A few months back, I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the Angie & Christie Write Now podcast, and the episode is finally out! Give it a listen when you get the chance.
If you peruse their channel, you’ll find other cool interviews, Q&As and book recommendations from various authors as well. So you can start by listening to me yammer, then dive into the backlist. Backlisten? That’s a word now, I just decided.
Your keen eyes may also detect the Strong Women, Strange Worlds logo in the above image. They’re an organization dedicated to showcasing women and nonbinary authors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They host regular virtual live readings, with a few coming up quite soon! Check them out as well.
Starting today, aka Giving Tuesday, WriteHive is holding their 2025 Silent Auction fundraiser!
I have three things up for bidding. You can get a 30-minute coaching call with me, where we can talk about whatever writing, publishing or career things you’d like. Or, if you want a signed/personalized book, you can bid on a copy of either Where Peace Is Lost or Witch You Would.
WriteHive is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping writers achieve their goals. They have a variety of events and programs dedicated towards that purpose, including free virtual conventions and a year-round Discord.
All money raised will go directly to funding operations, allowing their volunteers to bring more opportunities to the writing community. You can win signed books, manuscript critiques, bookish merch, and other cool stuff.
Time flies, much like a cartoon Elizabeth Montgomery on her broomstick. It’s been a million years since Witch You Would was announced, but now merely a single week remains until it comes out. To celebrate the release, join me on my Twitch channel on September 2nd at 9pm ET as I read from the book, answer questions, and have a secret surprise giveaway.
Even when writers are writing about characters who are very different from ourselves, there are often still some core elements that, intentionally or subconsciously, reflect parts of us. We may not be holding up a full-length mirror, but we may be peering into a warped funhouse glass that exaggerates some qualities and minimizes others. We may be crafting silhouette portraits, or caricatures, or the darkest timeline versions of ourselves. We may even be Frankensteining parts together to create new wholes.
The two main characters in Witch You Would reflect a lot of my anxieties, and the ones I see in people around me. The fear of failure, of screwing up and not being able to fix it. The fear of being authentically yourself, only to be rejected because of who you are or aren’t. The fear of being stuck in the same dead-end grind with no way to improve your life. These are people who want to do more and be more, become better versions of themselves, and they’ve worked and lucked into having that chance—but it’s still not guaranteed, and that scares them.
So many people today don’t have the same opportunities, and are just getting by as best they can. We take risks, we hustle, we’re told we can do anything and be anything, and then reality kicks our asses. It’s a very millennial experience, I think, and one that younger generations are growing up in, maybe not realizing things weren’t always like this. And they don’t have to be, but there’s only so much we can individually do. We still keep trying, though, and passing around the hat with the same twenty bucks inside.
People who know me and my husband may also notice some shared elements in the romance and the vibe between the characters. I’m the overthinker who makes lists and nerds out about random stuff, my husband is the goofy performer always ready to drop a bad pun… and vice versa, to a certain extent. When high school superlatives were handed out, we were both voted Funniest; we’ve both made each other do a spit take, more than once. His task lists can get longer than mine, and he’s been known to go on deep research dives when buying a product the same way I do when I’m trying to get some tiny detail right in a book. But in the end, we’re a team. He’s definitely the one with the outrageous mustache, though.
Penelope and Gil both also feel responsible for continuing the legacy of their grandparents, in their own ways. The story of Penelope’s family in particular, especially who her abuela was and what she was like, is drawn from my own family history. My abuela lied about her age to get an education, worked her way through nursing school, and kept working even after she married a doctor and could have become a housewife instead. She supported our family when they emigrated from Cuba, and was a school nurse until she retired.
I have so many good memories of sitting in the kitchen, listening to her sing off-key while she cooked, learning how to make rice and beans or packing Cuban coffee into the cafetera. Watching her stick toothpicks through avocado seeds and coaxing them into sprouting on the windowsill. Like Penelope, I still have one of her cookbooks. Losing her to dementia was a long, slow journey that hurts to remember because of how vibrant she always was, and how she shrank into herself, that color and joy seeping away and fading. Writing a version of her into this book lets me remember the happy times, the bright times, as well as the sadder ones.
I could say more—about friendships, and siblings, and film people, and cafecitos, about kitchen fires and botanical gardens and the “real” Miami in all its myriad forms—but I should probably leave some things for you to discover when you read the book. You won’t have to wait much longer!
Did you miss the last Goodreads giveaway of Witch You Would advance print copies? Good news! There’s another one happening until July 27th! It’s US only, alas, sorry international folks.
As always, if you’re a book blogger who wants a copy, or you want to interview me about this book (or any of my others), feel free to reach out!
I’ve been working hard on the sequel to this, which is kind of a weird way to live whenever I stop to think about it. As people are reading this book that hasn’t even come out yet, I’m off in a whole other story that tangentially involves the same characters, but isn’t about them anymore. It’s like I’m driving, and I’m way ahead of everyone else, but I keep trying to watch what’s happening in the rear view mirror, too.
