Princess Lahara came into my life in 2007… her story has been a blessing/curse to me.

Only a curse because I’ve been so resistant to share it, like I was meant to.

A blessing, in so many other ways.

Today I’m ready to share her with you. Her story is available on Kindle (free until Dec 31, 2014, then 2.99).

The history of Princess Lahara!

In 2007/2008 I was part Lynne Klipples business book building program. I did all of my market research, decided on a topic & fleshed out my book chapters. Then, I sat down to write the book… and wouldn’t you know it? Instead of the practical business book I wanted to write, I wrote a faerie tale story about a princess.

I was mortified. 

Embarrassed, ashamed,

and admittedly a bit excited. 

But most of all, I was paralyzed with fear.

I’m not a great story teller, I’m dyslexic and had no real idea how to proceed. Yet still I found myself moving forward in fits and starts.

Many fits and starts, actually. 

Yet, as time went on I grew to know and love Princess Lahara. In a strange way, she’s become a dear friend (an imaginary one, but still …)

I bought the domain name PrincessLahara.com, and as new social media networks popped up (like twitter, pinterest, google plus), instead of using my first name, I registered my username as Lahara – assuming I would build my business brand based on her story…

But I was still paralyzed...

I desperately wanted to share her story – except, I was terrified.

In early 2011, after connecting with like minded souls in Marie Forleos B-School I felt like I was in a safe enough place to share her story… I created a pdf flip book version and sent it to 40 people… Most loved it. Many told me how they had hoped something different would happen at the end, but that they loved the main story.

And, one person wrote a 4 page letter letting me know everything that wasn’t right about the book. Everything.. In excruciating detail…

I went back into hiding again for another year… I was utterly ashamed, and knew I wasn’t strong enough to handle the inevitable criticism that comes with any book release.

(I’m sure she intended the critique to be helpful… in hindsight)

In the summer of 2013 I plucked up my courage, and reached out again. I asked for help from someone who might throw faerie dust on the writing, and help with cover design.

I found two amazing people who did exactly that.. A beautiful drawing of Princess Lahara was created by Ursula (find her work here), and another woman went through the first half of the book and added faerie like embellishments. Time ran out & she wasn’t able to finish.

And, I hit another wall… the book fell to the wayside again.

The ending, still falling flat (in my opinion)

But just after Christmas this year I realized I couldn’t wrap up another year without releasing her story.

I know that someone out there needs to connect with her too…

And, I suppose I couldn’t bear to spend another year trying to explain to people why I use the name lahara on all of my social media networks … It made no sense.

So, instead of announcing to people that I would do it.

…instead of asking for help to finish up the ending….

….instead of waiting to get feedback on the cover design…

…instead of looking for feedback on…well… anything…

….. I just did it.

I proof read the book myself.

I created only one mock-up of the cover design (in Canva)

I formatted the book for kindle

uploaded the book to kindle

… and didn’t tell a soul ….

Until today!

Her story is here….

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RIDGZ06
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RIDGZ06
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00RIDGZ06
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00RIDGZ06

It’s on free promo in the kindle store. (you don’t need a kindle to read a kindle book) and it’s available right now for you to read.

If you live outside of these 4 regions, just replace the .com with your kindle extension, like this:

If you’re up for a bit of a challenge, I would love, love to have several endings posted on her website in the future.

As you read her story, consider writing a new ending and sending it my way.

I’ll have a proper submission form on the website soon (not today) and the second edition of the book could have your alternate ending included (if you’d like)

Thanks for reading….