R.M. Archer's Blog, page 16

How to Care for Your Plot Bunnies (Without Neglecting Your Book Rabbits)

You’ve been focused on a particular novel for a while. You’re trying to stick to this project and only this project, not get distracted by plot bunnies. But… uh oh. Another plot bunny just hopped onto your desk and it’s really trying to get your attention…

I have good news.

You can take care of that plot bunny and get it to leave you alone so you can continue working in your main project. And it’s actually pretty simple to do.

Give the Plot Bunny What it Wants

…But only for a time. Give yourself a set amount of time to focus on the new plot bunny. I usually allow myself a week, but I tend to lose my initial interest in the plot bunny within 2-3 days. You’ll know best how long you need before a plot bunny leaves you alone.

For whatever time frame you set, let yourself work on this new idea without guilt. For me, entertaining a plot bunny usually means creating a Pinterest board, maybe putting together the beginnings of a story playlist, and scribbling down as many notes on the characters and plot as I can come up with. When I was younger, the process would look more like slamming out 3,000 words of a first draft and leaving myself with a bunch of loose ends that I came back later and had no idea where I was going with.

Your process will look however you need it to. (But I do recommend making note of any details you can think of so you don’t leave your future self with unanswered questions that you know you understood when you started writing).

You can work on your main project alongside this new plot bunny for your time frame, or you can let the plot bunny consume your time completely; it will depend on how much interest you have in each project and how tightly your brain latches onto new ideas. Either is perfectly fine. Remember, this is your guilt-free playtime with the plot bunny.

Why It Works

If you’re like me, you come up with a bright and shiny new idea and you get super excited about it… for about two days. And then it becomes work to shape the story into something that will support a novel and the interest fades.

What this method does is capitalize on that initial burst of interest while removing the guilt of neglecting your primary project for a couple of days.

Your novel will still be there in two days; the plot bunny might end up forgotten. And two days isn’t really that much time out of your novel. Even a week, in the grand scheme of a novel-sized project, is not that much of a time suck. And the break might even do your novel good.

If you don’t take a break, then the plot bunny will keep nagging at you and distracting from your main project, and you won’t work very effectively on either project. Giving your full attention to the plot bunny for a few days will prevent you from subconsciously splitting your attention, impairing your productivity and creativity, by allowing you to dedicate your attention to one at a time.

Meanwhile, you’re also collecting all of the most crucial information for a new project that you’ll be able to work on later. When you have the time to come back to this plot bunny and really work on it seriously, you’ll already have a starting point and you’ll know what was most important to you about the story. Maybe you made a lot of notes on the theme, or maybe on the aesthetic, or maybe the characters are the most crucial element. Your notes will let you know right up front.

Letting yourself work on a plot bunny for a few days is ultimately beneficial to both the plot bunny and your primary project, and it adds another story concept to the list to choose from later.

Have you tried this method before? How do you handle plot bunnies that crop up while you’re working on something else?

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Indie Author Blog Tag (and giveaway winner announcements!)

Happy National Indie Author Day!!!

As a day-of celebration, I wanted to start up a blog tag for indie authors! (And at the end I’ll announce the winners of the four giveaways from this week!)

RulesLink back to the original tag (here!)Link to the authors you mention (or their books) in your answersTag 5 other indie authorsQuestions

Why do you publish indie?

First, because I appreciate the creative freedom. I have the final say over every element of the finished product. Perhaps most importantly, to me, I don’t have to follow market trends and I can set my own writing pace. (As much as I would love to, I just can’t produce a fully published book in a year, much less keep that up year after year; maybe one day, but not yet.) My process and my work is my own and I get to not only direct it myself but also invite others into it as I go! Indie publishing allows me to build up a strong community around my work and connect with other authors and readers who are equally passionate about a given book and the indie publishing process in general. Overall I just really love the indie publishing process and the opportunity and responsibility of seeing through every part of the process and having a unique connection with the people I work with and the readers I impact.

What’s your favorite indie standalone?

Watson and Holmes by E.B. Dawson. I’m not generally a big fan of reading sci-fi books set in space (I don’t know why; it’s just a quirk), but this book did it right. And it was so much fun to see Sherlock Holmes reimagined in a sci-fi world!

What’s your favorite indie series?

Aaaaaaah. There are so many I love! But I think Hannah Heath‘s Terebinth Tree Chronicles probably win, since I always buy them as soon as they come out and I can’t say the same for any other indie series. They’re so good! And the worldbuilding is so cool.

What’s your most anticipated indie book release?

Besides my own (I’m so stinking excited for Calligraphy Guild to reach readers), I’m super excited for the next Terebinth Tree Chronicles book! I can’t wait to read Durran’s story!

What was your most recent indie read?

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen. Great worldbuilding; too much steam and language. (I have a full review here.)

What is your favorite part of being an indie author?

This answer is pretty much the same as why I publish indie, lol. I love the creative freedom and the community. And I get to learn and practice so many non-writing skills, like graphic design and formatting! Sometimes it’s more frustrating than fun, but a lot of the time I have a lot of fun formatting my books to look exactly the way I want and designing book graphics.

What’s the hardest part of being an indie author?

Having to do all the things. XD As fun as it can be, it can also be overwhelming. You have to write the book, edit the book, find the right professional editor for your book, find the right cover designer, pay for the editor and cover designer, format your book (or hire someone else to format your book), create attractive book graphics, market your book, set up a launch party and host it, etc., etc., etc. It’s a long and energy-intensive process.

Do you ever plan to go hybrid?

Yes! I would love to have a standalone or duology traditionally published one day. I actually have a few projects that I’ve specifically considered pitching one day, but we’ll see what ends up happening. Currently, traditional publishing is a down-the-road idea (though that might change in the next few months as I finish up Calligraphy Guild‘s edits and choose a new project, with a hopeful trip to RealmMakers next year in mind).

How many books have you released?

I’ve released three books, all short story-focused:

Lost Girl (standalone short story/novella)

The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles (a series of fairytale retelling short stories, or a novella in parts if you prefer to look at it that way)

Short Story Collection vol. 1 (a sampler of my work, including two stories from my sci-fi world and one from Deseran).

Where are you with your current project?

I’m in the latter stages of editing! I’ve been working on line edits, and those are what I’ll get back from Jane Maree shortly as well. I’ll have one more round to apply her notes and mine, and then I’ll send it back for the final copy-edits!!! I’m super excited to be getting so close!!

(If you’d like to help me out with promoting Calligraphy Guild in a couple months, you can sign up to my street team!)

Nominees

Grace Johnson

Jenna Terese

E.K. Seaver

E.G. Bella

Nicki Chapelway

Giveaway Winners

Fantasy Giveaway

Congratulations, Erin! You’ve won the fantasy giveaway!

Contemporary Giveaway

Congratulations, Mattie! You’ve won the contemporary giveaway!

