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Ravenna Vale: Indie Romantasy Worldbuilding · Two Girls, One TBR

0:07
Hey book babes, welcome back to 2 girls 1 TBR your chaotic book
0:11
besties here to wreck your reading list. 1 morally Gray man
0:16
at a time. Chelsea.
0:17
And I'm Heather, I'm the only one who has officially read this
0:20
book. So today I'm going to be kind of
0:22
the resident expert while Rebecca and Chelsea get the T
0:25
for the first time. So it's kind of kind of be me
0:29
and Ravenna hyping you guys up today.
0:31
I I can't wait for you guys to read this one.
0:33
And this one definitely like top tier of the year for me.
0:37
I give it Infinity stars because I give a lot of books. 5:00 I
0:41
definitely say like this is more it, it wowed me and it's her
0:44
debut, so that's really impressive.
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I'm super excited, but as we were saying earlier here, it
0:51
does come out this Saturday, April 4th.
0:53
So we are here to get you guys fully prepped for this next
0:57
obsession. So now before we get into
1:00
bringing Ravenna on, we just want to do a quick little note
1:05
about our poison and potion because we made a special drinks
1:08
specifically for her book. So go to our Sip section on our
1:13
Instagram page and you will see the recipe for the two different
1:17
drinks. It'll be a alcoholic one and a
1:19
mocktail. They're called the Fallen Star
1:22
and the Starlight Awakening. We aren't drinking them live,
1:25
but they are stunning. Head over to 2 Girls, 1 TBR and
1:28
Instagram for the handcrafted recipe cards so you can have
1:30
your ingredients ready for Saturday.
1:32
Yay. That's super excited.
1:34
I think they all sound so pretty.
1:36
And also Remember Remember edible food grade glitter on
1:40
and. Tarn you drinks.
1:41
We need to reach out to Velvet Hammer.
1:44
They're a new company. If you haven't seen those on
1:47
Instagram yet, they have like a Fire Heart color.
1:51
And then we put in the swirlies and stuff.
1:53
And I don't know if they're electrolyte drinks or if they're
1:56
just like a kind of glitter that changes your drink, a color they
2:02
have like purple, like a reddish orange and a a blue.
2:06
Maybe they're pretty. I think all that edible glitter
2:10
thing is the news thing because it makes any really, truly any
2:13
drink. It doesn't have to be alcoholic
2:15
or whatever, and it makes it look like a potion.
2:18
Yeah, in our books that we have, I keep seeing my light on my
2:21
face. But yes, I keep having a green
2:24
light and it keeps hitting me in there sometimes.
2:26
But but hey, now I got to ask you girls, what are you drinking
2:30
over there? Since we're talking drinks.
2:31
I brought champagne for Ravenna. I love it.
2:35
To celebrate. Martini.
2:38
Oh I love those, so good. I'm drinking my my favorite, my
2:43
Jamaican Be happy and I do have the Infinity Gauntlet.
2:46
Should we wait to bring her on? Before I should have waited.
2:49
I don't know. She'll have her wait.
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OK, we'll wait too. She got she.
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She's already. I'll pop the cork here in a
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little. Bit open it.
2:58
We'll open it. We'll be like it when she comes
3:01
on. But what are you 2?
3:04
What are you 2 reading right now?
3:05
What's your current read? Go ahead, Charles.
3:07
I'll. Get my note.
3:08
I just finished The Heart You Kept by TL Swan and it was so
3:13
good. I've loved all of her series.
3:15
She is like so naughty and there's always like a little
3:17
suspense thing that goes on. It's a billionaire romance and
3:21
and so it's always fun. Like it's like a normal girl.
3:23
Normal, I say, but they're always extraordinary women, of
3:27
course. And then a billionaire guy and
3:29
it's just. But she ended on a cliffhanger
3:32
and it's driving me crazy. But today I pulled from my
3:36
physical TBR and I'm going to start reading The Ever King by
3:39
LJ Andrews. Yay.
3:41
Yay, I'm so excited for this. That was a very that was a very
3:45
pretty copy there. It's.
3:46
Gorgeous. I bought this resale because I
3:49
missed it, so I said more than I'd like to admit.
3:55
I love the foiling on a book. Again, as we have stated, all of
3:59
us, I think we all can agree we are book snobs and we're cover
4:02
snobs. And if it's a beautiful cover,
4:04
we love it Pretty. That is nice when it's.
4:07
Signed by her at Romantic Condoms.
4:10
So hey. Chelsea has.
4:12
You have to see Chelsea's pictures she sent me of all the
4:15
books and stuff and all the things that she got at Romantic
4:18
Con. My goodness, I bet I've seen
4:20
people's halls. I mean, there's suitcases full
4:23
of books that people come home with.
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Yeah, I took a cart with me and I filled that and then some.
4:30
Yeah. That is smart though to take a
4:31
cart thing with you, so that would get heavy with all the
4:34
books. I just totes and stuff get too
4:37
heavy, don't have enough room. I've seen people get swag bags
4:40
full of stuff. They get, you know, all the
4:42
special editions or they're some authors do just certain covers
4:49
and like special editions at their.
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Signing events. Yeah, thank you.
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And wasn't. Yeah, I got one from Melissa
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Rouret. I was going to say just.
4:58
As one I love her, I I was watching her the video, the
5:02
other I think it was yesterday and she went and got a new
5:05
tattoo that was her thing and it was really neat look and I think
5:08
it goes with the gnarly looking. Like good gnarly looking like
5:13
really cool. Yeah.
5:14
And she has a good artist. Has one.
5:16
Oh yeah, the guy that she goes to, he does beautiful work.
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The one that he did for her was absolutely gorgeous.
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And I it, it ties and I believe the image that's that she had
5:24
done ties in with her new series.
5:26
The tortured souls. That's but I could be wrong but
5:30
that's to me that's what it looked like but.
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Heather, what were you reading? Did you say?
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I am on an arc, The Rise of Hadwas.
5:37
So it's another epic fantasy and it's very Egyptian Samarian.
5:43
Is that right? Am I saying the right?
5:45
And kind of like Memnon? So we have like, he's not quite
5:48
like Memnon in here. But right now I'm still in the
5:52
beginning like 30% or so. And it's interesting.
5:56
Like I feel like things are happening because they're
5:59
supposed to. And then I'm just kind of
6:01
waiting. I'm starting to get like into
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the controversial parts. So I'm excited to see where it
6:06
goes. But I got this one from Iris
6:08
Influencer Society. That's how I found this author,
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Amanda, right Tio? I think she was in Canada.
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OK. Interesting.
6:18
That sounds like an interesting book.
6:19
Is it spicy or? Slow burn?
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I don't know. You have to ask.
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I know you do. To be, I'm just.
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I'm just blind and I just go in going, oh, that was that's a
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good. 1 Let us know. Keep us updated on the spicy.
6:40
I will. I'll let you know, Rebecca.
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I'll let you know if it's for Rebecca.
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Now I am still on Taken by Touch and Torment by Maggie Censeri.
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This is the second book. It's the duet.
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The first one is Stalked by Seduction and Shadows.
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Again, I'm still at the beginning of the book and it's
6:59
really good. Is that thick?
7:02
It's thick, but it's not, it's not like Crescent City thick,
7:05
OK, but it's not thin thin either.
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But it's really good. And you're following.
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It's a vampire story and yeah, stocking in it and kind of
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stuff. In the book 1, an event happens
7:17
at the end of book one that's caused all these events, other
7:20
events to happen. And now you're at the beginning
7:22
of what happened and it's like, oh, that kind of thing to see
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where it's going to go. I really like it.
7:28
I like how she writes. So if you haven't read anything
7:31
by Maggie Sincere, try check her out.
7:33
She's very good. I like it.
7:35
You neither of you have read anything by her, have you?
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No. No, she's new.
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I've learned her from you. OK, and then she has another
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duet too. I have it up on the top shelf.
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I can't see what it is, but there's a second vampire duet.
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But like I said, she's a very easy read too, so check her out.
