Book Shop Chats:

How A Scientist-Turned-Novelist Blends Tarot With Murder And Mystery with A.L Sterling

• Season 2 • Episode 7

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We cozy up with A.L. Sterling to explore Forseyth Conservatory, a dark academia gothic mystery where tarot, science, and an anxious heroine collide.

Official Blurb:

Dahlia Blackburne is a failing bookstore keeper and Tarot reader who relies on deductive reasoning—not magick—to cast her fortunes. When a stranger calling himself the Meister walks into her shop after closing and offers three times her normal rate for a reading, curiosity and her growing debts compel her to accept.

But the reading reveals that the Meister has a far more dangerous proposition: infiltrate Foresyth Conservatory, an elite occult arts graduate school, and investigate the alleged suicide of brilliant but troubled student, Julian Earhardt.

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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. 

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Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!

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SPEAKER_01:

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 peaks of what it 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 craft, I would love to chat to you about developmental editing. It is my favorite thing. I love supporting authors in bringing their story to life. You can find all of the details in the show notes. 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 A.L. Sterling. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

Hi guys. I'm so excited to be on.

SPEAKER_01:

I am excited. I am here for this energy. It's very gloomy and rainy today, so it feels a little fallish, uh, which works well because um your your book is it kind of got that moody, moody vibe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um this is my favorite type of weather, actually.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. Yeah, I live in the Pacific Northwest, so like rain is our like friend. Uh, I love it. Everybody complains about it, but I'm like, this is why our trees are so green and I like the forest smells so good, is because it's raining.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like when you have gloom outside, it gives you permission to stay inside and write or read. And I love that I love I love when the universe gives me permission to ignore everything else and do what I want.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. So so amazing. Well, I would like to dive right in and have you share a little bit about your book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. So it's called Forseth Conservatory. Um, it's coming out this October. It's a dark academia, murder mystery, gothic horror. It's got uh by chaos, tarot-based magic, um, all of the, you know, kind of hidden, hidden magic system, hidden daggers, um, and a very anxious main character. So I think a lot of people will see themselves in her in her ability to, you know, kind of try to find um science in the magic, and vice versa. So it's it's a very fun descent into madness.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. I am so here for that.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I'm very excited because this main character, she's very analytical. Um, and so that's how she does her tarot readings. Like, she doesn't believe in magic. And so she just like Sherlock Holmes does the tarot readings by like perceiving all these small things about people. Um, but then the story obviously is like her going to this conservatory and like kind of perceiving magic around her, but not believing it. And it's it's her like slow descent into like the fracture of her reality, the fracture of like science and logic that she's held so dearly for so long. So it's very exciting.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's so cool. I am like, I'm really here for this sort of like it's not a genre that I typically read, but I'm getting like more and like dabble. It's such a a different energy, and I feel like perfect timing with it like going into the fall, right? You've got that very like, I mean, naturally, that's what people are gonna want to read. So I like I love that. I get so like uh mind blown with these wild worlds and and stuff that authors create because I'm like, this came from your your brain, like you had this in your head, and you're like, look, I made these, I made up these people and they do things.

SPEAKER_00:

It came from my trauma.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. That yeah, that also that like that's definitely a big part of writing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I've always been an academic, so I love this season of like back to school with like the crispy notebooks and like the you know, the fresh clothes, like a little blazer that makes you feel like you're excited to go back to school and like to learn. So uh I I just I always embrace that energy. I love like the fall is a new beginning to me. Like the fall is kind of the new year. Um, so I'm excited for people to read this during that time and kind of you know be on this ride with Dolly as she like goes to school for uh the first time too.

SPEAKER_01:

