🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where prophecies are taken dangerously literally, magical amulets can burn the wrong person alive, and the hero destined to save the world may be someone everyone overlooks.

This week, host Bethany Amanda and Mythic Mic Rep Teresa Diaz sit down with bestselling fantasy author Alyssa Day to discuss Nobody’s Quest, the first installment in The Nobody Chronicles. 

Alyssa shares her journey from high-stakes trial lawyer to full-time author, writing everything from romantic comedy and paranormal mysteries to bestselling Atlantis romances. She opens up about publishing fantasy romance before “romantasy” had a name, persevering through the unpredictable publishing industry, and why aspiring authors should protect their creativity, ignore trends, and write the stories they genuinely love.

We also dive into Nobody’s Quest, where indentured library servant Soli is chosen for a deadly mission after a sorceress interprets the prophecy “nobody can defeat the goddess of war” literally. Alongside a kingdomless prince and a complicated found family, Soli must cross a dying continent, survive monsters and betrayals, and free an imprisoned goddess before war destroys everyone. Alyssa also discusses writing a heroine with depression who is never magically cured but still gets to become the hero of an epic fantasy adventure.

📚 What happens when a lifelong servant discovers that everything she learned from books may help save the world?
🔥 Can Soli survive an amulet that kills anyone it refuses to accept?
⚔️ And how do you complete a quest when nearly everyone beside you is hiding the truth?

This is a must-listen for epic fantasy and romantasy readers, found-family fans, lovers of dangerous quests and complicated princes, and anyone who has longed to see a heroine with mental illness save the world without needing to be “fixed” first.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Alyssa’s journey from trial lawyer to bestselling fantasy author.
✨ Growing up around the world, military-family life, and rescuing an army of dogs.
✨ Writing across romantic comedy, paranormal mystery, fantasy romance, and YA.
✨ Creating fantasy romance before the publishing industry embraced romantasy.
✨ The Atlantis-inspired Warriors of Poseidon series and its return in audio.
✨ Why fantasy has always remained Alyssa’s creative home.
✨ Her advice to aspiring authors on perseverance and protecting vulnerable early drafts.
✨ Why writers do not need to write every day or follow publishing trends.
✨ Soli, an indentured library servant dismissed as a “nobody.”
✨ A prophecy interpreted literally and an amulet that can burn its bearer alive.
✨ Two warring goddesses, a dying country, and an approaching army of monsters.
✨ Prince Caelan, his destroyed kingdom, and the mystery behind his shifting personality.
✨ A thief, sorceress, desert warrior, Sylvan warrior, and soldiers forming an unlikely family.
✨ Using Soli’s reading and knowledge as her greatest source of strength.
✨ Writing depression as part of a heroine’s life rather than the entire story.
✨ Why Soli will never receive a magical cure and why that representation matters.
✨ Found family, one-horse proximity, zombie-apocalypse plans, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Alyssa Day – @AuthorAlyssaDay

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where forbidden magic can get you killed, giant birds choose their riders, and sometimes the girl everyone tried to protect is ready to protect them back.

This week, host Bethany Amanda is joined by Mythic Mic team member Amara for a fun and heartfelt conversation with author KJ Altair about Feathers of Ash and Hope, the first book in the Flameborn series. Feathers of Ash and Hope is a romantasy filled with military academy trials, bird bonding, forbidden magic, hidden identities, and sacrifice.

KJ shares her journey from medical school and trauma surgery training to becoming a self-published fantasy romance author. She opens up about burnout, long hospital shifts, motherhood, the pandemic, and the life-changing moment that made her reconsider how she wanted to spend her time. After stepping away from an unsustainable schedule, she found her way back to stories, first through bedtime tales for her children and then through the book that became Feathers of Ash and Hope. The conversation also dives into the Flameborn series, including why this book will appeal to Mulan lovers and how hope can be found even in the most unlikely places. 

