What Self-Publishing Looks Like in 2023

I sometimes can’t believe I’ve been on this grind for at least six years. Six years ever since I started taking my self-publishing journey seriously. Six years ever since I burned all the ships, so to speak, and said goodbye to my engineering career so I could focus on writing full-time, with no guarantees that …

Epic Fantasy Ramblings: Badass Women, Strong Female Characters, and Why It Takes All Sorts to Make the World Go Round

Five years ago, I started writing this little book where I wanted to deconstruct the idea of a “strong female character” in epic fantasy. Down the rabbit hole I went. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was going to end up encountering misogynistic responses to the work, in addition to having to …

Epic Fantasy Ramblings: If You Love Your Writing, It’s Good Enough

Today, I’m going to be writing what will be my 12th novel (and yet another epic fantasy) since I first stopped treating my writing like a test of my worth. As I’ve talked about before, my decision to self-publish was the beginning of my resolve not to put my future in somebody else’s hands. I …

Epic Fantasy Ramblings: The Irony of Fast-Paced Epic Fantasy

Fast-paced epic fantasy is an oxymoron. I’ve been thinking about this over my break, when I finally got into the Witcher franchise after 8 years of trying. I think I can safely say at this point in my career that I know how to write plots. I slow them down for a number of reasons–mainly, …