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Think of a story. Write a story. Not as simple as putting pen to paper. Not even thinking about them. Sharon teleported into my world in a dream riding Humpy the elephant. At the time I was working on another book. She jumped in and forced me to look at her world. Strong and weird, she dragged Jon along when I ignored her wild ways. I resisted for a few weeks, torn between what I was working on and the drama Sharon unleashed. After weeks I surrendered and started writing Sharon and Jon’s story.
Writing books is not easy on relationships. It means endless hours of staring at screens or out of the window. Hours spent alone reading, researching and writing. Time spent away from family. Since I have started writing I appreciate the sacrifice the family makes in the life of a writer. I owe my family the time I spent creating this fictional world. I am grateful to all of them.
This book took a lot of those hours because romance is not my usual flavor of the coffee. Jon was hard work because of the unfamiliar sport. I would like to acknowledge the work by all romance writers, sports journalists, bloggers. They were my teachers. I hope I am a good student.
Treading into the unfamiliar territory was scary. I thank my wife for reading the raw draft and giving me the confidence to continue. Thanks, are also due to my nephew who resides in the US for helping me with the chapters and terminology related to American football. Thanks to my mentor Dr. Upreet Dahliwal (Author- Reet Singh; https://reetsingh.in/) for reading the first draft and guiding me.
The Beta reading services at www.saltandsagebooks.com helped in understanding issues in the pacing of the book. Their words of encouragement helped overcome the anxiety of sharing this story with the world. Yeh, I am damn scared.
The book cover is the first thing that catches readers’ eyes. For two quirky characters, I was adamant and fussy about getting things right. I thank Ms. Pallavi Pandey (https://www.instagram.com/battata_art/ and https://www.facebook.com/battataart/ ) for capturing the essence of the relationship between Sharon and Jon in the facial expressions, body language, and that finger jab. Yes, it was so on point. The final cover designs were done by the team at Kreativeverse. They are a young and dynamic team that supported me for this and my first book (The Broken Code- https://books2read.com/thebrokencode )
Writing is difficult because you put your heart, soul and best effort to create characters and their life stories; then send them out into the world waiting with bated breath for readers' reactions. As a reader, I always admire other authors for creating these imaginary worlds and stringing them into beautiful words that bring joy, tears, and thoughts. I hope my writing can do the same for others.
To every reader who reads this book, a very big thank you for giving Sharon, Jon, Nate and me a chance to be part of your world. We would be doubly happy if you would leave a review. Your words of encouragement will help save our nails.