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Maggie since Mary. All right, so now what we're
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going to do now, ladies, we're going to take a pause and we're
7:58
going to bring Ravenna on. All right.
8:02
Yeah. So I'll be right back.
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Ravenna, welcome. We've been hearing Heather
8:07
scream about this book all week. How are the pre launch jitters
8:12
treating you? Because when this episode comes
8:15
out, we'll be only 48 hours until your book actually comes
8:19
out into the world. It's pretty scary, I'll be
8:22
honest. There is a lot of things to do
8:25
to prepare and for some reason everything seems to be going
8:29
wrong right now. That's good.
8:31
I keep getting these emails from Amazon.
8:33
Like your margins are off and you have to change your PDF and
8:37
I'm just like, Oh my gosh. That sounds right.
8:40
All the other and the authors that I know that go through the
8:42
process, it's a learning process.
8:44
No matter how much you think you have learned from other people,
8:50
like you have to do it to, like, learn it.
8:52
And they all come back, say, like Amazon, they're making
8:56
everything so hard. Yeah.
8:57
Absolutely they're culprit. I think it was last year when
9:02
Carrie Lakes book came out Eldridge, it was like another
9:05
week before I could actually get a copy of it because Amazon did
9:10
the same kind of things to her. So it seems to be a thing they
9:13
do to you guys. Oh, you poor indie authors for
9:16
some reason. I'm going to open my drink and
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Heather, are you going to do yours now?
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I have the Infinity Gauntlet, so we're going to, I'm going to
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open my. Chicken.
9:35
I was not expecting that champagne.
9:39
It's not. Same.
9:40
Champagne. Is a pain.
9:41
Actor tastes delicious. Happy birthday.
9:44
Happy day to you coming out. Yeah, this is going to be
9:46
exciting. OK, I got my little.
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Drink too pretty glass. I love those glasses.
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Cheers everyone, these are pretty.
9:53
Cheers. Can we please get like it's own
10:00
real yes with that happening, because that is the most
10:03
amazing. Thing I've ever seen, yes.
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Oh that would be so fun. I'm down.
10:08
That is hilarious, and if it would happen to someone, it
10:10
would happen to Heather. It would you guys, which kind of
10:14
answers are our next? My next question I was going to
10:16
ask if the four, if the four of us here were characters in
10:19
Alendria. Am I saying that right?
10:21
Alendria. OK, who is the one accidentally
10:23
triggering an ancient curse? I think that would be Heather.
10:26
And then who would be the one saving us?
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Proudly Rebecca with all the work that she puts.
10:31
Into this, I think so she's she's got the charisma.
10:34
She would definitely talk us out of any trouble there is.
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I would definitely try. Yeah, you got the organization
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skills. You got this.
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That's like, you know, behind the scenes and stuff, you know,
10:46
even though we're like recording and there's a lot of moving
10:49
parts and a lot of different things to get us all, you know,
10:52
organized and, and, and all that.
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And I try, I try girls, I'm I'm trying to make us fancy.
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Remember we want to have what rolling ladders.
11:03
That's our goal. So one day, that's always the
11:07
goal. Yeah.
11:09
Now I heard that the world building in your in your book,
11:13
because again, I haven't read it yet, Chelsea hasn't read it yet,
11:16
is brutal, post apocalyptic kind of deal in it.
11:20
But according to Heather, the writing is absolutely gorgeous
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and very classical, almost like the feel kind of a Lord of the
11:27
Rings kind of yes feel. How do you make a war zone sound
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so aesthetic? I think it's just the way that I
11:34
write. I think war, even disaster, even
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terrible things that happen have kind of a romantic flair to
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them. I think that comes from me
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reading really classical, you know, the old classics like
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Beowulf and you know, those old odysseys where, you know, even
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battles and big terrible things that were happening were
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romanticized in this really smooth lyrical language.
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Yes, it's amazing. I remember first starting it and
12:03
I was like just a hits different than when you first started a
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book that lately and it it just kind of I felt like that Senate
12:12
like Rebecca talks about like a cinematic scene like I did.
12:15
I felt like it just kind of like opened up.
12:18
You do a great job at like painting the world with poem and
12:23
it's just it's easy to imagine and put together like with your
12:28
artwork too. And then you just had this like
12:30
whole scene and it was very cinematic.
12:32
When I started reading it, I was like this, like Lord of the I
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feel like I'm reading Lord of the Rings.
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Like it was really cool. Thank you so much.
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I, I mean, I do find it absolutely amazing that you do
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your, all your own artwork and everything besides writing that
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beautiful story you have the time to create.
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And then we actually get to see what you see when you're
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creating the characters. We're actually seeing the actual
12:55
characters in true light through your eyes.
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Which is so unique because I don't think that I have seen
13:01
many authors and I feel like anybody in this field is a
13:06
creative in a way. And so it's so neat to see you
13:09
use that like, I don't know, you take it to the next steps.
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Like I'm not just writing it, but I'm also drawing it.
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Like it's just so awesome. I really didn't think I would be
13:20
able to. I was always in this mindset of,
13:23
well, I can only draw like certain things, you know, I
13:27
can't draw backgrounds. I can't draw chairs or furniture
13:32
or anything like that, but I think when I started really
13:35
marketing the book and marketing it with the art, I stopped
13:39
telling myself I can't and I just started trying even though
13:43
I failed a lot. Yeah, knowing how to digital
13:47
art, do digital art now, it is hard to get.
13:52
It takes practice, like layering things and remembering to do
13:57
layers so that you don't fuck up something else that you're
14:00
working on. Especially details.
14:02
If you accidentally do details on like the main like color,
14:05
you're like oh damn it. I do that all the time.
14:08
Me too, me too. It's it's rough learning and
14:12
remembering steps and stuff and then you go back to like regular
14:16
drawing or other like I go back to like Canva and then I do
14:19
procreate or something. I'm trying to do things on Canva
14:22
that you can't do because it I'm like thinking procreate instead.
14:26
It's a different platform. It's it's different to learn it
14:29
so. Love procreate a great job
14:31
myself. What do you use?
14:32
Ravenna? Do you paint clip studio or clip
14:35
studio paint? I can never get it right.
14:37
Say it backwards one way or another, but nice.
14:41
So lately I have splurged and I got a Photoshop subscription.
14:46
OK, because I had to because in clip studio paint you really
14:50
can't put the finishing touches on like a cover, you know, if
14:53
you need to do text or anything like that.
14:56
So I splurged and I ended up getting a Photoshop
14:59
subscription. Yeah, which is new.
15:01
I know even with Procreate, like they didn't have text in the
15:04
beginning and they've just finally added that because I've
15:06
had it since it like first started.
15:08
And so we're just like slowly getting those updates.
15:10
So Photoshop has it all going on.
15:12
It's just so hard to make. Transition, yes.
15:16
Exactly. Like I started on program
15:18
learning it like don't add more right?
15:20
Yeah. I can't, but yeah, Photoshop
15:24
looks really cool. I've seen that a lot of people
15:26
use that one, but I have not heard of Clip Studio art.
15:30
I'll have to look that one up too.
15:32
Yeah. It's mostly for all of.
15:33
Them seem to have different tools so.
15:35
Yeah. Yeah.
15:36
Yeah, it's mostly for comics with a cover.
15:39
I was watching somebody else make a cover recently on IG and
15:42
she was doing her time lapse and stuff and she had to go.
15:46
She could draw different parts but she had to put it all onto
15:49
like another software so that it would punch in like the longer
15:53
bigger picture cuz procreate doesn't do that so.
15:56
You're saying it's more? For comics, so like graphic book
16:01
adaptation kind of things would probably be best on that app
16:04
that's. Cool.
16:04
Yeah, they actually have like a page manager where you can make
16:09
your book like your comic book page by page.
16:12
So I discovered it when I was doing comic for some autonomy
16:18
stuff I was super into a few years ago.
16:21
And then I just really like the simplicity of it.
16:24
Procreate looks really, really awesome, but it also looks super
16:29
complicated. I already have enough brushes
16:32
like hoarded my clip Studio. So I'm just like, Oh my gosh, I
16:37
can't imagine making the transition, you see.
