Since the release of Delinquents (Dusty #2) in
October, if I were given a nickel for every time someone asked me one single
question, I would be one rich woman.
Will
there be a third Dusty book?
As I’m typing this, I’m listening to the original
Dusty playlist—the one I made on Spotify as I wrote the Edward/Bella version.
Before Dusty was Innocents and Delinquents, Thomas and Leighlee … it was simply
a Jar of Hearts. This tale of a junk food junkie and her monster was simply
reposted photos on Tumblr and the way my heart sped up when Christina Perri
sang a song on So You Think You Can Dance?
about the ice inside your soul.
All of these years later, I can literally look up
right this second at my bookshelf and see two books with my name printed across them above my
worn and loved-too-much Twilight Series.
It’s
unreal.
For those who know me from before I became Indie Author
Mary Elizabeth—when I was TeamBella23/one part YellowBella—continuing Dusty on
Fanfiction.net after it was officially “complete” was something I did for
charity, and because if I didn't these
characters were going to eat me up.
(They
do anyway.)
I still write Dusty and Bliss. There’s a folder in my
Dropbox full of half pages and scenes that come alive when I hear or see
something that inspires me. There’s entire chapters I’ve written. Entire years
of their lives. Alternate beginnings, middles, and ends.
I’m
an author. I write when my characters speak.
But
that’s a personal problem. I’m plagued by the voices in my head, you know.
Here the deal: There won’t be a third book. Thomas and
Leighlee told their story, and their ending was sort of a beginning too. Some
of the best moments I’ve had with readers is when listening to different versions
of what happens after “Hello”—the good, the bad, and the what the fuck, Dusty is not a ghost!
That’s
the beauty of a book.
Know that I appreciate and am inspired by the love
Dusty and Bliss have been given by the reading community, fandom and not. I do
have a third book on it’s way, but just because it’s not a Dusty book, don’t
think that they don’t live on. They do.
