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🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where cursed bloodlines hide beneath ordinary society, ghosts haunt college corridors, and one forbidden witch is about to become entangled with four dangerously broken heirs. This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with bestselling indie and traditionally published author Lucy Smoke to discuss Hallowed Bones, the first installment in her Sons of Salem series.  Lucy shares her nine-year journey from publishing a debut she later removed from circulation to building a full-time author career across multiple pen names, genres, and publishing paths. She opens up about stubbornness, rejection, one-star reviews, surviving unpredictable indie income, finding the right agent, and why fear should never be the deciding factor when choosing whether to pursue a creative dream. We also dive into Hallowed Bones, where Haven enters Ipswich College despite warnings to stay away from Ezra Bishop, Cameron Good, Lyle Corey, and Reyes Scott, the four cursed Sons of Salem. Lucy discusses combining The Covenant with Wednesday Addams energy, researching the Salem witch trials, interviewing practicing witches, Wiccans, and neo-pagans, and creating a hidden paranormal society filled with inherited magic, demons, blood contracts, ghosts, and other planes of existence. She also explains the immense challenge of crafting four distinct romances and character arcs while refusing to let why-choose storytelling be dismissed as “just spice.” 🕯️ What happens when the witch everyone fears is more powerful than the four cursed heirs meant to contain her? 🩸 Can Haven survive Ipswich College when ghosts, gods, and hidden bloodlines are closing in? 🔥 And how do you fall for four different people without any of those romances or the men themselves feeling interchangeable? This is a must-listen for gothic paranormal readers, why-choose romance fans, lovers of Salem-inspired witch stories, and anyone who wants layered relationships, dangerous magic, and broken characters fighting toward a realistically messy happy ending. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Lucy’s real-life found family, friend-family vacations, and hunt for the perfect milkshake. ✨ Pursuing writing despite being repeatedly encouraged to choose a more “practical” career. ✨ Studying English literature, professional writing, and education before leaving the classroom path. ✨ Why finishing and releasing an imperfect first book was essential to her growth. ✨ Learning through failure, removing early books, and continuing without regret. ✨ Why rejection letters and one-star reviews prove that a story made someone feel something. ✨ Building a full-time indie career through experimentation, research, and stubborn persistence. ✨ The financial highs and lows of treating authorship as a real business. ✨ Finding her third agent after previous representation ended or became unhealthy. ✨ Challenging academic attitudes that dismiss indie publishing and commercial fiction. ✨ Why affordable books, Kindle Unlimited, libraries, and format accessibility matter to Lucy. ✨ The origins of her Lucy Smoke and Lucinda Dark pen names. ✨ Her introduction to why-choose romance through anime, manga, and reverse-harem stories. ✨ Why writing four love interests means constructing four complete romantic arcs. ✨ Exploring what makes someone fall in love with multiple people for entirely different reasons. ✨ Helping bring why-choose romance from a niche category into mainstream traditional publishing. ✨ Haven Wardwell and the four cursed heirs of the Sons of Salem. ✨ Researching the political and economic motives behind accusations of witchcraft. ✨ Interviewing witches, Wiccans, and neo-pagans while distinguishing their belief systems. ✨ Deconstructing a rigid good-versus-evil worldview while creating the book’s magic. ✨ A hidden paranormal society populated by witches, demons, werewolf-like beings, and ghosts. ✨ Bloodline-based magic that manifests according to the individual rather than copying a parent’s ability. ✨ The beloved aunt, the brutal cliffhanger, and why book two may reveal something even more shocking. ✨ Reader Mafia, accidental branding, chaotic honesty, and Lucy’s infamous eyeliner. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Lucy Smoke – @AuthorLucySmoke ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where morally gray vampires, fated mates, touch-her-and-die heroes, and a little leather never go out of style. This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with legendary paranormal romance author J.R. Ward to discuss Lover Enthroned, the newest installment in the iconic Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Her irresistible pitch? Hot nerd meets a queen. A literal queen. J.R. takes us behind the scenes of more than two decades of the Brotherhood, from getting fired by her first publisher to building a series that has spanned more than 20 books, bringing the vampires to the screen with Passionflix, and why showing up for the story remains at the heart of her writing process. 🖤 What happens when the Black Dagger Brotherhood trades its usual alpha hero for a hot nerd? 👑 What secrets are waiting when that hot nerd falls for a Shadow princess? 