Show Notes:
Today is part two of two where we are talking to TL Combs about her novels. After today you will have heard about writing from a young age, learning from other authors before you get started, learning how to market, making mistakes and learning from them, working on multiple projects at the same time, her advice to take all advice with a grain of salt and to not lose yourself in the process.
TL’s Website – TL’s Facebook – TL’s Instagram – TL’s TikTok
I spent almost two decades as a classically trained chef, working in multiple restaurants and catering companies. Eventually, I started my own catering company and even worked as a Certified Dietary Manager in a healthcare facility. In 2015, I married the love of my life, M.
Following the birth of our youngest child, L, I made the decision to retire from my career in the culinary industry and become a stay-at-home mother to L and my bonus daughter, K.
We all reside on our little farm in North Carolina where we enjoy raising chickens, cultivating our gardens, and spending time with our beloved Maremma Sheep Dog, Ronan, and tuxedo tabby, Ziggy.
Writing has always been a passion of mine, dating back to my childhood in Pennsylvania, when I would write short stories for my family and friends. That all changed when I began daydreaming about a high fantasy story that morphed into the Bellham Series. With the encouragement of a best friend, H.E.G, I decided to pursue the series and turn my crazy daydream into a reality. I am grateful for the unwavering support of my family and friends. Without them, I could not have achieved this dream.
Check us out on our website or Support us on Patreon
Follow Our Show On Socials: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – TikTok
Follow Our Host Freya: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – TikTok
Want Freya to Narrate Your Audiobook? Complete This Form
Transcript:
Speaker A: Welcome to Freya’s.
Speaker B: Fairy tales.
Speaker B: We believe fairy tales are both stories we enjoyed as children and something that we can achieve ourselves.
Speaker B: Each week, we will talk to authors about their favorite fairy tales when they were kids and their adventure to holding their very own fairy tale in their hands.
Speaker B: At the end of each episode, we will finish off with a fairy tale.
Speaker A: Or short story read as close to.
Speaker B: The original author’s version as possible.
Speaker B: I am your host.
Speaker B: Freya victoria I’m an audiobook narrator that loves reading fairy tales, novels and bringing stories to life through narration.
Speaker B: I am also fascinated by talking to authors and learning about their why and how for creating their stories.
Speaker B: We have included all of the links for today’s author and our show in the Show Notes.
Speaker C: Be sure to check out our website.
Speaker B: And sign up for our newsletter for the latest on the podcast.
Speaker B: Today is part two of Two where we are talking to T.
Speaker B: L.
Speaker B: Combs about her novels.
Speaker C: After today, you will have heard about.
Speaker B: Writing from a young age, learning from other authors before you get started, learning how to market making mistakes and learning from them.
Speaker B: Working on multiple projects at the same time.
Speaker A: Her advice to take all advice with.
Speaker B: A grain of salt and to not lose yourself in the process.
Speaker B: The Audacity of Flower The Carter Sisters series gets swept away to another time and place where Poppy Flower Carter’s sheltered life at Murder Manor is turned upside down when her childhood friend Georgie’s actions threaten to ruin everything.
Speaker B: Forced to leave behind all she knows, Poppy takes on a new role as maid for Master Louis Allan Yoon, a man with a mysterious past and undeniable charm.
Speaker B: As she tries to navigate her new life and her growing feelings for Master Yoon, Poppy wonders if she can find true love without compromising her values.
Speaker A: TL.
Speaker B: Combs, author of the fantasy epic The Bellum Realm series, delivers a heartwarming and timeless tale set in a Regency inspired world that will reignite your belief in the power of love.
Speaker C: So I had a discord prior to when I started narrating around.
Speaker C: Somewhere in there I started a discord that I never really talked in ever.
Speaker C: But when I started building the Beta and Arc team, one of the beta readers was like, you should have like a Facebook group or something.
Speaker C: And I’m like, well I have this discord that’s just like hanging out over here.
Speaker C: So as I was finishing the book and doing I think I did, my beta readers got my second version of my book.
Speaker C: So Alpha got raw.
Speaker C: As I was writing it version, I added like 20,000 words, 10,000 words and then the beta readers got that version of it and so it was nice to have them.
Speaker C: The one thing I’m glad about having got them so far in advance is they were like cheering me on as I was finishing it and getting the edits, and then they’d be like, Go, Freya, go.
Speaker C: That was super nice.
Speaker C: And now they’re all just, like, waiting.
Speaker C: All of them were like, we want to arc read, too, because we want to see how you polished it after all of our feedback and stuff, right?
Speaker C: I’m like, I’m getting there.
Speaker C: It’s with the editor right now.
Speaker C: So I’m like I’m just, like, twiddling my thumbs and ordering PR box stuff, right?
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker D: I like to not stay still.
Speaker D: So when my editor has one book, I’m working on another, and my brain doesn’t shut off just how it goes.
Speaker C: Same.
Speaker C: I’m outlining the first novella in the series as the editor has it.
Speaker D: I did a novella, Christmas novella that comes out in November.
Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.
Speaker D: I wrote that over Labor Day weekend.
Speaker C: See, I have so many things.
Speaker C: I just did a TikTok on this.
Speaker C: I’m like my day because I have, like, ADHD brain stuff going on my whole day.
Speaker C: And I’ve had it my whole life, right?
Speaker C: And until TikTok, I had no idea that’s what my brain was.
Speaker C: So I’m not diagnosed at all, but definitely from all the videos that I’ve seen ADHD and probably some kind of autism going on up in there, too.
Speaker C: And so I’m like, when you grow up your whole life with your brain working a certain way, you kind of learn like, this is how my day has to be.
