. Love me some Alex Gains,” Jen explained.

The three of us laughed and chatted a bit more before Samantha offered to take a picture of us. I posed with Jen in front of the “Amy Andrews” banner for a picture, and before I sat back down, Samantha had emailed the picture of us to Jen.

Jen thanked me again for the picture, and I thanked her for being a supporter and fan. She moved along to the dark romance aisle.

The rest of the day went by in a blur and Samantha chatted to me most of the day about my dark romance novel idea. I was actually really excited about it, except for one little thing…I wasn’t well versed in some of this dark romance stuff. A dull ache churned in my stomach as I thought about an interest I had in bondage. It didn’t go over very well with my ex…which is why he’s my ex.

“So, since you’ve just finished your Lazy Days book and it’s with the editor, you can start to formulate your new dark romance hit.”

“Sounds wonderful, except for one thing…I’m not a very knowledgeable source on dark romance.”

Most of the authors of dark romance were actually very much into dark romance, and I was willing to bet that the majority of them actually lived those fantasy filled lives.

“Research, Amy. Easy enough to do. Here, look…”

Samantha handed me her phone which had a login screen to Kinky Links. I squinted to see what the tagline said and read it out loud.

“We link your kink to other kinky folks,” I said and gave Samantha a look that we’ve come to recognize as an “Are you out of your mind?,” look.

“What? It’s an actual site for kinky people,” Samantha said.

“It sounds like some pay for sex site or something,” I said quietly.

“It’s not. It’s a social media platform full of people who live these kind of lives,” Samantha gestured over to the dark romance aisle. “People who live the lives of the characters in their books.”

“Visiting that site isn’t going to give me enough knowledge to write a novel,” I said.

“No, it won’t,” she agreed. “But, it will put you in touch with people who are familiar with BDSM and live it. You can find forums and pose questions.”

“How will I know that the info they’re giving me is good and that they’re not just messing with me?”

She rolled her eyes at me.

“Make a profile tonight and poke around a bit. I imagine you can probably verify and confirm info with others on there,” Samantha said.

Through the rest of the book event, I thought about the next book and decided that I would look into making a profile tonight on Kinky Links. Even though I told myself that this was purely for research, I was also excited about looking into this lifestyle. I’ve read lots of books, and while I don’t know a lot, I at least know that the lifestyle is made up of deep connections and I was already intrigued by rope bondage.

Samantha and I decided to go grab a quick dinner at a sit-down chain restaurant. We were both exhausted, and my voice was nearly gone after talking so much through the day.

“So, you met some really nice people today, huh?” Samantha asked as we opened our menus.

“Yes, lots of great people and I think we may have picked up some new readers too. Wasn’t Jen just the sweetest thing?”

“She was. She’s already posted her picture with you,” Samantha said and turned her phone around for me to see it.

I smiled at it and was glad that I have fans like that.

“So, are you going to look into Kinky Links?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Mmmhmm,” Samantha said in one of those insinuating tones.

“What? It’s for work,” I reminded her.

“Right…work, sure,” she joked. “Remind yourself that it’s for work when you’re playing with yourself while gazing at some sexy pictures.”

I rolled my eyes at her as we laughed and joked through dinner. I knew she was right though; I was most certainly going to look.

I tapped my fingernail on my couch cushion as I stared at the prompt to select a username for the Kinky Links website.

“Hmm,” I mused out loud.

I tried to think of what I could use as a username. Something that enticed me beyond the books that I’ve read. Reaching back into my not so distant past, cuffs and bondage interested me.

“CuffedNBound,” I typed.

Kinky Links popped up with a prompt to create a password, and I quickly accepted my laptops’ randomly generated password. There. The account was created, and I began bouncing around looking at pictures and reading articles. To say that it held my attention would be an understatement because when I glanced at the clock, nearly four hours had passed.

“Damn, Amy,” I sighed as I set the laptop to the side and stood to stretch. “I have no life,” I said to myself.

Knowing that I needed to get some sleep, I planned on taking a shower and then crashing into bed. Yet after the shower, I grabbed my tablet and went right back to browsing on Kinky Links.

I found a directory of dungeons and clubs in the area and surrounding area and browsed their respective group pages. If I planned on pushing a book out relatively quickly, I needed to reach out to someone.

But, who to trust?

I found a few of the local dungeon forums and posted the same comments in their general thread. It was a no bullshit post, just quick and straightforward.

Hopefully, someone would respond. I plugged my tablet in to charge for the night and crawled into bed. Actually, I hoped someone reputable would respond.