Until Friday, July 11th, Rewards program members get 25% off all pre-orders, and Premium members get another 10% off. You have to order online and use the code PREORDER25 for this magical discount to take effect.
It’s been exciting and scary to see reviews coming in for this. I try not to read them as a rule, but I am weak and this is a new genre for me. I want everyone to love my goofy nerds as much as I do! But not every book is for every reader, and that’s okay, too.
On that note, Witch You Would isn’t the only book on sale, so this is a good time to get any other upcoming releases you’re excited to read. Drop any recommendations in the comments!
There’s a writing concept that I’ve seen people describe in a few different ways. The one I repeat the most, which I learned from my friend Jay Wolf, is, “Yelling so the people in the cheap seats can hear you.” Another, via Bree and Donna of Kit Rocha, is “dropping the anvil.” Yet another, more distant but still related concept, is “writing for the second screen*.”
What do I mean by all these things?
When you’re trying to convey something essential to the reader, you have to make sure they pick up what you put down. If you don’t, they may get confused or upset or disengage from the story.
Everyone reads differently, and it can vary by day or mood or a million little things. Some readers—friend Jay calls them “close readers”—catch subtle hints, innuendos and subtexts and casual references that are mentioned once and never again.
Others—call them “loose readers”—aren’t reading as carefully, for any of many reasons: they’re tired, they’re speed-reading, they keep getting distracted or interrupted, there’s a lag between reading days or times. Still others are skimming, scanning, reading mostly the dialogue, skipping to the saucy bits.
Because everyone is reading your work differently, it’s worth—within reason—finding ways to accommodate those differences as you write, to make sure as many people as possible are getting the essentials.
You yell so the people way in the back of the theater can hear you, not just the ones in the front row. You drop the anvil so the people who didn’t notice your more delicate hints are sure to spot that one. You use techniques that allow the people experiencing your work like it’s a second screen—multitasking, being interrupted, surrounded by noise—to catch what’s important instead of missing it.
A prime example comes from my new book, Witch You Would. Multiple readers have asked the same question: can anyone in this world do magic?
The short answer is: yes! It’s mentioned on page two, quoted in the section below, in which a customer is being nasty:
So if the answer is right there (and in a couple of other places), how did so many people miss it?
Because I didn’t yell it for the cheap seats.
What are some ways to accomplish this? A few ideas:
Repetition. If you only say a thing once, some people are sure to miss it. If you repeat it a few times, in different ways, each repetition increases the odds that more people will catch it instead of having it whoosh past them.
Clarity. The more obvious and direct you are about saying a thing, the more likely it will be that people understand it. Don’t only be ambiguous, or subtle, or sneaky: say it loud and proud somehow, somewhere. Drop that anvil.
Placement. Where you say a thing can make a huge difference in how many people notice and remember it. Dropping vital intel at the end of a paragraph, or in the middle of a complex sentence? Might as well hide it under a rock.
Pacing. If you say too many important things all at once, readers may only absorb the first one or two. Spread out your revelations and lore drops. If they’re all anvils, you’re going to give someone a concussion.
These techniques can be especially useful—and extra necessary—if you’re deviating from genre standards and expectations somehow. The more people have particular tropes or concepts entrenched in their subconscious, the harder you have to work to make them understand that you’re doing something different.
Take my example above: readers are primed to expect magic to be hereditary, or granted as a gift or curse by some powerful being or artifact, or have some extremely specific rules system you have to learn. That means I have to repeatedly and clearly say how it actually works in my book, or how are readers expected to know?
This doesn’t mean you can’t do subtle, drop hints not everyone will catch, or let readers read between some lines. There’s so much potential for satisfaction in noticing some bit of foreshadowing that pays off later, or rereading and seeing everything you missed the first time. It’s about conveying the things you think they MUST know so that as many readers as possible will get them.
And if you’re writing books for only the most discerning of palates, readers who can taste all those different flavor notes in your complex wine? That’s okay, too! Knowing your target audience for lets you cater to them accordingly. Are you writing for the smoothie drinkers, or the slow food crowd?
Have any other techniques or tips for how to project and pitch heavy objects at reader heads? Share them in the comments, or drop me an email, or tag me on socials if you’re so inclined!
*Longer explanation of the second screen thing: a lot of TV and film writers are being asked to write in a way that ensures people who are treating their TV as a second screen—as in watching something while also staring at their phone, or working on their computer, or doing something else—are still going to get the gist of what’s happening. This is why sometimes you’ll have, say, a character repeat something another one just said, or describe something you can clearly see on the screen.
Two posts from me in a single week? Inconceivable!