So I'd love to hear a little bit about like how you started writing. I always find this fascinating to hear like just where, yeah, where how that writing, how writing, I guess, became part of your life.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh well, it's always been an obsession. I wouldn't even call it a hobby. Um, I think it to be a writer for me, like my obsession has been the fuel for it. Um I also feel like I, you know, I came from like a first generation background. So my parents were immigrants. Uh, we just like didn't have a lot of means. And so like I didn't have all the fancy extracurriculars that my friends had, but I did have a computer and a blank page. And so that was kind of my ability to um, you know, live in these lavish worlds or like um experience wealth, but like the way that I created it was through my stories and through my world. So I've always been like the weird kid, like on her computer, just like you know, making a MySpace or whatever, like building worlds. Um, and so I started writing when I was really young. Um, I think my first story I I actually found this in like a a trunk not too long ago. It was like I and it has like the staples, it's like the torn-out notebook paper, and it was like from third grade, and I it was a murder mystery, and I was like, Are you serious? And it's about this like uh undercover health inspector going to like uh figure out like what's going on at a school because like kids keep dying. I'm like, how did I write this at third grade? I have been this disturbed for as long as I can remember.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. I love yeah, it's just it's so cool to see that. Like, I feel like especially as kids, there's this sort of like untamed, like you don't have all of the like belief systems fully anchored in. So there's that ability to like play in your imagination more, which is really cool to see that like just what you create and like how you process the world. I feel like that's a really cool like writing is such a great tool for that. I I feel like of just like getting all of that noise out of your head and onto paper, and it becomes these like wild stories.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, for sure. The wild part, especially because you're you're like unbounded, right? Like, and then it's only when you grow up and you have all this like societal conditioning that you're like, wait, I can only do this one thing, right? Yeah, um, and then you know it's like the paradox of success. You become, you know, you have a major in college, you have a job, and then that keeps getting you confined into a box. But for me, being a writer has always like given me the ability to deconstruct those boxes and think about like, oh, actually, like I can be anything, I can be anyone, um, because I I'm a writer, you know. So that's that's sort of fun.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. That's yeah, it's so cool to like just challenge those yeah, those beliefs. I feel like it's just I I feel that deeply. Maybe it's like the Aquarius in me of like, what I don't like those uh rules. Like that's yeah, like I don't like why do we have to do these things? So I feel like writing is such a great way to just like kind of break that. And like also I feel like storytelling by nature is what really connects us um as like a society. So like bringing that in with like so many like different cultures that were that's kind of they were like oral, like oral cultures. So they like told all these stories. So it's really cool to see you know just that connection that these stories cultivate, whether they are like you know fiction or wild fantasy or whatever, there's still that shred of like humanness. Yeah. Absolutely neat.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like the the universal human archetypes, which is yeah, um, you know, that's the whole point of tarot, is like we see ourselves in those mirrors of these uh all these different stories, right? Um, and so that that's one of the main reasons that like I was drawn to tarot is like through that storytelling perspective. And it's it's been so cool to like incorporate it in my book and like explore, you know, how how can we think about this as like a magic system, right? Because the the history of tarot is like so uh ambiguous, like people don't it started as like a parlor game, I think, in Italy, but you know, people have appropriated it in different cultures and different ways, and so it's it's interesting to see its evolution and to be able to like actually create a cohesive soft magic system with it and to embed like other philosophies of like Gnosticism and like ceremonial magic, I think was really was really fun to me. And but the heart of it is all about like the stories, right? Of like I see myself as the hero, I see myself as the fool, as the emperor, the empress. Like we can embody all of these different energies, right, through tarot and through our stories.

SPEAKER_01:

