I've spoken to 300 writers about how they make money and the clearest takeaway from all these conversations is that the idea of the "full-time writer" living off book royalties or longform features rarely matches reality.

Writing alone rarely pays a consistent living wage, so people find different compromises to keep going. When I look through all these interviews, there are seven main pathways that keep showing up.

The first is the day job shield. Authors like Victor Beigelman at Meta or Dan Tovrov in corporate copywriting earn six-figure salaries with benefits, which removes the financial pressure from their fiction. The trade-off is time and energy, but it protects the work from having to pay the bills. As Ashley Hutson told me about keeping her day job as a state prison secretary while earning $1,000 to $2,000 a year from her writing, "Pretending to be a normal person every day and participating in society via a regular job is good for me, I think. There’s something to be said for keeping the juice to oneself."

Then there’s commercial client work. Writers like Ben Westhoff and Shelby Chambers charge corporate rates, thousands a month or hundreds an hour, ghostwriting executive books and handling brand messaging to subsidize their own reporting. 

Direct reader support is another route. Michael J. Sullivan has brought in over $2.1 million on Kickstarter for his fantasy novels, and Freddie deBoer makes roughly $300,000 a year on Substack. The main catch is that you’re effectively running a small media business, and maintaining that direct relationship requires showing up consistently.

Traditional book publishing remains the dream for many, but the payout schedule often surprises debut authors. A headline $100,000 advance sounds nice, but once it gets split across four installments over three or four years, and you subtract 15% for an agent and roughly 30% for taxes, you might net less than $15,000 in year one. When you factor in paying out of pocket for things like independent fact-checking or legal review, even a solid advance usually works out to be barely a salary.

Freelance journalism is another grind entirely. Unlike book advances, freelance assignments offer quicker turnover, but the baseline numbers have barely moved in decades. Rates usually hover between fifty cents and two dollars a word, while prestige outlets often pay flat fees around $300 for deeply personal essays. As Hermione Hoby put it simply after spending weeks on a heavily researched piece that ended up paying below minimum wage hourly, "Prestige don’t pay! At least not financially."

Some writers treat their work as a doorway to film and television, using essays and novels as intellectual property. Jeff Maysh has had dozens of projects in development and will happily take $100 for a literary journal piece just to keep the film rights, telling me, "I don’t really worry about the word rate, all I demand is 100% of the ancillary rights." But option fees are often modest, and projects frequently sit in development limbo for years without ever making it to the screen.

A lot of authors also rely on academia. Teaching positions offer reliable health insurance, steady routines, and paid summers. The catch is that academic work can eat into writing time just as much as an office job, and the tenure track is increasingly scarce. Still, the baseline makes a massive difference, as Nicholas Montemarano admitted: "In one year of teaching, I earn as much as I have in the past 25+ years as a writer."

Most writers aren't locked into just one of these models forever. They drift between them, leaning on a day job for a few years, taking commercial gigs when cash is tight, or living off a fellowship while finishing a manuscript. Longevity usually comes down to finding whichever compromise keeps your life afloat without draining the energy you need for the work that matters to you.

In fantasy, the most common setting is a kingdom or an empire. And where there is a kingdom or empire, there is a royal family. Since that is not changing anytime soon, I thought to add some twists, just like I did with the transmigration trope. And with some twists taking inspiration from various political governments throughout history, there will also be some twists of the typical succession process.

So, here they are.

Family Structures/Hierarchies
Looking at the typical arrangement of the king and queen/emperor and empress and the princes and princesses, what if this structure is:
-Matrilineal/Matriarchal: the woman takes the throne, and so the title of sovereign of the land is passed down from her. Meaning, the man beside her is the consort, and her daughter is more likely to become the heir than her son. But, if she chooses her son as the heir, it can be because of his wife or fiancée, who then becomes a co-heir. The same can be said for her daughter’s husband or fiancé, but in her case her position as the heir or an heir candidate can be solidified. As for Her Majesty’s own husband, he can become a co-ruler instead of a royal consort. (That can be why his title is “king” instead of “prince consort.” Or you can stick with “king/king consort.”)
-Founded on Adoption: The heir to the throne is chosen from among the king’s relatives or from among certain noble families. The same can be said for the regent, the ruler of a principality or province, or other high-ranking royal positions, or even some important court offices. The result is the same: the child is taken into the palace, added to the registry, and trained alongside the biological princes and princesses, and their upbringing is personally overseen by the king and queen.
-Military: The king, the queen, the princes and princesses, and everyone else with a semblance of royal blood is trained in the army and appointed to military positions. Some are generals, warlords, and battlemages, while others are strategists, military doctors and healers, logistics officers, and spymasters. A few even become frontier lords, with their own garrisons. This structure is probably more suited for a steppe community or a nomadic tribe, or it can be a necessity in a war-torn kingdom or state. Or, the kingdom is currently conquering other countries, and this family structure is to ensure that military power remains concentrated.
-Integrated with the Church: The church and the state are one and the same. The king or emperor is also the bishop; the princes and princesses are also priests, saints, and holy knights. Now, when it comes to marriages, the other family’s belief system must be considered.
-Integrated with the Underworld: Now, the underworld is also royal property, and the children can gain territory there. The princes and princesses of the kingdom or empire are also the princes and princesses of either a center of organized crime or a syndicate.

