Callie Chase's Blog

Pumpkins, Puppies, and BOO(K)S!

I’m a pretty experienced dog mama, but I’ve learned a lot over the last few months helping my sister with her puppy. My sister works from home full-time and has two kids, so raising a feral wild animal in her home is about the last thing she has time for. Thankfully, I’m not just an auntie to her kids. I’m seeing little Lewis (who has no joke tripled in size over the last 6 weeks! He’s gonna be a big one!) just about every other day or so, and as I’m watching him (helping, I hope!) him navigate the intense days of puppyhood, I can’t help but think about my own life struggles.

Life is hard no matter what stage you’re in.

The older I get, the more I wonder when things will get “easy.” Heck, forget easy. I’d take *easier* for a while. Watching Lewis struggle through learning basic commands, learning to settle himself, and learning to be part of his new family I know that just because he’s a bitey, feral maniac today doesn’t mean that tomorrow he won’t remember to lick first, pause, and think before he nibbles a hole in my sleeve. Every day I see growth and change in the little guy. And while it’s never entirely easy, I have the patience to wait it out. To show up and stay consistent. More than anything, I know to stay positive. Because I’m building a relationship with this little guy. It may never be *easy,* but I do know that it gets easier. And every day along the way is filled with love, laughs, and licks that make the journey worth it.

Lewis may struggle, but if I keep a bird’s eye view and stay calm and patient, none of it feels too hard. Challenging, sure, but like I said, the love and laughs make it worth it.

The possibilities truly are endless.

This is something I struggle with big-time. I was raised with a lot of no’s, a lot of negativity. A lot of anxieties and fears due to the issues my family had. We all have things that make us limit ourselves, ways we stay small so we can stay safe. My dog, Molly, is amazing, but she’s highly anxious and fears new things. It’s been a slow journey to help her overcome her fears, and that’s taught me to be kinder to myself. But Lewis is a VERY different dog. He doesn’t react with fear, but is curious, stubborn, and oh-so clever.

We recently tried teaching him (at only 12 weeks old) to run through a tunnel to fetch a toy. Molly, my shepherd, would be terrified of the challenge. She is afraid of strange new objects, especially large ones (which makes walking her through the city to trash day a tragic-comedic experience). But Lewis, after investigating, trying, and failing, nailed the puppy tunnel. He loves it!

When I sit at my desk and think about my life or my books, my career and my plans, sometimes it’s TOO easy to think about what won’t happen. What I can’t do. What I fear.

I’ve been actively working on seeing possibilities. When I hang out with my nieces, I absolutely believe they are capable of ANYTHING. Everything! Why won’t I believe that for myself?

Putting myself in the Lewis mindset means seeing myself in the same gentle light. I may have Molly tendencies—fear, anxieties, worries—but there is a lot of Lewis still in me. Curiosity, courage, and consistency—that’s how I plan to change my mindset and embrace bigger and better possibilities.

I love decorating for the seasons, so I added a little color to my bookshelves as we get into spooky season! It’s still sunny and warm here in Los Angeles, but who says we can’t have pumpkins!!!

This month I’m leading a book club and the book we’re reading is a classic!! I’ve never read Persuasion by Jane Austen, but I’ve read plenty of retellings and have watched North & South, which I believe is a Persuasion retelling as well. With all the fantasy and contemporary romance I read, this will be a definite change of pace. But I’m excited!

What books are on your fall TBR?

Thanks so much for reading, friends! Stay healthy, safe, and when the going gets tough, think of little Lewis. No matter where you’re at in life, I believe our best days are still ahead. And we can have lots of laughs and love while we’re in the now.

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Audiobook fans, anyone?

The other day I received a wonderful and very unexpected email. My Amazon rep asked me if I would like to sit down and chat with a rep from ACX, which is the audiobook creator platform for Amazon indie authors.

Of course I jumped at the chance to meet with them! (When Amazon calls, you answer!) I ended up having an hour-long chat with an ACX rep who was really informative and supportive.

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He asked why I hadn’t recorded audiobooks of my backlist; what my future plans were for audio. If you’ve never chatted with indie authors about audiobooks before, it’s a whole THING.

