Wow.   At long last, the final chapter of The Devil You Know - the final chapter of the Saga - is now posted.   *sniff*   If anyone had told me seven years ago that I'd be doing this for this long or that I would have written five full length books by the time all all was said and done, I would have laughed in their faces. To this day, I look back at previous stories and think "did I really write all that?". It seems almost like another person in another lifetime but hey, that was me and I'm proud of my accomplishment and a little bit in awe that I managed to pull off something this big.

And now that I've indulged in self-congratulations, I must thank all of you. Thanks for sticking by me - and, God bless you, some of you have been with me since the very beginning - and for sending countless emails of encouragement and praise. Thank you for all your questions about my characters and my plotlines and your creative criticism and complaints when the story wasn't going the way you wanted it to! Thank you for kicking my butt when I was feeling down about things and prodding me to keep going. I have appreciated it all. It's been a wonderful experience.

It's all Kevin's fault, of course. For better or worse, he's been the one who's been my muse...the one who's inspired me. He's made me explore my creative side after years of not writing at all and pushed me to challenge myself in ways I never could have imagined. He's the one who got me writing sex scenes, for heaven's sake! And all without ever once laying eyes on me. I'd hate to think what the man could get me to do if we ever had an actual personal encounter.

People have asked "why?" I write romance and for that answer I refer you to Kevin's solo line in the unreleased "Color My World" where he sings "Take a picture of what you think love looks like in your imagination". As the song goes on to say, "Draw on my soul with everything you know, take every word that you've ever heard and color my world."   That's what it's about for me. All writers really do is paint pictures with words and, in my case, I enjoy painting pictures about life and love. It was so strange that this song came along so far into the creative process and just kind of jumped out at me with exactly the right sentiment.

Of course, you just don't stop writing and expect your characters to go away. Just last night I got this totally random scene going in my head and I still can't shake it. That's why creativity can be both a delight and a curse. No matter how disciplined you get, you can still agonize over an empty page for days when you most need to fill it and yet have ideas, dialogue, and characters leaking out your ears when you're convinced you're ready for a break. So even though I say I'm done, I'm not sure my characaters are done with me. I may find myself curled up in the fetal position in a few weeks, whimpering from withdrawal and groping wildly for my keyboard. You never know.

Regardless of what the future holds, I have been, and remain, a devoted Backstreet fan. In a strange way they are like family to me - all of them - and I look forward to their return, even though it's going to be like a kick in the teeth the first time those stage lights go up and Kevin isn't out there with them. Still, life goes on and none of us can know what's around the next corner. There may be many more surprises left in store for us yet!

Thanks again! Enjoy the Epilogue!

Cheers!

Leigh