We’re here.
I wasn’t sure we would make it.
I never had those doubts about any other series, but this one tried and tested me every step of the way.
It is the end. And for once, I am actually emotional and completely gutted over letting a series go. I’m not sure how to say goodbye to words that have brought me so much joy. I may have gotten teary-eyed . . . True story . . . I did.
I know, I know. You’re going to say I’ve written so many books, and some series are so much more impactful and successful than the Point, but from the start, this series has had my whole heart. Writing these books and being in the minds of these characters was really what proved to me I was a legitimate author. Writing these books has never been easy . . . and some would say never wise. The characters were difficult. The setting was ugly. The love was hard . . . and the sales sucked toward the end. I mean SUCKED. But I was invested. I was in love. And I didn’t want to let go. Rest assured that the only reason these last few books are in readers’ hands is because the Point is so special and means so much to me that I wasn’t going to throw all that away no matter what. These books have never been about a payday for me. They’re the books I write to stretch myself, to push myself, to break the rules and run wild with creativity. These books have always been a breath of fresh air in my writing world and I will be forever grateful these characters chose me to tell their complicated, exhilarating stories.
I pushed through to the end, because these characters deserved it, and the readers who stuck with me through thick and thin deserved to finally see how it would play out! I wanted to see where all our heroes and anti-heroes were going to be at the end of the day. I know it’s all been a long time coming, but we crossed the finish line together (Bax would make a dirty joke here) and I am so, so proud of all of us. I honestly believe we experienced something special and magical by traveling the highs and lows with this crew in this location together.
So, if you’re here, at the end with me, thank you so much. I don’t have the words to tell you how much this journey has meant to me.
I do want to drop a line for those of you who may not have jumped on the Booker/Karsen fandom from the start. I know the age difference makes everything that happened between them in the past a little iffy in terms of the age gap. She was very young and he was an adult. I never planned on them being the end of the series. I was going to wrap the Point up with Key and Nassir after my publisher dropped the series. But I got so much communication from Point fans asking for their story, so much investment in these two from long-time readers of the series, I felt like I couldn’t walk away from them. I didn’t want to! Lol . . . If writing their story had been the plan all along, I would have made her older in the book where they were both introduced . . . as it is . . . we’re stuck with the characters we have and just have to roll with the May/Dec punches. I always thought Karsen was far more emotionally mature than most of the other women in the Point. She was a dreamer, but her head was always very firmly below the clouds. If anyone could handle Booker and his past, it was her. She’s special. I knew the first time she stepped on the page and walked the dark alleys and avenues of the Point that she would be a major game changer in the way the things in the Point played out.
This book is a culmination of the whole series. I do apologize if you skipped a book or two or picked this one up on a whim and felt a little lost. Most of my inter-connected books do a better job of standing on their own two feet, but this one, this one had so many loose threads I needed to tie together and put in a bow.
I’m sure the die-hard Point fans are wondering about a few of the side characters, Chuck, Carmen, Roxy . . . as of now I have no definitive plans to write anymore books in the Point, but that doesn’t mean I won’t consider giving these characters a story somewhere else down the road. (Especially Chuck. Maybe he’ll appear in a novella for my newsletter when I get caught up!)
Anyway, these books are the prized jewel I wear in my author crown. They shine the brightest.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me.
Thank you for giving me the chance to make the gutter a beautiful place and to write about the kind of love stories that aren’t always easy to read.
#bestreadersever
#pointgirlforever