Many indies license their audiobook rights to production companies. In exchange for a small advance (usually like $250), an audiobook production company will take on the responsibility for creating, editing, and distributing your audiobook. When you consider that the average single-narrator (so if you’re writing dual point of view, you’d need two narrators!) audiobook costs between $3,000-$4,000 to produce, having someone pay me for my audiobook rights and then covering 100% of the production costs sounds like a good deal… Right?

Well, in a way, it can be. But I know so many authors who regretted giving up their audio rights even 3, 4, 5 years into the contract. The average audiobook contract lasts for 7 years. And at the end of the seven years, if you want out of the contract, sometimes there are costly buy-out clauses. All of this makes sense.

Audiobook narrators do voice work as a job. They aren’t writing the stories of their heart, willing to take on the risk that no one will read it. (Like authors do!) The average audiobook takes 40-50 hours to record. Factor into that audition time, editing, and revisions, and the job is indeed a big one.

The Amazon platform offers indie authors like me some options to manage the costs, but those have their limitations as well. For example, if I decide to distribute exclusively on Amazon, I would be eligible for various plans that allow me to share the earnings with my narrator without paying the entire recording rate up front. The down side to being exclusive to Audible, though, is that I could not put my audiobooks into libraries or sell them on m website.

I’m a huge fan of libraries and would really like to be able to offer my audiobooks to libraries if I record them… So we’ll see…

I started looking into narrators to see if there were voices I could imagine capturing the essence of my characters. I’ve found a few… And I’m hoping to save my pennies so that next year I can release at least one of my books in audio.

Are you an audiobook lover? I probably read 3-5 audiobooks a month! (Thank you, Libby app!) There are some books I need to sit down and savor, but when I’m cooking or cleaning, walking my dog, or stuck in LA traffic, I’m far more likely to listen to an audiobook than music. (So many books, never enough time!)

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How do you read your books? Are you a KU fan? Paperback only? Audio? Let me know what you think and if you have favorite narrators! I’m looking at a few lesser-know narrators (including one a few I know in real life!!) so we’ll see… Will there be audio in my future? You’ll be the first to know!

Things I’ve Been Loving

I am reading a bunch of cool books and of course am writing and working hard to get my next release out! How has your transition into fall gone? Los Angeles had a wild heatwave that gave my health a run for its money (I HATE HEAT!! But my family lives here in SoCal, so…) But we’re solidly into fall which means even though it’s still summer weather, it’s not as hot. And that means I can start to plan for cozy season! It’s already been COLD back home in Chicago!!

I hope you’re reading lots, loving the change of season, and staying healthy and happy. Thanks for reading, friends!!

PUPPPppppyyy 🐶

For more than 20 years now, I’ve had a dog. At one point before I left Chicago, I had two dogs at the same time, which was quite a feat conidering I lived in an apartment and one dog weighed 90 pounds an the other weighed five! When my sister decided to adopt a seven-week old puppy the week before her kids went back to school, I knew she was in for a ride. (Did I mention it’s her first-ever dog?!?!)

As a childless dog-mama, I’ve been so, so fortunate to be close enough to my sister geographically that I can be a part of her kids’ lives. I’m even more fortunate that my sister and I are close enough emotionally that she wants me involved!!

This puppy has been the latest challenge, and oh, how a puppy brings the feels.

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In so many ways, raising a puppy is like writing a book. In the beginning, you’re obsessed. There is nothing more exciting, more important, or more immersive than your puppy. You want to talk about it to everyone you know, look at pictures when you’re lying in be with the little furball finally conked out—even though it’s just a few feet away. You obsessively Google puppy raising advice and instead of BookTok, you’re on DogTok or YouTube watching puppy training videos.

Writing a new book is the same. When I first come up with an idea, I’m overtaken by it. I spend hours thinking about what I need to research, I wildly change names and research the origins and meanings of names. I want to share excerpts and get feedback. It’s so, so fun to get lost in a new world that is so beautifully and uniquely yours.

