This Isn't The End.

"Write what you love, and love what you write.  You have to get up in the morning and write something to live for," -Ray Bradbury

Well. I guess that's it. On October 3rd, I, Olivia Bennett, finished the first draft of Deus Ex Eremus: God from the Wilderness - 321 pages, 109,853 words.

Me with Draft One 

And truly, it's much more anticlimactic than I thought it would be, and this is because of one thing.

When I finished my last novel, I cried because their story ended. There was nothing else to tell, no other words to say. I was sad because my timeless journey with them was over, and I mourned their end because I loved them so much.

But with this novel, I rejoice, because this is just one small sliver of their lives, and it is not over. Wyatt, Terra, Harper, Lilly, Nick and the rest of the desert gang will live on forever inside of me. Their story is not over, although this is a stand-alone story. I am not letting them go, they are just done with their visit.  I could not possibly be sad, because there is nothing to be sad about. This day is monumental, and I shall celebrate!

Call me crazy, but they are just as real as you or me. Except their blood is ink and their skin is paper. And they are just another piece of this broken heart I have before me.

Words cannot describe how excited I am to edit this and then send it out to beta readers, and, in the end, have endless others read and be touched by my words. 

Because I don't just write this for myself.  I write it for you. 

But like at the same time, I feel like I have just given birth. 

Blessings,

~Olivia J, The WordShaker