🪽 What happens when a girl immune to magic lives in a kingdom that executes people like her?
🔥 Can joining a deadly military academy help Ara hide her curse and protect her family?
⚔️ And what happens when the centurion watching her every move becomes the person she cannot stay away from?

If you love Mulan energy, bonding trials, and dual POV stories, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ KJ's path from medical school and trauma surgery training to writing romantasy.
✨ Learning self-publishing from scratch and gaining new respect for every published book.
✨ Advice for aspiring authors, including not comparing a messy first draft to a polished finished book.
✨ Feathers of Ash and Hope as Mulan meets Fourth Wing with giant birds and Roman Empire inspiration.
✨ Dual POV, military academy dynamics, bird bonding, forbidden attraction, and rule-breaking tension in this high-stakes romantasy.
✨ Realistic injuries, medical details, and why KJ only had to research bird anatomy.
✨ Hope, loss, death, sacrifice, and honoring loved ones by living fully.
✨ Book two secrets, political intrigue, manipulation, and the consequences of hidden truths.
✨ Book three themes of trauma, healing, family, found family, and what people risk for love.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
📚 JK Altair – @KJAltair

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where tragic lovers get another chance, corrupt families turn romance into war, and happily ever after is always worth fighting for.

This week, Mythic Mic Team Member Amara sits down with bestselling romance author Emily McIntire to discuss Burning Daylight, Forsaking Midnight, and her interconnected Defying the Stars series. 

Emily shares the unusual psychic reading that finally convinced her to write her first novel, her journey from indie publishing to becoming a hybrid author with Bloom Books, and why every author must treat their career like a business. She also opens up about protecting creative control, finding an agent who will truly advocate for you, and using music to uncover the emotional heart of every story.

We also dive into Burning Daylight, a modern Romeo and Juliet retelling where secret heir Roman Montgomery falls for Juliet Callaway before either realizes they belong to Rosebrook Falls’ most bitterly opposed families. Emily discusses forbidden romance, slow-burn tension, small-town corruption, and rewriting tragic love stories so they finally receive their happily ever afters. She also teases Forsaking Midnight, her darker Lancelot and Guinevere retelling filled with cage fighting, forced proximity, moral grayness, betrayal, and devastating yearning.

⭐ Can Roman and Juliet choose each other without losing everything their families control?
🥀 What happens when the person you hate becomes the only one capable of protecting you?
🖤 And how much pain must a tragic love story survive before it earns a different ending?

This is a must-listen for forbidden-romance readers, retelling lovers, slow-burn and angst enthusiasts, and anyone who believes even literature’s most doomed couples deserve a happily ever after.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Emily’s life as a reader, musician, bird watcher, and self-described hermit.
✨ How songwriting shaped the emotional core of her novels.
✨ The psychic readings that pushed her to finally write her first book.
✨ Learning indie publishing through research, experimentation, and persistence.
✨ Treating an author career like a business and continually studying the industry.
✨ Moving into traditional publishing while preserving creative and financial control.
✨ Emily’s hybrid partnership with Bloom Books.
✨ Why authors need trustworthy agents, contract guidance, and strong boundaries.
✨ Writing across genres while always placing an epic love story at the center.
✨ The creation of Rosebrook Falls and the Defying the Stars series.
✨ Reimagining tragic romances and giving them happily ever afters.
✨ Roman Montgomery, Juliet Callaway, and two feuding founding families.
✨ The Rosebrook Rag, corrupt small-town politics, and scandalous reader-submitted gossip.
✨ Flawed characters learning to love themselves before fully accepting love.
✨ Why small gestures and emotional intimacy make romance feel earned.
✨ Slow-burn tension, forbidden desire, and spice rooted in character growth.
✨ Forsaking Midnight as a modern Lancelot and Guinevere retelling.
✨ Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare, iconic ’90s adaptations, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife
📚 Emily McIntire – @itsemilymcintire

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where political marriages end in bloodshed, enemies make dangerously tempting allies, and some oaths are sealed with knives instead of kisses.