16:40
I am not an artist in that respect.
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I cannot draw or anything like that.
16:43
But I was a photographer in my past life before I had kids and
16:47
that. And so I used Photoshop in that
16:49
aspect. And then I've only started
16:51
getting into Canva here in the last few months since we've and.
16:55
You're doing great with it. I'm trying, but I had to learn.
16:59
It was, I mean, Canva is very similar in a lot of ways to
17:03
layering and that kind of thing that you learn in Photoshop, but
17:06
it was just trying to learn. But I, I think it's so far
17:09
everything's turning out pretty good.
17:10
I was. She made this PrettyLittleThing,
17:12
Ravenna that goes around. Yeah.
17:14
Isn't it pretty? Yeah.
17:16
When when we all when this is out, you'll see all the the
17:20
pretty flowers and everything that we have cuz I like I like
17:23
flowers, I like sparkly things I like stars.
17:26
As you can see from my. OK, from beside me that so that
17:31
reminds me of Ravenna's FMC or Oren Oren, Oren Oren.
17:37
OK, and writing that down. I love that character, you guys.
17:42
I I think I'm on the discord was like, Oh my gosh.
17:46
Like she reminds me a little bit of Luna Lovegood because she was
17:49
in this one chapter kind of going around.
17:51
She's new to the world and the state of it that it is right?
17:55
So she doesn't have very many memories of what it was.
18:00
And she is described by Rash, who's the war?
18:04
The God of War, right? Correct me if I'm wrong.
18:07
And so she goes around, she's kind of like Slitty and she's
18:10
just like over here, like doing something.
18:13
Then she's collecting things and she puts them away in like a
18:15
little treasure chest. And I was like, Oh my gosh, she
18:18
is me. Like me and my little trinkets
18:20
when I travel, you know, like I just, I want all these like
18:23
little things and I keep them and they remind me of stuff.
18:26
And so that's just like one of the examples of Oren I love.
18:31
She is feisty and she has like a disability Rep.
18:36
If Ravenna can tell us a little bit more about that.
18:39
OK, so I do spotlight disability representation, but because this
18:44
is a secondary world, I don't label what the disabilities are.
18:49
It's really important to me that when readers see Oren and they
18:53
read about her on the page, they see themselves in her without
18:57
labels because labels are not who we are as people.
19:01
So some people will see, man, I feel just like Warren because I
19:06
have migraines. Or some people will look at her
19:08
and think she's so neurodivergent coded, right?
19:12
Because we want to see ourselves in these big stories.
19:15
And that's why I don't label anything.
19:17
I just let readers see themselves as they want to be
19:20
seen. But the important message is
19:22
she's not weak. Just because her body is fragile
19:25
does not mean that she is not strong enough to change the
19:29
world. Yeah, and that so like with
19:33
that, like I get migraines. I know Rebecca gets migraines.
19:36
I have bad ADHD now that I'm a parent.
19:39
So in that sense of like when you read Oren, she is doing to
19:44
the best of her abilities of beyond and helping others.
19:49
And it doesn't. She gets into these predicaments
19:53
where she burns out. And I know that feeling as a mom
19:56
where you just like you need a day off, You're like, don't
20:00
want. I like my body physically does
20:02
not want to get out of the bed right now.
20:04
And that's Oren to me. Like she just constantly like
20:08
goes, goes, goes and then she's like out, like, I can't do this
20:11
anymore. Is that right?
20:15
I love what you said. Sorry.
20:16
You go ahead, Ravenna. Sorry.
20:18
I think a lot of us have been there where if we have a
20:21
disability or something similar, on the days when you feel
20:24
really, really good, we hustle. You know, we double time because
20:28
we know that at any point the disability can hit and then
20:31
you're out for a day, 2 days, and you have to catch up again.
20:36
So that's kind of how it worked. Yeah, I felt that.
20:40
And then as I was reading this book, my back went out like I
20:44
was doing the boy's hair, cutting it.
20:46
And I just kind of leaned over weird and a muscle pull and I
20:50
was out and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm Ored right now.
20:53
That's just like laying in the bed for a whole 2448 hours
20:57
because I physically cannot move.
20:58
Like I can't work. I can't do anything.
21:00
But my muscle in my back is is out.
21:03
It needs rest. So she she did that to her back
21:08
and then was telling me about it and then what it was several
21:11
days later and then I did it. To you also, yeah, I have bad
21:15
juju. I'm the curse maker.
21:18
Chelsea, you have to watch or you're going to end up being one
21:21
of us, like a muscle. Well, I was dealing with my, my
21:24
little bug that I had, so I don't need any back aches right
21:28
now. But I like what you said,
21:29
Heather, about how you like saw yourself in her because even
21:32
just you saying that I am such a little like treasure rat, you
21:39
know, like I just like and I'm always like, Oh, I'm going to
21:41
put this in a safe place and I have like 1000 safe places and
21:44
then I forget where I put things.
21:46
Or. Or like I get I buy stickers all
21:48
the time. Like I have so many bookish
21:50
stickers but I cannot commit to putting them on anything.
21:54
So they're all just like city. Yes.
21:58
And I will never use them. And so it makes you wonder,
22:00
Ravenna, like, are you you like that?
22:02
Or where did that like inspiration come from for the
22:04
character? Well, I.
22:05
Myself am I do have a major disability.
22:09
Actually. It manifests itself in many
22:11
different ways. But one of the things is that I
22:14
am neurodivergent and I am a little order of tiny things.
22:19
Like when we go to the beach I will find rocks that apparently
22:23
mean something to me and I will just like put them in my little
22:27
bag. Yes.
22:29
My little satchel, just like Oren, you know?
22:31
Yes, yeah. My husband's like, why?
22:35
Why do you have a pile of rocks? I'm like, I'm going to use
22:37
these. OK, I'm.
22:38
Like, come on. Have sentimental value, right?
22:40
Yes, they look pretty like that's all it needs to be.
22:44
It's interesting, like as we're growing up, we're labeled one
22:48
way or we we know something is different about us.
22:52
You know what I mean? I always say normal is this
22:55
because no one is normal. But I've noticed in the recent
23:00
years and stuff I do I'm not diagnosed of anything but I do
23:04
believe like I have ADHD because of things I do and I know I have
23:08
like neuro divergent kind of things like I only like certain
23:12
forks. I only like certain spoons.
23:14
I have weird things with food like I only eat certain things.
23:18
I have my safe foods. And I always thought it was just
23:21
me. I was a picky eater.
23:22
I was just it was just me. But the more more like I see
23:26
different things, I realize that is me.
23:28
At least I have now more of an answer of why I do the things
23:32
that I do. Yeah.
23:34
And I, I, I spiral like, I start like with doing one thing and
23:38
then I end up in another place and another place and another
23:41
place. And then I still haven't
23:43
completed the first thing that I'm.
23:45
I'm working on now and I'm 45 and I'm, you know, I'm just
23:49
realizing that. Yeah.
23:51
I mean, I'm just realizing I just never, there was never an
23:54
answer. I just thought it was just how I
23:56
was. But it's interesting.
23:57
And I love that you're putting that in a book so that we all
24:00
can be seen that piece of ourselves.
24:03
And it's so different than your normal.
24:05
Like I'm this frail skinny little FMC here to break the day
24:10
with my pinky. Yes, but somehow I can lift a 20
24:15
LB great sword and kill Dragons. Yeah, yes.
24:20
That always gets me when when we're reading different things
24:24
and that and they'll, they'll be like they're starving to death
24:27
and then all of a sudden they're doing these things that.
24:30
Yeah, don't seem. Possible training and they've
24:34
got muscle and they could go and like kick this dark wizard's
24:38
butt who's been alive for 500 years.
24:40
And I love it, of course. But at the same time, it's
24:45
refreshing to have new ideas. And we were just talking about
24:49
that the other day about like new ideas and books get me
24:52
going. Like, don't talk about vampires.
24:54
Talk about vampires with something going on.
24:56
Like how are they different than your normal things Buffy kind of
25:01
situation. So I like it.
