“Diamond Heart” x The Rewind Duology

“The most beautiful things can come from the hardest times.”

Madilyn Bailey

Just like you may have seen in The Rewind Duology, the idea of a character interacting with her younger self is present in Madilyn Bailey’s new music video. Of course, this is a bit more voyeuristic of a style, in that she’s more watching over her younger self – but the nostalgic feeling is the same! Just like my character, Vera, Madilyn was an outcast as a kid, but that didn’t stop her from accomplishing amazing things later – namely, being a semi-finalist on America’s Got Talent (in addition to garnering millions of views on YouTube).

I love seeing art like this that directly relates to my work, because it becomes a great tool to layer my own writing up against. It also proves to me that the things I’m working on matter to people, because other people are writing about issues like bullying too. What it comes down to, is that you cannot ever let people put you in a box – break out of that shit and get moving. You’re better now than you’ve ever been!

This song is so powerful, seriously – check out these lyrics:

“I took all the sticks and stones
All the blows and bricks they throw
Everything that ever gave me scars

All the hurt and bridges burned
Every word and lesson learned
And turned it into art
And in time built a diamond heart.”

As cliché as it may seem to say, it is those experiences that are tough at the time, but they make us who we were always meant to be.

In my books, Vera has to grapple with her past alongside her present moment to be her best self – and that includes going head to head with her old bullies, but now as an adult. The Rewind Duology is something that I am incredibly proud of, and I’m so humbled to be able to give a portion of the proceeds to KIND Campaign to prevent bullying in school. Might as well do some real-world good with my pain, right?

My new business cards, signifying the new era of my freelancing career! And I am SO EXCITED.

But honestly, I’ve already healed so much. I am so grateful for the lessons I learned. If I wasn’t forced to make due with being by myself for as long as I did, I probably wouldn’t have been half as motivated to make something great of myself. That’s why I’ve really thrown myself into freelancing more recently – and that has been so incredibly fulfilling for me!

So case in point – even if life ends up looking different than you originally expected it to be, you can still make something beautiful out of the cards you’ve been dealt. Don’t believe me? Watch “Diamond Heart” by Madilyn Bailey HERE.

If you’d like to read or listen to The Rewind Duology, you can access it on Amazon / Audible HERE. And if you’d like to meet me at one of my upcoming events, you can view those on my website!

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I Finished the First Draft of My Latest Book!

Forgiveness isn’t linear, and neither was writing this book. I wish I could tell you it was straightforward, super easy, and so much fun. But that’s not totally true 🐳✨

It was actually a lot of thinking, plotting, and handling my issues in real time. I forced myself to write this sequel because after finishing Forgetting What I Couldn’t Remember, I felt that all-too-relatable pull of another story floating just below the surface. And I knew I still had some old hurts that weren’t fully handled yet either. This book gave me the creative license to do just that. When you read it, you’ll know that Vera’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences very much match mine. We’re not completely the same, but we’re definitely more similar than we are different 😅

What I hope to show through all this, is that forgiveness is a choice you make. At the end of this book when everything comes to a head, Vera has a choice to make. You’ll have to read the book to find out what she chooses, but I can promise you that you’ll like how things end up. As for me, in my life right now, I’m finally in a good place. I’ve broken away from my past, and I’m so ready to step into my greatness (had to quote #julieandthephantoms there because you might know by now it’s currently my favorite show). 

Writers, tell me which of your books challenged you the most. Did it help you work through your issues? This one (and the prequel – on Amazon HERE) definitely did for me ☀️💕

This book challenged me in so many ways, but I’m so glad I chased those ideas. As I mentioned, this book almost didn’t happen! But I really think it sums everything up in a much more organic way than book 1 did. And that’s largely because I actually have forgiven my old bullies (and it only took two books and ten years to get there!).

Thank you so much for reading this far, and if you’d like to join my ARC team ahead of my next release (to read my newest book before anyone else) you can do that HERE.

Forgiving What I Couldn’t Change is the second and final installment of Vera Bartlet’s journey… and this time… she’s the one stuck in the virtual reality world. It’s set to be released later this summer.