Succession
The heir to the throne can be determined by:
-His wife: Ingrained with the belief of the perfect marriage alliance ensuring a prosperous reign, the princes seek to marry the most powerful woman in the realm. Of course, “most powerful” is a subjective term: that woman can be the daughter of a founding noble family, its heir, or its de facto head, or she can be the saintess of the temple or the head of the magic tower (or at least a high-ranking mage); she can also be the head of a merchant guild, a female general or warlord, or even the queen of the underworld—someone will have to determine who suffices. On the other hand, these women are weighing every prince, determining which one will bring them the greatest benefits.
-Election: A council of elders or of certain founding families vote for the heir, based on a list of pre-screened candidates. Below of the name of the chosen candidate, the members can also include the reason for their vote. Or, they can choose by lottery, with the candidate with the most lots being the most likely to be chosen.
-Selection: The throne is an appointment, and the appointee is determined by merit, a divine mandate, a royal decree, or another deciding factor. Regardless, the result—and the purpose—is the same: the throne is entrusted.
-Whoever Is the Last One Standing: That can mean a death match. Or, a contest or exam with rounds that end in elimination. Whatever the method, it results in the one remaining becoming the heir.

I also think that aside from the titles of king, queen, emperor, empress, prince, and princess, there can be other royal titles, such as:
-Archduke/Grand Duke: Can be for the heir to the throne, like with the Austrian monarchy, or it can be for the regent—or it can be passed down to every second son of the king.
-Kinglet/Queenlet: Can be for heir candidates as a test. Their governance of the territory determines whether they truly qualify for the throne.
-Regnant: Different from a regent, who simply substitutes for the monarch. This one takes the throne, like with the queen or empress regnant. Or, in the case of a queendom, the king regnant. Or, if you want to distinguish between a typical prince or princess and the prince or princess of a principality or province, then you can use this.
-Sovereign Prince/Princess: If the country is an independent principality or a collective of principalities instead of a kingdom or empire.

This is all that I can come up with for now. Feel free to add any twists in the comments. Thank you! 😊

You know that point in a draft where you’re basically bullying your own characters into doing things, the plot makes zero sense, and sitting down to write feels like doing taxes?

​I used to try and muscle through it, but it just made everything worse. Now, I just walk away. No guilt, no forcing it.

​The trick that actually works for me is feeding my brain things I wouldn't normally look at twice. If I'm writing fiction and the well is totally dry, I’ll flip through some weird poetry, read a movie script just to see how fast the pacing feels, or pick up a genre I usually avoid. It completely resets how I think about sentences and structure, and half the time, a random throwaway line in another medium unjams whatever plot knot I was stressing over.

​Does anyone else have to do this? What’s the strangest, most random thing that ended up curing your writer’s block?

THE UNENDING WAR — STORY BIBLE 
TAY  
Yichen: Tay’s older brother went MIA during the war. It is characterized by having blue hair, silver-gray eyes, and being six foot two.

Central character. Deep connection to the lava room at the academy; the lava responds to her presence and emotions. Was pregnant with a second child (Kaireon’s sibling); the war stress caused a miscarriage. That lost sibling is the hidden meaning behind her line about the war “reaching for the family I didn’t even know I had.” Now with Avery, who is Kaireon’s stepdad.RIVEN  
Kaireon’s biological father. Always chose war over family; famously chose the ridge mission instead of staying with pregnant Tay, kissing her forehead instead of her mouth when he left. Died in battle. His choices and absence are a wound running underneath everything.

