ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’m going to start off my acknowledgements by telling you a story. It was a poignant moment in the life of my writing career, and therefore I believe it needs to be acknowledged. Although it was a negative experience, I quickly turned it into a positive. I could’ve easy let it beat me, but I didn’t. I know in my heart that this moment is part of the reason I am where I am today.
A little over two years ago, I sat down to write my debut novel, My Destiny. Writing is something I’ve always wanted to do, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure if it was something I was capable of doing. In saying that though, I’m the type of person that likes to challenge myself. I like to prove to myself that I can do something, even if I doubt that I can. I’m not afraid to give anything a go, even if it falls into the too hard basket.
When I wrote My Destiny, I had no intentions of publishing it. As I said, it was merely something I wanted to do, to prove to myself that I could do it. Only the people close to me knew I was writing. They were all extremely encouraging, except one. This particular person told me, “You’re wasting your time. You can’t do this. This will never amount to anything.” I’m not going to lie, hearing those words from someone I care about stung. It hurt me a lot. But, instead of using them to discourage me, I used them to drive me. If you tell me I can’t do something, you can be sure as hell I’m gonna do it, just to prove you wrong. Or die trying. LOL.
So that’s exactly what I did. Not only did I finish the book, I wrote part 2, My Forever, which was followed by Damaged, and Against All Odds. Bastard is my fifth published work. I’m already working on my sixth.
I’m not a vindictive or revengeful person, but I can tell you I got great pleasure in tactfully serving up this person, who shall forever remain nameless, a huge slice of humble pie, served with a delicious side of fuck you. Their reply, “No one will buy it.” Seriously! Again they were wrong.
So the moral of this story is, don’t be afraid to dream big. Don’t let negativity sway you to give up. Like me, use it to inspire you, to spur you on. Even if people don’t believe in you, believe in yourself. I believe in you, you can do this. My parting words to this person are, “I can, I will and I did.” I am living proof that with a bit of hard work and a lot of determination, dreams can come true, because mine did.
••••
To my family and friends: Thank you for always encouraging and believing in me. You have no idea how much the support you give me means to me. I love you guys with all my heart. My life is so much richer because I have you all in it.
To my readers: Thank you for taking a chance on me and for reading my stories. You all inspire me to keep going. To keep doing what I love—that is writing. Writing about real life situations. Things we can all relate to. About people who’ve had a tough life. I may torture them a little further, but in the end I do turn their lives around to give them the happily ever after they deserve. LOL. As the old saying goes, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
To my street team: I love you guys. Thank you for everything you girls do for me. For making me laugh when I’m down, picking me up when I’m deflated and supporting me no matter what. I would be lost without you all.
I’d like to give a special mention to Jacquie, Sophia, Cheryl, Candy, Charmaine, Vicki, Elaine, Justine, Nicola, Rachel, Sarah-Jane, Jeanette, Nadine, Beth, Kristy, Jamie, Sam, Lisa, Sandra, Yulanda, Amanda, Christie, Erika, Jennifer, Jules, Rebecca, Stephanie and Kris. You girls go above and beyond. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the time you put into me. I couldn’t do this without you.
To Karen Mandeville-Steer: Thank you for filling in all the gaps for me. You have a wonderful talent for seeing the little things I missed. I loved working with you.
To Candy Ross: Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into going over the rough draft of this book, and for helping me make it the best it can be.
To my Editor Nicola: As always, thank you for being so wonderful. I’d be lost without you. You’re not only my editor, you’re my friend.
To Stephanie Smith and Kristine Barakat: Thank you for taking the time to read the finished draft of this story, and for giving me your insight and honest opinion. I really appreciate that you both did this for me.
To Kylie McDermott from Give Me Books: Thank you for all the time and effort you and your team put into organising my release day blitz. You do a magnificent job. I love working with you.
To the wonderful Bloggers: Thank you for everything you guys so selflessly do for me on a regular basis. I’d be lost without your support. To everyone that signed up for the blitz, thank you for taking the time to read and promote my work. I appreciate it.
To Soxie: Thank you for the wonderful job you did on making the incredibly hot ‘Bastard’ cover, and for all the other things you do for me on a regular basis. I know we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with this cover and I’m so grateful you stuck by me throughout it all. You are an amazing person and have an incredible talent.
To Max Henry: Thank you for the wonderful job you do, as always, on the formatting of my books. I love your work. You rock!
To Kelly Donaldson: Thank you for giving me the information I needed for your beautiful hometown of Newcastle. I hope I did it justice.
To Melissa McDonald: Thank you for the most amazing drawing you did of my boy, Carter Reynolds. You brought him to life. There are no words for your incredible talent. You have a special gift, my friend.