25:03
We and it's. Even neat like, like you were
25:05
saying, we had spoke with Stephanie Storm on the prior
25:09
episode and she was saying like she named like she has vampires
25:13
in her book and she has assassins in her book, but she
25:17
refers to them. She doesn't call them vampires.
25:19
I can't remember what she said or something like that.
25:21
Well, that was the assassin. She calls them rogues.
25:24
And then she had people write her and they were upset that she
25:28
wasn't using the common terminology.
25:31
I'm like calling them vampire. She wasn't calling them
25:34
vampires. Yeah, or assassins and people.
25:36
Were like, that's not refreshing.
25:39
We I like when there's different names for things.
25:41
Ravenna, I hope that that energy never finds you.
25:45
Yeah, I mean, it's nice to get fan mail, I guess.
25:50
It's like that Johnny Depp thing.
25:52
You know? You're the worst pirate I've
25:53
ever seen, but you have heard of me.
25:57
Yes, huh. Love it.
25:59
That's right, all news is good news.
26:01
Oh, I love Johnny Depp. He's on one of my short lists of
26:05
of men that I like. I like John Depp and I like
26:08
Jason Momoa. Those are my my 2:00.
26:11
And also what's the guy that was on Supernatural?
26:16
DJ whatever. Jensen.
26:19
Jensen Eckles or something like that.
26:21
Eckles yeah, I have loved him and he's.
26:24
Still Mamoa. Still I.
26:27
Mean if you love Mamoa, that's who Rush is visually based off
26:31
of, so. Yes, for sure have.
26:33
You 2 Now have you guys, have you watched?
26:36
It was I believe it was on Jimmy Fallon.
26:39
I believe it was one of the late night shows where Jason Mamoa
26:42
came on and he was like in this silk shirt, silk pants.
26:47
And he he was talking to him about the traditional
26:51
undergarments that Hawaiian men wear.
26:54
And he took his clothes off and showed his very, very firm butt.
27:01
Really. I didn't.
27:02
See yes. I didn't miss this.
27:03
How did I miss that? That should have been on my
27:05
feet. I will have to find it for you
27:08
so quick. And I'd like to go out.
27:11
Let me cool down and get a cold shower.
27:15
I am telling you, he is so delicious.
27:18
I love a man because I am not a waif.
27:22
I am not a little stick figure. I want a man that's going to,
27:25
you know, because my husband's a big guy, so he can move me.
27:27
I want a man that can pick me up and move me.
27:30
I don't want a man that can't lift me.
27:32
You know what I mean? And I think Jason Momoa would
27:34
have no problem. I.
27:35
Agree with that, yeah. Yes, I will.
27:40
Definitely. I would totally.
27:41
Embarrass myself in front of these men if I ever met them and
27:44
I'd be like, can I please touch you?
27:46
Get my fantasies out. Just you would be the lady at
27:50
like Disney. Do you ever see the thing about
27:52
the lady at Disneyland that like grabbed Gaston and then they and
27:55
then he was like not having it. He's like, you know, he was
27:57
like. Excuse me?
27:58
Or something like that. Yeah, his little foam muzzles
28:01
and stuff. Well, now Jason Eccles, now I
28:04
have been in love with him since he was on Dark Angel.
28:08
That was a show that was like the early 2000.
28:10
It had Jessica Alba and it was a dystopian world and she was a
28:15
basically a lab created ultimate soldier kind of thing.
28:19
And they escaped the lab. And he was, he was one of the
28:23
other people. And he was, that was such.
28:27
Helen babies Jensen too, yeah. I mean, I it does not matter.
28:33
Any time I see a clip or I see a real or anything with him, I sit
28:37
there and I watch it. I don't care if I've seen it 100
28:40
times, I'll watch it again. Yeah, he makes funny facial
28:44
expressions too, but. Absolutely, but those are my top
28:48
guys. Who are you guys top guys again?
28:51
Johnny Depp, Jason Dad. I mean, Jason, so Rush, in the
28:56
breath of Starlight is Jason Momoa.
28:59
So you talk about him walking out with a silk shirt on.
29:02
I was like, that's Rush. Wait a minute.
29:04
Hold on. I'm trying to picture him like,
29:06
with his, like, warrior bod, with all his, like, runes,
29:10
tattoos, with like an open. Yeah, I could totally see that.
29:13
And he's got, like, this Jane earring that has more meaning to
29:17
it. I know there's more meaning to
29:19
it, Ravenna. It's coming, it's coming.
29:22
It's coming so good, I know. I like books with layers and
29:27
like those little like hints and clues and stuff and doing a
29:30
reread. Look at lunch.
29:31
OK, I need to get this edition. Yes.
29:36
God, is this available on your website?
29:37
Yep. Do you have a website?
29:38
OK, she's got. A special edition.
29:41
Yeah, is she just got those in. Do you still have some
29:44
available? Yeah, there's about 2020 ish
29:46
coffees left. Yeah, She How many pieces of art
29:49
are in it in the story part? I'm trying to think.
29:54
They're not overlays, they're like actual.
29:56
Yeah, they're full page. Yeah, they're.
29:58
Yeah, yeah. Hell yeah, that's awesome.
30:01
And then show us the cover. So this is the cover.
30:06
It's. Beautiful.
30:07
It comes with a dust jacket and then when you take off the dust
30:10
jacket, this is underneath. Wow.
30:18
That's a trophy right there. Yeah, so.
30:21
Rebecca, I know you play video games.
30:23
Yes. And so show us the cover there,
30:25
Ravenna again with the mana. So see how they have like their
30:29
little light above their head. Like a Halo, Yeah.
30:33
So like only certain characters in the book can see mana is what
30:37
it's called, and they can feel and like see the light, right?
30:42
And like it pulses or it shows like their emotion that way if
30:47
they're using powers and stuff like that, like.
30:49
Very. So it's kind of like reading
30:50
somebody's aura. In a way, sort of.
30:53
OK. Yeah.
30:55
You've done beautiful work, I can't wait for the whole world
30:58
to see all your stuff cuz that is beautiful.
31:01
Did you ever play Guild Wars? I have played Guild Wars.
31:05
Does this remind you of Guild Wars?
31:08
That does. Look at that's like Xena love
31:14
big badass warrior women. Love it.
31:16
She's a favorite character. I love psych character.
31:19
She's top tier. I love that.
31:22
That is gorgeous. Again, you, this is the part
31:25
that makes your book so special in comparison to so many others
31:29
is because you are the author. This is what was in your mind
31:33
and then you threw it, you painted it, you created it, and
31:36
we're actually seeing the true the true image of what you
31:39
pictured in your mind. And I love it.
31:41
I'm just moving my pitch around because I have to move it around
31:44
because I have you all on my screen.
31:45
And so I have. My reviews What are you?
31:47
Doing also buying my edition right now before they run out.
31:50
Ordering SO thank you. To have 19 copies left now.
31:56
I restart. You know we sold out the first
31:58
time. She did.
32:00
That's awesome. Congratulations.
32:02
This is amazing. Did.
32:03
You guys know special editions are harder to sell than
32:07
paperbacks? To me, I go straight for the
32:09
special edition. If I'm paying for a book, I want
32:12
the pretties. You know what?
32:13
So I've learned that because we're in this like bookish
32:16
space, we feel like they are so popular.
32:19
But when you get to like just readers who aren't on like the
32:22
books to Graham or like book talk community, they don't know
32:26
about all this stuff because I didn't know about any of this
32:28
stuff before. So I think a lot of times like I
32:32
don't know, people don't know to be looking for the special
32:34
editions. Yeah, and when you miss out on
32:36
them, you're so bummed. Yes, you find the book later on
32:39
and read it so. I'm not letting it happen right
32:41
now. So Ravenna might have to do like
32:44
a second special edition of sorts.
32:47
Well, there will be one for book 2 when it comes out and then
32:50
yeah, because I'm planning on 9 books all together.
32:54
So it'll be a trilogy of trilogy's and each trilogy will
32:57
have its own box set so. Awesome.
33:00
That's neat. That's.
