My Greatest Writing Challenge and How I Manage It

I have always struggled with getting started - with everything in life, not just writing. My head is always full of ideas and plans that I want to try out and accomplish in a small amount of time, but instead of it being a facilitating factor, it is actually an annoying setback.

Numerous questions are always swarming around in my mind. Where do I start? Which storyline to choose? Do I go with my gut feeling or do I listen to the masses? The easiest thing would be to give in, go with the flow. Why chose the harder path by being different when it would be much simpler to write the same old story that has proven to be a sure win with readers?

The answer is very simple.

Because I want to stand out from the crowd. I want readers to recognize me for my own unique stories and the unique writing style that brings these stories to life. Yes, it takes more work to write a complex fantasy plot, especially one that is fresh and readers aren’t used to it (and don’t get me even started on the neverending hours that you will spend on research). Yes, you are going to have moments when you are grabbing your head and cursing the day that you decided to write this intricate plot overflowing with symbolism and hidden meanings. But you know what? In the end, when you are holding your book in your hands, you will realize that the countless sleepless nights and piled up stacks of papers were all worth it.

Now, once you’ve decided what the general plot is going to be, where to actually start? How to pull in the reader enough to keep him turning the pages?

The cycle of doubt begins anew, and I found that in overcoming this next burden, it helps me to physically step away from my laptop and literally go somewhere in nature – whether it’s a walk in the park, or just sitting on a bench somewhere and observing people. Such a simple notion, yet so effective – you would be surprised how fresh air and an increased amount of oxygen works wonders on the brain! And if you still have uncertainties when you return to your desk, take a piece of paper and jot down every idea that pops into your head. If the book was to start off with the main character speaking, what would he say? Where would he be? How would that single line weave in with the rest of the book? Would it be better if it wasn’t the main character speaking right away, but rather some side character that will act as a narrator? Or if the opening lines were to be an illustration of some grand event that will later be pivotal for the actual storyline, how revealing should it be? How much is too much?

Don’t get discouraged if you have three sheets of papers with random scribbles all over - my own notes sometimes resemble complex confidential battle plans rather than neat and organized author pages. Once you’ve jotted all of your ideas down, go over them, one by one. If it doesn’t feel right, scratch it out; it might be a great idea but maybe it’s not the right time for it, and that’s absolutely fine. Eventually you will be left with two or three starting points that you will deliberate over until your eyes fall out, and this is where my secret weapon comes in – my intuition. Don’t be afraid of taking a risk. Listen to your gut feeling – it will never steer you wrong!

Isabella Khalidi (pen name) is an adult dark fantasy & romance writer. Her novels are deep and complex, filled with scorching romance that leaves the reader breathless and yearning for more.

She is currently residing in a small town in Europe where she is finishing up her medical studies while simultaneously helping out in her local family owned shop. From an early age she has shown love for ancient lore and mythology, igniting her dream of one day becoming a successful author.

The Snows of Nissa is her first published novel, with the Forgotten Kingdom Chronicles as her debut adult fantasy series. You can find it on KU and Amazon. Follow her on Instagram @isabellakhalidiauthor.

 

Dragons, Vampires, or Aliens? Genre Expectations and How to Analyze Them

 

Photo by Loren Cutler on Unsplash

Why do you need to care?

You want people to read your book, right? In the indie book publishing world, there are over 2 million books being published every year, according to Berrett-Koehler Publishing. Readers won't just stumble onto your book on Kindle and buy it in droves, you need to work at it. If you're traditionally published, your agent and publisher will need you to identify comparative titles and tropes to help them market your book.

You can write your book for yourself, the way you want it. But when you put it out into the world and you're looking for readers, you need to fit your book into current trends and ideas. 

Readers expect certain things when they pick up a book. Think of how writers pitch a tv show or movie: "I read this book series, Game of Thrones. It's like The Tudors mixed with LOTR." "How about a High School Drama, but with Vampires? She's Buffy the Vampire Slayer." 

If you're J.R.R. Tolkien or Tamora Pierce or Octavia Butler, you can be a pioneer, but even then they are building on what has come before. Although the belief in a tortured genius who is misunderstood in their own time is a powerful dream, it disregards the hard work authors put in to understand their craft and to communicate through their work with their audience. It's also elitist patriarchal malarkey.

What can you do?

So how do you find your genre expectations and incorporate them into your work?

 

Read, read, read

All the posts this week reiterate the most important point. Kristine focuses on reading in your genre and adjacent ones, reading reviews, finding reader comments online. Alexia puts it succinctly: "Don't forget to read." 

