Episode 69: Creative Block, Twilight, and the AI Art Controversy

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, April 16, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

CURRENT WIP:
Rough Draft: Rise of the Revenants (Atlantis Legacy, book 6)
Writing: The Nik Chronicles, episode 9 (Patreon serial)
Recording: Dissonance for RBTA
Rebinding: a set of Echo Trilogy paperbacks

READING:
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

WATCHING:
Bosch

HIGH:
Wrapping up Allworld Online: Looking Glass (Patreon serial).

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Bookbinding!!!
And also Echo Trilogy merch.

BIG GOAL(s):
- 10 chapters of Rise of the Revenants
- send a newsletter

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Making some real progress on Rise of the Revenants.
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

MY BOOKSHOP: Signed books, bundles, ebooks, merch, and more!
https://lindseysparksbookshop.com/

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/
My Bookshop: https://lindseysparksbookshop.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, April 2, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

FREE Ebook: Echo in Time (Echo Trilogy, #1)
https://books2read.com/echointime

My Bookshop: https://lindseysparksbookshop.com/

CURRENT WIP:
Rough Draft: Rise of the Revenants (Atlantis Legacy, book 6)
Writing: The Last Vampire Queen, episode 12; Patrons' Choice Story (Nik POV, RTT chapter 32)
Recording: Dissonance for season 4 of Read By The Author

READING:
The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

HIGH:
Finished the design for the chapter headers, decorative scene breaks, and part pages for the Echo Trilogy special editions, and they're so pretty!

LOW:
All the sickness in my house!

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Echo Trilogy special edition interiors

BIG GOAL(s):
- 10 chapters of Rise of the Revenants
- send a newsletter
- work some more on the Echo Trilogy map/chart border.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Fully submersing myself in Rise of the Revenants.
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, March 19, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

CURRENT WIP:
Brainstorming: Rise of the Revenants (Atlantis Legacy, book 6)
Writing: The Last Vampire Queen, episode 12
Recording: taking a break between books this week

READING:
Rejection by K. Loraine and Meg Allen
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

WATCHING:
The Last of Us
Bosch

HIGH:
Sending Darkness Between the Stars to my proofreader early.
Designing the decorative chapter headers for the Echo Trilogy special editions.

LOW:
Focus issues.

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Midjourney v5

BIG GOAL(s):
- Finish writing The Last Vampire Queen, episode 12
- Start the rough draft of Rise of the Revenants
- Design the rest of the Echo Trilogy SE interior elements (chapter breaks, part headings, other headings)
- Send a newsletter

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Designing the rest of the Echo Trilogy SE interior elements.
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, March 12, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

CURRENT WIP:
Outlining: Rise of the Revenants (Atlantis Legacy, book 6)
Writing: Allworld Online: Looking Glass, episode 7
Recording: taking a break between books this week
Proofing audio: The Raven Queen (The Ending Legacy, book 1)

READING:
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
Obsession by K. Loraine and Meg Allen
Rejection by K. Loraine and Meg Allen

WATCHING:
The Last of Us
Bosche

HIGH:
Sending Darkness Between the Stars to my editor.
Finding a way to tie in the events in AO: Looking Glass with the plot of Rise of the Revenants.
Creating a new cover for The Last Vampire Queen: https://www.patreon.com/posts/last-vampire-s1-67185488

LOW:
The Harry Potter situation

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Midjourney

BIG GOAL(s):
- Finish writing AO: Looking Glass, episode 7
- Write The Nik Chronicles, episode 9
- Start the rough draft of Rise of the Revenants

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Writing the next episode of The Nik Chronicles.
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, February 26, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

World After (ebook) is FREE on retailers this week only!
https://books2read.com/wa

CURRENT WIP:
Out-loud read-through: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)
Recording: World After (The Ending Legacy prequel) for Read By The Author, season 3.5
Proofing audio: Blood of the Broken (Atlantis Legacy, book 5)

READING:
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

WATCHING:
The Last of Us
Bosche

HIGH:
Finishing the ProWritingAid revisions on Darkness Between the Stars.

LOW:
Lack of focus and unmotivated (pregnancy brain).

BIG GOAL(s):
- Finish writing The Last Vampire Queen, episode 11
- Write the March Patrons' Choice Story
- Read Darkness Between the Stars out loud

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Reading Darkness Between the Stars out loud (live on Discord - come listen to me blush!)
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Monday, February 19, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

CURRENT WIP:
Beta revisions: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)
Recording: World After (The Ending Legacy prequel) for Read By The Author, season 3.5

READING:
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

HIGH:
Reading the beta feedback for Darkness Between the Stars

LOW:
Feeling very unfocused and tired for personal reasons that I'll probably discuss more soon.