Speaker C: So I start narrating and podcast about the same time.
Speaker C: And so I just learned this is how my day is scheduled, around my day job stuff and all of this.
Speaker C: And then when writing came into the picture, it was like, just make sure I started narrating less during each day.
Speaker C: So instead of recording an hour and a half a day, I now only do an hour so I have time to edit it and then work on my book, right.
Speaker C: For a while there, because I didn’t want to start working because my brain forgets things very easily.
Speaker C: I didn’t want to start working on the next book until the editor had the book because any amount of edits I had to do, I didn’t want to confuse book one with the first novella.
Speaker D: Got you.
Speaker C: It’s like, keep them separated.
Speaker C: But now that the editor has the book, I’m like, there’s not going to be any more major plot changes that I need to worry about, right?
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker D: My brain compartmentalizes everything.
Speaker D: Thanks, trauma.
Speaker D: So I can separate every single one of them.
Speaker D: And I always tell people it’s like a GIF in my head of each book, and they’re just on pause.
Speaker D: And just like in that last scene that I left them, just about to start, just waiting, just waiting.
Speaker D: And I just pull out that file and it’s like, all right.
Speaker D: Oh, yeah, we’re here.
Speaker D: And just keep going from there.
Speaker D: That’s how my brain works.
Speaker D: And I know I can file things away because I literally have always I have six different work in progresses at.
Speaker C: Any given oh, gosh.
Speaker D: So I finish one, I start another.
Speaker D: So that one just okay, so the next one moves back up, and I just finish that one up and I add another.
Speaker D: It’s like a vicious cycle.
Speaker D: So I guess I’m in the right career now.
Speaker C: I started writing in January of last year because it was like I was landing all these nonfiction audiobook contracts.
Speaker C: So I’m like, I’m just going to write my own fiction book if no one else wants me for fiction.
Speaker C: I was like, I’m a panther.
Speaker C: I’m definitely a panther.
Speaker C: Plots aren’t going to work for me.
Speaker C: And so that’s what I did with that book.
Speaker C: And when I went back to look at it because I started landing other people’s fiction audiobooks, right?
Speaker C: So when I finally, like, six months later went back to look at it, I’m like, this is mostly just dialogue.
Speaker C: There’s no inner dialogue.
Speaker C: So when I started the Beauty and the Beast retelling, I was like, we’re going to use Christmas songs to outline this book where you can pause and see the scene in your head.
Speaker C: For me, I know what the next plot point is.
Speaker C: And the plot point is like, five to ten words.
Speaker C: It’s not some big drawn out thing.
Speaker C: Introduce female main character in this chapter.
Speaker C: They’re not genius plot points at all.
Speaker C: But in my head, as I go about my day, while I’m doing everything else I do before I get to writing time, I’m figuring out how are we getting to the next plot point in my head?
Speaker C: In my head right now, because I haven’t actually started writing.
Speaker C: I’m still outlining the novella I have.
Speaker C: The first opening scene is completely written in my head.
Speaker C: I just have to actually be able to write it.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker C: So I’m like, I know exactly what’s going to happen and who’s going to be in the scene and who’s going to interrupt the scene.
Speaker C: Like, I know all of these things already.
Speaker C: I just need to write it.
Speaker D: That’s cool, though.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker D: How I do it now after learning that I most definitely can’t be a panther writing fantasy, it’s just not going to work out, especially if you’re doing a series that’s not going to happen.
Speaker D: And I don’t even know if I knew it was going to be a series until I was like halfway through the first book I was just writing.
Speaker D: And so after that, about the second half of the first book, I started outlining.
Speaker D: And when I say outlining, I mean that in the loosest form of the work.
Speaker D: Just bullet points of like, I wanted this to happen, this to happen, this to happen.
Speaker C: That’s essentially what mine is.
Speaker D: And then I’ll do a paragraph, like a summation of the whole story.
Speaker D: And it makes no sense.
Speaker D: But to me, if anybody else were to read it, they’re like, what is this?
Speaker D: I get it.
Speaker D: So it’s not for you, it’s for me.
Speaker D: Now that it’s what I do, going into any story I decide I want to write, I immediately do character traits, character characteristics, and eye color, all that stuff under each name.
Speaker D: And I just write every one of the characters that I thought of during that whole process out.
Speaker D: And then I write a summary of the entire story from beginning to end.
Speaker D: And then sometimes with the novella, I did a bullet point of every chapter.
Speaker D: Like, this is what this chapter is going to be about.
Speaker D: This is what this chapter is going to be about.
Speaker D: And that’s how I wrote that.
Speaker D: So I just ticked it off as I was going and just like, okay, that one’s done.
Speaker D: That one’s done, that one’s done.
Speaker C: I did that for some of my beta reader edits.
Speaker C: They said I needed to add more running into the story.
Speaker C: I don’t know where I’m going to add that yet.
Speaker C: So we’re just going to write it on a sticky note and we’ll mark it off when we get there.
Speaker D: Yeah, that’s essentially what I did.
Speaker D: I just made sure I had all the main points I wanted to hit, and we’re going to edit it this coming month in October and get through that and send it out for the best.
Speaker D: But the Christmas, again, it’s really short, really cute, and it’s introducing the third book in this situation that I didn’t know I was going to write because it was just supposed to be one cozy read, and it turned out to be three books.
Speaker D: So I’m halfway a little more than halfway done with the third book.
Speaker D: Actually working on it earlier today.
Speaker C: So you don’t stop?
Speaker D: No, my brain never shuts off.
Speaker C: So your Christmas novella is coming next and then the next book is coming after that.
Speaker D: Yeah, and the third book in my fantasy series should be out in springtime sometime.