But then, the puppy chews up a laptop cable. Or a couch. Or they poop on your plush pink bathmat. Puppies get the zoomies, they bite everyone and everything. They revenge pee. They eat shoelaces but not food. They are, in a nutshell, completely feral monsters who for some reason we let sleep in our homes. We pet them. We feed them. We love them. We obsess over whether we’re raising them right.

THE PUPPY!!!!

Just like birthing a book.

There comes a time with almost every book I’ve written that I wonder why on Earth I ever thought this was a good idea. Instead of Googling names, I start trolling Indeed for any job that won’t require me to write. My characters don’t chew power cords, but they can fight me in their own ways—not being funny or urgent or clear or magical or anything else that I know they were meant to be.

But there is always a turning point. When I’m with the puppy and he’s nipping and tugging and acting like a little fool, I think of my adult German shepherd, a dog who is so good, so trustworthy, reliable, and loyal, I could put her in a room piled high with cheeseburgers and she’d sit and wait for my signal before even trying to take a nibble. (Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration… But pretty close to it.) She protects me, she loves me, and like with any living creature I’m going to love, getting there took work.

Just like my sister’s little goofball, when the going gets tough, many writers give up. I’ve taken breaks from books and I have set projects aside and started new ones—thinking a new puppy would save me from the challenge of raising the puppy I have.

Thankfully, in my dog-owning years, I can see that it does get better. They learn. They form bonds. They grow up. And hopefully they don’t chew power cords.

I’m like a lot of writers. I have a day job (I’m fortunate that I love it, but it’s a huge time commitment nonetheless) that drains me and requires me to be really organized. I sometimes (all the time) have to choose between writing a few pages and doing that load of laundry before it gets ANY taller.

My not-a-puppy Molly (using me as a pillow)

But I’ve been pushing ahead and trusting that consistency, faith, and working through the problems little by little, day by day, will get me to “the end.” Just like consistency, discipline, and belly rubs will transform the feral little monster who’s taken over my sister’s house into an amazing, loved pet.

I hope to have not one but three amazing books for you in 2025. I’m fighting the restrictions of time and life and yet managing to write at least one chapter per week, all while making time to support my sister and help with the new puppy.

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I hope you have something you’re passionate about. Whether it’s a book, a puppy, a hobby, or just making the most of every day, I hope you weather the tough days. I hope you know that you’re not alone—that we all struggle to have enough time, patience, money, energy, clarity. If you’re not, maybe volunteer with a rescue and spend some time rubbing bellies. I can tell you that all that cuteness really is good for the soul. And for the creativity.

Anatomy of a main character...

If you’ve read any of my past work, you’ve probably seen some trends or themes pop up. The first is trauma! (No worries, you won’t need a content warning for this post!)

I’ve been through a looooooottttt in my life. And I know readers have, too. Very few of us escape this existence without feeling hurt, pain, suffering setbacks, and even experiencing major Trauma. I’m in the last category, as well as all the others. I’ve been treated for PTSD and had some rough stuff happen in my life. But that’s why I am so passionate about telling stories.

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In everything I write, I start with a compelling person. A being (not necessarily a human, lol) who is living through the worst things they could image. Sometimes they are broken and resigned… That was Gia in Bloodguild She was just holding on for one more day, day after day. Bloodguild is free, so if you haven’t read it yet, you can download it here and read it now.

In other projects, the characters have taken in their trauma and built up walls so high, they desperately need love and hope to break through the barriers. I’m looking at you, Pali from The Lover’s Leap.

(Press the play button for some fun cover art effects!)

My latest book, Broken Bloodlines, is my most ambitious work yet. It’s the story of the main character, Elli (Ellisaria) who has lost so much, all that’s left of her are the scars. She’s so angry, but she’s adapted to find small joys in her life: the love of her 11 adopted sisters (this book is inspired by the Grimm fairy tale “The Twelve Huntsmen”) being the primary joy that keeps her from burning down the world.

Elli gets an opportunity to go on a quest that on its surface may bring her short-term relief: money and an opportunity to get closure on her past. But there is another possibility that drives her to leave her home and family—revenge.

In real life, I cannot imagine ever trying to get revenge on anyone. Once when I was living in an apartment overrun by horrible people who stole my assigned parking spot, I put a sign on the offender’s car that said If you don’t stop parking here, I’m going to have your car toward across the country. Did that solve the problem? No. Did I ever take any kind of harsh action beyond one angry sign? Also no.