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Kickstarter

FUN RESEARCH LINKS:
Microsoft's Bing AI chatbot has said a lot of weird things. Here's a list.
https://mashable.com/article/microsoft-bing-ai-chatbot-weird-scary-responses

BIG GOAL(s):
- Finish beta revisions of Darkness Between the Stars
- ProWritingAid sweep through Darkness Between the Stars
- Work on Echo special edition interiors

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Starting on the interior design of the Echo Trilogy special editions.
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Monday, February 6, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Book Release: The Raven Queen on 2/7 (TOMORROW!!!)

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

CURRENT WIP:
With ARC readers: The Raven Queen (The Ending Legacy, book 1)
With Beta readers: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)
Recording: World After (The Ending Legacy prequel) for Read By The Author, season 3.5

READING:
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

HIGH:
Sending the second part of Darkness Between the Stars to beta readers.

LOW:
I was a little behind on posting the stories to Patreon for the beginning of the month drop.

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Catching up on podcasts.

BIG GOAL(s):
- send newsletter (book release announcement
- set up Kickstarter pre-launch page for the Echo Trilogy 10th anniversary special edition hardcovers
- write The Nik Chronicles, episode 8
- write Allworld Online: Looking Glass, episode 6

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Setting up the Kickstarter pre-launch page so I can finally start sharing some of the amazing artwork I've commissioned!
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, January 22, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

Song of Scarabs and Fallen Stars is $0.99 on all retailers, this week only.

CURRENT WIP:
With ARC readers: The Raven Queen (The Ending Legacy, book 1)
With Beta readers / revising: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)
Recording: World After (The Ending Legacy prequel) for Read By The Author, season 3.5

READING:
White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

WATCHING:
Night Sky

HIGH:
I'm almost finished with Darkness Between the Stars revisions, and I'm loving the end of this book!

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Super in the zone with Darkness Between the Stars and wrapping up those revisions.

BIG GOAL(s):
- revise the final two chapters and write the epilogue of DBtS
- write The Last Vampire Queen, episode 10
- write the February Patrons' Choice Story (don't know what it is yet)
- write The Nik Chronicles, episode 8
- proof audiobook of Blood of the Broken

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Wrapping up revisions of Darkness Between the Stars
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, January 22, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Read By The Author Season 3.5 (World After) starts this week!

CURRENT WIP:
With ARC readers: The Raven Queen (The Ending Legacy, book 1)
With Beta readers / revising: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)

READING:
White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
Gild by Raven Kennedy

WATCHING:
Night Sky

HIGH:
Met my goal of revising the first 26 chapters of Darkness Between the Stars, and sent that to betas!

LOW:
Feeling exhausted, migraines, etc.

LAST WEEK'S OBSESSION:
Nik's POV. I wrote four of the secondary POV chapters for Darkness Between the Stars, and one that was supposed to be Aset's POV ended up being Nik's.

BIG GOAL(s):
(this week)
- revise the rest of Darkness Between the Stars and send the second half to beta readers
- send newsletter with The Raven Queen preview

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Wrapping up revisions of Darkness Between the Stars
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/

Hi there! I'm Lindsey Sparks, author of fantasy romance books and mythology with a twist. Welcome to my weekly author's notes podcast! This episode was recorded on Sunday, January 8, 2023, and I would love to share some of my reflections from this past week with you.

CURRENT DEALS & STEALS:
Starter Library for newsletter subscribers (FREE ebooks and audiobooks of my series starters, and more!)
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Street Team is open for applicants:
https://forms.gle/hckuz2eEUTnkcPReA

CURRENT WIP:
With ARC readers: The Raven Queen (The Ending Legacy, book 1)
Writing: Darkness Between the Stars (Fateless Trilogy, book 2)

READING:
White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

WATCHING:
Jack Ryan

HIGH:
Finished the Tarset chapters in Darkness Between the Stars. Time to revise! (my favorite part)

LOW:
Injured pup (but also Facebook)

FUN RESEARCH LINKS:
Here's what a lightning strike can do to your skin:
https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/heres-what-lightning-strike-can-do-your-skin-325006

BIG GOAL(s):
(this week)
- write The Nik Chronicles, episode 7 (Read episode 1 FREE)
- write Allworld Online: Looking Glass, episode 5 (Read episode 1 FREE)
- revise through chapter 12 of Darkness Between the Stars
- Into The Fire cover reveal
- send newsletter

LOOKING FORWARD TO:
Revising Darkness Between the Stars!
-
BONUS STORIES ON PATREON: Daily WIP chapters, monthly serials, and bonus stories!
https://www.patreon.com/lindseysparks

JOIN MY READER GROUP ON DISCORD:
https://discord.gg/EH4XPY6djP

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER:
https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/join-newsletter

WEBSITE: https://www.authorlindseysparks.com/