Creators everywhere, the world needs your stories.

The taste of defeat feels so bitter. The last 24 hours felt like a ton of bricks falling on me. You felt it and so did I. A lot of people are upset, angry, afraid and uncertain about what is going to happen in the next 4 years. While I don’t know what the future will bring, It doesn’t have to be that way. Make this time YOUR time. Be the renegade. Be the agent of change. Be the revolutionary. Let the world know that your victories, your triumphs and your accomplishments matter. Don’t be on the sidelines. Don’t cry. Don’t complain. Don’t like. Don’t retweet. Don’t Upvote or downvote. Put down the phone. Put down the controller. Put down the remote. Stand up. Rise up. Jump up and down. Raise hell. Grab your mic. Grab your laptop. Grab your paper and pencil. Suit up. Dress up. Lace up.

Inspire those without hope. Encourage those under pain. Empower our youth. Embolden the disadvantaged. No matter what and how you create, the world needs your stories.

Get going. You have work to do.

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“I faced it all and I stood tall…”

385 Days. Nearly over the course of 13 months. Close to 6 revisions. 86+ illustrations, 63,400 words, 35 chapters, editing, proofreading, proofreading and proofreading. It’s all wrapped up now. I’m proud to say that my first ever novel “Merry Chrissy and the Naughty or Nice Truth” has finished production, 2 weeks before its scheduled release. There were times that I nearly gave up or shelved it in fear of releasing a substandard product. There were times I believed I couldn’t get the artwork done in a week due to being sick or just being plain tired after work. There were times when family members and friends just didn’t “get” what I was doing and appeared not to care. There were times I passed on social outings. I sticked to a schedule and motivated myself to finish the project on time and (sort of) on budget. What was originally a NaNoWriMo project that was complete, but unreadable, turned out to be a much better cohesive and tighter story. Now, that simple ideal which actually began on a boring Super Bowl Sunday back in 2010 is finally becoming a reality.

I’m no J.K. Rowling (yet), but this is my baby. This is my crown jewel. Molded out of daydreaming, imagination and insanity. I completed the nerd marathon. It’s rewarding, but the rewards haven’t come just yet. I have a motto that I follow called “stay humble until the end.” In other words, be modest, don’t be arrogant and most importantly be realistic. I’m not looking for a million sales or looking to spam my twitter feed endlessly about my book, I just want the world to see the fruits of my labor.

In the upcoming days and weeks, I will continue to share my insight in creating this book. It is a personal, yet relatable story, only shaped in the mind of a 9-year old girl obsessed with Christmas. The release date on December 5th is not too far behind and I can’t wait to show the world of “Merry Chrissy”. Feel free to read a preview of the first 3 chapters of the story in PDF or ePub formats. Preorders are available at all major eBook retailers and in Paperback soon.

Thank you and have a very, Merry day.