33:01
The plan and. Before we go to the next thing,
33:05
because we were talking about Orin and having like the
33:07
disability Rep being seen you guys and you've kind of hinted
33:12
that like maybe she's not so like strong and powerful right
33:15
away. Would you describe her as being
33:17
like more like feminine, like soft feminine?
33:20
Or how would you describe her for us that have not read it
33:22
yet? I would definitely describe her
33:24
as soft feminine because one of the main themes that I'm
33:29
exploring is the divine feminine and that doesn't just mean
33:34
damsel in distress. What that means is being
33:38
feminine is not weakness. We are goddesses and we have
33:43
different sides to us. And the series explores the
33:47
different sides to the divine feminine, which is like the
33:52
different sides that we've seen in myth, for example, the hag,
33:58
the maiden, the Crone, things like that.
34:00
And the relationships reflect that as well.
34:05
I love that so much. That's like, to me, that's like
34:07
true feminism is saying like I can be soft and still be
34:11
powerful in that role that I'm taking on.
34:15
That's awesome. And she describes it really well
34:19
in the story, too, with Oren. She has a saying throughout the
34:22
book. She says, I am myself because
34:24
people are like, who are you? What are you?
34:27
You know, like, what is your power?
34:29
She's like, I am myself. And that's enough.
34:32
I love that. I forget.
34:33
Love that because yeah, like just be your freaking self,
34:37
girl. Love it.
34:39
See, this is making me look for it even more to read.
34:42
I'm getting quite excited for this.
34:44
Yeah, you need to. So now now this part here.
34:48
Now we have talked tropes and things like that.
34:51
Now what? Now you and I have been talking.
34:53
The one trope that you would like to send to the grave is the
34:57
instantly overpowered overpowered female main
35:00
character. I agree with you in many ways.
35:03
What? What do you girls think?
35:05
Yeah, like a lot of the teens that come in and they're male
35:10
nourished, I mean, that was kind.
35:12
I feel like we're all starting to get away from that, wanting
35:16
those kind of FMC's. So it's slowly going to the
35:19
grave, but it's nice to also see even the nourished ones coming
35:24
to power so soon. Isn't all that needs to be like.
35:27
We can have characters like Oren who are themselves and little
35:32
dainty women that have power in different ways and showing that
35:36
it's amazing. Yeah, I wish I have to tell you
35:39
now because I'm not malnourished, but I can tell you
35:41
if I was sent into these worlds, I probably would not make it.
35:46
You know, I think of all these characters and the things and
35:48
the obstacles that a lot of them have.
35:50
I probably would. I'd be, you know how like you'll
35:52
watch a scary movie and there's like at the beginning and
35:55
somebody dies at the beginning of the movie.
35:58
That would probably be me, yeah. Me and Chelsea would go run into
36:01
the forest and collect trinkets and then eventually like end up
36:04
in some magical trap where we're like stuck there for like
36:08
hundreds of years. Yeah, or I'd be like that
36:10
annoying side character that's like always try to get the male
36:13
main character, but he doesn't want me.
36:14
That'd be me. With the jokes and the like
36:18
banter and just the nice quips. I love those side characters.
36:23
Is now you mentioned that there are side characters in in this
36:27
book too, correct? Yes.
36:28
Yes, since I haven't read, Yeah. So we have both of.
36:31
Them here for it. Yeah, in book 1, the cast is is
36:35
fairly intimate. It's fairly small, but don't
36:37
worry, the cast is getting big fast so.
36:41
Now you are working on book 2 or have you?
36:44
I can't remember what you told me.
36:46
Did you finish book 2? It is finished.
36:48
Yes, this is it. So as you can see, juicy and
36:53
thick. So.
36:55
Have a thick book? I've heard you all this before
36:58
and love a thick book. And when?
36:59
When do you anticipate Book 2 to be coming out?
37:03
So I'll be releasing the title April 15th and the 1st arcs will
37:08
probably be in May and then hopefully July will be the
37:12
release. That's fast, fast.
37:15
It's fast. And I know it seems crazy that I
37:18
wrote so much so quickly, but the truth is that book one and
37:22
two were never meant to be separate.
37:24
I had to split them in order to make them more marketable and
37:27
more readable. Because who's gonna invest in
37:31
book one? That's like 900 pages.
37:33
You know, when they don't know the author.
37:36
Just like me. Off like a SJM kind of situation
37:41
here we're getting you know, like 5 books for one story
37:45
that's OK Well. I always love a thing.
37:47
We are so never worry. There are people out there that
37:51
are like me, so don't ever worry about ever putting out a giant
37:55
thick book because I mean, but that's one of my great.
37:58
I grew up carrying those thick library fantasy books in my
38:02
backpack, and they weighed more than my school books, so I'm
38:06
used to the, you know, like. The big, thick, Yeah, like Harry
38:10
Potter dragon land, you know, Yeah, yeah.
38:14
I was gonna say twilight. I mean, Twilight was pretty big
38:17
and thick. Yeah, especially towards the
38:19
end, they got really big, yeah. Now, by chance, did you guys
38:23
see? I saw this girl, She was on
38:25
Instagram because she's over, I think in Great Britain,
38:28
somewhere over there, and she was showing the original cover
38:32
art that went with Twilight over there.
38:35
It was the weirdest looking cover art I've ever seen.
38:38
And like the character she was like was Bella on the front?
38:42
And it was strange. And the way she described the
38:45
picture was really funny, too. She's like, look at this,
38:48
anorexic, hollowed out, like vampirism kind of thing.
38:52
I don't know. It was really funny, though.
38:54
I think that was an author who had those versions, the UK
38:58
versions. May have been.
39:00
I just remember her because she had a British accent.
39:03
I remember that when I was watching and I was like, that
39:05
was look that because I always remember the the ones that you
39:09
know, that everybody remembers, you know, the covers.
39:11
I remember them all being at Walden Bookstore up where I was
39:14
from, up in Pennsylvania and on that back wall behind the
39:17
register because they were the top sellers at that time.
39:20
And I remember them. I never I have never read
39:23
Twilight, but I have watched the movies.
39:25
The movies are terrible compared to the books.
39:27
Yeah, they're. So terrible.
39:29
It's like saying you've never read Harry Potter but you've
39:31
read the movies man the old the 1st 2 are good but the other
39:35
ones? Go read the book.
39:37
Tell my husband all the time. Go read it.
39:38
OK Ravenna, I'm order number 86. When will I be getting my book?
39:42
Be starting shipping at the end of May so you guys will be
39:46
getting lots of goodies with that too.
39:49
Little bookmarks and art prints. I have a blank wall right here.
39:58
So beautiful and it still blows my mind.
40:00
This is your art with your book, so it's even more valuable.
40:04
Like that's just. Yeah, amazing.
40:07
That's why I feel when the authors do their own art, it
40:10
just means more. Yeah, I don't know.
40:12
Like, yeah, people can try and fan art and things like that,
40:15
but it won't be the same. Yeah.
40:16
And I have to say, you drew the most beautiful men and women,
40:20
but the men too, like when you think warrior like that is
40:25
warrior print worthy. Rash is.
40:28
And I hear in Book 2 we have another male character coming
40:33
who also has a nice little 9 pack.
40:36
We do. OK, OK, all right, so now when
40:42
we were getting this ready, obviously we only have like
40:44
Rebecca and I only have the blurb to go off of Heather's
40:47
Reddit, but can you talk about the devotional spice or the
40:51
devotional intimacy? And then how do we pronounce
40:54
Kaylorian? Kaylorian, Kaylorian Kylorian.
40:58
Kylorian. Love it.
40:59
OK, can you tell us about him? Or if it's not him that's
41:02
getting the spice, what's what is in your book?
41:05
What are we in for? So.
41:06
There have been quite a few readers that have read the book
41:09
that generally hate open door intimacy.
41:12
Like straight up will avoid it. I convinced them to give it a
41:17
try because I really wanted to see what they would have to say.
41:21
I do not use any explicit language.
41:23
There's very few mentions of mechanics.
41:27
Everything is very much based in emotion, connection, safety,
41:33
healing. Especially consent.
41:35
Precious consent. King.