“Read. Read anything. Read the things they say are good for you, and the things they claim are junk. You’ll find what you need to find. Just read.” – Neil Gaiman 

The more you read, the more you will learn, and the better you will write.

What are the bestsellers in your genre? Search Amazon and Goodreads if you don't know and read them. Read as much as you can and start to notice the similarities. Is there always a Gandalf or Dumbledore who helps along the way? Does a mysterious warrior save the day? Are the aliens misunderstood? How is the coming-of-age character described as insufficient (or shy or unaware of their power) at the start and how do they develop throughout the story? Ask questions and be observant.

Study, study, study

 I am an obsessive plotter and pre-writer. The longer I can sit with the ideas and imagine my story before I write a first draft, the more confident I feel about the characters and narrative. 

Jeffe, in her post, reminds us that writers start as readers--and we can't take shortcuts in learning our craft.

As part of my pre-writing, I love reading about plot frameworks and researching craft advice by more experienced authors. Find the big writing books in your field, read them, and take notes. Inspire yourself by reading blogs and reviewing story beat templates. 

Here are a few of my favourites:

• Story Grid is such a helpful framework, if overwhelming for beginning writers. You don't need to follow it slavishly, but their studies of major novels and movies helps you to see the patterns at work.
• The Hero's Journey and Save the Cat are two helpful outlining/beat tools. There are many others out there--look around and see which ones appeal to you.
• Wonderbook is a feast for the eyes and a great way to push your thinking about setting and creating world outside of the box.
• KM Weiland is one of many bloggers and writers who are worth following.

Look at tropes lists

When I first started writing, I thought I only needed to have some good characters and a solid sense of the beats. Tropes were too cliche. Now I see that tropes are a short-hand to help readers find SFF stories they like. Some fantasy romance readers love enemies-to-lovers, while others champion friends-to-lovers. In YA dystopian fiction and Urban Fantasy, the bad-ass female warrior never seems to go out of style, but her appearance and personality change with time. Alien relationships have changed forever thanks to Ice Planet Barbarians--and readers can't get enough of them.

As a writer, you will have your favourites, so lean into those and have fun with them. Do you like the Archie-Veronica-Betty triangle? Gender swap and put them in a world governed by strict class and geographical boundaries and make it life or death (aka The Hunger Games). Do you love a good seduction and abandonment story? Make it vampires and set it in New Orleans (aka The Vampire Lestat). There are so many possibilities!

You can find some fun tropes lists here:

• 101 Science Fiction Tropes For Writers. (Funny if you like Sci Fi blockbuster franchises)
• 80 Sci-Fi Tropes for Writers (More informative and helpful)
• 10 Fantasy and Sci-Fi Tropes Fans Love (a bit of hodge podge, but spot on) 
• 21 Popular Fantasy Tropes for Writers (you will recognize all of these)

And everyone should listen to this podcast to be responsible in their representations of indigenous peoples in SFF:

• Métis in Space  (important considerations of indigenous steretypes in SFF)

Join reader groups

In her post this week, Marcella describes her experiences listening to fandom readers talk about what matters to them. Writers have amazing opportunities to hear from readers today and to learn what expectations they have. Scroll through Goodreads, join some Facebook groups or watch videos from Booktok. This research will help you understand your audience and what they want.

Remember that everything you read, study, and hear goes into the simmering pot of your story. You have to find the sweet spot between genre expectations and the book inside of you. But ignore genre expectations at your peril!

“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” – Lisa See 

Until next time, Mimi

One Piece of Advice

 

When I look back on my journey as an author, many hard-fought lessons come to mind. But there's one bit of knowledge I wish I had taken to heart much earlier: 

You don't have to do everything, and it most certainly doesn't have to be done perfectly. 

Maybe that's cheating because it's two pieces of advice, I suppose. But the reason I put this advice as a single piece is because almost inevitably whenever I sat down and tried to limit what was on my plate, I immediately fell even more into perfectionism. It was as if saying no to doing some things (like building a following on every single social media platform or reading all of the newsletters in my genre or reading every report on trends and marketing) suddenly meant that what I did do had to be perfect.

The reality is that true perfection in our line of work does not exist. Not when you're starting out. Not in the middle. And not at the end. 

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't proof your work or put in your best effort or that you shouldn't revise. 

You absolutely should. 

