Lightning (Thunder Sequel)

Acknowledgements

I've finally done it! I've completed the second installment of Thunder. Whether you reading this were here from the very beginning or you just found my stories a few days ago, I want to thank you for reading this far. For those of you still here from the beginning thank you so much for sticking with me even though my updates were so infrequent. Many of you may not know what I've gone through in the time it's taken me to write this, but for many factors, this story took three times longer to write than the original book. I wrote Thunder during my junior year of high school and I had a passion for the story, a desire to update on an at least biweekly basis. But when I began writing the sequel, which at first I was equally as excited to write, I was starting to fall into a depression that would end up taking me a couple of years to come out of. I began this story at the beginning of senior year, and now I'm almost finished with my sophomore year of college. There were times where I would spend several months not even attempting to write Lightning for many factors. A lot has changed since the beginning of my journey with this book and I've grown up a lot. The desire the write was always in the back of my mind. I knew where I wanted this story to go from the moment I began writing, but it was nearly impossible for me to find the motivation to complete it until a few months ago.

For my entire life, I've struggled with an anxiety disorder, though it wasn't until recently that I knew what exactly that meant. My senior year of high school was when my anxiety started to get worse and the start of college was the peak. I fell into a depression during that time and I almost didn't even make it through the first semester of college. My mind was so preoccupied with anxiety and I had no desire to do anything I needed to do, let alone for fun projects such as writing this book. So I had to step away from wattpad. I had to focus on helping myself. It wasn't easy, but with that time being a year and a half behind me, I can gladly say I made it. I'm still improving, but I've managed to start finding that motivation I used to have and it feels good to be able to get back into things I loved doing before college.

These past few years have been different, because my family has moved to a new house, we have experienced a few different losses within the family, and we have had some difficult experiences occurring throughout all of this. I don't say all these things to make you feel sorry for me, but I wanted to let you guys know why it took me so long to write this story. I also want to be able to reach out, just in case God happens to bring you to this page: If you are struggling with mental issues, depression, anxiety, family issues, anything, I want you to know that my inbox is always open. I'll be more than willing to be your friend, or just have a one time chat. Whatever you need. I know how it feels to feel alone, and I don't want any of you to experience that, so if you're looking for someone to talk to, I'm here. Feel free to send me a message.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's get to the acknowledgements!

I don't even know where to start. I have a lot of people to mention here. Quick apology in advance if I forget someone, you all mean so much to me!

First of all, a huge thank you to my Lord and Savior. If it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't even be here in the first place. Over these past few years, I've learned how to trust him in the face of uncertainty and I'm glad my God loves me enough to care for and guide me even when I don't always obey Him as much as I should.

Thank you to my family for supporting me and being there for me throughout all the good and bad times. I love each and every one of you! Mom, Dad, Kayla, Kyle, and Kinsey.

Thank you to my grandma who unfortunately passed away about a year ago. You gave me lots of wonderful memories and I can't wait until the day we get to meet again. I know you're looking down on me now and I thank you for all the love you showed me during your time here.

Shoutout to my cat, Lady. She is the inspiration for Lily, and she is always there to give me cuddles and love when I'm feeling down. She would often sit on me while I'm writing chapters or even just doing homework.

Shoutout to all of my friends who were inspirations for characters:

(Quick note that I'm using their wattpad names if they exist but most of these people don't use wattpad much anymore.)

@katlynwashere for Caitlyn

@KathrynTomlinson for Kathryn

@angelkitty17 for Angela

@stratagen12 for Chris

@abeceus for Greg

@ebearskittychan for Ellie

@TatsuyaSeiei for Tatsuya

@cameronannlaughery for Camri

@Dracorex116 for Brian

@YakuFredoza for Abigale

@DitaSitaShawn for Vita

@amrinderkalsi5933 for Tosh

More personalized thank you's go to:

@KathrynTomlinson, @angelkitty17, @YakuFredoza, @DitaSitaShawn for being there to talk and comfort me during the hard times. You guys helped me when I was at my lowest points and you are one of the reasons I'm still here to this day. I thank you for being great friends and helping me find the motivation to once again write my stories.

Shoutout to @ebearskittychan. Along with also being a great friend to talk to and being there during my darkest times, you are an inspiration to me as a writer. You support me in all my crazy ideas and whenever we hang out, I know it's going to be a good time whether we are going on some crazy adventure or whether we are just sitting on your bed watching videos. I love you sis!

Thank you to @TatsuyaSeiei for giving me some of the sillier ideas for this story that were so out there that I just had to keep them. You were the creator of M.U.F.F.I.N.S. and you gave me ideas for many other smaller parts of my story.

A gigantic thank you to @amrinderkalsi5933 for literally everything. I didn't know you at the start of writing this book but after meeting you, you became an important enough part of my life for me to spontaneously create a character to portray you in my book. Thank you for being the person I was able to call every night when everyone else was fast asleep and thank you for helping me to get through my anxiety and all the panic attacks I faced. I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for being so supportive of me and for being such a constant fixture in my life these past two years. I hope we get to meet in person this summer!

Thank you to @YakuFredoza and @DitaSitaShawn for giving me the ideas of the bad guys. I'm not sure if you guys remember telling me your ideas for the bad guys but DitaSitaShawn personally told me she wanted to be the bad guy and YakuFredoza gave the bad guys the name ANIME, and so I made her the leader of ANIME. Thank you guys for helping me with those ideas.

Thank you to the friends I've made here at college. If it weren't for all of you accepting me and becoming my friends, I wouldn't have stayed after that first semester. I'm glad I've gotten to know you guys and we have made some great memories together. Whether you guys know it or not, you were also a huge part of helping me find the motivation to write again, so thank you so much!

Finally, a big thank you to all my fans who commented and voted and were patient enough to deal with me during this journey. I know it was a long one and if you were some of the few who have stuck around, thank you so much! It means a lot. If you're someone who found me recently, I thank you as well because if it wasn't for you guys continuing to read and vote and comment on my story, it wouldn't be as popular as it has become.

Thank you to everyone I've mentioned and if I forgot someone, I apologize but thanks to you as well. You all mean so much to me and I love you all! I hope you enjoyed the book and I'm excited to see what new adventures in writing I will go on soon!