Pod People Unite! Yesterday, I blogged about my Work In Progress (WIP) and invited followers to tag along. This is blog 2 to point you to my new page where I’ll keep all my updates organized and share fun stuff like what follows… ❤️
A Peek Into Starlight Chronicles Dragon History
Fact One – The dragon species was wiped out eons ago in the Great Purge
Fact Two – In the time before the last dragon vanished, an underground sect formed to continue the noncorporeal species through a symbiotic bond with a human who could withstand the harrowing transformation to a dragon. Many made the ultimate sacrifice to perfect the ability.
Fact Three – These humans became the first animal shifters.
Fact Four – When dragons disappeared, so did their kingdom in the fae realms. Great magic still exists there if anyone knows where to look.
Fact Five – Our sexy main character, Michael Elliott, is a dragon shifter and the alpha of the Fire Star Pack. His territory covers the State of Oregon in the U.S. Michael is bonded with an ancient dragon called Onyx.
Fact Six – When Michael shifts into a dragon, Onyx gets his corporeal body back though he occupies it with Michael. When Michael is human, Onyx is with him in body and soul. It’s truly a symbiotic relationship, and the bond is never meant to be broken.
Fact Seven– The two share a castle in the Scottish Highlands passed down by Michael’s dragon host predecessors. (In The Starlight Chronicles, Elliott, as Selena came to call him, teamed up with bear shifter and alpha of the North Star Pack, Andras Johns, to support Selena Aires in her prophetic quest. The three reunite in this story, and Michael will finally share dragon lore with Selena. It will be more than she bargained for.)
Fact Eight – Onyx has scales like obsidian and the same deep midnight blue eyes as his host.
The Starlight Chronicles series is a great place to rev up for Michael’s spinoff story from Book Two, Drago Incendium, which starts where Book One, Ursus Borealis, leaves off. The saga concludes in Book Three, Tigris Vetus.
This new novel is for Michael. 🥰
Let me know if you’re enjoying the journey! Comment with ideas and feedback.
Today, we get to chat with an author who is launching her debut novel this month… like this week… like Wednesday to be exact! Awesome. But that’s not all. The book is being adapted into a feature film. So, sit back with a cup of tea, mulled cider, or whatever November beverage is your favorite, and enjoy.
Let’s Meet the Author
Nikki Brooke, a science fiction author and scriptwriter from Australia, champions bisexual representation in books and films. A proud bisexual herself, Nikki challenges stereotypes, drawing from her own journey of self-discovery. Refusing to be confined by societal expectations, Nikki embraces the complexity of her identity, breaking down misconceptions and defying conventional beliefs about bisexuality with each stroke of her pen.
Her writing talent has earned accolades, including finalist in the 7th Annual Launch Pad Prose Competition and semi-finalist in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition. Several of her short stories have found homes in anthologies from various publishers.
Nikki’s debut dystopian novel, “Plagued Lands,” is due for release November 2024 and a film adaption is in the works with Crow Knight Films. This dystopian masterpiece promises to captivate audiences with its stark portrayal of a future built on deception and greed. Through her work, Nikki endeavors to pave the way for a more inclusive and diverse literary and film landscape.
With her boundless creativity and unwavering commitment to authenticity, Nikki Brooke stands as a trailblazer in the world of storytelling, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere.
Let’s Get Started
Thank you so much for joining me during your super busy month, Nikki! I’ve been looking forward to our chat.
First things first. I have to share this amazing cover for Plagued Lands.
Just stunning!
After following your debut rollout, I would have to say that your launch is the best planned, thorough, and most fun I’ve followed for any author. You’ve done a brilliant job engaging on Instagram. The story initially captured my attention.
Then came the announcement of the film adaptation and enticing invitation to follow the project through your beautiful website. And lastly, I was super impressed when the gorgeous cover and poster art appeared. You even have a nice swag package with character art to go with the purchase of your book. (There are still a couple days left to get in a preorder! I got my copy!!) And now you have a launch party in three days!
How does it feel to be on the cusp after this incredible journey?
NB. Wow! What an introduction! Thank you so much for your kind words. As you alluded to, a lot of work has gone into this launch. It’s my debut novel and a dream I’ve had since I was 8yo, so I wanted it to be a big deal. I feel a bit like I’m on the edge of a cliff, but whether there is water or rocks at the bottom is yet to be determined. It’s exhilarating and scary at the same time. But mostly, I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished so far. It’s taken a lot of courage and I’ve had to overcome depression, anxiety and a lot of negative beliefs to be here today.
DLL. That is incredible! To fulfill a dream you’ve had since you were eight… I can only imagine the highs and lows, especially when struggling with the challenges of depression. I’ll go a little Aussie and say… Good on ya!
I couldn’t help tapping into my Aussie vibe with a bit of imagery. 😉 Can you share how you got started as a writer and who or what were your biggest inspirations?
NB. I wrote my first book at 8, it was a fantasy story about 5 pages long and illustrated which I bound myself. I still have it, haha. And since then, I’ve wanted to tell stories. However, I wouldn’t admit it then because I was such a slow reader and I was embarrassed. I read Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson which was the first story that made me cry (it still makes me cry) and from then on, I was a bookworm.
I got a diploma in Professional Writing in Editing after High School and thought I was on my way. But then crippling depression and anxiety stopped me from pursuing my dreams. It was only a few years ago after meeting a life coach that I started to believe in myself and my writing skills.
As a teen John Marsden, Sheryl Jordan, and R.L. Stine were my inspirations. Today lots of indie authors inspire me, like Alice Hanov, Nikky Lee, and Ash Oldfield, as well as traditionally published authors, Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff, and C.S. Pacat.
DLL. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. So inspiring. And thanks for the great additions to my TBR. I have not read any of these authors but Jay Kristoff. I still need to finish the very long Empire of the Vampire…
When did making the film come into play and how did that project roll into the novel debut? I find it fascinating how the two projects seem to be simultaneous, and it’s not often an author has such an exciting prospect for their very first novel, at least in my frame of reference. It also seems so monumental. I would love to hear the story.
NB. I was approached by a producer after my other novel (unpublished) was listed as a finalist in two different cinematic book competitions. He liked the concept of Plagued Lands better for a lower budget film so we decided to adapt it instead of the other book.
Of course, that meant it was best for me to hurry up and get the Plagued Lands book out, so I decided to self-publish. I founded Crow Knight Film & Publishing Realm to produce both the book and film.
Because it’s an independent film, I get a lot of creative input and it’s been wonderful going through the process of writing my very first feature film script! It’s been a whirlwind of ups and downs doing both the film and book together, and I haven’t had a lot of sleep this year, haha.
DLL. Wow! When would you have time to sleep? And who needs it when there are so many creative to-dos on your list. It’s awesome watching you check them off, which highlights again how momentous Wednesday will be.
What advice do you have for indie authors with the same aspirations?
NB. Because self-doubt was my biggest barrier, I will always encourage authors to believe in themselves and to believe their big dreams are achievable. Be brave and share your stories. And secondly, always continue to hone your craft. Read new releases in your genre so you know current readers’ expectations, but also read books in other genres and periods to find things you might want to experiment with. Take courses, go to conferences, get feedback on your writing, etc etc.
How did you find and build your connections/collaborations for the book and film? Can you tell us about Crow Knight Films? Has filming started and where will it be shot? Any other juicy details? 🙂
NB. The juicy news is that I dumped the original producer who approached me… let’s say due to ‘creative differences’ which I cannot elaborate on. I had already founded Crow Knight Films to produce alongside him, but now I am in talks with other producers and investors. So the project is still pushing forward. Although I don’t regret firing the producer, it has been a setback, so filming will still be a while off, unfortunately.
DLL. A great example of taking the bumpy risks that keep you in the driver’s seat and ending the ride where you need to be. I love it! I look forward to following you to the finish line.