41:37
I think Heather will agree with me.
41:41
So she's so. Good.
41:42
You know, I've had readers, these same readers that hate the
41:45
open door scenes, that have said this should not be called spice.
41:49
You should find a different word for it because I cried reading
41:52
this and yeah, I've made some husband enemies for sure.
41:58
Yes, and their kind of connection, and I know I've told
42:01
this before on the podcast is because we were talking about
42:05
troops. So we could kind of like tie
42:06
that into is like this book does not have your typical he falls
42:11
1st and he on the lives like they are both equally like soul
42:16
connected from the very first time that they see each other
42:20
and they are experiencing the world together at the state of
42:26
the world it is right now. And he's like, I know I can't
42:29
have you. And she's kind of like, I'm new
42:32
to this world, but I see you. I see your soul like I know you.
42:36
I know you somehow like some kind of ancient Cole right from
42:41
the beginning. And when things finally do kind
42:44
of come together, you have that soul, like back and forth
42:48
between the two of them. So it doesn't feel like your
42:50
typical vanilla kind of spice where you get that yearning and
42:55
you're like, yeah, they're getting together or anything
42:57
like that. It's like this, like, Oh yeah,
43:01
I'm like, oh, that was so. Good.
43:04
OK. So the names that you guys have
43:06
given, are you saying Rush? So he is is the Rashagar, The
43:12
Rashagar is his formal title and he generally goes by Rash to his
43:17
second in command. And as he begins to lose kind of
43:23
shed the mask of the Rashagar because he feels safe with Oren,
43:28
the narrative changes and begins to refer to him as Kylorian.
43:32
And what you're saying, Heather, the feelings that you were
43:36
feeling in that moment with the bond, it's probably because I
43:38
invented a POV specifically for that chapter.
43:42
Yeah. A POV in this book is out the
43:45
window. All the rules are out the
43:46
window. Yeah, and but you know who it
43:50
is? Like I'm used to seeing like
43:53
single point of views and you look at and see who the name is
43:57
and stuff. And when you start it, you think
44:00
that for a second and you're like, wait.
44:02
And then you have to like keep reading to know, OK, this is
44:05
like your characters are so defined where you don't have to
44:08
have that POV title because you know, by reading whose head
44:16
you're in, which is great. And then I hear book 2 is a
44:21
little more like that. But then like also you're like,
44:25
I am not going the original way of formatting and you're trying
44:31
to like stamp out like more things in a different way to
44:35
make it feel that feeling and that pros going and things like
44:41
that. So I'm excited, Missy.
44:42
I love that I love how you're describing it and that if a book
44:47
can make me cry, then I know that is a that's an absolute 5-6
44:53
star book, you know? And for other.
44:55
Satan, if ever. Maybe.
44:57
Like, I get that stinging feeling.
44:59
Yeah. So like if you can make me cry
45:01
then. Yeah, I've had a, I've had a few
45:04
books that I have cried. I cried.
45:07
It played prisoner and I cried on the 1 scene at the end.
45:10
In that last book, there was a moment I cried at the Curse that
45:15
binds because even though I knew what was coming, because if you
45:19
read Bewitched be spelled, you know what the end game is in the
45:23
curse that binds. And you know, those are those
45:26
kind of moments when you get a book and you have that that that
45:31
emotional reaction. It's not just words on on a
45:34
piece of paper. It touches your heart.
45:38
Yeah. And I remember coming on, I was
45:41
like, he's like Memnon. He's like Memnon.
45:43
If you haven't read Laura Thalassa, Memnon is rash, but
45:48
Rash is probably. I mean, I know we're still
45:52
getting to know Rash, but he's probably equal if not better
45:55
than Memnon. And he's like one of our top.
45:58
Oh, he's one of our top. Boyfriends because he is that
46:03
like warrior God too and he is brutal and he don't give a shit
46:09
and he is sassy with what he says and he does not hold back
46:13
and I love that. So yeah, it's pretty similar.
46:17
I like it. So Ravenna, it sounds like you
46:20
kind of. I know, excited.
46:23
It sounds like you've kind of created like you.
46:25
We're getting so much right now with like in the romanticy genre
46:28
where people are hitting a checklist with the tropes and
46:31
all that. You're kind of creating your own
46:33
unique, beautiful thing and your own world.
46:36
And are there any books that you would say made, it might have
46:42
been like an inspiration that helped you create this world
46:47
that you're that you've created? Or is it all just completely
46:51
unique? Say, just reading so many
46:54
fantasy books, the classical fantasies like Dune, sort of
46:57
truth back in the day, sort of truth especially.
47:02
That was like my big thing. If you'll read it, you'll see
47:06
there's a character called Kaylin, but she's a confessor
47:09
and she wears all white in the book, much like Warren.
47:12
I would say that just the style of that writing, not so much the
47:16
characters, but the style of it where the authors were not shy
47:20
about exploring some really, really heavy topics, but not in
47:24
a romanticized way, in a very realistic, pretty like down to
47:29
earth way without being so grand, dark, you know, where
47:32
there was a bunch of blood and gore and all that stuff.
47:35
No, they're just talking about our real world issues in the
47:39
fantasy world. And what I've noticed lately is
47:42
that the trend runs towards very external plot in books.
47:47
So we have a lot of things that are easily converted to tropes,
47:51
like shadow daddies and all of that stuff.
47:54
But my book is very much internal plot.
47:57
So the plot is driven by the characters and everything else
48:02
is external pressure. And that's why it's really hard
48:05
to put them in trope boxes, because they just don't really
48:08
fit anywhere. Like I was telling them it's
48:11
kind of like meshing of tropes for your book.
48:14
Like you could kind of hit like parts of those normal or not
48:19
normal, but like the higher end tropes that people like.
48:22
But you're making your own tropes.
48:24
I feel like it's so different. Yeah, I'm excited.
48:30
For it, and don't get me wrong, like I like all the popular
48:33
things, but I do it is so refreshing to have that like
48:37
really unique and like the epic fantasy with the romance.
48:41
Like my last epic fantasy, I would say was probably Throne of
48:44
Glass. Before that was like Lord of the
48:46
Rings that I actually read because so much of what I've
48:48
been consuming are the more like, I don't know, romance.
48:51
Heavier some. Yeah.
48:54
You've created all your characters.
48:56
Now if you had to take all of them, now we know the one is
48:58
Jason Momoa. If you had to make perfect.
49:02
Am I saying it right? Tell me again, Kylorian.
49:04
Kylorian. OK.
49:06
Well, you know, he's Jason Momoa now.
49:09
If we had to cast a movie, you were doing this, who would?
49:12
Who would you pick for your different characters?
49:14
It would be Scarlett Johansson, don't you think so?
49:17
I don't know who I would cast as Oren, honestly.
49:21
It would take a a very like unique personality and
49:26
appearance. But River Tam, the actress that
49:29
played River Tam in Firefly? Maybe OK.
49:34
I'll have to look that up. What is her look?
49:36
I'm sorry, I know you showed us the art, but what is?
49:38
What are her descriptors? She's got very silver hair.
49:43
She's she's almost albino in a way.
49:47
She's very small. Very petite, is it?
49:49
Who is Game of Thrones? What's her name?
49:51
Emilia Clark. But maybe not her face, but her.
49:53
The hair. Hair.
49:54
Yeah, I get a lot of comparisons to that.
49:57
OK. What was his name?
49:59
John Targaryen. OK.
50:01
Yeah, call Drago. That was him.
50:04
So like the their character and then like the way they're
50:08
described. I immediately thought Andrew
50:11
East and Shawn Johnson, you know how like small and big they are
50:15
if you know those people. That look good The the gymnast,
50:20
right? Her and her husband, Yeah.
50:21
Yes, and he's super tall and she's like 4 foot 11 or
50:25
something like that, like that. I was like, oh this is Oren and
50:29
Rush here. Love it.
50:31
That and then just put them into Game of Thrones, Daenerys and
50:35
Karl Djorgo and then boom. I just just from your you all
50:41
the descriptions and everything that you all have said, I think
50:46
this would be an absolute amazing if it was ever adapted
50:50
into live action in ATV2, you know, like a series, you know,
50:55
like how Hulu and or Netflix and them do.
