If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

July 1 question – Is there anything you’d like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?

Well yeah, I mean, so far, I’ve only self-published, and that wasn’t that hard. As in, formatting and posting the books wasn’t that hard. But then marketing, etc. was impossible. I sold a few, and that’s all fine. I just don’t know that it’s going to go anywhere because I don’t have the time or energy to do the rest of it. I just want to write. I don’t want to design a cover, market, etc. and I don’t have enough money to pay someone else to do it for me. I could try to get published in a more old fashioned route, but the problem with that is with the genre I write, many publishers won’t touch it. Sometimes (like in Exploration, a choose your own adventure erotic novel) the kink is pretty light, but in other books it’s much more controversial. I even took one of my books off the market for that reason.

So I am obviously not against self published novels, but it’s very hard to know which ones are going to be half decent and which ones are going to be unreadable. I wish there were some level between purely self published and traditionally published for the average person to tap into both as an author and as a reader.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

June 3 question – Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

So, oops. At some point along the way, I got dropped off the IWSG list. I know I missed a few months here and there, but I added myself back on and I am going to try to be better about getting the posts done on time! (Or even scheduling them early!)

For this month… my story ideas sometimes stem from real life experience, but more often fantasy. At least the sex part of them. When I write more romance, it stems from just jumping off of what’s happening around me. What if the couple next to me at this concert were on their first date? How did they get there? And go from there. It’s a nice exercise in imagination!

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

May 6 question – What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers, including agents, editors, and beta readers?

Yes, yes, I know I’m a week late. Listen, life is… busy. It’s a fortunate/unfortunate part of being busy is that I can’t keep up with everything, and while I will always have a love of writing, my focus has been more on reading and crafting. Oh, there is so much crafting in my life.

Anyway, to answer this month’s question, the most inspiring feedback has been when someone wants to read more. It’s a great feeling to know that your writing entertained (at least, that’s my goal). I want to give my readers a chance to disconnect from the real world. So I hope that my blog and my writing has given you all a chance to do that!

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

January 7 question – Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn’t get done in 2025?

Jayden: I want to write again. I haven’t written in a long time, but there are some ideas forming in my head… we’ll see. I have been enjoying my non-writing life and pursuing some other creative pursuits (including reading a lot), but I don’t think I’ve given up my love of writing.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

December 3 question – As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

Jayden: My local writing group. My goodness, they are the best thing that has ever happened to me. It brought me my two best friends and my husband. So yeah, that’s the best gift I’ve ever received.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

If you’re just stopping in for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, be sure to come back for some other fun features! On Tuesdays, we post a backlog of TMI Tuesday questions. On Fridays, we post some sexy fiction stories. On Sundays, I review Laurell K. Hamilton books (or parts of the books).

August 6 question – What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

Jayden: I assume it’s something in the realm of AI. There are definitely positive uses for AI, but there are a lot of negatives, and a lot of places where it’s causing issues for artists, stolen work, etc. Plus there’s a negative environmental impact. So while I love that my photo app can find all the pictures of me and my husband (even though it’s kind of creepy), for publishing, it’s definitely unethical in a lot of ways.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

If you’re just stopping in for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, be sure to come back for some other fun features! On Tuesdays, we post a backlog of TMI Tuesday questions. On Fridays, we post some sexy fiction stories. On Sundays, I review Laurell K. Hamilton books (or parts of the books).

June 4 question – What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

Jayden: I certainly was impacted by the Roald Dahl books. Fantastic Mr. Fox will always hold a special place in my heart. Later, Harry Potter became my obsession. It saddens me that the author is… well, I can’t come up with anything nice to say, so I’m not going to say anything else about that. But I remember when Book 6 came out, I had it delivered to my house and I didn’t stop reading until I finished it, including a short period of time where my boyfriend read it to me so I could rest my eyes (he was a faster reader and finished his copy before me; yes we got two copies). But another one was a Choose Your Own Adventure book about the Titanic. I must have read it a dozen times (and determined that if you saw the iceberg, you had to tell someone right away or the boat sinks. Shocking!) Later in life, I wrote my own erotic Choose Your Own Adventure, and that was pretty cool.

Richard: I actually just did some writing about this on one of my other blogs. The ones I usually highlight are:

Animorphs: Like any self respecting millennial, I too was exposed to (deep breath) Cannibalism, War crimes, torture, slavery, genocide, vore, interspecies romance, PTSD, body horror, and drug addiction by the elementary school book fair. Letting the main characters win is for suckers.
Michael Stackpole: There’s an overly complex line from the Battletech cartoon, to the Mechwarrior 2 video game, to the strategy guide, to the X-Wing novels, to the rest of the Star Wars EU (remember, fuck the Mouse!) and the Battletech novels. I like to think I channel a little bit of these in my action scenes.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

If you’re just stopping in for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, be sure to come back for some other fun features! On Tuesdays, we post a backlog of TMI Tuesday questions. On Fridays, we post some sexy fiction stories. On Sundays, I review Laurell K. Hamilton books (or parts of the books). And throughout the month, other fun things pop up. In February, we did February Photo Fest. We’ve just started the April A to Z Blog Challenge! April 2 question – What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

Richard:

Fight: Rumplestiltskin. I figure he’s on the short list of ones I could take, since I know his name.

Quest: Samwise Gamgee. Nuff said.

Drink: VOLSTAG could probably drink me under every table in all of the 9 realms, but we’d have a good time with it.

