I love to write. I've published dozens of recipes and other short-form pieces on this blog, and I love taking a walk out in nature and just writing down my thoughts for the day. For the most part, I've stayed away from long-form writing, with a notable exception: I have a 100,000-word manuscript I've been working on since I was 15 which I hope to finish soon. Shortly after I opened my Instagram account, I wanted to find out if there was a community of people like me: teenagers who were really passionate about something and who were writing books about their passions as I was. In August 2016, I started working on a book (the manuscript I mentioned above), and I knew I would need community and friends to support me through the project. I found one author around my age fairly quickly, around the time I was 16 or 17. I looked around her profile, and I was pretty amazed by what I saw. So, I followed Brittney, and pretty soon, we had messaged for the first time. We introduced ourselves to each other, and we talked about our books. Forsaken had come out a few months before, so, definitely prematurely (in retrospect, years prematurely, since I’m days away from turning 21, and yet I’m still nowhere near being ready to publish), I had lots of questions about formatting, and editing, her process, and pretty much anything an aspiring author would venture to ask a published author with whom he was messaging on Instagram and who was friendly enough and had enough free time to actually respond.
Through those initial interactions, I grew closer to her, and now I’m lucky to call Brittney a very good friend. I got involved with Brittney’s second novel, Fifty Days (which, by the way, has won several awards, so you should totally check it out!) when it was basically finished. In 2018, she put out a message asking for beta-readers, in the midst of all the adorable shots of her cats and the other glimpses into her life she gave us on social media. I didn’t really know what beta-reading was, so I messaged back saying I was… cautiously interested, but that she’d need to bear with me, explain what I needed to do, and correct any erroneous assumptions a few hasty Google queries might have created.
But eventually, I figured out exactly what I was supposed to do: read Brittney’s book ahead of its release to the general public later that summer and help catch plot holes, grammar issues, formatting quirks—anything that a second pair of eyes would be good for before publication. I loved the idea, so I sent Brittney my email address, and I soon received a PDF of Fifty Days. There were a few minor issues (when aren't there?) if I remember correctly: something had corrupted the PDF, so she had to resend it, there were a few minor formatting glitches once the PDF was in good working order, a few typos, minor plot holes. But the communication with Brittney was great, and all the problems were sorted out. Though I’m nowhere near ready to put out a call of my own, working with Brittney helped me to understand what to expect when my own book will eventually get to that same stage, and so I’m very thankful to Brittney for giving me that wonderful opportunity. Truthfully, by the end of the beta-reading process, once I’d read the fiftieth day in Fifty Days, it was one of my favorite books, if not my favorite outright. A few more weeks went by during which Brittney sorted out the logistics of publishing, promoting, and distributing the book; took our advice into consideration and implemented some of our changes; and made her own final changes to the manuscript. Once the beta process was complete, I got a physical copy of Fifty Days, personalized with a signed message for me.
In 2020, my beta-reading epicenter shifted from North Texas to Singapore, and I beta-read a novel written by another friend I met online. I had no apprehension that time since I knew from working with Brittney what a beta-reader’s role was supposed to be. I enjoyed the experience immensely, and I was impressed with how many of my friends around my age (late teens through early 20s) were published or were on the cusp of publishing. That other friend’s book, as far as I know, is still in final edits, but it’ll be out soon, I’m sure. That book too will be a phenomenal read by another young author who I'm honored to call a friend.
I think it was shortly after I finished working with my friend from Singapore on her book that Brittney put out another post, asking if we wanted a collection of short stories that she’d written to be published. Knowing how much I liked Brittney’s previous work, I was so happy that this was even a possibility. That collection eventually became Hummingbird Tales.
Hummingbird Tales came out in mid-September of last year, and I got it in the mail having made its way all the way from Texas soon after. Unlike with Fifty Days, I wasn’t one of the beta-readers, so I only read Hummingbird Tales once it was released to the general public. Unfortunately, though, I couldn’t read it when I got it, since less than a week later, I got sick for the first time that semester. That flu lasted a few weeks, I had maybe a week of full recovery, and then I was down again, until just before the end of the semester. Then, I left my apartment for 6 weeks, unfortunately realizing as soon as I got home for winter break that I’d left Hummingbird Tales on my desk.
I came back to my apartment to find a raw, engaging, book that I know was written from the heart, a book that demands emotional vulnerability from both author and reader. And those, honestly, are the best books. I’ve read quite a few anthologies, but none have woven together fiction and non-fiction as Hummingbird Tales did. Britney is an incredible writer, and you’re practically guaranteed to feel like you’re in the scene she’s laying out for you. I had already read some of Brittney’s prior work, and I remember how blown away I had been by her ability to achieve this when she was even younger, and yet, the sky is the limit. Keep it up, friend! You got this! This book truly is one-of-a-kind and should be on almost anyone’s reading list. So, if you like collections of short fiction (and non-fiction) pieces, go get Hummingbird Tales!
I started reading it a few days ago after I finished all the work I needed to do that day, and I pretty much didn’t put it down until I finished it at bedtime, except to send Brittney a few updates along the way. The book is organized into 3 parts which contain a total of 48 short pieces, so in theory, you have 48 good stopping points—more than that, actually, since some of the stories have multiple parts. But trust me when I say that you’ll only want to put it down when you finish. So wait until you have a few spare hours all in one unbroken period and then sit down and enjoy Brittney’s latest. A great storyteller is one who puts words on a page in a way that transports you into the world in which those events occur—real or not—in such a way as though you feel yourself a spectator in that world in real-time. This is a twofold challenge: setting up the world in which the events occur and then writing the events themselves. Fueled both by her real experiences and a vast imagination, the worlds of Hummingbird Tales are among the most vivid I’ve ever read. This book receives my highest recommendation, and surely is and will remain one of the best I’ve ever read. Sometimes, it takes a while to find your style as much as a reader as it does as a writer. As far as reading styles go, I've found what's as close to a perfect match as there can be, in Brittney's writing. Beta-reading or not, having such close access to an author—this is even more true if you're friends with that author—provides a reading experience unlike any other. With this close access comes the opportunity to have greater access to the author and thus to better understand her voice by knowing what her life is like. It creates opportunities for spontaneous discussions about writing or anything else. Most of all, it builds community.
What started out with Brittney has grown to a community of dozens of authors who I know. We all have two common goals: to write as well as we possibly can and to motivate each other to do the same. Even if a book only has one listed author, so many more people are vital to its success. And that’s one of my favorite things about writing: the community. I’ve had a lot of doubts about my own work, but this wonderful little community I’ve found myself in has been nothing but supportive. Thanks to Brittney for being my entry point into this wonderful community, and thanks to everyone else for your support!
If you know Brittney well like I do, you know about the importance of sea turtles in her life, as creatures that give hope, joy, and meaning to life. Well, Brittney, thanks for being a sea turtle in my life through our friendship. I am the writer I am today—and I’ve kept at it for so long—because you’ve always been so kind, motivating, supportive, and friendly. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you are perfectly equipped to take my good friend’s advice: go be a sea turtle in someone’s life! Be for them a source of hope, joy, and life.
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You can find Brittney on any of her social media channels:
On Twitter as Brittney Kristina (@mindfulbrittney) / Twitter
On Instagram as Brittney Kristina Dear (@brittney.kristina) • Instagram photos and videos
On Facebook as Brittney Kristina - Home | Facebook
On Goodreads as Brittney Kristina (Author of Forsaken) (goodreads.com)
Online at Mindfulness Blog | Mindfully Brittney (brittneykristina.wixsite.com)
You can buy her books at Amazon.com: Brittney Kristina: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
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