50:57
It would be like Wheel of Time. In Seattle club.
51:01
That is cool. It's interesting.
51:03
I actually heard that feedback quite a lot.
51:06
I could see this when I was telling Rebecca she's the video
51:09
game person. And I was like this, this is
51:12
like a video game. Like I could totally see this
51:14
being a New World video game one day.
51:17
Yeah. Now in your head, Ravenna, do
51:20
any of them have accents or what are their?
51:24
Can you describe what you hear in your head?
51:27
She's smiling because she's heard Kylorian and Orange
51:29
speaking before. Yes, on the Patreon.
51:32
OK, so. Rush yes.
51:34
So I was, I was foolishly perhaps trying to make my own
51:38
audiobook and narrating and messing with Audacity and some
51:42
of the voice changing stuff that they have.
51:45
And I made a Kylorian voice and an orange voice.
51:49
So yeah, I imagine they would have British kind of British
51:53
accents. OK.
51:55
All of them. Even that Tessia.
51:59
Probably not Zurich and Tessia. They would be more.
52:04
Maybe Tessia would have like a like a Slavic Netherland, kind
52:09
of. Yeah, I could see that knowing
52:12
her background. And yeah, I like hearing.
52:15
Or knowing like what you hear in your mind because then that
52:19
helps us when we're reading it. I think every author should do
52:23
this. So, but you tell me if I'm
52:24
wrong, but whenever a book comes out and you have all different
52:27
names and stuff, I think you should have on your Instagram,
52:30
you should have and go through your characters and pronounce
52:33
their names so that we're pronouncing them correctly in
52:36
our. Right.
52:37
I love that. I love those.
52:40
But I also sometimes will read it and I'll be like Kai, Lori,
52:43
you know, like I almost need to like hear or somebody say it.
52:46
Yeah. So I get it.
52:48
Cuz I'm like, I'm a one of those kind of people.
52:51
Cuz you've said your name to me the other day when we were
52:54
talking and I could not, it did not register in my brain.
52:57
But I have to. But I have to hear it and I have
53:00
to hear it several times or otherwise you know how we are.
53:03
We don't pronounce anything correctly.
53:05
I do love the pronunciation guide.
53:07
If that's what we've got, that's awesome cuz that's at least
53:09
better than nothing and struggling.
53:12
I agree 100% on that because we do get the different books in
53:17
that and there is no guide and we're just making our own
53:20
pronunciations of the one that shook me.
53:23
Now this one here shook me because the whole time now
53:26
again, I have not read Throne of Glass, but I always knew the one
53:29
character. I knew her as Manning because
53:32
that's how I've heard so many people pronounce her.
53:35
And then I heard Sarah say it and it's Manon.
53:38
And I was like, well, that was completely wrong all this time.
53:41
But in my mind it was still Manning.
53:44
So This is why I love that. I love being able to have a
53:47
pronunciation guide that is fantastic.
53:49
And I thank you for that, because otherwise you know how
53:53
we are. Yeah, of course there's a
53:54
glossary. Too at the end.
53:57
I love that. Like it's a.
53:58
Glossary. I know those for like magical
54:02
systems or in creatures or what is that for?
54:06
It's like for the main topics that you've encounter, but I try
54:10
to keep it spoiler free so the definitions are what you know up
54:14
to reading the book right now. OK, but.
54:18
Sometimes readers, if they're reading different concepts, they
54:21
forget. They want to quickly look it up.
54:23
Oh, what was that? That I, I heard this word
54:25
before, but I am building it in such a way that you don't really
54:29
need to memorize anything. It's very atmospheric, so you
54:32
kind of discover it as you go. Yeah, OK.
54:35
I think that's great because like, you have the context clues
54:38
with it. There have been books that I
54:39
read where there's no context clues.
54:42
It's not in the glossary. And I'm like, I have a headache
54:44
because I'm trying to figure out what is this thing that you just
54:47
threw at me. So thank you for your service,
54:49
ma'am. I'm very excited.
54:51
Yes see that that that's wonderful.
54:53
I so now we know that's that's even a bigger reason to read
54:58
your book too, is to have that that thought.
55:03
I don't know I've been drinking, so my mind has drifted a little
55:05
bit. I can feel it because I haven't
55:08
ate so my my little Jamaican happy.
55:10
Who would think today? It's makes my mind like a
55:15
because I can feel I'm. I could feel I'm flushed in my
55:18
face. I think I am too.
55:19
I never really drink so this one beer is just cake.
55:23
I. Usually, yeah, I have a little
55:24
spot I. Usually wore my shirt up here
55:27
because I'm probably red all the way down.
55:28
I'm not a big drinker either. The only time I really I ever
55:31
drink is when we record the podcast and we don't always
55:35
drink all the time on the podcast either depending.
55:38
Two, sometimes we wear our drinks, Heather.
55:42
Yeah, every day. You know what, though?
55:47
We were recording the other day and I looked at myself on the
55:51
screen. I was like, God damn.
55:53
I had like a booger from like a child.
55:56
And I was just like, it's too late to change search scripts.
56:01
Oh. Motherhood.
56:03
Oh, motherhood. I'm actually get shower for this
56:05
recording time. Yeah.
56:07
Like I always get like, one spot of something.
56:10
I mean, I've had hot coffee and there's a kid that just like
56:13
comes up and like bombs you like sits right next to you and you
56:16
go and you said don't even remember.
56:19
What hot coffee is like anymore. I always forget about it and
56:22
then it's cold coffee. Yes.
56:24
And of course, like I had just sat down right with it.
56:27
So I was like, never mind, never mind.
56:31
See, my kids are getting a little bit bigger now because my
56:33
youngest is 10 and my oldest is 15.
56:36
So they give me other problems. But I remember this was years
56:41
ago, but it was my youngest and we were in an apartment at the
56:44
time. And we had like they would do
56:46
inspection in the apartment or whatever.
56:48
And they were coming in and I was dressed nice because I want
56:51
to look nice because people were coming into my house.
56:53
And my daughter, she just kept looking at me and I'm like,
56:56
what's wrong? And I could tell she didn't feel
56:59
good. And thank God they had came in.
57:02
They did their little quick inspection.
57:03
They were only there like a couple minutes.
57:05
And they left. And I picked her up and I was
57:06
holding her because she was probably 5-6.
57:08
And then she threw up all over the front of me.
57:12
And it was like curdled milk. Yeah, because she had drank milk
57:15
and it was stuck all over me and looked like cottage cheese.
57:18
And I remember I took a picture and I sent it to my husband.
57:20
I said look at my Dick. You have to.
57:21
You have to document these things.
57:23
You had a little, you have a little girl, but is she?
57:25
Is she feral or is she a polite little?
57:28
No, I think that sits they're with her teacups.
57:32
She, I mean, she can be because she's very, she's very
57:35
headstrong, but she loves to watch me draw with my magic
57:39
crayon. She knows all my characters.
57:41
Just the other day I was drawing, she busted in here.
57:44
She just learned how to turn door knobs, you know.
57:47
So she bust in here while I'm drawing this obviously shirtless
57:50
picture of Kylorian. And she's like, Mommy, it's
57:53
Kylorian. And she goes, Daddy's not like
57:56
that. Oh my God.
57:59
How do I how do I even defend that?
58:03
No, I have to ask now because you have red hair.
58:05
Does she have red hair too? She's got.
58:08
More of like my I think her hair is getting darker so she's
58:11
probably going to have more of like my husband's darker hair
58:15
because he's part Japanese. OK, my now my daughter, she's
58:20
because my husband's a redhead. MY2 boys are strawberry blondes
58:23
and then my daughter's a redhead.
58:24
She's not quite red quite like yours.
58:27
She's a little darker of a red, but she is red and I her
58:31
personality goes perfectly with red hair.
58:35
Absolutely. I love that.
58:38
How old is your little girl? She's 30.