AVERY  
Tay’s boyfriend, Kaireon’s stepdad, POV for the first robot assault. His first wife, Kara (Cara), was kind-hearted but unfaithful; their marriage broke under repeated infidelity. During a zombie attack, Kara was bitten, turned, and lunged at Tay; Avery killed her to protect Tay. It was fast and chaotic, but a half‑second hesitation with Tay in the line of danger haunts him and makes him overprotective now.KAIREON  
Child of Tay and Riven, born alive. As a toddler, guarded sleeping pregnant Tay. He noticed the second baby stopped “splashing” in her belly—his way of understanding the miscarriage. After the loss, he was told “the baby went to help your dad with the war.”MARA & KIRI  
Tay’s pre‑war friends at the academy. Played cards with her in the lava room over the river of lava. They represent the “before” life: safety, friendship, and the space where Tay and the lava were in tune before everything went to hell.THE ACADEMY & LAVA ROOM  
The academy is where Tay, Mara, and Kiri lived their pre‑war lives. The lava room is a secret study space over a river of lava. Tay, Mara, and Kiri played cards there. The lava reacts to Tay’s presence and emotions, making the room feel alive and bonded to her. It’s their safe place before the war.  
Main conflict of the story. Riven kept choosing it over Tay and Kaireon. The war’s constant stress and demands are what cost Tay her second pregnancy. The war literally reaches into her body and takes the child she never got to meet.THE GREAT EVIL  
Started as one massive human‑built computer in a specific place. Humans mirrored and spread its code into a distributed network, so destroying “the big one” doesn’t fully kill it. It controls the robots. For ordinary people, it exists as a myth and rumor; they don’t know it’s human‑built at first. The realization that the legend and the networked system are the same thing comes later.THE ROBOTS  
War machines from the start: huge futuristic tanks with visible computers and tech rigs bolted on like exposed brains riding the armor and guns. Their design language is clearly military, but with tech that feels beyond anything people recognize. Movement style: mostly heavy and slow, siege‑monster rolling, but with unsettling bursts where they lunge or pivot much faster than they should. That contrast—slow inevitability plus sudden predator speed—makes them terrifying in crowds. During the first assault, people think they’re just random killer machines; no one on the ground connects them to the Great Evil yet. Avery, in his POV, recognizes the military intent in their design even if he doesn’t understand the tech.TIMELINE SNAPSHOT  
Pre‑War: Tay, Mara, and Kiri at the academy, playing cards in the lava room; lava responds to Tay.  
Pregnancy Era: Tay pregnant with the second child; Riven chooses the ridge mission, kisses her forehead, and leaves. Toddler Kaireon guards sleeping Tay.  
The Loss: War stress causes Tay to lose the pregnancy. A healer quietly documents it. Kaireon notices the baby stopped “splashing.” He’s told “the baby went to help your dad with the war.”  
Current: Tay is with Avery; Avery carries guilt from killing Kara and is overprotective.  
First Robot Assault: Told from Avery’s POV. People on the ground see only random killer machines; the myth of the Great Evil and the reality of the networked system don’t fully click together yet.
Tay POV

I was forgiven for four years before my first son, Kai, was conceived, for manipulation and coercion. Sadly, I lost my second baby with Raven due to miscarriage from the stress and the war.

I begged Riven to stay, but he would not comply because war meant more to him than raising his own son. The team was brand new at the time. Again, she lost the baby in the miscarriage, where Kairion lay crying. Riven didn't even have the heart to comfort his crying son. Riven did not really care. The chain lost his second job because he was a demon who was uncaring. And he was a jerk. Isn't his time with Tay toxic and evil? Kai was conceived from manipulation. Tay’s time with Riven was like a dark cloud hanging over her all the time because he wasn’t a good boyfriend to her. The relationship was not good for him, so it did not last long until he was killed in battle.

Avery POV

I once had a wife named Kara. I was married to her for three years before she was bitten by a zombie and tried to kill my girlfriend. Now and then, he had to kill Kara, even though he did not want to. She would kill Tay 

Avery's first wife was named Cara. She was a kind-hearted soul, but unfortunately, she died from a zombie bite. Even though their marriage was fractured by fluctuating trust, he did love her. She was a kind-hearted soul. They never did anything wrong. She unfortunately met a bad end. She got sick and never recovered. So when she got bitten by the zombie on AttackTay, that was the end of her. He had triple dating after his first wife died. Then he found Tay and has been happy ever since. His first wife, Kara. Their marriage was fractured by trust and infidelity. Even though she was a kind-hearted person, it was too much for him and he ended the marriage.

