Courtesy Photo
RANGELY | Kandis Dotson, granddaughter to June and Ken Dotson, attended high school in Rangely, but moved to Texas during her junior year. Her grandparents lived in Rangely for more than 50 years, and her father was born and raised in Rangely.
“I moved back [to Rangely] in March of 2017 with my twins,” Dotson said via email.
This year she published her first novel on Amazon.
“I have always loved to write and started this story when I was in the sixth grade,” she said. “This story has gone through tons of rewrites. When I would write, it was only for myself. My boyfriend, Shent Mills, pushed me to get published.”
Finding a literary agent, which was once a prerequisite for publication, proved difficult. “What I had written was not what any of them were looking for at that time. They all told me that they loved my story but it wasn’t what they were looking for and to keep trying,” Dotson said.
After some research, Dotson decided to self-publish her novel, “HOPE: Hold On, Pain Ends,” through Amazon. She found editors, designed her own cover and did her own formatting.
The book’s back cover copy describes the story: “Unwanted by her father, beaten by her boyfriend, and abandoned by her mother, 17-year-old Cameran was sent to live with her best friend, Nick, in Hillcrest, W.V., for the summer to get away from her abusive ex-boyfriend, Tyler. Her world got flipped upside down when she discovered she would not be going back to Miami after the summer. She was happy where she was until Tyler showed back up in her life.
Forced to move to New York with her father, Cameran’s world would come crashing down around her. She knows if she can just hold on until she turned 18, she could move back to Hillcrest and everything would be the way it was and she would be happy again.
But with her ex-boyfriend living next door and he being on her father’s good side, would Cameran ever be able to get back to the way things were before?”
Dotson’s new release is available on Amazon.com in paperback and ebook versions.
By NIKI TURNER | [email protected]
