My Imaginary Friends with L. Penelope

Fall Retreat!

Mentioned:
- Highlights Foundation Retreats - https://thebarnatboydsmills.com/highlights-foundation-workshops-retreats/ 
- Becca Syme - https://betterfasteracademy.com/
- Erin Bowman: Enjoyability over all else - https://erinbowman.substack.com/p/enjoyability-over-all-else
- Stephanie Perkins: Love lists - http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-writers-society-love-lists-by.html
- Calendly appointment scheduling - https://calendly.com/
- Reclaim.ai - https://reclaim.ai/r/s/TpyPY  (referral link)
- Time blocking - https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/time-blocking
- October 27, 2022 - Black Voices of the Future: Spirits of the City with Leslye Penelope & Alex Jennings  - https://hachette-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bifaPrM-R6KCG4_zwAsFRw#/registration
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Burdens & Responsibilities

Mentioned:
- The Soul of Good Character Design -  https://youtu.be/SM3IQFgP-d8
- The "Done" Planner: Combating the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List - https://roniloren.com/blog/2018/9/17/the-done-planner-combating-the-dark-side-of-the-traditional-to-do-list
- NPR Codeswitch "Black reality in a world of fantasy" - https://www.npr.org/2022/10/11/1128226741/tochi-onyebuchi-leslye-penelope-black-science-fiction-fantasy
- Washingtonian magazine - "'The Monsters We Defy' Is a Historical Ghost Novel Set in DC" - https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/10/12/the-monsters-we-defy-dc-novel/
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Success vs. Happiness

Mentioned: 
- Capclave - https://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave22/
- Freewrite Alpha - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/freewrite-alpha-distraction-free-writing-anywhere#/
-  My Freewrite reviews on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPWpOldzxmoFtoJMjg6iSUuxU1kDichvn
- Kindle Scribe - https://amzn.to/3CeFBzc
- Remarkable - https://remarkable.com/
- Does pursuing success make authors unhappy? - https://erinbowman.substack.com/p/does-pursuing-success-make-authors
- And Neil Gaiman on why stories matter - https://at.tumblr.com/neil-gaiman/hey-mr-gaiman-i-keep-seeing-this-a-was-just/v6lggtv5s7yt
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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 Finish Line

Sponsor: A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781420153408/a-ghost-in-shining-armor/
Mentioned:
- Inkarnate map software - https://inkarnate.com/
- Whimsical - https://whimsical.com/
- Miro - https://miro.com/
- EdrawMax - https://www.edrawsoft.com/edraw-max/
- Author Naomi Novik - https://www.naominovik.com/
- On Aphantasia "What It's Like to Be 'Mind Blind'" - https://time.com/6155443/aphantasia-mind-blind/
- 750words.com - https://750words.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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Getting Closer

Mentioned:
- The Woman King film (5 stars from me!)
- Once Upon a Forbidden Desire - https://books2read.com/forbiddenfairytales
- My TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@leslyepenelope
- TikTok Sells Books course - https://tiktoksellsbooks.com/
- TikTok warning - https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1559896054514028546
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Doubling Down

Mentioned:
- B2Weird book club - https://www.instagram.com/b2weird/
- Rings of Power
- House of the Dragon
- She-Hulk
- Once Upon a Forbidden Desire releases Sep. 13 - https://books2read.com/forbiddenfairytales
- "Her Majesty's Wolf" excerpt - https://lpenelope.com/2022/09/her-majestys-wolf-excerpt/
- My newsletter - https://lpenelope.com/newsletter/
- Hidden Black towns beneath America's lakes - https://www.instagram.com/p/CiTAeKvLbSx/
- Beyond Tulsa: The Secret History of Flooding Black Towns to Make Lakes | The Amber Ruffin Show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3D4hSQcWbk
- Margaret Pinard's September #AuthPanel on THE BACKLIST - https://youtu.be/5KrwzZqEy7o
- Huberman Lab podcast - Optimize Your Focus - https://hubermanlab.com/focus-toolkit-tools-to-improve-your-focus-and-concentration/
- Publishing Will Never Be Fair - https://unherd.com/2022/07/publishing-will-never-be-fair/
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

