Back in 2025, when I was preparing to release Missing Girls & Lost Boys, I was delicately promoting ARC opportunities to strangers. The tropes and premise were enough to garner attention, and in a world of Romantasy lovers, I was grateful for what my little debut dystopian got.
I had been on TikTok for almost a year at this point, so some of the ARC team were becoming people I would recognise in my feed. And then they read the book. I may have mentioned, how I wasn't entirely sure how people received the book. I honestly thought responses were inflated to adhere to my ego, but the more we got talking, the more I recognised that they did truly love the characters. The conversations grew from beyond my books. Of course we all shared the common interest of reading, and then care the rec's to each other, the relatable comical reels we'd tag each other in, and the joint swooning over fictional boyfriends.
It didn't happen overnight, but within months, some of my ARC team had become friends, so when it came to asking for a Street Team for book two, these guys, and a few other invested readers volunteered their energy. And, oh my––the energy was immense!
The trepidations I had for Road to Eden were quashed as they provided a live feed of their progress through the book. They even opened a group chat 'Emotional Support Team' as each reader progressed to completed status. This energy alone, was an absolute pleasure to be a part of. Their excitement, their heartache, their wild demands and predictions were the fuel to push me into book three. I wanted to give them the perfect conclusion to the trilogy.
But then drama ensued. I've previously mentioned all the bad luck Road to Eden has endured, even before its release. And, honestly––I wouldn't have continued writing if it were not for these humans. In the background, they have been the healing force to keep me going forward. I had already thanks many of them in the acknowledgments, but I think it's important that anyone knows, I wouldn't be moving forward with book three if I hadn't had the support of these women.
The dedication in Road to Eden is :
In a world where men lead, there’s something promising about the way women reign in the shadows.
To the women who create queens.
This dedication is more prevalent after the books release.
To my street team, my friends...
Thank you so much!
