I also want to add that when someone in your life has something bad happen to them, be it kidney failure, or cancer, or a death, anything that’s life changing try to be there for them. I think we all have the tendency to try to give people space, but by not acknowledging that something has happened you’re doing more harm than good. When this happened to me I was amazed by the people who I considered friends who never said one word to me about this, and to this day haven’t, while people I haven’t spoken to in years were the first to reach out. Just a simple, “I’m thinking of you,” let’s someone know you care.
But for all the people who have been by my side through this I’ll always be so grateful for your love and friendship. It’s meant the world to me and without your support this would’ve been so much harder.
—XOXO Micalea
First off, thank you to each and every person who has picked up this book. This book is my passion project. It’s the most personal book I’ve written to date. And like I said at the beginning, while this is Willa’s story there is a lot of me in it too. I really enjoyed spending time with Willa and Jasper and this story was extremely cathartic to write. I was definitely having a rougher time when I started writing this and Willa and Jasper helped lift my spirit.
Thank you to Regina Wamba for the cover image. As soon as I saw it I had to have it. At the time I didn’t know what I was going to use it for, but Willa kept whispering to me it was for her story and it was time to write it. So, I did.
Letitia Hasser, this is the first cover we’ve ever done together, and you nailed it on the first try. The colors, the emotions, the vibrancy is all exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want people to think this book was sad. I meant for this book to be uplifting and I think the cover nails that.
To my Fab Four girls Wendi, Barbara, and Sara … Gah, I love you guys so much. You are my people. Thank you for all the laughs. I don’t know what I did before you guys.
My many beta readers who read my books when they’re in the roughest state imaginable … You guys ROCK and I love you to pieces. I love that you guys don’t sugar coat things and let me know when something doesn’t sound right. I trust your opinions so much because I know you love my book babies as much as I do.
Regina Bartley … girl … GIRL. You are my bestest author friend and this last year has been tough for me writing wise, but you’re always there for me to talk things through or just to give me support if I need it. I say it all the time but I don’t know what I’d do without you.
Emily Wittig—thanks for getting me addicted to K-pop so much so that I had to add it into this book, ha! You’ve known me since the very beginning of my career and I think back then neither of us could’ve imagined how the last year would go. I know having you on my side has made it easier. Every time I get a card from you or flowers or just a little something it brightens my day and it’s like you always know when I’m in a funk because a little something always seems to show up then. I’d rather get to see you, though, haha! I wish we didn’t live so far apart. After all this we need a joint vacation so we can relax and have some fun.
To my readers, it doesn’t matter if this is the first book you’ve picked up of mine, the tenth, or the thirtieth, I want to say thank you. Because of you guys I get to live my dreams. At a lot of times this past year I thought I was going to have to say goodbye to my dream for a little while. Feeling so exhausted every day made writing so slow and nearly impossible. But I pushed through because it’s what I love and I love being able to connect with you guys too.
Shout out to my grandma who I don’t thank enough in my books. You are my rock, my best friend, and I know without you I wouldn’t have made it this far. I love you and you are my sunshine.
Janiece and David, the best aunt and uncle duo ever. I love you guys with all my heart and knowing you guys have my back through this has meant more to me than you know. And Janiece, the fact that you’re still trying to be my donor makes me cry. They’ve put you through the ringer and a lot of people would’ve given up and said they didn’t want to test anymore, but not you, that’s how I know you love me unconditionally and I hope you know I feel the same for you. Even if it doesn’t work out, I will ALWAYS remember this and cherish the fact that you care so much. It takes someone with a special heart to donate an organ—family, friend, or stranger. Right now, I’m keeping faith that this might work out. I know there’s a chance they’ll say you can’t, but right now I have to be positive and believe, and I love that you’re keeping the faith too. God came to me and told me you’re my match. He said it wasn’t time yet and soon this would all make sense, that I had to wait. I know He can be wrong, but I’m putting my trust in Him because I have to believe if He truly whispered those words to me (and I think he did after the feeling of peace and awe that settled over me when it happened) that it’s going to happen. Who knows, maybe before my twenty-fifth birthday I’ll have a kidney. Wouldn’t that be awesome?!
Lastly, to anyone who’s reading this that’s struggling with any sort of illness, disability, loss, anything, remember you’re not alone. We’re all fighting something.
Excerpt from The Road To Finding Me by SM Broad
When Aayla can’t escape her demons, she takes off for the one place that holds the happiest memories for her.
What she doesn’t expect is for her car to break down and the emerald-eyed mechanic who just might be the one to help her believe there’s more to her than the evil she fears lives inside.
Can Latham rescue Aayla from her nightmares and her past, or will she run from the best thing that’s ever happened to her?
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Prologue
The clock on my cable box reads 12:45 a.m.
“What the hell have I done?” I cry to the empty room.
Staring out the window at the dark, rainy May night, I contemplate how my life had come to this. This can't be happening. What started out as my happily-ever-after had turned into every woman’s nightmare.nbsp;
Over our three years together, Brant had turned into a despicable man, but did he really deserve to die? I feel the throb from my split lip and pain radiates in my eye where he backhanded me. I glance down at my torn shirt and sleep shorts, then at the bloody knife in my hand. Brant’s body sits, slumped over, on the kitchen floor. I begin to hyperventilate, sucking in breath after breath, but it’s no use. I can’t pull the oxygen far enough into my lungs to calm myself.nbsp;
I need to call the cops, they’ll help me. They have to help me. It was self-defense; he attacked me. Kill or be killed.nbsp;
That’s the way it was, right?nbsp;
Dropping the knife where I stand, it lands on the floor with a clatter. I stare at my bloodstained hands in horror before wiping them over and over on my pink cotton shirt, ridding my skin of the red color. I back into the living room to search for my phone, inhaling a breath so deep I feel it in my toes.nbsp;
Then I dial.
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The Other Side of Tomorrow Page 30
