To my dear Unicorns,

I have (3) super important things to tell you all.

1. This story is now a published novel released today, July 1st, 2022.

2. The fate of it is officially in your hands.

3. Keep reading to find out how you can get a copy of the eBook for free!

First things first. The novelized version of this story is called: "Blue Rose Red" by B.R. Rhodes. It is available as an eBook for Kindle, and as a paperback. You can get both on Amazon.

This weekend, starting tomorrow Saturday 2nd of July (USA time) to Monday 4rd of July 2022 is the official launch weekend. For these 3 days I'm making the eBook/epub version free to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported "S" and I here on this site for so many years. I'm hoping that as many of you as possible will see this and catch the free download - even if you don't have time to read it right now, be sure to download it for when you do. (Instructions at the bottom of this message). I wish I could give you all a paperback copy too.

And how is the fate of this story in your hands? Let me explain. I haven't always believed in myself but I have *always* believed in S. You know her as "Santana" but in Blue Rose Red she's "Savannah." I truly believe that her story can help people.
But, we can't reach those people without your help.
I will definitely do all that I can do; I have set up a website and social medias so that people can find us, and when I have some money I will pay for Amazon ads.
But as its been explained to me, all of these things will mean absolutely nothing if I don't have at least some reviews on Amazon.
If only I could transfer my reviews on this site to Amazon then we'd be gold! But I can't. And without reviews, there is no reason for potential new readers to trust me, and no reason for them to believe that this is a story worth reading.
That's why this story really is in your hands. If you end up liking the new version, then your review could be what gets a new reader, parent or even a teacher over the line to try my book. It's our dream (mine and S's) for this story to reach as many people as possible, and the ultimate goal would be for it to be used in schools where it could potentially have an impact. Your voice and opinion is so important to this process.

So for S's sake if not mine, please leave me a review on Amazon because we would both be so grateful.

Only write what you want to/truly feel though, of course. I'd never want anyone to be anything other than completely honest. :)

One last thing – I just wanted to say that in the creation of this book - I never hired any outside services, everything you will read has come directly from me with much help, advice and suggestions from S, friends and family… and you guys! I can't even count how many incredible messages I've received from people on this site letting me know what they would like to see/read in the finished novel. It has made a huge difference. In so many ways we've all worked on this project together.

Honestly... this reminds me of when I uploaded the very first chapter all those years ago and sat and watched my computer for hours wondering if the people would come. And you all did :)
Hopefully you'll all join me for the adventures of Briar and Savannah, and this time around without giving too much away I CAN safely assure you that for the first time ever, this version truly does have a happy ending.

How to download the Ebook for free this weekend:

The promotion will start at 12am midnight on the 2nd (July) regardless of timezone, so it may go live for some countries sooner than others. Edit: It actually seems to be starting USA time.

All you will need is an Amazon account (free) and a kindle ebook reader (also free).

The fastest way to find me is to go to bluerosered dot com and the link on the front page where it says 'buy eBook' will take you straight to the product page on Amazon, but you can also search for me on Amazon's website.

When you click on the Ebook listing you should see "Kindle Price: $0.00 – Buy with one click." Click on that and it will tell you you've bought it and it will give you a few choices for how to use an e-reader to read it online.

Just to note: The paperback version is also available right now as I post this. Hopefully I've set up the links on my website to take you directly to the version of the Amazon product listing page from your country. I published in as many countries as Amazon allowed me to: from memory that's USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Japan, Canada and Australia. I am so sorry to people outside these countries, I wish I could publish worldwide.

About verified reviews:
Once you download the eBook from Amazon and leave a review from the same account, your review will show an orange message that says 'verified purchase.' This is a very good thing. Verified reviews hold the greatest legitimacy and weight.

Edit: I've heard that some Amazon accounts are not eligible to leave reviews. If this is you, then no worries :) And if you still want to, another option is to leave one on Goodreads (my profile is linked through my website).

About my website:

So far I've got a character quiz, media page and a substantial educational section for teachers and educators with a complete study guide including essay questions and activities if anyone is interested in that side of things. Ps. See the dyed roses? S made those :)

About my social media:

I've updated my profile on this site with all my newly created social media. They don't have a lot in them yet, but now that I am not spending every spare second editing like crazy I fully intend to start updating them frequently so I can keep in touch with everyone and share updates and the interesting things that S and I get up to :)

Sending so much love, and hope to hear from as many of you as possible :)
If there has even been a time I've needed my unicorn army to rally it's now.
Let the launch weekend celebrations begin!
Love B + S xoxo