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Book Shop Chats:
Welcome to Book Shop Chats, your go to podcast for indie authors and learning insight into what it takes to write a book (HINT: You can do it too!!)
Join authors as they share their personal journeys, successes, and challenges, providing you with unique insights into the writing process. The discussions explore into various aspects of storytelling, from character development to plot structuring, ensuring you have a well-rounded understanding of the craft.
Whether you're just starting out or have published multiple works, this podcast is your companion in the pursuit of storytelling excellence. Tune in, gather inspiration, and let your passion for writing flourish alongside a community that celebrates the art of the written word.
Book Shop Chats:
Building Worlds and Finding Character Voice with Whitney Welsh Gibbs
Whitney Welsh Gibbs shares her journey of creating the Steel Citadel series, a four-book fantasy romance about a princess who loses everything and embarks on a quest for revenge in a magical kingdom.
Author Bio:
Whitney Gibbs is a dedicated author with a passion for history and discovering new worlds. She was born and raised on the Central Coast of California where the sea air and heavy fog created a world of wonder for her ever-imaginative spirit. She holds a Master's Degree in Intelligence and Security Studies from the University of Leicester, and has cultivated her writing skills through years of professional academic writing and personal creative endeavors.
When not writing, Whitney enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with friends, which often serve as inspiration for her stories. She currently resides in Burbank, California.
The Land of Frost blurb:
Princess Maeve Moran’s wedding day was supposed to be a day she had dreamed of. When a violent coup breaks out in the capital city, her life is turned upside down as she witnesses the murder of her father, The King, her mother, her brother, Heir to the Throne, and her fiancé, Rian Doherty. Stripped of her magic and left for dead, Maeve is rescued by Dedra Blos, a royal seamstress, and Tiernan Demaris, an army alchemist. Determined to recapture all she has lost, Maeve vows revenge against the usurpers who stole all but the breath from her lungs.
Under Tiernan’s guidance, Maeve is sent to the infamous Báscogar Prison, nestled deep within the Romiodóg mountains, to train alongside Gálgalesh, the faerie Warden. However, in a world where even her identity must be kept secret, she finds her life hanging in the balance at every moment. When she encounters Eoghan Kael, a fiery Tinemallacht warrior who harbors a deep-seated hatred for her, she truly learns just how precarious her fight for survival and retribution has become.
As Maeve immerses herself in her training, she discovers shocking truths about her heritage and the deceptive nature of her upbringing within the castle walls.
Can she make it through with her head—and her heart—to retrieve all she has lost and restore her place in the castle once more? Or will the price of love and secrets cost more than death ever could?
LINKS:
Follow Whitney Here:
Instagram & Threads @WhitneyWritesStuff
TikTok @WhitneyWelshGibbs.
About Victoria:
Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together.
Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE
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📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial
Welcome to Bookshop Chats, where we cozy up with books, creativity and embrace the magical, messy process of writing a book. I'm Victoria Jane, a writer, developmental editor and coach for sensitive, busy writers, and I love to support you on your journey of bringing your story to life. So, whether you're here for inspiration, behind the scenes peeks of what it means to actually write a book, or just some bookish conversations, you are definitely in the right place. And if you're looking for more personalized support, I also offer one-to-one writing support sessions to help bring your story to life, because sometimes you need a little bit of support digging through the noise that is your brain, because same and if you've got a finished draft, I would love to chat to you about developmental editing. It is my favorite thing. I love supporting authors and bringing their story to life. You can find all of the details in the show notes.
Speaker 1:So grab a coffee, grab a tea, plug in your headphones, go on a little walk and let's dive into today's episode. Welcome back to Bookshop Chats. In today's episode, I am chatting with Whitney Welsh Gibbs. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. I'm very excited to chat today, so I'm just going to give you the floor and let you introduce yourself and your books, or whichever book I guess is calling to you first, because I feel like sometimes there's one that's a little louder than the other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely Well, like you said, I'm Whitney Welsh Gibbs. I'm an author of romance, fantasy, the mixture of the two. I love all things you know, romantic, fantastic stories that draw people in, make them cry, make them laugh, feel all those emotions in between. And my current series that I have out right now is called the Steel Citadel series. The first book came out in March, on March 18.
