So This is Love will be my 32nd self-published story and I literally cannot believe I just typed that! I have grown so much as a writer on my self-publishing journey. The thinking I had at the start of my author experience is not the same today… in a good way! This book and all the other books I’ve written this year have challenged and altered my perspective on what it means to be a writer. Once upon a time, I used to think to write, to be a writer, I needed a desk, and a laptop, and to set the scene before writing the scene. All of that is still nice to have, but I’m learning more than ever that technique is queen and the most important thing in all of this.
Because like ENVY and Ready or Not – two books I released earlier this year – I wrote So This is Love on my phone.
The Process
So This is Love has been a story on my hard drive for over a year. I’d outlined the story last year but couldn’t find the time to write it. Between getting acclimated to having a newborn in my house again, prioritizing family and my home, not much writing happened in 2021. But even though So This is Love didn’t get written in 2021, the story and the characters have been living in my head rent free since I typed the end on Forbidden: An Anthology in 2017.
Before 2022 arrived, I mapped out all the stories I wanted to release this year. I even added them to a desk calendar because to see my plans means it must get done. However, I realized quickly that sitting at my desk to add words to any page would be a challenge. So, I set aside time to write, but via my phone. While I pre-planned the outline for the story on my laptop, So This is Love’s story was “penned” with my thumbs lol.
But don’t let how I created the story set your expectation, because you’d never know how I penned this story once you read. These characters will truly draw you in and have you rooting for a love that’s soooooo unconventional.
The Characters
Ayanna and Dallas are a pair I really like. They have so much in common, their bond meshes well, and they are just a delight to experience in written form.
Their story poured out of me, which was why it was probably no stress creating it. They were friends first, although Dallas has always seen more to them than just that. Their interactions are organic, how their relationship develops plays out like a love song. They’ll frustrate you (don’t they all?) but at the end of this journey, it’ll be worth it.
But STIL is not exactly what you think it is.
What To Expect
It was only after I finished writing So This is Love that I realized the different tropes that make up this story. I won’t dive any further into that because if I did, that would give the story away. What I will say is So This is Love is a friends-to-lovers story in disguise *cue knowing grin*.
So much ground gets covered, starting from the very first chapter. We pick up with the two literally the day after they’ve done what they’ve done, so they transport us back to 2017. Each scene after feeds into the next and uncovers what will inevitably be the theme of the story. I designed the chapters in So This is Love for you to turn to the next page. I wasted no moment in this story. Every scene serves a purpose. And even if you miss a few things in the dialogue or throughout the novel, this is the story you read again and discover the breadcrumbs were there all along.
The last book in the Forbidden series is great. The shorts from the anthology have surprised me in terms of the direction the stories inevitably grew to become. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, how my stories are interpreted after they get uploaded for public consumption is out of my control, and I kind of like that. But know if it’s available, I’m proud of it. And this one, So This is Love, I’m very proud to call my book baby.
Are you ready for April 29th?
So This is Love is the last book in the Forbidden series and continues the short story “A Delectablele No-No” from Forbidden: An Anthology. Have you read Dallas and Ayanna’s short story? Get caught up!