I would love to hear about the artists who designed your covers, character art, and promotional materials. Can you share any tips or advice on seeking art collaborations?
NB. Oooh, I love my cover! It was designed by Alan and Ian at The Book Designers. They were fabulous to work with. They asked a lot of questions and got me to provide examples of covers I liked.
They provided several draft designs. I chose two and they worked on them further to whittle it down to one. This one became my favourite, and I asked for a few more changes to get it popping like it does now.
I found these designers by looking at other books with covers I love. The Book Designers also did The Head, the Heart, and the Heir by Alice Hanov which I adore! So it was a no-brainer to go with them. I suggest researching artists of covers you like and finding someone who can produce something similar within your budget.
For my character art, I found a digital artist on Fiverr. I liked the style of the work she displayed and she can draw from scratch without using AI. I started with a trial character but ended up commissioning her to do 9 different designs. I was really happy with the results.
And some of the designs in my promotional material I created myself using Canva. I also like to draw, so I’m hoping I can produce something good enough to give to people at a later stage.
DLL. I really like the color and lighting the artist uses for your characters. Thank you for these great tips.And I saw that The Book Designers features Plagued Lands on their home page. Awesome!
PersephoneNathanSebastianWillMother Jessica
Can you talk about the technical process for your debut? Now that you can look back, what are your best tips and what might you do differently or avoid next time?
NB. I learned a lot from my editor for this book. There’s not a lot I’d necessarily do differently, but thanks to her I’m more aware of the importance of high stakes than I was before writing Plagued Lands. I was a little too kind on my characters in the first draft. And each problem Martina faced was solved before she moved onto the next problem. Everything tied up nicely, but it meant it lacked tension and didn’t hold the readers’ attention. So there were some big rewrites, and I don’t think my future stories will require as much now I’ve learned that.
DLL. This is so great to share with new writers. It’s a common learning curve. Thank you!
Can you highlight the writing/publishing tools/resources you can’t live without, and how you discovered them?
NB.Scrivener!! I love it so much. I generally consider myself a fairly organised person, but I never felt it while using Word to draft with. Now I have Scrivener, it’s easy to find all my notes, research, and details. It’s easier to plot my novel due to the text and folder structure, plus the corkboard and outline views – oh and being able to label/categorise scenes. I also find it’s amazing for setting targets. And the cost is reasonable. There is a steep learning curve when you first start using it, but it’s worth it. In case you’re wondering, no I don’t work for Scrivener, haha, I’m just a big fan. I found out about it through another author mentioning it online, I think it was Victoria Aveyard.
Another one I can’t live without is The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. It’s easy to get repetitive when describing emotions, and this book helps to mix it up a bit. It gives you a list of emotions, their physical signals, internal sensations, mental responses, and more.
DLL. Ooh. I’m getting that book! Thanks! I know how awesome Scrivner is supposed to be, but I’m so comfortable in MS Word. Still, Word is not the best for storyboarding or managing multiple parts of a project. I seem to live and breathe in my draft manuscripts, discovering the story as I write them, and I haven’t found that freedom in Scrivener, as ironic as that is since these platforms are meant to provide creative freedom. It’s clear you’ve discovered that. I keep wanting to try it again on the next project, especially when someone raves about how cool it is.
NB: I would say it’s probably not as useful for people who are pantsers or can keep all the details in their heads. I like to plot and have a terrible memory for details, which is why it works so well for me. If you feel comfortable in Word, then keep at it.
DLL. Lookie! I got my copy already…
This is awesome!
And I am a true pantser no matter how many other methods I experiment with. Flying by the seat of my pants is my creative zone.
Now, let’s talk about Plagued Lands. Elements of the plot remind me of a favorite classic movie, Logan’s Run. I do love a good dystopian tale! How would you describe Plagued Lands if someone stopped you on the street and wanted to know about your book?
NB. I absolutely love Logan’s Run!! What a classic! I’ve probably been subconsciously inspired by it. The Plagued Lands story and concept is completely different, but it does have a similar vibe in the sense that the people in charge are lying to the citizens and the main character has to figure out the truth.
I often compare it to The Hunger Games, because that’s the most famous comparable dystopian right now and it definitely influenced the writing style of Plagued Lands. And it’s a good benchmark because most people have heard of it, although it also has comparisons to Want by Cindy Pon and Legend by Marie Lu. But Plagued Lands does have a unique setting plus a bisexual main character.
Plagued Lands is a young adult dystopian. In the future, cities surrounded by glass bubbles promise safety from deadly diseases. But a resilient teen uncovers a dark secret kept from the people. Now she risks her health to expose the truth and save her little brother.
DLL. I’m always showing my age with my movie references. LOL. Though I love the Hunger Games Movies, too! I can’t wait to read Martina’s story.
NB. Seriously, I need to reiterate that I LOVE Logan’s Run!! It was one of my Dad’s favourite films and I remember watching it with him when I was little. It was true daddy-daughter bonding. That film, coupled with the original Star Wars, were the films that got me into Science Fiction.
DLL. I’m so happy to glean that precious nugget about you and growing up, Nikki!
(Had to share this image from the Amazon Prime Video thumbnail. It links to the movie)
What characters or character traits were the most compelling to write and why?
NB. Martina is just a touch gruff and I love that about her. She’s flawed and imperfect, which makes her more relatable.
She has a lot of self-doubt and I think that’s a reflection of how I felt when I was writing Plagued Lands because I was overcoming my own self-doubt. We both grew stronger and braver together. To clarify, she’s still her own character, she’s not a reflection of me, she just shares some traits.
DLL. Super compelling! All my characters channel some part of me, so I totally dig it when traits we relate to as authors spill into our characters, which in turn makes them relatable to readers.
That’s why I encourage people to try their hand at fiction, to experience life through a character’s surprising perspectives and watch in astonishment when they take flight on their own as a unique individual.
What inspired the setting and what elements were the most fun to get lost in?
NB. It’s set in a futuristic Texas. There are hints as to which city in the book, but a big hint is that I used to live in Austin. The bubble cities were inspired by a Sunday morning drive. Weird, I know. But I had to be up early on a Sunday, and the streets were empty, except for one guy who leisurely strolled across the road. It seemed out of place when the streets were so empty and it made me wonder in what other situation would it be strange to see someone outside. That’s when I came up with the concept of people living in semi-sterile bubble cities who don’t venture outside unless they’re wearing hazmat suits.
Many people have thought Plagued Lands was inspired by Covid, but in truth, this Sunday morning inspiration hit me several years before Covid was ever heard of. But I started writing it in 2020 because the pandemic felt like a sign this story should be written.
The most fun part is Martina experiencing things she never has before. I don’t want to give too much away but one thing that was fun was figuring out how to describe a lizard if you’ve never seen one before. And she has a few other innocent encounters with animals too. And the decontamination process for re-entering the city is fascinating. I love what I came up with.
DLL. The Texas choice is such a great story! And aren’t those quirky plot details the most joy during the writing process… all that amazing research put into action?
This is the start of the series. Can you share a glimpse into future installments? Will they also come to the screen?
NB. Yep, I’ve planned for Plagued Lands to be a trilogy. I’m writing book two now and have most of book three plotted out too. I certainly know how it all ends. Hopefully, we can make all three into films, however, it will depend on the success of the first film.
And some juicy gossip—which I haven’t officially announced yet, so you’re getting a scoop—is that I am also writing a prequel novella. It will have Martina’s backstory. I’m hoping to release it early next year.
DLL. Ooh. This is so exciting! Thank you for sharing your prequel on our Spotlight!
I love hearing about a writer’s daily life and how and where writing and creativity fit in. Can you share how you balance life with writing and the business of being an author?
