Hello My Life Fans!

I have a confession to make. Kelsey was NOT my first book baby for the My Life series. She’s not even the second.

But before we even get into that. Let me tell you what the My Life series is about. Each book is a stand-alone novel. You don’t have to read book 2 before you read book 3. Do keep in mind that some books will have spoilers from previous books but they can still stand by themselves. All the characters will be connected somehow, some more so than others. Each character will deal with one or more issues that typical teens face from death to drinking to sex to injury to moving to drugs to struggling to find a place in the world. And all will answer the basic question I wished someone asked me as a teen, Who am I?

Now back to that confession that Kelsey isn’t my first book baby.

WHAT, you say?

Kelsey did not come about until this year. And I’ve been working on the My Life series for over eight years. Well, let me rephrase that. I’ve been working on My Life as Marlee for over eight years. It wasn’t until last year that I decided to turn it into a series when all these characters started asking me to tell their stories.

When I came up with the idea for Kelsey’s story, I already had rough drafts of both Marlee and Noah almost done. Kelsey played a small part in Noah’s book (when she comes downstairs to tell Noah that the B!tch – Aliyah – was sick and wanted to go home). She told me then that she had a story to tell so I should tell it. Originally, I was going to put Aliyah and Stone together but Stone yelled at me. Yes, he literally yelled at me. My eardrum is still busted. He said HELL TO THE NO!

The plan for Kelsey’s story was for it to be a reader magnet. She was supposed to be a novella and was going to be free to entice new readers to join my newsletter list. But she talked to me too much to be a novella. She decided she wanted to be a novel, a shorter novel, but still a novel. Her story has been the easiest and most satisfying to write.

Yes. Characters do talk to their masters. Some talk more than others. Marlee won’t shut up. Hence the reason she’s not out yet. Noah, he’s pretty quiet but I manage to pull things out of him. He will be a prequel novella (to Marlee’s book) as his story runs simultaneously to Kelsey’s.

Confession time. Noah ends in a cliff hanger. Sorry. It’s the only way it could be done seeing he’s an integral character in Marlee, and even though Marlee’s story is told from her point of view, Noah’s issues will be tied up nicely through her voice.

We will hear from Kelsey and Stone in Marlee’s book but only briefly. Don’t worry if you are craving more from them. You will get a lot of Kelsey and Stone when I roll out My Life as Virginia (I don’t have an estimated release date yet as the story is only in my head – more details to follow).

Yep. This smart, focused melting pot of a girl (as she calls herself) has been talking to me. She wants to tell her story about her first year at Harvard. She’s excited to finally be in the same city, even the same school, as her boyfriend. Maybe finally, she can lose her virginity. BUT WAIT. Her new roommate is also in a relationship with him? Slam on the brakes! Stone’s brooding bad boy roommate, Moss, has a weird way of helping her overcome this crushing blow.

Marlee’s story takes place a year after Noah and Kelsey, and she puts herself through the ringer trying to answer the question, Who am I? She also has a deep secret from her childhood that resurfaces in the form of a nightmare when her best friend moves away. But don’t worry, Noah’s there to help her in dealing with the nightmare and . . . (I can’t spoil it for you).

So, who comes after Marlee? Ellie. You haven’t met her yet (although Kelsey did see a picture of her in Stone’s bedroom – the other girl with Marlee). You’ll get to know a bit about her in Noah’s story. You’ll get to know her even more in Marlee’s story. Then finally, you will get to know her the best in her own book as she struggles with her move halfway across the country right before her junior year. Her struggle? She’s tired of being labeled as a mean girl and tries to reinvent herself. But old habits are hard to break. This book will take place over an extended time period covering her junior and senior year of high school and ending with the first part of her freshman year where she winds up at the same college as her old high school crush, Connor. Yep. Connor as in Noah’s best friend. This book will come out sometime in the fall as it’s currently only in loose outline format.

From there, I’m going to let you, My Life fans, guide me as to whose story you want next . . . feel free to comment below what story you think I should focus on. Here is a rough summary of current and future characters (feel free to suggest someone that I haven’t given any love to — I’ve debated having something on Gerti — we didn’t get to know her that well in Kelsey. She’s only started whispering but your opinion may help her voice be louder):

Book 1: My Life as Kelsey

Book 2: My Life as Noah

Book 3: My Life as Marlee

Book 4: My Life as Ellie

Book 5 (maybe): My Life as Virginia

My Life as Stella. We meet Stella in Noah’s story. Her story will be about the touch decision she makes when she decides where to go to college. She plans on going to South Carolina with her long-term baseball playing boyfriend, Barrett. But then she’s accepted into a prestigious fashion design school in NYC. Can she leave Barrett and everyone else behind to pursue her dream?

My Life as Delilah. Hey there Delilah. I love that song! Delilah is introduced in Marlee’s story. She plays a very minor part but helps Marlee realize something. Her story is about dealing with the death of her brother who overdosed and accepting an apology from the one person who could’ve saved her brother.

My Life as Harper. Harper is Connor’s little sister. We’ll officially meet her briefly in Marlee’s story. She’s tired of living in the shadows of her overbearing brother. So when he heads off to college, she can finally LIVE. Problem? She falls head over heels with Matty (Marlee’s little brother) who is too scared to ask her out because of who her brother is.

My Life as Jemma. You don’t know Jemma yet. You will learn about her in both Noah and Marlee. And you won’t care much for her. So why do a book about her? Well, she feels deeply responsible for something that happens to Marlee and tries to resolve it with the help of Wagner (from Kelsey’s book). This will be a quirky little novella about voodoo dolls.

My Life as Dallas. If you know me personally, then you know I have a daughter named Dallas. So why write a book called My Life as Dallas? Because she asked me to! The basis of this book will be VERY loosely based on my daughter and her struggles. The book Dallas is a high-level soccer player who suffers a career ending injury her senior year. She must kiss her Olympic dreams and soccer scholarship to the top college for women’s soccer goodbye. How will she ever manage? We won’t meet Dallas until Harper’s story (they are best friends).

My Life as (character name currently unknown). A best friend (currently unnamed) of Harper and Dallas struggles with juvenile diabetes.

I would love to hear your thoughts! Comment below.

Thanks for reading my jibber jabber.

 P.S. Once I decide to end the My Life series (or maybe while I’m still working on it), I’ve decided to write a regular adult contemporary romance on one of my most beloved characters: Adam. Don’t you think he deserves a happy ending? Well, of course he has a happy ending because he has Kelsey. But he deserves love. And it’s going to come from a weird place.