Such a amazing way of looking at it. I'd love to hear how this story came to be. I always find that really fascinating of how these like stories like you know come come into our world. So I would love to hear how this, how how you came up with this, because it's like wildly, like, wildly different, wildly like unique and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think um, well, I was in graduate school when an idea came to me. And so like the whole dark academia um trend, I feel like was was really hot when I was in grad school, and then I felt so seen reading those books and being like, oh, like others are also obsessed with like this idea of intellectualism and like descending into madness, like alongside with your craft. Like, I I was that person. I was in the lab for like 12 plus hours a day, like literally going crazy. Like reading those books just made me feel so seen, and I was like, oh, like other people are just as obsessed with this idea of like knowledge seeking as I am. Um, so I I read The Secret History by Donna Tart, and you know, that's that's canon for dark academia, and I was hooked immediately. I was like, wow, it's got murder, it's got found family, it's got these like um, you know, kind of vibes, like cult vibes. Um, and I just I I just immediately fell in love with the genre and I was like, I really want to write something in this modality. And it was funny because I started um so I did this like book incubator program. Um, I think it was called, I think it was called the Book Creators Program. This was in 2021, um with Eric Costner. And uh so in that program, you're you have a cohort and you're essentially like paired with a developmental editor, which was the key part of it. I I stand for developmental editors, they are doing God's work. Um, it was it was such a great experience because I was writing, you know, my hot garbage, and my developmental editor would give me live feedback of like, oh hey, like, you know, this I need to see more of her like fears and desires on the page, like I need more internalization. Um, or you know, they helped us understand like uh chapter structures of how each chapter should be like its own mini story. Um, and just like all of these kind of rules that nobody teaches you about writing. Um, I was taught in this book incubators program, and so I ended up with a draft after that. Um, I think it was about like 60k words, uh, but I was like still like in my middle, so I was like, this isn't I have to rewrite this. So after that program, I took a like a year off because I was writing my dissertation and just writing scientifically and then writing creatively at the same time was just really disorienting. So I was like, I'm just gonna finish this work. Um, and then I did that, and um, yeah, I defended my dissertation and that one great. Um, but then you know, like as I plugged back into the matrix and like, you know, a normal life, I was like, wait, I'm really missing that fictional world that I started building. So a year later, um, I opened it back up and I was like looking through the comments and and really trying to think of like, okay, what is the heart of this story? Like, what am I trying to say, right? And I and I think that's like the key of, you know, at least to me as a writer, is like any book or any work, like I have a message, right? And it's like, how can I convey this message through life, right? Through events that happen, because that's the best way that we learn is like through experiences, right? So um I was trying to figure out my message, and then I was like, oh, it's this like conflict that I have of like my intuition versus my scientific mind. Like that was part of it, right? Because as a scientist in my former life, I was always um, you know, ostracized by my beliefs in magic or my beliefs in spirituality, or even this like idea of feminine intuition being, you know, um lower than like this uh patriarchal logic and institutions of like academic learning. And so it's like, okay, this is my message. I figure that out. And once I had that, it was a lot easier for me to go in and rewrite that draft because I was like, okay, everything has to lead back to this.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Oh gosh, I love that. I feel like that's such a great way of like approaching. And I feel like too, like we were chatting before we hit record, like there's so much that goes into storytelling that you don't realize. And that's something like, I mean, I'm also a developmental editor, so but I'm so close to my own work that like I miss all of that. Like I just can't see it, right? So being able to have somebody to come in and be like, oh, like this is an important piece of the puzzle. Like, you really want to like cultivate that sort of like um emotion, like ultimately it's that emotional connection that you're building um with the characters so that your readers are like, I can't put this down, like I need to know what's happening. So I feel like that's such a great, like a great way of like just committing to learning, I think, really is what it comes down to, is just like letting yourself play um as you're writing and really like trusting yourself to write the story. Um, and knowing that like it's not gonna be like the bestseller right out of the gate. And you get better the more you keep showing up. And I think you made a great point of like figuring out like what the core message is of the story. Like, I feel like that's such a great way of like how like is everything tying back into that and does that like weave throughout, and how might it shift from like the beginning to the end as she grows? And I think that's such a cool way of like this sort of like blend of that sort of like scientific meets like intuition the unseen because there's so much that we don't know, and I feel like when you like ride either side too extreme, you miss out on so much magic, right? Like, I feel like they both hold like they both kind of like help each other, so it's really cool to put that into a book and to see a character kind of like figure that out and like uh probably lose themselves in the process because that's part of the fun when you're writing, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think uh and also you know, I think for for every story, there like for me as a writer, I want to embed some of like my learnings, right? And my life learnings into into my books that you know, maybe others don't have to go through the same thing that I went through to get to that realization. Um, but you know, for me it's like for so long I clung to this idea that there was like this one right answer and that it existed outside of myself, right? Yes, but like all the answers were stored in books or in you know through experimentation and like it was all out there and like not nothing was inside of me, like this knowing wasn't good enough. Um, and so that's what I really strive to do was like, oh, actually, tarot is a tool through like it's a tool that exists external out of me, but it is a mirror that I can reflect back and say internally, what are my answers? Right. So that's like a really cool thing with tarot is that it it exists outside of ourselves, but it also is within all of us, those answers.