Balancing Action & Emotion

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: My first date-iversary! (Kind of like Valentine’s Day, but better!)

- Me on the local news circa 2005 - https://youtu.be/wBd9a5ZjgkA

- Stealing Hollywood by Alexandra Sokoloff - https://amzn.to/2Hx50IO

- Earthsinger Chronicles Playlist

- Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez - https://amzn.to/2wnoAot

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Series Management

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: Oscar Nominated Shorts - https://shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/

MENTIONS:

Kickstarter for Where the Veil is Thin - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1982216861/where-the-veil-is-thin-anthology

Atomic Habits by James Clear - https://amzn.to/3brkrQc

Bustle article on the Doctor - https://www.bustle.com/p/14-books-to-read-in-honor-of-doctor-whos-first-black-doctor-21766593

#ReadingBlackout: 29 Books to Read This Black History Month - https://bookish.netgalley.com/must-reads/02/2020/readingblackout-black-history-month-books/

Awario.com

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Everything is Fine

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: My new tattoo & series finale of The Good Place

MENTIONED:

HUSH OF STORM & SORROW pre-order - use coupon code: FRIENDS to get it for $0.99!

- My new tattoo is from Brett Burnham at Chapterhouse Tattoo, Baltimore, MD

- onestopforwriters.com

- Jeffe Kennedy's First Cup of Coffee podcast

- Sanditon on PBS

- Lizzie Bennet Diaries web series - http://www.pemberleydigital.com/the-lizzie-bennet-diaries/

- Welcome to Sanditon web series - http://www.pemberleydigital.com/welcome-to-sanditon/story-wts/

- Smart Bitches Podcast - CIMRWA episode https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast/388-rwa-one-month-later-c-chilove-laurel-cremant-diana-neal-the-officers-of-cimrwa/

- Writing Excuses with Patrick Rothfuss - https://writingexcuses.com/2020/01/26/15-04-revision-with-patrick-rothfuss/ - Conversation I discuss starts at 17:35

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Write Yourself In / Write Your Way Out

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: ARCs for CRY OF METAL & BONE have arrived!

MENTIONS:

- The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin

- New Yorker article on NK Jemisin 

- Kenya Goree-Bell / Karis Bell - Facebook book club

- Hamilton "I Wrote My Way Out" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zhR6d6LDzM

- Then, Now, Always by Mona Shroff

- onestopforwriters.com Worksheets & Thesauruses galor!

- Earthsinger Chronicles: https://lpenelope.com/earthsinger-chronicles/
HUSH OF STORM & SORROW (book 2.5)
REQUIEM OF SILENCE (book 4)

- "Here's What Would Happen If Stephen King Were Treated Like a Latina Writer" 

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The Antidote to Impulsiveness

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller - https://amzn.to/30J8CQI

 MENTIONS:

- Eating the Fantastic podcast- http://www.scottedelman.com/2020/01/10/l-penelope/

- CRY OF METAL & BONE cover - https://lpenelope.com/book/cry-of-metal-bone/

Other Great Recent Reads:

- Grumpy Jake by Melissa Blue - https://amzn.to/36fB7Xq

- The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - https://amzn.to/377UXFe

- The Meldling by Claire Ryan - https://amzn.to/30BJ2gb

- The Beast of Bestwick by Amalie Howard - https://amzn.to/365Vsy5

- My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid - https://amzn.to/2G7KM7K

Girls with Glasses newsletter by Alyssa Cole - https://alyssacolelit.substack.com/

The Creative Penn podcast: How to Be Indestractible - https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2020/01/13/how-to-focus-and-be-indistractable-with-nir-eyal/ 

Agendio.com - customizable planners

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Brain Space

My thread on the magic system in The Witcher - https://twitter.com/leslyepenelope/status/1213942354568200192

Raymond Chandler sci-fi parody: https://twitter.com/richard_kadrey/status/1214684318720647168?s=21

Calling out vs. calling in - https://twitter.com/LeeFlower/status/1214370497124880389

Washington Post on Ricky Gervais

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

New Year, Same Me!

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: Top Rope Climbing again!

- Ember warming mug - https://amzn.to/2ZQWXyC

- On Introverts - https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1213273890115338240 "Introverts are not shy. I know that, but new thinking and MRIs consider their brain (mine) to be wired such that their brains have difficulty processing different noises at once. This is what causes the dislike of noisy places & retreat to quiet...It is posited that this could cause introverts that suffer concussions to be much more noise sensitive during recovery and forever after, which I was/am."

- Possible roads forward for RWA - https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/1213616384392876032

- NINC (Novelists, Inc.) https://ninc.com/

To comment on this episode, go to https://lpenelope.com/2020/01/new-year-same-me-my-imaginary-friends-episode-49 

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

2019 Reflections & Recap

- Charity Water - https://www.charitywater.org/

- Soundtrack on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/80241410

- The Mandalorian on Disney+ - https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/the-mandalorian

- The Witcher on Netflix - https://www.netflix.com/title/80189685

- My Books - https://lpenelope.com/books

- HB90 Bootcamp & Planner at https://heartbreathings.com/

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

RWA: Caught in a Bad Romance

Good overviews of the latest situation with the Romance Writers of America (RWA):

• https://www.claireryanauthor.com/blog/2019/12/27/the-implosion-of-the-rwa
• https://allaboutromance.com/has-rwa-lost-its-way-editing/

Comment at: https://lpenelope.com/2019/12/rwa-caught-in-a-bad-romance-my-imaginary-friends-episode-47

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Nap Meditation

THIS WEEK'S BEST THING: Soundtrack on Netflix! Starring my brother Paul James.

Mentions:

On Writing and Health (Both Physical and Emotional) by Rena Barron :: self care! https://twitter.com/renathedreamer/status/1196947767953887232

Andre 3000 on not making music anymore
https://twitter.com/gafollowers/status/1207029477043245058?s=21

Power nap meditation - https://youtu.be/h6PNJaWGrwE

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing.

Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes

My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!

Website: https://www.lpenelope.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope 

Music credit:

Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM

Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.