Reading for Comparison
10 books I read to better understand how to comp my novels! In conclusion, Tess of the Road and The Sacred Space Between are the best comparisons thematically, while The Jasmine Throne, The Unbroken, and King of Scars are the best comparisons for the scale of the plot and intricacy of the political, theological, and magical world building.
What’s In a Name? Power
I have always been fascinated by how people can go by different names when in the company of different groups of people for personal, cultural, and historical reasons. I believe there is power in claiming a name as yours, so, as you read my novels, please pay attention to names: what names characters choose for themselves, what names they go by with who and where, and what names they let go of.
Awesome, Amazing, Anachronistic
In my everyday life, “awesome” and “amazing” are some of my favorite words to describe something that is, well, awesome or amazing. Yet, I worry that using these words in my novels will ruin the cohesive, otherworldly vibe that I have carefully curated. Anachronisms and the Tiffany problem are the Scylla and Charybdis of writing words like “awesome” and “amazing.”
Distinguishing Voices and Switching Code
In the previous post, I talked about how I stumbled into writing dual POV novels because the way my character arcs worked, I needed at least one character my readers could root for (and not just pity) from the very beginning. However, that introduced a new challenge: how do I write POV characters to sound differently enough from each other? If I was going to do this, then I was determined to do it well. But how?
Tropes and Triggers
It is very difficult to categorize my novels in a sub-genre within fantasy when it has a lot more character interiority than high/epic fantasy, but also more worldbuilding than cozy fantasy. However, what I can say definitively is that it is not romantasy or grimdark. Therefore, the title of the blog post is a little misleading – I just wanted to talk about how I deal with sex and mental health in my novels.
Japanese Influences on My World
I wanted to address at an early stage is Japanese influences on my fantasy world. Specifically, how the inspiration for Shikiteikoku is Imperial Japan. I also address two points readers might take issue with for my Japanese inspiration.
Diversity and Inclusion in My World
There are a couple caveats I want to lay out as quickly as possible about how diversity and inclusion plays out in my world, including: race and skin color, sexual orientation, religion, age, class and education. These can be tricky topics, and I am open to learning from you and others about how to approach these issues better in my novels.
Therreth and Ether: An Introduction
I want to start generating reader interest in my novels by discussing my world, but I realize that without the full novels, it could be a while before you understand all my references. This blog post is your guide to my world to follow along as I post about it.
So You Want to Be a Beta Reader?
I would be absolutely delighted if you are interested in being a beta reader. This blog post is specifically to help you understand my expectations/what would be most useful for me before you reach out, and a handy page for you to come back to if we decide to work together.
Is there a “Correct” Reading Order?
A purist – someone who hates any and all spoilers – should read it in the chronologically correct order, of course: Rissa Must Die, Forbidden Ember, then The Acolyte’s Heresy. But if you are not a purist, then I do think you can jump into any of my novels that catch your attention first, though perhaps I might suggest the order in which they were written.
My 7 Types of Readers
I am not here to please everyone. It is more important for me to find the readers my work appeals to than to try to make my novels appeal to everyone. So, I am going to spend a little bit of time breaking down each of the seven types of my readers (based on faith-curiosity, feminism, and fantasy-loving) and you can judge for yourselves whether you should give my novels a chance or not.
My Writing Journey
A behind-the-scenes of the approximate timeline for each novel – and what was going on in my life and thought process at the origins of each.
Welcome to Kazarah and Aeona!
And how shall I greet you, dear reader? This is no simple question in my world. Major themes include religious diversity and religious sectarianism – so, each character would greet you differently when they meet you based on which sect they adhere to.