How are you with keeping a secret?

Personally, I can keep anyone else’s secret, but I absolutely cannot keep my own. It doesn’t matter if it’s something embarrassing; I have to tell someone.

That time I fell down the stairs and no one saw? Yup…I told someone. What about when I found out I was expecting my first daughter? I COULD NOT contain myself. I told the checkout clerk at Walmart since I couldn’t tell anyone in my family until I told my husband that night. See? I have a problem.

So, how my fellow blog writer here at LockNet, Whitney Fay, kept a sneaky little secret for an entire year amazes me.

What is her secret?

Drum roll please….she has burned midnight oil for the last year writing a book.

LockNet Employs an Author

Yes, dear readers, LockNet employee Whitney Fay is a published author.

And from the tidbits I’ve had time to read in between working and keeping my tiny cave women children alive, she’s a really good author.

But who am I kidding, I read her writing here at LockNet every day and it’s great. Somehow she manages to make one of the dullest subjects quite funny.

Whitney, along with co-author Collin Parker, just published Good Riddance as an eBook on Amazon.

Good Riddance

It’s a witty novel about high school in the nineties:

When Chloe Patrick, the diva/terrorist-in-chief of her high school, meets her untimely demise while hanging Christmas decorations outside her Ohio house, her plans for the Class of 99’s 15-year reunion subsequently land in the laps of best friends Maggie and Rachel. Maggie Dolan is the over-achieving, gung-ho former class president who still lives a mile from the high school. Rachel Atkinson has spent the past fifteen years distancing herself from everything about her teenage life, including the small town she deserted without ever looking back. Told in parallel storylines—one taking place in the glorious 1990s of Backstreet Boys, Varsity Blues, and scrunchies; the other in present day— Good Riddance uses humor and heart to remind us all about the power of friendship, the lure of lost love, and hell of high school. And that sometimes you actually can go home again (even when it’s the last thing you want to do).

How it All Began

As you may (or may not) know, Whitney loves all things 80s and pop culture related. She used to be the local pop culture writer for Examiner.

One day, she had a question and shot an email off to the national pop culture writer, Collin Parker.

The two began emailing back and forth and formed a great rapport and friendship. Together, they started a blog titled Best Of The Eighties.

They realized they had eerily similar writing styles, and back in 2010 they talked about how they both wanted to write a book. In the spring of 2014 they decided the time had come to make it happen.

You know what’s amazing about all of this? The two have never met in person.

Thanks to email and gchat, all of their work was done virtually; Whitney wrote from here in Nicholasville, Kentucky, and Collin wrote from his home in Burlington, Vermont, where he is a marketer.

They hashed out an outline, developed characters, and took turns writing chapters and editing each other’s work.

Whitney said while it was a ton of work, it didn’t really feel like work. She loved coming up with characters and bringing them to life.

Best of Luck

I think I speak for everyone here at LockNet when I say I am incredibly proud of and excited for Whitney. It’s a huge accomplishment to write a book.

I wish her all the success in the world in her author career (just not enough success for her to leave LockNet!).

If you’re looking for a great book, head on over to Amazon and download her book today!