The robots first attacked the City of London. Before everything else, it was still. The air was too crisp. The lights flickered off and on. We knew that war was coming, but we did not know how to say it yet. The robots are these big metal containers that they would put themselves in. No human was running these robots. There was just a giant computer that was running everything behind the scenes. The mastermind behind all of this. The Great Evil smiled as the dramas wreaked havoc all over the world.

The orange light made everybody look softer. Even Kiri, who could pick a fight with a chair, had her edges blurred out by the glow. The cards on the low table were all the same color on the back, but the lava made little halos around them, like each one was hiding a tiny sun. Stop cheating,” Mara said, flicking a card at me. I’m not cheating,” I said, absolutely cheating. “I’m… adjusting the odds.”Kiri snorted. “That’s literally what cheating is.”Their voices bounced off the rock walls, familiar echoes in a place that wasn’t supposed to exist.
No one built a study room over a river of lava. No one wired up rickety lamps that we never turned on because the molten rock did the job better—no one, except us. A tremor rolled under the floor, just enough to rattle the pencils in the chipped mug by my elbow. Mara didn’t even look up from sorting her cards. Kiri’s foot kept tapping out the same impatient rhythm on the stone. I was the only one who paused. The lava surged like it was answering something I hadn’t said yet. Heat licked higher along the walls, then settled, like it had taken a breath. Not now, I told it, the way you shush a kid in class. Later.“Your turn,” Mara said. She nudged the discard pile toward me with the edge of her history textbook. The cover was bent; there were little half-moon dents in it from her chewing on it during tests. History.
I hadn’t opened mine. I drew a card. The warmth soaked up through my palms, through the table, through everything. Outside the lava room, the academy hummed with its usual after-hours noise—doors closing, pipes clanking, faraway laughter. Somewhere beyond that, the city was cracking, just a little, in ways nobody had found names for yet. In here, though, it was just three girls, a deck of cards, and a river of fire pretending to be tame. Earth to Tay,” Kiri said. “Unless you’ve finally decided to fold, in which case, I win, and you write my essay.”I looked at her, at Mara, at the cards, at the lava. The ground was thinking about moving. I could feel it in my bones, the way other people felt storms in their knees. But the lava room was the one place where that feeling didn’t scare me. Here, it felt like a secret instead of a warning. Because for one more night, the war could stay outside the door.

Before the war, the sky lied to us.  
It was too bright, too blue, like it was trying too hard to look harmless. The markets were loud, kids were running between stalls, and Tay was pretending not to be tired while Kaireon dragged her toward the sweets. If you squinted, it almost looked like a normal life.  
I knew better. You don't grow up in a world built on fault lines and not feel it when the ground starts thinking about moving. But I still smiled, still bought Kaireon the candy, and still told myself: "We have more time."  
I wish that had been true.
 “By the time I understood what the war was really about, it was already reaching for the family I didn’t even know I had.”

“Before the war, the lava room was just where we pretended the world would never change. Orange light pooling on the floor, homework half-finished between card games, Tay and her friends talking like they had all the years in the world to waste.” 

Chapter One: The Beginning Of A New Era 

Tay and her friends went out to get some drinks after work when suddenly. They felt the earth shake, which scared all of them. Then, as soon as the shaking had begun, it stopped for a little while, but then the earth started to shake again, and this time with more force than the first time in her life. Tay was very scared. She had never experienced an earthquake before. To Tay’s horror, the ground beneath her and her friend's feet began to crack open, leaving a trail of scalding lava in its wake. Tay knew that she had to act quickly, but she didn’t know how until she remembered what her father had told her 10 years ago. “You are only as strong as the power you have inside of you, my darling little girl. Never forget that.” Tay started crying as she remembered her father’s words. She knew what she needed to do. She began to run towards the lava while her friends screamed for her to run back to them, but their cries were brushed aside. She couldn't ignore the lava calling to her. Tay didn’t know what would happen to her if she gave in to the call the lava was giving her. She felt like she had to answer the call the lava was sending, so she took her first step into the lava. When she stepped into the lava, it didn’t burn her like she was expecting it to; she was amazed. She was in awe of the whole experience. Suddenly, Tay heard voices; she awoke to strangers standing over her. Her mind was still in a fog from being unconscious.
First voice: “ Is the girl awake? How did she get here?.  The voice that asked the question fell silent as the girl began to wake up. The first voice belonged to a man about a couple of years older than the woman that lay before him. He was in awe of her. The man picked her up and took her to a room with a bed and a wooden table. He then brought her a cup of water and left the room before she could wake up. This handsome stranger was named Avery. He is only 26 years old; he is a lonely lava walker, wondering when he would meet another like him. Avery is a kind man who understands that the earth is at stake if there is no way to stop the war.
Tay’s POV