This week, host Sara Santillan sits down with acclaimed fantasy author Nia Davenport to discuss her dark standalone romantasy, Our Vicious Oaths.

Nia shares her unconventional path from studying biology and teaching for seven years to building a career across science fantasy, YA, romance, and dark fantasy. She opens up about teaching herself to write full-length novels, surviving shelved manuscripts and publishing rejection, and why BIPOC and queer authors should never question whether their voices belong in fantasy.

We also dive into Our Vicious Oaths, where dragon-riding warrior princess Kadesha refuses to become a political pawn and spends the night before her wedding with a mysterious stranger. The next day, she discovers he is an enemy Fae king who engineered their meeting and the slaughter that destroys both courts. Nia discusses Black Fae, knives-to-throat enemies-to-lovers tension, unapologetically powerful heroines, and the political bargain that leaves Kadesha and Malachi plotting to kill their mutual enemy before turning on each other.

🐉 What happens when the stranger from your one-night stand destroys your wedding the next morning?
👑 Can a warrior princess protect her kingdom without surrendering her freedom?
🗡️ And what if the enemy whose heart you plan to carve out becomes the one person who truly sees you?

This is a must-listen for dark romantasy readers, enemies-to-lovers fans, lovers of political intrigue and Black fantasy, and anyone who supports women’s rights—and women’s wrongs.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ How anime, Sailor Moon, theater, and oral storytelling shaped Nia’s writing.
✨ Moving from biology and teaching into a full-time publishing career.
✨ Writing several practice novels before finding her voice and process.
✨ Querying too early and receiving a full request within forty-eight hours.
✨ Shelved manuscripts, systemic publishing barriers, and refusing to stop.
✨ How The Blood Trials launched Nia’s traditional publishing career.
✨ Writing across adult fantasy, YA thrillers, romantic comedies, and dark romantasy.
✨ Why writers should consume widely and trust the stories they most want to tell.
✨ The importance of BIPOC and queer voices in speculative fiction.
✨ Kadesha’s fight to become her father’s heir instead of his political pawn.
✨ A one-night stand, an enemy Fae king, and wedding-day carnage.
✨ Knives-to-throat tension, political bargains, mutual vengeance, and catching feelings.
✨ Creating Black Fae courts infused with Black American culture.
✨ Writing bold heroines who own their power, sexuality, brilliance, and mistakes.
✨ Why Our Vicious Oaths became a standalone instead of a longer series.
✨ The realities of traditional publishing, author marketing, and Nia’s interest in going hybrid.
✨ Gilded Veins, murderous vampire families, and Nia’s upcoming dark romantasy.
✨ Favorite princesses, alternate titles, sacred promises, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Nia Davenport – @Nia.Davenport

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where feminine rage, morally gray heroines, and men who absolutely should have known better take center stage.

This week, host Sara Santillan is joined by co-host Teresa Diaz for a conversation with author Sheila Masterson about The Poison Daughter, her standalone enemies-to-lovers romantasy featuring a vigilante heroine with a poisonous kiss and the one man who somehow survives it.

Sheila takes us behind her journey from writing during lockdown to self-publishing seven books and becoming a hybrid author whose work is now reaching readers around the world. We talk about the realities of indie and traditional publishing, maintaining creative control, foreign rights, special editions, and why authors should define what success means to them before everyone else starts defining it for them.

Then we dive into The Poison Daughter, where Harlow uses her deadly kiss to deliver justice to men who deserve it until she kisses Henry and he doesn't die. Sheila breaks down the feminine rage behind Harlow's story, creating enemies who genuinely hate each other, monstrous women, chronic pain representation, and a claustrophobic fantasy world surrounded by terrifying vampires.

💋 What happens when the man you're supposed to kill survives your poisonous kiss?
🖤 How far can feminine rage go before the heroine becomes the monster?
⚔️ And what happens when the person you hate most becomes the one person capable of seeing every part of you?