NB. I’m not sure there is much balance, haha. Writing has to fit around my day job. Many people are surprised to hear I’m also a finance business partner (a type of accountant/analyst), so I’m both creative and analytical, which is rare. Although writing is my bigger passion, I still love my finance job, and it’s even better because I work for a wonderful charity. But it does mean my time is stretched between the two.
I find writing sprints work really well for drafting. In a twenty-minute sprint, I can write 300 to 500 words and I can usually find a few times a week to do that. This year it’s been harder because I’ve been more focussed on the business side of writing and publishing, which includes marketing and administration tasks. I don’t love that side of being an author, but it’s necessary for people to be able to find my book. That’s the goal and I love it when I hear Plagued Lands is now someone’s new favourite book (which one advanced reader told me, eeee!). But I’m sure now that I’ve published one book (or almost published) it will be easier going forward and I can focus more on writing again. Yay! I can’t wait to get stuck into the next Plagued Lands installment.
DLL. Awesome on the writing sprints! Those really add up. I’m wondering if being analytical is a beneficial trait to have when it comes to writing sci-fi. Hmmm.
Do you have a favorite work setting, a place you escape to that inspires your creativity?
NB. I have a desk at home, but I also use it for my finance job, so it gets a bit boring and can block creativity. Therefore, I love to go to cafes to write. Of course, I think I look like one of those mysterious authors in a dark corner of a cafe, but everyone does it these days, so it’s not so mysterious anymore, haha.
I like the happy vibes in cafes. It’s always best if it’s one with acoustics where you can’t really hear what people are saying too much, or else it interrupts my concentration. Although, I have heard listening in on people’s conversations can be a great way to learn writing dialogue and I have been guilty of that occasionally.
I also love traveling and feel inspired when I take a trip. I often take my computer with me, or at least a portable keyboard that allows me to write on my phone. I’m heading to Sri Lanka in a few weeks, so I’m sure to get a burst of inspiration there.
DLL. Fabulous! I can see how utilizing the day job location for writing might stifle creativity. This is why I enjoy asking about creative spaces–learning about so many fantastic ideas and processes. I love the coffee shop idea, and your super tip on listening into conversations for dialog ideas. And yes, there is so much to getting out in the “wild” for inspiration. Traveling is the bomb. That’s how you and I struck up our conversation. We’ve traveled (or in your case lived) in each other’s countries. I’ll say officially how much I love Australia… in case no one has picked up on that yet. 😉
I reached back into my 2018 photos and grabbed my favorite Melbourne shots. I stayed at a mini farm in a suburb called Hurstbridge, Nullimbuk Shire. We explored art at beautiful Montsalvat in Eltham and took a train into the city, naturally. I adored tea at the Hopetoun Tea Room and exploring the Bourke Street Mall.
What other travel experiences have inspired you?
NB. Yes!! That is how we connected which is so cool! It’s so nice to hear you enjoyed Australia. Obviously, Texas inspired me, hence setting my book there. I have taken a lot of inspiration from travelling through Egypt and Greece with all the rich history and mythology. But I think everywhere I’ve been has inspired me a little and even places I haven’t been to but want to go. One of my other books, The Huxian Fox, which I hope to release next year (not part of the Plagued Lands trilogy) has mythology from China and Greece throughout it, and I haven’t been to China yet. It’s a space opera where the characters visit lots of planets, and the descriptions of many of those places were inspired by real places I’ve visited, like the Wadi Rum desert, English pubs, Greek temples, Angkor Wat temples and even Melbourne when I grew up.
DLL. Fantastic! Is this another reveal? It sounds amazing and I can’t wait for more.
Can you share your favorite productivity techniques, tools, or resources?
NB. Like I said earlier, my biggest barrier is my mental health, so when it’s bad, I love to put on a guided meditation that boosts my energy (you’ll feel energised instead of relaxed by this meditation). It’s called, 6 Minutes of Courage, Confidence, and Positive Energy by Kenneth Soares and you can listen on Insight Timer which is free. It’s a great way to start the day or a writing sprint.
And writing sprints is the next one. Setting your timer for 20 minutes and you’re not allowed to do anything but write for that period. No looking at your phone. Anything that needs researching needs to wait until after (I make a note to come back to it in those instances). No using the thesaurus (again, make a note and move on). Just write. What I write might not be great sometimes, but it’s better than nothing, and it helps me to think up more ideas.
I also found that I work well with setting goals. It’s probably my analytical brain kicking in. Some people can write 10,000 words in a day. I know I’m not one of them. So I set goals more like 10,000 words in the month, or 40,000 in the month, depending on what else I have going on in that month. I did the 50k in a month for Nano one year, and it was hard. I don’t think I’ll stretch myself that much again, but I was glad I did it. Other potential goals are creating 4 social media posts and scheduling them, or something like that.
DLL. So many encouraging ideas! Thank you! And I’ll add my plug here on the benefits of meditation.
I’m trying for 50,000 words this National Novel Writing Month, but I’m running into so many obstacles with another really full schedule. Still, it’s early. I’ve got 7,000 words down and should pat myself on the back, eh?
NB. Well done on your 7k and best wishes for the rest of the month. It is tough but also feels amazing when you smash out 50,000 words!
This has been so much fun, Nikki! Thanks again for visiting my blog. Any last advice you would like to share?
NB. Thank you so much for having me!! It’s been a real pleasure and you’re an amazing interviewer! My last advice is to reiterate that writers need to believe in themselves and their dreams. You can do it!
DLL. Awe, thanks, Nikki! I can’t wait to check in with you a year from now and discover the latest on Plagued Lands.
Have you ever shared intimacy with a fly? One of those surreal encounters where you were in communion with an entity five hundred times smaller than yourself who seemed to look you in the eye? A tiny being who showed interest in what was on your mind, maybe even hoping you wanted to know what was on his.
My fly might have been attracted to me because I’d been sitting all day in one spot blending into my surroundings, typing away on my keyboard. This big ole beauty hung out with me the whole time, landing on my desk, walking over my pens and notebook, sort of mellow, like he had nothing better to do. It’s that time of year when flies go from frenetic to mellow and back to frenetic in their final hours. This fly picked me for his last hoorah.
About every hour, he would lift off and zoom around my head for at least fifteen minutes straight, even bonking me once or twice. I must have ignored him too long. I would forget about him, only to be distracted from writing when I caught his movement out of the corner of my eye. He buzzed occasionally to remind me he was there as he meandered behind my pencil cup, across my glass of water, and along my phone.
He bounced off my forehead for the last time about an hour ago. I didn’t mean it, but my reflexes had me swatting at him and we collided. I haven’t seen him since, and now I’m sad.
Another topic Nicolas and I like to get into is engaging with our readers through our newsletters and social media. Nicolas shared creative ways to reach out and offer encouragement in Part One. He also covered his recent website and newsletter revamps. We’ll go more in-depth here in Part Two and cover other avenues. We veer into the writing process as well. Enjoy!
I’ve found that what I use for outreach and how I use it has morphed quite a bit throughout the different stages of my writing career. I’ve now focused my activities on the positive places where I have the most fun and even if they don’t quite achieve all I’m going for, I’m sticking with them because I enjoy the creativity and the connections. Even the smallest rewards keep me going. You happen to be one of those early connections I met on Twitter that I’m grateful for every day. 😄
The X platform bears mentioning as one that I’ve since left despite meeting you and a few other supportive writers. It turned sour after becoming more political and rife with unchecked misinformation, so I made the hard choice and gave up a large following. Today, my four main engagements are:
4) an amazing promo collaboration with RomanceBookLovers.com, coordinated through a Facebook group.
I’ll break these out a bit below.
What outreach avenues work best for you? Have you given up certain platforms in favor of others?
NL. I have my email list that I hope to grow further over time, and my website, with my blog, Writing Notes. I added a new page this summer, to show off my past interviews.
