Alice Valentine

It still feels very odd to say this, but it’s true. I finally got the balls to publish my first novel. It’s been over a year since y’all have heard from me, and quite a bit has happened since my last blog. But today we’re going to stick with how I published my first novel, Beyond the Sparks, and how this whole process unfolded.

2024 – One of the hardest years of my life (2025 is already set to outdo it, but that’s for another blog).

• I was on my second year of living in a new country by myself
• I started out the year being made redundant from my first job in Canada
• Got a new job three weeks later that I ended up really loving
• Was really missing my family and everything that was familiar to me
• Felt like life wasn’t moving along quickly enough, but also moving way too fast

But above all, I just needed an escape. I needed to reconnect with my creativity in a way I hadn’t in a long time. My career as a copywriter meant I was always writing, and that was a blessing but I was craving something more. With everything else that was going on, I really needed that one thing that made me feel excited about life. It’d been a while (years, even) since I’d written any fiction. So, to quell the deep desire I had to reconnect with my fiction writing, and to escape the madness that was reality, I challenged myself to write a romance story.

Notice I said ‘story’ and not novel, because that’s all it was supposed to be. I figured I would write a 5000 word story with short chapters and a small arc, nothing too serious and all just for my eyes only. Well, as I’m writing this blog you can clearly see that ended up not being the case.

After I got to about 6,000 words, I randomly created a poll on Instagram to see if people would be interested in reading what I’d written. Shockingly, I received a resounding “yes,” and so I dusted off my old Wattpad account and started uploading weekly on Sundays.

Soon more people started reading, then that turned into them begging me to just release it all at once as a novella. That was its own pleasant surprise, because what do you mean people would actually pay to read this? After the fourth person requested it, I figured, why not?

By this time I was well over my 5000 word target, but I was still thinking maximum 20,000 words. Just enough for it to be considered a novella.

Here’s the thing with long-form writers: our biggest challenge is writing short form anything. It’s our superpower and our greatest literary downfall. My 5000 word story quickly turned to 20,000… then 40,000… then 60,000. Now, here I am with a whole novel!

After lots of research, I decided to publish with Amazon KDP – I’ll definitely go into a this process in a different blog.

What’s the novel about, anyway?

Beyond the Sparks is a romance novel sprinkled with a bit of crime-action. To be honest, it took a bunch of twists and turns that I didn’t initially plan for, but in the end, I really enjoyed writing it and exploring the characters’ stories.

For everyone who’s read my blogs and stories over the years, thank you! I got the guts to hit publish because of your unwavering support. For all the my new readers, welcome to the adventure! I’m happy you decided to come along for this wild ride. This experience has taught me so much, but it’s also made me certain on my position on being an author. Stay tuned for the ride and follow me on all socials!

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@writeraliceval

Now, enough introduction. Here’s the synopsis for Beyond the Sparks!

When McKenzie Claire wakes up beside a charming stranger after a night of trying to mend a broken heart, she chalks it up to a one-time mistake. Little does she know, her connection with that man—Collin Pinto—is about to become her most complicated temptation. As the co-owner of a growing marketing firm in Toronto, McKenzie prides herself on professionalism. But, her connection to Collin threatens to unravel both her personal boundaries and professional goals.

Collin, a brilliant engineer with a dark past, is on the verge of launching a groundbreaking product. Yet secrets from his former life in Jamaica begin to surface, dragging him into a dangerous game of blackmail and betrayal. When his path crosses with McKenzie’s again, their undeniable chemistry reignites—but so does the risk of exposure.

As McKenzie grapples with maintaining her firm’s hard-earned reputation, and Collin faces mounting threats to his business and loved ones, the two must navigate a web of secrets, ambition, and attraction. What begins as a collision of wills transforms into a bond that might either save or destroy them both.

Will McKenzie and Collin find a way to protect what matters most, or will the sparks between them ignite a flame far too dangerous to control?

Wanna dive into McKenzie and Collin’s story? Click here to get your copy!

-xo A