But in my books, I can give my characters the outlets I wish I had. (Well, maybe not wish. But sometimes revenge is a fun idea!)

Elli accepts the call to adventure but along the way, she finds out that not everyone in the world is against her; that the power of the family she’s built is stronger than the things that broke her; and of course, her one true love is both the reason and the opportunity she needs to heal. (Although not at all in the ways she’d imagined.)

In this series, other characters’ backgrounds come in and each of those characters likewise has experienced trauma or suffering. Elli’s sisters, for example, have all been adopted out of difficult circumstances. We spend the most time with the oldest two, Rixane and Tansy, and (no spoilers) we learn a bit about why these sisters are able to heal and grow while they are on this journey with Elli.

(Character art of Leo and Elli…)

I’m working hard to finish the edits of Broken Bloodlines, the first book in the Huntsisters series, for you now. As I read through this first book, we have a lot going on, and I’m reminded how important romance is as a genre. I care about my readers. I want you to feel seen in your life as well as understood. You may not have gone through what Elli has, or what I’ve gone through, but you have your own history, pain, and stories.

If by reading my work you can escape your own circumstances—and maybe return to them a little more optimistic and hopeful—I’ll have done my job.

Are there triggers or tropes you shy away from in books? Things you don’t want to read about? Do you feel hopeful after reading a character who sounds like you gets the happy ending and healing we all want?

Thanks for reading Callie’s Spellbook! Please feel free to forward this to your fantasy-romance loving friends! 🔮

I hope you do! And I cannot wait to share Elli’s story with you. I promise I’m working hard and fast because this series is going to take over my 2025 schedule… And I may have announcements about some career firsts in the coming weeks.

Take good care, friend, and keep reading!! I’m enjoying a super long TBR list right now—too long! But is there any such thing as “too many” books? Thanks for reading!

Romance Road Trip!

Every author dreams of hitting a list: USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times. Even that coveted orange banner on Amazon gives an author publicly verifiable proof of concept that tells the world a lot of people are reading my book!

Over the years, authors and publishers have tried to figure out the formula: how many books do I need to sell to hit a list? Do ebooks carry equal weight as paperback? Library purchases, author copies… No matter where you look, there is a variable to consider when trying to spread the word about your books.

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One belief the industry has as a whole (You can research this! This article is old, but it gives a comprehensive look into what authors, publishers, and booksellers face.) is that the weight given to bestselling books sold in paperback or hardcover through independent bookstores factors heavily into whether a book hits a list.

Romance authors have a harder hill to climb since we are still in so many places relegated to small sections or shelved in general fiction. I’m tremendously fortunate to live in a big city where bookstores—independent, major, and everything in between—are a drive (and a $$$ parking spot) away.

Where do you buy books? Are you an Amazon fan (No shade to the ‘Zon! I love KU and Prime shipping!)

You may not know this but where and when you buy books matters to those authors working hard to hit bestseller lists. Pre-orders give authors a massive boost as well. The next time you want to pre-order or purchase a book for an author you love, consider reaching out to your favorite indie. Many independent bookstores offer in-store pickup, so you can save on shipping costs.

I’ve pulled together a list of some of the wonderful romance bookstores you might want to put on the list for the next time you’re ready to order or pre-order a book:

The Ripped Bodice Bookstore, Culver City, California

TRB is my local indie bookstore. I live about five miles from them, and I host a monthly book club in the store.

Meet Cute Romance Bookshop, San Diego, California

Where I live in LA is about a two-hour drive from Meet Cute, but this one is high on my list to check out! The mural on their wall is something I’ve stalked on social media so many times. It’s adorable and I hear the staff is super friendly and knowledgeable!

Steamy Lit Bookstore, Deerfield Beach, Florida

If you’re in the romance community in any way, you need to know about Steamy Lit! They put on an amazing reader conference/signing, and they also have a bookstore in Florida. These women are powerful and are making things happen in the romance community, advocating for diverse representation and supporting diver romance authors and creatives. LOVE!