I use social media as well while keeping in mind they may not be the awesome, efficient marketing tool they are often portrayed to be. But they are a great way to find people and reach out to them, and to practice showing up and being visible in the world. I am not too systematic about them, but I use a tool you might find interesting. It’s called Buffer. It has a free version that allows you to connect up to three social platforms. So instead of having to post three or four different times, I can do it only once. I post to Buffer, and my post goes automatically to Instagram (and Facebook), LinkedIn, and Twitter-X. Buffer has a scheduler, so you can spread your posts over time.
I agree, Twitter-X has turned sour. I have been thinking of leaving it for a while, but I feared losing contact with some nice, interesting people I met there. I went with the wave a couple of years back and opened an account on Mastodon, hoping to find a replacement. It didn’t work for me. Although I met some nice people during the short time I was there, I found the platform itself, the way it works, kind of tedious. Eventually, I closed the account. Sorry guys, if you love Mastodon. I wish you all the best. I’m not saying I won’t be back someday.
Anyways. Granted, it was easy to reach out to a lot of new people over X, but LinkedIn is even better. LinkedIn is where I connected with the most people while first growing my list, so I’m keeping it as one of my two favorites. I have good friends and contacts there. My other favorite, the most fun and addictive to be in, is Instagram. My Facebook page is more like an afterthought, already taken care of whenever I create something on Instagram.
Also… Did I mention I have a mild obsession with podcasts?
DLL. And you always have great suggestions for them! I need to catch up. It’s funny, I visit LinkedIn more now that I’ve connected with you there. I decided not to accept every invite for a connection because so many are trying to sell services. So, I’m being picky and haven’t yet found my voice. Plus, I left my previous work history intact, which is kind of weird now that I’ve updated my profile to my pen name. So, my connections include old work life and new work life.
I tried Threads but didn’t make waves there at all. It probably would be helpful to use an app that lets you post simultaneously. Thanks for sharing that. I confess after Facebook account mixups, I have moments where I contemplate going offline, but there would be so many people I’d miss like you. And there’s that momentum you can’t get back… And that marketing thing…
NL. Isn’t that so? I’ve been having the same thoughts about going offline, at least for longer periods of time. And Facebook, yes, it is a puzzle. How all the Meta tools relate isn’t really clear in every aspect. Particularly FB profile vs FB page; how to use them in clearer, different ways… I do not really know.
DLL.I’ve enjoyed blogging about the writer’s life and interviewing authors on my website from the outset of this journey, but this year, I’ve tried two new activities. I was thrilled to finally launch my newsletter (with assistance from my niece), and I’m having a blast with that creative outlet despite the challenges of adding subscribers. While I managed to grow my audience through a couple of promotions, the unsubscribers far outnumber the new ones. Sigh… That doesn’t stop me from thinking of new ways to offer fun content and writer’s life insights and tips. Right now, readers are getting monthly installments of a paranormal fantasy short story, a Fae vs. Punk Mashup…
You’re getting a sneak preview of my next installment.
The second boost in my outreach was joining the RomanceBookLovers.com quarterly book blasts. I discovered the collaboration concept last year and was grateful for the opportunity to hop on the bandwagon where a wonderful coordinator created a Facebook page and a website and invited authors to participate together in blasting out their books. I combined the first event with the launch of Tigris Vetus. You’ve probably seen those posts about stuffing your Kindles. That’s the kind of big event I’m talking about.
I participated in two this year and will participate again in October. The events netted me 13,494 processed orders (I’m including orders outside the events because they’re nominal and it’s easier than deducting them 🙂). These numbers are primarily orders for books one and two in The Starlight Chronicles. I didn’t register Tigris Vetus, but it benefited collaterally with sales totaling 86 for the year (to date). That tells you how readers can’t resist free books. I know I can’t, which means I’ve got a huge TBR to get through!
Platforms like Apple Books and BookBub have also jumped on the bandwagon and are now helping us help them by promoting our events. Apple even encourages becoming an affiliate where you earn a small amount for each click on your book even if it doesn’t result in a download.
On the downside. When you get your book loaded into thousands of Kindles during these blasts, you risk saturating your market with readers who will forget instantly that your book is in their library and never read it. Out of this 13,000, I’ve received around 20 Amazon reviews and a handful of Goodreads reviews. Still, you never know when a reader will browse their Kindle library and get started on your book. That’s always an exciting prospect.
I didn’t mean to ramble on about what really is more of a promotion than engagement, but I think they are somewhat related because those of us participating have a lot of fun collaborating in the outreach. I recommend finding a group suited to your genre and community.
NL. Wait… woooah! Did you really say 13,494 orders? For books #1 and #2? My eyes are kind of bulging right now… And 86 more for the book you didn’t even register, book #3? Okay, I’m kind of dealing with a frenetic heartbeat right now. I can’t wait to try one of those! Even if they’re free books you’re giving away, that’s so many potential new readers… My head is spinning! Way to go, Darci!
Do they have statistics on how many people are likely to actually read the books? Even if it’s a small percentage, I’d say it’s still more than worth it for sure. You’ve received 20 Amazon reviews and a handful on Goodreads in a short time; I think that is extraordinary! I can’t wait to have one of two books published so I can experiment with all these platforms like you do. Thank you so much for sharing your experience Darci, it is such an inspiration and a big source of motivation. The reason I can’t wait is how fun it sounds, actually.
About The Writing Craft
So, I had a few topics in mind, more about the writing itself – If you’d like to elaborate on them… How do you structure your stories? Do you have one, or many, go-to techniques and mentors? How do you first approach a new story? Plot or character? Pantsing or planning? All of these answers, or is there an emergent pattern that you can identify?
DLL. Credit goes to pantsing, and I’m not talking about when mischievous kids pull down someone’s pants. 😉A pantser am I. At least that was my predominant method in the beginning. These days, I tend to engage in multiple techniques, and often apply many to the same project, even a little outlining and planning, but mostly pantsing. I let the story dictate what’s needed.
I would also say my story structure style developed after enjoying and distilling hundreds of books by authors who write in my genres (listed later). Another technique that seems to work wonders is playing out scenes in my head as I fall asleep or wake up. I’m not good at writing them down, but I manage to retain the highlights. I’ll keep calling up the scene and working it out in that fashion so that when I sit down to write, it flows.
Confessions…
So, the pantsing worked in the beginning, and it is my preferred method, but I’ve let too many other techniques get under my skin after all the learning I’ve done since I started. I’m going to admit something here for the first time. I have over half a dozen novels in the works with significant progress on all of them, but they are all in a holding pattern because I’ve learned too much about writing! What does this bizarre admission mean? I’m experiencing a form of writer’s block.
When I wrote my series, I didn’t know enough to understand I was making mistakes and my writing flowed. It was free. The story I wanted to tell came out as my characters told it. Granted, the results were amateurish, but I had a complete story I could rewrite as I acquired new skills. Now that I understand more about structure, story beats, showing versus telling, and all that crap, I’m getting stuck in story after story soon after introducing my characters and the initial chapters. The plot falls apart and I lose my mojo.
The instincts I relied on at the beginning of my journey that carried me through until now have gone silent. I think it’s a clash between intuition and rules. All the stuff I’ve learned in the last four years fills my head and haunts me at the keyboard.
I realize I am my own worst enemy and it’s up to me to figure it out. It’s just that writing has been so steady since I started that it’s hard to face writer’s block for the first time and with so many stories. It’s like having a log jam in my brain. It’s an environment that has fostered a bad case of imposter syndrome, a feeling I no longer have a complete story in me… I suppose it’s the first major readjustment I’ve had to face.
NL. I can empathize with that! Each time I think my writing has improved, or that I’ve mastered some new aspect of the craft, the exact same thing happens to me. Also, after pretty much every developmental editor call, it takes me a couple of days to readjust and switch gears. I have too many ideas, and it’s like my vision of what I’m trying to achieve is too clear, if that’s even possible. Too clear, too beautiful, too grand. If I try to write when I’m in that state, I find I just can’t.
