In Love and Diplomacy

Author's Note/What Comes Next

"You said it was a great love,
One for the ages
But if the story's over,
Why am I still writing pages?
'Cause saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts"

- Taylor Swift, "Death By A Thousand Cuts"

NEW BOOK: "TO STEAL A WEEPING WIDOW"

DESCRIPTION:

"Art is to be seen, not touched." His breath curled next to my ear. "But I'd do anything to touch you."

"Are you saying I'm art?" My heart knew no limit as it pulsed in my throat, right where his lips began to hover.

"As beautiful as what hangs in the Louvre, and just as forbidden to touch."

Someone stole the Weeping Widow.

The priceless artwork is gone, ripped from its place on the wall and leaving only broken glass behind. The pride of Whitehill Museum and Art Gallery fell victim to heists in the night, and the museum is desperate to find the painting and nail the culprit. He's been hired to protect Whitehill and keep the rest of the art safe. She's been labelled the main suspect after being found at the scene of the crime. Both with a job to do at the museum, and both determined to fix broken reputations. But the biggest question of all haunts the exhibits they roam: who stole the Weeping Widow?

They painted her the villain.

He's learning art is open for interpretation.

Author's Note for "In Love and Diplomacy":

How odd it is to say goodbye. What a prickly feeling it is to know something is over.

You'll hit archive soon.

What a strange realization to know this book will be put away, finished and completed. The book ended; the story arc having reached baseline once more. It's an interesting feeling to know I did it. I hit completed and marked the book as done. This is my first book, and I'm not sure I would've believed someone if they told me six months ago I actually wrote one. I actually wrote a book, after talking about wanting to do so since I knew what a book was. I did it. I'm not surprised I wrote such a long book, per se, but I'm surprised I wrote it at all.

I used to wonder what was different about this book. Why this one was completed, why this one developed, why this one was written. Why this one became more than a dream and actually became a reality.

I'm not sure.

Maybe partly because of you, the reader, and maybe partly because of me. Maybe because I decided I didn't want to chase anymore dream clouds. Maybe because I decided I wanted to catch one.

I finished the book, and I shared it. I cherished it, and I celebrated it. And I celebrate you, the readers who stuck with me.

I've seen a lot of authors on here talk about how surprised they are people read their book. I didn't really process that until I got here and felt it so strongly. Because you did it. You stuck with the book. You finished it, and I can't believe you showed me that kindness. Or maybe it wasn't kindness at all, just a curiosity to see how it ended. Either way, thanks.

I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye yet. I'd like to invite you on the next journey instead.

There's another book.

I like to call it my reputation era (as we know, I have a deep love for Taylor Swift songs, and I will not be apologizing for it).

I hope you'll check it out. It features some familiar characters. A familiar CEO, if you will. He's new to his job. Let's just say Simon says hop over to the new story.

"To Steal a Weeping Widow".

The prologue is posted already! I hope you'll give it a chance. Thanks for going on this journey with me through love and diplomacy.

Signing off,

- H

Extras:
As you can probably tell, music played a part in writing this book. As such, I figured I could add my ILAD playlist to shed some light on the journey. In no particular order, here's the songs that nudged me down the path of writing this book!

People Watching — Conan Gray
I Know Places — Taylor Swift
Vienna — Billy Joel
The Weight of Living, Pt. I and II — Bastille
long story short — Taylor Swift
Hey Lover — The Daughters of Eve
I Heard Your Voice In A Dream — Jeremy Jordan and Katharine McPhee
Haunted — Taylor Swift
Control — Zoe Wees