Speaker 2:And it is all about this magic kingdom called Drayocone, and the story really starts on the wedding day of the princess of this magic kingdom. Her name is Maeve Moran and she's getting prepared that morning to marry this merchant's son and a coup breaks out in her kingdom. So it's a really intense moment for her, trying to hide from these people who have now broken through the gates of the castle and are looking for her. And on that day she loses her father, the king, her mother, her brother, who's the heir to the throne, and her fiance, and she also loses her magic. So she is completely left for dead without anything, anyone. She has no knowledge of the kingdom itself, she's never left the castle, so she is very naive to the world around her. And she's left for dead only to be found by a royal seamstress and an alchemist in the king's army. So she's saved and is brought back to kind of like some sort of health, you know, because she was on the brink of death, and thus begins her story of revenge.
Speaker 2:And the whole story is about her seeking revenge on the people who have taken everything from her her life, her identity, pretty much everything that she's ever known and what it looks like to kind of navigate a world that you just don't know at all. She travels to the far reaches of the kingdom, to the most dangerous prison in the kingdom it's called Bascagar Prison to train with the warden there and to kind of learn her own strength. And it's a romanticist, kind of learn her own strength, and it's a romanticist. So there's the elements of you know that romance, it's buddying, you know who she meets, all those fun things that draw us in. But it is very much a high fantasy story about this woman's will to survive and what that looks like. It's the first of four books. It's a planned release series. The second book comes out on September 16th, so we have really like it's only six months in between the first two and, yeah, and we have a planned release, so the books all have dates for release and I'm really super excited about it.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, amazing. I get so like nerdy hearing authors talk about like their stories and like how they create them. It just is so fascinating to me to see these like characters that you've made up kind of like come to life. These worlds and stuff that you've made up come to life. I love, love that. I would love to hear a little bit more about kind of like how you, I guess, how you structure a novel or a series that is like this, that is very much kind of like building on you know, one after the other, like that's something I find wildly fascinating. Like how, yeah, how did you, I guess, decide to break it up or figure out that it needed to be more than just one novel?
Speaker 2:It was. It was interesting because I think it always felt like an epic story that needed to grow and needed to kind of expand. So I think it was always kind of necessary to be a series. But I am a huge in world building, like that is my thing, I love it and I I love to see like three-dimensional worlds. I like I want my readers to feel like they're there. So I felt like if I was going to build a story that had such an epic plot, had so many good characters in it, had had kind of like this deep kind of exploration of politics and of love and have life and those sort of things and growing with this character who really is she's she's about 20 when the story starts but she's so green to the world she had to grow and she had to kind of learn this and she does, because we've only had one book so she is growing, um, but to to build that up, I think that it needed to take time because we don't just grow overnight. So it was always just kind of in my brain that it had to be this epic story and it had to take time and kind of just unfold naturally. And so much happens. You know there's. You know the story.
Speaker 2:I will be very candid. I've written every single book in the series I wrote. In 11 months, I wrote four books, which is amazing insanity. I didn't do anything but right, but it so. Watching the story unfold and seeing where it goes from the beginning to the end was just incredible to me to see. You know how much you grow in a story and how far you can take it and all these different things you can explore if it is just like this expanded world and if, like, there is another book after this book and what's going to happen next.
Speaker 2:And where do I leave the readers, you know, do I leave them on a cliffhanger? Do I solve this problem and then move on to another one? Is the story done? You know, it's those sort of questions that I had to ask to say, oh well, where am I going with this? What's the purpose? And if there is going to be multiple books, are they going to be able to hold the reader enough to where it justifies having that story expand?