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that's it's I love that. And I think that's so true, like with all kind of like aspects, even like the creative process of this sort of like yes, there are like structure when it comes to like storytelling, but it's not like set in stone. So you get to like learn this stuff so that you can do it your way and like play and and all that. Because I feel that sometimes it can feel a little daunting when you first start writing of like, oh my gosh, like I need to do this, I need to hit that. Like, what if I don't have this like the plot point? What if I don't follow the 5x structure? What if I do the three X or like all of this like noise? So I'd love to hear how you kind of like I guess navigated that kind of part of the writing process.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, I think rules are meant to be broken. I love rules, don't get me wrong. As a scientist and somebody who had to follow many, many lab procedures, I love rules. I think they're there for good reasons, you know, like either to keep us safe or to, you know, give us predictability so that the reader can have like the emotional uh reaction and satisfaction that they are craving from books, right? Uh, but I also think that there's always place to like subvert expectations. Um, but you should do that in ways that are meaningful and intentional and have also like a purpose, right? Because you I think for me, writing has been the biggest exercise in empathy because I have to always think about what is my reader feeling in this moment, right? Because there's my experience of writing it, and I can feel a certain way about it, right? Like I would love to go pages and pages of world building and lore and all this stuff, but then you have to go outside of yourself and be like, okay, wait, as a third-party person who has never met any of these characters or been in this world, why would they care? Why should they care? Right? Like, that's the question that I always ask myself when I'm like developmental editing or beta reading for other people. I'm like, okay, like, do I care about this yet? Right? Yes. And that's the question. The question is yet, right? Because there will come a point where I want to know everything. I want to know what food they're eating, I want to know what the curtains look like. Like, I want to know everything, but you haven't won me over yet, right? Yes. So it's that process of like, it's like a little bit of like dating, right? Where you're trying to entice the other person. You're like, wait, no, actually, you want to care about me uh because I'm giving you all these glimmers of what our life could look like, right? And so the same goes with the book. Um, and so that to me has been kind of um the mindset that I've had with writing is like, okay, like how can I captivate your attention? How can I make you care about this character? Uh, what are like the little things that I need to show you to like make you interested and keep pulling you further along?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that is such a great, like, so on point. I feel like that's ultimately the goal, right? Of writing. Obviously, there's that element of like write for yourself, don't write for an audience, blah, blah, blah. But I think at the end of the day, if you want to share it with readers, there, that's you want them to care about it. And it's it's such the dating analogy is such a great one because that's really what is pulling people in, right? Like you're like teasing and like uh like showing glimmers of the character, and you want to make sure that you're showing kind of the right, like putting their best foot forward in the beginning, and then like showing a little bit of mess, but like not too much, and and that sort of like really like that dance. Um, and it's really cool to see that. Like, I feel like that's how I'm gonna start end up looking, like looking at all of the books that I read now, like, oh, like this is like the first date kind of energy, but it's so true, and that's like uh I feel like it creates more fun too, like it it takes a little bit of pressure off of them. Like you just get to think of it from a really like neutral way. Cause I think sometimes people kind of are like, Oh, I have to people have to like it, or like, what if they hate it? Like, but that's not really the goal. That's not the goal. You want them to feel something, so it's that feeling that you want to have like I want them to go on this journey with these characters, and I'm gonna like do this like my hardest to make sure that that happens.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, the feeling is definitely uh I I think the most important part, right? Because as a reader, that's what I want. I want feelings that's when I read. I don't, yes, like I love reading for information as well, trust me. But um, if I'm reading fiction, it's because I want to experience something new. So I love that. Also on the point about like um, you know, wanting everybody to to fall in love with you. I think that that's fair, but it's also like the same with dating. It's like it's a two-way street, right? Yeah, and so you're not gonna be for everybody. And I think that's something I've had to come to terms with as an author. It's like there are gonna be people that are gonna hate my book, but like it has nothing to do with me, my credibility, or my self-worth. It's all about their experience, right? And if it's if they don't want to date my book, then that's perfectly fine. There are so many good books out there, and I truly believe that life is way too short to spend on a book that you're not in love with. So I don't blame you. If you want to pass and go go date another book, like that's totally fine. But you know, there is going to be a reader out there that they are gonna fall in love with my story, and that's who I'm writing for.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, I love that. I feel like that's such a great way of looking at it because it is hard, it's scary, like it's a very vulnerable experience to share your work with, you know, other people, right? Like the world, you're putting it out there knowing that there are people that are gonna be like, I hate this. I can't believe you wrote it. Like, and it just generally, yeah, that's just the nature of the art, right? Like, um, so it's like to to really like anchor in that like like inner knowing and trust that like I did my best, and the people who are meant to read it are gonna find it is just such a great way of yeah, looking at this sort of process. Cause I feel like within any sort of art, like the rejection is part of it. Um, and like we routinely subject ourselves to that, like as as artists, as writers, of like somebody's gonna be like, yeah, no, this isn't this isn't it. So that can be a really big scary thing, I feel like for a lot of people, um, especially like new writers. Like it, I feel like it takes time to like build that conf confidence. It's not quite it's ever going to feel great, but I feel like you're you have that ability to kind of separate yourself from it.

