Where Rose Writes Very True Stories

Got another major draft done! fist pump Just about ready to send this brain baby back to my editor. I am SO STOKED.

This book… I had no idea how much I would NEED this story at THIS precise time of my life. I have leaned on these characters to get me through some serious crap. And I am SO GRATEFUL for Monster Ivy. Knowing I had this to look forward to has become the lifeline I needed to find my way through darkness.

Art is such a beautiful, powerful thing. It’s magic. As you create it, it saves you. It’s the gold that you use to fuse the broken pieces of your heart back together.

All this got me thinking things.

I have been heartbroken many times, destroyed again and again by people who have not seen me as a person. I was a thing—something to be consumed as an ego boost and easily discarded, left like a crushed, empty can. My mental health and life were perfectly okay to ruin because, in these people’s minds, they were special. It was a necessary sacrifice.

And some folks wonder why I’m scared of people…

I’ve had to grieve for those broken pieces. For the loss of dreams.

But I am realizing how important it is to not let others decide your future, especially anyone who doesn’t care about what becomes of you.

There’s a quote by Stephen King that reads: “I have outlived most of my critics. It gives me great pleasure.”

My dear friends: OUTLIVE the monsters. Outlive them by living the best, most joyful life possible! Because it IS possible!! I sincerely believe it.

TAKE BACK YOUR VOICE, and let it sing. TAKE BACK YOUR LIGHT, and let it guide you out of the dark. TAKE BACK YOUR HOPE, and fulfill the impossible.

In the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo, Mercedes says to Fernand, “Remember when we were kids and Edmond got that whistle for his birthday, and you got a pony? You were so mad that Edmond was happier with his whistle than you were with your pony.“ Fernand wasn’t jealous of the whistle. He was jealous of Edmond’s happiness.

Only people who are terribly unhappy inside are cruel. They would love to see you fall into darkness and become as miserable as they are.

So, get revenge—and OUTLIVE them.

Get revenge. Let it burn like a fire. AND LIVE.