But there comes a point when you have to let go. If you wait until you think it's perfect or has no more room for improvement, you're going to accomplish precious little. And when I look back over my time as an author and writer, I realize how much I learned in the failures and mistakes. 

Trust me. There has been a lot of them. I can't say I enjoyed either the failures or mistakes (though some did give me funny stories for later recountings). But they taught me so much. Both in what I should do and shouldn't do. 

Not to mention that if you're doing things properly, you're constantly learning. Especially about your craft as a storyteller. You, as a person, are changing and continuously developing your voice. Especially when you're starting out. If you get swept away in trying to learn all the newest tricks for everything while also keeping up on trends within your genre or learning about all the different writing techniques and processes, you will get bogged down. 

In this hustle culture, it's important to remember too that you physically cannot do everything that an author could do. Not even if you sacrifice all of your mental health and physical wellness (and it wouldn't be worth it even if you could). You have to be selective. But sometimes the only way to determine what works best for you is to leap out into the mass of opportunities and test out different ideas, concepts, and possibilities. You get through them, reassess, and then try again. 

Once I accepted that picking something, focusing on it, failing and getting better was just a part of the learning curve, I found the whole process became so much easier. That was true in the first stories I released as well as in running the business end. 

Any author who has been around for a while has a host of mistakes and hard-learned lessons in all areas of the storytelling and publishing process. It's a rite of passage. Many of the most successful are the ones who seize those opportunities, narrow down what they're doing, and keep chugging along at the pace best suited to them.

So don't let the pressure to do everything get you down. No one does everything alone. And you don't have to do everything to succeed. It doesn't even have to be perfect. So long as you keep pressing ahead and don't count yourself out, you're still in. 

We are all constantly learning and growing, no matter what stage we are at as authors. No one who succeeds does all the things. And thank goodness for that. You pick what works for you. Learn that as best you can and let go. Then you learn from that and repeat. And that's something any of us can do. 

Jessica M. Butler is a USA Today bestselling romantic fantasy author who never outgrew her love for telling stories and playing in imaginary worlds. She lives with her husband and law partner, James Fry, in rural Indiana where they are quite happy with their two cats and all of the wildlife and trees.

You can find her at http://jmbutlerauthor.com/.

Bound in Magic and should you join anthologies?

 Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash

This is me, channeling girlboss energy with my author besties. 

Okay, it's the platonic ideal--but we need this today. 

Our preorders were cancelled for the new author anthology I'm in, and we have spent the last 24 hours crying, pulling out our hair, and trying to help our fearless organizer, Priscilla Rose, not jump off a cliff.  (We've sorted it out and have a new booklink: https://books2read.com/u/mgNKlR)

This is what the reality has been: 

Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash

I still would do it again--and plan to do it again next year.

New authors are encouraged to contribute to anthologies. Make new friends! Learn something! Get your name out there! And it's all true. 

But they can also be hit and miss. Sometimes they're great and other times they're not. (The two I've been a part of have been wonderful, but there's another forthcoming one that I'm iffy on.) And when you're new, you might not know how to find the good ones. 

Trial and error. Luck and hard work. Look at the pieces about luck last week - this was definitely me in the case of the Once Upon a Forbidden Desire anthology in Fall-Winter 2022. I was in the right place at the right time and jumped on the opportunity. Boy, was I fortunate!

The Bound in Magic anthology also came out of the FaRo group - a group of us were highlighted in a FaRo blog post, 10 Debut Fantasy Romance Authors to Love On in 2022. We ran a giveaway and then came up with the idea of writing stories for an anthology.

These authors are amazing! We are all quirky and creative, and there has been so much love and support over the months that I can't believe it! It really has been the dream.

Except when it turned into a nightmare and our book and preorders were canceled.

But now we're back smiling with relief, and laughing in a field of sunflowers!

Photo by Antonino Visalli on Unsplash

If you would like to see the fruits of our labours, please order our book! Bound in Magic (https://books2read.com/u/mgNKlR).

Until next time,

Mimi B. Rose

Maybe She Was Born Lucky. Maybe She Worked Her Butt Off

1 Image credit by PIRO4D from Pixabay

 

In any creative field, there are those who stand out, and publishing is no different. You know who I mean; we call them overnight successes or media sensations, and talk about how they breezed through the publishing process. We refer to their work as lightning in a bottle, because of course the acclaim and attention it’s receiving is a one-off. There’s no way the critical acclaim and subsequent popularity could be the result of something as mundane as hard work.

And yet, it almost always is.

