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Enter Misbehaved, a full-length, New Adult novel. My first taste of being a “real” author. That’s not a dig at erotica authors, by the way. That was just my own self-deprecating thinking. I love me some erotica. Anyway, after Misbehaved, I knew I couldn’t go back to that novella life. I had the idea for Bad Habit, and asked Charleigh when she wanted to start. Her career sort of blew up after we published our first novella, and she wasn’t able to start on it for a while, so I asked her what she thought of me taking this one on by myself. She was all about it, and CR became mine.
If you’re wanting a juicy story, you won’t find it here. Seriously, she encouraged me, every step of the way. She was so supportive, and super involved. Because that’s what real friends do. A lot of times, when friends work together, it ruins the friendship, or at the very least, taints it. That’s not the case, here, and I could not be more grateful. It was just the natural progression of things. Plain and simple, without C, this would have never happened. And I don’t just mean Bad Habit, I mean, I never would’ve published at all.
While we’re on the topic of C, please, please don’t try to uncover her identity, or make guesses in public forums. If you want to do it privately, cool. I know people will be curious, so that’s all gravy, but she doesn’t ever plan to fess up, so we have to respect that. Cool? Cool.
Back to me, and why I decided to come out. I was hesitant for a few reasons. I didn’t want to reveal myself until a few months after Bad Habit came out, because there is a stigma attached to readers/bloggers/promoters/whatever who decide to take a stab at writing. And though I would NEVER tell anyone not to try something (seriously, I’m not that much of an asshole. Follow your dreams, peeps!), I have been guilty of the same thing. Like, here we go again. Everyone thinks they’re an author.
I wanted to avoid that drama. I wanted people to give it a chance without having any preconceived notions. I wanted to start fresh as an author. Which brings me to my next reason for staying anonymous. Throughout the years, I’ve made a lot of connections in the book world. Author friends, blogger friends, reader friends. I’m so in love and enmeshed in this community, and I didn’t want anyone to think I was trying to use them to get ahead. So, if you’re my friend, and I didn’t tell you, please know it’s not because I didn’t trust you. I just never wanted to come off as taking advantage of my friendships.
But, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a hot ass mess. I’ve slipped up more times than I can count, by posting or commenting from the wrong Facebook or Instagram page, or sharing a screenshot with my real name on it. After C stepped back from Charleigh Rose, I got sloppy. In a way, a weight was lifted, because I didn’t feel so much stress to keep it on the downlow. I didn’t care about myself as much as I cared about keeping her secret. I wasn’t the one with anything to lose.
I started letting people figure it out slowly. Stopped denying it when confronted. It’s what I like to call The Trickle Effect. It’s my lame attempt to lessen any potential drama for this moment. I’m hoping everyone is like, “Yeah, we all knew, already. But OMG, have you read American King, yet?” (Spoiler alert: the answer is no, I have not, but it’s the first fucking thing I’m doing when I publish this book.) But really, I don’t think it’s much of a secret anymore, so I might as well come out on my own terms, before my cover is blown. And if I’m going to suck it up and do it, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to generate some buzz for this release. So, here goes nothing.
My name is Sunny. Some of you may know me as BossyBookPusher on Instagram, or that annoying chick who never shuts up, and some of you may be scratching your heads wondering who the fuck I am. In that case, this was super anticlimactic, and I’m sorry about the five minutes you lost reading this. That’s five minutes of your life that you’ll never get back.
If you’re still with me, thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you to the ones who couldn’t care less about the name behind the books. Thank you to the ones who’ve kept my secret, whether you knew from the beginning, or whether you found out by noticing a freckle on my neck (I’m looking at you, Kennedy Fox). Thank you for taking a chance.
Bad Habit is the very first thing I’ve ever accomplished on my own. I suck at commitment, and I never follow through with anything. But I did it, man. I fucking did it. And for that reason alone, I have no regrets.
Oh, and one more thing. If we’re friends on my personal page, please don’t mention Charleigh Rose, because my dad is on a mission to find my pen name and read everything I’ve written. In which case, I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again. Don’t break up my family. You don’t want that kind of karma in yo
ur life.
Love you all,
Xoxo, Charleigh Rose/Sunny
Acknowledgments
I’ll make this snappy since I just wrote my life story up there. First, I have to thank my husband who fed kids, cleaned house, went grocery shopping, and cooked meals, all while essentially being ignored for, like, an entire month. I love you more than you’ll ever know.
A huge thank you to Paige, my editor, who is always ridiculously accommodating. I don’t know what I would do without you. No, seriously. Don’t leave me. I’d find you.
Thank you to Leigh for being there every step of the way. You’re the Serena to my Blair. The Jared to my Tate. I love you even when you’re crazy, which is a solid 90% of the time.
Thank you to Ella, for always keeping it real, and for pushing me when I needed it. I’m so thankful for your friendship. “Put a flower on it!”
Mary, you’re my favorite. Thank you for being alive. I love you.
Serena, thank you for all your help. Your excitement and enthusiasm for books is something that cannot be faked or replicated.
Melissa, thank you for your special brand of encouragement, usually consisting of, “Stop being a pussy and write the book!” Also, you don’t have bad eyebrows, so shut up, Donald.
Clarissa and Julie, thank you for being the kind of women I want my daughter to grow up to be. You’re my people.
Shout out to Bex. You’re always willing to drop everything to help me, and having your feedback is vital. Thank you!
Sash! Thank you for being an amazing admin and an even better friend.
Thank you to my group, Charleigh’s Angels. You guys are my happy place. Straight up. I love you all.
Thank you to all my author friends who helped me in more ways than I can count. I’m truly lucky to have so many amazing women in my corner.
Lastly, to my readers and bloggers, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate all your messages, teasers, reviews, shares, posts, and the countless ways you show your support. You’re invaluable.
Misbehaved by Charleigh Rose
Check out the first chapter of Misbehaved, my student/teacher romance!