Speaker 2:If it doesn't, you know, then what's the point? I want my readers to be engaged and so, really, just, I think the biggest thing was I always knew it was going to be a series, but how big of a series was it going to be? Is it going to be like a 12 book series where you know people start getting tired of like that same old story, or is it going to be something that is necessary? Is every single word going to be important? It's you know. Are you going to get payoff for everything that happens? And if the answer is yes, sure, let's continue on, but if the answer is no, probably probably end it there right, totally.
Speaker 1:I find that so yeah, so fascinating of just like creating this, obviously, this overall story, and then having to kind of like create individual like stories within each book of the character arc and their journey and all of the things that they kind of like grow, like how they grow from, you know, book one to the end of book one versus how they grow from book one to the end of the series too, which I think is a really neat thing to like think of, obviously, as you're writing it. I would love to hear a little bit more about like kind of how you navigate that process.
Speaker 2:You know, the good thing is is I've had a lot of time working with, like young people and like watching them grow and watching the process of how do we change year by year, moment by moment. You know, experience by experience. So having that kind of background and understanding of that really helped me navigate how I wanted that character to grow, how I wanted to show that, the important moments that I wanted to highlight, the things that I think readers could relate to. It always has to be relatable because, honestly, you know we might be writing fantasy, we might be writing something that is definitely not this world, or maybe you haven't been in love the way that some you know characters have been in love in these books that you read. But you want to be able to understand and feel those emotions and know that they are authentic, to understand and feel those emotions and know that they are authentic. So I always focused it on that like what is authentic to my experience, to the people around me's experience. What does that look like? What would make the reader feel satisfied? What would make them feel sad, what would make them feel really happy for this character, what would draw them in and I always kind of focus on that and making that story as believable as possible without it being like rushed or, you know, feel inauthentic. In that way especially for writing either like fantasy or romance, which is what I write you really have to work hard to make those feel real.
Speaker 2:Sometimes I've read romance books where I couldn't connect with the characters because nothing made sense to me in that book. You know, it might have been fun to read, it might have been a fun romance, but it didn't feel real to me. It felt like, you know, somebody's fantasy of what the real world is, which is fine at some time, at some points. But if we want to connect with those characters, it's gotta. It's gotta feel natural, it's gotta feel not forced or or not rushed or, you know, maybe not even take too much time, maybe it's not so slow that you know you're like, when is anything gonna happen in this story, which I've read too.
Speaker 2:But um, and with the fantasy, you know, you're building these different worlds, but our connected thread as human beings is our human experience. The things that you know really shape us. So when I'm shaping a character, when they're growing from one story to the next or, you know, one moment to the next, I really want to think about. What does that human experience? What does it look like? Is it the same in this place as it is for us? Because we're all human. If I'm writing a human character, they're going to have a human perspective, regardless of you know. Do they have magic? Sure, maybe, but they still feel, they still have needs, they still have desires and and that's all sort of natural to us.
Speaker 2:Um and so I really have to keep that kind of in mind as I'm growing them and say, okay, well then I can really relate to this too. I mean I can. I can see where, if I went through this experience, I would feel this way, and so that's really how I do it.
Speaker 2:That's, that's the most thing. It's very personal and it should be. I think, as an author, everything should be personal when you put it down on page and you should kind of pour your heart and soul into it, and I do every single time.
Speaker 1:I love that. I think that's so true of just these. Yeah, like your lived experience is infused into the novel, even if it is, like you said, fantasy, and I really I mean I love character driven stories and like those flawed, relatable characters that just feel like I connect with this person and I feel like they live a life that I've kind of also maybe lived a little bit, even if it is a fantasy novel. Like there's still that element, like you said, of that human-ness, which I think is a really that's why we love stories. I feel like that's what connects us as humans, of that like shared experience through storytelling, and that's historically always been kind of how we share, whether it's like oral, oral, oral storytelling or like putting them down on paper and stuff. So I love to like just to infuse that into these like epic, epic fantasy romance novels. I think it's so cool to see that kind of like come out and you'd be able to put these like characters into, into like, like make them like real, which is wild.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. They come out of your brain and you know they've just been sitting there for a while, but they are very much people to you. So when they hit that page and their stories kind of just erupt out of your, your mind and like onto the paper, it's so cool to see that they have a life of their own. And then when people start reading it, they start talking about these characters like they're people, because they are, and it's so exciting. I always tell my best friend my best friend is my alpha reader she reads like chapter by chapter as I write. She does not let me slow down, she's like where's my next chapter? And I love her for that. But I always tell her she'll read things and she'll go, oh, I really like that moment. Or or you know that, what he said there, and I always say, yeah, he wrote that or she wrote that. It's very much that character.
