My Imaginary Friends with L. Penelope

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.

Inspiration & Worldbuilding for The Monsters We Defy

Mentioned:
- The Monsters We Defy is out on Tuesday! https://lpen.co/monsters
- Zelda twitter thread for Albinism Awareness Day - https://twitter.com/leslyepenelope/status/1536405352228474880
- New Moon Daughter by Cassandra Wilson - https://open.spotify.com/album/7jV22JIrWgtCKCX34cJrzA?si=yjp1JccuRcW2zLgFZA0pwA
- The Monsters We Defy playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2pHG7NlC3I2dwQuko0He8w?si=a58d8a83f0d04b38
- Leslye's upcoming events: https://lpenelope.com/calendar/
- Manila Village - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Village
- Donald Maas "Tension All the Time" from The Fire in Fiction - https://amzn.to/3p0RYsB
- Galaxy's Edge magazine "Longhand" column - http://www.galaxysedge.com/
- Book exploder podcast - https://bookexploder.com/episodes/susan-orlean
 
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.

Events, Ads & Promo

Mentioned:
- Apollycon - https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/apollycon/
- Try This: Beat Yourself Up Or Write Yourself Upbeat - Chuck Palahniuk: https://chuckpalahniuk.substack.com/p/try-this-beat-yourself-up-or-write
- Ran Walker - https://www.ranwalker.com/
- The Monsters We Defy - https://lpenelope.com/monsters-preorder
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.

Considering Success & Failure

Mentioned:
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever teaser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlOB3UALvrQ
- How to use a comptometer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf4nYUXJHnk
- America’s Next Great Author - https://writerbeware.blog/2022/07/15/americas-next-great-author-the-author-reality-show-idea-rides-again/
- The Hot Sheet - https://hotsheetpub.com/
- Paul Bogaards Substack - https://paulbogaards.substack.com/p/introducing-kill-your-darlings-oh
- Deadline City podcast - https://deadlinecity.com/
- Africa Brooke interview https://youtu.be/q6KGsI6QzD4?t=5080
- Apollycon - https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/apollycon/
 
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.

Scene Planning

Mentioned:
- Plottr software - https://plottr.com?ref=136 (affiliate link)
- The Story Grid - https://storygrid.com/
- Scene and Sequel chart
- Scene turning points - https://leeallenhoward.com/2020/06/04/scene-structure-understanding-turning-points/
- Writing Excuses Podcast - https://writingexcuses.com/
- Save the Cat - https://savethecat.com/
- One Stop for Writers Character Builder - https://onestopforwriters.com/about_cbt
- Enneagram relationships - https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram/types
- Leftie Aubé’s Writing podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leftie-aubes-writing-podcast/id1634709729
- Authortube Writing Conference - check out the replays - https://www.authortubewritingconference.com/schedule2022
- Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher - https://amzn.to/3cqEqDy
- Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher - https://amzn.to/3oeEn0C
- Alice Coldbreath Vawdrey Brothers series - https://amzn.to/3aQbWTt
- An Inconvenient Vow by Alice Coldbreath - https://amzn.to/3zcCbNm
- The Hating Game by Sally Thorne - https://amzn.to/3zbJrsO
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.

Structure vs. ”Formula”

Mentioned:
- Plottr - https://plottr.com?ref=136 (affiliate link)
- Scrivener -  https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
- Romancing the Beat - https://www.romancingthebeat.com/
- The Story Grid - https://storygrid.com/
- Whimsical - http://whimsical.com/
- Miro - https://miro.com/
- My board - https://lpenelope.com/wp-content/uploads/MiroBoard2.png
- Save the Cat by Blake Snyder - https://amzn.to/3yrCEK1
- The Hero's Journey - https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-the-heros-journey
- Jami Gold spreadsheets - https://jamigold.com/for-writers/worksheets-for-writers/
- How Rocky Debunks Save the Cat -  https://screencraft.org/blog/how-rocky-debunks-save-the-cat/
- Rocky: Why You Don't Need Writing Formulas -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TGwjiBV2w8
- On Writing - Rocky and Why You Need A Formula - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy59b-qCVjA
- Story by Robert McKee - https://amzn.to/3moY8AW
- Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell – https://amzn.to/35eBwLu
- Thor Love and Thunder
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Star Trek: Picard
- Star Treck: Lower Decks
- The Woman King film - https://www.thewomanking.movie/
 
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.

Morning Routines & Powering Through

Mentioned:
- The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne – https://amzn.to/2Yw6Elx
 Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody – https://amzn.to/3xf7TFV
- Sarah Beth Yoga - https://www.youtube.com/c/sarahbethyoga
- Yoga with Kassandra - https://www.youtube.com/c/yogawithkassandra
- Yoga with Bird - https://www.youtube.com/c/YogaWithBird
- A Midsummer Night's Dream @ Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA - https://www.theoldglobe.org/pdp/22-season/a-midsummer-nights-dream
 
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.

Life, Dictation and Everything

- Freewrite Traveler - https://getfreewrite.com/products/freewrite-traveler
- Spoke transcription app - https://landing.spoke.app/en
- Otter meeting transcription app - https://otter.ai/
- Dragon dictation software - https://www.nuance.com/index.html
- Galaxy's Edge magazine - https://www.galaxysedge.com/
- One Stop for Writers, character profile builder - https://onestopforwriters.com/
- 4 Ways to Write a More Cathartic Story -  https://mystorydoctor.com/4-ways-to-write-a-more-cathartic-story/
- The Heir and the Spare by Kate Stradling - https://amzn.to/3xYCZnd
- The Heir and the Spare - Author's note part 1 of 4 - https://katestradling.com/2022/05/31/iona-of-wessett-author-notes-part-1/ 
- Author Margaret Pinard - http://www.margaretpinard.com & https://www.youtube.com/c/MargaretPinard
- My Events - https://lpenelope.com/calendar/
- Everything Everywhere All at Once - good review: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/03/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-review-1234707051/
- Authortube Writing Conference - https://www.authortubewritingconference.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.