Speaker C: So how has with each clearly you would have learned something with each book as you got it out.
Speaker C: So how does your promoting and talking about and marketing your book differ now from just talking about the characters?
Speaker C: Do you still use that same formula?
Speaker D: I definitely use the same general formula.
Speaker D: It’s a lot more condensed now because there are so many of them.
Speaker C: Yeah.
Speaker C: You’re like, I got to talk about that first book occasionally.
Speaker D: I always make a freebie for that one.
Speaker D: It’s just like, yeah, take that one.
Speaker D: Just get it out of here.
Speaker D: Go ahead and get it.
Speaker D: We did stuff your kid all day days, I guess, on this starting, what, Wednesday or Thursday?
Speaker D: And I was like, we’ll make it till Monday.
Speaker D: There you go.
Speaker D: You guys can have it.
Speaker C: I did see that video where you were like, it’s free for a few more days.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker D: I’m like, yeah, it’s fine.
Speaker D: I added it to it.
Speaker D: So that’s pretty much my promos for that it’s like, oh, it’s on discount.
Speaker D: Oh, it’s free.
Speaker D: Yes, it’s discounted again.
Speaker D: Those are my promos for book one.
Speaker C: Now they’re going to be like, I don’t need to pay full price.
Speaker C: I’ll just wait a week and she’ll have it on sale again, right?
Speaker D: The last time it was free was like in July.
Speaker C: It hasn’t been that long.
Speaker D: No, and it does really well every time.
Speaker D: So, I mean, it’s great getting the name out and everything.
Speaker D: And a lot of the people are just buying book two with it.
Speaker D: When they get the free one, they just buy book two.
Speaker D: It’s great.
Speaker D: So it’s been a great thing for that, right?
Speaker D: And they’re like, oh, she has another one.
Speaker D: And then they buy that one.
Speaker D: For the most part.
Speaker D: Lately, I’ve just been like, bulking them all up together in one video, not even talking about because I find that the videos that I’ve just kind of blase whatever, hear my books, please buy them.
Speaker D: People are like, oh my God, this is hilarious.
Speaker D: I’m going to buy them.
Speaker D: And I worked 2 hours on that video.
Speaker D: You guys didn’t even see it.
Speaker C: Yeah, my entire approach to TikTok, in fact, someone said something about, oh, you got to start doing professional marketing videos.
Speaker C: And I’m like, that has not been my platform the entire time.
Speaker C: I am sweaty in my dark.
Speaker C: When I started, I was in a closet.
Speaker C: Now I’m in a booth.
Speaker C: But I’m like I am like, sweating with no makeup on.
Speaker C: In fact, my sister at one point was like, I think your TikToks, she is not in book talk.
Speaker C: She is not in book talk.
Speaker C: But she was like, I think your videos would do better if you put on makeup and maybe dress up a little bit.
Speaker C: Because that’s all the ones that I see doing really well are all like, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker C: And I’m like, you clearly don’t see book videos.
Speaker D: My best videos are with me looking completely haggard, just woke up, have gone on my head, and those get thousands of views.
Speaker D: And I’m just like, they’re like, this.
Speaker C: Is a hot mess.
Speaker C: I relate.
Speaker C: Do it.
Speaker D: She’s got it.
Speaker D: Anytime I’m talking about how crazy I am or my ADHD or any of those things, those take off.
Speaker D: But if I try to do aesthetics and make it look pretty, it’s like, oh, that’s nice scroll.
Speaker C: Yeah, I feel like when I work.
Speaker C: So I did several book reveal or cover reveal videos because I was like, who knows who’s going to see what video?
Speaker C: So I did I think four or five on the same day.
Speaker C: And then I have like a trailer kind of thing for my book.
Speaker C: And I feel like those ones TikTok’s, like, that’s promotion, we’re going to suppress it unless she pays for it.
Speaker C: I’m never going to pay for that.
Speaker D: Never going to put that on a sponsored ad ever.
Speaker C: In fact, I scroll past those I do too.
Speaker D: Even if they’re booked, I’m like, yeah, as soon as I see sponsored at.
Speaker C: The box in my head and this is it may just be me.
Speaker C: Some people may love the sponsored ones.
Speaker C: That’s totally fine.
Speaker C: But for me, I’m like, it screams desperate to me because it’s usually authors that I’ve never seen before.
Speaker C: Not that there’s not I mean, there’s so many authors on TikTok that I have never seen before.
Speaker C: But they come at it genuinely with like, I want to be in this community and be a part of this community.
Speaker C: And if you’re now paying for friends, that feels icky.
Speaker D: She said pay for friends.
Speaker C: That’s what it looks like.
Speaker D: But yeah, it’s tough.
Speaker D: And a lot of times people make you feel like you have to pay for the marketing on that side of it.
Speaker D: Some marketing.
Speaker D: I wouldn’t doubt that you would have to pay for that benefits you in the long run.
Speaker D: But the stuff that I say to you is just like, well, yeah, I could do that.
Speaker D: How is me talking to you going to help my situation?
Speaker D: I don’t know.
Speaker C: So my first podcast, for months, I had it set up on Facebook for ads.
Speaker C: It was like $5 a day or something.
Speaker C: I had it set up for ads.
Speaker C: And all that I got from all of the money that I spent on that was a bunch of angry men complaining about not liking my voice.
Speaker C: That’s all that I got from those ads was a bunch of those kind of comments.
Speaker C: So I stopped.
Speaker C: I went to last August of 22, I went to a podcast conference.
Speaker C: And I was like, I’m going to learn a ton at this conference.
Speaker C: So I stopped the ads right before that because I was like, I’m not going to keep throwing money at something that’s not working.
