Greeings, Roguelings!
We have a new community mascot. I saw this guy and paused, thinking, "Why don't we can a mascot - a DINO mascot?" Seem like a no-brainer if you know me. Until I get my sketching skills honed better, this little dude is our guy - what should we name 'em?
Vote on a name below!Â
If you backed the project, you know who you are - THANK YOU SO MUCH ❤️‍🔥. And don't worry. This is not the fun, personal bonus Thank You you'll get from us as part of your rewards. That comes later.
This is just a "basking in the glow of the campaign ending and the outpouring of support" thank you. 🤣 It's nice to know some of my random ideas aren't only exciting to me, but to readers (sometimes) as well.Â
I'm exhausted. Humbled. And excited to get the finishing touches on everything so I can get goodies out to Backers. So again, thank you so much. Backers will receive all rewards info and updates via Kickstarter moving forward.Â
To the rest of my patient, supportive readers, thank you for putting up with my incessant Kickstarter updates. Next week, it's back to our regular programming. Enjoy your weekend!
Linds
I didn't realize certain chapters of my life had woven themselves into my apocalyptic romance until I wrote "THE END," filling Skies of Fire with as much realness as fiction.
I’ve never written a novel that has as much “me” in it as Skies of Fire.
I hadn’t realized this, of course, until after I’d written THE END and went back for revisions. I noticed so many blips in time from my life had been tweaked and melded into the story in one way or another.
It started as a fun side project…
Surviving Earth Chronicles was originally an idea Kristi and I had, committing to working on it when we had time — a “fun” project, if you will.
We created the post-apocalyptic world together, but my installment quickly became so much more than a survival thriller.
And I’m not only talking about the setting and disasters, but even with the characters.
Ava’s struggles were visceral. Knox felt real enough to touch. The setting made me hot and sticky (and not in a good way) just thinking about it.
It wasn’t until I was finished writing that I understood why Knox and Ava’s story felt so natural to write.
From the cattle ranch and horses to the natural disasters (sans the lava), and the family dynamics, I can imagine every layer of their journey so clearly.
I can feel Ava’s desperation to make ends meet. Her sleepless nights and bone-deep exhaustion.
I can feel her heartache, sitting at Mavey’s bedside, and her prickling fear as she lost control of her body and mind during her episodes. I also know her relief (and disbelief) in finally understanding what it all meant. Just as I know the anger that follows it, and that you never take anxious-free moments for granted again. All of it has been ingrained in my decades-old memories. Only now, apparently, I’ve given them a voice.
But for all of the struggles I imparted on Ava, I wrote a life for Knox that feels real to me too.
His ranch in itself is sensory overload, but in the best way possible.
It makes me feel warm and happy inside. The smell of hay, warm dirt, and manure. The dust coating his truck and the creak of his leather saddle. The burning sun against the back of his neck and his matted, sweat-dampened hair beneath his hat—I smell, hear, and feel it all.
Just as vividly, I can see that angry glint in Mitch Bennett’s eyes so acutely. I can feel his hatred at times, and hear the roughness of his voice, anticipating his words before I write them. Yes, that’s intentionally vague, but just know that Mitch Bennett is a fictional character based on real people I know. And the “feud” between him and Ava was also contrived specifically for the story.
Setting the scene…
I don’t know what this says about me as a person, but I experienced a massive flood in 2005 and the past five years have been riddled with evacuations and wildfires here in California. Why I thought about water and then fire and excitedly embraced writing wildfires instead. Both are terrifying. Both are devastating and traumatic. Both leave ruin in their wake. But I guess writing about a world ravaged by smoke and ash felt more relatable to me.
It helped that I wanted to set this story in Texas, knowing who I wanted my characters to be and having experienced their summers personally. When I did actual research on Texas and learned it has over 200 extinct volcanoes, it all started to come together.
The fire scars. The torched roads and aftermath of wildfire devastation . . . I see it when I drive through my home town and to visit my family. It has left its mark everywhere around me, and I think that’s why it felt so natural to write about it.
If you live in California, you know how evacuations work. Your loved ones have PTSD from being evacuated multiple times, they’ve lost pets and questioned their futures. You’re familiar with the eerie orange tint in the smoke-filled sky and the ash that falls around you like feathers, coating everything. You appreciate precious, fresh air in a way you never have before.
