Life's funny, you know?
It's 2024, spring just arrived, and I was talking to my bookish girl gang on IG, filling them in on the meaning behind my author pseudonym IVLG. So, I went back here, after what feels like eons, to show them some post from "back in the days", and guess what caught my attention?
1 comment on my latest post where I announced my upcoming book (don't mind the old title, a lot of stuff changed since then.)
It was from someone I'd been close with back in another life. My nosy aquarian ass could't help itself and clicked. A smile tugged on my lips the moment I read it. Long, long ago, still the past always seems to find a way into the present. Given, my book BETWEEN DEVILS AND DRAGONS is based on my early twenties and thus carries parts of me.
The first instalment of the trilogy, yes, but it's already loaded with everything I'd bottled up. The beauty of writing consists of more than lives written in words meant to suck you into an alternative reality. It gives you the opportunity to cope, to experience everything again or bend the construct of reality when you bring your "what ifs" to paper, just the way you've always wished for them to have happened.
While this might sound excessively emotional, make no mistake. My book is at home in the dark paranormal fantasy genre. We drag souls to Hell, kick ass, kill with precision, banter our way through missions, love a villain in disguise, and do our darn best to survive an ancient prophecy. And, yes, it's also hella spicy. The sex scenes are just as long and graphic as the battle scenes. We don't do vanilla in Hell, baby! This book is a dark read and meant for mature audiences only.
That being said, after a little over two years of hard work, many 7-days-a-week months, late-night hours stretching into early-morning ones—my book has been available through Amazon since November 2023. Paperback and ebook edition. The paperback is fully illustrated with 5o dark chapters, large character artwork, and dragon borders on all 596 pages.
Life is good, you know? I was lucky enough to have ranked multiple times in the Top 10 and 30 Amazon Best Seller lists in my prospective categories. Around 64,000 pages were read within five months via the Kindle Unlimited program (think Netflix for books) and the orders keep coming in. A #1 best seller ranking in Poland I also get to call my own.
How I got that lucky? Man, no idea. But I'm proud of what I've achieved so far, and I won't back down. I have an amazing team of editors, a dedicated support team, and a whole community of book-loving girls.
Life's funny because the very reason I started to write this blog back in 2013 is one of the main inspirations for my book/trilogy. "Mr. Big" might not have played a major role in book 1, but he will in book 2 and 3. Obviously, his character name is not Mr Big haha. But those who've read my blog and remember parts of it know damn well who Mr. Big is.
Mr. Big, if you happen to read this post—which I think is not going to happen—you were right. I wrote a book, and it's the best fucking thing I ever did on my own. Until now. You might not be the hero in my story, but truth be told, you never were. And that's something I've always been okay with. It has its pros and cons. IYKYK. No worries, our dark fantasy romance community lives for the bad guys lol but don't get your hopes up. You and I, we both know what we had was never made out of fairy tale bs but rather a pull between to souls lost in the same limbo. For better or worse. Our on-off affair was the catalyst for this sick ride called BETWEEN DEVILS AND DRAGONS.
It starts with the man who brought me to Switzerland, the man I should've loved but didn't, continues with the man I've always loved since early teenage years but shouldn't have, before we come to the man I couldn't help but love but shouldn't have either (spoiler, that's you Big), and then.... yes, then it ends with the man who showed me who's the real Daddy in the house. My ever supportive husband who had my hands shaking before he even got out of the car on our first date.
Anyhoo...
Justin, if you read this: thank you so much for your comment on my old post. It really surprised me. And, yes, it made me happy. Hope your life is just as good. You deserve it. Cheers to old times.
Jess