Non-Fiction Giveaway

Congratulations, Mattie! You’ve won the non-fiction giveaway!

Sci-Fi/Dystopian Giveaway

Congratulations, CC! You’ve won the sci-fi/dystopian giveaway!

If you’ve won a giveaway, I’ll be emailing you shortly to orchestrate shipping. :)

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A Word on Productivity & Comparison

You scroll through your social media feed, reading post after post from your author friends: That one who somehow publishes ten books in a year; that one who can write 100k in a week; one who just landed a book deal; one who manages to keep up with three different projects all at once and still responds to emails from readers within hours. You love these authors, and you want to be happy for them, but envy twists in your gut so you hit “like” without really meaning it and keep scrolling past, berating yourself all the while for once again watching envy eat your excitement for others’ successes.

Me too.

But we’re not stuck! Envy is persistent, absolutely. It takes conscious effort to shut down that voice in your head that says, “They’re doing everything right and I’m still struggling; how come they have it so easy?” But I’m going to pick apart the lies we hear when envy sneaks in and help you learn how to combat them.

They’re Doing So Much; They Must Have it Easy

One lie that envy tells us is that because someone is successful, they must have everything figured out and never struggle to keep up. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I can definitely tell you that that author you’re envying has just as much trouble keeping up as you do and probably struggles not to feel like they’re behind the other authors in their feed as well.

First of all, writing is hard. Publishing is hard. Creating products is hard. And while you can learn habits and develop patterns and systems for getting things done, it’s still hard. You just end up with different tasks causing difficulties.

Social media is a highlight reel. You see the finished products, the stack of published books, the celebratory tea, or whatever.

What you don’t see are all the times that author didn’t want to work on the project. All the times they pushed through anyway, or the times they gave in to the lack of motivation and felt guilty for it. You don’t see all the times their computer crashed or their software glitched and they had to start all over. You don’t see the moments they came this close to giving up on the project altogether because they started to think it was a waste of time.

Those authors in your feed are just as human as you are. Social media makes it easy to forget, sometimes, but remember that.

Next time you’re tempted to scroll past a celebration post with a half-hearted like and some grumpy thoughts, take a deep breath, imagine how much work it took to get there, and congratulate them. Let them know how much you admire their dedication. It might not silence the envy entirely, but I can bet it’ll make you feel at least a little bit better and it’ll be a great encouragement to the other author.

I Can Never Achieve That

Okay, so to be honest this one might not be a lie. Maybe you can’t publish ten books a year. But maybe you can publish a book every couple of years and focus on your reader community and resources for writers while you plug away at drafts. Just because your success won’t ever look like that other author’s success doesn’t mean it’s any less of a success. That author is not you, and you are not that author. You both have different strengths, and that’s a good thing. God has given each of us different gifts, and we do better when we lean into our own gifts and interests than when we try to make our progress and our focus match someone else’s.

I don’t think I will ever be able to publish more than two books a year. And that’s if I count short stories. I’m pretty certain I’ll never be able to manage more than one novel in a year. But that’s okay. Because if I were to push myself to publish more in a shorter time, the quality of my work would suffer and I wouldn’t have time to work on other projects that I love, like this blog or my worldbuilding course or just hanging out in my Discord server to answer questions. It just doesn’t suit my writing process. But it suits other authors, and that’s great. They see a lot of success from publishing a lot really quickly. I choose, instead, to lean into my strengths and do a lot of different things steadily and more slowly.

You have strengths, too. If you can identify them and use them faithfully, you’ll be able to become the best author you can be, and the author that God designed for you to be.

Next time you see an author’s post and think “I could never do that,” remember what you can do and then celebrate the other author for their strengths! God designed you both, with your unique strengths and weaknesses, because you both have purpose and importance. So congratulate your friend on her third consecutive 100k week and then go work on your awesome coaching program.

Focusing on Your Productivity

That author that you’re admiring got to where they are by faithfully stewarding the gifts God gave them and pursuing the work He placed before them. The only way you can get to a place of contentment with your own work is by approaching it the same way. God has gifted you in some way. Whether you’re a really fast writer, a thorough editor, an encouraging mentor, or whatever the case may be, you have unique strengths that can be applied to your writing career. By figuring out what these strengths are and how to use them, stewarding them to God’s glory, you can make a lot of progress in your writing. If you’re faithful.

A great writing life doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of faithful dedication, trial and error, and continuing to change your methods when they no longer fulfill their purpose. But years are composed of months, composed of days, composed of hours, composed of minutes. So start being faithful now. Write that blog post. Add another paragraph to your book. Spend fifteen minutes on building your platform. You don’t have to take big steps. You just have to faithfully keep walking. God will bring you to the place you’re supposed to be.

And when you’re walking faithfully and you see someone else walking faithfully, you’re free to cheer one another on as your paths overlap. There’s space enough for both of you.

Have you struggled with envy lately? (I know I have. :P) How can you encourage the authors “ahead” of you? What strengths can you focus on faithfully stewarding today? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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National Indie Author Day: Sci-Fi/Dystopian Giveaway

Last but not least for this year we have a giveaway for folks who enjoy sci-fi and dystopian stories! The lucky winner will receive a copy of Azalei’s Riders by Miranda Marie, a copy of Malfunction by J.E. Purrazzi, and a signed bookplate from each author!

I have a review of Azalei’s Riders for those interested. I don’t have a review of Malfunction, but it’s an excellent book that looks at the sanctity of life through a very hopeful lens even amidst a dark, gritty world; it’s fantastically done.

I also have author interviews! Check out what the authors have to say about these books. ^-^

Miranda Marie

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write?

Of course. Hello, everyone! I’m Miranda, a previously homeschooled girl from the mountains. I grew up in the country, raised all sorts of animals when I was younger (including goats), and have been passionate about writing since around the time I turned ten. I’m dyslexic, which made reading difficult for me, so my mom set me free on Word and told me to write anything I wanted. Fourteen years later and I’m still writing.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

The simple answer is: I was 17 and not brave enough – or confident enough – to pursue a publisher or an agent. However, I wanted to share my stories with the world, so I decided to see what it would take to do it myself, and I’m really glad I did. It was a huge learning experience and it’s shaped my writing in ways I never could have predicted. I wasn’t ready for the high pressure environment of traditional publishing, and self publishing gave me the drive and experience to grow.

How does your faith impact your work?

I’m a Christian, and that definitely shapes my worldview. Themes in particular are important to me. I don’t write “Christian fiction”, because that’s not what I’ve been called to write. Instead, I focus on writing engaging, unique works that are clean enough for anyone to read, regardless of their age or content tolerance. This means most of the way my faith influences my writing is in the themes I discuss and the way I approach them – through a lens of hope, rather than despair.

What inspired The Fire Rain Chronicles?