But the similarities don’t stop there. I could go on and on, talking about my interracial marriage and why I wanted Ava to be Hispanic. Or my work with foster youth and how they always seem to nestle their way into my stories, always for the better (Hi, Harper! You were such a pleasant surprise! Thank you for inserting yourself into my story).
It all goes to show that, as a writer, you can’t always disconnect from who you are and what you’ve experienced—I never meant to pour myself into this story, but it happened.
And for all the strange emotions I felt along the way, Skies of Fire is undoubtedly one of my favorite survival stories I’ve written. Not to mention it has all the things I LOVE to read—slow burn romance, creepy survivors, animal friends, harrowing danger and soul-stirring, endearing moments that make your chest squeeze a little.
I guess that’s why I couldn’t let it go after writing it. It’s why I wanted to immerse myself in it a while longer and create an experience readers could feel the way I felt it.
It’s part of the reason why we did the Surviving Earth Chronicles Special Edition Omnibus Kickstarter. It’s not just a hardcover, but an immersive experience, and I can’t wait for readers to go on this journey with us.
The campaign ends February 27 and you can learn more here. And if you want to take a chance on Ava and Knox’s story, you can find out more in my bookshop.
Until next time, Roguelings,
eHey, all!
FIRST - THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BACKED THE CAMPAIGN! I see your names and you made me smile.
The past week has been exciting and exhausting, and I apologize for not posting on Monday with a check-in. The truth is, all I've been doing is working, so there's not much to report. I did watch the Super Bowl and was pretty let down by the commercials. The sloth one was fun, though.
Anyway, the frenzied part of this campaign has settled down a bit, now that the Kickstarter is live. And my body and mind are trying to catch up. I napped yesterday for the first time in.... a year? Even Dennis was shocked to hear it before we sat down to record another Grumpily Ever After episode.
Below is a little something I felt compelled to write late yesterday, in case you're interested in a glimpse into my brain about this whole Surviving Earth Chronicles project, long before we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign.
Also, be sure to explore the Kickstarter! The campaign ends February 27th and these books are a single-print run. This means, we're only ordering enough copies for our Backers (since their names are getting added in a fun way after the campaign). I won't be selling these in my bookshop unless I have extras due to cancelled pledges or other unforeseen happenings.Â
Anyway, happy Hump Day and thank you for being you. ___________________
Dearest Rogueling,
I never realized how resilient we can be as authors until this past year. Authors I know, who have been writing for years, have thrown in the towel because it’s HARD to follow your passion, market your books, and not get discouraged. It’s HARD to have everyone judging your work and having an opinion. It’s HARD to be a business owner and a marketing professional. Nothing about this business is “easy.”
And one word that keeps resurfacing for me is “Dauntless.”
Yes, we work hard, hustling and juggling and trying to stay above water when the industry is inundated with technology, information, and saturated with competition while being led by algorithms.
But we’re doing this. We’re IN this. Still. We keep going and I’m a testament to that. I just did a Kickstarter, ya’ll. A year or two ago I would have said, “Nope. That’s not my thing.” But here I am. Taking risks. Expanding my horizons by embracing my fears. Making room for something that I didn’t think would fit.
But the risk-taking didn’t start there. Let me back up…
Once upon a time…
K Webster (a bestselling romance author of over 150 novels) was reading a post-apocalyptic adventure and reached out to the author to say hello. They discovered their mutual love for disaster prepping, catastrophe movies, and survival stories, became fast friends, and vowed to write in a shared, weather-ravaged world together.
Five years later, Surviving Earth Chronicles was created and Knox and Kellen were written - brothers in different parts of the United States who must survive against all odds to find each other. The rest is history.
In fact, together, we created one of my favorite worlds yet!
When Kristi and I decided to write the Surviving Earth Chronicles world, we were defying the norm. Write to market? Stay in your own lane? Pssshhh. I’ve been hearing those phrases for over a decade. And for all that time, I’ve struggled to do that. A lot of us do to a certain extent - it’s why so many of us have pen names for crying out loud.