Jayden:

Fight: Oh jeeze, I don’t know. I’m not much of a fighter.

Quest: I’m with Richard on Samwise. No better person to have on a journey!

Drink: Aragorn. Imagine the stories that man has.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

If you’re just stopping in for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, be sure to come back for some other fun features! On Tuesdays, we post a backlog of TMI Tuesday questions. On Fridays, we post some sexy fiction stories. On Sundays, I review Laurell K. Hamilton books (or parts of the books). And throughout the month, other fun things pop up. In February, we did February Photo Fest. April will be bringing the A to Z Challenge… Stick around for some sexy fun!

March 5 question – If for one day you could be anyone or *thing* in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.

Jayden: I would be a true kink submissive. No moment out of character. No choices. No outside responsibilities. Just serving my Master 100%. Even thinking about it makes me all horny.

Richard: In the interest of making this as bizarre/awkward as possible: I want to be one of those disposable socks they let you use at shoe stores. Jayden can shove herself in me and stretch me out. I’ll caress every inch of her feet and protect those shoes from her. My values are protecting shoes from dirty sluts who are going to prance around in them to seduce their husbands.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

February 5 question – Is there a story or book you’ve written you want to/wish you could go back and change?

Jayden: Oh yeah. I wrote an entire novel called Slave. The main character never gets a name. I like the story, but the term is…not good. It was the first novel I ever published, and I was proud of it. I would like to go back and edit it. Maybe call it Slut instead.

Funny enough, the book cover is a picture of me with the title on a collar I’m wearing… a collar that says SLUT on it, but I photoshopped to say SLAVE instead. I’m sure the original file is around here somewhere…

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

January 8 question – Describe someone you admired when you were a child.  Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?
Jayden: One of my first crushes was a guy I grew up with. Our moms were friends, and I had this HUGE crush on him. As a teenager, it turned out that he was interested in me in a romantic way. I was thrilled (of course). We ended up dating for a year and a half, and what I realized was that the guy I was in love with in my head was made up. He wasn’t the actual person I was dating. As an adult, we’re still peripherally connected. We’ve both been married and had children. I realize a lot of things about him that were not what I thought when I was a kid, nor what I thought as a teen. No regrets, though. It’s part of my growing up story and led me to where I am today.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

December 4 question – Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?

Jayden: Absolutely! I try to end chapters on cliffhangers, and definitely blog posts. I want my readers coming back for more. As a reader, if there’s a good cliffhanger, I’m going to just keep reading, which is the best case scenario.

Richard: I’m a big cliffhanger fan. They were actually the original topic of my Master’s thesis (though it broadened a little bit by the end). The most important thing to remember is to make sure the energy flows through the cliffhanger. The cliff should be at or near peak tension, but it needs to release in an exciting way after the chapter (or whatever) break. 

A “fake” cliffhanger (someone is about to die! but it’s resolved by the second paragraph of the next page) is just a depressing tease for the reader. “I started another chapter for this?” Even worse is the overly delayed resolution (someone is about to die! and we won’t even see them again for three or four chapters), which diffuses the tension of the initial cliffhanger, and tends to undersell when it finally comes back– how much danger could they really have been in if it took 100 pages to get there?

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

November 6 question – What creative activity do you engage in when you’re not writing?

Jayden: My biggest non-writing creative thing lately has been cross-stitching. I recently delved into creating my own cross-stitch patterns, and it’s a lot of fun!

Richard: Probably cooking. I also like to bake (but only sourdough).

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

October 2 question – Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What’s your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

Richard: I’m not really a big ghost story person, but I have some ghost story trivia to share. Many people know that A Christmas Carol is part of a broader Christmas ghost story tradition in 1800s England. What fewer people know is that he actually included a similar story as one of many in his first novel The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

September 4 question – Since it’s back to school time, let’s talk English class. What’s a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

Jayden: I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. I know I had teachers who *insisted* that we write an outline for everything. That works for me for essays, but it doesn’t work when I’m writing fiction. I tried really hard for a while and found I just can’t do it. I do, however, outline after the fact, which might sound silly, but it helps me keep track of details.

Richard: Take yourself out of your writing as much as possible. If you like something, cut it. Find the parts of your story you dislike and spend as much time on them as possible.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

August 7 question – Do you use AI in your writing and if so how? Do you use it for your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?

Jayden: Nope. I haven’t used it at all, and I don’t plan to. I wish that it were different. I have some friends who use AI art to make social media posts. But I have a lot of artist friends, and my understanding is that they used other people’s art to base the AI art off of without credit. I can’t get behind that. Given my lack of social media posting, I wonder if AI art would help me, but I just…can’t.

Richard: I’m going to assume this question is about generative AI, since AFAIK just about everyone uses at least a spellchecker. I don’t use generative AI in my writing since, for all the headlines it’s grabbing, it still sucks. Also, less fun. If I wanted to not write, I would just not write. I’m sure crafting the prompts carefully and stuff is fun for some people, but not what I’m into.

Drop a link to your IWSG post in the comments so we can come check it out!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

June 5 question – In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?

Jayden: Is there a way to give me more time to devote to blogging? I’ve, as always, bitten off more than I can chew in terms of my time commitments, so I don’t get done with everything I’d like to. I don’t know what IWSG can do about it, but it’s my single biggest challenge…which might be the thing. If you scroll back through my blog, you’ll notice that we’re mostly consistent with IWSG, we’re great with the A to Z Blog Challenge, and the rest of the time, we’re totally inconsistent. More challenges/prompts?