God, I Am Freaking Out.

A Lot Of Authors See Their Book Being Banned Or Challenged As A Badge Of Honor. But For Me, It's Nothing But Frustrating And Upsetting. I Hear From Readers That My Work Encouraged Them To Ask For Help Or Reach Out To Someone About The Situation They're In. When You Hear Stories Like That On A Daily Basis And Then Hear Adults Call For Your Work To Be Banned, It's Proof Of Why The Stigma Around These Issues Is So Dangerous.

Will I Ever Get Control Of My Life? Will I Always Be Shoved Back And Pushed Around By Those I Trust?

And Like I Said, I Didn't Know Him Very Well, But My Ears Perked Up Whenever I Heard His Name. I Guess I Wanted To Hear Something - Anything - Juicy. Not Because I Wanted To Spread Gossip. I Just Couldn't Believe Someone Could Be That Good. If He Was Actually That Good... Wonderful. Great! But It Became A Personal Game Of Mine. How Long Could I Go On Hearing Nothing But Good Things About Clay Jensen? Normally, When A Person Has A Stellar Image, Another Person's Waiting In The Wings To Tear Them Apart. They're Waiting For That One Fatal Flaw To Expose Itself. But Not With Clay.

His Door Is Closed Behind Me. It's Staying Closed. He's Letting Me Go. I Think I've Made Myself Very Clear, But No Ones Stepping Forward To Stop Me. A Lot Of You Cared, Just Not Enough. And That...that Is What I Needed To Find Out. And I Did Find Out. And I'm Sorry.

I've Always Loved Brainstorming With Other Writers, And I Consider Having My Work Critiqued A Part Of That Brainstorming.