Speaker C: And I went to the conference, and absolutely no one was like, pay for Facebook ads.
Speaker C: They were like, here’s social media strategies that work for me.
Speaker C: And might it not work.
Speaker C: I happen to be all of my podcasts are entertainment ones, which are very hard to get listenerships on, right?
Speaker C: But my first podcast has 40,000 something downloads on it.
Speaker C: So I figured something out.
Speaker C: And that was definitely not from Facebook ad.
Speaker D: Yeah, because they try to tell you that that’s where it’s at.
Speaker D: So when I did my giveaway, I put it on Facebook ads and stuff like that.
Speaker D: And literally just a bunch of old ladies asking what this was.
Speaker D: Like, what is this?
Speaker D: What is this about?
Speaker D: I was like, I had this range from 18 to like, 45.
Speaker D: And I had like 60 plus year olds commenting.
Speaker D: And I’m like, how is that even what is their date wrong on their birthday?
Speaker C: So for my book, I was like, I’m not going to spend not never, but for launch.
Speaker C: I’m not going to spend money on ads.
Speaker C: I’m like, I’m going to spend money on someone who has a proven track record of helping authors launch their books.
Speaker C: That is what I focused my money on and that is what I spent.
Speaker C: I’m like, that is my advertising for the launch of this book.
Speaker C: Might I do something else later?
Speaker C: Maybe, but I think I’d be better sticking to I’ve had a bunch of authors talk about bookbubs and other newsletter swaps and things like that being more helpful than Facebook ads, right?
Speaker D: Well, I mean, yeah, because I know that now my newsletter is because you first start your newsletter, you have the two people that you told her that you were going to do, the two.
Speaker C: People that said you need to have a newsletter and then they follow you.
Speaker D: It wasn’t until I did Baby Author Spotlight that my newsletter blew up because I put that because I was told that if ever you have a sign up, always make sure your newsletter is at the bottom saying, would you like to be a part of the newsletter?
Speaker D: Like, yeah, I should probably do that.
Speaker D: So any form that I have now at the bottom, would you like to sign up with my newsletter?
Speaker D: Blah, blah, blah.
Speaker D: And of course I guilt trip them.
Speaker D: Like, yeah, I totally want free stuff.
Speaker D: No, I don’t like free things.
Speaker D: That’s like the option.
Speaker C: So for my Beta Arc Street team form, which I have all one form because I have too much other things going on to have three forms.
Speaker C: So I have one form, but it has like, checkboxes, like, which team do you want to be on?
Speaker C: Here’s a description of what you’d be responsible for, basically.
Speaker C: And then at the very bottom of that and I give them the option to be on my newsletter or not because committing to a once a week newsletter is different from occasional Arc team emails.
Speaker C: Yeah, but at the very bottom I’m like, do you possibly want to be entered in giveaways for free stuff?
Speaker C: Give me your address if you do.
Speaker C: Some of them have not put their address there, but a lot of them have.
Speaker C: I understand.
Speaker D: Yeah, I’ve maybe gotten three out of all of the three.
Speaker D: No’s, no, don’t sign me up out of all the Baby Author Spotlight forms that got filled out and they’re continually being filled out.
Speaker D: So now my newsletter, I’m like, well, this is great.
Speaker D: If ever I lose my platform, I’m okay.
Speaker D: Yeah, because I got that.
Speaker D: Because it’s a scary thought.
Speaker C: Because dropping off like those 30 day schedule things that I found talking about your newsletter is on every single one of them.
Speaker C: That is one thing I point out.
Speaker C: Like, in case this ever goes away, join my newsletter.
Speaker D: Right.
Speaker D: And so at the end of every Baby Author Spotlight, I make sure that to even solidify it even more, I put the entire month list of my baby authors on my newsletter.
Speaker D: Every single newsletter has the previous month’s baby authors on there and their book and their links to their websites.
Speaker D: Like, every single one of them.
Speaker D: A lot of work.
Speaker C: Listen my newsletter because I have audiobooks that go live, like, every week or every other week.
Speaker C: I’m constantly having new audiobooks that I narrated being released.
Speaker C: So my newsletter is a weekly newsletter because in fact, all of my newsletters are weekly because I announce things for the different ones.
Speaker C: On mine, it’s like, here’s the status of my books and here’s any recent releases for audiobooks.
Speaker C: And here’s the audiobook I’m currently narrating.
Speaker C: And my newsletters are super, super long because it’s like I have too many things going on.
Speaker C: And then at the bottom, it’s like, and don’t forget the podcast.
Speaker D: All right?
Speaker D: I have these things too.
Speaker C: There’s these things, too, because, I mean, each podcast has its own newsletter too, but I also announce it on even though one of the podcasts I host under a different name, I include it on because right now, Freya has the biggest newsletter list.
Speaker C: I’m like, we’ll just send it out to that.
Speaker C: Because most of my Arc team people have been, you know, send me the newsletter stuff too.
Speaker C: And, I mean, they can always unsubscribe from it.
Speaker C: I’m like, I’m not holding you captive to be on my list.
Speaker D: I only do mine monthly because newsletters, I can’t I hate them so much.
Speaker D: Like, to do them.
Speaker D: I don’t know how people blog.
Speaker D: I don’t know how people do that.
Speaker D: I can’t that’s not most of my.
Speaker C: Newsletter is copying the blurbs from other people’s books that I narrated into.
Speaker C: My part of writing the newsletter is like, maybe a paragraph.
Speaker C: I’m like, I can do that every week.
Speaker C: That’s not a big deal.
Speaker D: Yeah, it’s just a thought of another thing to do.
