“Imagining Success” is an interview series where I talk to authors who have achieved career milestones that others only dream about and ask them how they got there and where they go from here.

Today, I speak with someone who is one of my personal influences, speculative fiction author Tananarive Due. Over her two decades in publishing, she has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, as well as British and World Fantasy Awards.

Find her online at https://www.tananarivedue.com/. Her Life Writing Premium course is available at here. Tananarive's latest novel is The Reformatory. One of my favorite novels of hers is My Soul to Keep.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HGsPrw37u7Q

Subscribe to the podcast: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Mentioned:

Ink & Magic Writing Retreat: https://inkandmagicretreat.com/

• Daughter of the Merciful Deep is out! https://books2read.com/dotmd
• Imaginarium Book Festival - https://www.imaginariumbookfestival.com/ -
• The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes - https://amzn.to/3yTVk91 | https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780615908113
• Enneagram relationships: https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram/types
• Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland - https://amzn.to/3ml97eR

Watch on YouTube

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a 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 & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

“Imagining Success” is an interview series where I talk to authors who have achieved career milestones that others only dream about and ask them how they got there and where they go from here.

In this episode, I speak with New York Times Bestseller Dhonielle Clayton about writing with purpose, real markers of success, and of course, imposter syndrome.

Find her online at https://www.dhonielleclayton.com/. Her latest book is The Memory Thieves, the second entry in the middle grade Conjurverse series.

Subscribe to the podcast: https://lpenelope.com/podcast

Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Watch on Youtube

• Daughter of the Merciful Deep out on June 4, 2024 - Release Giveaway!
  • Launch event @ Sankofa Books
  • My events

  • Launch event @ Sankofa Books in Washington, DC - https://www.sankofa.com/events/daughter-of-the-merciful-deep

• My events - https://lpenelope.com/calendar/

• NPR mention - https://www.npr.org/2024/05/21/1251024211/best-books-2024-what-to-read

• My online plotting workshop - June 15, 2024 - https://hamptonroadswriters.org/event/june-15-2024-from-idea-to-first-draft-how-to-plot-your-novel-by-leslye-penelope/

• The Story Seed Mini-course - https://learn.myimaginaryfriends.net/courses/story-seed

• Whimsical - https://whimsical.com/

• The Fall Guy movie

• That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming - https://amzn.to/3wJ2rk6

• Ink & Magic podcast with Kimberly Lemming - https://www.inkandmagic.net/e/ep-28-fantasy-romcoms-with-kimberly-lemming/

• "Growth is not linear" - https://www.instagram.com/p/C5o8ZybijLK/

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a 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 & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

“Imagining Success” is an interview series where I talk to authors who have achieved career milestones that others only dream about and ask them how they got there and where they go from here.

In this interview, I speak with #1 New York Times Bestseller Kelley Armstrong about maintaining longevity in a career, her refreshing perspective from her time in the publishing trenches, and what keeps her going.

Find her online at https://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/. Her latest release is Disturbing the Dead, book 3 in the Rip Through Time historical mystery series.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UWQwCkosISQ.

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

Get the Footnotes newsletter and become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell

Watch the live podcast on YouTube.

Mentioned:

• EF Go Ahead Tours - https://www.goaheadtours.com/tours
• A few of my photos from Greece - https://www.instagram.com/p/C5orMwfOgpR/ - https://www.instagram.com/p/C5qZl7-OWsO/?img_index=1
• Read my post: "Beyond Bestsellers: Yes, People Still Buy Books"

• 3000 Years of Longing

• The Fall of Souls by R. A. Moreau - https://amzn.to/3WfYQ7d

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a 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 & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

“Imagining Success” is an interview series where I talk to authors who have achieved career milestones that others only dream about and ask them how they got there and where they go from here.

In this interview, I speak with multi-award winner P. Djèlí Clark about the publishing industry, shifting ideas of success, and something all Gen-Xers should know: why reading is fundamental.

Find him online at https://pdjeliclark.com/.

His most recent releases is Abeni's Song.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/umqeMohkOC0

Mentioned:

• ARC Giveaway - https://lpenelope.com/2024/03/daughter-of-the-merciful-deep-arc-giveaway/
• Daughter of the Merciful Deep - preorder
  • Publishers Weekly starred review
• Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland
• Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell
• Plot vs. Character by Jeff Gerke
• Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
• OneStopforWriters.com
• The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Events: - The Authorprenuer Path workshop - 3/26/34 - Poconos Writers' Conference - 4/20/24 - My calendar - https://lpenelope.com/calendar/

The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a 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 & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.