SPEAKER_00:

I for me coming into writing, um, you know, I've I I've had to deal with a lot of rejection throughout life, you know, in other aspects, like even scientific rejection. Like my first paper that I published in graduate school, it it was desk rejected. Um, and it was, you know, I cried, I was so sad about it. And but then I just went and I challenged myself to be better. I did more experiments, I made it better. And then the next year I submitted it and it won a best paper award. So you never know. Things happen like that all the time. You just you only fail when you when you stop trying. Yes. Really what I believe.

SPEAKER_01:

Definitely. I think that's so true. And like the more you show up and create, like, it's gonna hit eventually. And I think sometimes we can get stuck on that, like, well, if it doesn't hit right off the gate, like we must be doing something wrong. But like you look at all of these like authors that are, you know, bestsellers or whatever, and I think sometimes we forget about how many books that they have had published in the world before this one like TikTok lost its mind over, right? So um it it's just that like constantly kind of reminding myself and then other people of like take the pressure off. It's okay. Like it's meant to there's meant to be some fun and joy. Obviously, some crying because are you a writer if you're not crying at some point when you're writing your book, but um like you want to enjoy it and have fun and like like get to know the characters and like that. I feel like it's that escape that you're you're you're creating as you're writing, which I think is just such a magical thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, I I a hundred percent agree. I think that's why I started off by saying it was an obsession. Um, if this was something that I could just quit easily, I totally would have because it hurts, right? All of it hurts, but I do it because like I just have to, right? And it's I get so much enjoyment out of writing like the the chills that I feel, like the free gen when I like create art and then like internalize it and and it helps me like process my traumas, it helps me understand myself better as a person, helps me understand society, the world at large. Like I get so much fulfillment out of the act that I like, yes, I I I want to be a bestseller, I want people to love my work, but you know, like you really fundamentally have to love what you're doing, especially in an industry that is so critical and um rejection filled. So um yeah, just do it because you're obsessed and because there's literally nothing else that you want to do as much.

SPEAKER_01:

So true, so true. Um, well, now obviously the book is done. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about like how things have been now that it's like we're gearing up for the publishing, the marketing, that side of stuff. Because I feel like often um it's it's a lot. Uh that seems to be across the board what a lot of the authors I chat with have said. They're like, oh my God, like I didn't know I had to do all of the things. Um, so I would love to hear like just maybe how you make it like work for you, like how you bring like a little bit of lightness to like social media and marketing and all of that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, totally. Um, full disclosure, I did quit my corporate job to Indy to publish my book because it is so much work. Like you said, it's uh it's not a joke, right? And so, and I knew that I wanted to do it right and I wanted to put all of my heart and soul into it because it's you know, it's a dream. It's something that I wanted to do ever since I was a kid. So um I I made that leap um in uh in June, and you know, I was like, I want to attend writers' conferences, I want to network with people, um, I want to take my social media strategy seriously. Um, and you know, being a a business consultant. So after my scientific journey, I became a business strategy consultant. And so that was really helpful because it's like, okay, now like I can use my experience to think about like the business of publishing and the business of marketing. Um, and so that has definitely been helpful because I I sat down, I created a plan for myself, but you know what I said about rules. Yes. So obviously, you know, I've I've amended things as I've gone, but I've learned so much. And the best part, honestly, has been connecting with readers and connecting with my community. Um, I I started a street team pretty early on, and now I have like 50 members in my street team, and we call we call it the cult servitory. Um, and I I just went full ham on marketing it as a cult, and people love it. Like we they, you know, we as humans, we want to be a part of something like secretive, we want to be a part of something exclusive, and that that is kind of like the allure. It's like, oh, we have like this insight or information that not everybody does, right? And so um that that's just been really fun and kind of getting to um, you know, showcase like my dark humor and you know, my very like sardonic way of like communicating about like existentialism and all these like darker topics that are less palatable in the real world. I feel like I can just be my full self on the internet and and with my street team, and they have just taken it and they've ran with it. So we with my street team, we've been able to get. like 300 ARC readers signed up. So it's been it's been crazy and and so fulfilling and just having these conversations with them about you know books or media like tonight we're doing a watch party for Wednesday like on my Discord. So it is just like I didn't expect to have so much community and and feel like there's this whole group of people that are rooting for my success. I I love them so much and I I just hope they have the best experience reading my book because I wrote it for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Ah yes I feel like that's the key of like cultivating community um and just like building that connection whether it's readers or authors or just like in general because it is such a lonely journey I feel like when you're writing um so to be able to have people that you know share that kind of like passion about your book or the art is so like so foundational. And I feel like it just it helps with like the creativity too. Like I feel like I just like feel so reinvigorated connecting with people in that kind of way and we're like ah like this is like this is real. Like this is exciting. This is like tangible um so that's like so freaking cool. I I yeah I think that that's such a great great way of looking at it. Um because it's always that's always what I'm thinking of like I want community and collaboration and that's like that that just you never know when that's gonna come in and like be like a great way like a networking asset down the road to like and just and same with like for you connecting with other authors or writers like you never know and like to be able to share someone's book that you're like I think this would be a perfect fit for you and like with someone doing that for you like it's just like that's that's the stuff that just makes magic.