I need to remember to lower my expectations, tell myself it’s only a “shitty n-th draft”, that it won’t be, and shouldn’t be perfect, that it’s not supposed to, that I’m not even expected to get this right the first time, or the second, or even this time around, because there will be opportunities to make things better later. Until I tell myself all of these things, no writing is really possible. It takes some doing. But I think that with time and practice, we can learn to reconcile what we learn and know with our inner natural flow.
It was the same with singing. Singing was easy before I took my first voice lesson. But when I started learning and being more serious about it, it suddenly became very complicated. Almost impossible. It was like I couldn’t coordinate my breathing and my jaw, and my tongue, and my shoulders and whatever other parts of my body, and sing the right notes with the right rhythm, and do all of it at once. My brain was interfering with my natural flow. But eventually, after some time and a lot of practice and training, the technique became second nature (at least to a degree), and singing became a positive experience again.
DLL.Ah. Muscle memory and forming habits. I like that comparison, Nicolas. Part of my problem is that I haven’t taken enough breaks since starting this journey. I have many mindful craft projects I can turn to. Balance is the key, isn’t it? But jeez! It’s so hard to peel myself away from my passion.
Then… there’s my age. The sense of time ticking away gives me a sense of urgency to get my stories out there. Why do we only get the freedom of time when we are old and there never seems to be enough of it?
Okay, that’s it for confessions and rants. 😁
NL. Why does time always insist on passing so fast? Couldn’t we just slow it down or something? At 58, I can feel it as well. And too often, that pressure, to get it all out before it’s too late, I’ll just say… It gets overwhelming. And the imposter syndrome. That too can get overwhelming at times. We could write an entire book on it, and we wouldn’t even scratch the surface. But I want to thank you for your confessions, Darci, and I enjoy reading your rantings.
How About Genre?
On a different note, I noticed you’ve been playing with all kinds of genres, generally staying within the realm of romance, but adventuring into historical pirate stories, full-fledged fantasy, and of course, shape-shifting supernatural… I love the underneath freedom of creativity that this underlines in your work. Generally speaking, what’s your approach to genre? If you feel like thinking aloud on this for a while… I’ll just sit back and relax, and bask in whatever you have to say like the true fan that I am.
DLL. You’re so chill, Nicolas. I can totally picture you basking in the sun with your hat. And you’re the first person who’s said you’re my fan! Thank you for that.
NL. Absolutely.
DLL. This is an easy question. I write what I love to read. As I mentioned, I read a lot, which covers the spectrum from thrillers, historical fiction, romance, cozy mysteries, to sci-fi and fantasy. But fantasy as you pointed out allows us to paint with such wide brush strokes.
Fantasy romance, especially the paranormal or supernatural variety was the genre that consumed me as a reader in that first pandemic summer in 2020. Writers like Grace Draven (whom I interviewed last December), Laura Thalassa, Jeanienne Frost, Ilona Andrews, Stephenie Meyer, Cassandra Clare, Stephanie Hudson, and Carrie Pulkinen (another interview in January), all best sellers and many of them independent, or an independent hybrid, wrote the stories that infected me with the writing bug. And yes, like you say, fantasy.
Part Three will follow where we talk about our thoughts on branding and the writer’s life.
I took a month off in August for family obligations, but I really missed chatting with a fellow author on my blog. What better way to get back to it than catching up with a good friend? We had so much fun we ended up doing a 4-part miniseries!
Nicolas visited my Spotlight in 2023 where we engaged in a two-way interview that was super fun. This year, we will do the same while we catch up on all the things that have gone on in our indie authors’ lives since. You can also find our discussion on Nicolas’s blog. I’m betting you’ll pick up a few writing processes, techniques, and experiences you can relate to and take away as you head off to your keyboards or notebooks!
How has your summer been Nicolas?
Funny you’d say you took a break in August, Darci because I did exactly the same! The break was necessary, and it felt good to lessen the inevitable pressures of life, but I missed the opportunity to exchange ideas about our writing as well. But now that my body and mind have refreshed a bit, and my head is full of ideas again, I feel ready to go back to my creative projects. This conversation is one such project, and so I am super excited to catch up with so many things that have happened in both our creative lives since our last conversation. Let’s tackle those big questions!
Let’s Meet The Authors
Nicolas Lemieux
His chosen genre is science fiction. Nicolas says, “I get my kicks out of dreaming up astonishing worlds packed with a sharp palette of badass, quirky characters who get tangled up in all manners of meaningful trouble.
Often funny, sometimes disquieting, always exciting. I believe each time you dive into a good book, you come out better off at the other end because you’ve gained a new, flaring spark that will stick with you until the end of times, helping you fend off the pits and falls that might have consumed you otherwise.”
Nicholas invites you to… “Be a badass reader! Read my free story today: CRADLE.”
D. L. Lewellyn
D. L. Lewellyn is an independent author writing fantasy romance every chance she gets. A passion for writing took her by surprise in 2021 following a summer of voracious pandemic-induced reading in a new favorite genre, paranormal romance.
Her latest publication is on Presale! Les Romances des Trois features three enchanting threesome tales and a bonus adult fairy tale.
Besides self-publishing her novels, her stories have found homes in anthology publications, and many more are in the works. Ask anyone who knows her, and they’ll tell you she’s a dedicated multi-crafter. She also enjoys blogging, chatting with authors and other creators on her monthly Sunday Spotlight, and classic cinema nights with her husband, dogs, and a big bowl of popcorn.
Let’s Get Started
Rewrites and Burnout
I’m so excited to look back at our highlights and learning experiences, Nicolas! We have a handful of fantastic topics, which we will share in this series of four blogs. Let’s start with what we’ve learned about engaging in the rewrite process in Part One, plus a bit about burnout and self-care.
Both of us have been working on epic novels since our last discussion. I truly felt like it was a miracle and something to celebrate when I finally launched the third book in my three-part paranormal romance series this February. You’re writing an epic space opera, Seven Drifts.
We talked about the ways you’ve rethought parts of your structure and what elements to focus more attention on, your character’s voices, all things that speak to us more powerfully during the rewriting process after having become intimate with every aspect of our story. I lost count of how many rewrites I did for Tigris Vetus, and the final version is starkly different from the first draft at the beginning of my writing journey before I even finished the first book in the series, Ursus Borealis. I would say it’s not even close to the same novel it was in its infancy.
I read recently that rewriting multiple drafts is a necessary part of the process, love it or hate it. Writers Write shared this thoughtful list of the pros and cons in its blog, Why You Should Love Doing Rewrites.
Gotham Writers shared these awesome and amusing insights in The 10 Revision Stages of a Novel (we definitely need humor as we stare down the barrel of this daunting phase of writing – Writers Write shared the meme).
Can you tell us where you’re at in the process and your takeaways? What or who has kept you going and motivated you to fine-tune your story? What has been your favorite part of the process and your least favorite?
Thanks for sharing these articles on rewrites! It’s very interesting to see new ways we can reframe how we view those long, repeated rewrites. Of course, we have to find ways to make our writing journey a pleasurable experience. I like to tell myself it’s very much about the journey, not only the destination. It takes both, and I enjoy the journey, it would seem to make sense that the reader is more likely to enjoy reading the result.
How My Summer Was
Let’s see… What happened since the last time we did this?
Over the fall and winter, I took some distance from social media and my platform in general in order to really focus on finishing my second full draft of Seven Drifts. Long story short, (but really, it’s long), this was the n-th version of the story, but only the second actual full draft, a full rewrite from the top.
It took way longer than I could ever have anticipated. But it felt good. Many parts of it felt very good. The deeper and the farther I went, and the closer to the end I got, the better it got. To sum it up, I really love that last part of the story and its ending that took me so many months to complete. I really feel like my writing was getting better and better as I went, and the story along with it as all its elements gradually converged and found their explanations, payoffs, and conclusions.