The Last Chapter Bookstore, Chicago, Illinois

Making my hometown proud is this new romance-focused bookstore!

Love’s Sweet Arrow, Tinley Park, Illinois

For those who prefer shopping in the burbs, Love’s Sweet Arrow is a south suburban alternative for romance readers. They were one of the first romance bookstores I heard opening after The Ripped Bodice, so this mother-daughter duo was definitely ahead of the trend!

Grump & Sunshine Bookstore, Belfast, Maine

I have never been to the state of Maine, but this adorable bookstore is reason enough to visit!

Under The Cover, Kansas City, Missouri

With a store name this cute, I feel like organizing a romance bookstore road trip! Who’s with me?

Tropes & Trifles, Minneapolis, Minnesota

I have a dear friend in Rochester, MN, who I desperately want to visit…and who I know I could drag over to this store!!

A Novel Romance, Louisville, Kentucky

I have not been to Louisville, but I have been to other parts of Kentucky. I would absolutely include this cute stop on my romance road trip!

Smitten Bookstore, Ventura, California

As cute as Smitten looks, my romance road trip won’t last very long if I just stay in California… But Ventura is gorgeous, so Smitten caps off my list!

Thanks for reading Callie’s Spellbook! Please feel free to share this post with your romance-loving friends! 🔮

Where are you from? Did I miss any romance bookstores? Let me know because I’m absolutely serious! I’m ready to hit the road and shop…and maybe even schedule 2025 signings!

Have you taken a romance roadtrip? Tell me everything! Thanks for supporting indie authors and bookstores!

When Fact Meets Fiction...

When I start the idea for a book, I always start with something I deeply care about: usually a character with deep trauma who isn’t defined by that trauma but who has not been able to live a whole, healed life just yet.

That’s the beauty of romance. We can take a broken but functional person and give them everything. The dreams, the hope, the love.

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All of those ideas—the character’s arc, their stakes—what makes their story urgent and important now—come from inside me, my experiences, my success and also my failures.

But there are some thing I have to research. I write epic fantasy, but I of course have never lived without modern technology. Before I ever wrote a word of fantasy (but long after I was a dedicated reader of the genre) I studied the clothes of the Medieval period. The food. Medicine, herbs, healing, and political structures. I’ve made choices in my books (like calling the political structures realms instead of “kingdoms”) based on my personal preferences.

One of the areas that can be hardest to research for me is the architecture of the types of structures that realistically would be available to my characters. A palace or castle is easy enough to research, but manor homes and estates, cottages, cabins, and small villages take a little more digging.

On my recent trip to England, I stayed with one of my oldest and dearest friends and her family as they hosted a wedding. (I truly was living my best rom-com vibes… If I wrote contemporary romance, the trip would have filled a whole series of books!) :P

The wedding took place in a renovated barn on a sprawling estate that had a massive pond and all sorts of beautiful buildings. But we stayed for four glorious nights at Frog Manor in Church Minshall, which is located in Cheshire.

Frog Manor! Photo by me.

When I started researching the place, I had a tough time finding much about it. Cheshire, I learned, is where Harry Styles is from (Harry!), and Church Minshall is a “parish” within Cheshire that has records dating back to the 1540’s!

Now, I have no idea how old Frog Manor is. But as I walked the grounds and explored the landscape, I could just imagine living there hundreds of years ago. How dark it would have been without electricity. How vulnerable and beautiful, peaceful and terrifying living in the distant past would have been.

Just looking at these pictures transport me back to the beautiful, historic space where the past felt so real, alive. The manor had been modernized, but the bones remember. This is why I love fantasy romance. We experience exciting, terrifying, and life-changing moments, change, grow, find love, and we do it all in a place in time that is complicated, beautiful, and infused with a sort of magic.

There is a manor in Broken Bloodlines that I can’t wait to share with you. It was written long before I visited Church Minshull, and I’m so happy to have had the chance to visit Frog Manor to really bring some of the spaces in those scenes to life.

Are you a history fan? Do you fall down the research rabbit hole when you discover something you love? Here are a few of my favorite sites to research all things Medieval:

Revival Clothing

Armor Venue

Medieval Collectibles

Do you love the Medieval period? Have other resources you love for cosplay, LARP, or just browsing and learning? Please share!