If you love vicious heroines, true enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, feminine rage, morally gray justice, terrifying vampires, and romances where falling in love requires terrifying vulnerability, this episode is for you.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

✨ Sheila's unconventional journey from writing for herself during lockdown to self-publishing seven books and entering the traditional publishing world.

✨ Becoming a hybrid author, retaining creative control, navigating foreign rights, and bringing The Poison Daughter to readers across multiple languages and territories.

✨ Why aspiring authors should define their own values and version of success before allowing publishing trends, viral success stories, or other people's goals to dictate their careers.

✨ The inspiration behind The Poison Daughter and Sheila's desire to write a heroine who refuses to quietly absorb the harm and bad behavior women are so often expected to endure.

✨ Creating Harlow: a vigilante, serial killer, poison-kissing heroine who is allowed to be angry, difficult, monstrous, and deeply human.

✨ Why the best enemies-to-lovers romances need more than inherited family feuds and how Harlow and Henry develop very personal reasons to hate each other.

✨ Building a claustrophobic city surrounded by a vampire-infested forest, rising rebellion, magical class divisions, and vampires that are far more horrifying than seductive.

✨ Writing chronic pain as part of a heroine's life without allowing it to become her defining characteristic and exploring the vulnerability of falling in love when sometimes you need another person more than you want to admit.

✨ Why The Poison Daughter may be connecting so strongly with readers looking for feminine rage, accountability, standalone fantasy, and a romance built around accepting rather than trying to fix another person.

✨ What's coming next from Sheila, including more dark gothic romantasy, twisted fairy tales, Greek mythology, and the interconnected standalones of her Fable Song series.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Sheila Masterson – @SheilaReadsandWrites

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

Has book marketing become just as important as the book itself?

Welcome to the second episode of Off The Shelf, a new biweekly segment where we dive into bookish trends, deep dives, hot takes, and all things fantasy! 

In this Off the Shelf episode, Britt, Bethany, and Amara unpack how BookTok, Bookstagram, special editions, influencer hype, preorder culture, and collector FOMO are reshaping the way books are discovered, bought, and even published.

From authors being expected to build platforms before release to readers choosing books based on sprayed edges and character art, the conversation explores where smart marketing ends and the hype machine begins. The group also digs into what authors can actually learn from today’s market, including the value of street teams, smaller influencers, preorder strategy, and finding ways to stand out without chasing every trend.

We’re asking:

• Has hype become more important than the story?
• What actually makes readers buy a book?
• Are special editions helping authors or sometimes hurting them?
• What marketing tactics are worth authors’ time and money?

If you’re an author trying to build buzz, a reader drowning in special editions, or simply fascinated by how publishing is changing, this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH THE MYTHIC MIC TEAM

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
👤 Britt – @BrittBooksit
👤 Amara – @Bored_Military_Wife

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where sirens have wings instead of tails, blood bonds offer dangerous freedom, and some kings are more than willing to be ruined.

This week, host Bethany Amanda and Mythic Mic Rep Teresa sit down with fantasy author Kalie Cassidy to discuss her bestselling Siren Mage series and its highly anticipated second installment. 

Kalie shares her journey from professional stage actor and dialect coach to debut novelist, including the seven years she spent teaching herself how to write, revise, and position a novel for traditional publishing. She opens up about landing an agent during romantasy’s rise, and why resilience matters more than any single success in an unpredictable publishing career.

We also dive into the story of Imogen, a winged siren forced to hide in a kingdom that hunts her kind, and Theodore, the neighboring king whose blood bond helps her escape. Kalie discusses Greek mythology, gothic atmosphere, autonomy, belonging, and flipping the traditional siren archetype by creating a man entirely willing to be ruined. She also teases Theodore’s expanded point of view, deeper politics and lore, painful separation, maximum yearning, and the difficult path toward a hard-earned happily ever after in book two.

🪽 What happens when the creature everyone fears is the person who finally makes a king question his crown?
🩸 Can Imogen and Theodore overcome the kingdoms, secrets, and impossible odds keeping them apart?
👑 And what if being ruined by a siren is the first step toward becoming free?