🧛 And after more than two decades of vampires, fated mates, and morally gray heroes, how does J.R. Ward keep surprising us? If you love vampires, paranormal romance, fated mates, morally gray heroes, touch-her-and-die devotion, dark fantasy, powerful heroines, found family, and romances where love conquers all, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ J.R.'s journey from writer to lawyer and back to writer, and the unexpected encouragement that helped turn the stories in her head into a publishing career. ✨ Why she describes herself as a “secretary” for her characters and how scenes arrive in her head out of order before becoming a finished book. ✨ The perseverance behind her career, including getting fired by her first publisher and giving herself one more chance with the series that became Black Dagger Brotherhood. ✨ Why readers have stayed obsessed with the Brotherhood for more than two decades: morally gray alpha males, fated mates, touch-her-and-die devotion, tattoos, fangs, leather, and plenty of darkness. ✨ Lover Enthroned, J.R.'s “hot nerd meets a queen” romance between Alan and Shadow princess Denny, and why new readers can jump into the Brotherhood right here. ✨ Bringing Black Dagger Brotherhood to the screen with Passionflix and why J.R. waited decades for an adaptation partner willing to stay true to the books. ✨ Watching a story she never expected to find an audience become a decades-long series with an intensely loyal fandom and more stories still unfolding. ✨ Denny's deliciously satisfying moment of vengeance, new insight into the Shadows, and J.R.'s love for the unexpected final pieces that reveal themselves while she's writing. ✨ Why romance remains at the heart of everything J.R. writes and the enduring belief behind the Brotherhood: in the end, love conquers all. ✨ Plus: J.R.'s favorite Brother, Vicious unexpectedly discovering fatherhood, ancient Dell laptops, terrible roommate options, and why the safest Black Dagger Brotherhood roommate might actually be a golden retriever. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 J.R. Ward – @Jrwardauthor ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Welcome to another episode of Banter & Books, the monthly Mythic Mic segment where host Amara and a special guest share spoiler-free reviews of the books they can't stop thinking about! In this episode, Amara is joined by bookstagrammer Kris West to talk fairy-tale villains, dystopian video-game worlds, fated mates, magical academies, hidden identities, devastating cliffhangers, and the wonderfully chaotic world of why choose fantasy. They dive into Blood of the Fairest by Morgan B. Lee, Codebound by Kendra Moreno, A Crown of Crimson and Crows by Tessa Hale, and Clash of Claws and Edge of Steel by Elizabeth Dear. They also revisit two indie favorites they cannot stop recommending: Veil of Ash by Fallon Hendrix and Rook of Ruin by Elle Youngish. Along the way, Amara and Kris make the case for giving why choose romance a chance, celebrate golden-retriever heroes, enemies-to-lovers tension, fated mates, groveling, powerful FMCs, and the beauty of having an entire “boy buffet” of love interests. They also discuss evil-queen fairy-tale retellings, LitRPG worlds with deadly levels and praying-mantis companions, sparkly purple snakes, brutal twists, tampered memories, and books that leave you staring at the wall wondering what just happened. Whether you already love why choose, have been curious but hesitant to try it, or simply want some wildly original indie fantasy recommendations to destroy your TBR, this spoiler-free episode is for you. BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Blood of the Fairest by Morgan B. Lee (Check out our Mythic Mic interview with Morgan B. Lee here) Codebound by Kendra MorenoA Crown of Crimson and Crows by Tessa HaleClash of Claws by Elizabeth Dear (Check out our Mythic Mic interview with Elizabeth Dear here)Veil of Ash by Fallon HendrixRook of Ruin by Elle YoungishCONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sometimes the heroine doesn't defeat the villain. Sometimes she becomes one. This week, hosts Sara Santillan and Amara sit down with J.E. Caroline to discuss The Venom in Her Veins, a dark romantasy about a cursed fae woman fated to destroy the world and the dragon prince destined to kill her before she can. 🐍 What if your favorite romantasy heroine became the villain and loved it? 🐉 What happens when the man destined to kill you falls in love with you first? 🖤 And just how far can grief, rage, and darkness push a heroine before there's no going back? If you love villain arcs, cursed heroines, dragon shifters, feminine rage, touch-her-and-die romance, slow burn, dark fantasy, deadly magic, morally gray characters, and heroes willing to burn the world for their girl, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Going from full-time motherhood and rediscovering reading to writing and independently publishing her debut novel. ✨ The chaotic reality of indie publishing for the first time and what Jessica wishes she'd known before jumping in. ✨ Why Jessica abandoned the traditional hero's journey and asked: what if the heroine became the villain instead? ✨ Creating Verena, a cursed fae woman fated to destroy the world she's desperately trying to save. ✨ Ronan, the dragon prince destined to kill Verena who makes the very inconvenient mistake of falling in love with her first. ✨ Villain arcs, feminine rage, grief, trauma, and what happens when a character's moral balance is pushed too far. ✨ Building a dark and beautiful world of fractured kingdoms, cursed forests, deadly monsters, hidden secrets, and inevitable betrayals. ✨ The slow-burn romance, touch-her-and-die devotion, and a hero willing to burn the world for Verena or right alongside her. ✨ The inspiration behind Verena's venomous curse and why viper imagery became central to her transformation. ✨ What's coming next, including more trauma in Book Two, a dystopian romance, and a future prequel exploring the gods behind Verena's world. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 J.E. Caroline – @J.E.Caroline.Author ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where forbidden magic, ominous prophecies, and ruthless silver-haired warriors are exactly our kind of problem. This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with Geneva Lee to discuss Harbinger, a dark, romantic slow-burn fantasy filled with star-powered magic, dangerous omens, political intrigue, forbidden attraction, and enough twists that almost everything is a spoiler. Geneva takes us behind the scenes of the fantasy world she's been dreaming about for fifteen years, including the astrology-inspired magic system, ancient beliefs about birds and omens, and the influences that helped shape a story she describes as a female-gaze Game of Thrones meets Divergent, Ladyhawke, and The Thorn Birds. 