Alexandra Roma | The Tomato Writer
shifting into cozy mode (december newsletter)
Newsletter Welcome to the last newsletter of 2024! It's been...well, it's been. Like I said in my last newsletter, I've been dealing with some pretty hardcore burnout throughout the year. It all came to a head last month, and I crashed, eventually making the hard decision to put my urban fantasy serial, SEVEN NIGHTS AT THE AFTERLIGHT, on the backburner for a bit. I've been on the mend since then, slowly but surely. I reached out for help with work rather than taking on a huge project just for...
Seven Nights At the Afterlight Chapter Two: Old Friends & New Enemies
Seven Nights At The Afterlight Old Friends & New Enemies Not for the first time, Laurel had to fight the near overwhelming urge to kill Phoenix. Sam clearly didn't feel the same way. The moment they saw Phoenix, they broke into a run and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Where've you been, you wretched wanderer?" they reprimanded with a brilliant smile across their face, a real one like burning sunlight. Phoenix's was brilliant starlight. The two of them laughed and slapped each other's...
too much? too much 😩 (+ 7 Nights at the Afterlight Announcement)
Newsletter Well, I've finally come to the realization that I bit off way more than I could chew. This year has been a rough one. I keep feeling like everything is rushing past me and I'm racing to keep up, but I'm out of breath. I'm running behind on the Wounds of Wisdom sequel. I'm broke. I've been burned out for most of the year. In the brief moments where I felt more energized, I took on more work, which made it worse when I inevitably returned to burnoutsville. Four TTRPG games, two high...
Seven Nights At the Afterlight Chapter One: Two Unwanted Guests
Seven Nights At The Afterlight Two Unwanted Guests The bus runs from Chicago to Detroit. There is little point in stopping at the smaller college city of Ann Arbor on the way, less than one hour from the destination. The bus has strict parameters and schedules to adhere to, schedules which it will not meet tonight. There are fourteen passengers left on the bus that is supposedly headed to Detroit, but only two of them are awake. The bus driver does not think much about this, and in fact is...
The World of Seven Nights at the Afterlight
SEVEN NIGHTS AT THE AFTERLIGHT The World of Seven Nights at the Afterlight This final behind-the-scenes look at Seven Nights at the Afterlight comes at the request of some of my readers, including Ash, who is one of my Ko-fi members. They asked to hear more about the world and how it works. At first, I wasn't sure how much I'd have to say since - unlike most of my stories, which are set in made-up fantasy worlds - Seven Nights is set in our world, with just a little more to it. But the more I...
From Idea to Serial: The Making of Seven Nights at the Afterlight
SEVEN NIGHTS AT THE AFTERLIGHT The Making of Seven Nights at the Afterlight Seven Nights at the Afterlight is, perhaps tied with the Pirate Fantasy Standalone, the project that I've been chewing on for the longest. I began it back when I still wrote my first drafts by hand. I filled notebooks with hastily written chapters that I never looked at again after I started over for the tenth time. I've shown early chapters to my dad, my best friends, and more...and then scrapped them and started...
The Music of Seven Nights at the Afterlight
SEVEN NIGHTS AT THE AFTERLIGHT The Music of Seven Nights at the Afterlight Music has always been one of the key elements of Seven Nights in the Afterlight. This is a story about a motley group of people who don't fit into the rules of human society carving out a home with one another; and music is, in my opinion, one of the biggest connective tissues we have. To me, music always makes me think of long car rides with my dad to my out of state college, listening to Bruce Springsteen and the E...
Meet the Characters of Seven Nights at the Afterlight!
SEVEN NIGHTS AT THE AFTERLIGHT Meet the Characters With the premier of Seven Nights at the Afterlight just 14 days away, I thought it was time to introduce you all to some of the characters! For visual representation, I used Baydews' Avatar Maker v.2, except for Laurel, who I made with djarn's character maker because Baydews' didn't have a lot of great options for plus-sized characters. So let's dive in to the 5 POV characters of Seven Nights at the Afterlight! Name: Anne-Marie MullinsAge:...
i wake with the autumn (+ 7 Nights at the Afterlight is COMING!)
Newsletter Don't get me wrong, I love spring with all its budding flowers and that sense of renewal in the air. But for me, I really start to come awake in autumn. There's the relief at the end of summer. I'm not very heat tolerant, so I spend August and often early September begging for cooler weather. When it finally happens, I'm ecstatic. I also just love the beauty of the autumn world, the smells, the crisp nights and the warm scarves, getting together with friends for various holidays....
expectations, and how they change
Newsletter How is August going for everyone so far? Here in the Twin Cities, we're having a gentle week with 70 degree highs and lovely breezes, which really soothes my summerween-y heart. The Writing Desk This time last year, I was in the beginning stages of working on the Time's Sacrifice Trilogy Book 2. My hope was to publish it in September of 2024. Then I would publish Book 3 in the winter of 2025-2026. That was the plan, anyway. Around 15 months for each book. How hard could that be,...