September Newsletter

Hello, everyone!

I would like to take a moment to grieve the loss of our dear friend, summer. Goodbye, unlimited reading and writing time, sleeping in, and not getting dressed until lunch time.

But only a very short moment because I must welcome someone who I love even more: fall. It is the season of sweatshirt weather, pumpkin chai, (my birthday), and the reestablishment of routine.

Thawed - A Snow Queen Retelling Giveaway Winners

Before we go any further, I have a very important announcement: the winner’s of the giveaway for my Snow Queen retelling, Thawed! Our winners are…

Molly M.

Adeline H.

Caris H.

Haniah D.

If your name is in this list, watch out for an email from me. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Writing: Pros and Cons of Writing 2+ POVs

While there are many reasons why you should and shouldn’t write multiple POVs, I don’t think there’s one solid answer. I love writing and reading multiple POVs but that doesn’t mean it’s right for every story or even, every author. Hopefully this list can help you figure out what’s right for you and your story!

Pro: Multiple Perspectives — This is probably the most obvious of the pros, but it is a really good one. Say your two POV characters were on opposite sides of a war that happened a long time ago, they would each have very different views on the outcome of the war and each side's role in it. Having multiple perspectives, can add depth to the events in your story and help them have a greater impact on your readers.

Con: It’s Hard to Edit — You may not think about this, but when you have 2+ POVs, you can’t just rearrange scenes like you would in a 1 POV character story. If you did that with multiple perspectives, you would completely confuse readers and throw off your story by randomly switching which character’s head you’re in.

Pro: Makes Writing More Fun — I don’t know about you, but by the ¾ mark, no matter how much I like the character, I start to get a little bit sick of being in their head. Having multiple POVs, allows you to take a break from the other character and play around in a completely different perspective.

Con: It can be Confusing to Readers — If not done correctly, multiple POVs can be very confusing to readers. They may experience something called head-jumping. It’s when you unexpectedly jump between different characters perspectives. You have to be careful to make the distinction between the POVs very clear.

Pro: Including Important Parts of the Story — Imagine this, you really need your readers to hear this comment that the villain makes at his wedding, but your protagonist, the daughter of the villain’s arch-nemesis, of course isn’t invited to the wedding. The villain’s nephew, however, is sitting at the table with the lucky couple. Having a second POV, allows you to more realistically include important details that you can’t show using the other MC.

Con: It’s Hard to Keep Track — As a writer, it can be hard to keep track of multiple POVs. It’s easy to mix up the intimate details of the multiple MCs. Which character overuses the word “like”? What point is the MC #1 in their character arc?

What’s your opinion on multiple POVs? Let me know by commenting on the website associated with my newsletter or by replying directly to the email. I’d love to know whether you prefer one or two+ POVs!

*POV = point of view. MC = main character

Reading: Top Reads of Summer 2024

When we moved to our new house in June, there was one thing I was especially looking forward to: the new library system. While our old library (especially our librarian, Jola!) was great, libraries in rural MN don’t have a great selection.

With access to so many more books, my family’s been going to the library all the time and I’ve read a ton of great books. Out of the 25 I read this summer, these 5 are my favorites!

What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Historical fantasy ~ Victorian-era Egypt~ spunky heroine ~ mystery ~ treasure hunting~ epic banter

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Fantasy ~ vivid world building ~ lovable characters ~ hard-to-read truths ~ deep themes ~ Nigerian roots

It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi

Rom-com ~ their siblings are getting married ~ enemies to lovers ~ family ~ epic banter ~ forgiveness

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

Fantasy ~ Pacific Islander roots ~ vivid world building ~ dragons ~ friends to lovers ~ community

The Getaway List by Emma Lord

Rom-com ~ best-friends to lovers ~ New York ~ laugh-out-loud funny ~ self-discovery ~ friendship ~ family

Spotlight: Interview with Bethany Atazdeh

Hello, Bethany! Thank you so much for being willing to do an interview with me. First, would you tell me a little bit about you and your books?

