The dark days during the making of "Sad Girl" and words from my fans.

I created "Sad Girl during some of the saddest months of my life.

A lot of what kept me going was feedback and motivation from my fans. I shared some preview pages and people were very into it. I was pushed to keep going by the positive feedback. Though, it took me months and many days of not getting out of bed. Many moments of "I can't fucking do this" and "Why am I bothering?"

Months later, and hundreds of sales later, and I am so glad I did.

My best friend had died only months before I started working on this book.

And I dedicated it to her honor. This was largely the inspiration for me working on and publishing Sad Girl. She had a childhood similar to mine, only she didn't make it out alive and I had decided to live for her and in a way where, were she alive, she would be proud. I started doing things even though I was depressed. My depression didn't go away I just learned to work through it.

At one point I hadn't gotten out of bed in a week and my boyfriend asked when I was going to get out of bed and work on my book. So, I got up and created these pages:

The year before creating this book was the worst in my life. Rape, best friend dying, mom choosing my relative that raped me. Just the fucking worst but this book was my way of exorcising those demons and in doing so I helped a lot more people than I had ever imagined. Even though I only made $350 net profit on this book, the amount of people I helped made it entirely worth it, not to mention the fact that I really helped myself.

Enough of that, here are some words from fans:

"Your coloring book has by far been my favorite distraction this summer. Every page is incredibly relatable, in one way or another, and has been everything from a soothing release, to an entertaining getaway. I look forward to the rest of your work ❤" -Emory

"I just love your coloring book so far! It's so empowering and also I love how much you leave for customization! Every page I do is so different and catches different parts of me. Thanks for being amazing and doing the things you love to share with us all!♡" - Dayla

And seeing people push the box and get creative was really cool!

"Your book has not only been a huge part of getting me through the hardest time of my life, but has now inspired and uplifted me to the point of making my own stuff again. Writing drawing painting and more music than i was doing before. I go outside every day to do my art now. I color and sometimes design my own drawing to color in. I play and write songs and most importantly im doing something every day. Its something i look forward to and it makes me feel real...more productive more passionate. I want to truly thank you and all the other sad girls who made this possible and i hope one day to be with all of my friends. ♡" - Elle

And here are some reviews:

One of my favorite fan-colored pages:

Those are just some of dozens and dozens of heart-felt messages I received.

What I learned from this is that I can work while depressed and even create something beautiful from that very demon that is not only helpful to me but also to others. I also learned that watching others expand on my art and make it their own and get creative release this way is super gratifying. It was a struggle for me to complete this book with all that was going on but I am so proud of myself for doing it and so happy it helped so many and I am currently working on more books.

This is my next book in progress which should be out in a week or so:

I am so grateful to all my beautiful fans and love them so much, they are the reason I continue through all the darkness, they are the reason I create. <3

Find my book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Sad-Girl-adult-coloring-book/product-reviews/153361878X/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent

Find my art page here:
https://www.facebook.com/LauraLemonsArt/?fref=ts

Find my Etsy here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lauralemonsart?ref=hdr_shop_menu