And if you’re ever thinking of visiting England, you can stay in Frog Manor! It’s on several vacation rental sites. Check it out but I recommend you bring friends and a laptop… You might be inspired to write your own story!!!

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Callie is back in CALI!!

Hi, friends!

It’s already August which means we’re in the final dog days of summer. I have had a LOT to keep me busy this summer, and I have pictures to share! The most exciting for this fantasy romance writer was my trip to England.

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I stayed with one of my oldest and dearest friends, attended a gorgeous wedding in the English countryside (in a barn!!), and stayed in a historic manor home! It was magical and inspiring and beautiful. I loved every moment and I both edited and worked during the wedding weekend, and I cannot wait to share the words that were so, so inspired by this magical place.

This was my first ever trip to England, so I did a lot of what you’d expect and some things you might not! I saw loads of churches, toured cemeteries, lit candles, and ate lots of yummy pub food. I only spent one day in London (I live in a major city so while I LOVED London, I was more excited about the more Medieval parts of the country—more on that in a second.) and I took the tube, the train, and walked my poor little feet off.

I was blown away by Westminster Abbey. I was able to tour the inside and see the very aisles I’ve seen on TV every time I’ve watched a royal wedding. It’s even more majestic and stunning that the pictures convey!

I visited York, Cambridge, and then went back to York a second time to celebrate my birthday! I’ll share a LOT of pics of York over the coming months. I ate dinner in a pub that dates back to 1491, went on a ghost tour (which was completely hilarious and unhinged!), and walked the Tower that held a king’s chapel and former dungeon!

As a fantasy fanatic, I could have stayed in England forever! I loved the food. I couldn’t believe the villages—the cows and sheep that just are loose in the fields where people walk their dogs and hike!! The trip came and went too fast.

I learned a lot in England that will be relevant to my books (the design of latrines will likely not make it into a book, but you never know…)

It was a life-changing trip and an absolutely HUGE gift from my friend who let me stay with her family for THREE WEEKS so I could attend the wedding and make a holiday out of the time. What a summer.

I’ve been writing like mad, working like a whirlwind, and trying to stay cool through the summer heat. I’ve recorded posts episodes (Season Two will enjoy a fun change in format) and am overall busy but happy to be back home and healthy after more plane, car, train, and bus travel than I’ve done in years all crammed into the last two months.

Thanks for reading Callie’s Spellbook! I appreciate you so much!! 💖📚

What’s kept you busy this summer? What are you reading? I hope you’re staying healthy and safe. Stand by for lots of news and new books! I appreciate you reading this update, and if you have been to England or just want to, please comment or message me. I’d love to chat about my new favorite home away from home!

Updates and News!

Hi friends!

I hope you had an amazing Memorial Day Weekend! If you’re part of a military family or have a military background yourself, please accept my sincere thanks for your service and sacrifice. My grandfather and father both served in the Army, and my stepfather is career retired military, so I sincerely respect and appreciate the sacrifice and commitment our military families make.

I’ve been BUSY over here in Los Angeles. Spring has been cool (love it!) and work has been hectic (also a good thing!) I’m about to take a major trip—the first I’ve taken in ages. My last trip out of the country was a volunteer trip to Romania forever ago. (FOREVER!) So long, in fact, my passport is expired! But I’m getting a lot of ducks lined up so I can attend a friend’s wedding in England this June.

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I was so, so fortunate to find someone I trust to dog-sit Molly. She’s such a great girl, but it’s a BIG commitment to leave your 80-pound German Shepherd with someone while you’re out of the country!!

(Molly buried in fresh from the dryer clothes on laundry day!)

I’ve actually never been to England, so this is going to be a fantastic opportunity! I’ll be traveling and working, visiting and hopefully taking a little time off. I can’t imagine a better trip for a fantasy romance author than visiting the country of CASTLES!!! I plan on taking tons of pics and getting loads of inspiration for the next installment of The Huntsisters series!