Speaker 2:When, when they become alive in that way, once you sort of kind of find them in that way and become familiar, especially as an author, when they start to feel real to you instead of just like maybe an idea, it's really cool because they start taking over the page and they start talking and they start doing things and sometimes it gets really frustrating because they're doing something that you absolutely did not expect them to do or maybe didn't want them to do. And if you're a plotter, then you're like no, no, no, bring it back, bring it back. Or, you know, I think that's when it's easier, when you're a pantser, because you can just kind of like, go with it. But it's great because I go oh, I don't even remember why I wrote that, but that is brilliant. You know, that's great and that just that did not come from me.
Speaker 2:And I always say that I'm like I can't credit myself. I know it came from me, but I can't credit myself because that character really spoke there. And I think that's the wonderful part when you can build a character that not only you as an author sees as like a person, but your readers go yeah, that's really, that's that's real, that's that I can relate to and and that seems like very natural. I think that's kind of like that sweet spot. You get in as an author and you go yep, this is a good character driven story. This is where I want it to be and your readers will appreciate you more when you make them those characters that you know really connect with them and connect with their journey too.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that. It's just. It is so magical when you're reading a story and you're like this character just feels so relatable and like you, you can feel the difference too within each character, and I always I love when that like, because that's such a hard thing to do as a writer, of finding each of your characters unique voice and how they're going to speak and their mannerisms and like the way that you view them in your head.
Speaker 1:Does it actually translate onto paper? And all of these like tiny little things that oftentimes we don't think about when we first start writing the book.
Speaker 2:Right, it's fun. I think that's. One of my favorite parts of writing is to find that character voice because it is so individual to that character and it should be your characters should sound different in people's heads. They should automatically know that's who's speaking. Even you know you, you write who's speaking, but but they should know instinctually that's that character said, that you know it, that that makes sense and that's. I've always loved that because I like unique characters, I like characters that are flawed, characters that have a unique voice, that see the world in a different way and who are different and you know. And because that's what my world looks like, that's what the people in my world look like. They are all different, they are all distinct, they all have their own voice and so to build that and to be able to find those things it's very interesting.
Speaker 2:It takes a little while, especially when you start a new book or or a new series or something. It's very. It's like a learning curve almost. I always say that's probably my least favorite part of starting a new book is kind of learning who these characters are, because it's a learning process. But once you do and once you kind of get in that groove, it is wonderful. It is great to be be able to write these characters and it's fun and you just want to keep coming back to them because you know you find elements of yourself in them. But then you find something so unique and so wonderful and sometimes you love to hate them If it's a villain. Being able to write a villain when you know, hopefully, you aren't one yourself is is wonderful. It's great to be able to to build a voice like that. That's so completely maybe off of your own and not you know nothing that you would maybe even say, or no way you would see the world, and that's really cool too. So I think that's a great process. I think it's so fun definitely.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's such a huge thing as well of like you know, when you're, you know either watching a show or reading, and then there's that character that you're like I just want them to jump off a cliff and then you're like clearly they've done something right here because it's eliciting that emotional response, and that's what you want as the author.
Speaker 1:If you want your readers to feel something, whether it's hate or love or some something in between I think you're doing it right for sure. I'd love to hear a little bit, uh, about how this, this book, came to you. I always find that really fascinating, like where, like this is like an, like any author that writes fantasy is like I just my mind is blown because it's so. It feels like it's such a huge. There's so much work that goes into creating the worlds and the different like magical systems and stuff like that. So I would love to hear a little bit about, like, how that came to be for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a few years ago actually, I had a dream about this book and it was just a very like a snippet of a dream.