Speaker D: Also, I home school my kids, so I’m lesson planning and I’m teaching throughout the day.
Speaker D: We have breaks because my son has ADHD and he can’t sit for a long period of time.
Speaker D: So we do a subject, we move around during that subject, and then we take a break because if I do like two subjects in a row with him, it’s like, are we done yet?
Speaker D: I have to give him like 20 minutes intervals.
Speaker D: So during those 20 minutes intervals, I write a couple of hundred words while I’m sitting at my desk or on my laptop.
Speaker D: And so it’s been a nice set up, basically.
Speaker D: But yeah, the thought that I would have to take away that to do newsletters on a weekly basis.
Speaker D: What I do is, for the whole year, I set up all of my newsletters and then I just edit as the month is carrying on, I add what I want.
Speaker D: Like, I just do bullet points in it.
Speaker D: And then right before I send it out, I write a paragraph of all the bullet points, essentially, of what happened that month.
Speaker D: So I guess I’m doing stuff weekly, but not sending the email, not making it pretty, that’s been really nice having it that way.
Speaker D: Before, I had it set up just on my website and I just sent them the private link and then someone was like, you should do one of those Mailer Light or Mailchimps.
Speaker D: So I did mail light.
Speaker D: I hate it so much, but it’s fine keeping track of everything like that in the charting and see who’s on there, blah, blah.
Speaker D: But I still hate it.
Speaker C: I tried Mailer Lite, but for each they don’t have a plan where you can have multiple lists under the same account.
Speaker C: So I was going to have to pay for three accounts where MailChimp, I have to pay for it, but I can have one account with multiple multiple lists in it.
Speaker D: Yeah, I never thought about something like that.
Speaker C: And then for my day job, I was already familiar with MailChimp because that’s what we use for that.
Speaker C: And so I was like, I know how to set it up.
Speaker C: And then I figured out under the Freya newsletter, I have it set further, set up in beta team and arc team and street team, and the actual newsletter itself.
Speaker C: And I have everybody divided into separate groups under there too.
Speaker C: I could send something to everybody, but typically I have it all set up where it’s like, I’d need to send this to the newsletter subscribers and I pick that list and that’s who it goes out to.
Speaker C: So I’m very much a prepare.
Speaker C: I’m like, I may not be big now, like when my newsletter list only had like ten people on it, it was like, it’s not a big deal if you copy and paste a list of email addresses, but then when I’m like, okay, my book’s getting ready to release, I’m like, you need to prepare.
Speaker C: You may not be big with the first book, but pretend like you are going to be big with the first book.
Speaker C: Because when I did my beta, like my initial beta arc before I brought on the lady to help me build my arc team, I had them filling out a Google form and then I would have to go in and manually enter all their info into MailChimp.
Speaker C: And I’m like, that is good until when you get 100 in a couple of days.
Speaker C: Which is what happened when I brought on the person to help me.
Speaker C: And I’m like, I am so glad I didn’t have to manually type all that.
Speaker C: It took me a couple of days to get the form to where it worked right with MailChimp.
Speaker C: So I’m like, okay, she’s sending out an email to her team on whatever day, and I’m like, you better make sure that your form is working by that, right.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker D: And that was the only reason why I went to a different platform instead of manually doing myself, because I’m just like, oh crap.
Speaker D: Because I started getting the first floodings of baby author spotlight.
Speaker D: And I was like, oh, no, that’s not going to be good.
Speaker D: When I have to okay, so let me go ahead and do this.
Speaker C: Basically, well, you never know what idea you’re going to have that’s going to be the like and this would go for what book?
Speaker C: You could write ten books before you write the one that everybody loves, right?
Speaker C: You never know.
Speaker D: Conversation with my husband.
Speaker D: It’s like, you don’t know what book it’s going to be.
Speaker D: You don’t know when it could be the first one.
Speaker D: It could be the 10th one.
Speaker D: So you have to be prepared either way.
Speaker D: You have to make sure you got your craft together at least somewhat so you’re not scrambling around, oh, no, this book went viral.
Speaker D: I don’t know what to do.
Speaker D: I will say this.
Speaker D: I am not prepared if a book goes viral, if they try to purchase everything on my website, not prepared for that.
Speaker D: I’m not, plain and simple.
Speaker D: I’m not prepared for thousands of orders.
Speaker D: It’s just not going to happen.
Speaker D: It’s going to be on back order for a little bit.
Speaker C: All right, so last question I like to ask, and it’s actually two questions.
Speaker C: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten and the worst piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
Speaker D: Oh, man.
Speaker C: Start with whichever one you want.
Speaker C: It doesn’t matter.
Speaker D: Okay.
Speaker D: The worst piece of advice I’ve ever gotten for me personally is to walk away from my manuscript for over a month.
Speaker D: I’ve had people say, oh, give it like a month or two.
Speaker D: And I’m just like, what?
Speaker D: So that may work for some people, yeah.
Speaker C: I wouldn’t remember it.
Speaker D: No, I mean, it’s not that I won’t remember it.
Speaker D: I just wouldn’t be in I’m a mood and writer and a mood reader, so I go where the serotonin is, you know what I mean?
Speaker D: That’s where I go.
Speaker D: And don’t tell me to stop.
Speaker D: I might be able to take, like, a weekend break.
Speaker D: Even then I’m just like, my hands are like itching, and I’m just like but I have an idea, and I need to it’s not a fun time for me.
Speaker D: I know other people, they need that break.
Speaker D: They need that mental separation from it.
Speaker D: And I understand that.
Speaker D: I get that, and I’m not telling.