In preparation for the trip, I’ve been reading, writing, and recording loads of podcast interviews. We’re taking a brief hiatus while my editor gets all the new episodes recorded, and we’ll be back this summer with SO many great guests. I’ve had a blast meeting new-to-me fantasy romance authors, and I’ve interviewed some special guests, including a librarian, a super-reader, and some other non-authors who adore fantasy romance as much as I do!

Pic above is what I’m reading right now. Blood at the Root is a debut novel that is now a New York Times bestseller! I preordered it so I got the hardcover in the mail when it released! It’s YA magical fantasy, and I think there’s romance coming, but I’m not quite there yet!!

I was never much into puzzles, but as you probably know by now, I ADORE all things Critical Role, and a dear friend bought me this puzzle… And I have to tell you, I got hooked!! It took some time putting together, but look how cool it turned out!! I think I’m officially a puzzle gal now… I’ve been thinking about a really fun way to incorporate puzzles into a giveaway at the reader event I’ll be attending in September… Maybe free books for anyone who correctly guesses the number of puzzle pieces in a bag?

I found out I’ll be volunteering at the reading at Steamy Lit Con in August, and I can’t wait to be a part of the day! Fellow author and amazing human Maria Vale will be volunteering with me, so we’ll take lots of pics and talk about all things fantasy on the drive from LA to Anaheim. If you’re coming to Steamy Lit, PLEASE let me know! I’d love to say hi in real life while you’re local!!

As you head into summer, I hope you’re safe and healthy! Reading anything great? I don’t want to spoil too many of the fantastic authors I’ve been meeting, but I’ll share more soon. I’m meeting the most talented authors and reading so many fantastic books!! I’d love to hear what authors you’re loving and who you’d love to see on the podcast!

Thanks for reading! I’d love if you’d share this post with your fantasy romance loving friends! 💖

Stay healthy, safe, and make time for some epic reads! I can’t to share more fun updates with you soon!

Whispers in the Dark: Unveiling Magical Realms with Jessaca Willis

Dragons, D&D, and a death-defying hobby… Please join me as I chat with (and load up my TBR with) a new-to-me fantasy romance author, Jessaca Willis!

Follow Jessaca on:

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Audiobook Lovers...

You’ve probably noticed an explosion of indie authors publishing amazing books over the last few years. Now more than ever before, advancements in technology make it possible for indie authors to do just about everything a traditionally published author can. And in some cases, we can (and do!) do it better.

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Why?

Well, because indie authors are small business owners. We know what our readers want because we talk to them directly—like right now!

One issue that’s been on my mind a lot lately is putting my books into audio. As an indie author, I pay for and manage everything myself: writing (of course), editing, formatting, distribution, marketing, and art. I hire human artists and I pay competitive rates because I believe creators and creatives should earn a fair wage for their work.

But the one thing that I haven’t yet reached into is audio. But ooooooh, do I want to!!!

The costs to produce an audio book are intense. As I’ve learned through teaching (planning, staging, recording, and editing lecture content before it goes live to students) and my podcast, audio production is not as simple as whipping out my iPhone and hitting record.

A professional audiobook narrator can (and should!) charge between $200-400 per finished hour for their work. That means if they can read about 9,000 words per finished hour, that a 90,000-word book will cost the author $2,000-$4,000!! Worth it? Yes. Do-able? Not for all of us, and certainly not for every book.

But I’ve been thinking through options for getting my next series available in audio this year. One narrator will be fairly easy since the first book is told in one only POV. But what would I want in terms of voices? A female narrator “acting out” the male voice? Minor changes in tone so the listener can make sense of who’s speaking? A full dramatic voiced production?

What attracts you when you listen to audiobooks? Do you prefer audio over KU, ebook, or paperback?

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Thanks to the Libby app (my local library), I listen to dozens of audiobooks a month. I find the ones that are highly dramatized with sound effects and changes from the original book are my LEAST favorite—even though those can be highly entertaining. I want someone to READ to me. With a great voice, good pacing, and a smooth flow. Am I too “easy” to please? What do you listen for when you borrow or buy an audiobook? Do you read more/faster when the book is on audio? I’d love to know!!

Stay tuned... As soon as I make decisions and have news, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, HAPPY MAY!!