Speaker 2:It wasn't even a whole dream, it was just about this this princess like I I guess I instinctually knew she was a princess, I didn't really have very much backstory, but it was this princess on her wedding day and all of her family is murdered and kind of that. I. I just remember probably more than anything, more than like it having a full plot or anything like that was that feeling of like the need for revenge and like the, the hopelessness, the loss, and I I held on to that for a few years and I didn't like do anything with this story. I just had this dream and I kept thinking about it, kept thinking about it and my best friend and I we we travel a lot together, we own a travel agency together and so we travel at least once a year, and we were stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea, which is such a weird place for your story to start. But we were stuck on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea and we're reading a lot because we had nothing better to do and I was like you know, my brain was kind of turning while I was sitting there and I was like I had this dream a couple of years ago and kind of telling her about it. And she's like you know, you could write that right, that could be your next book. And you know, what are you working on now? I'm like I'm not really working on much now. I'm not writing too much right now. I've just finished up and she's like you know, that could be your next book. And I thought you know that could be my next book. And I said, but I'd have to, like, really fledge it out.
Speaker 2:So I started to think about what the you know the meat of that story could be, because I had the bones there. I just had this very limited kind of version of the story and I thought, you know, it'd be really cool if this was like in a different kingdom. But it felt kind of real. It wasn't like medieval I think people start to think like princess medieval. But it's not really medieval. But it has magic. And what does that look like without it being cheesy? And how do you write that for adults, you know, so adults can connect with it, because it is an adult book and you know, and what would that kingdom look like? What would the layers be of that kingdom?
Speaker 2:And since I love world building so much, that was where I really started. I went okay, so if it's a kingdom, I need to know what the people are like, what the territories are like, what is the culture? Is the culture different from one place to another? You know, if I was walking down the street, what would I see, what would I hear, what would I taste, what would I smell? All these things. And that's where I started, because that is my first love is just building that world, and so I started kind of working on that. I have a background in history, specifically military history, but my background's in history so I get really connected with, like, the history of the place and the different people and and I love cultures and societies and languages, and so I'm working on languages and and the cultures and the territories different. Yes, they're distinctly different and there's five different territories and five different cultures and what does that look like? And I have these boards in my room and and I've got, you know, notes and notes and notes that I'm building, and then the story just kind of came to be and that was just it just like fell into place when I found the setting for it.
Speaker 2:And then I started writing and I didn't stop. I wrote one book after the other, after the other after the other, and watched the story unfold because I couldn't put it down. And that was really exciting to me because I, I've written. I had three books out before this book, the first of this book series, came out. And yeah, I wrote them and I, you know I write fairly quickly. I mean, I, I write ups and downs. You know you get some of those writer block days, but this book I couldn't stop. I never had one bad day on it and I thought, wow, this is a story that has to be told. Then, if I, if I need to hear it, other people should hear it too. And so that's how the story came to be. It was a wild ride, it was a fun ride, but it was. It was definitely unique for me it was definitely unique for me.
Speaker 1:I love that. I find that. So, yeah, I feel like it. It comes down to like the like trusting yourself, to like tell these, like little stories, like, and I feel like when they come like randomly out of nowhere or it's just suddenly this like weird feeling, like I I kind of like similar experience. I was in Ireland and then this story and this character, I'm like I feel like I need to tell this, like there's something here. What that is, I don't know yet and it just sort of like kind of unfolded as it's still unfolding.
Speaker 1:But, uh, I think that that's such a really cool thing of just like knowing that, like you're the you're the person to tell that story, I think, and like learning how to trust that um is such it takes time, for sure, to like trust that skill and and and build, build it all out and and create the story and such.