This is a must-listen for romantasy readers, mythology lovers, fans of gothic atmosphere and dangerous heroines, and anyone who believes yearning is enough to earn immediate book-boyfriend status.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:
✨ Kalie’s career as a stage actor, acting teacher, and dialect coach.
✨ How theater training shaped her character-driven approach to fiction.
✨ Beginning her first novel in a phone notes app while caring for a newborn.
✨ Spending seven years learning how to draft, revise, and understand publishing.
✨ Aging the series from YA to adult romantic fantasy.
✨ Landing an agent and selling quickly as romantasy began its rapid rise.
✨ Why publishing is not a meritocracy and success never guarantees the next success.
✨ Focusing on craft instead of unstable sales, rankings, and moving career goals.
✨ Why resilience is one of the most important qualities an author can possess.
✨ Imogen, a siren hiding in a kingdom determined to destroy her kind.
✨ The blood bond that connects her to Theodore and offers her a chance to escape.
✨ Returning sirens to their winged roots in Greek mythology.
✨ Blending gothic dread, historical romance, and traditional fantasy.
✨ Theodore’s complicated relationship with kingship, duty, and autonomy.
✨ A hero who is completely willing to be ruined by the woman he loves.
✨ Adding Theodore’s point of view as the world, politics, and mythology expand.
✨ Sustaining romantic tension through separation, impossibility, and maximum pain.
✨ The pressure of writing a sequel under contract and on a shortened deadline.
✨ Kalie’s Frankenstein and The Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired next project.
✨ Dark fairy tales, pathetic yearning men, therapy bills, and rapid-fire chaos.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Kalie Cassidy – @KalieCassidyBooks

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where fairy tales are twisted, curses linger for generations, and sometimes the greatest act of rebellion is choosing kindness.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with fantasy author A.R. Schilling to discuss Not Another Happily Ever After, a hauntingly beautiful fairy tale inspired by Corpse Bride, Tim Burton, classic folklore, and every happily-ever-after you've ever been told to expect.

A.R. shares her unique journey from wildlife conservation to writing fiction, why she intentionally writes stories that celebrate the beauty of our own world, and the publishing lessons she learned after a difficult debut. We also have an incredibly candid conversation about protecting your work, overcoming setbacks, and why perseverance matters far more than perfection.

Then we dive into the unforgettable world of Not Another Happily Ever After. Meet Sunday, a princess whose body has been sacrificed piece by piece to satisfy an ancient curse, yet somehow refuses to die. Sent to marry the prince she despises to save her kingdom, she instead embarks on a dangerous journey through a cursed fairy tale world alongside Frog, a painfully shy masked knight hiding far more than his face.

Filled with ghostly companions, enchanted forests, deadly rose mazes, quirky dragons, fairy tale kingdoms, heartbreaking found family, and one of the most charming casts of characters we've seen all year, this story blends whimsical adventure with emotional depth in all the best ways.

🖤 What if happily ever after was never the ending?
🌹 Can kindness break a curse that sacrifice never could?
✨ And what happens when the knight beneath the mask is hiding the one truth that could change everything?

If you love fractured fairy tales, unforgettable romance, Tim Burton aesthetics, whimsical magic, and stories that make you laugh, cry, and immediately need book two, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

✨ A.R.'s journey from wildlife conservation and journalism to becoming a fantasy author.
✨ Why she writes stories that encourage readers to rediscover the beauty of the real world through fiction.
✨ The lessons she learned from her debut, navigating publishing setbacks, and why perseverance matters more than immediate success.
✨ Protecting your work as an author—from finding trustworthy collaborators to overcoming plagiarism and publishing scams.
✨ Building a career across multiple genres and why ADHD has become one of her greatest creative strengths.
✨ Designing the stunning Tim Burton-inspired cover and hiding story clues and symbolism throughout the artwork.
✨ Creating Sunday, a heroine who has literally sacrificed pieces of herself for her kingdom while refusing to lose her compassion.
✨ The heartbreaking romance between Sunday and Frog, the painfully shy masked knight whose greatest secret could change everything.
✨ Building a fairy tale world full of cursed forests, enchanted kingdoms, ghostly companions, quirky dragons, deadly rose mazes, and unforgettable magical creatures.
✨ Why found family, kindness, hope, and seeing beauty in broken places became the emotional heart of the novel.
✨ What's next for Sunday, Frog, and the fairy tale world waiting in Book Two.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 A.R. Schilling – @a.r.schilling