All in all, completing that full rewrite of Seven Drifts felt like a whole adventure in itself. I am proud of it, just for the sake of having done it, and I am super proud of the result. I can only marvel: How did it happen? Here I am, with this great story on my hands. Wow.
It’s not over, though, and far from it. Firstly, the story isn’t over. It has sequels lining up in my mind’s buffer – and with some substantial drafts already in my drawers. I can’t wait to turn my awareness to them.
But it’s not over yet either, in the sense that this one story, Seven Drifts, still requires a lot of attention on my part. It won’t be finished for quite a bit of time.
So here’s what I turned my attention to since reaching the glorious end of this draft…
Globally, the story seems a bit unbalanced, if you look at the word count for each of its parts. The last part – third act or ending payoff – turned out to be over 99K words. Wow. That’s longer than the average novel. While drafting, I chose not to obsess about the length of the scenes or their number. All I focussed on was taking the story to a point where it did make the active, exciting sense that it now does. I’m not bragging, I’m just talking from my heart. I really think it is that good, at least to my taste, as was my whole objective when I started on the project some years ago: to write a story I’d like to read. Check.
But wait, there’s still A LOT left to do. Some major challenges in fact.
How to balance the relative lengths of the first, second, and third acts?
From the moment I reached “The End”, there was a list of actions in my mind, all with the potential to help balance the story. I wasn’t even thinking yet about shortening my scenes or cutting stuff out. There will be a time for that.
While drafting, I came up with new ideas. Or solutions to problems I discovered along the way or answers to questions I hadn’t yet elucidated. I took notes. Things to change here and there (and also here, and here, and this whole section, and this scene, and this character motivation, etc.). I took many notes actually. Also, I saw things that could benefit the story if I moved them around a bit. A whole section that was in the second part, I’m now moving to the first part. Another that was before the midpoint, I’m going to use closer to the end of the second act. And so on.
And then, there are a lot of world-building elements that I allowed to stay fuzzy and loose on purpose during the draft, with a clear intention to come back to them after the story existed in its entirety, to flesh out more and use in a way that makes the story clearer and better.
There are also many places where I exposed some elements of the world or bits of backstory in a way that was redundant, just for the sake of clarity as I drafted. I’ll want some of these elements to drip on the story from earlier on, and I’ll want to make sure their exposition is well balanced; something that cannot be done, in my view, until the full story is written and I can see better; and know what goes where in the best way possible. Generally, it’s the first part – Act 1, or the Beginning Hook – that requires the most refactoring to start with.
So this is what I’ve been doing all winter and summer, ever since finishing that long, full rewrite of the story.
Burnout
Another challenge is that along the way I came to grasp just how exhausted I actually was – and am.
I took two weeks off this summer. One in July, another at the beginning of September – Off, even from my big writing project. This is unusual for me. I usually double down on writing whenever I can take time off from my work in IT.
Not this time though. I just couldn’t. Especially at the end of the summer, in August, it REALLY felt like I had to take that break. Actually, up to my week’s vacation in the first week of September, I stopped working on Seven Drifts for about a whole month. It was the first time I did that in more than 10 years.
I can cite many objective reasons for my exhaustion. Finding myself suddenly alone back in 2019 in my IT position – in my role as a DBA (Database Administrator). Then the pandemic. Then changing roles back in 2021, from DBA to sysadmin/DevOps (that’s another demanding IT position, exciting but also exhausting, with lots of steep, unending learning involved, and quite some stressful responsibilities). Also, general anxiety has been building up in me over the last few years. A lot of it was around my parent’s health, my wife’s and my own, and around my self-confidence in this IT work…
And also, my self-confidence in regard to my writing endeavors. As my project took more and more time, more than I would have thought, more than anyone around me would have thought… Today, I appreciate the fact that I won’t back down from being honest and open about this. That’s a huge positive in my book; a brand new way of thinking and being. It’s a brand new key to being more creative, productive, and happy in my whole life in general… But more about this later!
In short, I needed that break! I needed to be out of town for a few days, go sailing on my brother’s boat over the St. Lawrence River, swim in a lake, watch the lake, read, and basically just do nothing for a while… around some water.
… But I still managed to do a lot of exciting, constructive things over the summer.
What else I did this Summer
One upside to a slow writing summer was that I used the opportunity to revive my platform somewhat, to refresh my website and fix all kinds of little details about it, and to make its design incrementally better although I don’t have a clear plan for it.
Actually, I posted A LOT! I explored more personal content in my newsletter and over social media in general, as a practice in taking more space in the world, and I feel good about it. (I’ll tell you more about this later. Watch out for my bit about Simone Seol’s Garbage Post Challenge).
So I am now a little prouder of my platform overall, and much less self-conscious about what I post, write, and what bits of myself I show to the world. Plus, I discovered I like wearing hats.
I did another Writing Battle. Fun times! (More on it below of course.)
I did the Garbage Post Challenge. That again? What on Earth is it? I’ll tell you about it, but first I’ll have to tell you about its creator, Simone Grace Seol. Stay tuned.
I got myself printed copies of your trilogy The Starlight Chronicles – I even got a signed copy of Drago Incendium! I’m diving into Ursus Borealis as we speak, and loving it…
One big highlight of my 2024 spring and summer was getting familiar with the work of Simone Grace Seol.
I was captivated as soon as I stumbled on her Instagram content, and I soon followed up to listen to her new podcast, called My Notes, and to her other, older podcast, I Am Your Korean Mom. I missed her May class by a hair, Writing With The Sword, but I did enroll in her online courses Cold Pitch Magic and How to Write Specific Copy. I’m now following her free course, The Simone Starter Pack: Marketing Essentials.
It may sound like it’s all about marketing, and it is… but it’s really not. In different words, you might want to say that everything in life is a kind of marketing, to a certain degree. Or better yet, just replace the word “marketing” with “expression”, or “creativity”, or “writing”… and there you have it. It’s the true essence of Simone Grace Seol’s work and philosophy.
This is life-changing stuff, you guys! Mind-bending. Me, I can’t get enough of it. It makes me hopeful, energized, self-loving, confident, free, bursting with ideas.
What she says is universal. Her advice and thoughts can be applied to ANYTHING – any kind of endeavor, really. They certainly apply to any kind of writing, and not only to copywriting. As I said, this is far from being all and only about marketing.
Because it’s not about the specific, technical details. I already have plenty of wonderful, plentiful, awesome, helpful mentors for those.
She’s made millions (no sh*t!) talking about doing your thing and feeling good about it. Imagine: Writing. Freely. Making your work known. Easily. Living. Lovingly. All the while, with everything in you aligned with your own truth and your own values. No BS. From your inner truth and whatever you do with it, to how you show up to do your work, to how you speak about it to others and present it and make it known to the world.
Simone Seol does away with so many received ideas and practices! She will help you take the ick out of the act of writing, by saying things like, and I quote…
– “Enjoy the people you’re writing to.“
– “Consistency is a product of dopamine.“
– “Writing (copywriting) is all about safety.“
– “Good writing doesn’t widen. It narrows. It’s an extreme zooming in of the imagination.“
– “Nobody has their shit together.“
– “Is your writing (copy) broadcasting fear?“
– “What if you have multiple passions?“
– “People want to fall in love with someone like you.“
– “How to create ethical urgency.“
– “Experts are obsessed with knowing, and knowledge. They want to give you their knowledge. They’re the ones who are the most afraid of not knowing.“
– “It breaks my heart because we are bypassing these great opportunities to learn and to connect when we wait until we know things.“
Here’s my personal understanding and experience of the GPC:
It’s SO simple. All you have to do is post one hundred times over a period of 30 days.
That’s it.