Speaker 1:But it's such a wild ride and, like you said, if, if you wanted to read it clearly somebody else does, and I always I'm like there must be something here and it's so neat to see that and I, yeah, I nerd out on all that like random research that I feel like 90% of it doesn't make it into the novel and you're like, oh my gosh, so much information I could tell you all of this stuff about here. But it's still such a fun part of the creative process and I feel like it's really important too of just knowing everything inside and out and it just really creates that deep like it's that feeling that readers get when you can tell that it's like this immersive world that you just kind of get to sink into and that's amazing you can really tell if a story is two-dimensional or like three-dimensional, like when an author has really taken that time to build that character even beyond.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like exactly what you said, what you see, because I know I have pages and pages and booklets and notebooks of notes of these characters. Each of these characters, I know them inside and out. I know their personality types. I've given them all the Myers-Briggs tests. I know it all. Now, I know their personality types. I've given them all that Myers-Briggs test, I know it all.
Speaker 2:And I think that it really shows in the writing when you know the places and the people in your story, even if your readers don't get that full kind of glimpse of them or if there's still some things that you're holding back because it's not necessary to the story. It might be fun to know but it might not be completely necessary, but they can tell. They know that whether or not you know that character inside and out, they know if you've spent time walking those streets, maybe mentally. You know for hours and hours on end, just to get kind of a feel of where you're placing your readers and you know where they're diving into, because I'm not a person that loves like an info dump in a book for the first 100 pages.
Speaker 2:I don't want to. I don't want to read it. I want I want the story to start and I want to learn as I go and I want it to feel very natural to the storytelling. And so I'm really intentional about that. But I have to know, I have to know the story myself in order to do that, in order to build around it, and I think readers, they can appreciate that and they can see that when it feels comfortable and natural and you're not just saying you know, like let's set the scene here for you know the first six chapters and then we'll get into the story. Because now you've now you've developed your understanding of this place. I don't need that. I want to hear the story on it to start, I want it to keep going and hold my attention, and so I think that it's important and the more you know about your own, your own writing, then the more you know your readers are going to get out of it.
Speaker 1:Yes, I feel like that's so true and that's something that I find especially like a lot of new writers like struggle with that, like over over telling or telling the story, and I know that's common advice that you hear when people you know are you're writing and they're like show don't tell or but like. What does that mean? And why does it mean like? Why do we say that and why? Well, I mean, I guess it's show and tell. It's not really show don't tell, but it's like show and tell, creating that engagement, like you said, of like taking readers on that journey so that they're like I don't know, walking along with the characters At least that's kind of how I view it in my head of just this.
Speaker 1:Being a very visual kind of like learner and just seeing this, I want that, what I want, the, the readers to kind of like experience as well, of like you're in the coffee shop with your the characters, you're like on that blind date, you're in the world, whatever, um, and that's something that really like it takes a lot of like skill to kind of like do that, uh, like to get the, the image in your brain, onto paper in a way that like creates that engagement for readers and building that out. I would love to hear a little bit about like how yeah, like how you create like a story of that magnitude, like how do you balance that? Like I know there's plotters, pantsers. I always find it really interesting to hear how people create their stories from you know an idea to an actual full book you know I'm kind of a mix of both.
Speaker 2:Um, I liked, I like to plot because I like to know where exactly I'm taking this story or, especially if it comes to a series, you know what, where's book one gonna go, where's book two gonna go, and how am I gonna pace that. Because you really do have to work with that pacing, especially more than like a standalone book. A standalone book, you want everything in there, so so you kind of want to get it all into there and pacing's important. But but you know you're going to finish that story. But I'm kind of both because I, like I said, I do like my characters to kind of have their own agency in that story and kind of change things up a little bit. So I always plot but I give room for the unknown to happen, and I think that's important to do because I don't want to be so rigid in where I think that story is going that I force it to go in that direction, because I also think readers can tell when you force something into a direction that maybe wasn't naturally heading, you know we weren't naturally heading in that, you know that way, and so I kind of just give that room, that leeway. But I do like to plot because I think that it's important to kind of have a headway and kind of say where's the ship sailing? Where do we need to stop? What points do we need to take a break at? Can we have some, you know, light moments here? Can we have some kind of deeper moments here? And because the stories I write I am so intentional with, everything has a purpose, but not everything has to be so heavy that you know a reader can't enjoy it. And so I always say it's completely fine if you read my books for the vibes and you're just, you're having fun reading it for the vibes. It's completely fine if you deep dive, because there's tons there that you can deep dive into and that's fine. But I want to hold you for both. I want it to be there for you for both. So I really do take that seriously and so I take a lot of time and I take a lot of thought into it, everything that I write, and I'm okay with kind of taking a step back and saying, okay, is this well thought out, or is this just me trying to maybe entertain, which you do want to entertain, but just entertain for the sake of entertaining or just putting this in because I would really like to see it happen, but it doesn't make sense to the plot at all. So let's go back a sec and see you know if this is really necessary or if not. So, yeah, it's very important to me. I take my stories very seriously and I take the writing process very seriously because I actually really enjoy the writing process. I love it and I love to explore and I love to see, like, where my notes are at the beginning to where they are at the end, even though I've plotted out how the story is going to go, and just see you know what things have changed and did it get better or do I need to rework something again? You know that sort of thing and so, yeah, it's really interesting.
