It began as an experiment. I had no intention of becoming my own audiobook narrator. Not when there were perfectly capable AI voices like Martin and Mary vying for the honor. Martin, my first choice, had warmth but occasionally took creative liberties that made me question his sobriety. Mary, on the other hand, had perfect pacing and flawless pronunciation, but her delivery felt like a polite voicemail from a distant cousin. At one point, Martin…
Posts tagged as “#amwriting”
Every author dreams of the perfect launch. The moment when months or even years of work finally meet the world, wrapped in the kind of anticipation that makes hearts skip. What we rarely talk about is the silence that comes before it. The kind that settles in after the writing is done, when all that’s left is to figure out how to make people care without begging them to. There’s a strange kind of weight…
Some people talk to plants. I talk to characters… usually when they show up uninvited while I’m doing something else entirely. People sometimes ask if I’m working on my fourth book right now. If “working” means sitting at the keyboard, brow furrowed, typing furiously into the night, the answer is… not exactly. But if “working” means mentally rehearsing scenes while cooking, negotiating with characters while folding laundry, and collecting story fuel from everyday life like…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much realism belongs in fiction. As writers, we pull from life constantly, whether we mean to or not. But sometimes life hands us experiences that make us pause and ask, how much of this actually belongs on the page? Over the last few months, I’ve dealt with some unexpected health challenges. Without turning this into a full medical rundown, let’s just say my body reminded me that…
For years, I used a certain popular video tool that shall remain nameless. Not because I’m afraid to name names, but because if you’ve ever used it, you probably already know who I’m talking about. It was the starter kit of video creation platforms. Simple, structured, and surprisingly decent when you’re just getting your feet wet in the wild world of book trailers and content marketing. Back then, it was exactly what I needed. I…
There’s a quiet fatigue settling over authors, and it doesn’t come from the writing. It’s not the editing, the rewrites, or the endless battles with self-doubt. It’s not the algorithm, or the market, or even the low sales numbers. It’s the growing tide of unsolicited messages that slide into our inboxes like clockwork, asking if our books are on Amazon (yes), offering services we never asked for, and failing, in every possible way, to show…
Let’s get something out in the open: I have no problem killing off characters. None. Zilch. And not just the expendable ones skulking around in the background either, sometimes it’s the ones with fan art, Pinterest boards, and tragic backstories. Sometimes it’s the ones I adore. That doesn’t make me a monster. It makes me a writer who understands that fiction, like life, doesn’t come with a guarantee of safety. Now, when I say “kill…
I recently found myself curious about the status of a once-beloved book series. The author had been a longtime favorite of mine, and I wondered whether she might have made progress on the next installment, or even just offered an update. So, like any devoted reader would, I went digging. What I discovered left me more than disappointed. The series, it turns out, had been quietly and abruptly abandoned. Not paused, not reimagined, just discarded,…
There’s a silence that comes after a book is born. Not the kind that brings peace, but the kind that rattles inside your ribs—echoing through the empty corners once filled by characters, conflict, and craft. As writers, we spend months—sometimes years—growing a story. We nurture it, worry over it, rewrite its flaws, and chase perfection like it owes us something. The book takes up residence in our minds and our bones. It whispers when we’re…
I received a (scam) email offering to buy the rights to my second novel and decided, just for funsies, to see what might be said about me in these Google Search streets. What I found is both surprising and hilarious. Vitae: Heirs of the Five—the first novel in my dark fantasy series—has been out in the world since 2020. She’s been through a pandemic, multiple edits, cover glow-ups, and enough character drama to qualify as…