Today’s guest, Kacey Ezell, was born in South Dakota and grew up around the world on various military bases. When she was seven, her mother gave her a copy of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragondrums, and shortly thereafter, Kacey decided that she wanted to be a dragonrider when she grew up. From the time she was a small child, Kacey made up stories to tell to her friends and family.

Kacey’s emotionally-fueled fiction includes alternate history, fantasy, noir, and science fiction. She’s a master in emotional resonance and character building! Join us in learning the tips and tricks to build characters with believable emotional arcs.

In Part One, We Discuss:

• Every villain is the hero of their own story; writing unpopular characters
• Every hero is probably the villain of someone else’s story
• Redemption arcs
• Characters we love to hate
• How worldbuilding impacts characters and vice versa
• Tools to track details

Resources and Guest Links:

• • https://kaceyezell.net/
  • Newsletter and free short stories: https://kaceyezell.net/the-dragons-horde/

• Psyche of War: https://kaceyezell.net/book-series/the-psyche-of-war/

• World Anvil: https://www.worldanvil.com/
• Notion: https://www.notion.com/

Join us in thanking Kacey! She’s a great author and an even better friend, and we’re grateful she took time out of her relaxicon to interview and give us the inside scoop on how she crafts excellent characters.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/
• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

How often do we hear an author say, “I just want to write books”? If only it were that simple. In this lesson, we discuss ensuring that your writing goals, like what, how, and how much you want to write, also align with what you want from a writing career. In other words, how you define success.

Join Jana, CJ, and Troy of the Plot Geek Academy as they break down this deep topic to help you decide what success means to you and how you can get there.

Curious about building your author brand? In this episode, we explore the value of social media, traditional publishing, and much more with Kathleen Schmidt. She’s the founder of Publishing Confidential, and you can subscribe on Substack.