Sweet Home Alabama (Back to My Roots) | Writer's Blog #7

[ January 19, 2022 ]

I recently took a trip back to my hometown of Selma, Alabama. I expected it to be overflowing with “welcome back” and “I missed you so much.” However, I only received it from about two people. Kendall was excited to see me, and so was my best friend from high school. Both of which I try to Skype with on a weekly basis.

Moments after my arrival, my grandmother returned to the solitude of her bedroom, my mom started watching Netflix on her tablet, and my brother returned to playing videos. It was anti-climactic, and possibly the worse “I missed you so much” ever!

Can't Go Home Again

There’s a quote out there that says, “You can never go home again.” In a way, that’s very true. Recently, I thought that I could at least revisit.

When I left Alabama nearly four years ago, I wasn’t only running towards True Love. I was trying to flee from nearly fifteen years of depression and denial. I was practically a flower trying to blossom in the darkness.

Once I stepped back on Selma soil, I could feel that it was no longer home inside my heart. I mean, it wasn’t home for quite some time before I moved to Texas. It was a prison, and most of my family were the guards.

In my time away, I’ve heard “I miss you” over a thousand times. My brother told me once that if he showed up at my doorstep in Texas, he’d throw me over his shoulder and carry me back to Alabama. For weeks, I managed to keep my returning visit a secret from him, and he was incredibly surprised when he saw me getting out of the passenger seat of my boyfriend’s truck.

Replanting My Roots

An extremely bright side of the entire trip was being able to sit down with Kendall face-to-face (for just a few minutes) and discuss the future of our writing journey. It was incredible and I wish it could have lasted longer.

Kendall reminded me that I used to be so full of joy when I was writing. At times, I still am. I've had such a blast writing The Enchanted Saga by myself and writing Adventures of Callie & Elijah with her.

Together, I think we've decided that to continue doing what we love and share it without limitations, we're going to be removing our books for sale on Amazon. Instead, we're going to make our stories available to read for FREE on our website, as well as our Wattpad account.

It's an unconventional decision coming from independent authors, but neither of us started writing to make a profit off others. We will accept voluntary donations, but it isn't begged for nor mandatory. We're both just happy to share our stories with those willing to read them.

If you would like to donate, you can find the link at the top of our home page, here.