The thing is, when hard work pays off it invariably looks like luck. Why that is I’ll never know, but I’ve seen it happen time and again. For instance, a friend of mine started out ghost writing ten years ago, and back then she made about one hundred dollars per book. Now she makes in excess of ten thousand dollars per book, and has worked with some of the biggest names in publishing. 

Another friend of mine (see how I’m not naming names? That’s another aspect of luck—I know enough about the legal system to keep myself from getting sued for libel) released an unconventional YA book that shot up the charts, was translated into multiple languages, spawned three sequels and many reprints, and is currently being made into a movie. All the articles touting her “overnight success”—her luckiness—conveniently ignored the first five books she’d released in the same genre.

2 image credit: by Adina Voicu from Pixabay

Therefore, my friends, I must conclude that the appearance of luck is really the result of many months, years, or even decades of hard work. This may seem daunting at first, but I rather enjoy the concept. Any one of us can improve our chances of success by working hard, honing our craft, and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

And that is how we make our own luck.

How do you make your own luck? Tell us in the comments, and as always, happy reading!

 Jennifer Allis Provost writes books about faeries, orcs and elves. Zombies, too. She grew up in the wilds of Western Massachusetts and had read every book in the local library by age twelve. (It was a small library.) An early love of mythology and folklore led to her epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Parthalan, and her day job as a cubicle monkey helped shape her urban fantasy, Copper Girl. When she’s not writing about things that go bump in the night (and sometimes during the day) she’s working on her MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Get to know Jenn at https://authorjenniferallisprovost.com

Jenn’s latest release, Oleander, is available here: https://books2read.com/poisongarden-oleander

Photo Credit: Pexels

As the release of my debut, A Realm of Ash and Shadow, draws near, there are three things I’ve learned over this past year that I’d love to share with other authors at the same stage of this journey as I am.

3 Things I Learned as a Debut Author

Learn to Slow Down

You’re going to be pushed and pulled in many directions. It’s inevitable. But you need to learn how to slow down. You can take time for yourself and recharge in the ways that recharge you best. Sometimes that’s self-care; other times, that’s losing yourself while drafting another book.

For me, it’s Saturdays on the couch with a book or binge-watching a show with my husband. Maybe for you, it’s Tuesday nights on Fortnite, or it’s Thursday mornings at Target.

Whatever it is, slow down and relish in the peace of it.

Embrace Rejection

Often, writers believe that once you sign with an agent or sell your book and you’re finally, FINALLY, being published, the rejections just… end. They don’t. They keep coming, and staying positive can be hard when you’re constantly being told no. Or when you’ve put in so much effort to market your debut, and you don’t make any lists. Or when you host a book event with twenty empty seats.

Or when negative reviews inevitably come in, and it feels like a personal attack.

I remember the first one-star review I ever received on my debut A Realm of Ash and Shadow. My chest felt tight, and my cheeks were hot. It was brutal. But I let it hurt, leaned on my husband and writer friends, and then I… got over it.

Not everyone will love your book, and it’s best to accept that sooner rather than later.

Create A Routine

Amidst all the hecticness of debuting, you will want to create a routine. Currently, I’m fortunate enough to freelance part-time while I focus on my career as an author. But it wasn’t always like this for me. Before I cut back on my client work, I was working full-time, drafting a sequel, and going through the entire pre-publication process for my debut.

It was so incredibly draining that I had to make cuts somewhere.

So, I cut back on my client work and forced myself into a routine that looked like this:

Morning:

Before I even start my working day, I enjoy some me-time! I take a long walk with my dog, brew coffee, and scroll on social media. Then, I dive into client work. I spend about three hours doing as much as I can to get all of my client work finished because I can’t focus on debuting or drafting if I have other deadlines looming over me.

Midday:

I always, always, try to remember to eat lunch. Sometimes I think I’m a workaholic, and I can sustain myself on iced coffee. It’s not good for me. (It’s not good for anyone, really.) Then, after lunch, I start working on all things debut. This looks like answering emails, creating social media graphics, calling indie bookstores to see if they’ll stock my book, etc. I also focus on building my author platform. So much goes into debuting that it’s hard to keep up.

Afternoon:

Once I’ve done everything on my schedule for my debut, it’s time to sprint! I most look forward to this part of my day because I love drafting and working on my craft.

All that to say, not every day goes perfectly. Sometimes there are fires I have to put out for my clients, and it cuts into the time I’ve allotted to draft. Sometimes I end up deviating from my routine altogether. But I always go back to my routine because it allows me to set boundaries and focus on what’s most important during those time frames instead of stressing about everything all the time.

