C.J. Nolen | YA Fantasy Writer

***** July 28, 2025 Posing as a combination of fantasy, novel of manners, and detective story, this book examines conceptions of race and class and explores the nature of cognition-all in a really great read. Thoroughly unique and completely engrossing, The First Whisper of Fate needs to be on your to-be-read list!

My son’s former head-of-school dropped this glowing review.

I’ve gotten notes from several teachers and it’s really cool to see this resonate with educators. I want my kid to be challenged by books that make him think about the world. Yeah, it’s supposed to be fun. But it can be more. 📚💙 #yafantasy

My novel: What if Cinderella had to hide her true ancestry? What if her prince had secrets and her father was murdered? What if the ball was a heist, the glass slipper a clue, and the golden carriage a flying car chase? And what if the whole thing is a YA exploration of race, class, and identity? 📚💙

I was told writing literary-leaning YA Fantasy was a waste of time. But so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive. #booksky #yafantasy #writers

Historically speaking, violence has usually been the answer. #america #4thofJuly

Living in a country where AC isn’t required is great until global warming shows up with this crap.

AI might undermine one of the better alternatives to the Kindle Kobo's platform maintains a friendly relationship with indie authors, but new mentions of AI in its terms of service are raising concerns.

Kobo, we want you to succeed. Don’t jeopardize the good will your have by leaning into AI for features nobody is asking for. #writing #kobo #noai

I love this design so much that I had to share. Found at careyscraftables.etsy.com

#writers #oxfordcomma

Without the humanity, it's just words on a page.

The time and effort it takes to craft a story, to learn the craft itself, are inseparable from the resulting work. Creating art is a journey, and the end products are both the art and the artist. Perspective and introspection are essential. There are no shortcuts.

The stories we told ourselves became the foundations of society.

Fiction is telepathy across time and space connecting author and reader. A story is an exploration of self, a mirror held up to human nature so we can see it more clearly, a doorway into empathy and understanding.

I believe art is a human endeavor. Storytelling is likely the oldest art form, dating back to prehistory with the tribe sitting around the evening fire. Those fireside tales gave birth to gods. They crafted histories. Stories are how people became peoples.

I worked in tech for almost two decades. I was leading government-funded AI research years before the current debates entered the public awareness. Needless to say, I have opinions.

Within the context of art and writing, I do not use AI at all.

#writing

What is a mood board? What do you do with it?

I’m not trying to be snarky here, I just genuinely don’t understand. Is it procrastination? Is it marketing? Is it performative? Am I a grumpy old man or did I just miss a memo?

#writercommunity #booksky #writers #moodboard #curmudgeon

I’ll send you a free copy if you’ll drop me an honest review somewhere once you finish!

I wanted to write a fun genre-fiction romp that still has some meat on the bones. My teen loved it. My editor loved it. The first reviews are trickling in at 5 stars. So despite a relatively quiet launch, I'm pretty dang pleased.

💙📚
#writing
#yafantasy

Okay, that's the marketing nonsense out of the way. Really, this is a book about identity. I'm using fantasy tropes to explore race, gender, and social class as a reflection of American culture and ideals. It's also about the power of choice, a fantasy riff on timshel from East of Eden.

💙📚

I guess, for the sake of completeness, I should actually talk about my book on here. The First Whispers of Fate is a YA Epic Fantasy / Murder Mystery with serious Jane Austin vibes. It's sword fights and ballroom dancing. Conspiracies and secret societies. A masked queen and a beast awakening.

💙📚

Both manuscripts are back from developmental editors. So do I want to work on Book 2 in my YA Fantasy series? Or do I want to do the Upmarket Romantic Drama?

Swordplay or panic attacks? Magic or #Vanlife? Allegories for colonialism or nerds playing D&D?

Gah. Choices!

#writesky #writingcommunity

I suggest everybody give this a read isotropic.org/papers/chick...

I have no interest in a Switch 2. But I do feel compelled to binge the new Mario Kart for 48 hours just so I’m prepared to wreck any child who challenges me to a race.

#mariokart

This looks delightful.

Welcome to the Great Swampy Middle. Push through, my friend!

First GoodReads review for The First Whispers of Fate was just posted. 5 stars! And it wasn’t even my mom!

I know a single review means nothing, but dang it, it’s my first.
#booksky #writer

Human interaction? In meat space?

I kid. It’s good advice. I recently moved to the Netherlands, so finding English language writers locally will be a challenge. But surely they exist.

I honestly don’t know how writers find a community. Reddit is overrun with questions from brand new writers. TikTok and Instagram is just authors following each other to pump up their numbers. A few days on BlueSky and I’m mostly just seeing authors advertising. I just wanna find my peeps. #booksky

I wrote a blurb. I saved the blurb for future use, titling it Blirb. Later I used the blurb and copied the title. So when I posted the blurb on TikTok, it started with Blirb.

And that’s why I have an editor.

I sent out my first author newsletter yesterday. I just checked and nobody unsubscribed. I call that a win.

Abstract Algebra
I never took it in school
And yet here we are

Father’s Day felt appropriate to launch my first novel since it’s largely about a girl seeking her father’s killer.

The First Whispers of Fate is part murder mystery, part epic fantasy with major Jane Austin vibes. It deals with identity and culture between sword fights and fancy balls. Marketing!

I got really, irrationally angry at Instagram just now. It prompted me to create an account here, just to have a place to bitch about it.