Project Hellion Is Finished! (Plus a sneak peek!)

So I know today is Sunday and Mother's Day (happy Mother's Day all)(shout out to my mom who is awesome and I don't know what I would do without her! Not to mention, I don't know what I would do without her awesome photoshop, book cover making skills!) but I just have to say, I finished the final draft of Project Hellion!

Look, I'm like every other writer. I have doubt. My books will never be perfect enough for me. I'll always want to go through and check my books again and again and again. But there comes a point when you just know. You just know, you have this feeling inside of you, that your book is finished. That it's complete and that there is nothing else you can do to make it any better. It's as good as it is going to get. You put your blood, sweat and tears into that book. Countless hours, countless moments of doubt and frustration and just about ready to give up.

You put everything you had into that book and now it's done. That's how I feel now. I did everything I could, put everything I have into this book and it's finished. Sure, I'll probably sweep through one or two more times because I'm a freak about missing grammar issues or spelling-mishaps, but that doesn't take long and won't effect the entirety of the story itself.

I wrote this book for my 2016 and 2017 Nanowrimo. I started the very first draft of this book November 2016 and have been agonizing over this book since then. 2017 was full of lots of moments of frustration and doubt and writer's block over this book. I had to set it aside and write something else (which became Golden, Silver and soon to be Bronze) because this book was driving me so crazy! It's been through countless versions, variations and drafts throughout the year. But in December 2017, after writing the draft that would become the book that it is today, I gave myself a goal. I was going to have this book finished by the end of this book, no matter what. Starting in January, I was going to start working on this book and wasn't going to give up until it was finished. I wrote the first draft November 2017 and had to completely rewrite it in January 2018. That was... not fun. At all. There were a lot of times when I wanted to give up and work on an easier story. To just take a break. There were a lot of times when I was just not feeling it that way, was tired, but I pushed through anyways because I knew it would be worth it in the long run. Isn't that what professional authors tell unpublished writers? Treat your work like a job. Write even when you don't want to and whatever you do, do not give up on a story. Now, I've bent those rules (guidelines)

every once in a while, but with Project Hellion? I stuck to it. I stuck to it all the way. And let me tell you, it paid off. I learned so much as a writer, so much about myself, and I am so insanely proud of this book.

I'm proud of myself too, the girl, the writer, who couldn't finish a first draft for the life of her. The writer who couldn't be patient and settle into a story for more than a few months. The writer who never thought she could stick with one story for a whole year without giving up. The writer who gave up if a story became too hard or if she lost interest or traction near the muddy middle. And here I am. I'm not that writer anymore and that is thanks to Project Hellion for helping me learn patience and sticking with it even when things got frustrating and difficult. I don't know if there are other writer's who do this, but I've gotten into the habit of praying over my writing, especially when I'm feeling really frustrated or stuck. I ask God to guide me and lead me with this story. To help me beat through the writer's block, to stick with the story even if I don't want to. Overall, I just ask Him for help because He gave me this gift for a reason and I want Him to be a part of it too. To be a part of my process. And seriously, I think its because of the fact that I started leaning on Him more and praying to Him and involving Him in my writing that I got through Project Hellion and actually finished it.

So yeah, I'm still nervous about putting this book out into the world. I'm nervous to share my writing and let people read it, and I don't think that nervousness and anxiety will ever go away when it comes to sharing my writing. But I know that it's ready. That it's good. Really good and so, because of that, and because I finished it and am so excited, I wanted to share the beginning of the first chapter on here to celebrate:

Chapter One

Delphi came to a sudden stop, her breath hitching in her throat as she pressed her back against the closest wall. There he was. The guy they had been hunting down for three weeks now.

Drake unlocked the door of a warehouse and stepped inside, glancing over his shoulder as he did so. Delphi ducked back around the corner and touched her finger to the comm in her ear. “I’ve got eyes on Drake. East warehouse 115.”

A cacophony of voices rang in her ears, all saying they were on their way and not to engage. Delphi made her skateboard disappear into the bottom of her feet, as she peeked over the side. As far as she could tell the way was clear and Drake was alone.

“Do not engage without backup,” Julian said as if reading her mind from a distance. He had been scouring the other warehouses for Drake along with the rest of the team.

They had been hunting him down since he had escaped prison with the help of the Shadows more than three weeks ago. After a week of the Protectors searching everywhere for the guy, they turned the matter over to the Young Protectors since they had other things to deal with.

Delphi couldn’t wait. Not with Drake so close. He was the one who had stuck the needle in her, given her, her icy powers and she would be the one to lock him up, for good this time.

“Delphi, don’t engage without backup. Did you hear me?” Ignoring Julian’s voice in her ear she stepped around the corner, on high alert as she made her way to the warehouse’s side door.

“I bet she’s doing it anyway. She never listens,” Asher said.