Compartmentalizing is the best!

All this to say… you can and will survive your debut year as an author!

I hope these three things I learned as a debut author are helpful. Do you have any tips for debuting? I’d love to hear them! Feel free to comment below or come let me know over on Instagram @laraonfire.

Lara Buckheit is the author of A Realm of Ash and Shadow: https://books2read.com/aroaas. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Wilmington University, is a 2021 WriteMentor Mentee, an avid writer (and reader) of spice, and one time she met Taylor Swift's dad. She started writing at a very young age, mostly fanfiction centered around women with swords and men with devilish grins. And she hasn't stopped since. When not writing, Lara can be found drinking tea, hustling for her day job, and reading from her endless TBR pile. Lara currently lives in Charlottesville, VA, with her husband, dog, and thirteen houseplants named after fictional characters.

The (Real) Rise of Skywalker

 

Be forewarned — spoilers ahead.

First, let me preface this with one thing: I absolutely hate stories where the villain redeems themself through death.

I loathe it. It’s the easy road. It’s a cheap way to tie up loose ends without actually putting in effort.

And I despise Disney for doing it to Ben when they could’ve done SO. MUCH. MORE. with his character.

So today, I’m going to share what I would’ve done with Ben’s character post The Rise of Skywalker…

Ben (as Kylo Ren) did a lot of things that most people would consider irredeemable throughout the trilogy. To name a few: he merc’d his dad (Han Solo), he ordered the slaughter on the village of Jakku, he destroyed the Hosnian System, and, at times, he was an entitled little shit.

But before he was Kylo Ren, he was a child who was manipulated to the dark side by someone literally inside his head. He needed help and the people he trusted most (his parents and his uncle) abandoned him to the voice, to the dark side.

It really was quite tragic.

So what would I have done with him?

I would’ve had him fighting side-by-side with Rey so death wasn’t an option. They would’ve defeated Emperor Palpatine together along with the help of some Force ghosts (and maybe Anakin’s ghost would tell Ben he’s so proud of him for overcoming the dark side, and we’d all cry…), and once Palpatine was toast, Ben and Rey would’ve kissed and laughed and realized that keeping hope alive in other people is a very real thing that has magnificent outcomes.

Afterward, Ben would’ve become the notion behind the film’s title by doing everything he could to right the wrongs he committed (while going to therapy). He would move to Ach-To (where the Jedi Order was founded), and he would train the next group of Jedi. He would give back endlessly/tirelessly until he earned the trust of those around him and he would’ve stood on the right side of history in the next inevitable battle against the dark side. And during that battle? Ben would wield Anakin’s lightsaber (not Rey) and all would be right in the galaxy.

 

                         

Can you tell I’ve thought a lot about this? Haha.

In my debut, A Realm of Ash and Shadow, there is a character who shares traits with Anakin/Ben Solo. He’s messy and could really benefit from a really tight hug and years of therapy. But I wouldn’t dream of killing him off to right the wrongs he’s committed. Instead, he is working every day to be better, to do good, and to atone for what he’s done. And dare I say, he actually apologizes.

A non-death redemption arc for Ben Solo would break the cyclic notion that in order to be forgiven for all the wrongs that a character had committed, they’d have to die. But stories shouldn’t be that black and white. They are shades of grey. By giving Ben Solo an actual redemption arc, writers would instill hope that people can change, they can do better.

So what do you think about my redemption arc for Ben Solo? Would you have preferred if he lived and trained a new school of Jedi? If he made amends without dying? Let me know in the comments or over on Instagram @laraonfire!

And if you’re looking for any ideas on what makes a good villain, Alexia has you covered in this blog HERE.

PHOTO CREDITS: All images are from Google Images.

Lara Buckheit is the author of A Realm of Ash and Shadow: https://books2read.com/aroaas. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Wilmington University, is a 2021 WriteMentor Mentee, an avid writer (and reader) of spice, and one time she met Taylor Swift's dad. She started writing at a very young age, mostly fanfiction centered around women with swords and men with devilish grins. And she hasn't stopped since. When not writing, Lara can be found drinking tea, hustling for her day job, and reading from her endless TBR pile. Lara currently lives in Charlottesville, VA, with her husband, dog, and thirteen houseplants named after fictional characters.