I had a very specific thought on day when I was sixteen and preparing to do NaNoWriMo for the second time. “What if instead of technology destroying the planet (a common theme in Dystopian works), technology evolved enough to repair the planet instead?” Essentially, I asked myself what a futuristic world would be like where jungles and forests had taken over everything and humans didn’t need to use nearly as many of the world’s resources to sustain ourselves. I suppose I was just tired of all the doom and gloom outlooks portrayed in the usual dystopian worlds. I wanted to pursue a world in the distant future where the environment wasn’t the main issue. And The Fire Rain Chronicles was born from that thought.

Justice and putting things right are big parts of The Fire Rain Chronicles (especially in the last book). What do these themes mean to you?

That’s a harder question, mainly because those weren’t themes I was trying to include. I suppose that’s the whole worldview thing coming into play. My main focus thematically were the questions ‘what is freedom’ and ‘is it worth it to relinquish freedom for safety?’ But justice and self-government are a huge part of the answer to those questions, so its natural that they’d play a big part in answering them, even if it wasn’t the focus with which I went into the story. Justice and repaying mistakes is synonymous to me with repentance. You have to face that you’ve done something wrong to put it right. If you aren’t willing to accept responsibility for your errors, you can’t progress. In that regard, the characters who grew and made an impact were the ones willing to admit they were wrong and make new choices. Those who couldn’t accept they’d strayed were slowly driven mad by the weight of their mistakes.

This series has so many moving pieces that weave together exactly as they should. What were some of the challenges of creating such a complex world and plot?

I recall commenting to a friend at the time of writing the second book in the series (when so many things come into the light for the first time), “I wish I was as smart as Azalei. That would make it a lot easier to keep up with her.” So I would say that Azalei was both my main challenge as well as my biggest help. Most of the intertwining pieces of this series were orchestrated by her, so it was only a matter of getting into her mind and thinking, “What would Azalei do with this information?” The problem with that was that she has the ability to juggle sixteen steps ahead, where I can manage about six. Suffice it to say, editing was my friend. If I messed up, she would give me a gentle nudge in the right direction on the next read through, showing me one by one all the pieces she had in place.

What do you hope readers take away from reading The Fire Rain Chronicles?

I hope they take away the lesson to think independently and logically. It’s so easy to be swept up in a mob, where the frenzied and passionate voices of others can pull us along on a emotional-high. It feels good to be a part of something, to ride that moral high ground and think you’re doing what’s right. But misplaced passion can lead to very dark, very dangerous places. The conflict in the Northern Countries started from a desire for a peaceful future, spurred on by the pure passion of someone who loved those around him. However, acting out of passion and emotion, and blinded from logic, it lead to their ultimate destruction. If people learn anything from The Fire Rain Chronicles, I hope it is the skill to self evaluate their choices and to practice independent thinking, rather than following mob rule.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

My next project, as is probably expected of me by now, is nothing like anything I’ve published before. I love trying new and wildly unique things every chance I get, and this project has held a very special place in my heart since before Azalei’s Riders was even a concept in my mind. It’s got a large cast of characters, including, but not limited to: Mal, an antisocial homebody just seeking some peace and quiet; Tauby, his conspiracy theorist, adventure-seeking bff (who may or may not accidentally get them kidnapped); Chance, a dark, grim criminal boy (who may or may not do the kidnapping), and Jade, a girl who simultaneously delivers dire warnings about the horrors of jail and offers everyone snacks. There’s a heist in the world’s most dangerous underground city, superpowers of all shapes and sizes, and so much lore it occasionally makes me dizzy (in a good way). I can’t wait to release it to all of you so you can love it as much as I do!

Thank you so much, Miranda!

J.E. Purrazzi

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write?

My name is J.E. Purrazzi, or Jill. I am a writer of speculative fiction, so I write science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Right now my focus is on gothic horror and cyberpunk science fiction. My goal in writing is to draw my reader into thinking deeply about subjects, taking a different view than they might have before, and finding truth, which is why I brand my fiction as “exploratory fiction.” Because of that, one of the most important facets of my writing is, for me, story theme.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

I considered traditional publishing briefly, but the more I looked the more I discovered that traditional publishing couldn’t offer me the things I most valued in a writing career. It seems to me that the main value of traditional publishing these days is to have someone to help shoulder the actual cost and work of the publishing (and thus, by nature, take away some of your creative input) and the benefit of having an established creator back up your work. But the downsides, most importantly having your success dependent on the subjective tastes of someone who will never be as passionate about your books as you are, seemed too great. I don’t mind if my books fail, but I would like to have the ability to get up, brush myself off, learn better, and try again. Traditional publishing seemed to take a bit too much power from the author in my personal opinion. Though I might consider trying a hybrid model at some point, I really just love the indie mindset.

How does your faith impact your work?

My faith is important in every aspect of my writing, though I don’t actually write Christian fiction. Some of my works have a heavier emphasis than others, but even those don’t seem to always come across as strictly “Christian” to unsuspecting readers (those who go in not knowing I’m Evangelical). I’d say the greatest impact it has on my writing is the fact that I believe that God uses creativity to his Glory for our good. I don’t believe the gospel should be made palatable through fictionalisation to “win” people to Christ, so I avoid direct preaching or allegory. Though if you know me well enough you can find my theology and philosophy in anything I write.

I constantly think about the passage “Seek and ye shall find” when I write. So my goal is NOT to bring people to the Lord (I believe that’s the work of the Holy Spirit) but only to get them to start asking questions and “seeking”. I believe that, if you shake a person out of their comfort zone and get them to start asking hard questions, you have already done a very effective work in opening them up to truth. As such, my target audience is typically the unbeliever who is just starting to question some of the things they have taken as truth. While I think my fiction can be enjoyable for believers, I typically don’t recommend it to believers because I feel like it’s more likely to feel a bit too jarring if you aren’t expecting violence, language, and characters who don’t always pick the moral route the first time around.

What inspired Malfunction?

I have inspiration from EVERYWHERE. I’d say the main seeds that started the idea of Malfunction was some interesting science about manipulating the brains of cockroaches using electricity, as well as some aspects of the children’s story City of Ember. I was just starting out as a “serious” author when I started it. I had written a massive fantasy inspired by Lord of the Rings… as one does… and I had wanted to try something different to escape the idea of a “second draft”. The “short story” I started turned into a large, complex trilogy and an entire universe. But I couldn’t be more happy about that.

The sanctity of life is a big theme in Malfunction. What does this topic mean to you?

Sanctity of Life is a major theme. I took a few directions at this, including addressing concepts like abortion, human trafficking, and abuse. But also playing around with ideas of subjective morality, personhood (and where it begins and ends) and justice. It is not, by any means, exhaustively explored. I do hope there is a start to some genuine exploration and seeking, however.