Speaker D: But for me personally, if you knew me, you would know that you can’t tell me to step away for two months because I will have created three other books in that two month span.
Speaker D: Literally not even a joke.
Speaker C: Clearly, you can’t tell me there’s no.
Speaker D: Way, because I’m still going to do it.
Speaker D: I won’t listen.
Speaker D: The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten is don’t lose yourself in this process because it’s really easy to do.
Speaker D: You get caught up in there’s just so much you have to do.
Speaker D: The best piece of advice I got from a friend was make sure that.
Speaker D: You still are.
Speaker D: You at the end of it.
Speaker D: You’re not trying to brand yourself so much that you become the brand and not stay within your own body.
Speaker D: So that’s the best piece of advice.
Speaker D: And that’s what I plan on doing because, yeah, I step away, but I don’t step away from the writing.
Speaker D: I love that.
Speaker D: That’s my favorite part.
Speaker D: That’s why I did this, right?
Speaker D: I step away from all of this extra stuff that comes with this writing.
Speaker D: I step away from that.
Speaker D: That’s what I break from.
Speaker D: I don’t break from the writing part.
Speaker D: The characters and all that stuff creating.
Speaker D: I don’t step away from that.
Speaker D: I step away from the social media aspect of things.
Speaker D: And I mean, a lot of times I go back to old videos and I repost the crap out of them when you see me in different hairstyles and a whole bunch of different videos, because I just reposted a whole bunch because I’m not dealing with it today.
Speaker D: But, yeah, that’s how I roll.
Speaker D: I make sure that I maintain work life balance and that this is a job and you need a break from it every now and again, and that’s okay.
Speaker D: And so that’s the best advice I’ve gotten, is take a break from the marketing, from the social media, from the brand, and you’ll do a lot better in the long run.
Speaker C: Also, your brain will be able to recover better, right?
Speaker C: And also you’ll be able to come up with more story ideas if you’re.
Speaker D: Out doing things right.
Speaker D: See, I won’t burn out writing.
Speaker D: I’ll burn out trying to produce.
Speaker D: That’s when I’ll burn out.
Speaker D: So that’s what was happening to me earlier on when I was writing book three.
Speaker D: I was burning myself out because I was marketing book one and book two, writing book three and making sure everything was good.
Speaker D: Then oh, doing all these PR boxes and selling this stuff over here.
Speaker D: And I was at the post office literally all week long, and it was just like so it was a lot.
Speaker C: Yeah, my post office, I know, will do pickups because, like, PR boxes, you can’t do media mail when you’ve got other stuff in them, right?
Speaker C: But I’m like, I foresee now, me and my mail lady have a good relationship, but, like, done selling stuff on ebay before where they were having to come every day to pick stuff up.
Speaker C: But I’m like, I foresee them being like, hey, you need to drop them off in person.
Speaker D: Yeah, I already tried to schedule pickups and just like, no.
Speaker D: Why?
Speaker D: There’s no reason.
Speaker D: Because after a while, my address got.
Speaker C: Voided out for they were like, she is on the blacklist.
Speaker D: Probably banned because I was like, because I do media mail.
Speaker D: So I didn’t think anything of it.
Speaker D: So I guess now you can’t at least for me, I can’t do pickup for any of my media mail.
Speaker C: I don’t think they let anybody do that anymore?
Speaker C: Because I think now, even before well, even on the website now, because I was just trying to look at pricing and stuff like that.
Speaker C: On the website now, it says you have to go in person to do it.
Speaker D: See?
Speaker C: Yeah, because they may have just changed it.
Speaker D: Because I sent a book, Media Mail, and they picked it up.
Speaker D: This was before I was selling though, before I was selling my books.
Speaker D: I was sending a book to a friend, and they picked it up that it was Media Mail.
Speaker D: They picked it up.
Speaker D: It was fine.
Speaker D: And after, I had been doing, like, doing lots of pickups, and then I went to do pickup for my books, and they’re like, no, sorry.
Speaker D: Yeah, they may have changed they may change the policy.
Speaker D: Okay.
Speaker D: I don’t feel as bad.
Speaker C: Well, I’ve seen authors now talk about you have to go do it in person.
Speaker C: So I don’t think it’s just a you thing.
Speaker C: I think they just completely changed the policies.
Speaker C: They were like, there’s too many indie authors out here making us come get their book.
Speaker D: We all figured out Media Mail, so they’re like, oh, crap.
Speaker C: Yeah, so mine because I’m going to have stuff given.
Speaker C: Technically, if you’re doing anything with your book, I think you aren’t supposed to do it.
Speaker C: Media Mail and me, I’ll only be doing signed copies, and that will all have freebie stuff in with it.
Speaker C: So I don’t think any of mine will be allowed.
Speaker C: Media.
Speaker D: Yes.
Speaker D: So the Media Mail thing, this is how you can get around it.
Speaker D: Because I asked the guy.
Speaker D: I asked him because I was like, so how do we do this?
Speaker D: And he was like, well, if they suspect that something else is in it, they’ll open it up and check.
Speaker D: He’s like, but if all of the material in there is pertaining to the book itself, this is not random crap in there.
Speaker D: If it’s all specific to the book, then you could get away with it.
Speaker D: I was like, oh, really?
Speaker D: But it’s hit or miss with different branches and everything, right?
Speaker D: Like PR boxes for sure.
Speaker D: No way.
Speaker C: Yeah, no.
Speaker D: Yeah, but a book with a bookmark in it, you can fly by that pretty well.
Speaker D: Because they are not going to check to see.
Speaker D: Like, I feel like there’s something extra in this book.
Speaker C: Yeah, no, and it would be like, I think I’m planning on bookmark and character art.
