I have been asked before how long I have been working on Crowned by Sacrifice, and I thought I would elaborate a little bit, and share my story.

I started this story as a paranormal romance when I was in high school, but it fizzled out and I didn’t end up doing anything with it for more than maybe 50 pages. It wasn’t until I started my creative writing program in 2017 that I pulled the general idea of the original story and reformatted and rewrote the entire thing. I got rid of the paranormal and morphed it more into visions and prophecies and focused on the fantasy aspect while bringing the characters and their story to life. I finally finished the first draft in 2019 while working on it as my thesis project for graduation. What this book was even then, is only the bare outline for what it has become now. I worked and reworked what I had, submitted it to agents and publishers after graduation, and nothing came of it. I wasn’t fully happy with what the story was, but I didn’t know what it was missing. It was then that I put it away, and didn’t think about it until the summer of 2024.

I had started writing book 2 at this point and felt more connected to those characters and that story line than I did for Kat (even though she, Alaric, and Peter all play a significant role in book 2). I figured that book 1 simply needed to be told to get me to where I needed to be for book 2, and that I would eventually release book 1 as the prequel to book 2. It wasn’t until I heard that a new, local publisher was looking for submissions that I really started taking another look at book 1. I edited and tweaked it again and submitted it to Bluebonnet Books. Later that same day, I was asked to send the rest of the manuscript.

Chelsea, owner of Bluebonnet Books, suggested I start the story at what was chapter 3- I had received similar advice back in my thesis defense, but I didn’t give it any thought until Chelsea mentioned it. I decided to save a copy of the manuscript and give it a go. I dove head-first into the revision and quickly discovered that it was absolutely the best advice I could have received, and I’m kicking myself for not listening to the professor that made the suggestion years earlier.

The version of Crowned by Sacrifice that will be available to you is filled with my own blood, sweat, and tears, as well as the hundreds of hours that I spent transforming it to what it is today. I am extremely proud of what it has become, and I am beyond excited to share it with you! -Alexandria