The two biggest themes would be those of Human Trafficking and abortion. I grew up overseas in a culture that, more than most, views women as property. The girls I grew up with and played with were being married off and having children before I was in highschool. Many died in childbirth. Most were abused. Violence, especially towards women and children, was expected and commonplace. Despite the fact that I was really sheltered, I did see and understand enough that when I started learning more about human trafficking and other related topics like child marriages, it wasn’t something I could easily move on from.

As far as the topic of abortion, it was not something I felt personally attatched to until my then fiance told me that he had lost two children to abortion. I dreamed that night (I have several sleep disorders so it’s not strange for me) that two boys around my brother’s age came to speak with me. They called me ‘mom’ and talked about all the moments they would have liked to share as my step-children. It sounds a bit strange, as I had no real connection to them, but knowing how my step-children lost their lives, and watching my husband struggle through that, made abortion a much more personal subject. As has years of working in childcare and with children of all ages. It’s become a topic I am quite outspoken about and it came pretty naturally with the story of Malfunction.

You published the last book of the Malfunction trilogy earlier this year. What has it been like to transition out of a project you’ve worked on for so long to work on something new?

The transition out of writing the Malfunction series has been hard. Especially as I finished my second series not long before. I needed a long break, just figuring out what my plan was and shifting around a few times. I pretty much have an idea of what the future will look like now, but it was great to be able to just play with some “fun” projects for a while. I do want to get back into a clear rhythm for my brand and start another Cyberpunk series soon, but life has been a bit crazy and not allowing me to work as consistently as I once was. So we will see when they are able to start coming out and what it will look like. But the next series is plotted and started.

What do you hope readers take away from reading Malfunction?

This is an excellent question. As my main theme for Malfunction is the issue of “personhood” (in the philosophical sense), my main hope is to first allow people to empathise with some pretty extreme situations, and then perhaps start asking some deeper questions. My hope is that the excitement and relatively high level of violence, will help inspire anger at injustice and a passion to protect others. And I want people to see that correct motives, or correct goals, do not make for moral actions.

I want to call into question the idea of subjective morality and subjective concepts of personhood. This is why the tagline for the first book is “They say the ends justify the means.”.

My hope is that readers will see that this mentality doesn’t serve the protagonists any better than the antagonists and the only healing comes from changing that mentality. But I do trust that my readers are intelligent enough, and that the Lord will use the Holy Spirit to convict or comfort each person as is needed. I really hope that readers can make the story their own and draw out their own meaning and find absolute truth whether I thought of include it or not.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

I CAN! So I have several projects in the works right now. Tawhiri is a relaxing, slow paced, pacific-island inspired fantasy about sea nymphs, adoption, and belonging. It’s basically a vacation in a book with a little bit of a thematic message about growing up and finding our place in the world around us. That is due to come out around summer, once I do some significant edits.

The second (and the one I’m currently drafting), Within, is a Gothic horror that might not be coming out until next October now. I’m still chewing on the publishing plan for that. It’s about a young woman who moves to a small town to reconnect with her son after regaining custody, However the town is attacked by an ancient evil in the forest which takes on your physical form and all your worst desires before consuming you completely.

But the one that will be most interesting for Malfunction readers is a Cyberpunk series which is already plotted out to be seven books long (though there are more to add). If you have read the free anthology from the Phoenix Fiction Writer’s newsletter, you will be familiar with Stealing Life. That is the story I’m expanding for this series. So think Ocean’s Eleven with cyborgs and a bionic cat, trying to take down an evil corporation that experiments on orphans. My hope is to start publishing that in 2022 or 2023.

Thank you so much, Jill!

Giveaway

Enter to win these awesome books here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let me know in the comments: Do you have a favorite theme in sci-fi or dystopian stories?

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National Indie Author Day: Non-Fiction Giveaway

This one is for the authors! Today’s books are Dear Author by Laura A. Grace and Not Write Now by Kyle Robert Shultz, which are both such encouraging books!

The winner will get both books as well as a signed bookplate from Kyle Robert Shultz and a signed sticker from Laura A. Grace! (This copy of Dear Author came water-damaged; while there’s nothing wrong with it aside from a messed-up cover, I will be sending a different copy in better condition to the giveaway winner.)

I have a brief review of Dear Author for those interested; while I don’t have a review of Not Write Now, I can tell you it’s a 5-star read, it’s super fun, and it will almost certainly serve its purpose.

And we have author interviews again today! :D

Laura A. Grace

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write?

Hey there! I am SO excited to be here! My name is Laura A. Grace and I am a manga creator and YouTuber who reviews clean manga. I didn’t imagine that when I “grew up” I would be writing manga or even trying my hand at fanfic poetry, but it’s something that has brought me deep joy. While I really enjoy working on my own stories that are filled with hope (and usually take place in the “real world” with a touch of fantasy or paranormal), I also love talking about manga and my favorite anime characters! I often write reviews and articles for a website called Beneath the Tangles, a website that blends discussion of Christianity and anime. If I’m not writing, reading, or filming YouTube videos, then I’m hanging out with my family talking about the newest show we’re watching together, playing Legos, or playing video games.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

I chose indie publishing because I felt it has been the best option for my books and stories. I also have quite a few friends who are self-published and they have portrayed the publishing process as at times hard, yes, but also extremely rewarding. I felt confident in that I could also follow the same path and that if I needed help, I would be able to get sound advice.

How does your faith impact your work?

This is a great question! I feel my faith has a huge impact on my work and honestly is the only reason I am pursing writing. As I shared above, I never imagined becoming a writer as for whatever reason, I don’t recall the fondest of memories with anything writing or English related. However, as an adult, writing has been a freeing experience and I feel it’s an opportunity for God to speak to me and help me grow in Him. Not every story I’ve written has open Christian themes, but each story I have written has been a blatant and beautiful reminder to me that there is always hope.

What inspired Dear Author?

Dear Author was written in a time where I had to walk away from some of the ways I had been supporting authors (such as coordinating blog tours) to actively raise a family. I don’t regret that choice whatsoever, but I wanted a chance to share all the love I have for indie authors and that even if I could not support them the same way I had before, I wanted them to still know I was cheering for them. Dear Author came directly from that desire of wanting indie authors to know they are seen, they are loved, and that someone is always rooting for them.

What books have been most impactful to you as a reader?

Wow! What a tough question! The first one that comes to mind is Sara Ella’s Unblemished Trilogy. I absolutely love her series and it was the first time I was introduced to the concept of portal fantasy. That was life-changing for me as a reader and writer! I would also say any of Melody Carlson’s YA books. I discovered her when I was in high school and I remember being blown away that there was Christian YA with characters who were just like me and faced similar situations and problems. I didn’t even know there were books like that! I quickly purchased and devoured all the books readily available, which at the time had been her True Colors series and The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor. That has probably been one of the most impactful moments in my life as a reader (outside of discovering Winnie the Pooh was a book, which lead me to reading all of the Nancy Drew books).