Speaker 2:I'm, you know, as I grew as an author I wrote a few books before this series and I could see my growth. I can definitely see where I definitely did not understand. My first couple of books. I didn't understand what plotting really was or what, you know. Character development was okay, but it could have been stronger.
Speaker 2:You know, the characters' voices aren't as strong, you know, in the earlier books and I love them for that, because I love seeing that development and how I grew in my craft. How I grew in my craft. But it is actually a journey and it is something that I've really taken seriously because I wanted to grow in it and I wanted to learn more and kind of create to the best of my ability. And so it's something that I've worked on every time and I think I'll continue to work on it until I don't write anymore, because I think that you're always learning, you're always growing, you're always finding a new way to create and you know kind of finding your groove in that, your voice, and you know the things that you find important as a writer.
Speaker 1:That is. That is so on point. I feel like especially this is something that I often tell you know authors or clients that I work with of just that, like the reminder that, like your stories, like you grow right, like that's that's an important thing and recognizing for what each book taught you right, like what part, like where you were at that point in time. That's where that's what you knew. And the more you write, the more you dive into the craft, the more you read, the more like all of that stuff. It's so cool to now be able to like listen to audio books and be like, oh, I can totally see what the author did here or why they did that or how they structured that, or maybe I would have done something different, but I can see why they chose that. So seeing those mechanics kind of like come to life is a really like a funky and like wild thing of how, yeah, like these stories just start out as these little drafts and then they slowly grow and I think that, yeah, like the like, you're always going to be growing and I think often it can be easy to kind of like fall into that maybe comparison trap or the perfection, but people don't want that stuff. Like they don't want a perfect novel, like you can't write that. They want those characters that are relatable, because we're hot messes, right, right, like we need that and and I think that's what we appreciate in a story.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, I nerd out on going back and reading like some of my old stuff and be like wow, like I can totally see how much I've grown, because sometimes you don't even notice it, right, like you think that nothing has changed. And then you go back and you read it and you're like, oh, wow, like go little me, like this version of me did this and created it. And look at where we are now and look at what this book kind of like helped me get to. So I love to, I love to celebrate that and I'm like I'll embrace the cringe, you know, like whatever, some of some of the stuff is not very good, but that's okay. It taught me what I needed to know.
Speaker 2:Actually, I, you know, I think the same thing. I I love every version of myself as a writer, just like I love every version of myself as a human being, growing and learning. I, I look at back at my older books and, yeah, there are things where I go, oh no, I don't. I don't think I would have ever added that in or I wouldn't have written it that way now, but I appreciate that and I love it and I just go. That is just my journey, because writing freed me as a human being. It freed my soul to have that love and all those different, you know, moments of learning how to write and to become a writer and to publish your first book, which is just like an amazing experience. Anyways, that's something to celebrate.