“Delphi, if you don’t listen you’re going to be pulled from the team,” Liam added.

“Liam, we’re on a mission. We can talk about this later,” Hailey joined in.

This was why Wolf was starting to become Delphi’s favorite Young Protector. He never talked incessantly through the comms. In fact, he never talked on the comms unless spoken to or unless he had a lead, and he never told Delphi what she could or couldn’t do.

An ice spike slid from Delphi’s wrist, into her grip, her other hand turning the knob of the warehouse door. She peeked inside and found Drake wasn’t so alone after all. He stood in front of several stacks of wooden boxes, a pry bar in hand and one of the boxes opened. Beside him was the woman who had tried to assassinate Julian a few months ago. The woman in the red mask and black hair tied in a bun atop her head. Behind her and to her left was one of the Shadow’s cronies. A man in all black with a black visor over his eyes, a considerable upgrade to the army of men who had been waiting for Delphi when she went to find a kidnapped Julian.

On all the wooden boxes were the telltale sign of Krobo Industries. Just the proof the Protectors needed to take the huge technology company down and prove that the Shadows and Krobo Industries were one and the same. Delphi grinned at the sight of them, a plan already forming in her mind. If they could get the woman in the red, then they could take down the Shadows, but first, she needed to take care of their bodyguard.

Delphi quietly shut the door and squatted down, blowing into the palm of her hand. Her breath crystalized and formed a ball of ice. Elemental didn’t have the full scope of power that a true cryokinetic did, but he had been able to teach Delphi what he could and help her fill in the blanks along the way. Over the past two months, Delphi’s powers had grown considerably, and she was loving every second of it. She slid her spike back into her wrist and crept around the side of the warehouse to another entrance. Whoever made these warehouses really needed to take into consideration that villains loved these places as hideouts and rendezvous spots.

Delphi opened the door, finding Drake and the woman in red still standing over the boxes with their backs to her now. They seemed absorbed in the conversation they were having.

Over the comms, Asher and Liam were now arguing over what to do about the warehouse, while Hailey talked over them about letting Delphi handle this, that she was strong enough to protect herself. Why couldn’t they all just be quiet and focus on the mission? It was starting to give Delphi a headache. Knowing she would get in major trouble for this later, she hit her comm link off so she could focus.

She concentrated as she set the ball of ice down on the floor and rolled it into the warehouse’s giant, mostly empty first floor. She held her hand out and felt the familiar push and pull of using her power from a distance. With her influence, the ball of ice rolled of its own accord to the opposite side of the building. Delphi closed her eyes and melted the ice down, making her hand go palm up, sliding it under the door and reforming it into a ball of ice on the other side by clenching her hand into a fist. Elemental would be so proud of her control. They’d been working hard for the past two months, nearly nonstop. Delphi would get out of Golden Gates High School every evening and go directly to training. He said he had never mentored such a fast and motivated learner. Just last week he had even said with a bit more practice and she could rival Blizzard.

Counting to five like Elemental had taught her, she unclenched her hand and the ball of ice exploded on the opposite side of the building. Drake and the woman in red who, despite two months of searching for leads, no one had been able to identify, stopped talking, their heads shooting up. “What was that?” she asked, her voice sharp and clear. She planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head, her long black hair in a bun atop her head.

Drake shook his head and turned toward the opposite door. He looked more ragged and worn down than the woman did, seeing how he had just escaped from GateWell Penitentiary a few weeks ago and had been running ever since. The Protectors were good for at least one thing, hunting down escaped convicts. They weren’t so good at bringing down a corrupt business/villain organization or finding out valuable, important information.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll go check it out. Stay here.”

Delphi had no idea what he thought he was going to do. He didn’t have a defensive power. He didn’t even have an offensive power. All he could do was make people tell the truth with a touch of his hand. But then he pulled a gun from the back of his pants, clicked off the safety and cocked it with precision. Maybe he wasn’t so defenseless after all. He took the other guard, the Shadow with the visor with him for backup.

Delphi poised in a crouch, waiting for him to open the door. He did, and Delphi struck without any backup or anyone knowing her plan. It was better this way, she told herself. No one would get hurt if this went sideways.

She leaped out of her hiding place and threw her hand up, shooting out a stream of ice and shoving Drake through the door, and iced the door locked behind him.

The woman in red stepped back, between Delphi and whatever valuable objects were in the crates behind her. But instead of fear scrawling across her face, she smiled and raised her hands. “Ooh, so scary. The failed Shadow experiment threatening me. Do you have any idea who I am?”

Delphi scowled, refusing to let whoever this young woman was scare her. “No. Why don’t you tell me?”

The woman smirked, wiggling her fingers. “They call me Nightmare." 

So there it is! The cover is still being figured out, but when it's finished, I can't wait to share it! Have a great rest of Mother's Day and a great week everyone!