Dear Author is all about encouraging authors to keep going. If you could give only one piece of encouragement to the authors reading this interview, what would it be?

There are so many things that come to mind that I want to say, but if I could only say one thing only it would be your words still matter.

My heart and desire for indie authors to know this since the release of Dear Author is still the same. There may be millions of books out in the world and new challenges that authors are facing due to the effects of the pandemic, but their words still matter. They are still important and still need to be shared.

What do you hope readers take away from reading Dear Author?

I think very similar to what I shared above, but I also hope they have a feeling of excitement and inspiration to continue to work on their stories. I hope it brightens their hearts and stirs the reminder that what they do, the time, heart, and tears they pour into their stories, is never in vain.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

 I would love to! Though I confess there isn’t much to share as I have sort of been between projects. I have been receiving recent updates from my manga artist that my Christian manga, Gathering Faith, is getting closer to completion and should have the final pages by the end of this year! It has been in the illustration stage for over a year, but the wait has been oh so worth it!

For a most recent project, I finished working on a one-shot manga called I Need That Manga on My Shelf!! It was inspired by my experience of trying to find manga titles in the current manga shortage as well as a conversation I had with a friend. I’ll share the working blurb in case you’re interested reading it!

What lengths would you go to get a manga?

Meg Lewis is desperate to get that one missing volume of her favorite manga. It doesn’t seem to matter how much she searches in store or online, no one has it. Lucky for her, she unexpectedly finds a local bookstore has the volume in stock, but unlucky for her it’s in the center of a gang-infested part of town. Will Meg brave the streets to get a hard-to-find volume or will her luck run out when an unexpected stranger crosses her path?

Thank you so much, Laura!

Thank you so much for letting me share and stop by! I had so much fun!

Kyle Robert Shultz

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write?

I’ve been writing and publishing fiction since 2017. My usual fare is fantasy that retells myths, fairy tales, and other familiar stories in new and unexpected ways. Most of my stories are connected in a shared universe called the Afterverse.

  Why did you choose indie publishing?

Indie publishing had always seemed preferable to me due to the greater degree of control it offers writers, and as I researched it in more detail, I realized that it was far and away the best option over traditional publishing. I like having full creative freedom; I don’t think I would ever be happy working under a traditional publishing contract.

How does your faith impact your work?

Mostly in subtle ways, but the effects are definitely there. For me, the emphasis isn’t so much on writing “clean” fiction (though I’d say my work is very family-friendly) as on proving that writers motivated by a desire to serve and glorify God are capable of creating fiction that stands out in the market and truly grabs readers’ attention. I think many readers tend to assume that Christians write tame, easy stories. I want to challenge that notion with stories that truly excite readers and make them think.

What inspired Not Write Now?

I wanted to write a book on writing, but I wanted it to be different. And funny. Turning the whole premise of a how-to book on writing on its head seemed a logical choice. Especially since I would say that there was a time in my early writing career when—due to great mental turmoil over what I should write and how I should write it—I actually was looking for somebody to tell me not to write at all. It would certainly have made things easier, though I’m glad that I ultimately decided to embrace my creative drives instead of squelching them.

Not Write Now is your first non-fiction piece, correct? What was the transition like from fiction to non-fiction?

There’s a bit of a fictional veneer to Not Write Now, given its style, so it didn’t feel like that big of a shift, to be honest. It was more of a switch from writing straight fiction to writing humor, which wasn’t too hard for me because I tend to use humor a lot in my fiction anyway. Actually, I find non-fictional content easier to write, on the whole, because it’s more straightforward and there are fewer moving parts to keep track of. That said, while fiction may be harder, I still enjoy it the most.

Wit and clever use of language seem to be staples of your writing. Were there any authors you particularly read to hone those skills?

There are a lot of writers whom I gravitate to because of their unique use of language, but the most prominent ones are P.G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett. I’d describe Pratchett as the Wodehouse of fantasy (though I suppose he could just as easily be called the Wodehouse of sci-fi, given that the Discworld includes elements of both genres).

If you could give just one piece of encouragement to authors reading this interview, what would it be?

At the end of the day, the only thing that you have to be is a writer. It’s easy to get so caught up in the noise of trying to cultivate an author platform these days that you feel inadequate if you don’t succeed at being an influencer, a marketer, a productivity master, and so on. But while it’s useful to cultivate skills in some of those areas, the most important thing is to write books that people will want to read…and the best way to do that is to write books that you would want to read.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

Actually, no. :) My current policy is to be ultra-secretive about everything I’m working on until it’s actually ready to release. But I am working on things, and they will be published. Eventually.

Thank you so much, Kyle!

Giveaway

Here’s how you can get your hands on these books!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let me know in the comments: What’s your favorite book for writing encouragement?

The post National Indie Author Day: Non-Fiction Giveaway appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

National Indie Author Day: Contemporary Giveaway

For those who prefer their fiction set in the real world, I’ve got a contemporary giveaway going on! Enter to win a print copy of each Love and the Sea and Everything In Between by Brian McBride and 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get bookplates or interviews for either of these. But the books are both excellent! If you’d like, you can check out my reviews:

100 Days of Sunlight

Love and the Sea and Everything in Between

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let me know in the comments: Do you prefer lighthearted contemporary or serious contemporary?

The post National Indie Author Day: Contemporary Giveaway appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

National Indie Author Day: Fantasy Giveaway

I am so excited to bring you the first National Indie Author Day giveaway for this year! We’re kicking things off with fantasy, since that’s my personal favorite, and I’m giving away some great indie fantasy books. I have a copy of Colors of Fear by Hannah Heath, Steward Stories by Beth Wangler, and Women of Kern: Book One by Maris McKay, and one lucky winner will receive all three, plus signed bookplates from the authors!

I’ve reviewed all three of these books before, so you can check out those reviews if you’d like:

Steward Stories

Colors of Fear

Women of Kern: Book One

And as a super cool bonus, I was able to interview all three of these authors! :D

Beth Wangler

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write? 

I’m a nerdy woman who loves Jesus and stories. I started writing around third grade. I was reading a Magic Treehouse book on my bedroom floor when I realized I could add books to the world, not just consume them, and that was that. I write stories to inspire hope and wonder, which requires looking honestly at the way the world and humans are.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

When I indie published The Weavers’ Blessing, I really just wanted to accomplish a life-long goal of being a published author. Since then, I’ve come to love the creative freedom to write the stories I want to tell, the scheduling freedom to write at my own pace, and the incredibly supportive indie community.

How does your faith impact your work?

God is the source of my creativity. My stories are a response of worship toward him. Because of that, I strive to grow in excellence as I write. I also try to write truthfully about myself, the world, and him. That is why my stories always have an element of hope or wonder in them, since I believe that God is a loving and gracious host who is in the work of restoring our fallen world to what he created it to be. My faith is also behind my fascination with the Protestant Bible, especially the Hebrew scriptures portion, which directly inspires my The Firstborn’s Legacy saga as the stories from that series are mostly inspired by Biblical stories.