SPEAKER_00:

No totally and you know like it it's so wild like I didn't think I would have so many new friends along this journey but like I really truly feel like you know my my street team like they're my friends and I've connected with so many authors that are now like my peers and it's just it's so exciting to be in this together because I really don't believe that like it's only success is only reserved for one person. It like success can be shared like everybody can be successful in their own ways. So I love embracing that I love um uplifting like other uh young writers and you know just just being a part of this crazy journey called life together I think has been um really rewarding and I think for me I I love elements of like bringing stories to life like very vividly and um I love like interactive theater and um like I I love hosting murder mysteries and things like that. And so the ability for me to like bring Forsyth to life through like a street team or even like my interactive story box like and giving people the the the feeling of like being so immersed in it that like they're a part of it and kind of maybe losing grip with reality a little bit like that's what I aim to do.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that I think that's so cool and and too like you never know who you're gonna inspire like along the way of like this might be the spark for them to write a story or whatever. And I think that's so I think the more of us that are in touch with like and embrace that sort of like quirky creativity like the world's just gonna be a better place when we just like let down those like masks and like just be ourselves. And I think that's something that like we're all craving that but we're all like there's that fear of like oh like people are gonna think I'm nuts. Like right like oh yeah like I can't do this. But I think like these stories and and like communities like the you're creating just kind of give people that permission to be like I want to get permission for everybody to be a weirdo. Like that's yes right I feel like the world is just much it's more fun that way than like oh like it's just so stressful and constricting when you're like I need to like be like proper and follow these like really silly rules and stuff. It's way more fun to like unmask and like let your weirdo out. Yes yes I stand for that amazing well I would love for you to share how people can follow along on your journey and obviously get their hands on your book because that's definitely going to be like top priority.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah no absolutely I would love that I would love to stay connected um so my website is alsterlingauthor.com you can pre-order my book uh directly through my website um and I am really active on Instagram so if you want to follow me there it's a dotlsterling and uh yeah let's see I I'm popping up in different bookshops um around Charlotte North Carolina so if you are local uh definitely come visit me I'm gonna be at Fred June's um well I don't know when this is coming out but I will be there on Halloween day for signing. So if you want to get your spooky copy of Forsythe conservatory signed maybe in blood maybe not you can come to Fred and June's in Morrisville. But yeah I would love to see you and stay connected.

SPEAKER_01:

Yay awesome well everything will be linked in the show notes and I'll make sure to highlight any um dates uh for events and such so that you know people can meet in person because that's always a cool thing to do when you're like oh like you wrote this book and like you're here uh I kind of like it's such a it's kind of like a nerd my my nerd is like yes this is like so cool. Um but it was lovely chatting with you. I feel like I I learned a lot as I always do um and yeah I'm really I'm very excited about this book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yay I'm so excited I hope you read it Victoria hope you love it.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. I would love if you would leave a review and also if you loved the author that we chatted with go find them on social media and hype them up comment on their stuff share their work. Even if you can't buy the book these kind of things are great ways of supporting indie authors and getting their book in front of new readers. And if you are a writer or author in need of a developmental editor please reach out. I would love to chat everything is linked in the show notes and it would be an absolute honor to be able to get eyes on your novel. So thanks again and listen to the next episode

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Victoria Hopkins

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