My Imaginary Friends With L. Penelope

“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://lp

“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 legendary romance author Beverly Jenkins about the power of representation, her unique relationship with her readers, and why she doesn't have imposter syndrome.  Find Beverly Jenkins at https://www.beverlyjenkins.net/ Her most recent novel is A Christmas to Remember. Watch this episode on YouTube. Want a "Slayer of Words" t-shirt?   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 to the podcast: https://lpenelope.com/podcast Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the sho

Watch on YouTube Mentioned: Imaginary Worldbuilding course  Zcal Meeting Scheduler - https://zcal.co/ My interview on the Wish I’d Known podcast Washington Post mention! https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/02/11/romantasy-explainer-maas-yarros/ - Gift article link: https://wapo.st/3uJ2YkN https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ Grammar refresher workshop - 03/02/2024 Punctuation refresher workshop - 03/03/2024 My Awesome Con schedule - https://lpenelope.com/calendar March Madness Writing Sprints - Schedule | YouTube Playlist The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest  Origin by Ava DuVernay   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:

“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 award-winning SFF author Mary Robinette Kowal about the meaning of success and how it evolves over time. She discusses the motivations behind her writing, the challenges she faces, and the importance of authenticity in her work. We also touch on impostor syndrome, goal setting, and finding the essence of what drives us as writers. Find Mary Robinette online at https://maryrobinettekowal.com/ Her latest novel is The Spare Man Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WFL5WPFDwr8   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 to th

Watch on YouTube  Mentioned: How to Revise Your Novel workshop Imaginary Worldbuilding course - https://lpen.co/worlds Story Seed workbook - https://lpen.co/storyseed Enneagrams - https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram/types Pro Writing Aid's romance week - https://lpen.co/romanceweek All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby - (Amazon), (Bookshop) 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.o

Watch in YouTube: https://youtu.be/DeIidsoalEY - Footnotes newsletter - https://myimaginaryfriends.net/footnotes - Savage City is on sale! - https://books2read.com/savagecity - Preordder Daughter of the Merciful Deep - https://lpenelope.com/book/daughter-of-the-merciful-deep/ Mentioned: - Bookbub - ebook deals - Scribecount - track book sales - FaRoFeb - Fantasy Romance February - Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell  - Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland  - Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland  - Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody  - "Designing Thriller and Mystery Twists That Work" by Samantha Skal  - Ink & Magic podcast  - 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains by Sacha Black -  - Imaginary Worldbuilding course      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, creativit

Pre-order Daughter of the Merciful Deep – coming June 4, 2024   Pre-order Brutal Fortress – get it from me March 1 and everywhere March 15!   Mentioned: Bridgerton Tea photos - https://www.instagram.com/p/C2GS35brisd/ Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/ FaRoFeb (Fantasy Romance February) - https://farofeb.com/ Scapple - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview Story Seed Workbook & Mini-course - https://lpen.co/storyseed American Fiction film The Color Purple film The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer - https://amzn.to/48wNCyp The Book of Clarence film Saltburn film Jeymes Samuels Breakfast Club interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zyrdLjoHgI Filmmaker Hal Hartley - https://www.halhartley.com/ 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 an

Watch on Youtube!   - Become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net/footnotes   - Revision Workshop: Monday, January 24, 2024 at 7pm ET   - Imaginary Worldbuilding cohort - https://learn.myimaginaryfriends.net/courses/imaginary-worldbuilding   - Pre-order Daughter of the Merciful Deep - coming June 4, 2024   - Pre-order Brutal Fortress - get it from me March 1 and everywhere March 15    Book Recomendations: - Paladin’s Faith by T. Kingfisher - https://amzn.to/48Cfdhr - Passion by Lisa Valdez - https://amzn.to/3S1Q4r0 - The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata - https://amzn.to/47iyqne   - Ink and Magic podcast   - Some Lines a Day Journal - Leuchtturm1917   - Tabitha Brown IG post #1 - https://www.instagram.com/p/C1fU9yXP06k/ - post #2 - https://www.instagram.com/p/C1gLuKFrQ40/   - My year end post    - Insight Timer app   - Author Nillu Nasser - https://nillunasser.com/   The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditio

Watch in YouTube Mentioned: My other podcast! Ink and Magic Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh Pre-order my new book, Daughter of the Merciful Deep  My upcoming revision course – https://myimaginaryfriends.net/revision Final Imaginary Worldbuilding course cohort in January – https://lpen.co/worlds My author newsletter: https://lpenelope.com/newsletter Footnotes newsletter: https://myimaginaryfriends.net/footnotes The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen  Pushing Daisies TV The Muse Writers Center - https://the-muse.org Insight Timer - https://insighttimer.com/ Junot Díaz Substack - https://junot.substack.com/ 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 & b

