Consistency, Authenticity & Going Viral

Consistency, Authenticity & Going Viral

An accidental Instagram post about The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass went viral (174K+ views and counting), and in this episode I share what happened, what it did for pre-orders, and the surprising "secret sauce" behind it. I also open up about giving my Blitches WIP some space, getting back into dance after 30 years, and my upcoming writer in residence role for Howard County, MD schools.  Mentioned * Ink & Magic Mastermind (online, Sept 4–6, a few spots left) - https://inkandmagicretreat.com/ [https://inkandmagicretreat.com/] * Howard County Poetry & Literarture Society - https://hocopolitso.org/ [https://hocopolitso.org/] * PEN/Faulkner Foundation - https://www.penfaulkner.org/ [https://www.penfaulkner.org/] * Pre-order The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass (out Aug 11) + download the first three chapters free - https://lpen.co/zaharaexcerpt [https://lpen.co/zaharaexcerpt] * My Viral Instagram Post! https://www.instagram.com/p/DaEMBPPFBtp/ [https://www.instagram.com/p/DaEMBPPFBtp/] * Expand Summit (July 22–25, free) — My workshop Doubling Down on Being Human: Building a Distinctive and Authentic Writing Voice — https://expandsummit2026.heysummit.com/?ac=mBuQDzGT [https://expandsummit2026.heysummit.com/?ac=mBuQDzGT] * Writing From Your Why workshop with Jane Friedman (July 29) — https://janefriedman.com/writing-from-your-why-with-leslye-penelope/ [https://janefriedman.com/writing-from-your-why-with-leslye-penelope/] * Fiction Makers Conference — live and in person in Baltimore, Aug 22, 2026 — https://lpen.co/fictionmakers [https://lpen.co/fictionmakers] * Michaela Coel's Emmy speech quote: "Write the tale that scares you, that makes you feel uncertain, that isn't comfortable, I dare you." The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author Leslye Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast  Get the Footnotes newsletter and become an Imaginary Best Friend:  https://myimaginaryfriends.net Support the show - https://paypal.me/heartspell Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

7 Ways To Get Unstuck

Watch on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZDAddPGlL8] Mentioned: * Get first 3 chapters of The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass! - http://lpen.co/zaharaexcerpt [http://lpen.co/zaharaexcerpt] * Join the preorder giveaway - https://lpen.co/preorder [https://lpen.co/preorder] * My Books - https://lpenelope.com/books/ [https://lpenelope.com/books/] * Interview with Shyheim Williams - https://www.instagram.com/conjuringliteracy/ [https://www.instagram.com/conjuringliteracy/] * Vintage & Black Book Club - https://www.instagram.com/vintageandblackbookclub/ [https://www.instagram.com/vintageandblackbookclub/] * Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780385480017 [https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780385480017] * The Compass of Character by David Corbett - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9781440300868 [https://bookshop.org/a/582/9781440300868] * Filmmaker Hal Hartley - https://www.halhartley.com/   The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast [https://lpenelope.com/podcast] | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net [https://myimaginaryfriends.net] Support the show: Website [https://www.lpenelope.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope] Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud [https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud] Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM [https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM] Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com [http://Amazon.com].

The Fire That Forges You

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/AedkGHaBsVI [https://www.youtube.com/live/AedkGHaBsVI] Book News! * Zahara Preorder Campaign is live! - https://lpenelope.com/preorder [https://lpenelope.com/preorder] * made list of “Books That Feed an Elder Millennial’s 90s Nostalgia” from SheReads magazine - https://shereads.com/books-that-feed-an-elder-millennials-90s-nostalgia/ [https://shereads.com/books-that-feed-an-elder-millennials-90s-nostalgia/] * Angelborn/Angelfall flip book is available! https://shop.lpenelope.com/ [https://shop.lpenelope.com/] Announcements * Mastermind Retreat - September 4-6, near Baltimore, MD - https://inkandmagicretreat.com/ [https://inkandmagicretreat.com/] * Storybeast - Build Your Author Empire Conference - June 27, online - https://www.storybeastpodcast.com/buildyourauthorempire [https://www.storybeastpodcast.com/buildyourauthorempire] * Mahogany Books Texture Book Club - June 28, National Harbor, MD * Jane Friedman - Writing from Your Why workshop - July 29, online - https://janefriedman.com/writing-from-your-why-with-leslye-penelope/ [https://janefriedman.com/writing-from-your-why-with-leslye-penelope/] - $25 early registration * Fiction Makers Conference - August 22, in-person, Baltimore, MD - https://lpen.co/fictionmakers [https://lpen.co/fictionmakers] * From SF to Gaza Book Raffle fundraiser - bit.ly/sfgzraffle [http://bit.ly/sfgzraffle]   The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast [https://lpenelope.com/podcast] | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net [https://myimaginaryfriends.net] Support the show: Website [https://www.lpenelope.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope] Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud [https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud] Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM [https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM] Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com [http://Amazon.com].

Knowing What to Keep (and What Not to)

Watch on Youtube [https://youtube.com/live/6S2G9QvnHD0] Mentioned: * lpenelope.com [https://lpenelope.com] — My new website * inkandmagicretreat.com [https://inkandmagicretreat.com] — Apply for the Ink and Magic Mastermind Retreat (Tihs September, outside Baltimore) * Angelborn [https://lpenelope.com/book/angelborn/] and Angelfall [https://lpenelope.com/book/angelfall/] by Leslye Penelope — now with new covers, PREORDER THE FLIP BOOK NOW FROM MY STORE [https://shop.lpenelope.com/products/angelborn-angelfall-the-eternal-flame-series-flip-book-signed-paperback] * Femforce [https://femforceshoots.com/] — brand photo shoots in cities around the country (find them on Instagram) * The Scholomance [https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780593128503] series by Naomi Novik * The Monsters We Defy [https://lpenelope.com/book/the-monsters-we-defy/] and Daughter of the Merciful Deep [https://lpenelope.com/book/daughter-of-the-merciful-deep/] by Leslye Penelope — my previous books with magic rooted in African traditions * Gaithersburg Book Festival [https://www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org/] — May 16, 2026 in Gaithersburg, Maryland * Vellum [https://vellum.pub/] — Mac app for laying out print books The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast [https://lpenelope.com/podcast] | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net [https://myimaginaryfriends.net] Support the show: Website [https://www.lpenelope.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope] Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud [https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud] Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM [https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM] Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com [http://Amazon.com].

Work Life Balance vs. the Reality of a Finite Existence

Watch on Youtube [https://youtube.com/live/bOS0zkQ6oc8] Mentioned in the podcast: * My new book: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass: https://lpenelope.com/book/the-inevitable-undoing-of-zahara-douglass/ [https://lpenelope.com/book/the-inevitable-undoing-of-zahara-douglass/] * My author Newsletter : https://lpenelope.com/newsletter/ [https://lpenelope.com/newsletter/] * Landlord’s Lamentation (short interactive fiction): https://lpenelope.com/book/landlords-lamentation/ [https://lpenelope.com/book/landlords-lamentation/] * Notion Social: https://notionsocial.app/ [https://notionsocial.app/] * Sunsama (timeboxing app): https://sunsama.com/ [https://sunsama.com/] * Timeboxing article: https://lpenelope.com/2014/04/timeboxing/ [https://lpenelope.com/2014/04/timeboxing/] * Substack post "Notes from Draft 2: Plotting from Character": https://myimaginaryfriends.substack.com/p/notes-from-draft-2-plotting-from [https://myimaginaryfriends.substack.com/p/notes-from-draft-2-plotting-from] * One Stop for Writers: https://onestopforwriters.com/about-character-builder [https://onestopforwriters.com/about-character-builder] * Ink & Magic Writing Retreat: https://inkandmagicretreat.com/ [https://inkandmagicretreat.com/] * InstaLove University - happening now: https://lpen.co/ilu26 [https://lpen.co/ilu26] * Fiction Makers Conference in Baltimore this August: https://lpen.co/fictionmakers [https://lpen.co/fictionmakers] The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast [https://lpenelope.com/podcast] | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net [https://myimaginaryfriends.net] Support the show: Website [https://www.lpenelope.com] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/leslyepenelope] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/authorlpenelope] Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud [https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud] Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM [https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM] Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com [http://Amazon.com].