Hello, everyone!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brittany Cournoyer, and sometimes I like to think of myself as an author. You’d think after publishing 10 titles that it’d finally dawn on me that I am, in fact, an author, but sometimes I forget. I will always consider myself a reader first, and I still fangirl whenever authors I adore and admire respond to my comments, and I countdown the days until a new book is released so I can devour it in a day.

When I’m not trying to write, I work a full-time job at a hospital as a switchboard operator. I get some  crazy calls from patients, and I have used a few to a character’s job in one of my latest books, Oath of Valor. I also have a precocious puppy named Delilah. She’s a year old border collie, and I love her but wow! She is a handful, but she is my world.

But, I went off on a tangent, didn’t I? This post isn’t about me loving other authors or what I do for a living. It’s about writing what makes YOU happy. And with my latest release, at the encouragement of some amazing friends, one in particular named Aimee Nicole Walker, I finally did just that.

You see, I started out with writing romance. My Forever in Middlebury Series are books with happily ever afters, sweet lovemaking scenes, and will leave you with a smile on your face. Don’t get me wrong, I love those books and the characters, and I am so grateful for everyone who bought and read them, but they weren’t making my happy.

So I dipped my toes in the water of the pool of dark and gritty, and I tried out with writing my Protectors series. This series is about gruff bodyguards and adventures. There were twists and turns, and there were surprises to throw everyone off. And that series was better, and I knew I was on the right path, but I just hadn’t gotten there yet. And that’s when I knew what I needed to do. So after talking it over with some friends, I went for it. I wrote a murder mystery, and I was freaking terrified.

As soon as I typed The End and sent it off to my editor, my mind started racing with doubts. I wondered if maybe I did the wrong thing in writing this book. At a Stranger’s Mercy is so different than anything else I’d written. It has gruesome and detailed murder scenes. A torture scene. And… no romance at all. What if I lost readers? What if this book fails? And most importantly (to me) what if people thought differently of me? I expressed those concerns to my friend, and she helped put me at ease. She reminded me there is a market for every type of book, and there would be someone out there who will enjoy mine. I just needed to breathe and rest easy knowing I wrote from my the heart.

How true that last sentence is. I’ve had people message me and tell me that they can tell this is where I’m happiest writing. Everyone has a writing heart, whether it beats for romance, taboo, kink, or a thriller like mine does. It doesn’t make you weird, or crazy, or creepy. It makes you unique, and it offers readers a chance to try sometime different if that’s what they want to do.

So the point of this post that I am rambling on about is to tell you this: if you want to try to do something but are afraid of what people think, take that risk and try it, anyway. Sure, the outcome might be different than what you’d originally hoped, but regret is a more powerful feeling than disappointment in yourself. And who knows, you could wind up surprising yourself and ending up extremely happy with your decision. I know I am.