Sure! I published my debut in 2017 and have written 10+ novels, most of which are YA Fantasy and many of them with fairytale inspiration. 

Do you ever struggle with your ideas not coming out on paper the way you wanted them to? If so, how do you deal with that?

All the time. I think this is extremely normal for creatives because there’s often a gap between what our vision for a project is and the way it first comes out. Dealing with it becomes easy when we recognize that it’s normal for the initial creation to be rough and that every good writer goes through this — that’s why we edit multiple times!

What’s one thing you wish you’d known when you first started writing and/or publishing?

Hmmm I think it took me a long time to learn that there isn’t a “right” way to do things - in writing or in publishing. I used to carefully follow other author’s that I look up to, to get a sense of the next steps or how to write or publish successfully. But over time I learned that it really depends on the person’s strengths, interests, and skill set, and that it’s okay to make mistakes as you figure out what works best for you personally.

You talk about this in a lot of your videos, especially one of your most recent ones (congratulations by the way!!), but what advice would you give to people who are having to rethink their writing schedule and goals?

Thank you! I guess my best tip would be to expect it. Knowing that it’s normal and that you’ll run into it every so often helps remove the frustration, self-doubt, and guilt when it happens so that you can roll with the change instead and keep your momentum and excitement for the project.

What advice would you give to young, aspiring authors?

Always remember that your number one reader is you. Lean into your quirks and the things that make you excited. It can be very easy to get sidetracked and write books based on what other people want, and while there’s nothing wrong with considering your readers, it can lead to writing books that we’re less excited about or are writing just because it’s trendy or will sell. And that leads to burn out and not loving our work, which is the opposite of what we wanted when we got started — so always write the stories that YOU love and know that there will be readers like you who enjoy them as well.

Do you have any tips on writing fairy tale retellings?

1. Always make sure that the fairy tale details you are using in your story are in the public domain - this will give you the freedom to use things from the original story without fear of a lawsuit down the road. For example, Aladdin is public domain but when Disney did their retelling of this fairytale, they created the name Jasmine for the princess along with other specific details—and anything created specifically by Disney is under copyright (aka not in public domain).

2. Readers love to see easter eggs from the originals—whether that’s locations, characters, objects, or pieces of the storyline (example: in my book The Stolen Kingdom, the Aladdin character is a thief, looking for a magical lamp, in a persian style setting, among other things). However, they also love to see unexpected twists on the original that allow them to be surprised (again, to use my book The Stolen Kingdom, I included a different version of the “genie” called “Jinni” and turned them into a magical race of people with powerful abilities, but they’re not nearly as friendly or willing to work with humans as the original).

What’s your favorite fairy tale and why?

I’d have to say Beauty and the Beast — I love everything about Belle’s story, including her obsession with books, the way she’s gifted an entire library as part of their romance, and of course, the happily ever after of redeeming a prince and living the rest of her life in a castle full of servants haha!

What’s one book you can’t recommend enough?

This has changed over time, I’m not sure I could pick just one single book… One of my all time favorites for decades now is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and another long-time favorite is The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, while a more recent favorite read might be The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson.

You can learn more about Bethany, her books, and connect with her on YouTube, Instagram, and her website. (If you’re a writer, I 100% recommend her YouTube channel!)

Quick Writing Update

• Wrote 36,100 words in The Phoenix Pendant

• Wrote 5,200 words in a side project

• Proofread Thawed and printed out more copies

Have you ever read any of Bethany Atazdeh’s books? What were your top reads of the summer? Let me know by replying directly to this email or leaving me a comment of the website that corresponds to The Introverted Writer!

Thank you so much for reading! Have a great rest of your day!

Abby Henderson

P.S. Guess what event the October Newsletter marks? The ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of The Introverted Writer!!! Can you believe it?!? I can’t!!