Speaker C: Like, all things that are going to be like a thank you card.
Speaker C: All things that are going to be paper things.
Speaker D: Yeah.
Speaker C: Not in the PR box, obviously.
Speaker C: That one I’m like.
Speaker C: It’s going to be in a box.
Speaker C: You can’t be like, this is media mail.
Speaker C: If it’s a giant box, that wouldn’t work very well.
Speaker D: I did that once.
Speaker D: I was like, it’s media mail.
Speaker D: She’s like, what’s in it?
Speaker D: I’m like books.
Speaker D: What else would it be?
Speaker C: Books, DVDs or what CDs?
Speaker D: I think it has something like that.
Speaker D: So I was like, it’s books.
Speaker D: You’re fine.
Speaker D: Don’t worry.
Speaker C: Don’t worry about it.
Speaker D: It’s fine.
Speaker D: She’s like, okay, well, you have a.
Speaker C: Good rest of your you too.
Speaker D: Thank you.
Speaker C: I will see you around, TikTok.
Speaker D: Okay, sounds good.
Speaker D: Bye.
Speaker B: As TL Combs got older, she liked the movie The Swan Princess.
Speaker B: Today we’ll be reading the Six Swans by the Brothers Grimm.
Speaker B: The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm’s Fairy Tales in 1812.
Speaker B: It is of Arne Thompson type 451, the maiden who seeks her brothers, commonly found throughout Europe.
Speaker B: Other tales of this type include the Seven Ravens, the Twelve Wild Ducks, udea and her Seven Brothers, the Wild Swans and the Twelve Brothers.
Speaker B: Andrew Lange included a variant of the tale in the Yellow Fairy book.
Speaker B: Scholars and folktale catalogs report variants of.
Speaker A: The tale type across Europe, the Middle.
Speaker B: East, and even India and Japan.
Speaker B: Although the number of brothers and their animal form may vary between tales, don’t forget we’re reading LeMorte de Arthur, the Story of King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Roundtable on Our Patreon.
Speaker B: You can find the link in the show notes.
Speaker A: The six swans.
Speaker A: A king was once hunting in a large wood and pursued his game so hotly that none of his court years could follow him.
Speaker A: But when evening approached, he stopped, and, looking around him, perceived that he had lost himself.
Speaker A: He sought a path out of the forest, but could not find one.
Speaker A: And presently he saw an old woman with a nodding head who came up to him.
Speaker A: My good woman, said he to her, can you not show me the way out of the forest?
Speaker A: Oh, yes, my lord king, she replied.
Speaker A: I can do that.
Speaker A: Very well, but upon one condition, which if you do not fulfill, you will never again get out of the wood, but will die of hunger.
Speaker A: What then, is this condition?
Speaker A: Asked the king.
Speaker A: I have a daughter, said the old woman, who is as beautiful as anyone you can find in the whole world, and well deserves to be your bride.
Speaker A: Now, if you’ll make her your queen, I will show you your way out of the wood.
Speaker A: In the anxiety of his heart, the king consented, and the old woman led him to her cottage, where the daughter was sitting by the fire.
Speaker A: She received the king as if she had expected him, and he saw at once that she was very beautiful, but yet she did not quite please him, for he could not look at her without a secret.
Speaker A: Shuddering, however, he took the maiden upon his horse, and the old woman showed him the way, and the king arrived safely at his palace, where the wedding was to be celebrated.
Speaker A: The king had been married once before and had seven children by his first wife, six boys and a girl whom he loved above everything else in the world.
Speaker A: He became afraid soon that the stepmother might not treat his children very well and might even do them some great injury.
Speaker A: So he took them away to a lonely castle which stood in the midst of a forest.
Speaker A: The castle was so entirely hidden, and the way to it was so difficult to discover that he himself could not have found it if a wise woman had not given him a ball of cotton which had the wonderful property when he threw it before him of unrolling itself and showing him the right path.
Speaker A: The king went, however, so often to see his dear children that the queen, noticing his absence, became inquisitive and wished to know what he went to fetch out of the forest.
Speaker A: So she gave his servants a great quantity of money, and they disclosed to her the secret, and also told her of the ball of cotton, which alone could show her the way.
Speaker A: She had now no peace until she discovered where this ball was concealed.
Speaker A: And then she made some fine silken shirts, and as she had learned of her mother, she sewed within each a charm.
Speaker A: One day soon after, when the king was gone out hunting, she took the little shirts and went into the forest, and the cotton showed her the path.
Speaker A: The children, seeing someone coming in the distance, thought it was their dear father and ran out full of joy, and she threw over each of them a.
Speaker B: Shirt that, as it touched their bodies.
Speaker A: Changed them into swans which flew away over the forest.
Speaker A: The queen then went home quite contented, and thought she was free of her stepchildren.
Speaker A: But the little girl had not met her with the brothers, and the queen did not know of her.
Speaker A: The following day the king went to visit his children, but he found only the maiden.
Speaker A: Where are your brothers?
Speaker A: Asked he.
Speaker A: Ah, dear father, she replied, they have gone away and have left me alone.
Speaker A: And she told him how she had looked out of the window and seen them changed into swans which had flown over the forest.
Speaker A: And then she showed him the feathers which they had dropped in the courtyard in which she had collected together.
Speaker A: The king was much grieved, but he did not think that his wife could have done this wicked deed, and as he feared the girl might also be stolen away, he took her with him.
Speaker A: She was, however, so much afraid of the stepmother that she begged him not to stop.
Speaker A: More than one night in the castle, the poor maiden thought to herself, this is no longer my place, I will go and seek my brothers.
Speaker A: And when night came, she escaped and went quite deep into the wood.
