To those that want to know what happened to HOFY & DA:

I feel it imperative to preface this statement with a little backstory. As some of you may know, before fan fiction, I had never written anything creatively. I'm a stay-at-home mom in my late *cough-thirties-cough* and hadn't written as much as a short story. I was bored and needed an outlet for a sinking marriage. I needed something to occupy my time. I found fan fiction through my love of Twilight and Stephenie Meyer's website and decided to give writing a go when the Sexy Eddie contest was created. I was the perfect definition of an accidental author.

Once I had discovered this hidden ability, I wrote for the sheer joy of writing and exploring characters and human nature. Holding Out for You was a means for me to write a story about two people who had dealt with adversity and heartbreak in their lives to eventually learn to love again. I used Stephenie Meyer's characters to tell a tale of something that touched my heart, and over the years, I've been told that it has touched others as well. For this reason, I wanted more than just the Twific community to be able to read a story that means so much to me. So, I rewrote HOFY into an original story to share with my readers.

When I began writing HOFY, I always knew that once it was on a public website that people would be able to download it and share the story. At the time, I had no qualms about that. I'm sure that HOFY is floating out there in cyberspace, and I've accepted that, even if I wish now that it weren't so. Since I'm coming out of the closet with my writing to family and friends, I've pulled the original forms of HOFY and DA for personal reasons and hope that any copies will stay behind closed doors. LOTK and Molto Bella will remain on the FF site for now.

The new story, Ready to Love Again (originally HOFY), is in my opinion, better written. For the most part, the plot is the same, but I am confident that my writing style has changed so much that the same message is given in less words. I took a year, rewrote the story into third person, cut more than 70%, had an awesome beta look it over, condensed the scenes that I kept, had a group of awesome readers/writers/editors from Fictionista Workshop critique it to death, and then added a whole heck of a lot of new stuff. My hope is that even a previous reader will be able to enjoy it again. I hope you'll accept it as a replacement for the original version.

The next question that will probably be asked is whether I'm leaving the fandom. The answer to that is no. I love this fandom—even with the unbelievable amount of drama that I've witnessed recently. I have made too many wonderful friends to ever be truly gone. Friends are great and keep me motivated and focused on writing, but what I treasure the most are the amazing readers with whom I have had the opportunity to interact. I appreciate and love every one of you that left a little bit of encouragement and critique over the years. Your input has helped me become a better writer and also recognize the emotions a reader goes through as they immerse themselves in a story. That alone has been invaluable.

You can find my new website at

If you'd like to send me a message, don't review this chapter, please send a PM or email to ObsessingOverEdward

Thank you, and I appreciate your support.

Annalyse