Earlier this month, I packed a suitcase full of dresses, notebooks, and far too many pens, and flew off to Vegas for Author Nation (a giant gathering of book lovers, storytellers, and people who spend a suspicious amount of time thinking about fictional characters).
If you’re imagining me tucked in a corner writing furiously on my next novel… oh, my sweet friend.
No.
I wrote nothing at Author Nation.
Not one word.
Not a single sentence.
And yet, it ended up being exactly the creative jolt I needed.
I met my people (and talked myself hoarse).
I spent three days surrounded by romance writers, mystery writers, fantasy world-builders, poets, memoirists, and at least one person who looked like they were plotting a Victorian ghost novel in real time.
Authors are like cats with laser pointers: give us a shiny idea and we’ll follow it anywhere. I had long conversations about character arcs, pacing, scent memory (because of course I did), and whether or not it’s technically cheating if a character kisses someone in an alternate timeline. (The jury is out.)
I recorded a podcast episode on the fly. It was the delightful, unexpected kind where you sit down for “a quick chat” and emerge 40 minutes later having revealed your entire author origin story.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, I realized something important:
Even when I’m not writing, I am feeding the part of me that does write.
A confession: I learned almost nothing about craft… but I learned a LOT about being an author.
As Iris Applewood, I am many things: a storyteller, a romance-and-mystery alchemist, a perfume witch, a woman who spends too much time thinking about fictional towns with suspiciously good bakeries.
But I sometimes forget the business side of being an author. You know, the part that involves actually telling people your books exist.
At Author Nation, I went to a few sessions on marketing expecting to feel overwhelmed. Instead, I found myself laughing at the simplicity of what I needed to hear most:
Step 1: Tell people about your books.
Step 2: …No, really. Tell people.
It turns out the secret marketing wisdom I’d been missing wasn’t complicated funnels or elaborate strategies. It was permission to show up as myself, to share the behind-the-scenes, to let readers into the world where the stories begin.
So yes, big unveiling: I am actually going to start doing the things.
Newsletters. Posts. Fun extras. Character snippets. Soundtracks.
All the cozy, magical, mildly chaotic Iris-things I’ve always intended to share.
No, really. I swear.
The truth about creative weekends: sometimes the words nap while you live.
I used to think writing retreats or conferences meant you had to produce chapters like a machine. But this one was different. It was about filling up again.
And I did. In so many ways.
I came home with:
- a notebook full of ideas
- a renewed love for my quirkly little fictional town
- new friends (writers are a special breed of gremlin and I adore them)
- a few wild marketing ideas
- and a reminder that creativity is a process
Not writing for three days didn’t make me less of an author.
It made me more of one.
What this means for you, my dear readers
You’re going to see more of me. I’m thinking monthly emails.
More story peeks.
More worldbuilding tidbits.
More behind-the-scenes of how the magical perfumes get made (yes, some are absolutely tied to future books).
More glimpses into Serenity Falls as I build the next mysteries and romances set in that tender, peculiar little world.
And more of the human behind the books – the one who trips over her suitcase, buys too many notebooks, befriends strangers in hotel hallways, and occasionally forgets to eat because a plot twist ambushed her in the produce aisle.
Author Nation reminded me that stories are lived experiences. Even the fictional ones.
I can’t wait to share the next part of the journey with you.
— Iris Applewood
P.S. Did you know I have two books out now? Keeper of Lost Loves is a Christmas romance – perfect for this time of year! And my latest release, Fragrance of Forgotten Truths, is a cozy mystery with a magical perfumer as the protagonist.
See, look. Marketing :)