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Lily Crozier – @LilyCantStopReading

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.

🎙️ Welcome back to The Mythic Mic Podcast, where gods wage war, morally gray heroes steal the spotlight, and every choice comes with a price.

This week, host Bethany Amanda sits down with #1 New York Times bestselling author Carissa Broadbent to celebrate The Lion and the Deathless Dark, the highly anticipated continuation of the Crowns of Nyaxia saga.

Carissa opens up about her remarkable publishing journey from self-publishing books that sold just a handful of copies to building one of fantasy's biggest indie success stories before becoming a bestselling hybrid author. We discuss the realities of indie publishing, the pressure of traditional publishing, why slow career growth can be a strength, and the lessons she wishes every aspiring author knew before publishing their debut.

Then we dive deep into The Lion and the Deathless Dark, where readers return to Nyaxia a decade after the events of The Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk. The world is at war. The gods are no longer distant figures but active players reshaping civilization. And one of the series' most infamous antagonists—Septimus—finally steps into the role of romantic lead alongside the fierce, sword-wielding bounty hunter Kyrene.

We explore why Carissa always planned for Septimus to have his own story, how she approached writing a romance between two deeply morally compromised characters, what it means to rebuild a fantasy world ten years after everything changed, and why every book she writes begins with a question she's trying to answer herself.

⚔️ What happens when the villain becomes the hero of his own story?
🩸 Can two morally gray people ever become the heroes their world needs?
🌑 And what if saving the world means questioning everything you believed about justice, power, and redemption?

Whether you're a longtime Crowns of Nyaxia fan or discovering Carissa's books for the first time, this episode is packed with behind-the-scenes insights, publishing wisdom, and an unforgettable look inside one of romantasy's biggest worlds.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT:

✨ Carissa's journey from writing stories online as a teenager to becoming a bestselling hybrid author.
✨ Why she chose self-publishing first, how she built a full-time writing career, and the reality behind "overnight success."
✨ The surprising story behind Daughter of No Worlds, including its slow-burn launch and why selling just 40 copies in its first month didn't stop it from changing her life.
✨ Practical advice for aspiring authors on finishing books.
✨ How the Crowns of Nyaxia universe grew into an interconnected eight-book saga spanning multiple vampire houses, gods, timelines, and romances.
✨ Returning to Nyaxia ten years later and completely reshaping the world through war, evolving magic systems, and shifting political alliances.
✨ Why Septimus was always destined to become a romantic lead and why Carissa believes readers have misunderstood him from the very beginning.
✨ Building the dynamic between Septimus and Kyrene, two characters who both see themselves as morally compromised and question whether they're worthy of love or redemption.
✨ Carissa's philosophy that every novel begins with a question she's personally trying to answer, from hope during impossible times to whether anyone can truly become a hero.
✨ The challenges of balancing multiple POV characters, interconnected duologies, and standalone novels while bringing an enormous fantasy universe toward its conclusion.
✨ What's next after Crowns of Nyaxia and why Carissa already has an entirely new fantasy world waiting to be explored.

CONNECT WITH US

🎙️ The Mythic Mic Podcast – @MythicMic
👤 Bethany Amanda – @BethanyinFantasyland
👤 Sara Santillan – @the_magical_quill
📚 Carissa Broadbent – @CarissaBroadbentBooks

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review. It helps more fantasy readers and aspiring authors find their way to The Mythic Mic.