Message from the Author:
So we've finally come to the end of Chosen. It's kind of sad, isn't it? I'm even sad, and it's been finished for a long time now, just waiting on my computer to be updated. But it's a bittersweet thing – I'm going to miss weekly Thursday updates, you know? It was just a nice thing to push me through my crazy, hectic Thursday schedules, knowing that I could update and make a lot of people happy when I got back to the room. (And watch Smallville and The Office, but that's a different story.)
The book that you all read has gone through a lot in the past however many years I've been writing this. It started as Serve on quizilla, the website where I got my writing start and met a couple of great friends – you know who you are. Half-way through, I moved to fictionpress. If you've been with my since then, it's been one crazy ride, hasn't it? You had to go through my ridiculously unfair and uneven updating schedule... remember when I only updated like... once a month? That was sad. Sorry about that. (I do that now with my other stories... oops.) I finished Serve on this site, got two chapters into the next story and decided I hated it... so you had to go through a REWRITE. I know, not everyone was pleased with that. But I think it was absolutely necessary and absolutely one-hundred-percent the right choice. It was revamped with different names, different characterizations, different personalities... everything. That's how my rewrites do... they're not editing, they're different stories all together. Serve became Aeleisa: The Chosen Life. We got about halfway through when I decided that was a ridiculous name, and we got to where we are today – with Chosen, 30 chapters long plus a prologue and an author's note.
To those of you who stuck with it since Quizilla, thank you so much – you're all so amazing. To push through all of my awful writing in Serve and then to sit patiently to see what happens to our characters through the rewrite when I know you were waiting to see the next book... thank you for sticking it through. I promise this book will be better because of the rewrite. For those of you that joined in for Aeleisa: The Chosen Life, or Chosen, or maybe just picked the story up and read straight through the night (I've had it happen! You guys are so awesome for doing that!) thank you all so much! You've made this journey so much fun and so worth it for me. You're awesome.
This story is kind of my baby – even my fellow writer and best friend from Quizilla has never seen the chapters – I've kept it close to my heart and let everyone, from the people I know well to the people I don't know at all, find out at the same time. I'm nervous to let it end... it's sad for me as I'm sure it's sad for some of you. But I guess I'll get over it. Things end, and then things go on.
I am fervently working on the next book of the series. And when I say fervently, that's kind of a lie. But I am working on it as hard as I can when I can, which, given my schedule, isn't that much. I apologize in advance for how long it's going to take to finally see what happens to Aeleisa and her friends (and enemies). But absence makes the heart grow fonder. So I've heard.
Now that you've finished Chosen, I have to say that it needs another rewrite. Maybe not so much a rewrite this time, but an edit... a big edit. If I ever wanted to publish these stories, I couldn't as it is, because it isn't a story unto itself. Standing alone, Chosen doesn't work. It absolutely demands a second book, which is fine since I've committed myself to writing a trilogy. But books need to be able to stand alone as their own stories as well, which is why this needs to be edited. Never fear, I will not redo Chosen before finishing the other two books. You will get the full story before I go back to change things around on you once again. I know how hard it was to read a rewrite when you were waiting for new. I would never do that to you again and I apologize for doing it to you before. But like I said, I think it was necessary. An edit is necessary. It is also in the very distant future, after books 2 and 3 are completed.
Here's the plan as I see it – I have the prologue written for book 2 (as well as the title... if you haven't noticed, I've never said the title out loud. That's another one of my secrets.) In a few weeks after the completion of Chosen, I'll put the prologue up. This will give you all a chance to perhaps put a story alert on it – that way you'll be able to know when I update it, whenever that is. You can also author alert me, that way you'll know when I update book 2 with chapter 1. And know, if I do that, you'll most likely get regular updates... either once a week or once every two weeks, depending on how many chapters are prewritten.
Thank you all so much for following the story. You're all the most amazing people ever! I couldn't have continued with this story without knowing that you all appreciated it. You're awesome. Seriously. And I won't forget you, I promise! I'll be back, with story 2, bigger and badder than ever. And when I do... look out. Aeleisa's back with a vengeance. There's new characters, new plot lines, new EVERYTHING! It'll be sweet. I can't wait, so you probably shouldn't wait either. But you should, because if you don't wait, I'd be sad.
Thank you so much again! That's all I really have to say. Look out for the prologue in the next few weeks, and thanks for staying with me on this journey! I love you all!!
Love,
Deppfan31