Speaker A: She walked all night long, and a great part of the next day, until she could go no further from weariness.
Speaker A: Just then she saw a rough looking hut and going in, she found a room with six little beds, but she dared not get into one.
Speaker A: So crept under, and laying herself upon the hard earth, prepared to pass the night.
Speaker A: There, just as the sun was setting, she heard a rustling, and saw six white swans come flying in at the window.
Speaker A: They settled on the ground and began blowing one another, until they had blown all their feathers off, and their swans down slipped from them like a shirt.
Speaker A: The maiden knew them at once for her brothers and gladly crept out from under the bed.
Speaker A: And the brothers were not less glad to see their sister, but their joy was of short duration.
Speaker A: Here you must not stay, said they to her.
Speaker A: This is a robber’s hiding place.
Speaker A: If they should return and find you here, they would murder you.
Speaker A: Can you not protect me then?
Speaker A: Inquired the sister.
Speaker A: No, they replied, for we can only lay aside our swan’s feathers for a quarter of an hour each evening, and for that time we regain our human form.
Speaker A: But afterwards we resume our changed appearance.
Speaker A: Their sister then asked them with tears, can you not be restored again?
Speaker A: Oh, no, replied they.
Speaker A: The conditions are too difficult.
Speaker A: For six long years you must neither speak nor laugh, and during that time you must sew together for us six little shirts of starflowers, and should there fall a single word from your lips, then all your labors will be in vain.
Speaker A: Just as the brothers were finished speaking, the quarter of an hour elapsed, and they all flew out of the window again like swans.
Speaker A: The little sister, however, made a solemn resolution to rescue her brothers or die in the attempt, and she left the cottage and penetrating deep into the forest, past the night amid the branches of a tree.
Speaker A: The next morning she went out and collected the starflowers to sew together.
Speaker A: She had no one to converse with, and for laughing, she had no spirits.
Speaker A: So there up in the tree she sat, intent upon her work.
Speaker A: After she had passed some time there, it happened that the king of that country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsman came beneath the tree on which the maiden sat.
Speaker A: They called to her and asked, who art thou?
Speaker A: But she gave no answer.
Speaker A: Come down to us, continued they.
Speaker A: We will do thee no harm.
Speaker A: She simply shook her head, and when they pressed her further with questions, she threw down to them her gold necklace, hoping therewith to satisfy them.
Speaker A: They did not, however, leave her, and she threw down her girdle, but in vain, and even her rich dress did not make them desist.
Speaker A: At last the huntsman himself climbed the tree and brought down the maiden and took her before the king.
Speaker A: The king asked her, who art thou?
Speaker A: What DOST thou upon that tree?
Speaker A: But she did not answer.
Speaker A: And then he questioned her in all the languages that he knew, but she remained dumb to all as a fish.
Speaker A: Since, however, she was so beautiful, the King’s heart was touched, and he conceived for her a strong affection.
Speaker A: Then he put around her his cloak, and placing her before him on his horse, took her to his castle.
Speaker A: There he ordered rich clothing to be made for her, and although her beauty shone as the sunbeams, not a word escaped her.
Speaker A: The king placed her by his side at the table, and there her dignified, mean and manner so won upon him that he said, this maiden will I marry and no other in the world.
Speaker A: And after some days he wedded her.
Speaker A: Now the King had a wicked stepmother who was discontented with his marriage and spoke evil of the young queen.
Speaker A: Who knows whence the wench comes?
Speaker A: Said she, she who cannot speak is not worthy of a king.
Speaker A: A year after, when the Queen brought her firstborn into the world, the old woman took him away.
Speaker A: Then she went to the King and complained that the Queen was a murderous.
Speaker A: The king, however, would not believe it, and suffered no one to do any injury to his wife, who sat composedly, sewing at her shirts and paying attention to nothing else.
Speaker A: When a second child was born, the false stepmother used the same deceit, but the King again would not listen to her words, saying, she is too pious and good to act so could she but speak and defend herself, her innocence would come to light.
Speaker A: But when again the old woman stole.
Speaker C: Away the third child, and then accused.
Speaker A: The Queen, who answered not a word to the accusation, the king was obliged to give her up to be tried, and she was condemned to suffer death by fire.
Speaker A: When the time had elapsed and the sentence was to be carried out, it happened that the very day had come round when her dear brother should be set free.
Speaker A: The six shirts were also ready, all but the last, which yet wanted the left sleeve.
Speaker A: As she was led to the scaffold, she placed the shirts upon her arm, and just as she had mounted it and the fire was about to be kindled, she looked around and saw six swans come flying through the air.
Speaker A: Her heart leapt for joy as she perceived her deliverers approaching.
Speaker A: And soon the swans flying towards her alighted so near that she was unable to throw over them the shirts.
Speaker A: And as soon as she had done so, their feathers fell off, and the brothers stood up alive and well.
Speaker A: But the youngest was without his left arm, instead of which he had a swan swing.
Speaker A: They embraced and kissed each other, and the Queen, going to the king, who was thunderstruck, began to say, now may I speak, my dear husband, and prove to you that I am innocent and falsely accused?
Speaker A: And then she told him how the wicked woman had stolen away and hidden her three children.
Speaker A: When she had concluded, the king was overcome with joy, and the wicked stepmother was led to the scaffold and bound to the stake and burnt to ashes.
Speaker A: The king and queen, forever after, lived in peace and prosperity with their six brothers.
Speaker B: Thank you for joining Freya’s fairy tales.
Speaker B: Be sure to come back next week for Ty’s journey to holding his own fairy tale in his hands and to.
Speaker A: Hear one of his favorite fairy tales.