What inspired Steward Stories?

Well, on that note, the Steward Stories were broadly inspired by the book of Judges, specifically the theme that “in those days Israel had no king; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Only a couple of the Steward Stories were based more closely on specific judges, though, and those more loosely. “Tailor Eilamir” is more inspired by Ehud, and “Steward Duecatoh” by Samson. But I draw inspiration from many different avenues—the glowing caverns in “Irellia the Night Walker,” for example, were inspired by a love of geology I discovered in a science elective in college, and the family dynamics that I tend to focus on in all my stories stem from the value my family has always placed on family.

There are strong themes of family and community in this collection. What do community and family mean to you?

Oof, this is a tough question. Family and community can mean a lot of different things. I believe we were designed to flourish in community, but also that community can be a source of great pain and suffering. Families can give us our deepest wounds, but they can also be a place of safety, identity, and understanding. We are born into families, but we can also choose who we consider our families. That’s why there’s diverse family dynamics in Steward Stories.

Another thing I love about The Steward Saga is the worldbuilding. What was the most interesting or fun part of developing the world?

I may have given myself away earlier talking about the glowing caverns, haha. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite things, though, and a huge part of why I love writing fantasy (and sci-fantasy). I loved designing the cultures of the Aimarines, Coarnomites, and Xendroqites so that they would each be distinct from each other and each would pose different challenges or temptations to Maraiah. Talking animals are always fun to develop. But this short story compilation posed a unique challenge and opportunity in that I got to develop the history of the Maraian people over the course of about 400 years in their history. I loved exploring what traditions would stay the same for them, as well as gradually morphing other aspects of their culture as time went on. So, I haven’t answered your question—I don’t know if there was one most fun part of developing the Steward Stories or The Firstborn’s Legacy saga as a whole. I love all of it. Except that worldbuilding cities is really hard.

What do you hope readers take away from reading Steward Stories?

I hope that readers find themselves in one or more of the Stewards, so that they leave the stories feeling seen. What stood out for me when writing the stories is how gentle and faithful God is, so that he will forgive us and even use our mistakes to bring good. I hope that is a comfort to readers.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

My next project is The Steward’s Apprentice, novel #2 in The Firstborn’s Legacy saga and follow-up to Steward Stories. A few characters from Steward Stories will show up in that book, and some threads that weren’t tied up at the end of the compilation will be addressed in the novel. I love this book and am working on giving it the time it needs to be the best version of itself for you.

Thank you so much, Beth!

Thank you for interviewing me! I enjoyed the conversation!

Hannah Heath

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write? 

Absolutely! I’m an author of Christian Speculative Fiction who loves comic books, science, and swords. I write mostly YA and mostly fantasy, and have a penchant for writing stubborn, brash characters, colorful cultures, and strong themes. All of my stories take place within the Torn Universe, an expanded universe with everything from comedic space opera to underwater sci-fi to desert elves. Think MCU, but with more swords and more disability representation.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

As someone with a clear creative vision, as well as someone who exists as a disabled college student, I liked the idea of having the flexibility to write to the beat of my own drum. I knew indie publishing would allow me to publish to my own schedule, to lay out my expanded universe exactly as I wanted to, and take breaks as needed to focus on my health and/or my education. I also really loved the uniqueness of other indie published stories and was drawn to the supportiveness of the community.

How does your faith impact your work? 

Quite heavily. Due to my chronic illnesses and watching family members live with similar health problems, I’ve had a lot of faith struggles throughout my relatively short life. I rarely read Christian fiction that shows what it is to feel abandoned, or that confirms that you can still maintain faith even if you’re angry with God or struggling with a deep spiritual pain. Because of this, it’s important for me to use my work to encourage people out there who are just barely clinging onto their faith. I showcase this type of messy, painful, ever-so-hopeful faith in the characters that I write, and hope it helps people feel less alone.

What inspired The Terebinth Tree Chronicles ?

I grew up absolutely loving fantasy movies and especially loved the ones that had prequel-like clips play before the opening title. My family and I termed this “The Movie before the Movie” and I’ve been fascinated with the concept ever since. The Terebinth Tree Chronicles are a sort of “Story before the Story” that introduce readers to the main characters and world of my yet-to-be-published novel.

There are a lot of family dynamics in these stories, and especially sibling relationships. How has your family impacted your writing journey ?

I’ve always been fascinated with how very different each of my family members are from each other, but how we each still share strong bonds. I like to explore this concept in my stories by showcasing complex, deep relationships between siblings who are very different, but who still have each other’s backs through thick and thin.

I love the worldbuilding in The Terebinth Tree Chronicles. What was the most interesting or fun part of developing the world? 

I love being able to get weird with things. I usually spend a few hours research different traditions, animals, or settings from around the world, then twist them around so they fit into my vaguely apocalyptic fantasy world.  Doing all of this while trying to keep the world feeling grounded, vaguely gritty, but still beautiful and magical is a really fun challenge.

What do you hope readers take away from reading The Terebinth Tree Chronicles ?

That fearful people can be brave, that just because you feel broken inside doesn’t mean you can’t find healing, and that being lost doesn’t mean you won’t ever find your way. I hope this series helps readers feel encouraged, strengthened, and less alone.

Can you tell us anything about your next project ?

I can give you a little sneak peek, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. My next project is the fourth installment of The Terebinth Tree Chronicles and will feature Durran, an anxiety-riddled assassin who makes some rather…unfortunate decisions while trying to keep his family safe. There may or may not be an underwater scene that involves magic-infused sharks.

Thank you so much, Hannah!

(Blogger’s Note: I am soooooo excited for Durran’s story. It sounds EPIC.)

Maris McKay

Could you tell us a little about you and what you write?

I’ve always loved storytelling. Some of my earliest memories are of telling my mother stories that she’d write down in a big scrapbook so I could cut images out of magazines and illustrate them. Maris McKay is my pen name for writing fiction, and though I’ve only published fantasy (so far) I also write science fiction and historical fiction. I also publish Christian non-fiction through my blog LikeAnAnchor.com.

Why did you choose indie publishing?

Short story collections are particularly challenging to pitch to traditional publishing, especially from new authors. I’d previously self-published non-fiction under my “real” name and had a great experience with Kindle, so I decided to try that for Women of Kern as well.

How does your faith impact your work?

I’ve always struggled with how much of a role faith should play in my fiction. Christianity is such a huge part of my life, but even though I’ve written some (unpublished) Christian historical fiction the constraints of that genre often frustrate me. I also love writing fantasy, but I’m not that interested in writing obvious allegories.

For something like Women of Kern, I make it very clear that even though it is fiction written by a Christian and certain stories have moral or religious themes, it is not “Christian fiction.” It’s also not really a “clean” read. Content in the stories varies quite a bit, but overall I’d describe it as PG-13 for violence and sex. Adults and older teens are the target audience.