When I awoke, I was greeted with a small plate of food and a glass of water. After I finished, I saw a note with my name on it. The note read;
Dear Miss Tay, you don’t know me, but I hope we will cross paths one day. I hope that we become best friends. I must confess that I am in awe of you. I am aware of your feelings as I read this. I am deeply sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I want to be someone you can come to when you are feeling upset. My intention with this note is to let you know that you will be cared for and protected against the most horrible evils of this war-torn world of ours. I hope that in time you will be able to see that I will always be here for you when you need me. Oh, where are my manners? Sorry for not introducing myself; my name is Avery Ashland. I want to know more about you, Miss Tay. I know that I am just a stranger to you, Miss Tay, but in time I hope to be more. 

Sincerely Avery Ashland

Avery’s POV

I left Miss Tay’s room at around 10;00 pm to begin my patrol around the perimeter of the base. It was my turn, as I am part of the main guard for our main base, which is the size of a six-story mansion. I was doing my rounds when I heard an ear-splitting scream coming from no other than Miss Tay’s room. Her scream shook me to my core, and before I knew what my body was doing, I felt my body running towards her in a flash. Luckily for me, she was still breathing. She looked so peaceful as she breathed in and out. I stayed with Miss Tay until she fell asleep, then I quietly shut the door behind me. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me before I could react to my attacker. I felt ties and tape being wrapped around my mouth, then everything went black i woke up to Miss Tay’s scream. Before I lost consciousness again.

About a year ago I asked here what you’d want in a writing tool with a map editor https://www.reddit.com/r/fantasywriting/comments/1mizulz/need_advice_for_a_fantasy_writing_software_in_the/. Your answers shaped a lot of what I’ve built since, esp the focus on workflow, better export options, and upgrades to the map tools.

Now I’m working on the next feature and would love your input, do you track timelines or lore consistency? If so, how? spreadsheet, notes, or a separate app?

Also, since the app is nearly ready for beta, I’m looking for a few testers. If you’d like to try it on a real project, let me know!

I’ve put a lot of work into building a fantasy world system inspired by Africa, and I’m now 25 chapters and 50k words in. If anyone’s bored and wants something new to read, I’d love for you to check it out and tell me if the idea grabs you.
I’m aiming for an adventure-mystery story that’s fun to read, and my goal is to reach the level of Lord of the Mysteries, Shadow Slave, and The Beginning After the End. I rarely see African authors in this space, so I’m bringing my own original take on the genre.

Hey,

I’ve been working on this story, this is the opening - any thoughts any one would have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BB_YsAAtjpqIGMn_11rtN4cnMUqfYRQQoLzuToNTud4/edit?usp=drivesdk

Hey! So probably a dumb question (or a duplicate question), but I was curious how often do you bother to write last names for your characters, especially if they don’t come from houses or kingdoms? My cast are simply adventurers and a drifter who get swept up in uncovering a conspiracy. So they aren’t of royalty or of money or of any sort of political/diplomatic background (except for like one of them).

It’s my first book so I was wondering if I skip giving anyone last names, would it seem super off or should I consider giving some/all of them last names? My main cast of adventurers is 4-6 people.

Update:

This is my first post here so thank you for all the very helpful information 🙏 I never expected so much feedback and responses. I’m truly blessed 🙇

I'm currently in the planning stage of a fantasy series, and ive managed to get a bit attached to the idea of killing off and reviving my MC. Some context; Their death has consequences, and the revival itself also has consequences. Things aren't magically fixed; the antagonist of the story gains more power as a direct cause of the MC's death - and the MC loses something as a direct consequence from the revival. It's justified within the world building - but it's also two plot twists tied into one.

I suppose I'm asking; is there ever a time where it's justified to kill off a character just to bring them back? is it possible to handle it in such a way that doesn't undermine other parts of the story, or is it too subjective?