Minimum Word Count per post: 2
Maximum: whatever you like
Platform: whatever floats your boat. It can be social media, your newsletter, commenting on someone else’s posts, etc. (Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be!)
It’s not even about widening your audience, or growing it, or even building your email list. It’s not about selling stuff in any way. It’s not about showing off or converting anything or anyone into anything or anyone or compelling anybody into doing anything.
No.
It’s a practice. A simple one. It’s about learning to take up space in the world and getting comfortable with it. It’s about claiming your right to exist, and to speak up, and to show yourself as you are, and to create whatever you want, or to just say two words or whatever, freely, whenever we feel like it. It’s about discovering how easy it is to take up space in the world, and accessible, and how many possibilities we have at our fingertips, all the time, all around us, inside and out.
It’s about learning to trust that we have a voice.
It’s about slaying our perfectionism and speaking up, or just sharing who we are to the world despite it.
It’s about daring to exist, even in the eyes of our imagined critics and detractors and frenemies.
It’s about realizing it doesn’t matter at all if we made a typo or a mistake; if we said something that reads weird or sounds weird or something we don’t even agree with. We can always correct, replace, readjust, say more, contradict… or just let things drown under piles of other things we put out.
It’s about understanding that people don’t care as much as we thought, that we’re freer than we thought, and above all, that people will adjust to seeing more of us. They’ll come to rely on us being there, with more pixels on their screens. They’ll love what they love, and they’ll just ignore whatever doesn’t resonate with them.
Most of the people from whom we fear judgment or remarks won’t even notice what we put out. But the ones who are more like us, the ones who share our tastes and thoughts, who vibe just like us or aspire to, the only ones that really count in the end, will enjoy and like and follow, and then they’ll always be on the lookout for more from us, no strings attached, whether we post three times a day or three times a week, or per month.
When we realize how much fun this can be, we’ll want to keep it up to a degree that we’ll choose ourselves and for ourselves, and it will help us build, slowly and gradually, but surely, many long-lasting relationships.
Over time, something is bound to happen. Some people will subscribe to our email lists, read our work, buy our books and other content we put out, and whatever big and small offers we craft for them. Some will talk about our work to their friends. Whatever we build, however slowly it seems to start, if we keep at it over the long run, it will snowball over time, and gather momentum. That’s a platform, our platform, at our disposal.
But that’s not even the best part of it.
In the process, we make friends. We’re called to have fun on collaborative projects. We’re fed more ideas. Presented with an infinite array of doors and avenues to explore at our own leisure.
Sounds exciting?
I see I got a little carried away. Did I digress? I hope it was worth it!
What I ended up posting as “garbage posts”
Photos of my walks around the neighborhood: flowers, back-alley surprises, selfies.
Sharing great blog posts from other writers and introducing them in a few words, or saying what I like about what they write. Telling people I appreciate what they do and why. Showing bits of my writing. (Like on Instagram: here, here, here, here and here.) Talking about aspects of my story, like here.
Anything goes really. Two words minimum. It’s nothing. One image of a colorful bunch of flowers, and then “Hey, hi!” – That counts as a post, because it is really me, taking up space, existing online by just showing up with something nice.
And why not improvise a quick poem, or a snippet of prose, just for the Heck of it? Or revisit topics I’ve barely brushed in the past; expand on them, one at a time. That’s a considerable source of ideas, right there!
I want to take more notes of my everyday thoughts and ideas, big and little, and most importantly, questions. I think questions are generally more interesting than answers; they are doors to countless new avenues to explore later. I’ll keep doing Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages, even if not every day. You’d be surprised how many ideas get caught on these pages.
And then, it’s just a matter of taking a few minutes here and there. Post. Reel. Story. Share. Buffer to the socials. Often, these little posts can make great newsletters that I can turn into great blog posts. And then I can post about them again. Simple. Lean. Quick… Repeat!
If you look at your social media, you may be doing the Garbage Post Challenge already: Three posts per day on average, plus ten more, all over the course of 30 days. No big deal. Easy and fun. You can post fifteen times one day, and then do nothing for a while. It’s entirely up to you.
And don’t forget. Embrace imperfection. Eff perfectionism!
DLL. Thank you so much for sharing these amazing summer journeys, Nicolas. I know folks will want to check out Simone Grace Seol. It’s so awesome to hear your enthusiasm and energy. You were already so generous with your time and support before you engaged in this learning and growth experience.
It’s super encouraging to see how you’ve coped with burnout and I’m glad you took that time to let down. The boating… Yes!I know I’ve been enjoying your revamped content and benefiting from all your shares and the joy that comes with it.
And let me tell you again how much it made my summer when I found you’d purchased my paperback books. I adore seeing them out in the wild! Great photos.Talk about encouragement, support, and great mentoring! Thanks, Nicolas.
The discussion continues in Part Two where we talk about Outreach and share Confessions!
Who of you struggle like me with “keeping it simple, stupid,” and not waxing too literary? The complaint I hear most often… I love your prose, but I had to reread it. Well, I’m writing romance novels. No one should struggle anywhere at any time reading any scene or dialog. I believe I’m making strides these days and that is thanks in part to short insightful articles from Writers Write like this one.
Check it out. After you mull over the idea of distilling your writing into statistics like the ones provided in this blog, investigate subscribing to a platform like AutoCrit, which is the one I use, or an equally popular competitor like ProWritingAid. You won’t believe how much and how quickly you can tweak your weak spots and hone your strengths.
In the early days, I scoffed at the readability statistic category. “I have to dumb down my writing?” I grumbled to myself. This article really helped me understand what readability is all about. There’s always poetry when I have the urge to play with pretty words, which I’ve been dabbling in this year and enjoying more than I imagined I would.
If you’d like to learn more about the Dame herself, the image links you to an excellent article about her life, and PBS has a marvelous documentary, Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie.
Check out my books and sign up for my newsletter for more writer’s life musings, story snippets, and fun facts.
Well, I took another step in this amazing writing journey, tiny but sure. I’ve been wanting to do a reading of a story, and what better one to start with than Adrift No More, a nanofiction nugget at 250 words. I wanted to give it a try before investing in fancy equipment, but it’s pretty amazing what you can do with the basics.
I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please like and subscribe to my channel. That would be amazing and so appreciated.
I’ve created a page for my videos for future reference, but here is my one an only video to date for your convenience.
In my bio, I call myself a multi-crafter. I even share photos of my works because I can’t help myself.
In simple terms, it means I engage in multiple crafts. But there are layers to this label. Maybe levels is a better word. Some love all things fiber (the yarn hoarders). Some love all things needlecraft (cross stitching, embroidery, needlepoint, etc.). Some love mixed media because you can hoard every kind of medium found in traditional art stores or out in the world if you’re one of those who love to repurpose discarded things.
Then, there are the ones like me who become obsessed with all of the above either at separate periods in life or all at once. See what I mean? Layers. These are my main obsessions. There are others I won’t bore you with. Ironically, writing has been the cheapest craft of all and takes up way less space in my craft room!
I have enjoyed every crafting journey over my rapidly growing decades. But the one I went the most crazy for (while also engaging in knitting and crocheting) was the modern cross stitch wave (as opposed to the 80s wave and the 90s wave I also went crazy for… in bursts). The period started somewhere around 2014 with the first YouTuber stitcher creating a “Flosstube” channel. The stitchy video sharing blew up and reached a peak around 2018 or 2019 (which is where I came in) and is still going strong.
This fun channel belongs to a hard-working wife and mom in Pennsylvania. Karla is listed in my acknowledgments in Tigris Vetus because she’s also an avid reader and did an ARC read for me. I’ve been following her since 2019 (from my crafty account) and when I sent her signed books, she kindly featured them in her latest video.
This is the crossover part. The layers. The levels of multi… the obsessions that make a community.
Karla’s channel is called Craft_Adictk. She likes to work on full coverage, massive projects, and they are amazing.
