Long, long ago, a dear friend of mine dared me to write a book about all the things we both love: hot geeks, horses, and video games. I accepted the challenge, and thus, Challenge Accepted was born.
Now, here’s the secret part. I didn’t write it alone. I had a whole lot of help from an aspiring author. She was convinced that her writing wasn’t ready, that she couldn’t do it on her own, and all of those things most new authors fear. When it came time to hit publish, she was adamant that she DID NOT WANT CREDIT for any of it.
And then the addiction hit. Writing is a lot of fun, it’s wonderful and relaxing. It also has a way of convincing the author to do another story, another novel, or another series. This is what happened to Kitty Cox. (Before you ask, Kitty is her real NICK name)
So, throughout the Eternal Combat series, Kitty has been right there, helping me with the horsey stuff and making sure the geeky parts weren’t over the top. She added in tone and depth to a few characters (including the one named for her, who was intended to be a thank you for all of her help, Kitty Rodriguez). None of this series could have been possible without her.
When – about a week ago – she told me that she’s neck deep into a book on hacktivist romance, I mentioned that we should probably give her a little credit for Challenge Accepted. Naturally, she’s like, “Nah, you’ve already published it. It’d be weird to go back NOW and add me as a co-author. I don’t want to put you out.” But, thanks to the miracle of Amazon, I can actually do this pretty easy. I just want to make sure all of my friends and fans understand what happened.
The truth is that a wonderful author helped me write this book but was too humble to put her name on it. She said she didn’t have her platform ready. She said she wasn’t good enough. She had every excuse, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t get the credit for an amazing story with some serious action and lots of technical know how. Kitty is good at what she does. She’s going to be producing some heart-pounding romances… trust me, I’ve read a few!
And now, she’ll be getting the credit she deserves for the Eternal Combat series as well. I’ll leave it up to her to talk about the books and her place in them. If you’d like to know more about her, follow her on twitter @KittyCoxAuthor or check her out on Facebook.
And get ready for the prequel to Challenge Accepted: Flawed
Destiny Pierce was the perfect girl, the kind of kid every parent dreams of, but she dared to fall in love with games instead of boys. In an instant, her life changed. Kidnapped, abused, and tortured, the bright future was gone, leaving little more than a husk. The drugs were all that let her make it through another day. If she was high enough, then life seemed a bit less bad.
All Chance Hunter knew was that he needed someone to fix his network, who would work for next to nothing. The crazy girl in the hardware store was the last person he’d consider – until he heard her name. Destiny Pierce, the most influential private gamer of the decade had fallen off the radar three years before. She was an icon to the industry, but this wreck couldn’t be her… could it? But he needed help, and she was willing to work for a place to crash and didn’t want anyone to know she was involved. Well, that meant he didn’t need to admit he’d just hired an addict. Without her help, Deviant Games would crash and burn.