From My Heart To Yours

At this time last year, I was hopeful for a healthier New Year. I was excited for 2017 and what it would bring. While my life is good in so many ways, I have had over 50 migraines in the past year. (Last year, too.) Each migraine pulls me away from writing for 2-4 days. And with only 52 weeks in a year, well, it's clear I am unable to write full-time.

I am working with several doctors and doing all I can to get to the bottom of this. It's hard not to lose hope, but thankfully my husband is incredible in this area and believes I will one day be migraine-free.

I am not writing to you to complain--so many people have it much worse. And while there have been days I've felt completely hopeless and trapped inside my own body, I will not give up. This series is so far along and I'm so pleased with it--I will finish.

And it will be done right.

I wrote Force of Gravity with the intention of it being a stand-alone novel. That's why there is no cliffhanger. There is, however, the lead-in to the second book in the epilogue, which is why some people feel it's cliffhanger-ish. But for those of you worried about a significant cliffhanger, no need to fret--it doesn't exist. (If you want to be extra careful to avoid feeling any angst over a cliffhanger, just ignore the epilogue.)

It was during a drive back from Los Angeles to Phoenix that the epilogue came to be. At first, I wasn't going to add it in. I was in the midst of editing FoG and I was a full-time college student. When I got home, I decided to write it just for fun--and it came out in Slate's POV. *swoon!* And I was in love with it. I read it to my husband and he was like, "You have to put it in." So I did and decided to continue the story! It wasn't long before the rest of the series came to me. FoG soon became a national bestseller and I was stoked about where this series was going to go! Then, the day before I flew to Dallas for my first signing, I found out I was pregnant. (If you met me at this signing, I hope to God I didn't come off unfriendly. I stayed seated during pictures because I was so dizzy and nauseated, and I felt so awful! And, I literally just found out I was pregnant--it was too early to tell anyone.)

What I didn't expect weeks later was a missed-miscarriage (if you don't know what that is, don't worry, neither did I) that led to a misdiagnosis about my ability to have children, and a month-and-a-half-long process of getting my body to "rid" of the baby, which ended in a surgery. May I be frank with you for a moment? Carrying my deceased child around inside my body for that time period wrecked me emotionally and messed with my psyche. (Please forgive me if that was too much, but if you're a woman reading this, I hope you can understand. It was quite literally the worst time of my life.) That was when I cancelled an entire year of signings and took a much-needed break. During that time, I experienced unexpected postpartum depression (which I didn't even know was possible after a miscarriage, but it makes complete sense) and for well over a year, I believed a misdiagnosis about my body, which prolonged my depression. My husband and I explored many options during this time as well. Long story short, fate connected me with one of the top doctors in the nation in the fertility field, and she gave me a second opinion--the correct diagnosis. (And hope!) Many procedures and months later, she corrected the issue with a rare surgery.

Why am I telling you all of this you ask? Listen, I am so private, as most of you know. I like to keep everything about the books! That's really all that matters, and I don't like anything personal getting in the way of my fictional worlds. That's why we're all here, right? But you all have had my back, and as the clock is literally about to strike midnight on the New Year, I feel I owe you some transparency. Even though many of you have been anxiously waiting for the rest of this series, you all have been kind, patient, and loyal. You have been wonderful. I've been so stressed, waiting for my career to dissipate before my eyes. But you all keep telling me you're still here.

When these books are finished, you will be the first to know. If you would like Amazon to send you an email the second they are available for preorder, go to amazon.com/author/kellystevenson and click the "follow" button. That way you will not miss it. I promise these books will be out as soon as humanly possible.

I wish all of us a happy and healthy New Year.

xo,

KS