Speaker 2:No matter where you were in that journey, no matter if you were so green you had no idea what you were doing. None of us have any idea what we're doing when we start out. So you know that's completely fine and I just I do, I appreciate it and I go yeah, yeah, you, you did it, you did the thing and now you're still doing the thing and you love it. Every single moment of it still, and that's what it's all about is the love of storytelling, the love of creating, and it doesn't matter like if it was perfect. Like you said, it's not not going to be perfect and it's fine.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and I think that's yeah, that's what I love to see. I love to see authors like they keep growing, they keep showing up and it's to me we're playing the long game right, Like we're here for a while At least that's my goal of like lots of books, let's get them out into the world, right.
Speaker 1:So it's, it's totally it makes sense that you're going to learn more or challenge yourself or write different genres or just all of those things that, yeah, maybe feel really uncomfortable but are all part of that like growth journey in the craft of writing, and I think that's like a really that's a really cool thing to see, cause, yeah, there's certain things that are really like easy, like I feel like we've got those, like our specific niche that we write in and the genre that we're like, yeah, I'm so good at. And then there's a story that's completely different and you're like, ok, apparently I need to tell this one now, right, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:My first book that I ever published was I self-published it and it was a young adult like middle grade young adult fantasy book and that's like, even though I'm still writing fantasy, that is so far away from what I write now and it's it is a completely different genre. And and to pull yourself from one genre to the next or to see what, what comes next, I'm open to anything that comes next. Whatever that next story is that comes to my mind that I feel like I can sit down and create, I am there for it, I want to, I want to see it. You know how it turns out. It might never make make it past the writing stage, and that's completely fine, but I want to challenge myself. I want to take any story that wants to be told and tell it in some way, and so I think it's fun and I think it's really challenging in a great way to say, yeah, I'm going to step out of that comfort zone.
Speaker 2:I know a lot about romance or fantasy or whatever that might be. Maybe you write thrillers and I know a lot about that, but it would be really interesting to see my perspective on this and something else, something different, because we're all going to tell a story different and especially if it's a new genre to us, we're going to tell it different and maybe it feels like, when you write that, like the first time you've ever written a book, it might look like it too. You might reread it and it might look like those first books that you wrote and you might go oh no, this is not for me, but at least you tried. There's no harm in it. And you've grown now by doing that and your craft has grown. So, no matter what, you are actually gaining something from doing that. So I love it.
Speaker 1:I'm all for it. Go for it. Whatever you want to write Amazing. I love that. That is amazing wisdom. Well, I would love for you to share how people can get in touch with you and find your book, Because obviously that is a very important thing. You sold it to me very well and now I have a thousand more books that I need to read, so I'm very yeah, I would love to hear the details.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I am on most social medias, mostly Instagram and TikTok somewhat, but you can find me at Whitney Writes Stuff on Instagram and threads. And then TikTok you'll find me Whitney Welsh Gibbs, and I also have a website, whitney Gibbs Author, that you can see all the stuff. Look at everything I'm working on and what I've already published and my books you can find pretty much anywhere Amazon, barnes, noble indie bookstores you can find it there. You know if they sell books, I'm pretty much on their shelves, so you can find it there. You know, if they sell books, I'm pretty much on their shelf, so you can find me there amazing.
Speaker 1:Well, everything will be linked in the show notes so it'll be super easy for people to click through and find you and follow along on your journey, and it was lovely chatting with you. I feel like I just yeah, so pumped. I love chatting to other authors and just hearing their, their journey and their stories. I get so excited for it. Yes, I've had like the best time talking to you amazing.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for listening to today's episode and if you really loved this author, I highly encourage you to go check out their links and comment and share their work because, let's be real, as an indie author, all that stuff makes such a difference. And if you're feeling a little stuck on your draft and just want some gentle accountability, check out my one-to-one offers that are linked in the show notes as well. I'd love to support you with your writing or editing journey and if that's not quite where you're at, I've also put together a really amazing free resource to help with taking your writing to the next level, because there are so many amazing resources available without needing to spend a ton of money or get that MFA or all of the things that you may think that you need in order to write a book. Until next time, keep writing your way and trust yourself enough to tell your story, because I promise, if it's coming to you, there's a reason and someone needs to hear it.
