It took longer than it should have to write even just a quarter of this story. Doubt became a constant voice in the back of my head, telling me I was in too deep. Or it wasn't good enough. Or maybe I'm just a shitty writer in general. I spent a year in self-pity and doubt, struggling to balance writing on top of a JENGA tower of work, bills, debt, and life.
I still don't think my writing is good enough. What used to be a fantasy of a published novel is now a crack-pot dream. You know, "Maybe I can do this just for fun". The feeling of accomplishment is something too good to pass up, even for me, even if it's a very lengthy fanfiction.

On September 4th 2018, The Huntress reached a hundred thousand reads. It's more impressive in numeral form, so 100,000 reads.

The thought was enough encouragement for me to enter this novel as an entry for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and actually focus on some points in Olivia's tale. So, I took it down to revise and create two storylines: the fanfiction and the original. Then release it back into the wild! (Aka Wattpad).

I, uh...

Never got to that.

BUT!

Quite some time later... (like... 5 years later)

Well, I got into a pretty severe car wreck in July 2024 and either it knocked something loose or my frontal lobe finally developed, but I had some time to sit and think (and go through some pretty bad PTSD episodes that I still suffer from as I type this) and writing once again became my outlet.

I turned to OUAT for comfort, and to writing as my outlet. Combine the two, it's very therapeutic and my therapist would be proud of my coping mechanisms.

So, while it is a crackpot dream of having the original storyline published, the fanfiction is now making its return to Wattpad. Because it's my little smidgen of joy and pride left, in all honesty, and I would like to share it with you all.

I mean, 18 year old me's writing vs 25 year old me? Yeah, y'all gonna fuckin love this. (I hope.)

As for the original storyline, it will be available to read as a beta in 2025 before I decide where else to release it, but I will have a sign up sheet for that once we see how this all goes.

So, my rambling aside...

Thank you. All of you. For the returning readers who stayed and for the new readers giving me a chance, and for OUAT giving me some normalcy and comfort while I lost everything around me.