Today, we’re discussing St. Martin’s Press and the controversy regarding one of their employees and the company’s silence on the issue.

To recap, in late October, an employee of St. Martin’s Press made a post on Instagram the content of which held a lot of hatred towards Muslims, Palestinians, pro-Palestinian protesters, and other marginalized communities. The employee’s identity wasn’t disclosed, but this person works in marketing. The ask was that SMP make a statement condemning the statements by the employee and ensuring the safety of BIPOC and marginalized authors and influencers who work with them. As of yet, they have remained silent. In response, Muslim and BIPOC booktok members have organized a petition and a marketing boycott. The petition asks SMP to speak up about the incident. The boycott asks booktok influencers to not review books published by SMP or their imprint Wednesday books.

Today, I wanted to talk a little about my journey to becoming a writer. Specifically, when I started writing and the works that informed my style of writing. This will be several parts. There are a lot of different things I want to talk about.

Descent into Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe is what got me into writing. And I couldn’t tell you why. I was about 12 when I read it. I didn’t understand it. I don’t remember it too well. I’d have to read it again as an adult. Of his stories, I remember it the least. Stories like The Tell Tale Heart and Black Cat resonate with me more and are among my favorites, but after I read Descent into Maelstrom, I wrote a short story about a woman who was sleeping in a glass beach house on vacation. During the morning, she was woken up by a tidal wave that spread out over the house and seemed to encompass the sky. At the end, she was drowned when the wave landed.

Today, we’re continuing the discussion about the steps I took in building my protagonist. The ideas I added and didn’t, the inspirations that make her who she is.

One thing that always bothered me was the idea that if you kill the bad guy, then you’re just as bad as the bad guy. And I can’t help but think this whole idea has more political undertones, like, “oppressing your oppressor makes you an oppressor,” or “beating your abuser makes you just as bad as the abuser.” It’s a way to allow the bad guy to continue to do bad shit, unimpeded by things like justice. It’s not a surprising message to come from a country rife with unanswered oppression and injustice.

Today, we’re discussing my main character and heroine of the Demon Cleaner series, Lillas Mikkinnan and the processes that I went through during her creation. This will be a two-part discussion to keep the episode from getting too long and my attention from splitting.

Like most fantasy writers, I grew up on comics, sci fi, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Lillas was born out of a one-line question in the 90’s cartoon X-Men. There’s a scene where the team is in Africa (I think). Storm is about to divorce her asshole husband or boyfriend (not T’Challa. Some other guy who was fucking up.) Before she gets to that, this man sends a stampede to attack the X-Men. They don’t realize that’s what’s happened. Beast asks, “Has Storm added earthquakes to her repertoire?” That’s when I got the idea to create a character that can do earthquakes while manipulating other elements.

Today, we’re doing a book review. Silent Sounds by indie author Annait LJ is a thriller that asks the question, What if being non-verbal was the norm and being verbal could mean your life? I will say three things I liked, two things I didn’t like, then give my overall impression

Today, we’re discussing advice I’d give to my younger author self.

First, start the story from the beginning. From the very beginning. From the very, very, very beginning. That was the advice given to me about 10 years ago or so. I was already two novels into this series, working on the third when one of my writing friends who was on path to be an editor noted that the core problem in the first story was that it was just too much for a first novel. There were too many characters. Too many character types. Too many concepts that didn’t get enough time and attention to be properly explained to the reader. I needed to back up. Slow the story down. And go from there. In 20 years of writing, it was the most useful tip I had received. I wished one of the many people in my circle that I’d had read the story would have told me that.

Today, we’re discussing Lillas and her relationship with her enemies.

When we see her in Book One, she’s 18 years old and already has a reputation among the demon knights as not only one of their most powerful enemies, but also their most violent. By the time we see her in the series, she’s amassed a high body count and deadly reputation. She’s already known as The Charcoal Maker due to her MO of burning her enemies’ organs while they’re inside the body. Which is a skill she has due to her ability to control heat and fire.

Today, we’re discussing the reluctant hero trope and my thoughts on it, whether or not it’s useful in fantasy stories where the hero/heroine has also an inherent power.

When I wrote Lillas, at no point did I imagine her hearing about demon knights killing people and being like, “I can’t help! I just can’t get involved!” She does what demon cleaners do. This does not mean cleaners don’t eventually retire and there could at that time be some reluctance to jump back in, but if they’re attacked or around people being attacked, they will respond in kind.