What inspired Women of Kern?

The name “Sanjay.” It just popped into my head one day, along with a fully formed character. I didn’t have a story for him, though, so I started writing and worldbuilding around him. “Daressa” was the first story I wrote and at that point I’d fallen so in love with the world of Kern that I wanted to keep filling it with interesting women. “Peri,” “Metim,” (both in Book One) and “Nikit” (from Book Two) are also stories related to Sanjay.

Some of the other stories were inspired by songs, TV shows, and my personal life. For example, Lelihatha’s story was inspired by the song “The Midnight Well” by Celtic Thunder. For the story “Rivkah,” I wrote the scene where she meets Verad after seeing Richard Armitage in a trailer for The Hobbit. That story went through several major edits, finally ending up in its final form with Rivkah as part of a persecuted minority religion after I joined a Messianic Jewish church and heard stories from Jewish people visiting or attending there.

Women of Kern is full of women with varied strengths and interests. Who are some of the strong women who have inspired you?

My mother is one. She homeschooled me and my two siblings from grade school through high school, all while helping my dad run a business out of their home. My sister is another. She’s overcome some tough things in her life to become a talented chemical engineer with a dark, witty sense of humor.

I’ve always been fascinated with the Bible stories of Leah, Ruth, and Ester as well. They’ve probably influenced Women of Kern more than I realized until writing out an answer to this question. I love stories of women who carve out spaces for themselves within their own cultures, stay true to themselves and their beliefs, and are strong in a variety of different ways as they face unique challenges.

The world you’ve created is another big part of Women of Kern. What was the most interesting or fun part of developing the world?

The geography. I love map-making and that’s where I started when developing Kern. It actually began with Arel and Endan (two countries which don’t appear in Women of Kern), and then grew from there. The nations and cultures emerged during that map-making process. I had so much fun researching different cultures in our own world, then mixing and reimagining them and adding my own elements to create believable cultures for each location.

What do you hope readers take away from reading Women of Kern?

I hope reading these stories takes readers on an adventure, and that the stories make people think about what it means to be a “strong female character.” So much of modern media presents “strong female” as a woman who kicks butt, dominates men, wears skimpy clothing, and sleeps with whomever she wants. There are so many other ways to be a strong woman.

Can you tell us anything about your next project?

I’m currently in a master’s program, so my fiction writing has gone on hiatus for a while as I’m focusing on academic writing and publishing. I haven’t completely stopped writing fiction, though, and I do plan to release more stories in the world of Kern. My next project will most likely be the Heart of Endan duology (which you can read more about here). I started writing the first version of that story more than 10 years ago, and I’m excited to revisit that and share the story with new readers.

Thank you so much, Maris!

The Giveaway

Okay, okay. I know you want to know how you can win these books (especially after reading the authors’ thoughts, right?), so here you go. Entries are specifically designed to support these and other indie authors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comment down below which book you’re most excited about! Or, if fantasy isn’t your thing, which upcoming giveaway you’re most excited to see!

The post National Indie Author Day: Fantasy Giveaway appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

Sanderson’s Third Law: When Should You Create a New World?

If you’re constantly coming up with new story ideas, you might also come up with a lot of different settings in which to set those stories. The question is, at what point is it appropriate to create a whole new world and when should you just build on whatever you already have?

Sanderson’s Third Law of Magic states,

“Expand what you already have before you add something new.”

Now, these are Sanderson’s Laws of Magic. He has magic systems in mind. But this one, at least, is applicable to much of writing and today I want to explore how it interacts with worldbuilding as a whole.

Why to Expand First

First off, why is Sanderson’s Third Law good advice for worldbuilding as a whole?

For one thing, it makes worldbuilding a lot easier on you as the author. Would you rather have to juggle seventeen completely separate worlds, none of which are very deep; or would you rather have three or four worlds that encompass several more specific settings which interact with one another and lend depth to their home world as a whole?

Fewer worlds are easier to keep track of and make it easier for you to keep your worldbuilding notes together. One binder that contains several settings and the ways in which they’re connected is easier to keep on hand than several notebooks about entirely separate settings.

Now, in some ways it is more complicated to connect your worlds. When you connect settings, you do then have to develop how they interact and impact one another, which can supply its own challenge. However, I’ve found that in the end connecting settings not only simplifies things but also forces you to exercise your creativity in problem-solving as you develop those connections and interactions.

Connected worlds are also fun for your readers down the line. It’s a lot of fun, as a reader, to spot a cameo mention of another story or character as you’re reading one of an author’s works. (Hannah Heath’s Torn Universe is very well-done in this area, among others.)

Essentially, expanding on what you already have is simpler, fosters more creativity, and can be more fun.

When Expanding Works

When deciding whether or not to create a whole new world for a particular story, the most crucial consideration is what your purpose is for a given world. What particular tone do you want to maintain with this world? What sort of themes do you want to explore through it?

To use my worlds as an example, each has a particular focus point. Esleon is designed to be a futuristic, fantasized version of Earth, which gives it some limitations. Aleruus is, at its core, a classic Medieval fantasy world; it has elements that set it apart, but all of its pieces have to align with a classic fantasy tone. Deseran, meanwhile, is primarily an exploratory world; I can explore all sorts of cultures and concepts in Deseran, which makes it easy to add to and tie new ideas into.

If I come up with a culture of nocturnal elf-like beings with advanced technology, that could go in Aleruus, but it fits better with Deseran. There’s no way it would fit in Esleon. Whereas if I want to explore real-world homesteaders in a world they’ve been able to shape to suit them, it’s not difficult to adjust Esleon to support that. If I want to write about vampires in Gothic London… Well, that does genuinely warrant its own, separate world.

But so long as your new concept works with the purpose of one of your existing worlds, it’s likely best to tie it in with what you already have. It will not only give you an easy place for this new concept, but it ought also to help fill out the tone and purpose of the world you tie it into.

When Expanding Doesn’t Work

All of that said, there are times that it doesn’t work to just expand on what you have. As Sanderson says, “Expand what you have before you add something new” (emphasis mine). Just because expanding on what you already have is the first step doesn’t mean there’s never a place for adding something new.

There are generally two reasons you might want to create something new rather than expanding on what you have. First, like I already touched on, you’ll want to create something new if your new idea truly doesn’t suit anything you already have. If your idea would undermine the tone or purpose of your existing worlds or just doesn’t fit, it’s time to add a new world.

Maybe vampires in Gothic London can be finagled to fit with Esleon’s “magic” system… but the tone is all wrong and it would alter the overall idea of Esleon for readers. Sometimes just because you can doesn’t mean you should. When considering whether or not to connect settings, your core question ought to be “Does this support what I already have?”