🌙 What happens when an act of mercy awakens a magic that should never have been hers? 🐦‍⬛ What if one woman is believed to be the omen that 500 years of peace is about to end? 🔥 And how are we supposed to resist a ruthless, silver-haired warrior who has sworn his life to duty? If you love forbidden magic, celestial fantasy, ominous prophecies, ruthless and competent heroes, slow-burn romance, political intrigue, tortured MMCs, dangerous secrets, powerful heroines, and fantasy worlds where nothing is quite what it seems, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Geneva's fifteen-year publishing career, and how she got the push to finally write a novel while caring for a newborn and toddler. ✨ The business side of being an author, from contracts and marketing to social media. ✨ Geneva's biggest advice for aspiring and neurodivergent writers. ✨ Why editing has become Geneva's favorite part of the writing process and how even after fifteen years of publishing, she still relies on the editorial process to make each story hit harder. ✨ Creating Harbinger, a dark, ominous, romantic slow burn where almost every revelation is a spoiler, every answer seems to uncover another secret, and readers may want to question everything they think they know. ✨ Building an astrology-inspired magic system where the stars themselves provide power and each noble bloodline draws its magic from a different constellation. ✨ The ancient history behind the book's birds and omens, Geneva's fascination with augury, and why one seemingly small choice involving a raven-like bird may be far more important than readers initially realize. ✨ Why Geneva loves tortured heroes who occasionally reveal the person they might have been before terrible things happened to them. ✨ The deeper themes beneath Harbinger, including grief, fate, powerlessness, the choices we make versus the choices taken from us, and what it means to keep choosing to rise when hope feels impossible. ✨ Expanding Harbinger from a planned trilogy into a series of at least five books, Geneva's refusal to rush the next installment, and why the infamous “Queen of Cliffhangers” has absolutely no intention of giving up her devastating endings. ✨ Plus: sword fighting, sword yoga, future dagger-throwing ambitions, whether Geneva could survive her own fantasy world, the bloodline she'd choose for herself, why readers may need multiple boxes of tissues, and the Filthy Rich Vampires crossover that could cause absolute chaos. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Geneva Lee – @Genevaleebooks ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where mythological worlds collide, romance blooms in the most dangerous places, and every monster has a story. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara sit down with bestselling fantasy author Olivia Wildenstein to celebrate The Ice Beyond, the first book in her breathtaking new Empress of Thorns series. Olivia shares her fascinating journey from self-publishing to hybrid publishing, the realities of navigating both indie and traditional publishing, and why perseverance—not overnight success—is the true secret to a writing career. We also dive into writing routines, perfectionism, character art, worldbuilding, and why some stories refuse to let go until they're told. Then we explore The Ice Beyond, an epic Norse-inspired fantasy filled with wolf shifters, vampires, Valkyries, dragons, forbidden romance, devastating secrets, morally gray characters, and a heroine whose entire identity is shattered when she discovers everything she's believed about herself is a lie. 🐺 What happens when the family who raised you has been hiding the biggest secret of your life? ❄️ Can love survive when it was forbidden from the very beginning? ⚔️ And who are the real monsters in a world filled with gods, shifters, and ancient legends? If you love Viking-inspired fantasy, morally gray heroes, mythology, dangerous monsters, sweeping romance, love triangles, and immersive fantasy worlds, this is an episode you won't want to miss. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Olivia's publishing journey from selling ten self-published copies to becoming a bestselling hybrid author. ✨ The biggest differences between indie, traditional, and hybrid publishing, and why she now loves working in both worlds. ✨ Why perseverance matters far more than chasing trends or overnight success. ✨ Her writing process, perfectionism, self-editing habits, and why deadlines are both terrifying and essential. ✨ Character art, visual storytelling, and how seeing a world helps bring fantasy to life. ✨ Building The Ice Beyond from a simple vampire story into an expansive Norse-inspired fantasy universe. ✨ Reimagining Norse mythology with wolf shifters, Valkyries, vampires, dragons, and unforgettable monsters. ✨ Writing morally gray characters whose motivations remain a mystery until the very end. ✨ Why Olivia loves heroines who grow, stumble, and make mistakes instead of having all the answers. ✨ Forbidden romance, love triangles, and why readers secretly love emotional chaos. ✨ Advice for aspiring fantasy authors on finding your audience while staying true to your creative vision. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Olivia Wildenstein – @Olives21 ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS ⚠️ This episode includes candid conversations about infertility and fertility loss, premature menopause, ovarian removal, unsuccessful IVF, hysterectomy, pregnancy and childbirth complications, loss of reproductive choice, death and grief, abortion, medical trauma, depression, and religious fear surrounding death and the afterlife. Please listen with care. 🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where heartbreak becomes a fatal curse, ancient towers preserve stories that empires could not erase, and healing begins when a woman finally chooses something entirely for herself. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara Santillan sit down with author Ova Ceren to discuss her Turkish fantasy novel, The Book of Heartbreak. Ova shares her journey from growing up under intense academic pressure in Turkey to spending nearly twenty years in mathematics, computer science, and the male-dominated technology industry. She opens up about entering premature menopause, learning that she could not have another child, and how the resulting grief and loss of identity inspired her to leave behind work she did not love and pursue writing for herself. Ova, Sara, and Bethany also have a deeply personal conversation about infertility, failed IVF, hysterectomy, pregnancy complications, reproductive healthcare, and the grief that can accompany losing the ability or the choice to expand a family. We also dive into The Book of Heartbreak, which follows seventeen-year-old Sare, a girl cursed to die whenever her heart breaks. After learning that her mother has died, Sare moves to Istanbul to live with her estranged grandfather and discovers that everything she believed about her family may be a lie. Ova discusses drawing inspiration from the thousand-year-old Byzantine myth of Istanbul’s Maiden’s Tower, writing heartbreak beyond romantic loss, creating a hopeful and humorous afterlife, and exploring identity, family wounds, religion, grief, and the memories that can make old pain feel suddenly new again. 💔 How do you survive grief when a broken heart can literally kill you? 🗼 What secrets connect Sare’s curse to Istanbul’s ancient Maiden’s Tower? ✨ And can she reclaim her life when the deepest wounds come from the people she trusted most? This is a must-listen for urban-fantasy readers, lovers of mythology and magical Istanbul settings, anyone drawn to stories about complicated families, and readers seeking an emotional journey that honors grief while still making room for humor, hope, and healing. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Ova’s life in Cambridge, cycling, traveling, cooking, and searching for creative inspiration. ✨ Her ducks, chickens, allergic husband, and desire to give her son a life surrounded by animals. ✨ Creating a private garden library inside a former artist’s studio. ✨ Growing up in Turkey under intense pressure to perform academically, and entering computer science because she excelled at mathematics. ✨ Premature menopause, ovarian removal, and being told she could not have another child. ✨ Grieving the loss of a possibility even when she had not decided whether she wanted another baby. ✨ Feeling dehumanized by clinical conversations about fertility and reproductive health, and why reproductive loss deserves emotional support. ✨ Reclaiming identity after years of making choices for family, culture, and financial stability. ✨ How writing The Book of Heartbreak helped Ova survive a dark period. ✨ The structural similarities between editing fiction and debugging software. ✨ Ova’s advice to remain patient and never compare one publishing journey with another. ✨ Reimagining the Byzantine legend surrounding Istanbul’s Maiden’s Tower, and why the tower represents a piece of the city’s identity that history never erased. ✨ Exploring heartbreak as an enduring wound rather than a purely romantic experience. ✨ Creating a heroine who ultimately saves herself rather than relying on romance. ✨ Bureaucratic angels, an imaginative afterlife, and comparisons to Good Omens. ✨ Reimagining the afterlife as a hopeful space rather than one governed by shame and fear. ✨ Why old heartbreaks can return through memories, music, scents, and unexpected reminders. ✨ Choosing standalones so every book can explore a completely different world. ✨ Ova’s next Ottoman-inspired dark fantasy about a magical library and dangerous books. ✨ How religion, women’s autonomy, history, and identity continue to shape her fiction. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Ova Ceren – @ExcuseMyReading ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where gods wage impossible wars, monsters aren't always who they seem, and fantasy asks what happens when everything you've been taught is a lie. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara Santillan sit down with bestselling fantasy author Adalyn Grace to celebrate her stunning adult fantasy debut, The Wretched Divine. Adalyn shares her incredible publishing journey, from writing wolf role plays on Neopets and working on The Legend of Korra at Nickelodeon to becoming the bestselling author behind Belladonna. We also dive into the realities of modern publishing, balancing creativity with the business of being an author, social media burnout, AI's growing impact on artists, and why writing what you genuinely love matters more than chasing trends. Then we explore The Wretched Divine, an epic fantasy where a mortal knight becomes bound to both an angel and a demon in the middle of an ancient war. With an expansive magic system, unforgettable characters, anime-inspired action, and questions about morality, faith, and inherited beliefs, this is a fantasy that delivers both breathtaking spectacle and emotional depth. ⚔️ What if heaven wasn't as righteous as you believed? 😈 Can demons truly be monsters if the angels are just as dangerous? 🪽 And what happens when saving the world means binding your soul to both? If you love epic fantasy, angels and demons, sprawling magic systems, anime-inspired storytelling, unforgettable twists, and fantasy that leads with worldbuilding while delivering incredible romance, this is an episode you won't want to miss. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Adalyn's journey from Neopets role plays and The Legend of Korra to becoming a bestselling fantasy author. ✨ How Pitch Wars shaped her career and helped transform her writing before landing her first publishing deal. ✨ Writing All the Stars and Teeth in just three weeks while recovering from a serious accident. ✨ Why The Wretched Divine became the most difficult, and ultimately most rewarding, book she's ever written. ✨ The anime inspirations behind the novel. ✨ Building a massive angel-and-demon magic system where humans gain extraordinary powers by binding their souls to celestial beings. ✨ Why Adalyn intentionally wrote an epic fantasy that bridges romantasy readers into larger, more expansive fantasy worlds. ✨ The themes of morality, inherited beliefs, religion, and questioning who truly deserves to be called a monster. ✨ Her thoughts on romantasy, fantasy romance, YA versus adult publishing, and where she believes fantasy publishing is headed next. ✨ AI, social media, fan expectations, and the growing pressures facing today's authors. ✨ The shocking ending of The Wretched Divine and why readers won't stop talking about the final chapters. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Adalyn Grace – @AuthorAdalynGrace ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Have ARCs gone from a bookish perk to a part-time job? Welcome to another episode of Off The Shelf, our monthly segment where we dive into bookish trends, deep dives, hot takes, and all things fantasy! In this Off the Shelf episode, host Britt is joined by Mythic Mic team member Amara and special guest Megan to unpack the increasingly competitive world of advanced reader copies, publisher influencer programs, NetGalley, street teams, and the book reviewer hustle. From figuring out how to actually get physical ARCs to managing NetGalley ratios, follower counts, engagement, publisher emails, and the very real pressure to say yes to everything, the conversation explores what it takes to be an ARC reader today. The group also gets into the complicated side of street teams, including when supporting an author starts to feel like unpaid labor, what authors and readers owe each other, how to handle an ARC you didn’t enjoy, and why chasing every opportunity can quickly kill the thing that started it all: your love of reading. We’re asking: Do you really need thousands of followers to get ARCs?Are street teams a fun way to support authors or unpaid labor for readers?What should you do when you receive an ARC and hate the book?How do you chase bookish opportunities without burning yourself out?If you’ve ever wondered how people get those coveted physical ARCs, destroyed your NetGalley ratio by requesting everything in sight, joined one too many street teams, or simply wondered whether the ARC hustle is still worth it, this episode is for you. CONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit 👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where surviving the apocalypse is hard enough without adding forbidden magic, trauma, and a found family you never expected to need. This week, Host Bethany Amanda sits down with author K.L. Speer to discuss Bones and Fangs, a post-apocalyptic romantasy series where civilization has collapsed, magic shouldn't exist, and one woman possesses a healing power that could make her invaluable or turn her into something others will exploit. Kelsey also shares the incredible story behind Bones, from writing it simply because it was the story she wanted to tell to watching readers embrace its unconventional mix of dystopian fantasy, romance, and mental health representation, and eventually having the originally indie-published series picked up for traditional publication. 🦴 What happens when your greatest gift is also the thing that makes you a target? 🖤 How do you learn to trust again when survival has taught you not to? 🔥 And who can you become when surviving is no longer enough? If you love adult dystopian fantasy, post-apocalyptic worlds, romantasy, found family, rare magic, complicated heroines, emotional character arcs, survival stories, and enemies-to-lovers, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Kelsey's lifelong love of storytelling, the fantasy adventure she started writing at twelve, and how finally finishing Bones turned a story she'd written purely for herself into an unexpected publishing career. ✨ The incredible indie-to-trad publishing journey that followed Bones. ✨ Why Kelsey believes authors should write the stories they genuinely want to read instead of chasing whatever is currently selling. ✨ Creating a survivalist post-apocalyptic world without zombies, where governments have disappeared, humanity survives inside scattered strongholds, raiders roam outside their walls, and magic is virtually nonexistent. ✨ Building Bones as a heroine with a mysterious healing ability in a world without powers, and exploring what happens when something capable of saving people also makes its owner vulnerable to exploitation. ✨ Writing a heroine shaped by trauma who doesn't magically become “fixed." ✨ How a tabletop RPG first introduced Kelsey to the character of Bones. ✨ The return of dystopian fiction for the generation that grew up reading The Hunger Games and Divergent, and why Kelsey believes adult readers are now searching for darker, more mature versions of the stories they loved growing up. ✨ Expanding the story in Fangs with grief, complicated family dynamics, sibling reconciliation, deeper character development, and an ending Kelsey promises gets absolutely bananas. ✨ Why readers should have Fangs ready immediately after Bones, Kelsey's unapologetic love of cliffhangers, and her warning that the ending of Book Three, Ashes, might actually take readers out. ✨ Expanding what was originally planned as a trilogy into a four-book series, and the other stories already tempting Kelsey, including a 1930s paranormal romance and a pirate story that accidentally became much bigger than expected. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 KL Speer – @Author.KLSpeer ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where love stories can begin in the most unexpected places, fate sometimes needs a little luck, and the right person can change everything. This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with author and poet Michael Tavon to discuss his contemporary romance, I Want to Be Where You Are, a raw, poetic, emotionally honest love story inspired by how he met his wife. Michael shares his journey from poetry to romance, including the life experiences that pushed him toward writing, the creative writing class that helped him build confidence, and the moment he walked out of an anatomy class to pursue writing more seriously. He opens up about being a Black male romance author in a genre often dominated by women, the challenges of being overlooked, and why he hopes readers focus on the heart of the story rather than assumptions about who is telling it. The conversation also dives into I Want to Be Where You Are, a romance about two writers connecting long-distance while their separate lives are falling apart. Based largely on Michael’s real-life relationship with his wife, the book follows two people learning how to heal, grow, and rebuild themselves before finally choosing love together. 