Other amazing stitchers who have influenced me…
Mother and daughter, Pam and Steph of Just Keep Stitching. I have a T-shirt with their faces on it. They’re up to 350 plus videos with thousands of views.
Ellen Reid of Crash Test Dummies fame shares her Maximum Cross Stitch Power Hour. Talk about multi-crafting! She has recently become a designer of vintage samplers in between touring with the band.
Mostly, I felt the need to talk about a craft where the obsession has waned a bit since my Pod People took over my brain. I miss it. The obsession that is. I still stitch in my rare downtimes. But instead of rotating twenty projects, I’m rotating about eight. There are even layers in the amount of the obsessions inside the obsessions.
Happy stitching and happy writing or whatever craft is in the air tonight.
Oh and that 40-year obsession with cross stitch that keeps cropping up. It finally resulted in a finish for a project I started for my dad during the first craze – Finished in 2020 and fully finished (the term stitchers use to mean framed or otherwise finished for display) by my stepmom in 2022.
I didn’t get into the final rounds, but I made the most points to date in the five Writing Battle competitions I’ve participated in since Fall 2022, earning an Honorable Mention, so it’s worth mentioning! And sharing.
Each contestant participates as a judge in the Duals by reading ten fellow participants’ stories, two at a time. You must pick one of the two, which moves both along to the next dual, and they either drop out or earn points along the way. Your story undergoes the same peer judging by ten participants, hopefully earning points in its genre. There are four genres and you only compete against your own.
Once the dual rounds are complete, the stories are divided into houses, ranked from 1 to 10 (10 being the top score), and moved to the final 64, then 32, and so on until professional writers select the finalists. There is a nice cash prize.
You can see above that my genre was Inanimate Romance. I love the imaginative prompts in these contests… and romance! Color me inspired!
You can find my past WB stories on my Short Stories page where they have been fleshed out a bit more, or the raw stories as submitted in my WB profile. Here is Adrift No More.
Come to me, my undulating emerald darlings. I am here, secure against this rocky cliff, waiting… Wanting.
You are no longer anchored to life. Let the turbulent sea drape you across my bent knees—my rambling elbows—my strong shoulders. Entangle your sensuous arms around my neck—your long, soft legs around my trunk. Fill my reaching fingers with your flowing strands.
Sense my strength and determination yet know I cannot endure if only one of you finds your way to me. I must have all who are lost.
Never will I refuse access, my darlings. I will hold you close and protect you in this ending between rising tides. There can be no satisfaction until I am quenched by thousands of your salty tears and doused in the collective pungency of your dying hours.
I am wood, once a mighty cypress rooted to the earth. Torn loose by an angry storm on a bitter day. Made to topple into the sea and set adrift through the ever-changing tides. Stripped of my external glory, pounded, battered, and finally… hewn into your loving shelter. My purpose is to cherish each of you wrenched so cruelly from your vast flowing bed by yet another craven tempest.
We will show these gods of the sea that even as they diminish us with their savagery, they cannot deprive us of our profound connection, our collective joining, our chosen finale.
Yes! That’s it. Hurry now. Embrace me, my lovely darlings. High tide is near.
D. L. Lewellyn
I think this one will stay intact.
The night the contest started, I returned home late after a long drive from my hometown where I spent a week with my dad who was recovering from a procedure. I never expected to have the energy or brainpower to write. When I saw the cards I was dealt (above), I pulled up a blank document and began. I finished an hour later. Then, of course, I polished it up multiple times until submission 40 hours after that.
Adrift No More earned six of the ten points.
The gist of my feedback was that the story read more like poetry or mythological lore. Some thought it too prosy, the words too complicated, and advised a simpler vocabulary. It was called eerie twice, once in a good way and once in a stalkerish kind of way. Hey, I was trying to get that Hoarder prompt in. I guess it worked.
A favorite commenter excerpt was, “WOW—what a poetic, sensual portrayal of seaweed finding driftwood. Your vivid, tactile description gave me chills!” Another, “When you open with this: Come to me, my undulating emerald darlings, I knew at the very least it was going to read beautifully. And hooboy did you not disappoint. This is a love song for the ages. It gives me old Greek god vibes, maybe even The Odyssey.”
Let me know what you think about the passionate call to dying seaweed from a lonely piece of battered wood who craves connection and love.
If you would like to go behind the scenes of this amazing contest platform and meet the creators, I’ve interviewed Max and Teona Bjork twice on my Spotlight.
Comments welcome! Give my stories a read and feel free to sign up for my newsletter where I make sure to offer you entertaining content and a free story to download.
As tragic as forest fires are and as scary when they’re two miles from your home, watching our heroes at work expertly flying so many types of aircraft is a privilege and a truly staggering sight. We have been watching from our deck and will never forget it.
We live at 5,000 feet in a high desert valley and face the eastern slope of Mt. Rose which rises 11,000 feet. The helicopters and huge tankers (even the Global 747 Supertanker for one staggering load of retardant) have been executing stunning maneuvers against that backdrop as they repeatedly haul and dump retardant or water from our valley lake.
This small body of water (made famous on the TV show Bonanza in the opening credits) sourced from the mountains it is currently aiding makes us more fortunate than our California neighbor who has fought over 6,000 wildfires this year alone.
The blazes in California have consumed nearly a million acres, including one huge one in July that burned so fast, NASA is studying it.
My home escaped the evacuation call only because the winds blew the the Davis Creek blaze northwest. We along with 14,000+ customers had our power shut off as an emergency measure. Roads have been closed, cutting off access. Again, we were the lucky ones who got electricity back within 24 hours. Around 3,000, mostly in areas still under evacuation, have not.
Sadly, 14 structures have been lost, and just as devastatingly, so have vast swaths of the mountainside. It started low in a campground, a local treasure, on Saturday afternoon when our infamous summer zephyrs blew in and it has been climbing up the mountain since, heading towards Mt. Rose Ski Resort and north towards many south Reno communities.
Our forests are burning out of control every summer all through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Cascades, and the Rockies. So much treasured country in Canada has been devastated that it blows my mind.
As of October 6, 2023, 45.70 million acres (18.496 million hectares) had burned in Canada due to wildfires. This was the result of more than 6,000 fires, which was the most destructive wildfire season ever recorded in Canada. The area burned was larger than England and more than double the 1989 record.
The 2023 wildfires caused billions of dollars in property damage, displaced thousands of people, and released air pollution that traveled as far as Europe and China. The wildfires also released nearly four times more carbon than global aviation.
In 2024, a little under 4 million acres have burned, which is below the long-term average for this time of year.
The California Dixie Fire ravaged the Sierras during the summer of 2021 when I was writing Books One and Two of The Starlight Chronicles. Our valley suffered a staggering 400+ air quality index for weeks, but we could only hurt for all the towns so severely affected. The disaster was the result of an arsonist, a college professor, who started multiple fires often right behind the firefighters, blocking them between blazes, until he was caught. Nearly a million forest acres burned along with wildlife, an entire town, and old-growth forests that will never recover in our lifetimes or generations to come.
Before it grew to nearly 1m acres and became the first known blaze to crest the Sierra Nevada, the Dixie fire destroyed Greenville in about 30 minutes, wiping away more than a century of history, displacing hundreds of residents and inflaming fears in a region already shaken by years of deadly fires. The Guardian, 2022.
One thing you will note from all of these facts, very few lives have been lost. And thousands of homes have been saved. That is due to the diligent, tireless efforts of the people on the frontlines, on the ground, and in the air.
I published Ursus Borealis and Drago Incendium in 2021 and dedicated them to the firefighters. They are truly my heroes, equal to the fiercest warriors of old, and I want to thank them again today.
I shot this zoomed-in video with my phone from my deck. It gives you an idea of how far across the mountains the fire has traveled. All those pink spots are retardant.
By D. L. Lewellyn 