M. Rogers - Fantasy Writer

Blah, indeed.

Is this by the same artist who made the one you gifted me?

I got this painting on Etsy a while back, and it’s inspiring me to try out swirling pour paint method on canvas as my fall/winter activity.

Aldona closed her eyes and grit her teeth. He can definitely hear that, she thought. Let him. Step, step, painful step—the balls of her feet pulsed, and she had no choice but to continue in the cryptic darkness.

#WritingCommunity

Harvest moon looking big and bright in a cloudless sky.

'Artistic' shot of the Harvest Moon over some confers in Oregon.

Harvest moon timeline cleanse.

In the second and third books she has more nuanced relationships. I can comparing understand why that relationship would fall flat for you!

I used to try to be a well-rounded reader, but…now I mostly read bestsellers or seminal works in adult fantasy. I just feel like there are too many books that are genre relevant for me to get through them.

I mostly write adult high fantasy. I read ACOTAR and FW because my neighbor raves about them.

I will say that I think SJM must take feedback to heart because a lot of the complaints in her earlier books seem to be addressed in later ones.

I haven’t read all her books, but I did finish the TOG series (but not the prequel novellas) and the ACOTAR books.

Acotar’s first book felt like it ripped off a lot from the literal Disney Beauty and the Beast and the 1984 film with Susan Sarandon. It got better as the book, and the series went on.

I hear you on TOG. The author said she was inspired by the music from Disney’s Cinderella fleeing from the ball.

The Fourth Wing author also writes military romance, which I haven’t read. Xaden reminded me a lot of my husband’s attitude. It made me laugh, the sex was easy to skim or skip (as opposed to when they sprinkle in plot details to make it more relevant).
I enjoyed that series more than ACOTAR.

There’s on page SA with some pretty gross monsters. Petty much every monster you’ve ever heard of is real. I enjoyed the mysteries, but some of the books later on had very little plot. Maybe one day I’ll try them again.

lol. Vampires are out and have rights. She’s a necromancer and a vampire marshal, licensed by the government to execute rogue, murderous vampires. Law enforcement calls her in like X Files. She ends up with various vampires and shifters, and it’s pretty kinky and intense at times.

Awww. I’m a sucker for tuxedo cats, having one myself.

😅

I hope you’re right because I’m worrying I’m going to struggle to find an audience. 😬

At the same time, my last 2 novels had… very little sex or violence. One was more fantasy/ cosmic horror, the other was more like a Greco-Roman Valerian. Maybe both of those features raise the stakes quickly.

My wip is a spicier experiment, but it’s still early & probably going to be a slow burn.

Years ago, the Anita Blake series got to be too much for me, and these were surprisingly not on that level. Several books in, I couldn’t finish the series. I loved the preternatural mysteries, though. I wasn’t enjoying the supernatural sex, though. It made me uncomfortable.

I had assumed they’d be reverse-harem, poly (and nothing wrong with that—to each their own). They were tamer than I expected. I had assumed they’d be erotica, and sure there was sex, but I’ve read much more intense stuff.

Earlier this year, I broke down and read Fourth Wing and ACOTAR. They surprised me because…they have such a reputation, but I’ve read erotica that’s so much more intense. Sure, there’s sex, quite a bit, but it struck me that… they all had a big focus on loyalty and adoration.

Definitely. I don’t think I can write fast much for that.

I like to view stories as a transfer of energy from the author to the reader and adventures as transformations (or a lack of transformation) with external (or internal) motivators.
What do you think makes up a good adventure?

Where can I check out her work?

🙌 It sounds like she has great range. Does she have the same publisher as you?

I agree that it should. I worry that there are really strong market trends that will make stories without those elements less successful. 😓

I agree with you. It seems like those elements are almost genre expectations at this point, and I worry if I don’t have those elements that I’ll be limiting my market appeal. My last two books I worked on had zero spice and very little violence. This time around, I feel like I need to include both.

Post an image of the last episode of #StarTrek you watched🖖

Do you think fantasy novels need to have a lot of violence and spice in them?

Tilly Norwood is a gen AI psyop The point is to normalize generative AI in your mind.

“All of this feels ridiculous because that’s exactly what it is. But the larger goal is to inure you to the strangeness of it all so that when these products — be they movies, shows, or TikToks — finally come to market, your reaction is ‘Sure, why not?’”

"Overfishing the largest species in nearshore and pelagic habitats risks loss of ecomorphotypes and a 5 to 22% erosion of functional diversity."

Ecological erosion and expanding extinction risk of sharks and rays
Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social et al 2024