58:40
She's. 3. You have an itty bitty, you have
58:42
itty bitty's like. Heather Yeah, yeah, we have a
58:47
lot of, we have a group chat for the street team and we do a lot
58:51
of toddler talking on there, a lot of cheersing, like hey, it's
58:55
Friday, we made it. It's really hard when you have
58:59
really little kids and you become a title at that point in
59:04
your life, your mom, your wife, you're, you know, you're one,
59:08
you're the doctor when they feel sick and everything.
59:11
And I think all the hats as, as women, we tend to lose ourselves
59:16
in all those titles and we forget who we are.
59:21
And at least for me, that's how I felt because, you know,
59:24
sometimes when my kids were very little and stuff, it would be so
59:28
overwhelming because I had three under 5 and they all are, you
59:31
know, wanting to do their own thing and all that.
59:34
It would get so overwhelming. I would hide in my closet in my
59:39
bedroom and I would cry because it was so overwhelming as at
59:45
that point in time. And it's not that my husband
59:48
wasn't helping me or anything like that.
59:50
It's it was nothing with that. It was just me and I was so
59:54
overwhelmed with that. But now that they're getting
59:57
bigger and stuff it, it is easier.
59:59
But it's a different kind of hard with with them.
1:00:02
It's more it's this part of them, the mouth and stuff, but.
1:00:06
But it does get better as they do get older and that is what
1:00:09
gave me the opportunity and I had time for myself again and
1:00:13
that's where I started on this whole book journey and that's
1:00:16
how it got to meet all you girls.
1:00:18
And I know. And I'm so thankful.
1:00:20
For boys and after you know, she's starting to audio book
1:00:24
narration now she's you're doing like crafts.
1:00:27
You're going places to like romance econ like gosh, we're
1:00:31
here's what I'm looking forward to.
1:00:33
Getting. Out of here.
1:00:35
Yeah, see, I was in, I mean, I was in the trenches for good
1:00:37
like 10 years. It has been.
1:00:39
My boys are 9 and 7 now. And so there was a lot of time
1:00:44
where I was doing nothing for myself and it was all just mom
1:00:47
and wife. And now they're a little bit
1:00:49
older. And my husband, he's like, he
1:00:51
loves that I read because I'm in the mood more.
1:00:53
So he's like, sure, honey, let's go to romantic econ for the
1:00:56
weekend. Sure.
1:00:58
Buy your little you know I got my little corset dress and he's
1:01:01
all about it. So this has been like a
1:01:03
reawakening for me. I feel like I'm like coming back
1:01:06
into my own cuz. I agree with you on that one.
1:01:09
That's what that is what the feeling is.
1:01:12
I feel like I am finding and feeling myself, my true self,
1:01:17
not the self that I presented myself to my family, you know,
1:01:21
to my kids, be a mom and all that.
1:01:23
What I am. This is me.
1:01:25
It's no longer I have to to pretend to be somebody else, you
1:01:29
know, because you know how myself, you know what I mean?
1:01:32
I am myself myself. And myself, I love it.
1:01:37
It's definitely going to be a sticker.
1:01:38
You know it is. Yep, and I agree with you
1:01:41
Chelsea on the sticker thing. I have stickers.
1:01:43
I used to collect stickers and I would put them in a box and I
1:01:46
never put them on anything because I felt bad putting them
1:01:50
on something that I was using even though it was something.
1:01:52
What if it gets really? I know that was always my picnic
1:01:55
and what I worry about. So my I am myself sticker it's
1:01:59
it's never going to get used but I will buy it.
1:02:02
Yes. I love it.
1:02:05
Now let's see here. Now I'm going to ask you,
1:02:08
Ravenna, I'm going to ask you a couple quick things now.
1:02:10
So it's either scream or dream, OK?
1:02:13
Does she actually have to scream?
1:02:16
It's rapid fire. Ravenna, you have to scream.
1:02:20
Wait, what? No.
1:02:22
We're going to do like a little rapid fire.
1:02:24
I'm going to read a couple little scenarios to you and you
1:02:27
can say, is it a scream or is it a dream?
1:02:30
Now only one horse bed or tent trope.
1:02:33
Is that a dream or a scream? Scream like a bad scream or
1:02:38
scream like a good. Scream or like super exciting.
1:02:41
Is bad. Got it so that I.
1:02:42
Always have a dream these things too.
1:02:44
Dream. Dream for sure.
1:02:47
All right, now, if an FMC who has never touched a sword
1:02:51
suddenly is beating a master assassin in chapter 2, is that a
1:02:55
scream or is that a dream? That's a scream.
1:03:01
OK, and then now how about this one?
1:03:03
A why choose romance where the forced proximity is executed
1:03:07
perfectly? Is that a scream or a dream?
1:03:10
Dream? I agree with you.
1:03:12
A good white choose and we've actually asked Ravenna on the
1:03:15
street team if we are going to get a little side action for
1:03:19
Oren. I know we love our rush, but I
1:03:22
mean you never know. I'm we'll see.
1:03:26
Is this a clue? I love my clue.
1:03:29
See you just saying I have theories you.
1:03:34
Know, you know, I was before I never like read a whole lot of
1:03:37
things that were why choose. And then once I got into the why
1:03:41
choose I, I have to tell you, I do enjoy it thoroughly.
1:03:45
But then again, no, you know, I like my stuff.
1:03:47
Well, like, I don't know if this is spoiler for Legacies with
1:03:52
Melissa Rourke, but she does a good one with her characters and
1:03:56
her legacies, yeah. She hasn't read the Legacy
1:03:59
series yet. OK, perfect.
1:04:01
That's why I was like leading. I was like, if anyone of the
1:04:04
hasn't seen this, OK, but she executes her characters very
1:04:09
well. Absolutely, Absolutely.
1:04:13
So Ravina, before we let you go, we know Book 2 now of the Nine
1:04:17
Rivers odysseys coming this fall or no, actually not this fall,
1:04:20
this summer. You mean book?
1:04:21
Well, book 1 and then she said book 2 is coming in July.
1:04:24
That's true. So are you currently neck deep
1:04:27
in into book 3? Have you started book 3 or
1:04:32
Exciting? I'm thinking maybe January for
1:04:35
book three if I can swing it. I like that.
1:04:39
I like this. I like your schedule that you're
1:04:41
doing because that's amazing because then we don't have to
1:04:43
wait. I hate waiting, I know.
1:04:45
I. Hate waiting?
1:04:47
For both because don't burn yourself out and make sure you
1:04:50
take breaks. Please take care of yourself,
1:04:53
but please hurry up. Thank you.
1:04:55
I'm like so jealous that we didn't get the arc and that
1:04:58
Heather's read it because now after talking about it, I'm like
1:05:01
oh I need it right now. I need it today.
1:05:03
I. Mean it's.
1:05:03
Good it two weeks from now? I think so, and you get an
1:05:07
e-book with your special edition.
1:05:10
Yay. Awesome.
1:05:11
Thank you. Very nice.
1:05:14
Ravenna. Thank you so much for joining
1:05:16
the inner circle today. This conversation was
1:05:18
everything. Breath of Starlight is out this
1:05:21
Saturday, April 4th. And if you haven't pre-ordered
1:05:24
it yet, what are you even doing with your life?
1:05:26
Because I just did. And there's only going to be
1:05:28
like maybe 19 copies, maybe less by this time.
1:05:32
So get on it. So go go support this incredible
1:05:35
mission for representation of book babes head to the link in
1:05:40
our bio to grab your copy and make sure you're following at 2
1:05:43
girls 1 TBR on Instagram that you can also find Ravenna at
1:05:47
Ravenna dot Vale Ravennavale dot Thank you.
1:05:51
Well, that's your website. What is your handle the?
1:05:55
Dot the Ravennavale. Vale Yeah, so she is on
1:05:59
Instagram and go look at her art.
1:06:02
Please do. And then we have drink recipes
1:06:05
for an immersive read and watch of our podcasts.
1:06:09
And that's on our 2 girls 1-TV RIG as well.
1:06:13
We'll see you in the next chapter.
1:06:15
All right. Good night.
1:06:17
Good night, book babes.