Being a Better Critique Partner / Beta Reader

 

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

As an educator, I believe all of us are always learning. As a writer, I can be shy and anxious when sharing my work to a new person or group. I try to remember both  these attitudes when I'm a critique partner or a beta reader.

Writers are always learning

When I teach creative writing, I help students take risks and experiment. We know that publishers, readers, and agents are looking for fresh, unique voices. Yet young people today are caught by the expectations for instant success and living perfect lives. Failure is difficult, even though more seasoned writers know that is how we learn. 

Writing is messy. It's necessary to try and fail and try again. 

Young people are also hampered by social media's value of conformity, which can be the death knoll to the creative process. Much of my efforts as a teacher go into encouraging their unique perspectives: helping them find their voice. What are their individual style and interests? What genres do they like? Tone and narrative voices? What sets them apart from the other students in the class? When they can answer these questions--and not fear being vulnerable and authentic--they can lean in to who they are as a writer and their writing will improve. 

A common mistake beginning writers make is to think that their critique partners don't "get" what they're trying to do. That's not a helpful altitude--it infers that you cannot learn from your writing group and it ruins any chance for building trust. It stops you from listening to your first readers. Remember, if you are planning to publish your work, then you are writing for readers not yourself. You need to think about your readers and their experience reading your work, not your experience writing it. Listen and learn. You'll get something out of it, even if you don't agree with everything.

Sharing your work can be hard!

Many writers can have a thin skin or may feel uncertain about a piece of writing--though we can gain confidence as we gain experience, many of us are sensitive artist types who appreciate a positive, encouraging attitude. Some authors prefer tough criticism, while others like a gentler tone--it's worth asking your critique partner if they have preferences or certain needs. I've never forgotten a student who exclaimed, "I love praise!" when we were discussing her work. This was a key motivator for her, and it was so helpful for me to know this information.

Think about the goals of the critique session. Is this a first draft and they need advice on story structure and character development? Or is it a more polished piece and they are looking for more granular suggestions? Does their confidence need shoring up because they're stuck in the muddy middle? Could they use some brainstorming or a sounding board? Are they ready to be challenged and take their writing to the next level? Is it time to pull out the tough love?

Writing is like learning to walk. So many small pieces go together to make up the actions, and not everyone learns them in the same way or at the same pace. It can be overwhelming if we try to tackle everything all at once. Be conscious of where your critique partners are in the learning process.

Critique partners, alpha readers, and beta readers all make our work better, if we respect the process and use it as a learning experience for everyone. 

Mimi

Three Simple* Steps to Entice Reader Engagement

 

Exciting day today! For today only, 200 of the most amazing books in Fantasy Romance, Gaslamp Romance, Monster Romance, and Paranormal Romance are FREE! Go load up your eReaders by clicking here https://farofeb.com/freebooks/ Below are some samples of the books available, including my own DARK WIZARD. 

This week at the SFF Seven we're talking about what makes readers invested in a story. It's an interesting question, really, and the subject of much debate. I think every author would love to know the "magic formula" for making this happen in every book. Sometimes, though, it can be a real surprise what readers latch onto. There's always an element of unpredictability there that's part of the joy of creating and storytelling. (Which is one reason why I believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) will never supplant human creativity, but that's another discussion.)

So, my thoughts on ways to engage readers and entice them into being engaged in a story?

1. Give them characters that feel like they could be best friends
   Whether it's found family, besties, romance, or a protagonist we fall in love with, readers want characters who feel like real people they know and care about.
2. Give them a world they want to live in
   We read to live in other worlds, even if they're a simulacrum of the world we live in. Readers love that opportunity to step outside of their daily lives.
3. Give them a story that inspires emotion
   Happy, sad, tragic, romantic - the feeling of a story is what lingers after we close that final page. Even if a reader can't recall plot details, they'll remember how a book made them feel.

*Of course, none of this is actually simple. It takes craft, talent, and lots and lots of practice. Read widely. Re-read your favorites. Observe how other authors accomplish this and emulate shamelessly!

Holidays: Three Things That Bring Me Joy

 

Image credit: Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Love it or hate it, the holiday season means a lot of things to a lot of people. As for me—a famously hermit-like writer who abhors the cold—I always focus on what I enjoy about this or any time of year. Below are three things about the holiday season that always bring me joy.

Lights

It’s no secret: I love holiday lights! There’s nothing like driving around the neighborhood enjoying the twinkling lights with a nice travel mug of cocoa. My neighbor across the street seems determined to outshine Clark Griswold, though my husband does give him a run for his money. Our local park also does a Dr. Seuss-themed display, and it is gorgeous. We go every year!

Of course, lights aren’t limited to the winter holidays. At my house we put up lights for Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Memorial Day, and for any other occasion we think of. Hmm, maybe I should work on creating a book-themed display.

Image credit: Michelle_Maria from Pixabay

Baking

I bake year-round (even in the sweltering hot summer months) but there’s nothing like a holiday for an excuse to go all-out. This year I’m making cinnamon star bread, brioche dinner rolls, and vanilla bean cake with my special chocolate icing—and that’s just for Christmas! For the rest of the week I’ll make a few different types of breads, some for immediate consumption and some for freezing. 

Here’s a writing tip: if you’re stuck on a plot point or a bit of character development, nothing helps you work out the kinks in your story like a solid session of kneading. Just imagine that blob of dough is your unruly characters, and all those frustrations get worked out.

Image credit:  Couleur from Pixabay

Downtime 

I typically take the last ten to fourteen days of the year as down time. This means no writing deadlines, no social media obligations, and definitely no editorial meetings. It gives me a great opportunity to reflect on the past year, relax with my family, and eat all those baked good I’ve been churning out like a madwoman. Which leads me to my bonus fourth favorite thing: planning!

Image credit: Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Planning for the Next Year

What’s that old saying—if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail? I wholeheartedly believe this, and let’ face it, failure is not an option. I make several yearly plans, organized under household goals, writing/publishing goals, and the like. For instance, one of my main household goals for 2023 is to finish painting the porch ceiling; I’d run out of paint, and by the time I got more it was too cold to finish the job. Well, that’s what next spring is for.

As for writing goals, I’ll be releasing two full length novels, a special edition hardcover, and I’ll be attending my first two in-person events since before the 2020 lockdown. Yes, I definitely need to plan for all of those events. I’ve also got a few new books in the works, and by setting aside time in my planner to flesh out and refine each individual story, I am confident I’ll be able to give them the attention they deserve.

Image credit: StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

What about the holidays brings you joy? Tell us in the comments, and as always, happy reading!

Jennifer Allis Provost writes books about faeries, orcs and elves. Zombies, too. She grew up in the wilds of Western Massachusetts and had read every book in the local library by age twelve. (It was a small library.) An early love of mythology and folklore led to her epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Parthalan, and her day job as a cubicle monkey helped shape her urban fantasy, Copper Girl. When she’s not writing about things that go bump in the night (and sometimes during the day) she’s working on her MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Get to know Jenn at https://authorjenniferallisprovost.com. Jenn’s latest release, Oleander, is available here: https://books2read.com/poisongarden-oleander

Fantasy Romance Christmas Gifts

 

I’m hearing Last Christmas at least once a day, my Netflix recommendations are 95% holiday movies, and people are skating on the canals of the lovely Dutch city where I’m living. I’m ready for Christmas, in other words, and that means I’m ready for gifts, too!

For this week’s blog, I’d like to chat about a couple of fantasy romances I consider perfect gifts for yourself the readers among your friends and family. 

Once Upon A Forbidden Desire

First of all, for everyone who loves fairy tales but prefers them with an adult flavour: check out the Once Upon A Forbidden Desire anthology. With twenty retold fairy tales, this collection is the perfect bedtime read for fantasy lovers. The stories range from sweet and swoony to deliciously spicy, so there’s something for everyone here!

Some of my favourites are an intensely romantic fae Cinderella by AJ Lancaster, a dark and steamy Pied Piper by Zoey Ellis, and Vela Roth’s Twelve Dancing Princesses with a vampire twist. But each story is a gem, and I strongly recommend savouring them one by one rather than tearing through the full book at once.

Court of Blood and Bindings

For fans of longer books, I’d like to shamelessly plug my own Fae Isles series! The first book, Court of Blood and Bindings, is an epic fantasy romance with plenty of creative worldbuilding and plenty of steam and banter. If you enjoy enemies to lovers stories, fae fantasy, and books where the villain gets the girl – this one is for you.

When the deadliest assassin of the fae empire catches twenty-year-old Emelin using forbidden magic, she believes her hour has come. Instead, the Silent Death carries her off to his home to offer her a dangerous bargain. If she agrees, she could free all of humanity. But can she trust a man with so much blood on his hands?

Worse, when his smouldering dark eyes and dangerous secrets reveal glimpses of the heart behind his murderer’s mask… can she trust herself?