The other reason would be if your new concept requires so much adjustment that it would alter firmly established pieces of the world you’re looking to add to. For example, if you already have a novel set in this world and adding this new concept would drastically change the worldbuilding established in that novel. Now, sometimes it’s still better to make the changes; sometimes they strengthen the world and/or the stories set there, and so the changes are worth it. But there should be a lot more thought involved if you risk changing a lot. And if you’ve published a story in the world… changing established worldbuilding elements is usually not a good look.

To Expand… Or Not to Expand?

You’ve asked if your new idea suits a world you’ve already created. You’ve determined whether or not it supports the tone and themes you want to focus on in that world. Now it’s up to you. Will connecting this idea to an existing world simplify things or make things over-complicated? Will it support your themes or undermine them? Only you know the answer to those questions.

Do you tend to connect your setting ideas, or create many separate worlds? Which have you found to work better for you? Do you have a favorite of your settings or cultures?

Need someplace to keep your worldbuilding notes organized? Sign up to the newsletter and check out the worldbuilding template!

The post Sanderson’s Third Law: When Should You Create a New World? appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

National Indie Author Day*

November 12th is National Indie Author Day! As an indie author who loves to support other indie authors, I jumped on the opportunity to celebrate and support indie works and I may have gone slightly overboard. That asterisk in the title is because I have events planned to span the entire almost-two-weeks between now and the 12th. And I am so excited to share them with you!

Here on the blog, the big thing is going to be GIVEAWAYS! I have four giveaways set up, all of them featuring exclusively indie books. I’ve got something for just about everyone, so stay tuned for those! I’ll be posting those on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday. And giveaway entries are designed to support indie authors in and of themselves, so these giveaways are a great opportunity to bless and connect with indie authors even if you don’t win!

On my social media, I’m also hosting an Instagram challenge centered around indie books! It starts today and runs all the way through the 12th. If you’re a social media challenge type of person, you can find the challenge on my profile @rysaarcher!

I’d also love to see how you want to support indie authors for National Indie Author Day! If you write a blog post or something along those lines and want to share, you can add your post to the linkup below!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What are some of your favorite indie books? Do you have any anticipated indie releases? (I can’t wait for Hannah Heath’s next Torn Universe story!) Let’s chat indie in the comments!

The post National Indie Author Day* appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

October 2021 Wrap-Up

Another month is nearly over and another is upon us. Personally, I’m ready for October to be over; it’s been way too gloomy for my liking and I’m ready to move on. But I’m not sure I’m ready for the holiday season to be here already; not because I don’t like the holidays, just because I’m so unprepared. XD

Anyway. Let’s look back on October.

Writing

The productivity patterns that I had in September completely fell apart after I finished editing Calligraphy Guild and my brain has been a little all-over-the-place this month, but I’ve still managed to make a lot of progress on a few projects.

I got a few more chapters of my non-fiction project done and I’ve now finished 2/5 parts. The next two parts are the ones I’m most excited about, but they’ll also be the longest and most complicated so I’ve been putting them off due to my lack of mental energy. ;P

One of the things that most sapped my mental energy this month was a project to redo my newsletter entrance sequences and get it linked to from a bunch of my blog posts. The end result has been more interaction on my emails and being able to connect with my readers more, which has been awesome! But it’s taken a lot of energy behind-the-scenes, and I’m not even quite finished yet. So, to everyone who has responded to my emails, thank you. You’re why I’ve kept pushing through this project. I want to serve y’all, my readers, and this seems to be the way to do that at the moment, tough as it is until I’ve gotten everything set up. I’m excited to have everything fully set up and be able to devote my attention solely to interacting with y’all.

If you’re not on my newsletter list yet, you can sign up here.

I’ve submitted a few posts to Kingdom Pen this month, which has been a really fun process! I’ve been wanting to write for them for years, but I haven’t actually sat down and done it. They’re running a contest centered around guest posts for the next few months, though, which finally pushed me out of “park,” and their editor Kathleen has been great to work with! I’ve learned a lot from guest posting and I’m super excited to continue contributing there. :)

And I released my worldbuilding course a few days ago!!! I am so excited to be able to share The Worldbuilding Toolbox with all of you! This is a worldbuilding basics course designed to help you learn what makes good worldbuilding, how to develop a worldbuilding process that works for you, and how to keep your worldbuilding info organized as you work. If that sounds like something that would help you, you can check out the course here! If you enroll, you’ll get lifetime access for just $15.

I started a short story earlier this month, too, which I’m excited for in theory but I’ve found difficult to execute the way I want to. I have two short stories on deadline for December (this one and another one), so I need to sit down and make a plan for each of them.

I’m still anxiously awaiting the return of Calligraphy Guild from the editor, but in the meantime I’ve gotten a marketing plan worked out, I’ve made a handful of graphics, and I’m reading through a print copy of this current draft! It was so exciting to get my book in the mail and get to hold it in my hands, even if it is only a mock-up. And it’s FLOPPY. I don’t know if y’all know this, but I love floppy paperbacks, and I’ve actually been hoping that Calligraphy Guild would print on floppy paper, so this was like… a teeny tiny petty little answer to prayer that made me ridiculously happy. XD There’s no way to know if every copy will be like that or not, but here’s hoping and praying!

Reading

I haven’t gotten a whole lot of reading done this month. I’m in the middle of several books, but I haven’t finished much.

Currently reading

Calligraphy Guild (I’m about 2/3rds of the way through)The Tolkien Reader (just finished “On Fairy-Stories,” which is an excellent essay)Phantastes by George MacDonald (almost halfway through)Archenemies by Marissa Meyer (I’ve discovered I need a mix of classic and modern literature or else my brain finds one or the other to be too much)

Finished

Plato’s Critias and Timaeus dialogues (these were fascinating)Renegades by Marissa Meyer (modern YA literature that explores topics in a nuanced manner!)A children’s collection of Robert Frost’s poetry (I’ve determined I like his work)

I’m trying really hard not to fall into the paralysis that comes of knowing you can never possibly read everything you want to read as the stack of books I’m borrowing from my parents grows taller and taller. XD

What’s Next?

I’m not doing NaNoWriMo next month, which some of you might have guessed by my silence on the subject, lol. I might see if I can get my non-fiction project to 50k next month, but I’m not going to push myself to make a word count as long as I make substantial progress. I don’t have any big fiction projects to work on for November, so… *shrugs* No specific NaNo participation for me this year.

For those of you who are participating (either with the official organization or some other way), I’ll be here cheering you on!

My hope for November is to figure out a new rhythm that allows me to get things done without burning out, since I seem to be struggling with that lately, lol. And I should be getting Calligraphy Guild back with edits in the next couple of weeks, so I’m super excited for that! I’m looking forward to seeing the proverbial red ink. XD

How was this month for you? What are you most proud of? What’s been the most fun part of the month? What are you most hoping to accomplish next month (big or small)? I’d love to cheer you on!

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