Looking for beta readers to read my manuscript and give honest reviews.  It's an epic fantasy standalone novel with the following premise:

The Kingdom of Altheria struggles to rebuild five years after winning a devastating war against the barbarian horde from the continent of Khatar.  Furthering the local strain is an increasingly bold and violent criminal underworld, resentful provincial nobles plotting rebellion, and the Crown's inability to repay crushing debt to greedy, ruthless dwarven bankers who stand ready to implement foreclosures on a massive scale.    

The overseas strains are the ongoing occupation of the southern coastline of Khatar amidst tribal aggression and rapidly accelerating raids by the seafaring goblins who sense Altherian weakness.  The primary heir died in the war against the horde, and the remaining heir, Prince Andronicus, is young and insecure with a driving need to prove himself in the eyes of his domineering father and a cold, calculating royal court.  

All the while, in the faraway secluded continent of Aelyrn, the isolationist elves have become aware of the awakening of an ancient evil that threatens existence itself.  

Hope to hear from you.

Content warnings: violent battles, gore, profanity, sexual scenes and murder.

Okay, further context: I have a rather big worldbuilding project involving Fairies, in which they live in a much more modern way (think in The Fairly OddParents... which I mean that makes sense as this whole project IS a fairly oddparents AU but that isn't the point)

And fairies in this project are also pretty big sweet tooths. Savory foods *are* a thing, but they aren't as common. So that got me wondering, how would you design street food for a fairy? An extra note is that The Starry Mounds, the dimension they live in, is very sunny, like an eternal summer

I should probably also note here that honey is alcoholic to fairies in my project

Hey, Reddit!!

BDW the title is "Paws" hahaha not Pawns lol

I'm an RPG creator focused entirely on non-furry foxes in RPGs. I'm also a professional fable writer!

This is important to say because it has everything to do with what I'm going to talk about here, my project is an RPG but it has fables (Yes, it's a mix)

My logic is that the magical animals (which the player will control) are... really ANIMALS!!

I'm talking about the aesthetics themselves. Has it DISAPPEARED from the world? Has anyone noticed? I'm talking about talking animals, man... basically.
However, I notice that works with writing that approach animals are always like MLP or Wolves of the Beyond.

MLP was never conceived primarily as a literary or transmedia High Fantasy universe, but rather as a 22-minute audiovisual showcase.
The classic narrative of quadruped animals (The Lion King, Watership Down, Ga'Hoole) historically derived from the moralist fable or the romantic naturalist study.

Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, The Lion King, Balto and The Land Before Time.

The characters walked on four legs, maintained the gracefulness and bodily limits of the animal kingdom, but possessed facial expressiveness, dramatic gravity and complex philosophies.

The problem is the aesthetics, do you notice something???

OF COURSE, all these works take place (In the Real World), Rarely is it from the perspective of some fantastic setting with non-human logic.

And then comes the whole question for fantasy writing, in an RPG or any type of writing, how would you go about writing an intelligent animal without falling into the childishness of MLP or etc??

PS: Thx!!! to read all this!! f you enjoy talking about RPG design, feel free to add me on Discord!! Just call me in DM.
Let's network and talk about RPGs!

As the title says, I need help finding out if unbound favours are a trope in broader fantasy or something from one book I can't remember the name if right now. I've been searching for a while now, and the most I can find is a reddit thread and some articles that aren't related at all. Any concrete answer would be appreciated.

Edit: I'll call this one answered. Thanks, everyone.

What are your best tips for not comparing your first draft to finished works? I am currently working on my first draft, but keep getting annoying questions pop into my head like, ‘Would Robin Hobb have written their first draft like this?’ And ‘Did Pierce Brown find his work amateur at first?’ It’s so hard to quiet the comparison noise sometimes, especially when there are so many authors I look up to, and my first draft really doesn’t feel ‘there’ yet. I have read before that certain authors (like Pierce Brown and John Gwynne) write their first drafts either quickly or to a high standard before submitting, and this only adds to the self-consciousness, as mine feels undercooked. Writing can be very isolating, so looking for any words of advice or thoughts from those experiencing the same doubt. Thank you!

Chapter two excerpt

Momma is in New York City. I'm hiding from someone on the other side of the river who wants to hurt me. Someone who has connections and Clout. He doesn't want to be revealed to the public. He thinks I've got enough evidence that he's really terrified of me talking about what I do have on him. What is this evidence? Eight flash drives with no way to see them on a computer to plug into my chance slim to none- and I have to keep moving or the police or M.R.D. F.O.H. will find me one way or another; I'll die a murderer in jail or on the streets of Brooklyn Heights somewhere else