It’s true. First it was the Goodreads giveaway, and now I’m here to give you a heads up about the Barnes & Noble preorder sale. Starting today and ending Friday, April 25th, members of the super secret elite rewards program can get 25% off all preorders using the magic spell word: PREORDER25. If you have been initiated into the inner circle of Premium membership, you get another 10% off. Math tells me that’s a 35% total discount! Inconceivable!
(I keep using that word… I do not think it means what I think it means.)
So go forth and get yourself a preorder for Witch You Would! And grab any other awesome upcoming books in the BN.com store, while you’re there. Future you will be super hyped to get some presents.
Witch You Would has been available on NetGalley and Edelweiss for a while, but last week I got an exciting package in the mail: galley copies, aka advance reader copies!
This is my fifth book, but it’s my first one writing as Lia Amador, and my first romance novel, which means I’m debuting all over again. That makes these galleys even more special to me, because they’re a tangible symbol of this new start.
The last time I got physical advance copies of a book of mine was for Chilling Effect in 2019. Then the pandemic started, everything went down the proverbial toilet along with hoarded toilet paper, and none of my other books ended up having ARCs.
I wasn’t sure whether I’d get any for this book, either. Without delving too deeply into politics, which are deeply exhausting at the best of times, many companies in different industries are dealing with import issues. Publishing seems okay for now, but who knows where we’ll be tomorrow, or next week, or next month.
But! I’m celebrating this win, because I try to celebrate all of them. I got a Costco membership and treated myself to a bottle of margarita wine cooler, then baked some vegan maple oatmeal muffins. It’s the little things.
If you want to win your very own advance print copy of Witch You Would, there’s a Goodreads giveaway happening until May 5th! Avon is giving away 100 copies, so your odds are pretty good. It’s US only, alas, sorry international folks.
If you’re a book blogger who wants a copy, or you want to interview me about this book (or any of my others), feel free to reach out!
If you’re a reviewer, you can now request Witch You Would on NetGalley! Go forth and obtain a copy, and may the odds be ever in your favor. I do not have any power over who gets approved or denied, but if you have trouble, maybe I can put in a good word for you? Let me know!
I find it adorable that there’s a trope list included on the page. My book tropes are:
fake dating
secret admirers
enemies to lovers
mistaken identity
grumpy sunshine
It’s funny because I wouldn’t have thought “enemies to lovers” and “grumpy sunshine” applied… I feel like it’s more “reluctant allies to lovers” or at least one-sided enemies? But I can see it. The grumpy sunshine totally works, though. I can’t think of many examples where the woman is the grumpy one in the pair, and I think that unconscious bias kept me from noticing what was obvious to my editor. Hopefully folks who love these tropes will enjoy how they’ve manifested here.
I have no idea when reviews are going to start happening, but since we still have a bit over eight months before the book appears on store shelves, I imagine we’re in for a long wait. Stuff that’s coming out sooner takes priority, and for good reason.
And speaking of waiting, I keep waiting for the point in my career at which the idea of people reading my book won’t hammer on my nerves like a button masher playing Street Fighter. That point has not yet arrived, and I suspect it never will. As the wise ones say, your problems don’t go away as you level up, they level up with you.
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available!
One of the challenges of being a traditionally published author is that sometimes you have to sit on things for a while and wait until you can share them. The cover for Witch You Would is one of those things.
When cover talks started with my editor, I did SO much research. My friends (and maybe some of my enemies) can tell you I had color-coded collections of other contemporary fantasy romance books to use as visual aids. No, seriously, behold:
This is just one example. I had… several.
The more art you see, the more you notice the clear trends. I offered my editor a few different ideas for potential cover designs based on all this research, and the artist, Jess Miller, totally delivered with an extremely cute initial sketch.
I requested some tweaks, which is not always a thing authors can do—and if they do, it may not actually happen. In this case, Gil didn’t have his signature fake mustache, and Penelope was missing her also-signature space buns, so I asked to pretty please have those included if possible. It also didn’t feel like the reality TV show elements were strong enough, so I asked for a slate to be included to get more of that vibe up front. Finally, I asked if their clothes could match, because that’s a thing that keeps happening to the characters throughout the book, so it would be nice to also have on the art.
Would the cover have been bad or wrong without these changes? Nope! It still rocked. But having them integrated really made this feel like the cover for THIS book, if that makes sense. Sometimes it’s those little details that tie the room together.
And then, the title got changed. Ack! So the art had to be updated yet again. Artists: they get the job done. Pay them. It’s worth it.
But now, at long last, everything is finished and ready and I can finally, FINALLY share the cover! Without further ado, here it is!
I keep looking at this and smiling! It’s such a delight. Gil’s awful shirt and safety goggles, Penelope’s apron and confrontational crossed arms, the smooching outline in the cauldron smoke… The vibes, they are immaculate.
You can preorder the book now at the store of your choosing, and have a happy surprise waiting for you when it comes out on September 2nd. If you’re a reviewer, stay tuned for ARC information as it becomes available.
