The first of many to come! <3 (Millennial core)
My Introduction:
Hello readers! I’m B.N. Kruse. As a private person, social media has been my biggest challenge in this journey of becoming an author. I was invisible and comfortably so, but now I have to step out of the shadows. It's a process and one I'm still figuring out. Still, I am excited to blog and share my experiences throughout my journey. I’m still very new to this, so blog posts could change in format and such.
A little about me… I have ADHD and a unique sense of humor. I enjoy all sub-genres of romance, thrillers, and horror. I’m the mom at my kids' practices with a Kindle, looking up every few minutes. My safe space is my home or my camper when we travel. I have been through a lot in my thirty years on this earth, so I prefer to keep my life simple.
Who are the main characters in Our Souls Intertwined?
Now, onto my debut novel - it's still surreal that I've accomplished something I dreamed about as a kid.
Lucille Collins and Everett Reed are the main characters in Our Souls Intertwined. Lucille Collins is all of us who have known tragedy, accumulated trauma, and held onto it, because we’re afraid or feel unworthy of help.
Everett Reed. SWOON. I’m biased, of course, but I love Everett. He didn’t have to stick around. He didn’t have to be her shoulder to cry on or her backbone when she needed one, but he never wavered. I knew I wanted him to be mentally strong, to experience his own tragedies, but keep pushing through. After all, Lucy needed someone in her life who could and would fight for her despite themselves.
In the real world, people tell you that self-love is needed to accept love in return, but this is a romance novel…I wanted him to love her enough for both of them until she could. I’m also a hopeless romantic, so I believe there are instances where a certain individual can help in loving you back to yourself.
I know I put our girl through it and sometimes worried that it was too much, but I’ve known so many women and men who are ‘warriors,’ as Everett likes to call Lucy, in life. Certain events had to happen for other scenarios to take place. Certain tropes—like a surprise pregnancy—were not going to be used, but the story goes where the story goes, and I was more than happy with the ending.
Pieces of my writing process:
Now, the writing… When I sat down to write Our Souls Intertwined in 2022, I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew that books had become my lifeline again while I was struggling with what felt like the world imploding around me. Poetry was essential to me as a teenager. It was how I expressed myself when I felt helpless or hopeless. So, I told my husband, whom I have been with since my senior year in high school—we’ve known each other since childhood, so we’ve got that whole friends-to-lovers vibe down lol—that I wanted to try writing a full-length book. He did a ton of research because that’s just what he does, and a week later, I had a laptop and the beginnings of a story in my mind.
My mental health continued to dive, but once I got it under control, I was able to sit back down at my computer in October of 2023 and get to work. Before that point, I believe only four chapters had been written, and there was no set direction. So, I outlined and envisioned their story. I’ve found that writing out my main plot points is what works best for me. Sometimes, I’d take two to three days to envision the scenes before writing. Some days, the writing would flow, and before I knew it, five hours had passed.
I officially finished in August of 2024 and sent the second draft out to beta readers. This is the most anxious part for any writer, I’m sure. Sending a piece of our soul out into the hands of others to critique, but I genuinely loved getting feedback. After I found the courage to keep moving forward, I found an editor and kept the ball rolling. Finding a cover designer and formatter was easier than I thought, using Reedsy. I DO NOT, AND WILL NEVER, USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE to write any part of my book or design it. An author's voice should be unique and come from within. Not a computer system.
A lot more could’ve been done with the release of Our Souls Intertwined. I admit that. It could hurt the success of the book, as I’ve heard from others countless times, but for my mental health, I needed to keep this process calm and smooth. It’s been a learning experience, and while I do know that my next novel will be released differently, I have no regrets about the way I released this one.
UPCOMING NEWS:
If you’ve read Our Souls Intertwined, then you know the next female main character in my second novel, and that female happens to be…Tillie.
YES, Tillie. (A little fun fact: her name was originally Lainey, but due to the amount of “L” names in the book, I decided to change it.) Her story began forming in my mind while writing OSI. I believe we can all be the antagonist in someone’s story, intentionally or not. Tillie may have been unsavory in Everett’s, but she’s far from it, and I am SO excited to share her experiences.
My next book is slightly heavier than the first, but I adore it. These books will not be a part of a series but stand alone. I do have an idea for my third novel, but I won’t get too far ahead of myself. LOL. I’ll share more in the upcoming months, but as of now, I have written 39,973 words. I’m hoping to have her book published by the end of this year (2025) or the beginning of next year! Before my next release, I will want to bring on ARC readers, so if you enjoyed this book, follow along for that!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. Building a community and a safe space for my readers is important to me. I’m aware that my books will not be for everyone. I’ve made peace with that, and I will never act spiteful toward a reader for not liking my work or critiquing it. As an avid reader myself, I’m aware that we all have our opinions.
Until next time! -B.N. Kruse
Social Media Handles:
Instagram- @bnkruseauthor
TikTok- @bnkruse94
Facebook – B.N. Kruse
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