National Book Festival

Mentioned:
- The National Book Festival - https://www.loc.gov/events/2022-national-book-festival/
- B.L. Blanchard - blblanchard.com
- Tochi Onyebuchi - tochionyebuchi.com
- NPR Codeswitch - https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
- The Hot Sheet newsletter - https://hotsheetpub.com/
- "Notes from Across the Pond" Banished newsletter (paywall) https://banished.substack.com/p/notes-from-across-the-pond
- Purple Hearts on Netflix
- Susan Dennard - The Luminaries Street Team - https://luminerds.substack.com/p/hunter-trials-challenge-1
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Worldbuilding on the Go

10 Things I Learned from Junot Diaz:
1. “Unless it’s breaking you, why would anyone else care?”
2. Give readers a chance to interact with the work - don’t chew it up and put it in their mouths. Let them come to different conclusions. Give them choices to let them decide what to think. 
3. Writers cannot be "in cahoots" with the story - safeguard a space for the reader in the story. The story shouldn’t be dictated by the author.
4. Memory is contained and not dangerous. Memory work disrupts the immersion of the story because the character is not immersed in remembering
5. 1st POV should not try to discharge the function of 3rd POV
6. Withholding information is not developing character or plot. Non-information creates disinterest.
7. With characters, take away the one thing you think is important and see what you have left. Allow them to interact with others to let the reader see who they really are. Scaling with at least 2 others allows you to triangulate.
8. We look away to spare ourselves from feeling the pain and hope the reader will do the work for us. By taking the reader into our pain, we can be seen.
9. Always Be Building Character
10. Tend to your wound. Integrate it and write from there. Balance the person and the artist. Tend to your personhood so that if you never write again, you’ll still love yourself.
Mentions:
- A Midsummer Night's Dream - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChxVmTbpG_V/
- Mysterious Galaxy - https://www.mystgalaxy.com/
- DJ Reads Books IG live - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlNnAiFEyq/
- Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
- Storyist - https://www.storyist.com/
- Patricia C. Wrede Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions - https://pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/
- Holly Black on Magic Systems - https://www.penandstory.com/2011/04/17/holly-black-on-creating-working-magic/
- VONA/Voices writers workshop - https://www.vonavoices.org/
- Junot Diaz - http://www.junotdiaz.com/
- Hurston Wright Foundation - https://www.hurstonwright.org/
- Dolen Perkins-Valdez - https://dolenperkinsvaldez.com/
- Writers mentioned: Kacen Callender, Ines Johnson, Shanae Johnson, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Daniel Jose Older, Lesley Nneka Arimah 
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Deepening POV

Mentioned:
- Mama Day by Gloria Naylor - https://amzn.to/3ceURU4
- Author Marie Force - https://marieforce.com/
- The Sandman on Netflix
- Day Shift on Netflix
- Graveyard Shift by Michael F. Haspil - https://amzn.to/3R4I7y9
 
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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.

Getting Unstuck

- Sistah Scifi interview replay - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChGaUAooXat/
- Miro - online whiteboard & stickies - https://miro.com
- Turning points article - https://leeallenhoward.com/2020/06/04/scene-structure-understanding-turning-points/
- The Sandman on Netflix
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - https://amzn.to/3QJZPXg
- Brandon Sanderson's Laws of Magic - https://faq.brandonsanderson.com/knowledge-base/what-are-sandersons-laws-of-magic/
- Confrontation at Nuxvar by Judith Moffitt - https://amzn.to/3Amt798
- Maggie Wells romance - https://maggie-wells.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
Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell
My Imaginary Friends is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at http://frolic.media/podcasts!
Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Music credit:
Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarudCreative 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.