💫 What happens when two people meet at exactly the right wrong time? ❤️ Can love be both fate and luck? ✈️ And what does it take to leave behind everything familiar for the person who feels like home? Whether you love contemporary romance, poetic writing, real-life love stories, long-distance relationships, emotionally grounded happily ever afters, or stories about healing before love, this episode is heartfelt, honest, and deeply romantic. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Michael’s journey from poet to romance author. ✨ How writing became an outlet during heartbreak, grief, and major life changes. ✨ The creative writing class that helped Michael see himself as a writer. ✨ Dropping out of college to pursue writing and the courage that choice required. ✨ Being a Black male author writing romance and poetry. ✨ The stigma around men writing romance and why sensitivity matters on the page. ✨ Moving from poetry into contemporary romance. ✨ Why Michael wants to write across romance, sports romance, and romantasy. ✨ The music, dancing, and pop culture that fuel his creative process. ✨ I Want to Be Where You Are and the real-life love story behind it. ✨ The vulnerability of writing real people and real experiences into fiction. ✨ Long-distance connection, healing, messy personal lives, and emotional timing. ✨ Interracial love, family questions, cultural assumptions, and finding connection beyond difference. ✨ Michael’s upcoming romance projects, including sports romance, forbidden love, and a dream-inspired story about healing after loss. 🎶 Plus: 90s pop music, R&B, dancing as a creative ritual, celebrity trial rabbit holes, Nicholas Sparks vibes, poetry forms, This Is Us theme songs, and the pickup line Michael did not have prepared. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Michael Tavon – @AuthorMichaelTavon ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where ancient goddesses demand vengeance, warrior princesses enter trials designed to kill them, and the enemy making everything more difficult may become impossible to resist. This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with bestselling romance and fantasy author Sariah Wilson to discuss her Eye of the Goddess series.  Sariah shares the extraordinary path that led her to publishing, beginning with a neighborhood fundraiser for her autistic son’s therapies and a reporter who recognized her talent from a press release. She opens up about entering indie publishing, selling only a handful of copies, winning Amazon’s Kindle Scout program, and unexpectedly receiving her first two-book offer. We also dive into the deeply personal circumstances behind Sariah’s move from romantic comedy into romantasy. When a family medical emergency forced her family to take out a second loan on their home, Sariah promised that she would write the book that could pay it back. She drafted a 159,000-word fantasy in just thirty-nine days, received a preemptive publishing offer, and used the first installment to repay the remaining loan. At the heart of the conversation is the Eye of the Goddess series, inspired by the real history of the Locrian maidens. Following the Trojan War and the assault of Cassandra inside Athena’s temple, maidens from Locris were reportedly sent as tribute for approximately one thousand years and could be hunted before reaching sanctuary. Sariah reimagines that forgotten history through a princess who trains to survive the deadly gauntlet and retrieve something capable of saving her nation, only to have her unprepared sister selected alongside her and an enemy sailor complicating every step of the journey. ⚔️ Can a warrior princess survive a ritual designed to punish generations of innocent women? 🏛️ What happens when the sister she trained to protect is chosen for the deadly tribute beside her? 🔥 And can she trust the enemy sailor standing between her, the goddess, and the salvation of her kingdom? This is a must-listen for Greek mythology lovers, romantasy readers, fans of warrior heroines and sisterhood, and anyone craving deadly trials, forgotten history, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers tension, and gods who refuse to remain in the background. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Sariah’s Southern California childhood and her obsession with 3D printing. ✨ Meeting Adam Driver after manifesting the opportunity through a charity auction. ✨ Writing for a regional publisher before pausing her career to expand her family. ✨ Entering and becoming one of the first winners of Amazon’s Kindle Scout program, and building a decade-long relationship with Amazon Publishing. ✨ Why traditional fantasy romances often left her craving more longing, tension, and emotional intimacy. ✨ The family medical emergency that pushed her to finally write romantasy. ✨ Receiving a preempt that allowed her family to repay its medical debt. ✨ How imposter syndrome persists even after years of professional success. ✨ The historical foundations of the Eye of the Goddess series, including the assault of Cassandra by Ajax the Lesser after the Trojan War and Athena’s demand that Locris send maidens to serve at her temple as recompense. ✨ Crafting a story about a princess who deliberately trains to survive the goddess’s deadly gauntlet, and the devastating twist of her untrained sister being selected beside her. ✨ An enemy sailor, a slow-burn romance, and escalating divine stakes. ✨ Building an alternate ancient Greece filled with magic, dragons, gods, and goddesses. ✨ The hospice reader whose message reminded Sariah exactly why she writes. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Sariah Wilson – @SariahWilsonAuthor ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where deadly secrets, morally gray suspects, and murder mysteries are infinitely more fun when you add a little magic. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Megan Tromposch sit down with Mai Corland to discuss Verity Guild, a Heartless Hunter meets Knives Out romantasy murder mystery set in a world inspired by the ancient Roman Republic, where everyone has something to hide and no one is above suspicion. Mai also takes us behind the scenes of her journey from civil litigator to author, the books that didn't find immediate success before Five Broken Blades took off, and how her legal background unexpectedly shaped a fantasy story about truth, justice, institutional power, and what happens when the people making the laws are above them. ⚖️ What does justice look like when the most powerful people in the room are above the law? 🔪 How do you solve a murder when everyone has secrets and the suspects keep dying? 🔥 And what happens when the investigator has every reason to suspect the woman he's falling for? If you love romantasy murder mysteries, ancient Rome-inspired fantasy, enemies-to-lovers, morally gray characters, unreliable narrators, political intrigue, deadly secrets, and closed-circle whodunits, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Mai's unconventional path from civil litigator to published author, and the family experience that finally pushed her to pursue writing. ✨ Why Five Broken Blades wasn't actually Mai's first published novel, and how writing books that didn't immediately take off gave her a very different perspective for her debut. ✨ The discovery-writing process that keeps Mai excited about creating new stories. ✨ Mai's advice for aspiring authors to read widely both inside and outside their genres. ✨ The inspiration behind Verity Guild, which Mai describes as Heartless Hunter meets Knives Out: a romantasy murder mystery that combines a closed-circle whodunit with fantasy, political intrigue, secrets, and romance. ✨ Building a fantasy world inspired by the ancient Roman Republic, Mai's background studying ancient Roman art, and why the rigid class divisions and inequalities beneath an ostensibly representative political system fascinated her as a foundation for the story. ✨ Moving from the six points of view in the Broken Blades trilogy to the much more intimate dual POV of Verity Guild. ✨ Why Mai loves unreliable narrators, morally gray characters, and liars, and why the motivation behind a character's deception can be just as fascinating as the lie itself. ✨ The central question that emerged while Mai was writing Verity Guild: What is justice when some people are above the law? And how far can someone's morals bend in the pursuit of it? ✨ Why fantasy became the perfect space for Mai to explore corruption, inequality, justice, and truth without writing a traditional legal story. ✨ An early tease of Mai's next fantasy, which she describes as Water Moon meets ACOTAR, featuring a demigod with a pawn shop that trades in love stories and a fae prince searching for his missing brother. ✨ Plus: why law school ruins legal television, the goldfish who may secretly be a murderer or a cursed human, Mai and Bethany's spectacularly terrible altitude-related travel decisions, questionable amounts of cold foam, and the trope that wins every time: enemies-to-lovers. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Mai Corland – @Maicorland ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where hidden worlds, Celtic mythology, and suspiciously attractive strangers are waiting just beyond the veil. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Sara Santillan sit down with author Christine Drummond to discuss Kingdom of the Owl, a modern-day Outlander meets ACOTAR romantasy filled with portal magic, Celtic mythology, and enemies-to-lovers, where unsettling sleep hallucinations might be something far more dangerous than they appear. Christine also takes us behind the scenes of her journey from corporate marketer to  published author, including querying, switching agents, becoming the lead title for Gilded Wing, building a street team before publication, and why she believes authors don't need to go viral to build an audience. 🦉 What if your hallucinations were actually another world calling to you? ✨ What would really happen if an ordinary woman fell into a fantasy world? 🔥 And can you trust the man you're supposed to hate when he may be the only person you can rely on? If you love portal fantasy, Celtic mythology, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, one bed, one horse, immersive worlds, and ordinary heroines thrown into extraordinary circumstances, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Christine's journey from a fifteen-year career in marketing to finally giving herself permission to pursue the love of storytelling she'd carried since childhood. ✨ Building visibility for a book years before publication and why Christine believes authors can start creating meaningful connections with readers long before they have a cover, release date, or finished product to sell. ✨ How Christine built a street team before its members had even read Kingdom of the Owl. ✨ Why authors don't necessarily need one massive viral moment to build an audience, and how consistency, community, relatability, and letting readers become invested in your journey can create momentum over time. ✨ Christine's path through querying and submission, including switching agents and learning why finding an agent or editor who genuinely shares your vision matters more than simply saying yes to the first opportunity. ✨ Becoming the lead title for Gilded Wing, City Owl Press's new collector-focused imprint, and discovering after signing her publishing deal that Kingdom of the Owl would help launch an immersive new