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@arindown and @zee

Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate the time you two have put into responding.

Okay, so there is a little bit to unbox here.

I hope this post doesn’t get confusing, ha.

So, in the first book of my series, Kimberly lives in a different country with her best friend Hannah (also a main character, I have 2 protagonists at the moment), and they are supper happy despite Kimberly’s broken family life. Hannah is almost like the family that Kimberly wishes she had, and she loves it.

Hannah has her own story. Her father passed away when she was younger, and so she had to grow up way faster than she wishes was necessary.

But, through a series of chance, luck, and a few action scenes, Kimberly and Hannah meet new friends and find themselves going on a trip to a different country with these new friends. In this second country, Kimberly and Hannah are introduced to Christianity. Kimberly, thinking that He might fill the gaping hole in her heart, welcomes Christ. Meanwhile Hannah finds out that her deceased father was also a Christian, doesn’t understand how a good od could have let her dad die, is enraged by Kimberly’s decision to follow a God who is willing to let their followers die, packs her bags, goes home, and cuts off all ties with Kimberly.

Meanwhile Kimberly’s family is also enraged by her decision and cuts off what little contact had remained between them, clearly stating that Kimberly is not welcome back home. Kimberly, knowing that she couldn’t go home but could probably learn more about God in the new country, decides to stay.

My current WIP consists of Kimberly grappling with a few things. Primarily “Was God worth all of this?” and “Will He leave me too?”

She suffers from a lot of trust issues, and so Carter (who goes to her new church) coming in and wanting to be her friend seems a little too good to be true.

Thought I’d give a quick run-down to give you a closer look into what I am working with.

Right now, my characters are transitioning to a world I have been creating for the past few months. I intend to completely redo the entire 130,000-word (incomplete) series of novellas and possibly make it a two-book series that takes place in the new world I have created. (I know that saying two books makes it sound like the books will be short, but I am both not done with the original novellas and I also intend to add more to them when I work on this next draft.) I might see if the story changes at all when I get to this point after I rework the novellas, and if it does, there might not be a romance. (I’ll also probably send it to other people to see what they think.) But my other current idea involves them starting to date, then he feels called to join the military. He does so, with her blessing, but she still feels like she’s been left again. There are a few more building factors to that situation, but I will not delve into that at the moment.

I really love the advice the two of you have given me, and, Zee, I’ll keep you in mind once I have reset the story and get back to the point where I am thinking about adding the romance.

Arindown, thanks for the thoughts on making interesting dates! I think I am going to apply some of this, and I appreciate the ideas! Please keep me updated if you think of any books or stories that portray godly dating. (:

Again, thank you for the time you two have put into responding. 😀