Reflecting on Political Gain

I sent Political Gain off to the editor last week. Over the last month, I’ve spent nearly every free hour in the pages of Political Gain, sharpening the world, strengthening the characters, and making it truly unique. The overwhelming thought as I read those pages again and again? 

I can’t believe I wrote this. 

Like most of my books, Political Gain started with a “what if” question. 

What if they met in a bar, had a one-night stand, and she finds out he’s her brother’s best friend? 

I started to write. 

The first several chapters of Political Gain, in its fanfiction format, were written mainly in my office at my full-time job. It’s laughable now, how back then I had so little to do that I was able to write pages of fiction to pass the time. These days, I have to remind myself to eat during the workday, and on a good day, I might even go outside to touch the grass for a minute or two before I’m back at my desk, nose to the grindstone. But there I was two years ago, writing away, letting a world unfold that very quickly left any semblance of Fourth Wing and became its own living, breathing thing. 

I often say Political Gain fell out of me. That’s what it felt like to write the 315,000+ word fanfiction draft of what would become three books. I ate, slept, and breathed Political Gain. No matter what I was doing during the day, half of my mind was with these characters, listening to them as they told me what came next and champing at the bit to write it all down. 

There is a bench in my head when I write. My characters sit on that bench, watching me as I type, chiming in on what they want to say or do. Lyla Adler and Kage Kensington rarely left that bench during the writing of Political Gain, except for the times when they were leaning over my shoulder, saying things like “Actually, I know you thought I was going to do this, but actually, I’m going to do this instead” and “No, I’m not going to reply like that. I’m going to say this instead.” They were loud and insistent. They often burst forward during a meeting or while I was driving to tell me a new plot twist or an unexpected turn of events. When that happened, I had to write that scene as soon as possible to shut them up. 

So much of Political Gain was “in the moment.” I would sit down to write, and those plot twists would emerge. There are things in books two and three in particular that came out of left field as I worked, but I had to write them. It was my story, but I wasn’t in control of it. I was simply the vehicle writing it. 

That sounds weird, doesn’t it? A bench in my head, the vehicle writing it. I agree. That’s how it felt, though. Most of my books feel that way to a point, but writing Political Gain felt different. Special. 

I have high hopes for Political Gain. Candidly speaking, I’m trying to temper them. I’ve been navigating a lot of “no” and rejection in both my professional and personal life for months now, and it feels dangerous to hope. Yet here I am, still hopeful, still dreaming big dreams for what the Political Gain series could be. 

If you read it in fanfiction form, thank you. As I’ve taken book one (the original fic is split into three books!) through several rounds of edits, I’ve seen just how many typos there were. Grammatical errors. Sentences that didn’t make sense. Thank you for overlooking the mess of draft zero to see the story and the heart behind it. That story, now an original work, is much cleaner and crisper these days, thanks to the editing mentioned above and the assistance of a professional editor. 

Mostly, though, thank you for loving this story so much. It’s because of the readers on Archive of Our Own that I decided to pursue publishing Political Gain as an original story. I’m so excited for it. I’m so hopeful for it, despite how dangerous hoping too much feels. 

I’m thisclose to announcing things like blurbs, covers, and most importantly, release dates. In the meantime, you can read chapter one right here. Fair warning? It’s spicy. Adult audiences only. It’s also an unproofed edition, so you may see a stray typo. I was too eager to share it to wait for the proofed round from my editor! 

Now, I’m on to editing book two. Then three. Then I write books four and five. I hope you love this world as much as I do, because there is a lot of it to come.