publishing experience and Kickstarter campaign. ✨ The real-life conversation that sparked Kingdom of the Owl and transformed the eerie experience of sleep hallucinations into the seed of an entirely new fantasy world. ✨ Writing enemies-to-lovers through genuine fear, distrust, reluctant reliance, and attraction. ✨ Building her fantasy world on a foundation of Celtic mythology. ✨ Why Christine maintains a worldbuilding bible and how the realities of publishing can reshape even carefully planned series, sequels, character arcs, and endings. ✨ The changing relationship between traditional and indie publishing, why hybrid authorship will likely become increasingly common, and what authors should consider when weighing distribution and industry reach against speed, royalties, and creative control. ✨ Plus: Christine's upcoming contemporary holiday romance, why writers simultaneously want to accomplish absolutely everything and disappear beneath a heated blanket, and the rapid-fire questions every author should probably be slightly afraid to answer. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Christine Drummond – @ChristineDrummondWrites ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where haunted opera houses, masked men, and enough questionable romantic decisions to keep us arguing for forty years collide. This week, hosts Bethany Amanda and Amara sit down with bestselling gothic fantasy author Erin A. Craig to discuss Our Strange Duet, her official reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera created in collaboration with Lloyd Webber Entertainment for the musical's 40th anniversary. For anyone who has spent years wondering what Christine was thinking, what happened during all those missing months, or whether a few murders should really disqualify the Phantom as a romantic option, this episode is for you. Before stepping beneath the Paris Opera House, Erin takes us backstage through her own incredible journey from professional stage manager to bestselling author. After spending fifteen years working in theater, musicals, and opera, Erin stepped away when her daughter was born and unexpectedly found herself returning to something she'd loved since childhood: writing. Her first attempt at publication earned roughly 180 rejections. Her next book became House of Salt and Sorrows. But Our Strange Duet brings Erin's story full circle. Long before she became an author, The Phantom of the Opera was the musical that made her fall in love with theater. She wrote Phantom fanfiction as a teenager, built a career backstage, and years later received the surreal opportunity to help introduce a new generation to the story that started it all. In Our Strange Duet, Christine Daaé finally takes center stage. The novel ventures into the spaces between the musical's iconic scenes: the months we never see, the relationships only hinted at onstage, and the thoughts and choices of the woman standing at the center of a story so often driven by what everyone else wants from her. And yes, we absolutely discuss the question Phantom fans have been fighting about for decades: Phantom or Raoul? 🎭 What changes when The Phantom of the Opera is finally told entirely through Christine's eyes? 🌹 What happened between the iconic scenes we've watched onstage for forty years? 🎶 And can being mysterious, musical, and extremely good with candles make us overlook a few murders? If you love The Phantom of the Opera, gothic romance, haunted theaters, masked men, tragic love stories, musical theater, morally questionable romantic interests, and books that let you step deeper inside stories you've loved for years, this episode is for you. 🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: ✨ Erin's fifteen-year career as a professional stage manager and how working in theater and opera continues to shape the way she approaches dialogue, atmosphere, plotting, and character movement in her novels. ✨ Falling in love with The Phantom of the Opera as a teenager, writing Phantom fanfiction, and ultimately choosing a career backstage because of the musical that would unexpectedly return to her life decades later. ✨ The unpublished Peter Pan retelling that received roughly 180 rejections before Erin changed course and wrote the book that became her breakout debut, House of Salt and Sorrows. ✨ How Our Strange Duet became the official YA reimagining commissioned through Lloyd Webber Entertainment to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera. ✨ Why Erin and the creative team decided to tell the story exclusively through Christine Daaé's perspective and finally place her desires, fears, grief, ambitions, and choices at the center of the narrative. ✨ Exploring everything the musical doesn't have time to show, including Christine's first encounter with the mysterious voice, her early lessons with the Angel of Music, the six months between Acts One and Two, and the relationships developing beyond the stage. ✨ Expanding Christine and Raoul's history to show the teenage summer romance that came before the musical so readers can finally understand why Christine chose Raoul. ✨ Taking iconic characters like Carlotta and Piangi beyond their roles onstage and giving readers a deeper look at the personalities, vulnerabilities, and relationships Christine encounters inside the Opera Populaire. ✨ The lyrics, references, and Easter eggs hidden throughout the novel for longtime Phantom fans while still making the story completely accessible to readers encountering the Opera Ghost for the first time. ✨ Plus: Team Phantom versus Team Raoul, overlooking murder in the name of fictional romance, the unparalleled appeal of a man surrounded by candles, justice for Carlotta, Erin's favorite Phantom songs, and the romantic option Christine probably should have chosen all along: herself. CONNECT WITH US 🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic 👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland 👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill 📚 Erin Craig – @Penchant4Words ✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.