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AMZyTkoOz_s Mentioned: Writers Craft 5.0 bundle deal! Ink and Magic podcast episode 1 is out now! https://inkandmagic.net Pre-order Daughter of the Merciful Deep - https://lpenelope.com/book/daughter-of-the-merciful-deep/ My upcoming revision course - https://myimaginaryfriends.net/revision Imaginary Worldbuilding cohort in January - https://lpen.co/worlds Jane Friedman's business clinic - https://janefriedman.com/business-clinic/   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

Watch on YouTube Mentioned: The Faceless Mage by Kenley Davidson My author newsletter: https://lpenelope.com/newsletter/   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 & 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 l

Watch on YouTube Mentioned: Footnotes newsletter 1:1 Writer Mentorship with me My new podcast! Ink and Magic Jane Friedman The Hot Sheet newsletter My Preptober video playlist & live write-in info My novel revision course waiting list My Nanowrimo novel inspiration cover The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna 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 & 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-ShareAlik

Get on the Footnotes newsletter Watch on YouTube Preptober & NaNoWriMo write-ins, Mondays & Wednesdays, 7pm ET. Get reminder emails: https://myimaginaryfriends.net/nano  Mentioned: Tara McMullin "The Work You Were Born to Do" (paywall) - https://www.whatworks.fyi/p/the-work-you-were-born-to-do Nalini Singh interview on Fated Mates podcast - https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2023/10/17/s0606-trailblazer-nalini-singh Holly Lisle "How to Revise a Novel" - https://hollylisle.com/how-to-revise-a-novel/ My Resources for writers - https://lpenelope.com/resources-for-writers/ Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody – https://amzn.to/3xf7TFV My interview with Author Montrez (The Novel Creature Network) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuGQQLwNx40  ZigZag Claybourne Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidiansky/breath-warmth-and-dream-book-one-of-the-khumalo-trilogy My author newsletter -  https://lpenelope.com/newsletter The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8OGi3Voyeaw Become an Imaginary Best Friend! https://myimaginaryfriends.net/footnotes Plan your NaNoWriMo novel in Preptober with me -  https://myimaginaryfriends.net/nano Writing schedule calculator - https://thrivingscribes.com/publishing-timeline/ "There are no problems, only puzzles" - https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx_TWKJYuyKSGfkzrhXVCfJVEbaJx9eieZ NINC - https://ninc.com/ Capclave - https://www.capclave.org/ The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan NPR Tiny Desk Wicked AI training book checker  Zig Zag Clayborne Kickstarter for Breath, Warmth & 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 & become an Imaginary B

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/XI92ZBNSvDg NINC (Novelists, Inc.) Maryland Romance Writers - https://marylandromancewriters.com/ Capclave - https://www.capclave.org/ Imaginary Worldbuilding course - https://learn.myimaginaryfriends.net/courses/imaginary-worldbuilding Preptober 2023 - prep your NaNoWriMo with me - https://myimaginaryfriends.net/nano  East City Bookstore, Washington, DC with Ariel Kaplan (hybrid event)  Thursday October 5, 2032 - https://eastcitybookshop.com/events/20231005 My events - https://lpenelope.com/calendar/ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780593321201 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 Footnote

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HWjjXkRIO_o Yale Romance Conference - https://romancefictionconference.yale.edu/ Love Between the Covers documentary - https://www.lovebetweenthecovers.com/ RWA implosion in detail - https://claireryanauthor.com/blog/2019/12/27/the-implosion-of-the-rwa/ The Black Romance Podcast - https://blackromancepodcast.libsyn.com/ Virgil Abloh on perfectionism  My YouTube:  https://youtube.com/@leslyepenelope 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 - https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the show - http://frolic.media/podcasts! Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Facebook Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://so

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z2wDPB6W9q0 "Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it." - Eckhart Tolle via InspiringQuotes.com The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer My interview on the Black Writer Therapy podcast - The Write Women Book Festival Novelists, Inc. (NINC) The Muse Writers Center workshops: Building a World Around Your Characters & Plot and Fantasy Worldbuilding  Author websites by me: https://theauthor.digital/ Joy Harris GoFundMe   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 - https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the show - http://frolic.media/podcasts! Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Facebook Mus

Developing story ideas, novel playlists, and mapping Watch on Youtube Mentioned: - Imaginarium Book Festival - The Story Seed Mini-course - Footnotes newsletter - Scribblemaps - "It's Our World, AI Just "Lives" In It" by Tara McMullin  - Circle of Control graphic - Fast X - InkersCon   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 - https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the show - http://frolic.media/podcasts! Stay in touch with me! 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 prom

Watch on Youtube Mentioned: Sistah Scifi bookstore  Afrofuturism exhibit at NMAAHC  Our group at the exhibit  Ytasha Womack Plottr software (affiliate link) GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon C.S. Lakin courses Scene Turning Points article Story by Robert McKee The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne Genres of writing  Susan Dennard "How to Level Up Your Settings, Part 1" Queen Charlotte on Netflix Leap Year movie Guardians of the Galaxy 3 SciFiTalk podcast with me and narrator Shayna Small "Heal Chaos and Overwhelm: DECLUTTER Every Part of Your Life"   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 - https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the show - http: