Watch on Youtube

Mentioned: - Build Your Author Funnel LIVE - Sat. Feb 7, 2026 - The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass - releases August 11, 2026 - Scene Study: Before & After - "The Eternal Library" - Aeon Timeline software - Locally Crafted in Gaithersburg, MD - HBCU grads, please take my survey: https://tally.so/r/zx7kJg - Read for Pixels Event

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Watch on YouTube

Mentioned:

• Ink & Magic Writing Retreat Applications open until Jan 16, 2026 - https://inkandmagicretreat.com/
• EVENT: Me and Nicole Glover - January 15, 2026 - 7pm ET online + in-store at East City Bookshop in DC - Register
• Read The Starseekers by Nicole Glover
• Margie Lawson - https://www.margielawson.com/lawson-writers-academy/
• Ray Bradbury Challenge
• Writer Kaia Alderson - https://www.kaiaalderson.com/
• The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9781934414903
• Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson - https://amzn.to/452HDSC
• A Black Women's History of the United States - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9780807001998
• Story Engine deck - https://storyenginedeck.com/
• Plur1bus TV
• Better Call Saul
• Playing Big by Tara Mohr - https://bookshop.org/a/582/9781592409600
• Freedom app - https://freedom.to/
• Erykah Badu New Year's Invocation

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Watch on YouTube

Mentioned:

• Ink & Magic Writing Retreat - https://inkandmagicretreat.com/
• The Better Writer Podcast with Olivia Bedford
• Preorder my next book: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Watch on YouTube

Mentioned:

• My reader newsletter: http://lpenelope.com/newsletter
• Black Friday 2025 Writer Bundle Deal - https://lpen.co/vault25
• MYSTERY: FICTION'S FAVORITE FORCE by Junot Diaz - https://junot.substack.com/p/mystery
• AI scams for writers at Writer Beware
• Update on those Flattering AI Book Marketing Scams from Anne R. Allen
• The Case of the Disappearing Author and Why You Probably Don’t Want a Six or Seven Figure Deal

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Mentioned:

• ProWriting Aid
• Novel November
• My brother's short film
• Writer Duet
• Ines Johnson
• Ink & Magic podcast
• How to Write a Movie in 21 Days by Viki King

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Watch on Youtube

Mentioned: - The Bliss Wars Special Edition Omnibus - The Obsidian Curse - releases June 12! - Author Website Audit - A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience by Stephanie Burgis

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.

Pre-order The Bliss Wars Special Limited Edition Hardcover Omnibus

Pre-order The Obsidian Curse

https://myimaginaryfriends.substack.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 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.

• Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
• Magic in the Melanin anthology (Hardcover preorder | Kindle: https://amzn.to/42bbxTZ)
• PENN/Faulkner - https://www.penfaulkner.org/
• My Craft Book club
• Johnny B Truant "We're Entering the Age of the Iconoclast Writer"

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 | Get the Footnotes newsletter & become an Imaginary Best Friend: https://myimaginaryfriends.net

Support the show: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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.