So, needless to say, Kristi and me writing together is an “odd pairing” to most—a post-apocalyptic survival author teaming up with a wild (and sometimes taboo) romance author? Umm, okayyyy.
Yet, here we are. Who knew my male readers would consider this one of my best books to date? Or that so many dark romance girlies would love a survival thriller?
But we did it! Together, Kristi and I created a:
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Full crumbling world immersion
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A blend of action, adventure, and romance
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Hope amid chaos
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Battle-born relationships
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Hard-earned happy endings
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Found family through tragedy
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Epic love stories amid epic destruction
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An emotional journey alongside the angst of survival
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Spice and slow-burn …. ALL THE THINGS.
We went against the norm and took a risk to create this series, hoping our readers would follow us to the sexy yet gritty survival world of an crumbling Earth.
Then, we did it again. Together, we did our first Kickstarter. And, once again, our project isn’t your typical beautified Special Edition with schmexy artwork. We did something different. We made it immersive and gritty and super duper special because we want readers to experience our Surviving Earth world the way it was meant to be experienced. The way our characters experienced.
We made this 700+ page beauty set in the end of the world. It’s messy and chaotic. It’s imperfectly perfect and a scrapbook omnibus-reading experience unlike any other I’ve ever seen.
I’ve said it a hundred times to coaching clients and to my readers—authors are dauntless. Those who want to stay above water and follow their passion have to be. I don’t care if you’re independently published or if you’re signed with a traditional publishing house, we are the workhorses. The face. The doers. We are our brand. And while we have help along the way, we couldn’t do this without our willingness to be dauntless and brave and challenge ourselves, even if it’s just a little.
If you’ve published a single book or you’re only just writing your first draft, YOU ARE DAUNTLESS. You are brave. If you’re still in this industry after years of ups and downs and changes, like me—if you are still taking chances and challenging yourself in the name of growth and success—you are a word warrior. A boss. Be sure you bask in that for a while.
And if you’re interested in checking out my Special Edition Hardcover Omnibus and all its glory, you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lindseypogue/surviving-earth
Our Kickstarter campaign ends February 27th.
Until next week…
Happy reading and writing adventures,
Dearest Rogueling,
When I’m asked what I enjoy most about being an author, my answer is usually one of two things (and no, one is not writing): engaging with my readers and chatting with other authors.
While I love writing and wish I could do it all day every day, it’s a solitary job most of the time. Not to mention, being an author is a profession no one else can relate to, unless they are one. That’s why getting to chat with authors about the exhilarating and terrifying moments, about our favorite parts and frustrations, and getting to geek out about crafting stories or research or our inspirations is so grounding and invigorating.
When I co-hosted the No Shelf Control: Books, Booze, & Banter podcast many moons ago, it wasn’t reading the books I loved, but chatting with the authors after. Discovering writing through their eyes.
So, if Grumpily Ever After is a podcast about an author girl and her husband who runs from books like a vampire hides from garlic, then Behind-The-Pages is an ode to my other self. Author Lindsey in the wild, chatting and rambling with authors who inspire me, intrigue me, and who I simply want to know better.
After over a decade of writing and years of making author friends, it’s time to get to know them better, and to kick off my Behind-The-Pages segment, bestselling romantic fantasy author Demi Winters sat down with me to chat about Viking-inspired worlds, crafting story, and the amazing journey she’s been on for the past year. She even answered my book club’s burning questions about her gritty, slow-burning and twisty world of The Ashen Series.
If you haven’t read The Road of Bones, I highly recommend it! Especially if you’re a slow-burn girly like me, you love gritty medieval feeling world-building, and amazing plotting. Demi poured her heart and soul into this series and I feel it in every beautiful page.
Get your sneaky look behind the pages, available wherever you listen and on my YouTube channel.
Follow Demi Winters:
Discord: https://discord.gg/2eh5SHFrpm
Website: https://demiwinters.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demiwinterswrites/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@demiwinterswrites
You can now listen to Grumpily Ever After and Behind-The-Page across all major platforms!
Spotify | Pandora | iheartradio | Castbox | Amazon | Audible | Pocketcasts | YouTube | Apple
Until next time, happy reading and writing adventures. Wherever the wind may take you, I hope it’s amazing.
