Prologue
London
No matter how many signings I go to, I am always just as excited and nervous as I was for the first one. I always hope for a big crowd, to meet new readers, to see readers who already love my books, and to connect with other authors. There is no better feeling in the world than when a reader tells you that your book, your words, affected them. Whether it helped them escape from reality for a while, they’ve been through something similar, or they simply fell in love with the characters, it all means so much to me.
I always marched to the beat of my own drum, always did things my way. Even back in high school when everyone was moaning about a writing assignment, I secretly was jumping up and down. I never understood what the big deal was. I loved writing. My mom used to try to push me out the door to go hang out with friends, but I wanted to stay home and write. No one understood it and I lost a lot of friends, but I didn’t care because if I wasn’t writing, I was reading, and those characters were my friends. I could connect with a book and let it take me away or write characters that I wanted to be friends with.
When I was in college, I majored in journalism, and I made some amazing real friends, some of whom I am still very close with. I also met Axel my freshman year, and by senior year we were engaged. I thought this was the beginning to my happily ever after. We had so much in common. We wrote, had the same friends, and supported each other completely. That is until we moved in together. Things started to change quickly. He went from the sweetest, most understanding guy to a complete control freak. I wasn’t allowed to hang out with my friends anymore. He needed to know what I was writing, and if he didn’t like it, he would delete everything. I started to actually fear him toward the end. He would get angry if I didn’t follow his rules, and for a while I did, but when I found myself pretty much a prisoner in a sense, I knew I needed out. He went to work one day, and I packed up everything and moved to California.
No one believed me when I told them how he was. They all argued how sweet he was, how happy he made me, and crazy people didn’t have his clean-cut look. They all thought I moved to California to pursue my career and I used him as a scapegoat. I didn’t give a shit what they thought. I finally felt safe and last I heard he was involved with another journalism friend.
When I moved here, I had college loans, no job, and about a hundred dollars to my name. I was able to find a restaurant looking for help that also happened to rent an apartment above it. I worked there for a few years while I wrote my ass off. I wrote under the pen name, London Tweed, because I was scared that Axel would find me. I only go by that name now.
Once I had the first three books of my series done, I got in touch with a few author friends I’d made and they helped me. They taught me how to self-publish, got me in touch with cover designers, formatters, editors, and photographers. This was the start of the most exciting time of my life.
When I published my first book, I had no idea what to expect. I was nervous as hell putting myself out there, but when readers not only started buying it but promoting it, it felt like a dream. Each book after has been even more successful, and I still find it hard to believe I’ve been doing this for three years.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a household name. I haven’t quit my day job, but I am making money, good money. I have a house now, I have a huge fan base, and I thank God every day for all of it. It’s a lot of work, takes up an unbelievable amount of time and money, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love what I do. I love creating stories with characters that readers love. I sometimes find myself ignoring my real friends for the ones I’ve made online, readers, authors, and models. They get it; they understand what this world is about and how much of yourself you put into it. I love having that connection.
When I decided to have Blake Foster on the cover of my latest book, I was beyond excited. He was extremely sexy with his tattoos, muscles, and grin. As of right now, I worked with whatever photographer was willing to do a shoot for me, but I’m on the hunt for one I can always use. Kallie Gregory is who I really want to get involved with and I’m beyond excited she will be at this signing today.
When I got the photos back from Shannon, I was blown away with how incredible Blake looked. If I could have licked my computer, I would have. I knew exactly what photo I wanted of him and Ivy. It was sexy, romantic, and panty dropping hot. This book had been my biggest seller and I had to give credit to Blake and Ivy for pulling the readers in.
When I emailed Blake and asked if he wanted to come to New York with me, he was so gracious and overjoyed. I paid for his plane ticket, but he said he would take care of the hotel, which was a blessing because it gets so expensive paying to have my models with me. I needed to cover the travel and hotel for them and myself. If it was a signing across the country like this, one model was all I ever brought. I couldn’t afford to bring any more than that.
When I got to New York, my stomach was in knots. I’d been here several times since I moved to California, but just being on the east coast freaked me out. I knew Axel was in Florida, but even New York was too close for me. That’s why I usually only stayed until the day after the signing and headed back home. Not that I think he would even search for me at this point…it’s been five years, but I liked being on the opposite side of the country.
***
I get to the hotel late at night and I drag my jet-lagged ass up to my room, crashing before even taking my clothes off. Upon awakening this morning, I feel horrible for not getting in touch with Blake. I check my phone and see I have a few missed text messages from him. I
dial him right away and apologize for not talking with him. He is extremely understanding, and we decide to have breakfast this morning so we can finally meet up. It makes me laugh that we only live a short distance from each other and the first time we meet is across the country.
We have a great breakfast and laugh through most of it. He is such an easy guy to talk to and funny as hell. He says he’s also there with Kallie and Jax. Those two made some of the biggest talk I’ve ever heard in this industry when it came out they were together. Fans were jealous as hell, photographers were nasty and catty, and authors saw a story. When they both made those videos and posted them, I think every female’s ovaries exploded. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing I had ever seen. Since then, they have been the ‘it’ couple. Blake never talks about them like that though, and that makes me like him even more. He doesn’t get involved with the drama, at least he didn’t lead on to me that he did.