By 
This book gives new meaning to writing journey. It’s truly been an adventure getting to the finish line, holding my perfected book in my hands, 7-years after I wrote the first four chapters that changed my life.
It was 2017. We were living in Bangkok, Thailand and I was miserable. Undiagnosed, but it felt like depression. After 4-years of nonstop travel, I felt lost when we finally found a home.
I had defined my identity, and productivity, through travel. When we lived on the road, I always had upcoming travel to plan. We were true nomads. No home base, few possessions. Everything I owned fit into one 35-Liter backpack. Everything.
Starting in 2013, we would travel from one country to the next, staying as long as the visa allowed, which was usually 30-90 days. Jarrell was a freelance artist while my main job was planning our travel. And I was very good at it (so good that years later I would plan travel for others professionally). I felt valuable in our life as the one who always knew visa and vaccine requirements, stalked flight costs, and found opportunities and rental homes abroad for us. I was constantly researching the next destination and I loved every second of it.
When we spontaneously signed a lease for an apartment in Bangkok, all of that stopped. Instantly. I’d wanted to settle down and take a break from endless travel, but I never considered that would feel like being fired from my job.
Unable to busy myself with the endless tasks associated with indefinite travel, my days felt long and directionless. I tried to latch onto Jarrell’s success, working as his assistant, answering his emails and making his schedule. I am not a good employee, even when sleeping with the boss.
Thailand was beautiful. Bangkok, especially, was so exciting with endless opportunities and adventures to discover. But I couldn’t enjoy any of it. I was miserable the entire time.
Always a mirror, Jarrell reminded me of my dream of writing. Obviously, I hadn’t forgot I wanted to write romance. I was running from the dream because it was terrifying. I had gotten great at travel planning. I did not want to start from zero learning something else.
So, I stayed sad. At that point by choice.
And then I dreamed the opening scene of Daydreams. I woke up and wrote it at the bare Ikea table in our all-white tiny apartment in Bangkok (other causes of my sadness, I’m sure). Daydreams was steamy. It was fluid. I hadn’t written fiction in years, but it was good.
In one of those ‘close your eyes and press send’ moments, I posted it to my blog. Mind you, at that point I wrote exclusively about travel. I had no idea how the many women around the world who took the time to read my writing would take to such a swift change in direction.
The outpour of love and support was overwhelming. They (you!) made me feel so confident about my writing that I took that opening scene and began applying to writing gigs, using it as my portfolio. I landed my first ghostwriting gig to write a novel about an escort who falls in love with her john.
Just like that, I had a career as a ghostwriter. But my blog readers were unimpressed. “Where’s the rest of the book?” was a constant question, comment, message. Constant.
So, we moved to Florence, because I needed to be in a romantic setting to write my romantic debut (I do live for the drama), and I wrote Daydreams. It was my debut, a novella, which is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Everyone loved it. I was so happy! But the book ended on a cliffhanger, so the constant messages just evolved to, “When is the sequel coming out?” Ha! Good problems.
My ghostwriting career flourished. I went on to anonymously write nearly 40 books for authors and publishing houses. By the time I released Nightmares, the sequel to Daydreams, I was a much better writer. And by the time the final installment Fantasies was released, even better.
Each book was released exclusively in digital format. Always pushing me further, the readers demanded a physical copy. I’ve been working on it for years. Literally. From improving the story to perfecting the design, and sleeping with my favorite artist so he would create the most beautiful cover. It’s been a journey.
And this is the finish line. I am so proud of this book. So excited to keep promoting it until ya’ll are sick of me. So inspired to continue writing my next love story. So grateful for all your love and support throughout the years.
Finally, it’s here! The Complete Emily Gamble Series is available in paperback. I hope you enjoy it, whether it’s your first time or a trip down memory lane.
What do you think?