Court of Tricksters

As a final recommendation, I would like to give the spotlight to an author buddy who has saved my sanity several times this year and deserves all the holiday love for her newest release.

SL Prater’s Court of Tricksters is an utterly delightful Gaslamp romance featuring the sexy fae duke of Night, a shy but stabby forest witch named Rain, and a scheming, backstabbing court where war is always looming. Set in a gorgeously atmospheric world, it’s the start of a brand new series I can’t wait to see more of.

Court of Tricksters releases in January (I got my grabby hands on a review copy), but thankfully it’s already up for pre-order! And even better, it’s only 99c until release – so I strongly suggest getting it now 😊

Lisette Marshall is a fantasy romance author, language nerd and cartography enthusiast. Having grown up on a steady diet of epic fantasy, regency romance and cosy mysteries, she now writes steamy, swoony stories with a generous sprinkle of murder.

Lisette lives in the Netherlands (yes, below sea level) with her boyfriend and the few house plants that miraculously survive her highly irregular watering regime. When she’s not reading or writing, she can usually be found drawing fantasy maps, baking and eating too many chocolate cookies, or geeking out over Ancient Greek.

Find her at https://lisettemarshall.com/.

Secret Identity

Photo by Stefan Steinbauer on Unsplash

I adore my pen name and the identity I have created. Truth be told, I like my pen name way more than my birth name. I have often thought of changing my name ever since I was a pre-teen when I was thoroughly convinced I had been adopted (those angsty teen years, amirite?). Having a pen name has allowed me to create a completely new persona, embracing a more outgoing part of myself that I hadn’t realized I was hiding. 

Having a secret identity has allowed me to fully pursue my writing career in the most uninhibited and organic way that I can. It also really helps me with marketing because I am not marketing myself, I am marketing a client. 

Speaking of, I cultivated a marketing career, writing non-fiction articles for magazines and websites long before I dove into fiction writing. I had kids in 2018 and then in the middle of 2020 my marketing career took a nosedive. I lost my clients due to everything being shut down, but I was extremely fortunate in that my husband has a steady job and we live frugally enough for me to stay at home with our children. I thought I was good with this being my lot in life - a stay-at-home mom maybe picking up part-time work once the kids were in school. Turns out, it wasn’t enough. My brain finally had it and it started screaming at me to write again. The stories I want to write now are a little too steamy for the small town I live in, so the next obvious choice was to create an entirely new persona. Now, it’s the only way I feel comfortable continuing my writing career. Publishing under a pen name helps me keep my private life and personal life separate. 

A secret identity can also be so liberating for us introverts. Marketing is easier, asking for features and newsletter swaps is easier, going live on social media is easier because I can so quickly slip on a mask and become Ophelia. Becoming Ophelia (ha! that sounds like a memoir in the works) helps me go live on social media more than if I was presenting as myself. There’s something that shifts and I am immediately more extroverted, friendlier, less socially anxious with the mask of my secret identity in place. Though there’s a separation between my personal life and Ophelia, in some ways, you see a more “raw” version of me when I am in front of the camera. The introverted stay-at-home mom who constantly asks if her kids need to pee is gone. The extroverted Ophelia is here, and she is ready to partaaaaay. 

As a stay-at-home mom, I am so reluctant to go back into the workforce. I wanted a job that allowed me to be flexible, home with my kids on sick days (because, let’s be honest, there are a lot of sick days lately), available for pickups and drop-offs, after-school activities and more. My children are only four- and two-years old so I wanted to get started on my writing early enough so that when they reach full-time school age, I have a decent idea of what our schedules will look like and what I can realistically get done in a day. As a former entrepreneur, the idea of being an indie author was appealing on so many levels. I could be fully in charge of my process, write the stories I want to write (and how steamy), as well as on the production schedule that fit me and my family’s lifestyle. But writing under a pen name was one of the few ways I figured I could tackle this adventure.

Creating this secret identity has been one of the most freeing things I have done for my creativity and my future. I can shift into “work mode” quicker when I’m Ophelia than when I’m me/‘mom’. It gives me the space I need to focus and hustle. It lets me be the author I want to be, connect with my audience, and pursue the projects I want to do.

Ophelia Wells Langley is the pen name of a mother to two boys. She loves reading, writing, and knitting, and you can almost always find her chasing after her high-energy children pretending to be a dragon or a dinosaur. Her debut novel, The Borderlands Princess, released November 28th, 2022. You can find her works here: www.opheliawlangley.com and you can join her late night writing sprints on TikTok @opheliawellsauthor