From One Set of Chains to Another...
by Charlotte Bennardo
Freedom!
In my senior high school year, I thought that when I'm eighteen, I'm an adult. I'm going to be able to do anything I want. I can go where I want. There will be no restrictions.
On the brink of eighteen, in college, on my own, I dreamed how free my life would be. No little sister tagging along when I went places and unable to borrow my clothes. No brother teasing me. No parents telling me to be home at a certain time and wanting to meet my friends.
Funny how life didn't work out like that.
Instead, I had to navigate how to get laundry done on off hours when a washing machine was empty in my dorm. And discipline myself that I had to skip dorm parties because a paper needed to be written. Learning how to budget what little money I had. Making sure I employed safe practices when walking across campus at night because one girl disappeared and her body wasn't found until spring.
The biggest misconception about adulthood is freedom; we trade the responsibilities our parents put on us for the responsibilities adulthood puts on us.
Surprise!
Sure wasn't ready for that, but then, who was?
Charlotte is busy promoting her new YA fantasy, The Excalibur Vow, and is working on the sequel people have been asking for. Her adult sweet romance, Christmas Bells, Hanukkah Lights, will debut in late 2026. She writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels and short stories in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, horror, paranormal, and romance genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has several short stories in anthologies, online, and her website, along with newspaper and magazine articles. She's applying her MFA skills on several children's and adult novels and short stories. She lives in NJ but dreams of a Caribbean beach house. And more cats.
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